Category Archives: Daily devotions

February 23

4 Replies

Leviticus 22&23

I remember as a young girl, when faced with an invitation to do something or drink something I knew I shouldn’t… even if the argument was, “it’s harmless”, “live a little”, “everybody’s doing it”… my answer would often be, “No way! My dad would kill me if he found out.”

I loved my dad. I golfed with him, joked with him, talked to him, hugged him. I knew he loved me. But I also had a healthy fear of disobeying or disappointing him.

Leviticus 22:31-33 says: Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord. Do not profane my name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord, who makes you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.

God must be acknowledged as holy. He wants his people to fear him. Not the cowering kind of fear that makes us shy away from his presence. But a healthy fear. One that doesn’t want to disappoint. One that realizes what my sin cost him.

Does my life acknowledge God as holy? Do I obey him out of love and respect?

Dear God, you are holy. And you’ve made me holy, too, by the blood of your Son. Help me to acknowledge you in my life so others can see you for who you really are.

February 22

Leave a reply

Leviticus 19-21

As God was giving the details of his law to the Israelites he said, “I am the Lord your God” at least a dozen times in these chapters alone. He also reminded them several times to be holy, to accept his holiness, because He is holy.

The rules God gave his people were not given to kill their fun. The rules were given so that God could bless them and the world would want to follow Him, too.

We are under grace in 2013. We know that salvation is not found in following rules. But the reading of these rules today reminded me that they are not about earning salvation. Read these rules again and think about it. If we lived accordingly there would be happier marriages, healthier people, peace and honest dealings. If Christians alone lived accordingly, wouldn’t unbelievers be drawn to us?

Again I’m reminded to be holy because God is holy… and He is the Lord our God.

Father, I pray that your people… that I… would live lives that set us apart from the world. May we obey you, to live holy lives because You have forgiven us. May others see You in us.

February 21

Leave a reply

Leviticus 16-18

This passage sure is not politically correct, is it? Chapter 18 lists all kinds of sexual acts God considers detestable, including incest, homosexuality, and sex with animals.

Saying these things doesn’t make me hateful or intolerant. It’s what the Bible says.

Dear Christian, let’s not be afraid to speak the truth as recorded in the Bible. But let’s be careful to speak that truth lovingly from the heart of God. Let’s remember that God loves sinners. He loved them (us) so much he sent his son to die for all of us.

God loves people who steal paperclips from work and he loves murderers. He loves gossips and homosexuals. And he is asking us not to condemn them… that’s his job… but to point them to the Savior. It’s ok to hate the sin but it is never ok to hate the person who sins.

We can’t ignore Leviticus 18. But hitting someone over the head with it won’t make them change. Your love and honesty, however, just might introduce them to the God who can change them.

Father, sometimes it’s hard to thank you for some of the passages in your Word. These days it’s hard to stand for the truth when Satan’s lies have become the norm. Help us to not be ashamed of the gospel, to proclaim your truth as we have opportunity. But help us to do that after we’ve prayed and with the same love you showed us. I pray that sinners of every sort will want to come to our Savior because we have loved them and shown them the better way.

February 20

Leave a reply

Leviticus 13:47-15:33

Where’s a good bottle of Clorox when you need it? Most of us in this country have it so much easier to be clean than the Israelites had in the desert. Most of us have hot water we can run right in our homes. Our cabinets have multiple bottles of cleaning supplies. Our clothes come out clean with the use of detergent in our washers. And our dishes are sanitized each time we run the dishwasher.

There really is no excuse for most of us to be dirty.

Do we take cleanliness for granted? I’m not saying we should get rid of any of our conveniences. I’m going to do laundry today and I’m not going to take it to the river. But don’t we kind of take for granted that the person whose hand we just shook is clean?

Spiritually speaking, it is much easier for us today to be cleansed of sin. No animal sacrifice is required. Seven days aren’t required for purification. We need only to repent, to ask Jesus to come into our lives and just like that… our sins are forgiven, we are whiter than snow before a Holy God.

Let’s not assume, however, that the person whose hand we just shook… even as we greet him in church… has been cleansed from sin. There are many good people who are lost because they haven’t made a decision to accept Christ.

And let’s not assume that that person the Lord has laid on our hearts knows Jesus as Savior. We need to be about letting unclean people know how to be cleaned up by the One who loves them so very much. We know it’s there for the asking.

God, I pray that you will point us toward someone who needs a cleansing today. Help us as we introduce them to You and show them how easy it is to be washed in the blood. May  each of us begin this day allowing you to clean us up, too and make us ready to serve you.

February 19

Leave a reply

Leviticus 11-13:46

God gave Moses instructions for healthy living. The Israelites were taught what foods to eat and not eat, what to do with dead animals, when to bathe and wash clothes, and how to treat diseases. God wanted the nation of Israel to be the cleanest, healthiest, most civilized nation in the world.

To us, much of what is written here is common sense. But it wasn’t so common back then.

I’m sitting here wondering what God would say to me today through His Word. Maybe He would like His people to in 2013 to be the cleanest, healthiest, most civilized people on earth. Not that we can’t eat a pork chop or enjoy shrimp if we want. And with modern medicines we don’t have to get out of town when we’re sick.

