Devotion to God (Deu. 16:21-17:7)

5/15/2009 8:46 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Devotion to God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 16:21-17:7

 

            Message of the verses:  “21  "You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22  "You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.

    1 ¶  "You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the LORD your God. 2  "If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by transgressing His covenant, 3  and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded, 4  and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5  then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. 6  "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7  "The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”

            This section is another indictment against idol worship in the land of Israel.  The land that God was giving to the nation of Israel was full of detestable idol worshipers and that is why the Lord wanted Israel to cleanse this land of these peoples for if they did not do this then they would be in danger of falling into the same type of false worship and be in danger of having the Lord judge them just as He was using Israel to judge these Canaanite people.  The Lord is telling the children of Israel that if there is any idol worship going on among the children of Israel that they are to stone the offenders in order to cleanse the land.

            Another part of worshiping the Lord was to give the best to Him as sacrifices and this would mean not to give an animal that has defects in it for this was not suitable to be a sacrifice to the Lord.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a believer in Jesus Christ and a born-again Christian I am not to have anything be ahead of my worship of God, for even though there are no idols to worship like the Canaanites worshiped there are things in my life that can take the place of worshiping the Lord.  TV is one thing that can get in the way of worshiping the Lord and other things like this can become idols to me.  I am to give to the Lord the best, and the first and when I am doing my work at the church I am to give it my best whether working with the WEBBS team or doing my job as a janitor.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.
2. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
3. Continue to learn contentment.
4. Trust the Lord with the health issues that I have at this time.

 

Memory verses for the week:                                  1 John 2:15-17

 

15.    Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone love the world the love of the Father is not in him.

16.    For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17.    The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

 

5/15/2009 9:11 AM

Godly Character (Deu. 16:18-20)

5/14/2009 4:15 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Godly character

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 16:18-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “18 ¶  "You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19  "You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20  "Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

            The judges appointed were to have good character as seen in the verses above.  If these judges were corrupt then the towns would be corrupt and then eventually the nation would be corrupt.  It was important that the judges judge fairly and without partiality and not take any bribes or let people off because they were friends.

            The same is true in the church today as the leaders in the church must have good character and they must take care f the business of the church in a way that would will not lead to corruption.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a born again believer in Jesus Christ I must also do thing the right way and not look for the easy or unfair way out of a problem.

 

 

Tabernacles (Deu. 16:13-17)

5/13/2009 9:02 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Tabernacles

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut 16:13-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “13  "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14  and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. 15  "Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.  16  "Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17  "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.”

            I want to talk about verses sixteen and seventeen before getting into the verses about the feast of Tabernacles.  Verse sixteen speaks of the three times a year that the males were to appear before the Lord, and the place where they were to appear was finally settled as Jerusalem but before that it was where ever the tabernacle was at.  The males were to come to Jerusalem during three feasts, the feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.  Now the feast of Unleavened bread was during the Passover Celebration so they would be there for that too.  Three of these feast celebrated the harvest of different crops, and this on was the harvest of the fruits, grapes, figs, and olives.  The feast of Tabernacles took place in the fall and it lasted for a week and the people would live in little booths to remind them of their journeys that they took place form Egypt to the Promised Land.

            Verse seventeen seems to kind of catch my attention as I read it this morning because of a verse in the NT that has very similar meaning.  I will put these two verses here in order to see the similar meaning they have.  “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.  Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  Now I want to give a quote from Warren Wiersbe:  “We’re prone to take our blessings for granted and forget the faithfulness of the Lord.” 

 

           

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give to the Lord as He has prospered me.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3. Trust the Lord to guide my steps.
4. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

 

Memory verses for the week:                                                          1 John 2:15-17

 

15.    Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone love the world the love of the Father is not in him.

16.    For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17.    The world is passing away, and also it lusts; but the one who does the will of God will live forever.”

