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| Pastor Jesse's Blog |
| Every week, Pastor Jesse will be posting a new blog, so come back weekly and see what he has to say! |
| Obedience Doesn’t Just Happen |
| Monday, February 25, 2008 |
| The book of Deuteronomy is not a book that many Christians spend much time in for their devotional life and not many believers who do spend time in this book walk away with the warm fuzzies. But this book is so vital in understanding the call of God on all believers to strive for holiness. Sixty-six times in the book of Deuteronomy the NLT uses the word obey. In every instance either Moses or God through Moses is calling the people to obedience. Although this book has such great power I could translate this whole book into one sentence. Obey the Lord, take sin seriously, and God will bless us. Although the whole book seems to be iniltrated with this theme of obedience it seems to be heightened in chapters 5-7. The word obey in the NLT is used 15 times in these short chapters not including the additional times that the word may not be used but the call for obedience is still inferred. Here are a few examples of how we are to look upon obedience and sin from these chapters: 5:32: You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God.Here are an incredible Biblical truth that I have learned from these passages. We must not let even “small” sin remain within our lives. If we do it will grow and eventually entrap us. We must take on the attitude given by Moses. We must “utterly detest” sin. And if we don't it will creep into our lives so we must remove it immediately. Here are a couple problems that many of us face. Most of us do not “utterly detest” sin. This is often seen in what we allow into our homes, what we watch on TV, etc. And because this attitude is often lacking we allow sin to linger in our lives until it is so big that it is very difficult to remove. Now with that said there are some key words in these chapters that I think will help us find success in this area. Here are a few phrases Moses uses in regards to obedience; be careful, commit, wholeheartedly pursue, diligently. These words denote a constant awareness and re-commitment to the Lord. This tells us that we are to be careful in how we live, that we are to commit to holiness, that we are to with our whole heart pursue God and that all of this will take great diligence and discipline. This tells us that we are to be constantly and honestly evaluating our spiritual status and when we see sin, whatever it might be, we are to “completely obliterate it” immediately. This means that if you want to continue to become who Christ desires you to be that you must set aside time with God daily to evaluate your spiritual status, confess sin, and to strategically make plans to remove habits of sin. If we just hope for holiness we will not see it lived out in our lives. |
posted by jesse
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11:25 AM
 
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| A Reminder |
| Monday, February 18, 2008 |
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!” Numbers 15:39-40: I hope that you fall in love with the Old Testament as you continue to see how relevant it is to living for God today. This command was given to the people of God because they were continually sinning. God gave them very specific commands to follow yet everyday they were “following their own desires and defiling themselves.” Now there is a very important implication that I don’t want you to miss in that statement. The implication made is that when we follow our own desires we defile ourselves or another way to say this is when we do what we want to do when we want to do it, it usually leads to sin because of the human condition. We are all sinful by nature. If left to our own desires we will sin against a holy God. So, he tells the people to get a physical reminder in front of their eyes that they can see at all times so that when they find themselves leaning towards sin they will see that object, the blue tassel, and be reminded that it is better to obey God that their own desires. It is important to note that one very significant thing has changed since the Old Testament was written. When we put our faith in Christ the Holy Spirit takes residence in our hearts. This then actually allows us to have the power to have victory over our sinful desires and because of Him our desires can actually begin to change as we allow Him to take charge of our lives. But even with that we have a constant internal battle within our hearts for who will be in control, our sinful nature or the Holy Spirit (for further insight read Galatians 5:10-16). So today I would encourage you to find something physical that will be very visible to you through out the day to remind yourself to obey God and allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life rather than to follow your sinful desires and sin. I want you to know that I did this on February 13. I put a very small piece of tape around one of my fingers. My intention was to find something that wouldn’t be very noticeable to others but would constantly be a reminder to me. A very interesting thing occurred. Although I discovered that it rarely kept me from my sin before it took place it did, however, allow that sin to become instantly apparent to me. Whatever it might have been, a selfish action, an unkind word, a judgmental thought, I immediately felt that tape and emotionally fell to my knees before the Lord for his forgiveness. It was a great reminder to me of how Holy he is and how sinful I am. I was very aware of my sinfulness that day. I thank the Lord for his grace and forgiveness. I thank God that through his gracious Holy Spirit he never gives up on me and continues to work in me a right spirit! Through his work in me I do believe that I look just a little bit more like Jesus today than I did yesterday. Praise the Lord. |
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posted by jesse
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9:42 AM
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| The Greatest Honor |
| Monday, February 11, 2008 |
