IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you."

THE ARK
"Have them make a chest of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. "Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites."

THE TABLE
"Make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings. Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times."

THE LAMPSTAND
"Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be of one piece with it. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. "Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

THE TABERNACLE
"Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman. All the curtains are to be the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five. Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit. "Make curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. All eleven curtains are to be the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. Join five of the curtains together into one set and the other six into another set. Fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent. Make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. Then make fifty bronze clasps and put them in the loops to fasten the tent together as a unit. As for the additional length of the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over is to hang down at the rear of the tabernacle. The tent curtains will be a cubit longer on both sides; what is left will hang over the sides of the tabernacle so as to cover it. Make for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of hides of sea cows. "Make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. Each frame is to be ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, with two projections set parallel to each other. Make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. Make twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle and make forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, make twenty frames and forty silver bases—two under each frame. Make six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, and make two frames for the corners at the far end. At these two corners they must be double from the bottom all the way to the top, and fitted into a single ring; both shall be like that. So there will be eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame. "Also make crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. The center crossbar is to extend from end to end at the middle of the frames. Overlay the frames with gold and make gold rings to hold the crossbars. Also overlay the crossbars with gold. "Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain. "Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim worked into it by a skilled craftsman. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Put the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy Place. Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle and put the lampstand opposite it on the south side. "For the entrance to the tent make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. Make gold hooks for this curtain and five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. And cast five bronze bases for them."

THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING
"Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar. Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar when it is carried. Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain."

THE COURTYARD
"Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The south side shall be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains of finely twisted linen, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. The north side shall also be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. "The west end of the courtyard shall be fifty cubits wide and have curtains, with ten posts and ten bases. On the east end, toward the sunrise, the courtyard shall also be fifty cubits wide. Curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, and curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on the other side, with three posts and three bases. "For the entrance to the courtyard, provide a curtain twenty cubits long, of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer—with four posts and four bases. All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands and hooks, and bronze bases. The courtyard shall be a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, with curtains of finely twisted linen five cubits high, and with bronze bases. All the other articles used in the service of the tabernacle, whatever their function, including all the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard, are to be of bronze."

OIL FOR THE LAMPSTANDS
"Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come."

PRIESTLY GARMENTS
"Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor. Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen."

THE EPHOD
"Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of a skilled craftsman. It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be fastened. Its skillfully woven waistband is to be like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen. "Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel in the order of their birth—six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other. Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord. Make gold filigree settings and two braided chains of pure gold, like a rope, and attach the chains to the settings."

THE BREASTPIECE
"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. "For the breastpiece make braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. Make two gold rings for it and fasten them to two corners of the breastpiece. Fasten the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. Make two gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. The rings of the breastpiece are to be tied to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband, so that the breastpiece will not swing out from the ephod. "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord."

OTHER PRIESTLY GARMENTS
"Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die. "Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. It will be on Aaron's forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron's forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the Lord. "Weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen. The sash is to be the work of an embroiderer. Make tunics, sashes and headbands for Aaron's sons, to give them dignity and honor. After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. "Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body, reaching from the waist to the thigh. Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. "This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants." Exodus 25:9-40 through Chapter 28

Moses begins to receive instructions from God on putting together a portable place of worship complete with an appointed, ordained priest. This guidance spans four entire chapters as God discusses the following parts of the portable worship center and their respective purposes:

1. The Ark would house the "ark of the Testimony".
2. The Table would serve as a platform for "the bread of the Presence".
3. The Lampstand would be used to "keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening until morning" using the oil the Israelites were expected to provide.
4. The Tabernacle would be used to hold the "ark of the testimony" and provide a place of worship.
5. The Altar would provide a place for the people to bring their burnt offerings to God.
6. The Courtyard was designed to provide separation between the world and the holy presence of God. Only those authorized to enter into His presence were allowed to pass through the gate.
7. The Priestly Garments, including the ephod and breastpiece, would ensure that God’s chosen spiritual leader, the priest, would be adorned in splendor and honor as he provided spiritual leadership to God’s people.

As I read through all the building guidelines, there were four key points I think we should remember when it comes to God. They are as follows:

1. God expects attention to detail. Notice how His instructions are very concise and precise. There is little left to interpretation. And the people of Israel were expected to carry out His will in exact accordance with His specifications.

This is God’s expectation for us in all matters, especially as it applies to His will and word. He expects us to pay attention to the details of our lives and strictly carry out His instructions, both by way of the scriptures and the Spirit.

2. God gives everything a purpose. Each individual item that Israel was directed to build had its own specific function. But when put together, they came together to form a holy place of worship.

Each of us has our own special purpose as well. We have functions that we are good at individually but God brings us together as a body so that our collective gifts might be used for a greater good. In other words, we’re far stronger and greater together than we are alone.

3. When God gives guidance, He doesn’t expect anyone to cut corners or make modifications. God gave the following direction to the Israelites, "See that you make them (i.e. all He commanded) according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

The same applies to us as we live our lives in obedience to God. We get in trouble when we modify God’s word to fit our desires. Consider these words from Deuteronomy:

"So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess." Deuteronomy 5:32-33

Don’t stray off the narrow path that leads toward righteousness. Remaining obedient to God’s word and will keep us from turning "aside to the right or to the left".

4. Ensure you use the right materials. God gave clear instruction about what the Israelites were supposed to use and expected them to follow His guidance. As we discussed yesterday, they were to use only the finest items to construct the place used to worship God. God gave and continue to gives us His best. We are to return the favor.

5. Use your talent and ability to carry out God’s will and glorify Him. You can have all the materials and blueprints in the world but they would be pretty useless with out skilled handy people to take them and make them into something. As we see in our scriptures, the place of worship would involve the work of many people with a variety of skill specialties. No one person would get it done by themselves.

God has blessed us with many gifts as well...gifts we are to use to His glory. Trust that God has not only planted a gift or gifts in you but also knows exactly what He wants you to do with that gift. Seek Him in prayer and meditation over His word daily, asking God to reveal His purpose for you and your talents. As I always like to say, "When you decide to do the Lord’s work, you will always be employed full time with LOTS of overtime."

Question: Have you realized what God’s purpose is for your life? Have you identified the gifts He has placed within you? How well are you carrying out God’s guidance? How acute is your attention to detail when it comes to being obedience to His word and way?

No matter what your answers are, know and trust that God DOES have a plan for you. He wants to use you in powerful ways if you will just surrender yourself to His will, word and way. As we continue to travel through Lent, let us draw near to Jesus who came to live and die for us, so that we might learn to live by way of God’s expectations and carry out His guidelines for living. Thanks be to God for His Son!

In Christ,

Mark

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A HEART FOR GIVING

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"The Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." Exodus 25:1-9

You’ll remember that at the end of Chapter 24, we’re told that Moses entered the cloud and into the presence of God where he would stay for 40 days and 40 nights. As Chapter 25 begins, we find Moses beginning to receive further instruction from the Lord.

You’ll remember that before God had given the people of Israel His commandments and supporting case laws. Now He focuses in on a holy place of worship, a tabernacle which would serve as a portable sanctuary as the Israelites continued their exodus. The tabernacle would need to be built by the people of Israel and would house the blessed Ark of the Covenant once completed. The people were to use it as their place of worship as they traveled and it would remain that way until the time of Solomon who would build a more permanent temple in 960 BC. And as God states at the end of the passage, He will "dwell among" the people of Israel once His sanctuary was constructed.

More is to come on the tabernacle but before it could be built, materials were needed. As we read in today’s passage, God expected the people of Israel to provide the necessary items as a part of their offering…and offering that was to come from "each man whose heart prompts him to give." It’s this command and stipulation that I would light to highlight in today’s devotion because I feel there are three key things God is trying to relay to us, just as He was trying to relay to the people of Israel through Moses.

First, God wants is to give. He wants us to give to Him and He expects us to give to others. A spirit of giving is one of sacrifice. It allows us to turn away from self centeredness and instead focus on making a difference in the lives of God’s children…which incidentally was the essence of what Jesus was all about. For God’s Son was the epitome of giving…never hesitating to give His love, give His teaching and wisdom, give His healing power to others, give new life from death and ultimately give His life for all of us. Indeed, Jesus didn’t just give some things; He gave everything.
God wants us to be like His Son. He wants us to be givers.

Secondly, God wants us to give willingly and from the heart. The scripture said, "…receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give." He could have said, "…receive an offering from every man" but this could have allowed someone to give with a grudge…not doing so because they wanted to but doing so because they had to.

Question: How is your heart when it comes to giving? Does your heart prompt you to give?
God knew that those who were faithful to Him would never resent giving because they realized that everything they had was a result of His blessing and providence. They were only giving back a portion of what God had given to them in the first place. In Second Corinthians, Paul has these powerful words to say about giving:

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

God wants us to give…to give willfully and cheerfully. Do you trust that he will more than provide for your needs as you give? If you do, you will be able to give willingly from the heart and with an attitude of good cheer.

Finally, God expects that we not just give but give our best. He has already reminded the people and Israel several times that He expects their first fruits. His expectations in today’s scripture are no different.

For look at His demands. The metals God asks for (gold, silver and bronze) represent the finest metals available to the Israelites. Colored yarns were made that way by dyes that were extremely expensive. The finest linen was representative of what the royal Egyptians would wear. The goat hair was extremely valuable and would be used to weave tents. Dyed leather from ram skins and the hides of sea cows were also of great worth. The acacia wood was no ordinary wood because it was especially resistant to wood eating insects that might plague the people of Israel during their journey. Olive oil would ensure the people had light in their sanctuary while the anointing oils and incense would transform the tabernacle interior into a fragrant place of worship as the people entered into God’s presence. Precious stones would adorn the ephod or robe of the high priest. Truly, God expected everything offered to be of the best quality. He gave the people of Israel His best. He expected the best back in return.

Question: When you give to God, do you give your best? Or do you give Him a token offering?

As we continue in this Lenten season of reflection, let’s all step back and take an account for all that God has given us. I think when we do, we’ll see how very richly blessed we are, especially when we consider that God was willing to give His one and only Son, Jesus, up to death so we might live. I don’t know about you but I haven’t even come close to repaying God for all he has done for me.

Indeed, God gave up Jesus. What are we willing to give up in return?

In Christ,

Mark

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THE GLORY OF THE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction." Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them." When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights." Exodus 24:9-18

After sealing the covenant between God and the people of Israel, Moses leaves the people who were ordered by God to "not come up with him" (Exodus 24:2b) and begins to climb Mount Sinai with "Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel". And as they went up, scripture tells us they "saw the God of Israel" who had "something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself" under His feet. It’s believed the pavement wasn’t sapphire but lapus lazuli, a precious blue stone laced with golden pyrite. This stone was used to adorn royal chambers and thrones so it was fitting that the Sovereign King of Kings would be standing on pavement made of it.

Now it’s important to note that seeing God was usually not a good thing. In fact, it was typically very dangerous. Consider this passage:

"And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Exodus 33:19-20

Yet, in this case, Moses and the other leaders of Israel were allowed to be in His presence and see Him. Keep in mind that it was God who summoned these men to Him. God asked them to come into His presence and once there, He did not raise his hand against (them)". Instead, the men were allowed to share a covenant meal in the presence of the Almighty. What an awesome experience that must have been!

After the meal, God calls on Moses to "come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction." Moses obeys after giving the following guidance to the other religious leaders:

The elders of the people of Israel were told to "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them."

Moses was going to be away for quite awhile…forty days and forty nights. So he appointed Aaron and Hur to serve as mediators should any disputes break out amongst the people while he was away. They were also to make sure the people of Israel stayed obedient to the promises they made with God. As we’ll soon see, they failed miserably.

So "Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and…went up on the mountain of God." As Moses climbed the mountain, scripture tells us "the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai." The "cloud covered the mountain" for six days and "on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud." And we read that "Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain" and "stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

Moses, his fellow Israelite leaders and the people of Israel all saw the "glory of the Lord". What did this "glory of the Lord" look like? Well, Moses may have seen a cloud but "to the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire". This led me to ponder a question that I will ask to you now. What does the glory of God look like to you? Do we not see His glory evident each and every day? Have you ever thought about the ways you get to experience God’s glory each and every day?
As I think about it, I can’t help but come up with so many ways that I see God’s glory in play each and every day. Whether it’s a cloudless, moonlit, star-filled sky or a blazing sunset or a miraculous work of healing or a newborn baby, all the same…it’s a clear reminder of God’s remarkable, wondrous glory. It was the same glory that shone around the shepherds who were tending their fields by night as a Savior was born unto them in a tiny town called Bethlehem. And the same glory that saw this Savior arise from the tomb, resurrected after dying from crucifixion just three days earlier.