 

5/13/2009 9:42 AM

             

Pentecost (Deu. 16:9-12)

5/12/2009 9:30 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Pentecost

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 16:9-12

 

            Message of the verses:  “9  "You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10  "Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you; 11  and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. 12  "You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes, “The word ‘pentecost’ means ‘fiftieth’ and comes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint.”

            This feast came fifty days after Passover and was a joyful feast in which the priest would present two loaves of bread with leaven.  At the feast of firstfruits the priest would wave a single sheaf of grain. 

            The Feast of Pentecost ushered in the harvest season and as seen in this section the Jews were to share what they had and have a joyful feast.

            The Holy Spirit was given to the church at Pentecost and then Peter went out and preached the first message of the Church era and 3000 people were added to the Church.  The two loaves represented the Church and because there was leaven in these two loaves it showed that the Church will not be completely holy until the Lord Jesus returns and take the Church, His bride to heaven with Him and there it will be holy forever.

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In the book of Ephesians, which is the book of the theology of the Church Paul writes of the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do the work that the Lord wants the Church to do, and I wonder as others have wondered if the church today is not depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit in order to get that work done for the glory of God.  I cannot do any of the work that the Lord has called me to do without the filling of the Holy Spirit in my life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service today.
3. Continue to learn contentment.
4. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

 

Memory verses for the week:                                              1 John 2:15-17

 

15.    Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16.    For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17.    The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

 

  5/12/2009 10:04 AM

Pasover & Unleavened Bread (Deu. 15:19-16:8)

5/11/2009 8:10 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                      Focus:  Passover and Unleavened Bread

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Deut. 15:19-16:8

 

            Message of the verses:  “19 ¶  "You shall consecrate to the LORD your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20  "You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses. 21  "But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22  "You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer. 23  "Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

    1 ¶  "Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2  "You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name. 3  "You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4  "For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning. 5  "You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the LORD your God is giving you; 6  but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7  "You shall cook and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8  "Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it.”

            There are a lot of things that is talked about in this section of Scripture.  The fact that Israel had to have the first born consecrated to the Lord the firstborn males of the herd and flock.  This was done because all of the first born animals in Egypt were killed the night the children of Israel left Egypt.  The first born of their children were also given to the Lord as in the tribe of the Levites who took the place of the firstborn of all the children of Israel.

            The Passover is also written about here along with the feast of Unleavened bread which followed Passover and then the Firstfruit feast which followed the feast of Unleavened Bread.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes on the subject of Passover and the church today as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 5:8, “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”  “Paul compared the life of the local church to ‘keeping the feast’ of Passover.  The church doesn’t ‘keep the feast’ literally because it has been fulfilled in Christ our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for us (v. 7).  But like the Jews on Passover night in Egypt, we are a pilgrim people, ready to be called out, and we must not be encumbered by sin.  The Jews ate the Passover feast as families, and each local church is a family of God, feasting on Jesus Christ through the Word and waiting for Him to call His people out of the world.  Like Israel of old, we must remind ourselves that we were once slaves of sin, in bondage to the world (Eph. 2:1-3), and God delivered us by sending His Son as the sacrifice for our sins.  When we observe the Lords Supper (Eucharist), we remember His death and look forward to His return.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the different feasts in the OT and realize that they all have something to do with the Lord Jesus Christ one of the things that I see is the fact that all but one of them make me look back to what Christ has done for me, especially on the cross, and then the Feast of Trumpets makes me look forward to what He will do when He comes to get me in the Rapture of the Church, so in a sense these feasts remind me of the Lord Supper, looking back to what Christ did for me and looking forward to His coming to get me.

 

5/11/2009 8:53 AM            

 

The Willing Servant (Deut. 15:16-18 & Ex. 21:1-6)

5/10/2009 7:55 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The willing servant

 

Bible Reading & Meditation     Reference:  Deuteronomy 15:16-18; Ex. 21:1-6

 

            Message of the verses:  16  "It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; 17  then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.”

            On 8^th of June of 2008 I went over the verses in Exodus that are mentioned in this section and I have just read over them to help me out in this section. 

