Animals

Leviticus 11

Leviticus eleven is all about clean and unclean animals; what the Israelites could or could not eat.  He gives us a reason to be holy...because He is holy.

Something they said in worship today (I believe from James 5 about riches) reminded me of Luke 14:15-23.  It is the parable of the Great Banquet.  The Lord becomes angry when the invited guests decide not to come.  They weren't doing evil, they were already occupied enjoying their blessings.  One man gives up his place for a field, another for a few oxen, and yet another believes his wife is more important.  All of these are blessings. 

Gracious Father, please remove us from the comforts that we have grow so accustomed to.

Set our minds on things above, thing that are unseen and eternal and holy.  Reveal to us the blessings that you bestow that we thoughtlessly place above you.

Thanks for smiling on me.

-G

Thanksgiving...

Set me back a few days.  But I'm back on the ball now.

Leviticus 10

I actually read this chapter last night, but I just had to come back and write about it.  I don't know how far I will get (I'm getting sleeeeeepy), but I will hit a couple of points.

The heading reads:

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

I read these names and immediately thought 'A story about Aladdin's Monkey and his bro.  Let me hurry up and get through this.'

But The first three verses capture my attention.

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command.  So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.  Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said:

"'Among those who approach me

I will show myself holy;

in the sight of all the people

I will be honored.'"

Aaron remained silent.

Good response, Aaron.

I also notices verses ten and eleven, which really struck me:

"You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses."

In our lives, how many things do we have, use, and ultimately worship that are common and unclean.  Things that are not used for holy purposes at all, but rather for our own edification and satisfaction.  Let's remove these things from our presence, rip them out of our lives, circumcise our hearts to God, so that we may be found blameless, holy, and pure.

Holy.

One heck of a word.

Holy Lord,

Your name is so beautiful.

Your deeds are holy and true, your love never failing.

Consume us, LORD.  Remove our impurities and our filth, our diseases and our selfish thinking.  Let your cleansing fire pour over our souls and draw us into your presence.

-G

i'm Sorry

i'm sorry that i've been a terrible friend.
A terrible son;
A terrible brother.
i'm sorry for all the times
i put my own needs over another's.

i had no idea how selfish i was,
i've learned every moment is important because
We have no idea how much time we are given
(Man's life is more than just what he has and does).

It's about who you are
About the people you love
About the family God gave you,
A sacred gift from above.

i've run far away
...
...
...
...
...
...
From who i really am,
i turned my back on you;
Time proved me a sham.

So please God, hear me!
Hear my insubstantial prayer.
My cries feel too weak
                                                                                                   there.
                                                                      up
To reach you                   way

i cry not for me,
But for the brothers i let fall,
For the sisters that i've hurt,
For faiths i caused to stall.

Now i ask for your forgiveness,
Please give my life to them
For i would live and die
Fighting to continue in my sin.

Please Father---please!
Please give them precious time.
Some peace, some comfort,
Some holiness of Thine.

Something for the season to come
When days grow cold, grow dim,
And it feels as if life is all but done,
That it's easier to sink than swim.

When he wonders how to fill the space,
When the night is void and lonely,
Reveal your Will to him, my God,
Lavish grace and power holy.

Free him from the demons!
Remind him life goes on!
May he not forget the lesson learned:
That time is here...




then gone.

Leviticus 7

When a man brings a fellowship offering, he must bring cakes of bread as a contribution to the Lord, but it is for the priests consumption.  God takes care of those who do his work, so should we.

Thoughts too heavy today.  I'm at a loss for words.

Silence is my prayer.

-G

Leviticus 6

Today was a day full of scripture.  And work.  I'll start with Leviticus 6.

According to verse two, if someone deceives his neighbor, or is in any way false toward him, he is guilty of sin.  That falsehood equates an unfaithfulness to the Lord.  If a sin was committed in this manner, not only was restitution required, but also an extra fifth.  And those are only the requirements as far as his neighbor is concerned.  He must then bring a guilt offering to the Lord.

The system was set up to make things right.

Next comes the burnt offering.  Three times the Lord repeats the same thing: "the fire on the altar must be kept burning."  Doesn't God require the same of us today?  A perpetual sacrifice? One that 'burns' without ceasing?

I want to quickly hit two verses that the Lord showed me today.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Psalm 119:130

Patience.

Sometimes we become frustrated when brothers and sisters are developing slowly, or just don't seem to be making progress at all.  Likewise, we try to preach the Good News, yet our ministry seems to be completely ineffective.  Just be patient, in time the Word of God will do it's work.

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,

who walk according to the law of the LORD.

Blessed are they who keep his statutes

and seek him with all their heart.

They do nothing wrong;

they walk in his ways.

You have laid down precepts

that are to be fully obeyed.

Oh, that my ways were steadfast

in obeying your decrees!

Then I would not be put to shame

when I consider all your commands.

I will praise you with an upright heart

as I learn your righteous lasw.