Friends, indeed God’s glory is everywhere around us. All that we know, all that we have, and all that we are is because of Him. Indeed, even we are a part of His glorious handiwork. And just as He gives us so much glory, so too are we to return the glory to Him and be acutely aware of all He has done.

As we reflect on His glory this Lenten season…a glory that would bring us a glorious, Great Deliverer in His only Son, Jesus Christ, let us ever commit to glorifying Him with our every deed, word and thought. It’s the least we can do for the One who has given it all for us through the sacrificing of His Son so we might live and live forever with Him in glory. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." Exodus 24:4b-8

Moses had finished briefing the people of Israel on the guidance from God and had then written down "everything the Lord had said". After resting overnight, we read that "he got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel". His actions were part of the standard preparations that took place when a covenant making ceremony was about to occur. In this instance, Moses and the people of Israel were about to seal their covenant with God at Mount Sinai. The twelve stone pillars erected around the altar represented all the Israelite people who were divided among the "twelve tribes of Israel".

Once the altar was constructed, the second part of the covenant ceremony began. This involved young bulls sacrificed as fellowship offerings to God. Moses took half of the bull’s blood and sprinkled it on the altar…an act meant to serve as a sin offering to establish or restore a covenant relationship between the people and God.

The ceremony then turned toward a renewing of the covenant. In our scriptures we read where Moses "took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people." This Book of the Covenant included the words of God from Exodus 19, the Ten Commandments of Chapter 20 (also referred to as the Decalogue) and the case laws listed in Exodus 20:22 to 23:33. And just as we saw at the beginning of Chapter 24, the people, upon hearing God’s guidance, responded by saying, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." What didn’t happen at the beginning of the chapter that happened now is what Moses did to the people. For the scriptures tell us that Moses took the blood (the other half of the sacrificed bull’s blood), and sprinkled it on the people saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." In other words, the blood sealed the covenant between God and His people.

This wasn’t the first time that blood played a role in the lives of the people of Israel. You’ll remember that it was the blood spread along the doorposts of the Israelite homes in Egypt that resulted in the angel of death "passing over" those residences as all the firstborn of Egypt were killed. Blood had brought salvation to Israel’s future generation.

Fast forward to the days of Jesus…days that we are to be reflecting on during this Lenten season.
And as we reflect, we should remember the words of John as He spoke about Jesus who was walking toward him. John said, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Indeed, Jesus was to be the unblemished Lamb of God who would offer Himself up as a sin sacrifice for all mankind. As He hung from the cross…broken, battered and bruised…Jesus shed His blood as a sign of His Father’s covenant with His children. The blood of Jesus had brought salvation to all of creation’s future generations. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Question: Do you have a covenant relationship with your personal Savior, Jesus Christ…the One who bled and died so the price for your sins could be paid in full…the One who by shedding His blood allowed you to enter into eternal life with Him and the Father? If so, then continue to strengthen your covenant relationship with Him each and every day. If not, then the time is now to enter into that covenant. For as He shared His Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus "took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Today, we repeat these actions of Jesus during the church sacrament of Holy Communion. The emphasis is still on the blood of the covenant as it was shed to bring forgiveness of sins but this blood no longer came from any animal sacrifice but instead from Jesus…not sprinkled on an altar or people but drank as a symbolic connection between man, God and eternal life…and not just for Israel but for all.

Are you a child of the covenant? It’s not too late.

Thanks be to God for His covenant with us and His love as shown in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ…the Lamb of God and our Savior. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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PUT IT IN WRITING

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him." When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the Lord has said we will do." Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said." Exodus 24:1-4

As we enter Chapter 24, God is ready to seal His covenant with the people of Israel. He had provided the people with a lot of guidance and direction through Moses which included the Ten Commandments and the reinforcing case laws. The people of Israel were expected to follow God’s directives in complete obedience to Him.

The beginning verses have God telling Moses to "come up to" Him but not alone. He was to bring his older brother Aaron as well as Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel. Nadab and Abihu were the next two high priests in line after their father and the elders were summoned to represent the twelve tribes. Interestingly enough, this is what elders do today in the church…represent their respective congregations in spiritual leadership. The elders being there was to be representative of God’s covenant being made with all the tribes people.

Notice that Aaron, his sons and the elders were only allowed to go so far with Moses and then were to "worship at a distance". Only Moses was allowed to have the special honor and privilege to approach the Lord. And the people were to stay behind all together.

So given this direction, Moses first addressed the people of Israel, telling them "all the Lord's words and laws". As we have seen, there were a lot of them so it must have taken awhile. After Moses finishes, we see a remarkable response by the people who say "with one voice", ‘Everything the Lord has said we will do." Notice that the people never ask a question, not even for clarification of a point. It’s as if they perfectly understood everything the very first time they heard it.

I wonder if the people of Israel truly understood everything that was expected of them. I mean, the Lord was asking them to do a lot and there were a ton of commandments and laws they were to adhere to. Yet, they asked no questions.

Question: Do you perfectly understand everything the Lord expects from you? Unless you’re studying the scriptures every single day, your answer to this question cannot possibly be yes. For inside the books of the bible you will find God’s instruction manual for life…and life everlasting. And we only have these scriptures because people in biblical times wrote down what God expected. Notice that this is what Moses did as soon as He received the words of the Lord.

Question: Do you write down what the Lord says to you? Do you hear Him speaking to you every day? Are you even listening for Him or entering into conversation with Him?

I can tell you from testimony that God is ready to speak to your heart, mind and soul every day. You just need to turn your life’s focus over to His will and way for your life. Day after day as I sit to write these blog entries, I begin with a blank Microsoft Word document and somehow end up with something of substance that blesses so many people who read my entries. Where does this substance come from? Only from the Lord as He speaks to my heart each and every day. And as He does, I, like Moses, write down "everything the Lord had said".

This Lenten season, why not start to make this part of your daily reflection and meditation as you prayerfully study the scriptures and enter into daily communion with the Father? When God speaks it’s important so write down everything He says to you…and then share it with others so they can be blessed by the same words.

If you do this, I think you’ll find that your daily spiritual time with the Lord will be greatly enhanced as you’ll have a record of all that the Lord has said to you so you can know what He expects and be able to proclaim, "Everything the Lord has said I will do."

In Christ,

Mark

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THE SHEEP AND THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

In lieu of an entry from Exodus today, I am posting the sermon I delivered at my parent’s church, Good Shepherd United Methodist, in Hazen, Pennsylvania. Hope you enjoy it.

The Sheep and the Good Shepherd

Since Lent is supposed to be a time of reflection about Jesus and how we can change our lives to be more like Him, I began to reflect on what to write about and say to you today. I began to think about your church and how it’s been such a blessing to my family now for around 15 years. And as I thought about the church, the first thing that came to mind is its wonderful name…Good Shepherd United Methodist.

It was this name that led me to today’s message as I began to think about this congregation as a flock under the guidance and protection of the Good Shepherd and so my remarks today are intended to focus on our place in Creation and our purpose under the Almighty Protector and Provider you have named your church after…the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

But before we can start talking about a shepherd…any shepherd, let alone the Good Shepherd…we need to talk about sheep. I mean after all, isn’t a shepherd a little useless without sheep. To use a Naval analogy…it would sort of be like a Navy Captain with a mighty ship and no Sailors to man it.

So let’s talk about sheep…and when we discuss sheep, we need to see how we share things in common with them. After all, why would the analogy be drawn in the scriptures if we didn’t have a lot of similarities. So bear with me a few moments as I talk about sheep, some of their core behavioral traits and how this connects to us.

First, sheep have a strong instinct to follow. They will follow a shepherd or, in the absence of a shepherd, they will follow another sheep if it decides to stray away from the flock. Bad things typically happen when a sheep tries to lead the flock without a shepherd. In fact, more than a few flocks have fallen off cliffs or drowned in lakes because they followed another sheep who led them the wrong way. Recently, 400 sheep died in eastern Turkey when one of the sheep tried to cross a deep ravine. The rest of the flock followed it.

Like the sheep, we don’t do too well either when we follow someone other than the Good Shepherd. Many people have been led astray and into harm’s way by someone they thought were leading them in the right way. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, warned us to be on the lookout for false teachers and what did He say about them? That they would be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Indeed, we need to be careful to make sure we’re following the Good Shepherd, not Satan…the deceiver who comes as the wolf wearing sheep’s clothing.

The second thing about sheep is that they like to stay together in the company of one another. Or in other words, they like to flock. They do so for companionship and protection because there is power in numbers and they are far less likely to be attacked by a predator when they stay together than if they scatter and stray.

We too are social in nature. We like to have companionship and be around others. We find a sense of comfort and protection when we’re together…far more than we do when we’re alone. In worship, we gather as a flock and bring praise to our Good Shepherd while learning where He wants us to go. Remember that we are followers by nature.

A third thing about sheep. Sheep have a tendency to stray and get lost…and when they do, they are in danger and very vulnerable to attack. We too stray and lose our way. Maybe you can relate. If you’ve strayed in the past, you can testify to how Satan had His way with you while you were out of the care of the Good Shepherd. I know I can. If you are straying right now, run and run as fast as you can back into the arms of Jesus. Because trust these words of Peter when he said: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Don’t offer yourself to the devil as a main course. Run to the waiting arms of the Good Shepherd and never stray again.

Finally, sheep devote more time to eating and sleeping than anything else. As for us…Do I really need to tell you how much we’re alike them in this category? smile

You get the point…we’re more like sheep than we might want to admit and it’s obvious that we are in need of a shepherd just as much as sheep. Praise God that in Jesus, we have a Good Shepherd and we know we have Him because the bible tells us so. Let’s turn to the scriptures to see what they have to say about the Good Shepherd.

Please turn with me to the Gospel of John, Chapter 10, verses 1-16:

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

From this scripture we see four main points about the Good Shepherd and in place of using the word "sheep" I will insert words that refer to us so we can glean the intent that Jesus meant as He shared this message:

The Good Shepherd leads us…and those who are part of His flock listen to His voice. We know our Shepherd because the Shepherd spends a great deal of time with his flock. He loves His flock and will do anything to ensure they are cared for properly, even if it means dying for them…I’ll touch more on that later. In fact, this Good Shepherd knows us so well that He knows us by name and He leads us to special, holy places.

Please turn with me to six of the most beloved verses in the Old Testament…the 23rd Psalm. David wrote this Psalm over 2,000 years ago and those in Christ Jesus can attest to the truth of His words to this very day. Hear this word of the Lord:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

This Good Shepherd knows us by name and leads us to green pastures…Where we are always nourished and able to rest. When we follow the Good Shepherd, we will always find ourselves fed and resting in comfort.

He also leads us besides quiet waters…and it’s here that we find peace and quench our thirst for holiness…a holiness that can only be found in Him.

He guides us on the paths of righteousness…The Good Shepherd always leads us on the right path. We need not worry about where to go because He guides us where He wants us.

And He is such a strong protector that we can even be led through the valley of the shadow of death and not be fearful. For our Shepherd has a powerful Rod and Staff that will ward off any enemy and no matter how precarious our walk might be with Him, He always knows how to steer us through trouble.

Shouldn’t we just praise God that we have such an awesome Good Shepherd who leads us!

But that isn’t all…

For our Good Shepherd also saves us.

Listen again to the words of our Shepherd from John 10 as He says, "…I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

When we decide to follow the Good Shepherd and pass through His gate to join His Flock, we are saved! Alleluia! We come in…and go out…and find pasture…not the dead fields of desolation we walked through when we were lost and without purpose but the green pastures of hope we now have through the saving deliverance of the Good Shepherd…the Good Shepherd who came to give us life and life everlasting.

And this leads to the third main point about the Good Shepherd…He willingly died for us. Once again, hear these words from John’s gospel:

"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Notice that we can only be saved by the Good Shepherd. Anyone else who might claim they can save us is no more than a hired hand who will flee when real danger comes near. Only Jesus, the Good Shepherd, can have victory over Satan…who is akin to the wolf who wishes only to attack, scatter and devour the flock. Indeed, the Good Shepherd did lay down His life for us, His sheep…willing to pay the price for our sins and in doing so, delivering us from certain death to life…and He did so willingly because He loved us. Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah who spoke about the Good Shepherd before He even existed. Isaiah said in Chapter 58, verses 6 through 8:

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him (the Good Shepherd) the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away."