            The ears are important in not only our bodies, but also they are important in our spiritual walk with the Lord, and maybe that is why God choose to have the ear pierced as a sing of obedience to one’s master in this situation.  Both Psalm 40 and Isaiah 50 speak of ears and hearing.

            The point of this section is that the a person who is a servant to another person and wants to remain as that person’s servant for life makes a decision to stay with that person our of love and devotion to them, and not necessarily our of duty.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This is true with my life and my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  When I became a believer in Jesus Christ I did not know all of the benefits that I had because of this new relationship with my Lord.  As I have learned and am growing in my walk with the Lord I gave myself to the Lord as spoken of in Romans 12:1-2 and this was a one time thing that I try to renew each day, but the point is that to me this is the equivalent of this section in both Deuteronomy and Exodus.  I love my Master and want to serve Him always even though at times my flesh gets in the way, my true desire is to serve and worship the Lord always.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.

 

Memory verse for the week:                                               1 John 2:15-17

 

15.    Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.

16.    For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but from the world.

17.    The world is passing away, and all its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

5/10/2009 8:43 AM

The Indentured Servant (Deu. 15:12-15, 18

5/9/2009 1:58 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Focus:  The indentured servant

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 15:12-15, 18

 

            Message of the verses:  “12 ¶  "If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. 13  "When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14  "You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15  "You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.  18  "It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.”

            This small section speaks of an indentured servant, a person who could not pay off his dept that he owes a fellow Israelite.  The length of this service was to be six years regardless of whether or not the sabbatical year was in affect of not.  After the time was up the servant was not to be sent away empty handed for he was to received livestock, and food and wind, for the children of Israel did not leave Egypt empty handed.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It seems to me that the Lord was teaching a lesson to both those who were the servants and also those who were the servant holder.  God wanted the debt to be paid and He also wanted the person who was owed the dept to have responsibility too.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Trust the Lord to take care of me today and everyday.
2. Trust the Lord to guide my path.
3.  Learn to be content.

 

5/9/2009 2:21 PM

           

           

The Poor Debtor (Deut. 15:1-11)

5/8/2009 9:13 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The poor debtor

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 15:1-11

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  "At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. 2  "This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed. 3  "From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. 4  "However, there will be no poor among you, since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, 5  if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. 6  "For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7  "If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8  but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. 9  "Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10  "You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. 11  "For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”

            First I want to write about what is seemingly a difference between verse four and eleven in that one says that there will not be any poor and the other that the poor will always be with them.  The point is that if the children of Israel would follow the laws that God there would be no poor in the land but they did not follow these laws and as Jesus said “the poor will always be with you.” 

            This section is about the sabbatical year which happens every seven years in that all the debts should be canceled and the land should lie dormant and the children of Israel were to trust the Lord to provide for their needs as He said that He would.  This never happened and after four-hundred and ninety years God allowed the land to rest for seventy years as He had Babylon attack Judah and take her captive for those seventy years. 

            There were two way in which this law could be broken, the law of having the debts canceled, and that is the poor could take advantage of it and not pay back those who loaned the money to them or the rich would not give the poor what they needed because they were afraid that they would not get it back.  Both were wrong.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  Money and wealth are mentioned a lot in the Scriptures and contentment is also mentioned in the Scriptures and the two must go together.  I cannot take anything with me to heaven, but I can sent some ahead in the gifts, tithes, and offerings that I give to the Lord while on this earth, and for me to do this in a cheerful way I must learn contentment, something that the Lord has been working on my heart about for the last several years.  I must also remember that all that I have is from the Lord and I am to remember this, not thinking that I had anything to do with it.  This is important to remember.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
2. Be continually filled with the Spirit of God.
3. Continue to learn contentment.
4. Trust the Lord to guide my path.
5. Trust the Lord to keep me from sin, the sin that hurts me so bad.
6. Trust the Lord to remind me that His Truth will always defeat the world, the flesh and the devil.

