Tag Archives: cleansing

March 16

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Deuteronomy 9-11

Ok I get it. Three times in 9:4-6 Moses tells Israel that it’s not because of their righteousness or integrity that they were going to live in Canaan. In fact Moses calls them stiff-necked people and reminds them of the many times they’ve disobeyed God… to the point God was ready to destroy them.

God had made a promise to Abraham and he was going to honor that promise. The Jews were going into Canaan but it wasn’t about them. It was about God.

It is always about God.

We were created by God for God. We are created to love and worship Him. Sometimes I think we get caught up in what God can do for us. The forgiveness, the peace, the joy are all amazing blessings that come from walking with God and obeying Him. But when we walk with God we are simply doing what we were created to do.

The Jews were going into Canaan to live in houses they didn’t build and eat food they didn’t plant. But it wasn’t because they were good enough.

God is telling us to put on righteousness we didn’t earn, but not because we are good enough, either. It’s His righteousness so that we can fellowship with Him.

I find it amazing and humbling that the God of creation wants to fellowship with me. It’s not because I’m a good person or go to church every Sunday or read my Bible. I am a sinner who has accepted His forgiveness. I stand before Him wearing His righteousness because I have none of my own.

Because of Him I am able to be the person I was created to be.

February 20

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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

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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 10

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Exodus 25-27

How did they do that? They were in the middle of a desert. There was no electricity. No fabric stores or sewing machines. How did they create the ornamental details out of metal without lead molds and furnaces? How did they get the precious metals in the first place?And how did they even know what cherubim looked like?

Reading the description of the mobile tabernacle with the altar and utensils makes me wonder. This could not have been easy. And why did God inspire someone to write it all down and preserve it for us in 2013?

This was the place the Israelites would go to meet God. It was a place carefully prepared for God to make his dwelling place on earth. It was like nothing else around.

Today is Sunday and many of us will go to a building to worship God with other believers. And although I think we need to show respect for the material building we designate as a place to meet God, the Bible says that since the cross we are a temple to the Lord. God Himself dwells in each of us who know Jesus as our Savior.

I believe God is asking me today if I have put any thought into His earthly dwelling place… my heart. Is my life filled with things that make Him uncomfortable to live here? The great thing about this house guest is that He wants to help me clean up. He is willing to point out the things in my life that shouldn’t be there and, if I ask Him to, He’ll get rid of it. He’ll wash it away with His own blood.

Dear God, Thank you for making me Your temple. Thank you for taking up residence in my heart. Show me the things that don’t please You, then may I allow you to clean it up. May You find my heart a place fit for a King today.