Indeed…falsely accused, mocked, beaten, bruised, broken and crucified, the Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep…His sheep who had gone astray…for all of us. But even death could not stop the Good Shepherd…No! Because this is no ordinary shepherd…this is a Shepherd who was also the Messiah…our Savior,Redeemer and Friend.

And we know that death could not keep this Good Shepherd…our Good Shepherd in the grave. In fact, our Good Shepherd is still looking to add to His flock. For Jesus said in John 10, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

Jesus, the Good Shepherd was not stopped at death. Truly, He was just getting started.

So how does this Good Shepherd bring more sheep into His flock? Well, He guides us, His sheep, to help Him find other sheep. Here’s the direction He has given us…I’ll be reading from Matthew 28, verses 16 to 20:

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The Good Shepherd still leads us to green pastures, quiet waters, along paths of rightousness and through the valley of the shadow of death…and all along the way, He has us seek other sheep to join the flock. These sheep have the same opportunity to enter through His gate as we did, the same opportunity to find their own salvation. And once through the gate, they too will come to know and listen to His voice and seek to join us in expanding the flock even more.

So Jesus…the Good Shepherd…leads us, saves us, He died for us, and still seeks to add to His flock through us but there’s one other important point about the Good Shepherd that we must remember. For one day, He is going to return and lead His flock again here on earth. And we know He will return because His word tells us so. Turn to Matthew 25, verses 31-33:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left."

Friends…the Good Shepherd may have laid down His life for His sheep but He is returning for His flock at a time when He will gather them for the last time. Never again will they be scattered or lost but they will gather with Him for all eternity.

Question: Are you one of the sheep in the flock of the Good Shepherd? Do you even know Him? If not, today you have a chance to meet Him at the gate, entering the flock and into His care.

If you’re in the flock, how well have you been following the Good Shepherd in your life? Have you strayed and found yourself vulnerable and under attack by Satan?

Well today, I have good news for you. For you can run back into the arms of the Good Shepherd who is ready to take you back into the flock and rejoice over your return.

Friends, your church has a wonderful, blessed name...Good Shepherd. Let us ever praise God for His Son, Jesus, the eternal Good Shepherd…and praise Him as well for watching over and keeping this flock. May He continue to bless you and provide for you all. Amen.

BENEDICTION FROM HEBREWS 13:20-21

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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WHAT SHOULD WE GIVE? EVERYTHING.

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. "I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
"I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you." Exodus 23:20-33

The people of Israel had made it as far as Mount Sinai in their exodus toward the Promised Land. They had received guidance from God as to how He expected them to live in the way of many commandments. Now God was finally send them off to inherit the land He had "prepared" for them but He had some additional words of instruction that fits the classic "if, then" statement. Let’s take a look at what God said.

He said He was sending an angel with Israel to guard them as they traveled to the Promised Land. This angel would "go ahead of" Israel and "bring (them) into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites" after which God promised to "wipe them out." He also told them he would "not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you." Instead, He would drive them out "little by little" until Israel had "increased enough to take possession of the land." This land would range "from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River." God assured Israel that He would "hand over to you the people who live in the land" and they were to "drive them out." God said a lot here and made many promises…but it was all part of the "then" portion of the "if, then" statement. Let’s look at the "if" part.

For the people of Israel were expected to comply with several very specific requirements:

1. They were to obey the angel God sent. God tells them to "Pay attention to him and listen to what he says." Why? Because the angel was speaking as a messenger from God. Disobedience toward the angel was akin to disobedience toward God. God added, "If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you." In other words, "If you do this, then I will do this." Or conversely, "If you don’t do this, then I won’t do this."

2. They weren’t to rebel. God warned the people, "Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him." Once again, the angel was a representative of God and to rebel against the angel would be the same as rebelling against God. This was not acceptable.

3. They were to keep God’s commandments. God had clearly told the people of Israel to have no other gods before Him and to worship no idols or graven images. You’ll remember that He added He was a jealous God. Well, He backed up all this when He told the people, "Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces... Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you." God knew well in advance that this matter of worshipping false gods would be the perpetual stumbling block for Israel, especially since they were about to integrate with so many polytheistic societies such as "the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites." Unfortunately, we know the people of Israel failed in this area more than any other. They just couldn’t seem to resist the temptations presented by the world they were about to enter into.

So in sum, if the people of Israel listened to the angel of God, obeyed the angel and resisted worshipping false gods, then God would make sure they were protected and cared for as they inhabited the land He had promised to their forefather Abraham. This "if, then" arrangement was also commonly referred to as a covenant agreement and the people of Israel were about to break it and break it badly. And God, as He promised, would remove His protection over Israel and they would be taken from their blessed land. The Assyrians and Babylonian loom large in their future.

Fast forwarding to today, I wonder how God feels about us? How often do we fall into the temptations of this world? How often are we worshipping other "gods" outside of Him? How often do we fail to listen to Him? How often do we choose to rebel against Him? And what in store for us for failing in any or all of these areas? Do we underestimate the power of the Maker of all Creation? Do we see our very lives as anything less than an awesome privilege granted by the Almighty Infinite God?

Friends, we need to bow down and repent…all of us. Because we, like Israel, have too often chosen to just snub our noses at God in complete irreverence. He has given us everything and we have done little to return the favor. This Lenten season, as we reflect on God’s greatest sacrifice in His only Son, Jesus, let us focus on how we might give Him more of ourselves. It’s the least we can give for all He has given us.

In Christ,

Mark

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REMEMBER....

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed. Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk." Exodus 23:14-19

In today’s scripture, God has concluded His reinforcement of the law by way of additional commands and turns attention toward three special festivals that He expected the people to celebrate every year. Each of these festivals represented an important event in history for the people of Israel and God’s intention was for them to never forget how He delivered them and provided for their needs. Let’s take a look at each of these festivals:

Festival 1. The Feast of Unleavened Bread. God’s guidance in Exodus 23 was as follows, "for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt." This festival would occur right around the time of the barley harvest and was intended to commemorate the beginning of the exodus…God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt. And this wasn’t the first time that God had told His people they were to celebrate this feast. You’ll recall in Exodus 12 that God provided the following guidance just before the people of Israel prepared for the Passover:

"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread." Exodus 12:17-20

So the guidance was clear and so was God’s expectation. It was up to the people of Israel to comply. The feast lasted for seven days beginning with Passover and today, this feast is still celebrated as careful preparation is made to ensure nothing no leavened bread is present in the household in preparation for the Passover.

Festival 2. The festival of the Feast of Harvest, also referred to as the Feast of Weeks. Here’s God’s word from Exodus 23, "Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field." This festival was held seven weeks after the Feast of Unleavened Bread and thus why it was often referred to as the Feast of Weeks. During this celebration, God expected the people of Israel to bring to Him the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. You’ll recall that the matter of firstfruits runs prevalent in scripture and it refers to us giving God our best first in reverence and honor to Him. One point of special interest…in the New Testament, this celebration would end up being called "The Day of Pentecost". More guidance on this feast as well as the others can be found in Leviticus 23.

Festival 3. The festival of the Feast of the Ingathering, also referred to Feast of the Tabernacles or Feast of the Booths (because the people of Israel lived in temporary shelters when God delivered them from Egypt). Again, here was the word of God, "Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field." This festival came at the end of the year in early autumn as the olives and grapes were harvested or ingathered. The festival was meant to pay homage to the desert wilderness wandering that the people of Israel endured during the exodus.

So three major festivals…each having to do with the harvests (celebration of God’s goodness, providence and provision) and historical (in remembrance of all God has done or them). And one other important point…attendance wasn’t optional for we read God’s commanding, "Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord." And they weren’t just to appear but come prepared to offer something to God (God commanded that "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.")

Fast forward to today and other times of remembrance. At this moment, we are in the midst of the Lenten season…a 40 day period of reflection on Jesus, our Savior. We also reflect and remember God’s goodness, providence and provision for truly He so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall never perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Easter Sunday is quickly approaching as we joyfully celebrate Jesus rising from the tomb, defeating death through resurrection and paving the way for us to follow. Keep in mind however that before we get there, we must go through the dark sadness of Good Friday and Jesus’ crucifixion. Both equally need to be on our mind as we move through Lent for as a former pastor used to say, "You can’t have Easter without Good Friday." In other words, you couldn’t have had the resurrection without the crucifixion. Remember this as you reflect on Jesus and the love of the Father for the remainder of this Lenten season and beyond. He gave it all for you and I but not before living life to the fullest…all in service to anyone who was in need…always in the spirit of love. All thanks, glory, honor and praise are to Him, now and forever more. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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"BE CAREFUL TO DO EVERYTHING I HAVE SAID TO YOU" - GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips." Exodus 23:13

Today’s verse from Exodus 23 has two important parts to it, one firmly anchored and connected to the other.

First, God instructs Israel and us as well to "Be careful to do everything I have said to you." As we have read, God has had a lot to say already to Israel and, when it comes to us, He has certainly said much more. In order for us to obey the first part of the passage, we had better know what He said and thus the importance of bible study each and every day. How can you know what God has said if you don’t read it?

Notice that God doesn’t say "do most everything that I have said to you" but rather "do everything I have said to you." There’s no wiggle room here because if we are to be holy as God is holy…if we are to be as He created us, in His own image…then we must obey all He has said.

So why do we fail in this? Well, because we’re sinners and prone to want to fulfill our own desires before fulfilling God’s. The world, Satan’s domain and playground, offers a lot of enticing things to try and lead the children of God astray. Too often, we fall prey to these temptations. We seek joy and pleasure in the wrong places and end up distancing ourselves from the One who alone can bring us the greatest joy and pleasure…the One who alone can offer us hope both now and after death through His only Son, Jesus.

Well, the second part of the scripture for today deals with false gods, something you’ll remember that God commanded us about. Recall the first two of the ten commandments in Exodus 20. God said:

"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…" Exodus 20:3-5

Our scripture today reminds us that we are not to call on the name of any false god. That we’re not to let them be heard on our lips. We’ve looked at this subject of false gods before. Here’s an excerpt from the "No Other Gods" entry of January 21st:

"There are any of a number of "gods" we can prescribe to...money, sex, celebrity, alcohol or drugs, food, television, video games, work and success...I could go on and on. Ask yourself this question...What do you invest most of your time in? What most occupies and governs your every action, your every word spoken, your every thought? If it's anything outside of God, then you may need to reassess your life priorities. He expects us to place Him and His Son Jesus above all things in our life. They have given us their all in delivering us to this time and place. God expects us to give Him the same, worshipping Him always...for all things are in and through Him."

In the times of Israel, it wasn’t uncommon for polytheistic societies to call on their gods at any time while they were doing anything (i.e harvesting, praying, worshipping, sacrificing, etc). There was a god for almost everything. Here’s an excerpt from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary and the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament:

"The pagan civilizations of Bible times worshiped many gods. They had male and female deities, high and low gods, assemblies of gods, priests and priestesses, and temples and sacrifices. All the forces of nature that could not be controlled or understood were considered supernatural powers to be worshiped and feared. Most of the people of the ancient world worshiped more than one god. These gods were worshiped in the form of representative idols. This practice is called idolatry. The pagan nations made statues or images to represent the powers which they worshiped. Most of these idols were in the form of animals or men. Each civilization and culture had its own mythological structure, but these structures were often quite similar. The names of the gods may have been different, but their functions and actions were often the same. The most prominent myth to cross cultural lines was that of the fertility cycle. Many pagan cultures believed that the god of fertility died each year during the winter but was reborn each year in the spring."

"The ancient Babylonian and Assyrian goddess Ishtar symbolized Mother Earth in the natural cycles of fertility on earth. Many myths grew up around this female deity. She was the goddess of love, so the practice of ritual prostitution became widespread in the fertility cult dedicated to her name. Temples to Ishtar had many priests and priestesses, or sacred prostitutes, who symbolically acted out the fertility rites of the cycle of nature. Ishtar has been identified with the Phoenician Astarte, the Semitic Ashtoreth, the Egyptian Isis, the Greek Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus. Ishtar's male fertility counterpart was Tamuz who was closely associated with the Canaanite fertility god, Baal."