 

Memory verses for today:                           1John 2:15-16

 

15  Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

 

5/8/2009 9:41 AM

A Generous People (Deu. 14:22-29)

5/7/2009 8:48 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  A generous people

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference: Deuteronomy 14:22-29

 

            Message of the verses:  “22 ¶  "You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23  "You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24  "If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25  then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26  "You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27  "Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. 28  "At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29  "The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that this is the second time in this book that Moses is telling the children of Israel that they are to bring their tithes to the Lord, and that Paul had reminded the Corinthians that they were to get an offering ready for the work of the Lord two times.  As believers it is easy to neglect the work of the Lord especially when things are going well in our lives for that it the time when we think that we are doing it all by ourselves, and this is disastrously wrong for James writes that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from the Lord.  “David said, everything we give to God first comes from His hand and it all belongs to Him (1Chron. 29:16).  When we cease to fear God and fail to appreciate His bountiful provision, we become proud and start to take His blessings for granted.  Then the Lord has to discipline us to remind us that He is the Giver of every gift.”  This is a quote from Warren Wiersbe’s book on Deuteronomy, “Be Equipped.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The statement that I quoted in the first part of this SD is a statement that I have thought about for some time and even though I did not see it in writing I had it in my heart to do some things that I believe that the Lord has wanted me to do and that is to give more money to Todd and Cindy as they need it in order to pay some kind of tax that the government of Indonesia is forcing them to pay.  I did not do it and when I began to work on a small problem on our toilet it all fell apart and I had to spend more money on it than was truly necessary.  I truly believe that this was the Lord reminding me of my promise to do more for Todd and Cindy.  I plan to take care of that this morning along with another thing that I need to do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today: 

 

1. Take care of the money that I want to give to Todd and Cindy today.
2. Take care of the password on the cable TV.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
4. Be filled with the Spirit.
5. Learn to be content.

 

5/7/2009 9:20 AM

The Clean and the Unclean (Deu. 14:3-21)

5/6/2009 9:35 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The clean and the unclean

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Deuteronomy 14:3-21

 

            Message of the verses:  “3  "You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4  "These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5  the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6  "Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7  "Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8  "The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses. 9  "These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10  but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. 11  "You may eat any clean bird. 12  "But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13  and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14  and every raven in its kind, 15  and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16  the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17  the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18  the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19  "And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20  "You may eat any clean bird. 21  "You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

            There is some debate as to what exactly were the reasons why God gave these dietary laws for the nation of Israel because in the NT the Lord Jesus Christ made it lawful to eat any food.  This is seen both in the Gospels and also in the book of Acts when Peter was told to rise, kill, and eat just before he went to wittiness to the gentiles. 

            One thing for sure God wants His children to be different than the rest of those who have not believed in Him.  This was true of the nation of Israel and perhaps one of the reasons for these laws was when a gentile would ask a Jewish person why they would not eat certain foods then he would be able to give a witness to that person about His God.

            Some people today believe that by keeping to the dietary laws of the OT that they will be healthier and that is an okay reason to follow those dietary laws, but that would be the only benefit to follow them.  Paul writes about food in a number of his letters to churches and one of the things that he brings up is that a person should not make it a stumbling block to someone else about the food that he eats, for if a person does not think that he should eat something because of a spiritual reason then another person should not eat that in front of him for it may hinder their spiritual growth.

            As far as not boiling a kid in its mothers milk there is not a good definition as to why this was a law.  Some think that the heathens of this time did this and therefore the nation of Israel should not do it, but this is not a for sure thing.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that what I get out of all of the dietary laws is that I as a believer in Jesus Christ am to be different form the world, not only in the things that I eat and drink, but in all other aspects of my life and there needs to be a big improvement as far as that is concerned.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
2. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
3. Continue to learn contentment.