I will obey your decrees;

do not utterly forsake me.

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my hear;

do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, O Lord;

teach me your decrees.

With my lips I recount

all the laws that come from your mouth.

I rejoice in following your statutes

as one rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on your precepts

and consider your ways.

I delight in your decrees;

I will not neglect your word.

-G

Leviticus 5

5:1 "If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible."

How many times do we break this commandment.

Father thank you for this weekend.

I'm beat.  The only way i'm gonna make it to tomorrow is by your hand.

I'm not beat.  Just weary.  Because you are my victory.

-G

A Day at Amazing Jake's

Leviticus 4

A sin offering took place, all of the fat had to be removed from the offering.  Why is that? Only the meat was burned. Odd.

Today will just have to be a little shorter.  Setting up for the Black Eyed Bees, watching practice, eating, playing games...it's been a long day.  But it was nice to be a kid again.  I mean, who doesn't like shooting their English teacher in a game of laser tag? Or knocking them into the wall in their go-kart (not bumper car lol)?   Good day, lots of fun.  Cody winning colorama was a bright spot also.  Anyways, g'night.

I thank you Father, for being faithful.

Thank you for smiling down upon us, even as the world seems to crash around us.  Please give me the strength to find joy in all situations.

Thank you for good news.  It brings joy to the soul.  Show me how to live according to your precepts.  Teach me how to walk along the paths of righteousness.  Give me a joyful and willing spirit, that I may serve you with all of my being.

And please continue to bless Mr. Nicholson and his family.  Please speak to him.  Comfort him in only the way you can.

My mind now becomes flooded with requests on the behalf of loved ones.  This world is such a dark and troubled place Father, deliver us.  We are sheep, alone and defenseless when we choose our own way.  But you are a stronghold, our salvation, our glory and our haven; our place of rest and peace in dangerous times.  I feel foolish God, I don't even know how to glorify your name right.  My words are completely inadequate; my actions bring me only shame and disgrace.  All day I slander your name despite my earnest longings to let your Spirit have it's way.

Forgive me Lord.

Turn my heart Adonni.  Please draw me near to you.

-G

Leviticus 3

This has been such a long day.  Patience on E.  I'm just not ok right now.   But I know I'm about to go to bed and it will all be a new day.  No complaining.

I can't even tell you what this chapter is about.  Another offering, some more sprinkling.

I'm so cynical and tired and...it's time to pray.

Dear God i need you now.

i'm worn down by the world, i'm worn down by my own selfishness, i'm worn down by the negativity of others.  And i don't think i'm really being that selfish, just realistic.  This generation is in deep trouble.  We pursue ourselves through all sorts of convenient outlets.  We have surrendered our minds, sold our bodies, and tainted our precious souls.  And it sorrows me to see it, to see how distant we are from God.  To see how many of us pursue ourselves in almost everything we do.  It gives me great sorrow to read Psalm 119 about delighting in the Lord's law, taking joy from obeying his precepts, and being satisfied by obeying his commands, and then turn around to see his people are often the farthest from these.  i'm done, this isn't beneficial.  Guess i'll go read.

-G

Leviticus 2

Something that stood out to me in this chapter is found in vs. 13.  "Season all of your grain offerings with salt.  Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings."  Of course this brings to mind all of the verses pertaining to us being the salt of the earth.  It was odd to me that it is such a big deal though.  'the salt of the covenant of your God' sounds pretty important.  Why didn't he just say salt?

Now for my really exciting chapter of the day.  I googled how to pray today, and after looking through a couple of sites, I stumbled upon one that lead me to 2 Chronicles chapter 20.

Random, right?

The author (of the webpage) was trying to show the contrast between our prayers, and the prayers of the bible.  Sadly, our prayers are often very self-absorbed.  Next time you pray, or hear a prayer, pay attention to how many times you hear the words 'we,' 'me,' 'I,' and 'us.'  We come before God asking that he solve our problems and aid us in our time of need.  Not that that is wrong, but wouldn't you get tired if your son/daughter only came to you when they needed something?  We approach God with open hands, and leave with our open hands still demanding blessings.  Our prayers often focus around our problem, stating and restating the situation and our feelings about it.  The prayer begins to be directed to the problem rather than to God.  A majority (i'd say around 90%) of our prayer is about our dilemma, with only a small fraction of our words mentioning God.  Put one of our prayers up against the prayer of king Jehoshaphat (i always thought that was an odd name) in 2 Chronicles 20.  The difference is in his constant and deliberate praise rendered to God.  Instead of focusing on how bad the problem is, he focuses his eyes, his thoughts, and his attention toward God.  Just imagine if we approached challenges in our lives this way.  We compile a list of all the reasons why our problem is terrible and horrible, but if we spent that same amount of time reading through the Psalms, or dwelling upon other stories of God's awesome and magnificent deeds our doubts and fears would be calmed.