"Adremelech was a god worshiped by child sacrifice. Egyptians gods were figures of men with heads of animal or birds. The Canaanite god most often referred to is Baal who was thought to provide productive forces of nature. Baal was worshiped with much sensuality. As with the male shrine prostitutes. Baal and related deities are also portrayed as a mating bull, symbolizing fertility."

Truly, there were competing factions against God then and there still are today. It’s no wonder then that God wanted us to understand His expectations in the face of the temptations of worshipping false gods and idols. For when we call on things that are not of God and invest our time in them, we turn our worship toward them and less toward the One we should be worshipping. Sometimes we even deify other human beings. I had a brief discussion with someone over the matter of science the other day. He said that Christians all feel science is bad. I disagreed with him. For if science were bad, God wouldn’t allow it. Science, like other things, is a gift from God. He blesses others with the knowledge and use of it to bless His children in many ways. But, like in so many other things, man takes something that God intended to be a blessing and abuses it. Too many scientists forget that it is by way of God that they are able to do the things they do. They seek to take all the credit for their work and thus seek to deify themselves. To them and so many others, science becomes a religion and tries to transcend the One who created it in the first place. If they would only read the Word would show them that this is a fleeting endeavor because God is ready to frustrate and judge anyone or anything who tries to rival Him as a god.

David said in the 16th Psalm, "The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods." (Psalm 16:4) Clearly God is not pleased with us when we focus on false gods and not on Him and what He has commanded. In fact, He has shown before that He will take action when false gods are worshipped. Consider these passages from two Old Testament prophets:

"I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked." Hosea 2:17

"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more," declares the Lord Almighty. "I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land." Zechariah 13:1-2

Truly, one of the things that angers God more than anything is worshipping anything or anyone more than Him. Question: Where are you at in your worshipping? Who do you dedicate your life to the most? Who do you call on when you are in need? Who do you rely on to guide and direct you in life? In the final translation, there is only one answer to these questions and it is God. Be careful to do everything He has said to you.

In Christ,

Mark

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TIME TO FOCUS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove." Exodus 23:10-11

As I prepared for this devotional, I ran onto a word I haven’t seen in some time. In fact, I have to admit that I had to look it up to make sure I understood it’s full meaning. The word in question: fallow.

In regard to the scripture today, it explains the state of the fields, vineyards and olive groves during each seventh year as commanded by God in this passage. The people of Israel were not to sow, prune, plow or cultivate the land in that seventh year…a year that would come to be known as the Sabbath year (see Leviticus 25:1-7). Just as God rested on the seventh day as He created everything, so too would the people be expected to allow the land to rest every seventh year.

You’ll also recall that when the Israelites had begun their exodus from Egypt to Mount Sinai, they became hungry and cried out to the Lord. God answered their needs with quail and then daily manna in the mornings with the exception of one day…that’s right…the seventh and Sabbath day. The people were directed to gather enough manna on the sixth day to carry over to the seventh so they would have something to eat on that seventh day. It was the only day that the manna would not spoil if held overnight. (For review, see Exodus 16)

So this command from God was not without some precedent. It was consistent in God placing special significance and honor to the Sabbath. It also had some other underlying intentions though:

1. It gave the land a rest. Constantly farming land over time can eventually deplete soil of its nutrients. Allowing the land to go untended for every seventh year would ensure that the crops would still be plentiful in the other six.

2. It provided for the poor and the wild animals. Without the land being worked, it would still provide food and although it was not as plentiful a harvest as when the land was worked, still the land would produce and provide for everyone with special emphasis given by God to the poor and the wild animals. God cared for all His creation.

3. It taught the people to have faith and dependence on God. The natural inclination would be for people to want to be in control and make sure they harvested the crops on their own so they could eat and make a living. But God wanted to people to see that the land…the Holy Land that He created…would produce food without the farmers doing anything. They would learn of God’s providence and goodness as he provided for their needs, even when they were doing nothing but resting. And that leads to my final point:

4. It made the people rest from their labors. Working the fields was hard work year after year to bring the harvest. Any farmer or vineyard worker will tell you how much time goes into working the land, planting the seed, harvesting the crop or pruning the vines. The Sabbath year would give the farmers a year off from doing anything to the land or the vines…and give them more time to focus on God.

More time to focus on God. Isn’t that something we could all pray for today? As we continue through this Lenten season, let’s see what we might be able to stop doing to turn our attention toward God and the only Son, Jesus, that He sent from Heaven to earth to save us all. If we really take account of our daily schedules, we can find time that we can receive our spiritual daily bread through communion with Him and His Word.

In Christ,

Mark

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HE IS GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit. Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous." Exodus 23:2-3, 7-8

Today’s scriptures deal with the matter of judgment and one certainty arises from the verses: God commands fairness in justice. Let’s look at three main points raised here because they are points still valid today.

First, there is the matter of fairness. Notice in the verses that there is equal attention given to the poor as there is to the rich. God tells Israel that "favoritism" should not be shown "to a poor man in his lawsuit" and to "not deny justice to your poor people in…lawsuits." In other words, a person should not receive judgment based on his or her status but rather on the crime he or she has committed. God wanted the judges and courts to be focused on the crime more than the criminal.

This makes me wonder about our current day legal system. Do people receive preferential treatment based on who they are and not what they’ve done? And I’m not talking about a judge taking into consideration whether a person has a prior record of offenses. That is taking prior crimes or the lake thereof into consideration to make sure the judgment is proper and fair. No…what I’m talking about is the celebrity who gets treated differently than the common man or woman just because they’re famous. We see and hear about it happening all the time. The powerful, rich and famous too often walk while the ordinary get punished. This is just what God was warning against over 2,000 years ago. And before I get too focused on the rich and famous, this applies equally to the poor who might be given lighter sentencing because they don’t have much. Don’t read this as saying we should not be merciful because we should. But why would God, the King of Mercy say to not show favoritism to a poor man? Why would He also say, "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits?" Because regardless of our financial standing, sometimes punishment is just what we need to get us on the right track toward holiness. Sometimes we need to be corrected and experience consequence.

Secondly, there was a matter of false testimony. I’ve written about this at length in prior devotions but God reinforces what He has already said on this matter by saying, "I will not acquit the guilty." In other words, the ones who bear false witness which leads to an innocent person dying will not receive pardon from the Almighty Infinite Father. These are strong words and rightfully so. No innocent person should be put to death for something they didn’t do. It was the ultimate act of injustice and thus received the ultimate penalty…the loss of God’s forgiveness.

Finally, there was the matter of bribery. Judges back in the Old Testament days were just as vulnerable to bribery as judges are today. God strictly forbade justice based on payments from the accused because He knew the adverse effects that bribery had on justice. He didn’t want anyone to buy their way out of judgment but rather take whatever penalty was warranted for their actions.
From our scripture, God tells Israel that bribery "blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous." In other words, the judge was blinded to ensuring the process was fair because he was bound by the bribe to favor the one who paid him, despite whatever the person who was innocent (the righteous) might have to say. Money trumped testimony and funded final decisions.

Today, we still see bribery in the news. A quick search on Yahoo will show you that it is alive and well. One thing is certain, God can’t be any too pleased with the way our courts administer justice today. As we see as in so many other places in the bible, we have yet to learn although the words of God are clear. The matter might lead you to just throw your hands up and give up, feeling that we’ll never truly live in a society that is just and fair. But we’re not really as far away as we might think…just as in so many other things we lament about. Because the key to us getting on track toward a world that is holy and righteous in God’s sight, is every man and woman turning their hearts and minds over to God Himself. Everything wrong about the world would change in the blink of an eye. This continues to be my prayer each and every day. That there would be a global change of heart toward God and His Son, Jesus.

Will you join me in this prayer this day and forever more? And before you think I’m dreaming…think about the One who we are praying to…the One who created us and everything we know. Do you not think He could snap His Almighty Fingers and make anything happen at any time? Believe that He can. For He is God.

In Christ,

Mark

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DOING GOOD TO ALL

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it." Exodus 23:4-5

Have you ever experienced a time when someone helped you in some special way? Maybe this person was familiar to you…a family member or friend…and came through at a time they knew you needed help. Maybe the person was a complete stranger to you who saw you were in need and extended their assistance to you, never expecting anything in return but just wanting to help you in a time of need. Sadly, we rarely even get to know these strangers who do acts of kindness for us, remembering the experience but not necessarily the name. And maybe that’s the way God wants it to be. For I believe He would put emphasis on the act of kindness more than the person who is doing the act. And the main outcome from the kind works of another is that we are often affected in a way that makes us feel good inside and, in my opinion, prepped to do the same toward another person.

In today’s passage from Exodus, chapter 23, God gives the people of Israel direction as to how to respond when they get faced with opportunities to do something good and make a difference. But there is a twist involved. For God isn’t talking about doing acts of kindness to strangers or family or friends but rather to an enemy or to someone who hates you. As God so often does, He challenges us to move beyond the realm of the world who would say hate those who hate you and be an enemy to those who are your enemies.

Question: How well do you help those who hate you? Would you even consider helping someone you consider to be an enemy?

Left to our own devices, we would turn our backs on anyone who treats us badly. But that isn’t what the Lord requires. Let’s see what else God’s word says on this matter to further reinforce God’s word in Exodus.

Here’s a passage from Proverbs…"If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you." (Proverbs 25:21-22) Your enemy doesn’t expect that you will do anything good for them. When you do treat them well despite the way they treat you, the Lord will convict them for their actions against you and their conscienceness will be seared by the "burning coals" heaped on it. This act of conviction by way of the Holy Spirit can help move your enemy toward realizing their wrongs and considering reconciliation.

Consider this passage from 1st Peter… "Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:13-17) Have you ever thought that our decision to not love or care for an enemy makes us just as bad as they are? What really separates us from them and the world if we don’t respond with the same forgiving, compassionate words of Christ on the cross who said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do"? Indeed, if we want to show Jesus is in our hearts, we are to love others, even our enemies, so that we will have a clear conscience while our enemies are left "ashamed of their slander".

But what gets in the way of us loving our enemies? Paul gives us the reason in Romans…"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:21-25) Satan does not want reconciliation. He would rather everyone be at odds, immersed in hatred, resentment and conflict. These things are not of Christ and take us away from His commands to love. Interestingly enough, Jesus mentions love in 75 verses of the gospels while hate gets mentioned 22 times. You tell me where the greater emphasis is.

Here’s what Jesus, the One who rescues us from our bodies of death, had to say on this matter of loving enemies…"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:27-28, 35-36) It’s about love and this leads us to mercy and grace…the same love, mercy and grace that has us here this very moment while I am writing and you are soon to be reading. If God can love us and forgive us despite our sinfulness, then we can love and forgive one another…even our enemies.

And if we do so…if we can let the words of these scriptures penetrate our hearts and realize that we are truly "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10) When we surrender our will to His and allow Him to guide us through any and all situations in life, including relationships with friend and foe, we can hopefully echo the words and feelings of the Teacher in Ecclesiastes when he wrote, "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." (Ecclesiastes 3:12) Through Jesus Christ living within our hearts, we can do just that. Do you have Him in your heart today?

In Christ,

Mark

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REPEATING THE PAST?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd…" Exodus 23:1-2

Chapter 23 of Exodus continues with God’s guidance to the people of Israel. The first two verses reinforce the 9th commandment where God said, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." (Exodus 20:16) Taken together, it’s very obvious that the Lord despises false witnessing, lying, slander, gossip or any other action we take that might propagate wrong against another. This included not standing up for what is right in the midst of others that are doing wrong. Truly, God commanded us to dare to be different. To be the one voice that would cry out in the midst of injustice and remind others of the wrongs of their ways, not in our sight but in the sight of the Lord Himself.

Unfortunately, people too often fail in any or all of these areas. Ask yourself these questions:

- Have I ever spread a false report about anybody? This would include either starting or spreading a rumor about another, engaging in gossip about someone or lying about someone, especially falsely claiming they did or said something they didn’t.

- Have I ever lied to cover up a wrong that someone else committed? My mother used to always teach me that two wrongs don’t make a right. This wasn’t as much her teaching as it was the very teaching of God. By lying to cover up the wrong of another, we have become just as guilty as the one who committed the offense. There’s a name for it in the legal circles today. It’s called obstruction of justice.