 

5/6/2009 10:06 AM

The Holy & The Unholy (Deu. 14:1-2)

5/5/2009 9:21 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The holy and the unholy

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 14:1-2

 

          Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  "You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2  "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

            These two verses contrast the difference between those who are holy and those who are unholy, for the unholy do things that are not pleasing to the Lord, while those who are holy do things that will please the Lord.  Just as in the OT where God chose Israel to be His firstborn, those who are born-again believers in Jesus Christ are a holy nation and priesthood, “15  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16  because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’”  (1 Peter 1:15-16) 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am in position holy before the Lord because of Jesus Christ for I would never be able to talk directly to the Lord of one day be in His very presence without this holiness.  Living a holy life on this sinful world with all of its stumbling blocks is a different matter, but with the working of the Holy Spirit in my life and the reading of God’s Holy Word I will succeed in this greatest of challenges and be holy because the Lord God is holy.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
2. Through the Holy Spirit, live a Spirit filled life today.
3. Continue to learn contentment.
4. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
5. Keep a short list with the Lord.

 

5/5/2009 9:39 AM

The Identification of the True Prophet (Deu. 18:20-22)

5/4/2009 6:12 PM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                    Focus:  The identification of the true prophet

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Deut. 18:20-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “20  ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21  "You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22  "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

            The statement in this section of Scripture is one of the early lessons that I learned when I first became a believer for it was written at length in a book that I read when I first became a believer, “The Late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey.  In that book he explained the difference between a false prophet and a real prophet as this section of Scripture speaks about.  A true prophet of God always gets things correct 100% of the time, however a false prophet does not and the result was to make a rock pile out of him with him on the bottom dead.

            The NT has a lot to say about false prophets and Jesus spoke about them in Matthew 24, saying that there would be more and more of them just before He returned to earth to take up His Kingdom. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This is the conclusion of this chapter in Warren Wiersbe’s book, and this chapter was on worship.  People in different cultures worship the Lord in different ways, but it is done using the Word of God and that is what I want to stay close to each and every day and that is a goal of mine, for by doing it, it will keep me away from sin, something I am having trouble with at this time.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Keep closer to the Word of God.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
4. Keep a short list with the Lord.

 

5/4/2009 6:29 PM

The Revelation of the True God (Deu. 18:14-19)

5/3/2009 6:19 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The revelation of the true God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Deuteronomy 18:14-19

 

            Message of the verses:  “14  "For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.

    15 ¶  "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16  "This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17  "The LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18  ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19  ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.”

            In this section of Scripture Moses is telling the children of Israel that the nations to which they are to destroy listen to those who practice the occult, but they are to listen to the very Word of God for it is the Truth, and not only is it the Truth, but in it they will see how to live and please the Lord.

            Moses goes on to write some of the most important Words that he would write and that is tell of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of all the world not just the nation of Israel.  Moses tells that when the children of Israel were at Mt. Sinai that they could not stand to listen to the Word of God for they were afraid and feared death if they listened.  Then the Lord told Moses that He would send them a prophet like Moses and God will put His Words in the mouth of this prophet.  This was a prophecy not only of all of the prophets of God that He would send, but it was a prophecy of Jesus Christ, for He was that Prophet that Moses refers to here.  Some of the Jews during Jesus’ day thought it was John the Baptist, but he denied it, so this shows that they were at least looking for this Prophet to come.

            This section is also about the revelation of the Word of God and it is a serious thing to hear God’s Word and not respect it as Warren Wiersbe writes.  We are not only to respect it but we are to obey it for it is the Word of the living God, the God of truth.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that a lot of times that I am caught up in kind of what the modern Christian culture teaches in that one should read through the Bible in a year, tithe, go to church, and attend Bible Studies.  This is all well and good, and I do love to read and study the Word of God, but there are times like these that I think that I should step out on my own and do more, more reading, memorizing, and more meditation on God’s Word because it is the written Word of God.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.    I want to seek the Lord as to how I can do more reading and studying of His Word, not as a kind of legal thing to do, but because of the love that I have for the Lord.

2.    Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.

3.    Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

4.    Learn to be content.

 

5/3/2009 6:44 AM