Enough.  Jehoshaphat hears that there are three armies headed toward the land of Judah with the intent of destroying them.  Jehoshaphat was alarmed, so his first reaction was to inquire of the LORD, then proclaim a fast for all of Judah.  His prayer will be mine for the day:

"O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven?  You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.  Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.  O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?  They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 'If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague of famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.'

 But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.  See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.  O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

I'll let you read the rest yourself. :)

-G

Mr. Nick

Leviticus 1

Why does Leviticus (or I guess God techinically) begin with the burnt offering?  How is that significant?

I'm so stinking pumped to be reading Leviticus.  It has 27 chapters, but I may begin to double up just to get on to some of the action.

On a happier note, I really am excited to finally have my Rosetta Stone account set up.  Finished the first lesson lickity-split.  I know God does things for a reason; this is why I wanted to have a Bible with the text parralleled in spanish.  Shoot, this is how I got through Leviticus the first time: by reading it in spanish to keep it interesting.

But, as I begin with the mentioning of offerings, I want to take a moment to absorb the fact that something had to die in order for the Lord's people to be reconciled to him.  Jesus was the one who paid that price for us today.

And so Lord, as I begin reading Leviticus, I ask that you bestow your blessing upon my studies.  Open my eyes, that I may learn from the text, that each day I seek to discover more about who you are.  Please bless Mr. Nicholson (I still have too much respect to call him Eddie) and his wife Donna.  Thank you so much for my family...for our health, for our joy, and for allowing me to grow up in a home that was not fractured.  Please surround the Nicholson family with your presence, and let your peace reign in their hearts.

Let your peace descend.

Let your peace fill the holes, let it heal the wounds, let it dispell all doubts.  Please Father, let your blessings flow over them.  Distance all of us from a security founded in the blessings of this world Father...and draw us nearer to you.

-G

Cougar Bball!!!

I have some great news.

The Cornerstone Christian Cougars are 0-1.

Of course that wasn't the great news. (DUH!)

The great news is that Bryan Pratt scored the first points of the season in grand fashion (a fadeaway of sorts after a rebound[he was boxing out!!!]).  The great news is that Luke Pollard hit an awesome 3-pointer.  The great news is that Caleb Cameron racked up a ton of rebounds.  The great news is that Gyumin Huang scored a Lebron-like lay-up from the free-throw line.  The great news is that Tyler Hesslip knows that the bank is open.  The great news is that Kolton Brunson wasn't number 5...it's an S for Super Slammer.  The great news is that Keith Fritz is a magnet for loose balls.  The great news is that Daylan Allen is the new Allen Iverson...on second thought...Allen Iverson is kindof a thug...how about the new Acie Law?!

I'm proud of our young men tonight.  Undermanned, outsized, and unwilling to let these or any other obstacles get in their path.

I salute you, men of courage.

Keep fighting, and never...never lose heart.

Set Apart

Exodus 40

So once the tabernacle was completed, God's presence descend and fill it in the form of a cloud.  I wonder why it was a cloud? There was also fire in the cloud at night.  Pretty cool, huh?  But then comes the important part...it was "in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels."  It was important that the people saw the glory of the LORD, that they understood that he was present at the Tent of Meeting, and that anytime the cloud (aka the presence of the LORD) lifted, the Lord's people were supposed to get up and follow!

As a side note...I love this word consecrate.  It pops up so many times in the old testament.  God's chosen leaders are constantly urging the people to consecrate themselves, and any time they did, the Lord let his power and might flow unbridled throughout Israel, demolishing any of their foes.  Psalm 28:8 The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

 

I often revel in this salvation, this consecration that we, as Christians, undergo as a result of the blood of Christ.  Unfortunately, I am all too eager to identify myself as a sanctified priests, yet it is a tragedy that I am seldom willing to properly consecrate myself.  My consecration lacks finality.  I neglect my priestly duties because I...

Because I...

Most Holy and Righteous Father,

     I'm sorry for the minutes...and the hours...and the days...and the years I've spent running from you.  I hate the worldy things that I have so often turned to in an attempt to find satisfaction.  Please give me the strength to pursue you with a heart that yearns to understand what surrender means.  I long for a heart that has no room for earthly desires, but beats only to carry out your Will.  Because when life is over that is all that really matters.

Thanks for listening.

-G

Exodus Chapter 39

     So I decided that it would be a good idea to reflect on my daily chapter reading through this blog.  I have been trudging through the specifications of the tabernacle recently, and thankfully I am near the end.  Of course, Leviticus is next, but I'll climb that mountain when I get there.

Now back to Exodus 39.

This chapter is about the clothing of the priests.  I honestly skimmed through most of it, as it tends to be redundant at certain points.  I thought it was interesting that the headpiece they wore had 'HOLY TO THE LORD' engraved on it.  Holy...dedicated to and set apart for God.  What do I know of holy? Nada.

Gotta get to bed.  Gotta stop having wasted days.

-G