- Have I ever gone along with the crowd, even though I knew they were doing or saying things that were not consistent with God’s commandments and expectations? Have I ever failed to speak up for what was right…for the truth in the midst of others who were doing wrong, choosing instead to stay silent? In the end, staying quiet is just as bad as doing the act yourself. It’s sinful and disobedient.

If we’re totally honest with ourselves, I think we can see where we have all failed in any one or more of these areas. Is it any wonder why God had to bring it up? He knew it was going to be a problem then and He knew it would be a problem today. Such is the depth of His wisdom.

Well, since we are in the midst of Lent, I wanted to show you an example of how destructive it can be when we decide to bear false witness, slander another and then go along with the crowd instead of doing what is right. Let’s rewind back to the days of Jesus.

The Pharisees, chief priests and elders were so threatened by Jesus and His ministry that they felt the only way to stop Him was to kill Him. So in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was arrested after being betrayed by Judas and was taken before the Sanhedrin. Of interest, Jesus was never told why He was being arrested or what He was being charged with.

Once taken before the Sanhedrin, scripture tells us this:

"…the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’" Matthew 26:59-61

The Jewish religious leaders had so much hatred in their hearts for Jesus that they were willing to use anything they could use to kill Him, even false testimony. The very ones who were to be the righteous keepers of God’s commands were very willing to disobey those very commands to suit their purpose. There is a stern warning here for us. We should not repeat the actions of those who were responsible for sending Jesus to His death.

But this wasn’t all, for the Sanhedrin finally decided to accuse Jesus of blasphemy after He answered the question, "Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" by answering, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matthew 26:63b-64). Jesus was, of course, telling the truth…a truth the Sanhedrin weren’t able to handle.

Well, the death penalty was unauthorized in the Jewish law so the Sanhedrin needed someone else to carry out Jesus’ execution. The Romans were perfect for the task if the chief priests and elders could just convince them to kill Jesus. The knew that the Roman way of execution was by crucifixion, a brutal death which involved being nailed to a cross and put up for public display as the one being crucified died a slow and agonizing death. The intent was two-fold: to intimidate the Israelites and deter others from committing punishable acts.

When Jesus went before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, He was examined by Pilate who concluded that Jesus was innocent saying to "the chief priests, the rulers, and the people…’You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. I will therefore chastise Him and release Him’ (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast)." Pilate wanted to set Jesus free but we read that "the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus." (Matthew 27:20). And so the crowd demanded, "…Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas’— who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder." (Luke 23:18) Not being able to believe that the crowd would want to kill an innocent man and allow a true criminal go free, Pilate asked, ""Why, what evil has He done?" And still the crowd "cried out all the more, saying, ‘Let Him be crucified!’" So Pilate washed his hands of the matter and turned Jesus over to be crucified.

Through the last days of Jesus, we see first-hand how destructive false accusations, slander and going along with the crowd in doing wrong can be. Friends we simply can’t repeat the mistakes of the past. God would want us to make a stand for what’s right, demanding that the right thing be done always and expecting us to do right as well in obedience to His Word, Way and Will.

I often wonder how Jesus must feel when we falsely accuse another…when we slander another person…when we decide to go with the crowd no matter how wrong their actions might be. Does Jesus, the One who endured all the pain, suffering and persecution to save you and I, have to remember His days of betrayal and suffering every time we decide to do something that put Him on the cross in the first place? This Lenten season, let’s examine ourselves and get rid of any actions or attitudes that would model the actions of those who put Jesus to death. Look to the cross and remember that He went through so much for us then. Look to the cross and remember how He got there.

In Christ,

Mark

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SEEKING HOLINESS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs." Exodus 22:31

In closing out Chapter 22, God continues to issue instructions to the people of Israel on what He expected from them. This final verse contains within it two key points, one that supports the other. Let’s look at the primary point and then see the reinforcer. In the end, I think we too will learn a great deal about how God expects us to live as well as His children.

First of all, God tells Israel, "You are to be My holy people." And nothing has changed today. We are still expected to be holy people under God. OK…so what does it mean to be holy? Well, while there are many definitions of the word, the one that applies to God’s people is that we are expected to devoted entirely to God and His almighty works. When we do so with full devotion, we begin to model the One who we are devoted to. God said no less than four times in the bible that we are to be holy because He is holy. We start this process of being holy like He is by walking ever closer with Him and His Son Jesus.

So how do we walk close with God and Jesus? Well, here are a few ways:

1. Read the Word of God. If there is one thing lacking more than anything amongst believers today is that they don’t really have a good working knowledge of the bible. Many have bibles at home but too often, they remain on the bookshelf or on the coffee table. Many people have just allowed other things to take on greater priorities in their lives than reading the Word of God…and not only do they suffer but society at large suffers for it. The book that contains the very essence, wisdom, power and spirit of God Himself…the book He gave us a our instruction manual for life and holy living…this book is what lies untapped by too many. And then we wonder why so many people are lost and confused today. Make reading the Word of God a part of your daily routine. In the verses just before our scripture today, God told His people to give them their best…their first fruits. We’re to do this not only because He commanded it but also because it is the way to respond to Him in reverence and respect for giving us His all in His Son Jesus. Your first fruits each day should include bring a portion of your day to God. Part of that portion should involve bible study.

2. Pray without ceasing. Another portion of our first fruits unto God should come in the way of prayer.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray." James 5:13

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer" 1 Peter 3:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

"Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer." 1 Corinthians 7:5

There are many other passages on prayer. In fact the NIV version of the bible has 155 verses dedicated to prayer. There are even more verses, 365, that deal with praying. So this should tell you that the Lord puts a premium on prayer. It is our way of communicating with the Lord and establishing personal relationship. To walk closely with the Lord, talk with Him regularly. You’ll get to know so much more about Him if you seek to relate to Him. And He will reveal His Will and Way for you so you can go forward to carry on the work of His Son Jesus…the One by which salvation became possible…the One who called us in obedience to follow in His footsteps.

3. Put His Word and Will into action. Once you know the Word through bible study and know His will through prayer, then you must take the third step: put His Word and Will into action. In our scripture today, God commanded the people of Israel to "not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts." This meat was considered unclean and not suitable for human consumption…especially by an Israelite people that were expected to stay holy. God and His Son Jesus have gave us plenty of commands within the Word of God. They also convict us toward doing their Will when we engage them in prayer. The expectation is for us to then go into action through obedience. Or as James says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22)

Living a life that is immersed in holiness is not as hard as it might sound but it requires commitment and obedience. This Lenten season, maybe there isn’t a better time to reflect on how well you integrate bible study and prayer into your daily routine. God expects us to be His holy people just as He expected Israel to be. My hope is that He speaks to you as he does to me through these daily devotionals as we look at His Word, pray over what it says and then seek to put His Word and Will into action. Thanks for your commitment to this holy Christian walk and for blessing me with your fellowship as we journey together.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE BEST FOR THE BEST

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"Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. "You must give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day." Exodus 22:29-30

God moves from a stern warning about blasphemy into a reminder about what He expected from the Israel people in the way of firsts. Interestingly, you’ll see where they will connect and it’s all about reverence.

You’ll recall back to when the people of Israel were in Egypt. Pharoah refused to allow the people of Israel to go free despite the commands of God. So Pharoah watched his people suffer through ten plagues ranging from rivers and waters turned into blood to frogs, gnats, flies and locusts to disease on cattle and livestock to boils, hail and darkness and finally to the worst of them all, the firstborn.

You’ll recall in this final curse that "the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well." (Exodus 12:29) The firstborn of Israel were not harmed because they had followed the Lord’s instruction through Moses to "slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe." (Exodus 12:21-22) When the Lord saw the blood around the doorframe, He would pass over that household and thus the origin of the significant holiday that is still celebrated this very day.

You’ll also recall that the Lord told Moses to "…Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal." (Exodus 13:2) He also had Moses tell the people this message:

"After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons. "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand." Exodus 13:11-16

So in reverence to God for what He had done in delivering Israel from the hands of Pharoah and in symbolizing the day He took away the firstborn of Egypt to preserve the firstborn of Israel, the Israelites were expected to give God their first of everything…in other words…their best. They were to give their best grain…their best livestock and other animals…their best children. Keep in mind that human sacrifice was strictly forbidden by Israelite religion but the firstborn animals were slain as an atonement for the sins of the people…a protection and immunity resulting from the blood shed from the unblemished animals sacrificed.

Question: Do you give God your best in everything? Does He truly get your personal first fruits or do you only give Him what’s leftover?

As you ponder these questions, consider this as you continue to reflect and examine your faith and Christian walk this Lenten season. We are asked to give our best because God gave us His best.

We were destined for destruction because of our sins…sins that kept us as captured and oppressed as Israel was during their Egyptian captivity. And…just as shed blood was required to ensure the Israelites were passed over and spared death, so too did the Father send His own unblemished Lamb…the precious Lamb of God…His only Son Jesus. Indeed, God sent His only Son to be sacrificed on the cross for us all…His First Fruit given for us…His shed blood acting as our atonement and His victory over death to eternal life, our ticket of liberation from the hopelessness of this present day life to the glory of the eternal life that lies ahead. All because of Jesus and God’s willingness to sacrifice His best for us.

So I ask again: Do you give God your best in everything? Any answer short of yes should lead us to fall before Him, ask for forgiveness, receive His mercy, and then move forward with a renewed commitment to not let a day pass without laying our lives down for Him, giving Him the first of everything we have and sacrificing ourselves and our desires for His Will and Way. How will you respond to the Father today?

In Christ,

Mark

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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

____For God so loVed
______the world thAt

___He gave His onLy
Son so that whosoEver
______believeth iN Him
_________shall noT
_____________perIsh

__but have everlastiNg
______________lifE. (John 3:16)

We love only because He first loved us.

Happy Valentine's Day from Grace and I

In Christ,

Mark

THE MATTER OF BLASPHEMY

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people." Exodus 22:28

In today’s highlight verse from Exodus, chapter 22, we come upon the word "blaspheme". Looking this word up in a dictionary renders this meaning:

"To speak of or address with irreverence."

And then we go from this word "blaspheme" to a word of which it is the root, "blasphemy". It means:

"the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God" or "the act of claiming the attributes of deity" or "irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable".

Question: Have you ever displayed irreverence before God?

Well, let’s look at the meaning of "irreverence":

"an act or utterance lacking proper respect or seriousness"

So we commit blasphemy (or blaspheme) God when we commit any act or speak any utterance that fails to show Him the proper respect or seriousness. In other words, we insult God by a deed, word or thought.

Question: Have you ever committed blasphemy?

Why do I go through this word exposition drill? Because we as Christians have a bad habit of getting all puffed up and acting holier than thou when the truth is we’re broken and need to throw ourselves before the mercy seat of God each and every day. And maybe if we would just humble ourselves more and let others see our vulnerabilities instead of trying to hide them, people might not see us as self righteous and "in another league" but rather like they are…sinners without hope without the saving blood of Jesus Christ. This is why God’s word is crucial to our daily spiritual growth and Christian walk…because it will always reveal to us how very sinful we are and how very dependent we are on the only One who was able to save us through sacrificing His Son. Now that my friends is reverence toward God in its purest sense.

But what else does the bible say about this matter of blasphemy? Let’s see:

"Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them. Then the Lord said to Moses: "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death… Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses." Leviticus 24:10-23

" 'But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.' " Numbers 15:30-31

Read Isaiah, Chapter 37 or Second Kings, Chapter 19, to see what happened to the Assyrian forces when their king Sennacherib decided to heap insults on God.

Read Ezekiel 20 to get a full appreciation for how much God despises disrespect and irreverence.
And you’ll remember that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law loved to accuse Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed to be God. In fact, this was the charge they took Him before the Sanhedrin on…the first step toward His crucifixion.

So you get the point…or at least I hope you do. We can’t decide to just be a part timer when it comes to obedience toward God. Any act that fails to bring Him honor and glory is irreverent…blasphemous…and sinful. And as you can see in the verses above, God despises disrespect toward Him.

As we are moving through this Lenten season, we would be well advised to step back, reflect and take account of the way we’re living. An inventory should be done on everything we do, everything we say and everything we think and then this inventory should be measured against God’s standard for us, written in His Word and displayed perfectly through His Son Jesus. And if we make a conscientious effort to do this every day, we will find ourselves moving ever closer to our Maker and His Son with our feet firmly placed on the path of righteousness as we journey on our mission of helping the lost find their eternal salvation through Christ Jesus. And there’s no better act of reverence toward God…no better act of gratitude, praise and thanksgiving…and no greater act of love for others than this. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS

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"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate." Exodus 22:25-27

After addressing matters of unacceptable worship and their accompanying rituals, God gives Israel guidance on how to care for the disadvantaged in their society. It’s obvious that God first and then His Son Jesus had a special love and empathy for the needy. It’s also just as obvious that the Lord expects us to act likewise whether it is toward the alien, the widow, the orphan or anyone else in need.

