Skip to main content

Leviticus 26-27

Leviticus

26:1-46 -  ‘Every spiritual blessing’ is ‘in Christ’ (Ephesians 1:3).  The moment you begin to feel superior – ‘I am blessed because I am obedient’  (There is too much of ‘I’ in this!) – , remember: ‘in Christ‘.  We are blessed because God loves us and Christ died for us.  It is His grace which changes us.  Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Our obedience comes from Him. Our disobedience comes from ourselves.  We do not deserve His blessing.  We deserve His judgment.  There is only one way to blessing: Humbly confess your sin, turning to the Lord in whom alone there is blessing.  We must not ‘be proud’ of our ‘obedience’.  There is only one thing about which we should ‘boast’: ‘the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6:14).  Thank God for His ‘new covenant’ (42,44-45; Hebrews 8:8-13; 1 Corinthians 11:25).
27:1-34 -  ‘Every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord’ (28).  We are loved by the holy God.  We are precious in His eyes.  In love, He has reached out to us – through the Cross of Christ (Romans 5:8).  We are ‘greatly beloved’ (Daniel 9:23).  The Lord takes great joy in every sinner who returns to Him (Luke 15:7,10).  ‘Most holy to the Lord’ – This is how the holy God looks upon those who have ‘faith in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26).  We are to be ‘devoted’ to the Lord: The Lord must come first – ‘All the tithe… is the Lord’s’ (30).  The bringing of the tithe (tenth) to God was an outward sign of an inward commitment.  Do you love God? – Let it show in your living and giving.  Let it be Thanksgiving (I want to) – not Grudge Giving (I have to) or Duty Giving (I ought to): ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9:7).



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 1-3

ROMANS 1:1-32 -  ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’ (16). Do you think it was easy for Paul to maintain such commitment to Christ, such confidence in Christ? What kind of world did he live in? – A world of ‘ungodliness and wickedness’ (18-31). Many times, Paul could have given up in despair – ‘There is too much ungodliness and wickedness all around me. How can I go on?’ When you feel like giving up, when everything seems to be so difficult, remember Paul. Remember his longing to ‘impart some spiritual gift’, his desire to ‘reap some harvest’ his eagerness to ‘preach the gospel’ (12-15). Let us say, with Paul, ‘God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6:14). Let us be ‘set apart for the gospel of God’ (1). 2:1-29 -  None of us can ‘escape the judgment of God’. None of us can ‘presume upon the riches of His kindness’(3-4). We dare not come to God like the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Genesis 4-6

Genesis 4:1-5 The name of Abel appears among ‘the heroes of the faith’ (Hebrews 11:14). The story of Abel is a story of grace, faith and obedience. Abel's sacrifice was a blood sacrifice while Cain’s was a fruit sacrifice (3-4). The blood sacrifice points forward - via the Old Testament sacrificial system - to the greatest sacrifice of all - ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin’ (1 John 1:7; Hebrews 9:12). The blood sacrifice points to salvation by grace - ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness’ (Hebrews 9:22). Abel’s sacrifice was an act of faith: ‘By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain did’ (Hebrews 11:4). The blood reminds us that true faith is always faith in Christ and never ‘faith’ in anything we can ever offer to God. Abel was obedient, bringing ‘the firstborn’ to God. ‘In the course of time Cain brought some...’. 4:6-16 In the story of Cain, we see the development of sin. Jealousy leads to anger, and anger l...
1 comment
Read more

Judges 4:1 - 6:10

Judges 4:1-5:11 Barak is an example of 'faith' (Hebrews 11:32-34). Faith involves believing God's promise - 'I will give...' and obeying His command - 'Go' (4:6-7). God still says, 'Go...I am with you always...' (Matthew 28:19-20). Barak needed Deborah's help (4:8-10). Both needed God's help - 'Our sufficiency comes from God' (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). In Deborah's song, we learn of the importance of giving all the glory to God: 'Bless the Lord...To the Lord I will sing, I will make melody to the Lord...Bless the Lord' (5:2-3,9). We are to repeat the triumphs of the Lord'. This is our high calling as 'the people of the Lord' (5:11). 'Awake, awake, Deborah'...Arise, Barak...' (5:12) - God is still calling His people to wake up, to rise up: 'Rise up O Church of God, awake!' ( Church Hymnary , 477; Mission Praise , 178). 5:12-6:10 'The people of the Lord marched down for ...
Post a Comment
Read more