But in God’s spiritual kingdom He is calling us to be holy because He is holy. He wants us to be free from sin, cleansed, pure. He wants our thought life, our daily tasks, our conversations to be healthy. And he wants us to be careful about what kinds of things we put in our minds and in our hearts.

God, thank you for your Word and the privilege we have of reading it this morning. Help us, as Christians, to be holy as You are holy. Teach us how to keep our minds and hearts free from all that is unclean. And may You find us faithful.

February 18

Leave a reply

Leviticus 8-10

Were Nadab and Abihu so puffed up about their new-found status as priests that they thought they could do whatever they wanted? Did they have this great idea and think they could impress God with their ingenuity? I’m very sure they believed in God. But they must have thought they could go to Him on their own terms.

Scripture says that one day, at the name of Jesus EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. There is NO OTHER name under heaven by which we must be saved. Jesus said… I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. NO ONE comes to the Father except by me.

John 3:16 makes it clear that eternal life comes through believing in the Son. His name is Jesus. Not Buddha or Mohammed or any other false god. I didn’t come up with that. God did.

Do we really believe that? Then we had better get busy letting our loved ones know because they might be trying to get to God using unauthorized fire. Ask Nadab and Abihu how that turns out.

Heavenly Father, help us today to reach out to someone who is lost. Help us to intentionally introduce them to the only one who can save.

February 17

2 Replies

Leviticus 5-7

My sister got a ticket this week. She was running errands before work and went to a place she wasn’t real familiar with. After taking care of her business she pulled out of the parking lot, then turned right on red. She hadn’t gone far when she heard the siren and saw the flashing lights. She pulled over to give the police car the right-of-way, knowing she had done nothing wrong. But the policeman pulled up behind her and got out of his cruiser.

“Do you know why I stopped you?”

“I have no idea.”

“There’s a sign back there that clearly says… no turn on red.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see it. I don’t usually take this route. Can you just give me a warning?”

“Lady, you just blatantly broke the law and there’s a consequence for breaking the law.”

When my sister told me about her encounter with the policeman she was disappointed. She wished the officer had been a little more understanding but she said… I broke the law. I’ll pay the ticket.

That’s kind of what God told Moses here in chapter 5. Even if a person unintentionally commits a sin, once he learns of it he will be guilty. God doesn’t accept the “I didn’t know” defense any more than that police officer did. Even when we truly didn’t know.

Do not be fooled. God does not ignore sin and there are serious consequences for committing them. Let’s be people who know what the Bible says and recognize sin when we see it. Let’s be quick to confess and allow God to forgive us. And let’s be gentle and loving enough to encourage others to do that, too.

February 16

2 Replies

Leviticus 1-4

I guess I always pictured the priests doing all the work for a sacrifice. Today when I read I noticed that the person coming for forgiveness seems to do the slaughtering in front of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. After the animal was killed the priests took over.

If I’m reading this right, anyone who sinned… your average Joe, a community leader, a priest… was required to spill the blood of his sacrifice himself. I am reminded that salvation is personal.

When I sin I must go to God on my own behalf. I must personally lay my life at his feet and submit to Him. I need to ask for forgiveness for myself. I need to ask Jesus to come into my life. No one else can do it for me.

A Jew wasn’t forgiven if he stood next to someone who offered a sacrifice. He wasn’t forgiven if his parents did what was required. I think he had to raise that knife and slash into that animal until its blood was spilled. He had to lay his own sins upon that sacrifice in order to receive forgiveness.

Dear Father, Thank you for making salvation personal. Thank you for offering yourself as a sacrifice for my sins. And thank you for the forgiveness that is mine when I come to you.

February 15

2 Replies

Exodus 39, 40

The tabernacle finished, the glory of the Lord filled it. The Israelites lived next to the place where God dwelt. They could see the pillar of fire and the cloud and know God was right there with them. When he moved, they  moved. When he stayed, they stayed. They couldn’t step out of their tents without the visible reminder of God’s Presence.

What an awesome privilege they had. But we have something even better.

We don’t have to look at a pillar of fire. For believers, we just have to look within ourselves. Yes there are times I wish I had that tangible presence I could look at to remind myself He is here. But Jesus promised never to leave or forsake us.

Israel couldn’t say that. God was in the tabernacle and if a Jew decided to pick up and move away, God would not have gone with him. God’s Presence was visible, but God had confined Himself to the tabernacle.

Since the cross, God can call us to go across the country or around the world and he will go with us. His dwelling place in no longer man-made, as beautiful as that tabernacle must have been. God’s dwelling place is in the hearts of believers and visible through our obedience. He is as real today as he was in the days of Moses.

You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!

February 14

2 Replies

Exodus 36:8-38:31

What I love about the making of the tabernacle is the teamwork involved. The talents these people had astounds me. Every detail God instructed Moses was carefully followed and all the Jews had a part in it’s making. Whether giving their half shekel or weaving the material or building the structure, everyone was important in the construction.

It must have been a great time to be an Israelite. They had an important project and they were all involved in making it happen.

Are you involved in the work of your local church? Do you, with other believers use your talents to further God’s kingdom by teaching or discipling, singing or changing light bulbs, mowing or visiting the sick?

God has given you talents and abilities. Are you using them to honor him and help your church accomplish what God has asked us to do?

My prayer is that you will commit yourself to the work of a Bible-believing church. It takes all of us to get the job done.