In today’s scripture, God address the matter of money lending, a practice that was practiced then as it is now. Farmers and other businessmen would often borrow money to either finance their next crop planting or business venture. And just as today, the agreement would include paying the money back to the lender with interest.

It’s also obvious in our scripture that money was lent out between the people of Israel, much like we might spot someone a few dollars today to help them out. Well, God addressed this matter of loaning money by building in protections for the needy. He said, "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest." Notice where this was a command from God. He didn’t say, "you shouldn’t charge the needs interest." He said, "…charge him no interest." Indeed, God was watching out for the less fortunate and an interest free loan would be a welcome relief for one who was trying to make ends meet.

Here are some other scripture passages that dealt with this matter:

" 'If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you. You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit." Leviticus 25:35-37

"Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess." Deuteronomy 23:19-20

"He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man." Ezekiel 18:8

Question: Have you ever loaned anyone money that was in need? Did you expect them to pay back any interest on that loan? Did you even expect them to pay you back at all?

That might sound crazy but consider the words of Jesus who took this matter of compassion for the needy to a new level. You may remember this parable:

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:23-35

Jesus takes the matter of debt repayment to a different plain. Most of us will be down and out at sometime or another in our lives. And when we’re there, we will be looking for love and compassion…praying to the Lord for Him to make the way clear in accordance with His will. Often times, this happens in the way of a brother or sister who is able to pitch in and help you get out of the red and into the black in a time of need. After all, where does our provision come from anyways? Isn’t it God who ordains our ability to work and earn sustenance? We need to keep in mind that all we have is a result of God’s abundant blessing on our lives. Our money is really His money and He expects us to be good stewards of it. If you see someone down and out, pray about that situation and see if God isn’t maybe calling on you to help out in some way. And if He is, respond in obedience knowing He holds a special place in His heart for the needy.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew 5:7) Just by merit of me writing this and you soon to read it, we know God has shown us awesome mercy and grace through His Son Jesus. Truly, we’ve been richly blessed with the gift of life and the abundance of God’s unconditional love. It’s now up to us to show these same things to someone else…to bless their lives by showing them an abundance of love and mercy and grace. And in doing these things, we will allow others to see a glimpse of Jesus in us…the same Jesus who God gave to pay our debts in full on the cross at Calvary…and we were never charged us a penny of interest. Reflect on this as you continue to move through the Lenten season and Easter. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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CARE FOR THE LONELY

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless." Exodus 22:22-24

Have you ever been alone? Of course, we all have had a time when we were alone but have you ever really been ALONE. Not just alone awaiting the return of someone you share companionship with. I mean alone with no one to comfort you, no one to hold you, no one to talk to or no one to show your love for. I mean isolated and solitary. ALONE.

We tend to not think about the lonely because so many of us have relationships and just take it for granted that everyone does. These are the kind of assumptions that get us in trouble. For statistically, one in four households today have only one resident today. Whether by way of deferred marriage (staying single), death or divorce, the numbers are troubling when we couple them with the potential adverse psychological damage caused by loneliness.

Well, this was a serious matter back in the days of the Old Testament as well and as we look at the word of God, He intended for the lonely to be properly cared for…or else. Here are some other scripture verses that reinforce God’s desire to ensure the lonely, whether widows or orphans were cared for properly:

"Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me." Jeremiah 49:11

"At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." Deuteronomy 14:28-29

"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless." Isaiah 10:1-2

"Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the Lord — and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." Psalm 68:4-5

"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the Lord Almighty." Malachi 3:5

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Question: How have you looked after the lonely with special emphasis on widows and orphans? Have you ever considered visiting a nursing home and volunteering your time to provide fellowship to one who has lost their loved one and can no longer live alone? How about anyone in your neighborhood or church that is widowed…have you made an effort to show them that through the love of Christ, they are never alone? How about a local orphanage? Have you thought about providing care for children who are without parents? How about being a mentor and friend to a child who only has one parent?

The bottom line is that there are many opportunities available for us to "look after orphans and widows in distress." For just as Jesus did everything He could to love others, so too should we, reflecting His awesome, powerful love unto others. This Lenten season, why not seek to do something for the lonely...seek them out…encourage them…and bless them with the gift of your fellowship and love. Through you, they can see that in Jesus they need never feel alone ever again.

In Christ,

Mark

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LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"21 "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt." Exodus 22:21

Have you ever been alienated or oppressed at some time in your life? If so, you’ll agree that it isn’t a very pleasant experience. Since the first days of humanity as recorded in the scriptures, we see examples of people who were mistreated and ostracized simply because they were of a different nationality or religious persuasion. Israel, for example, had suffered through 430 years of oppression and alienation at the hands of the Egyptians and were now on their way to Canaan when God addresses them at Mount Sinai with His commands and expectations. As we see in today’s verse, God rejected mistreatment and oppression of aliens, an advance warning to Israel as they were about to encounter people who were not of their nationality or religion. Notice where God reminds Israel of their alienation and persecution at the hands of Egypt hoping they would not decide to do unto others as they had been treated when they were in like circumstances.

Fast forward to today and we see the problem of alienation is alive within the discussion about illegal immigration, a topic that seems to be in the news nearly every day. A large majority of society has decided to turn exclusionary and deem that others don’t have a right to live among us unless they gain citizenship. In other words, they have to prove that they are worthy of living in our nation before we will give them approval to do so. And there is this underlying fear that we will somehow get short changed if we let too many "others" into our country. It’s this pompous attitude of superiority and selfishness that has proven to divide us more than unite us as God’s people. After all, what right does anyone have to mistreat and oppress anyone when they’re just trying to do what we are trying to do…have a decent life day after day?

Sometimes I wonder how God must feel about us and the way we treat others, especially the aliens of the world today. I wonder even more when I read what His only Son, our Savior Jesus, said in His second greatest commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Do we really do this? Well, one might first ask the question, "Who is our neighbor?" Great question and one that others had in the bible as well. And, as always, Jesus had the answer. Consider this passage:

"But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:29-37

Question: Who would you be in this parable? The priest or the Levite, two people most expected to stop and render assistance but didn’t choosing instead to leave the man for dead while passing on the other side? Or would you be like the Gentile Samaritan…the one least expected to do something good but yet was the one who showed mercy, compassion and saved the man’s life? Jesus not only said that we are a true neighbor if we imitate the actions of the Samaritan but He commanded us to do likewise. Notice there are no exceptions here. We’re expected to show mercy and compassion to everyone who is down and out…whether suffering from destitution or left for dead.

In the final analysis, we all have an innate desire and need to be accepted, loved and treated fairly. God not only expects that we receive this but Jesus commanded us to give it, loving our neighbors as ourselves and treating them with mercy, caring and compassion.

Question: How do you feel about those who would be considered aliens in our society today? What can you do to treat them as the Lord commands? We all should examine ourselves, change attitudes where needed and do what we can to make difference whenever we can.

One more point to cap this devotion. Go to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Chapter 1, where he writes:

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." Colossians 1:21-23

You see we were all aliens, and not just mere aliens but alienated from God at one time… oppressed and captive to the sins that were set to destroy us. But then God did something incredible. Instead of watching us stay alienated and oppressed, He gave up His only Son Jesus as a sin sacrifice and set us free through an amazing display of mercy, compassion, grace and love. In short, He set us free through Jesus and if the Son has set us free, we are free indeed. (John 8:36)

As we continue to reflect on Jesus and how we might live more like Him this Lenten season, let’s give particular attention to the way we treat others, especially those the world would want to label as aliens…remembering that we all were aliens before Jesus died for us. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

In Christ,

Mark

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ARE YOU IN THE WORLD AND OF IT?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Do not allow a sorceress to live." "Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death." "Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed." Exodus 22:18-20

The people of Israel were on the way to Canaan and would inhabit land already inhabited by the Canaanites…a people who were polar opposites of the Israelites and what God commanded them to be. God knew this and many of His commandments were intentionally structured to warn the people of Israel against adopting other religious principles. What was it about the Canaanites that the Israelites needed to watch out for?

Well, for starters, the Canaanites believed in polytheism, a prevalent religious doctrine practiced by many other countries in the world such as Mesopotamia and Egypt. Their two main gods were El, the chief deity who was also known as the father of Asherah and all other gods with the exception of Baal, who was worshipped as the god of fertility. Idol worship and sacrificing to idols of the Canaanite gods was prevalent in the Canaan society. So we can obviously see where God would have a problem with the Canaanites since He clearly stated to the people of Israel that there would be no other gods before Him. So what else was there about Canaan that ran counter to God?

Try sorcery, witchcraft and divination. It is clear in today’s scripture how God felt about these actions. The strongest judgment, death, was reserved for those who decided to shirk God and try and call on other powers, to include their own, to cast spells, initiate curses and forecast the future. Their dark arts were in direct opposition to God’s dominion over all things spiritual and thus commanded serious punishment. As God said in the third commandment, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God." So as if worshipping false gods and practicing witchcraft/sorcery weren’t bad enough, there was one other thing that was completely counter to God’s expectations.

For the Canaanites were a very sexually immoral people. Take a look at Leviticus, Chapter 18, and you’ll see reference to incest, adultery and, as if this weren’t bad enough, beastiality or having sexual relations with an animal. There was little doubt that God abhorred sexual immorality and so He burned with anger at Canaan. He didn’t want Israel to be influenced by this and thus the serious penalty for the act.

So after all this, you’re probably wondering to yourself, "Now what does any of this have to do with me?" Well, the Israelite/Canaanite model is very similar to our current day Christian/world model. We are immersed in a world where anything goes. We can find rampant sexual immorality anywhere we want to find it and yes, this includes sex with animals as well as incest and adultery. We can also find plenty of people who practice and believe in the power of witchcraft, sorcery and divination. (Anyone heard of Harry Potter? Wicca religion? Fortune tellers? Astronomy and horoscopes?) And yes, many people today worship almost anything except for God There are plenty of false gods and idols worshipped (please go back and read my blogs on the second and third commandments).

So what happens when we become immersed in a sinful environment that often beckons us to join it? We too often do just that. We turn away from what we know God wants us to do and instead pursue the world’s enticement. We decide to not stand firm on God’s principles and instead join in.

Question: Where do you stand today? Are you closer to Israel and God’s righteous expectations for you or you more toward Canaan and its sinful behavior? Only you can answer that but if you’re closer to Canaan, I recommend you step back, reassess yourself, repent and seek to get right with God. Come to think of it, this is what we’re supposed to be doing during Lent anyways. Why not get right with God today? He’s watching and waiting. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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SEXUAL VALUES

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"If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins." Exodus 22:16-17

God transitions from the matter of stealing and restitution to a serious matter which not only afflicts our society today.

The matter at hand in today’s scripture is sexual relation outside of marriage. Specifically, it deals with a virgin who is seduced to sleep with a man who she is not pledged to be married to. To understand the severity of this, we need to understand the culture of the time.

In Israel as in other parts of the Middle East, everything in a family carried with it great value to include every family member. Virgin women were of particular value because they would bring to a family financial gain once a wedding contract had been put in place between a prospective groom and the bride’s family. The groom would agree to pay the "bride-price" (sometimes also referred to as the dowry) to the bride’s family in exchange for taking her to him for marriage. If it sounds like a commerce exchange, you’re right because in essence that’s what it was. The groom was purchasing the bride for himself from the family with the bride price serving as compensation for the loss of a family member.

So what happened if the bride was not a virgin? Her value would diminish greatly as grooms were interested in marrying a woman who had not been a partner with any other man. And if she had already given birth to a child, this further dropped her value as a groom would typically be interested in a woman who would first bear a child to him.

Back to our scripture. You can probably see now why this matter was a big deal. The man seducing the girl was essentially stealing away her value. This would not go by without consequence. For as you can see, he was required to not only "pay the bride-price" but also marry the now ex-virgin ("she shall be his wife"). Further, the marriage could be stopped by the father of the ex-virgin if he flat out rejected his daughter marrying the man who stole away her virginity. Nonetheless, the man who lay with the virgin "must still pay the bride-price for virgins." No matter what happened, the family was going to be compensated.