| Who are the Levites? It can be confusing at times when in church we throw around terms like the Levites, a Nazerite, the Nazerines, etc. and just assume that everyone understands these very important terms. To answer the first question simply, the Levites were one of the tribes of Israel that God set aside specifically to minister at the Tabernacle. So where do the priests come from? Not every Levite was a priest. The priests came from the tribe of Levi but they were specifically descendants of Aaron, Moses brother, who was a Levite, the first high priest. So where am I going? It was important to have that background as I discuss what I am learning as I go through Numbers. The first 8 chapters of Numbers spends a great deal of time on the job of the Levites. The Levites were split into 3 groups of people from the 3 sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, for 3 specific assignments as it relates to the Tabernacle. When I was reading this I was thinking if I was one of the Levites it would be so awesome to be part of the group that was able to work with the sacred objects such as the Ark of the Covenant, the lampstands, the golden alter, etc. Think about it, if you had your choice of jobs in the Tabernacle would you want to be in charge of the Ark or the tent poles. Carrying, moving, and setting up the tent poles just doesn’t sound very exciting to me even though someone had to do it. But working the Ark, that is a big time job! The Kohathites were given this incredible honor of working with the sacred objects. Before I read everything I definitely wanted to be a part of that group. But then I read Numbers 4. I would encourage you to read this chapter so you can see the incredible detail in which God gave them in working with the sacred objects but let me just give you two verses: When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred utensils, the Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. Numbers 4:15 After reading this I wasn’t quite as excited to be a part of that group. What a risky job. We don't read about the other two groups risking their lives in their work. It was an incredible honor to be able to work with these wonderful sacred objects but it also came with great consequences if it wasn’t done exactly as God instructed. What is the point? As I was reading I asked myself the question, how does this relate to today? To quote Spiderman the movie, “with great power comes great responsibility.” I would change that to “with great privilege comes great responsibility.” The same is true as we mature in Christ. When God gives us the incredible honor of leading someone to Christ and then becoming responsible to disciple them or in other words help them grow in their faith, it is the most incredible honor given to man by God working with the most sacred object created by God, the human soul. As you grow God will entrust other’s spiritual growth to you. I don’t think God blesses us more in any other circumstance than we help others become like him. In the end it is every believer’s highest calling. I can not say this more directly, if you have put your faith in Christ as you mature God wants you to help others grow in Christ. Every believer is to be a disciple maker or as we say it at First Covenant, every believer is to help others become fully devoted follwers of Christ. You may not be there but that is where God wants to take you. It truly is a sacred honor and privilege. But I will say this, please do not take it lightly because God doesn’t and we are dealing with souls. This passage was a good reminder to me to take seriously the privileges that he has given me to help others become fully devoted followers of Christ. Because when we are handling sacred things God is very interested. Questions to think about: 1. Who are you helping become a fully devoted follower of Christ? |
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posted by jesse
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10:58 AM
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| You Must Read the Old with the New |
| Monday, February 4, 2008 |
| I will admit that there are times that the Old Testament can be a little difficult to read but there is a reason why Paul wrote in Romans “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4).” In reading through the Bible this year I am right in the middle of Leviticus, the part of most of our Bibles that the pages still stick together. Although this book can be a little dry it is one of the most profound books in the Bible foreshadowing the work of the Christ. This book was given to the people of Israel as the official book of worship as a solution for two problems. 1) How can a sinful people come into the presence of a Holy God (Animal Sacrifice) and 2) how can they maintain that fellowship with Him (obedience to God’s Word). As I was reading about how different types of bodily discharges can make one unclean (just some light reading) I came across a passage that made a New Testament story come alive for me. Take a moment to read Leviticus 15:19-27 (NLT): Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. If you touch her during that time, you will be defiled until evening. Anything on which she lies or sits during that time will be defiled. If you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe in water, and you will remain defiled until evening. The same applies if you touch an object on which she sits, whether it is her bedding or any piece of furniture. If a man has sexual intercourse with her during this time, her menstrual impurity will be transmitted to him. He will remain defiled for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will be defiled. "If the menstrual flow of blood continues for many days beyond the normal period, or if she discharges blood unrelated to her menstruation, the woman will be ceremonially unclean as long as the discharge continues. Anything on which she lies or sits during that time will be defiled, just as it would be during her normal menstrual period. If you touch her bed or anything on which she sits, you will be defiled. You will be required to wash your clothes and bathe in water, and you will remain defiled until evening. Now take a moment to read Luke 8:43-48 (NLT): And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors and still could find no cure. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped. "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, "Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you." But Jesus told him, "No, someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me." When the woman realized that Jesus knew, she began to tremble and fell to her knees before him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. "Daughter," he said to her, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace." I have been very familiar with that story for many years. It was a very encouraging story to me because of the suffering that Jesus relieved but somehow I never fully realized the tremendous impact this physical ailment was having on her life. I had always know that it was obviously impacting her physically and financially but as I read Leviticus I realized that it had destroyed every area of her life. Think about living under the guidelines stated above in Leviticus 15 for 12 years. It is almost unimaginable. There are two things that I want to leave with you. First, Jesus not only showed how much he loves us but how we are to love people. As it states in Leviticus 15 when he allowed her to touch him he became unclean. Jesus allowed himself to become unclean to heal a soul. That is how much God loves you but at the same time are you willing to love people in the same way risking your own reputation to love another person. Secondly, it is just another great reminder to me how important the Old Testament is to understanding Jesus Christ. Don’t ever stop reading the Old with the New! |
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posted by jesse
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3:27 PM
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