So why is this a problem today? Well, in many Middle Eastern countries, this practice still happens today. There are still marriage contracts entered into. There still are bride-prices paid. And, there are still virgins who are being violated by men ahead of the woman entering into a binding marriage contract. So the scripture from over 2,000 years ago still applies today.

But what about in other countries where this is not practiced? Is it still permissible for people to have sex before marriage? I think this scripture clearly shows that God is not in favor of it. Why? Because it always brings devaluation with it. I will give you several examples:

1. It devalues sex as God intended it to be. Each of us are special in our own ways. Just as there are no two snowflakes alike, so too are there never two people who are exactly alike. Even identical twins, who share so many physical similarities, will have different personalities and mannerisms. Indeed, God has made us unique but yet has given us similar gifts to experience and enjoy life while living for Him. One of those gifts is the gift of sexual relations…the intended consummation of love between a man and woman after they are married. Sexual relations take marital love to a higher plane and carry with it an additional special gift…the gift of reproduction. God intended for married couples to have the opportunity to have children and experience the joy of parenting a child He entrusts to them for care. Premarital sex cheapens the special nature of sex as God intended and removes its significance. Today, people don’t hesitate to "hook up" just to have sex without regard to the possible outcome (i.e. sexual disease, pregnancy). Too often, they not only devalue sex but themselves in the process. Many a man or woman or both have been mentally and/or physically scarred forever because of sexual relations out of wedlock. Maybe if we could just promote these stories more, less people would practice pre-marital sex but Satan wouldn’t want that. He has taken our world to a place where sex is an anything goes proposition. I can’t help but think how this must sadden God.

2. It devalues marriage. Why do you think there are so many divorces today? Because people don’t take commitment seriously. After all, "hooking up" doesn’t require commitment and this is why so many people love doing it. Well, there’s a steep price that society pays for this because people never develop a sense of staying faithful to someone for the rest of their life. (Remember when marriage used to mean that?) They don’t value their mate because they don’t see them as unique and special in every way to include sexually. Marriage is just a more advanced version of "hooking up" and if it doesn’t work out then we always have an out clause called divorce. Too often, it "doesn’t work out" because either the husband or wife decides it’s fine to still "hook up" even after they are married. Look at the statistics on infidelity and marriage. They are staggering but they also prove my point. Marriage has been devalued by pre-marital sexual activity.

Beyond all the analysis, the bottom line is that God does not support pre-marital sexual activity. Refusing to be obedient to His expectation is flat out disrespect toward Him and devalues His efforts to establish sanctity in marriage. Do yourself and God a favor. Value yourself, value the special nature of sex, value the unique quality of marriage, and value God enough to listen to His commands. And in the words of James, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

In Christ,

Mark

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HOLY RESTITUTION

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"If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. "A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft. "If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double. "If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard. "If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution. "If a man gives his neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor's house, the thief, if he is caught, must pay back double. But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has laid his hands on the other man's property. In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, 'This is mine,' both parties are to bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double to his neighbor. "If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to his neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person's property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner. If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, he shall bring in the remains as evidence and he will not be required to pay for the torn animal. "If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, he must make restitution. But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss." Exodus 22:1-15

In the eighth commandment, God stated, "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15). At the start of Chapter 22, God expands His command and lays down the penalties for theft. His guidance was as follows:

- If a man steals and ox or sheep…he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.
- A thief must certainly make restitution…
- If a thief cannot make restitution, he must be sold to pay for his theft.
- If a stolen animal is found alive in his (the thief’s) possession, he must pay back double.
- If a man allows his livestock to graze in another man’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.
- If a fire breaks out and burns shocks of grain or standing grain in a field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.
- If a man gives his neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen, the thief must pay back double.
- The one who the judges deem to be guilty of illegally possessing the livestock, garment or any other lost property must pay back double to his neighbor.
- If an animal is stolen from a neighbor, restitution must be made to the owner.
- If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, he must make restitution.
In each of these scenarios, notice two key things.

First, in every one, restitution had to be made. In other words, there was a real price to pay for sinning. We must remember that when God tells us to do something, we best do it or else we might be "paying" for our decision to disobey Hs commands.

Second, the pay back was often more that the original value of what was stolen. This was designed to serve as a deterrent to stealing. If you had to pay back more than what you took, the theory was that you would be less likely to steal. And if the thief decided to still steal and his debt to society couldn’t repay, then he was to be sold into slavery with the proceeds from his sale used to pay off his theft. Truly, there is a heavy cost paid for our sins and God will expect us to repent and then obey His will for us. When we do this, He will convict us and guide us to how we can best pay Him back. Typically, at least in my experience, He will have you pay back through ministering to others in His name. The return on that investment will far exceed the sin you committed in the first place.

So what do we gain from this passage that can help us in our daily lives? Well…first of all, don’t sin in the first place. Now you might say this is impossible because we’re all diseased and sin-sick inside but with Jesus at the center of our hearts, minds and thoughts we can ward off sin and keep it in remission. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) Keep Him and only Him in your heart, mind and soul and there will be no room for Satan to enter in. This is because they cannot co-exist in the same place. So bring Jesus in, push Satan out and watch what the Lord override any sin that might try and get a foothold within you.

Our second takeaway is that there is often a heavy price paid for our sinfulness. The most severe penalty ever for our sins was Jesus Himself…who took the weight of all our sins and bore them on the cross of Calvary. Because of Him, we are more than conquerors…because of Him, we are taken from despair to hope…because of Him, our debt has been paid in full. This Lenten season, won’t you invest more time toward studying and examining Jesus closer? If you do, you’ll realize how very awesome He is…you’ll realize why He is known as our redeemer…and you’ll see a love like no other on display, a love that would lead Jesus to lay His life down for His friends (you and I). And there is no greater love than this. (John 15:13) Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE SEASON OF L.E.N.T.

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

Today marks the first day of one of the most significant periods of the Christian calendar…the season of Lent. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, Lent is a 40 day period of prayer, fasting, reflection and repentance lasting until Easter with the 40 days symbolizing the time Jesus spent in the wilderness after His baptism by John…a period which culminated in Satan attempting to tempt Him.

So as we prepare for the death and resurrection of our Savior, I wanted to offer the following exposition of the word Lent…turning it into a holy acronym. Enjoy.

1. L = Look inside.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…" Isaiah 30:15

Lent is a time of special self reflection…a time to take account of anything inside of you that would draw you away from God’s will and way for your life. We all have room to improve because we’re all sinners and imperfect. We all fall short of God’s grace and favor…but the good news is that we can grow ever closer to Him and the person He wants us to be if we just commit to model ourselves after the One He sent to walk among us in perfect righteousness…His only Son Jesus. And this leads me to "E".

2. E = Examine Jesus.

For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2 Corinthians 13:4-5

Lent is a great time of year to focus in on the life and ministry of Jesus for if we are truly going to be His disciples and carry out His Great Commission (and in doing so His work) then we had better examine Him and seek to be just like Him. After all the very root of the word Christian is Christ. Jesus is supposed to be at the heart of every person who professes to be of Him. And yet, we too often proclaim Him and yet not represent Him properly. This Lenten season, make it a priority to read the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The key to knowing Jesus is contained within them and we can’t possibly be like Him if we don’t know Him. Hopefully, our prayerful study will take us to the "N" in my Lent acronym.

3. N = New focus.

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:11

As we study Jesus, we see our flaws exposed and are able to renew our efforts to correct our shortcomings to be more like Jesus in every way. In other words, we gain a new focus on areas of our lives that need correction. Whether that focus is on our sinfulness…our hopelessness without Jesus…His teachings, mannerisms, and power…His sacrifice for us…His victory over death…or hopefully all of the above and more, we come to a place of greater appreciation for what He has done for us and a clear set of initiatives to become more like Him. And this will take us to the final letter "T".

4. T = Turn toward righteousness.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30

As we see our weaknesses exposed and the places in our lives that need corrected, we see our dire need to repent and give thanks for God’s grace, mercy and salvation…all possible because of His only Son Jesus. And as we repent, we see the need to turn from the way we were into a new way of righteousness…all through living our lives as Jesus lived His. This commitment toward holiness will not only lead us to the proper appreciation for all that Jesus did for us but also lead us to a life that emulates and honors Him.

Question: What are your plans for this Lenten season? Will it be just 40 days of business as usual? Or will you see your obligation to give Jesus your full and undivided attention…your very life? For that is just what He gave us.

Have a blessed Lenten observance everyone and thank you Jesus for all You have done, all You are doing and all You have yet to do to save us.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE DANGER IN NEGLIGENCE

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"If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death. However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded. This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned. "If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his. "If a man's bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his." Exodus 21:28-36

Year after year, people are seriously injured or killed due to negligence…the careless actions or lack of action on another’s part. Negligent actions can cover a wide variety of types but they all come back to the lack of care taken by someone to ensure another’s safety. Here’s just a few examples from real life situations (names and places have been withheld for privacy purposes):

A 19-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to negligent homicide in the drunken driving death of their best friend.

A city bus driver has been charged with negligent homicide in the death of a 27-year-old pedestrian who was struck while in a pedestrian crosswalk.

A young child was in the care of their grandmother while the mother was working. As the grandmother was mowing the lawn, she was distracted and lost sight of the child who was later found dead from drowning in the swimming pool.

One person was killed when, police said, the car the person was a passenger in ran a red light and collided with a sport utility vehicle.

A young child was attacked by a loose pit bull after she got off the school bus. The child had to have surgery after the bites and more than 30 stitches were needed. The case was turned over to local animal control authorities for investigation.

Every day, negligent actions lead to needless injury and loss of life and the thing to remember is that they all could have been prevented. The best friend is still alive if the driver hadn’t been driving drunk. The woman would still be walking across crosswalks in life if the bus driver had granted to required right of way. The grandchild would still be visiting grandma today if she had just kept her eye on him. The passenger lives if the driver stops at the red light as required.

And the child doesn’t endure the terrifying pit bull attacks and resultant injuries if the pit bull owners would have had the dog secured so it couldn’t get loose.

Our justice system today has deterrents for negligence. People sit in prisons today for this very offense and individuals and insurance companies pay out millions upon millions every year to victims as compensation for their negligent acts that led to injury or loss.

Well, as we can see in our scripture today, negligence was a problem back in Old Testament times as well. As you know, there were more than 600,000 people participating in the exodus to Canaan and they had taken their herds of animals along as well. People and animals were often in close quarters with one another so it was inevitable that there might be clashes between man and beast. As we can see, God’s law covered everything from animals attacking humans (bulls goring people), animals attacking other animals (bulls attacking other bulls) and people creating dangerous situations for the animals (uncovered pits that animals could fall into). Notice that penalties for negligence range from monetary or material compensation to even death. The bottom line is that God does not favor negligent actions for too often they injure or maim His children…children He loves so dearly.

Question: Have you been a victim of negligence? Or have you acted negligently against another? Keep in mind that we live in a world that is dangerous enough without us making it more so because of our careless actions. Why does the bible teach us so much about the right way to live and act? Because there is so much at stake and just one careless action could alter another’s life forever. And hurting another does not fit in with the expectation of Jesus who told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Indeed, true love…the love that we find only in the Father and His Son…is never negligent. Jesus displayed this when He so willingly died for us…bearing our careless, negligent sinfulness on the cross. He paid the price for us…the settlement that allowed us to go on living and serving. He loved perfectly to show us how to do likewise.

Thanks be to Jesus for all He did for us then, all He is doing for us today and all He has yet to do for us until that day when He returns in glory. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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NO AYE FOR AN EYE

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"Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.
"Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death. "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death. "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. "If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but is confined to bed, the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff; however, he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed. "If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property. "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. "If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth." Exodus 21:12-27

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. 'But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:38-39

We live in a world filled with potential for conflict. It seems rarely a day goes by when we don’t see, read or hear about confrontations between others that often results in injury or death. To deal with these matters, we have justice systems which serve to protect those who are victimized and punish their offenders. These justice systems share a purpose of maintaining balance and fairness within the societies we live in while acting as a deterrent to future crimes. What they don’t share is their process of doing this.

For example, the United States has a system that was designed to ensure everyone gets a fair trial, sometimes by a jury of their peers who are carefully selected to ensure they can make an impartial decision based on the evidence presented in the case. And in regard to the matter of murder, individual states are allowed to determine whether or not they want to have the death penalty as a possible option when murder is involved in a case.

Japan, Singapore and Kenya are just a few of the nations that hang criminals and the charge doesn’t necessarily have to be murder. In Iran, people can be stoned to death as punishment for offenses like adultery. Nations have executed people for embezzlement, political offences, abduction, religious affiliation, and homosexuality.

One thing is certain…there is no world standard when it comes to handling justice and especially matters of capital punishment. That’s why it’s so important to turn to God’s word on the matter. If we place His word first as we consider matters of justice, we can ensure we are universally consistent and equitable.

So what does the word say? Well, God instructs the Israelites in Exodus on the subject and starts by addressing the matter of murder. The law provided by God stated that any act of premeditated murder would be met with the death penalty in return. In cases when a person ended up killing someone accidentally, they would be allowed to flee to a city of refuge (Numbers 35:6-34) God’s law also put some teeth into the fifth commandment ("Honor your father and your mother") by saying one would be put to death for cursing their father or mother.

The matter of compensation is also addressed in this passage as God does not mandate the death penalty for incidents where the victim survives. What God does mandate is appropriate compensation for the victim from the offender. This includes one of the most common utterances amongst people who demand justice in society…"And eye for an eye". God word in Exodus authorizes it when warranted saying, "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." Indeed in the days of the Old Testament, family retribution was widely practiced as family members felt they had just cause to avenge either the death or violation of their loved ones. We saw an example of this taken to extremes when Simeon and Levi avenged the rape of their sister by killing every man in Shechem. Indeed, in their case, it was an eye for an eye and then some.

So we see where the bible endorses the death penalty in the Old Testament and this law remained in effect until the New Testament days when Jesus came to take pre-conceived ideals on justice and turn them upside down. Interestingly enough though, He didn’t change the law in regard to capital punishment. Murder was not tolerated and was to result in death in return. What Jesus struck out at was the principle of an eye for an eye as well as other prominent injustices the people were dealing with.

So Jesus took the subject of "an eye for an eye" and said this, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. 'But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." OK…so how many of us could carry this out? After all, our human nature (a.k.a. the flesh) leads us to defend ourselves and exact like damages on the person who is attacking us but Jesus told us to not fight back but turn the other cheek. And remember…He didn’t just tell us this, He showed us. Need an example?

Return to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed prior to His arrest. As Judas appeared with the crowd sent by the chief priests and elders of the people, you’ll remember that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss which was the signal for the crowd to take Jesus into custody. And as they grabbed Him, you’ll recall that one of Jesus’ men drew his sword and cut off one man’s ear. So how did Jesus respond? He took the man’s ear and put it back on his face and healed him instantly. He then said this, "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." (Matthew 26:52-56) Jesus knew that what was happening to Him was unjust but He still went forward because He knew His destiny…that He would have to die for all of us, bearing our sins on the cross. Instead of being the Prince of Retaliation, Jesus showed us He was truly the Prince of Peace. Let’s look at one other example.

Once arrested, we read where Jesus went before the Sanhedrin and then Pontius Pilate who had Jesus flogged before His crucifixion. Recall these events. Did Jesus lash out when He was being beaten and flogged before being forced to carry His own cross to His execution place? I haven’t seen anything in scripture that indicated that. No…Jesus practiced what He had preached. He turned the other cheek to His assailants…and he did so to show us we can do it as well, not by our own strength and judgment but rather through His strength and the comforting, reassuring guidance for the Holy Spirit.

So next time you feel violated in some way and want to scream out for justice or seek revenge (i.e. an eye for an eye, etc)…remember the words and actions of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior…the Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. The One who suffered and died for all of us…and did so by practicing what He preached. Through Him…and only through Him, can we do likewise.

In Christ,

Mark

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ARE YOU EARMARKED FOR CHRIST?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. "But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. "If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money." Exodus 21:2-11

As those of you who have been faithful readers of this blog know, I haven’t found too much difficulty writing about any passage from the scriptures since I began last July (Hard to believe it’s been more than six months of writing every day). Well, everything must come to an end and today I had a tough time.

For God turns from the generalized standards of the Ten Commandments and His reinforcing words on idol worshipping to deliver a series of other commandments that would specifically address matters of Israelite living. He starts with the matter of slavery and this is where I found myself facing roadblocks in writing. But then I started to look at some commentaries and do a little research which placed me a bit more at ease and allowed me to see an awesome truth that I didn’t see on my first cursory read through.

Before I get into the passage for today, there is something important we should keep in mind as we study God’s word, day in and day out. For we can read a passage once and gain a certain understanding, then read it again and get a completely different understanding. Sometimes the two understandings are connected…sometimes they are distinct truths. Either way, he important take away is that God is always revealing new truth through His word and the Holy Spirit who illuminates that Word and delivers us to the place of understanding.

Back to the verses for today. We have to begin by knowing the cultural norms of the Israelites as they traveled from Egypt toward Canaan. You’ll recall that over 600,000 people were on this journey led by Moses. Some left Egypt better off than others. For the ones who were less fortunate, they sometimes had to revert to becoming slaves to gain income or pay off debt. We even read where some sold their daughters into slavery in order to gain income. In either case, we see in God’s command that slavery wasn’t a license to mistreat another. Clearly His commands were in place to ensure slaves were treated well and not caused to live in the environment forever without first choosing to do so. In fact, slaves were to be set free after six years of service and given enough to make sure they could survive on their own afterwards. Further guidance on this matter would come to Israel after the construction of the tabernacle in Leviticus and just before they crossed over the Jordan into Canaan in Deuteronomy but this initial guidance laid the groundwork for what was to come.

There is one area in this passage that I would like to focus in on because I feel it reveals an awesome truth and connection to Jesus, our Lord and Savior. For we read that a slave could decide to not go free and stay connected to their master. If they made this choice, we read where their ear would be pierced with an awl into the door post of the master’s residence as a symbolic mark of the slave’s connection to the master and his house. And although this hurt to even think about it, the ear wound would serve as a sign of perpetual dedication, devotion and commitment…a sign that a servant made the choice to give up freedom to stay with the master.

As a note of further information, this idea of piercing with an awl to identify connection with a master led to the word "earmarked" which we define today as "designating something for a specific use or owner."

Fast forward over 1500 years later. A young Messiah named Jesus had lived his entire life as a servant to man, always willing to put other before Himself. Throughout His life, He never failed to heal, teach, guide, correct and, of course, love others. Truly we love because He first loved us and spared us from our sins from giving His life on the cross of the Calvary. And Jesus can be connected to the very earmarking that the slaves of Israel would have to encounter if they chose servitude over freedom.

For Jesus was enslaved to serve mankind. His purpose was to serve all the way to the cross and when He could have opted to not go through the agony of crucifixion and go free, He instead chose to be nailed to the wooden cross, "earmarking" Himself as the Savior for all mankind. We can’t comprehend the depth of this kind of love…a love that would cause one to lay his life down for his friends (John 15:13). The depth of this love, better known as agape love, and sacrifice simply can’t be fathomed by us if we truly take time to reflect on it. None of us are deserving of one ounce of the Father’s favor and yet He loves us so much that He gave His only Son so we might live. In return, we should choose to trade freedom for the opportunity to be enslaved to the Lord’s service until the day He calls us home. We should show by the way we live that we have been "earmarked" for Jesus, willing servants to His will, word and way. I’m convinced that if we do this, we will not only be living in obedience to God and His Son but also in an ever present state of gratitude and thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us.

Question: Where do you stand in your life? Are you enslaved to the Holy Divine Master, Jesus Christ? If so, you’re already experiencing the joy that comes in daily fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus. If not, will you decide right now to turn your life over to Jesus and make Him the Master of your life? Your very salvation and the salvation of those Jesus could be using you to save is at stake. Don’t delay. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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HONOR GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. " 'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'" Exodus 20:22-26

They were God’s first commands after issuing His Ten Commandments to the people of Israel via Moses. In our scripture today, the Lord has Moses tell the Israelites, "Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. " 'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle… If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'" These words from God were basically a review of the first and second commandments (with some additional instruction) when He demanded that "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. (Exodus 20:4-5) It was obvious that this one of the main concerns God had for His people. Why? I believe there were two main reasons.

First, God knew that the people of Israel would encounter and had indeed encountered cultures who would have different religious systems in place. The monotheistic faith of the people of Israel would be unique when compared to more prevalent polytheistic cultures and there would be a constant temptation to stray into other belief systems and the gods they upheld. He knew that the people of Israel might even try to construct their own idols to other gods. In a large part, this still holds true today. This obviously was unacceptable to God who had told Israel that He was a "jealous God".

The second reason I believe God underscored these commands was He already knew the people were going to break them before they did it. You might ask why God would say anything if He knew the people weren’t going to listen anyways but He did have to tell them so they could never say that they hadn’t been told before once they sinned. The very fear of God that the people had at Mount Sinai…the very fear from being tested that kept them from sinning…would not last and they would decide to pursue their own desires over God’s. This too still holds true today.

One other important aspect of these commands beyond the matter of not worshipping other idols and gods was that the Lord expected the people to be in a spirit of worship. He told the people to make an altar and He told them how to make it. He then told them to offer burnt and fellowship offerings of sheep, goats and cattle on the altar as payment for their sins. He then shared with them these words which were a great assurance to them…as they are to us today as well.

For God said, "Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you." Well, the Israelite altars, when built and used in accordance with God’s standards, were holy places of sacrifice and worship ordained by God. It was there that His name was honored and, as He promised, He would come to them and bless them during worship. And He would continue to do this wherever His name was honored.

So what does that mean to us? Well, we should be lifting up God in every situation of our lives in a way that He is being honored. Regardless if we’re in church…in the supermarket…in the mall…at work…or at home…wherever we might be, we should honor God’s name through our every action, word, and thought. For when we are doing this, He is with us…blessing us just as we are blessing Him.

Friends, God is good…all the time and He sends us "Every good and perfect gift…from above." James 1:17

God is almighty and powerful…all the time. For Him, nothing is impossible and there isn’t anything beyond the works of His hands. (Luke 1:37)

And God is love…all the time. His steadfast love endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Why would we want to worship anything else?

In Christ,

Mark

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SEARCH US, O GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was." Exodus 20:20-21

I wanted to revisit Exodus 20, verses 20 and 21, because there is one other matter to address beside the awesome assurance that God gives us to not be afraid. This is the matter of testing.
For Moses tells the people of Israel, "God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." This verse offers us a great deal of insight and wisdom into how we are to live each and every day as God’s children and Christ’s disciples.

Here’s a truth to keep in mind: God is watching and assessing us every day. As we walk through each day, we face a multitude of experiences…some good and some bad…some requiring us to make decisions…some requiring us to react and respond…some requiring us to love…some requiring us to listen…some requiring us to help others...I could go on and on but you get the point. No day goes by that we aren’t presented with circumstances and situations that will require us to act, speak or think in whatever way we choose.

So how will we choose to act, speak or think?

Well, that decides on your principles, attitudes and beliefs. And they will be dictated by one of two things: the world or the Lord.

The world, Satan’s domain, would test you through its sinful enticements. God would test you by watching to see if you stay obedient to His word, will and way. For no way of the world is sanctioned by God. We, His children are in the world but are expected to not be of it. For the Lord has called us to a higher standard and a way of living that will always run counter to the world’s way. And if the fear and respect for the Father is in us, then we won’t dare give into temptation. In other words, "the fear of God will be with (us) to keep (us) from sinning."

Need some reinforcing scripture? Consider these words from the first chapter of James, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James1:12-15) Yes, life is challenging but remember, God is with us and He tells us over and over again, "Don’t be afraid." Keep your eye on the target for we’re not living so much for the present as we are for the glorious future that awaits us in Christ Jesus…"the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

Friends, is this not good news for us today? We have a God who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us…a God that has told us that He would never give us a burden we couldn’t bear…a God who has told us that nothing is impossible with Him…and a God who is always with us, loving us unconditionally as a parent to His children. Truly, if God is with us, who and what could ever be against us? (Romans 8:31b) For we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)

So what is our appropriate response to this God who protects us, comforts us, heals us, guides us, loves us and, yes, tests us. How about this plea from the Psalmist David…a man after God’s own heart to a people who should be seeking that same Holy Heart for themselves. David said, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24) Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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