February 28 – Numbers 11-13

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 11-13. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

How much faith do you really have in God? Are you willing to trust that what he provides is enough? Are you willing to believe he is strong enough to conquer all that you face in life? Are you willing to really truly make him master of your life? If you call yourself a Christian you have experienced God’s deliverance from sin. You have been rescued from the bondage of slavery this world holds over people. But I wander do we still doubt the power, sovereignty, clout, and muscle of God?

The Israelites did. Over and over again they doubted God. They had experienced him delivering them from the chains of slavery of the Egyptians. Their deliverance was not a run of the mill get up and leave Egypt event. It was witnessing and experiencing the power of God in a huge way. Remember the leprosy covered hand, remember the staff to a snake, remember the water to blood, the ten plagues, the death of the first born, the parting of the Red Sea, bitter water turned good, manna in the mornings, Moses on Mt. Sinai, the construction of the Tabernacle, and the setting apart of Aaron and the Levites. All this and they doubt. And it is not just the average people; Moses brother and sister both have their moments of doubt.

Their doubts cost them severely. God reminds Moses of his power and ability … “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” Numbers 11:23 NLT. Those who craved meat lost their lives. Miriam and Aaron are rebuked by God, Miriam even being turned unclean for seven days. For the biggest doubt, not trusting God’s power to help them overtake the land … something he promised to do in Leviticus … their punishment is yet to be read.

Friends, having doubts about God can be ok. When we have honest questions where we have a respect filled dialogue with God, I think that’s ok. But when we doubt by casting blame on God, shrugging off his blessings and guidance as not as good as before our salvation, then I think we have entered an area were we are treading on thin ice. What you think? Feel free to share in the comments below.

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February 27 – Numbers 8-10

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 8-10. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

God believed in celebrating. Throughout His Law he gave several celebrations to His people. However, these celebrations were not just times to get down and have a party. These times of celebration were with purpose. They were times to remember something God had done. In our reading today God instructs his people to celebrate the Passover. The Passover reminded the Israelites of the night they left Egypt. The celebration signified that they left in a hurry, that God spared their firstborn sons, and that He delivered them from slavery.

That celebration is still celebrated by the Jewish people today. But it is not only the Jews who celebrate the Passover feast. Each week in churches around the world this feast is celebrated. On the night Jesus was arrested he introduced the communion celebration during the Passover feast. Today, the communion celebration does not signify the release from physical slavery, but it does signify the release from the slavery to sin. Because of Christ death on the cross, because He conquered the grave, and because we can have a life changing relationship with Him, we celebrate the communion meal each week to remember. I am thankful for the time I get to set aside with other believers each week and remember. What about you?

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February 25 – Numbers 7

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 5-6. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Sometimes reading a passage like todays is difficult. I think it is so because a lot of the information that we are given doesn’t really mean a whole lot to us as modern day Gentile readers. I write this because many of us have no ancestry relation to the names listed. However, to the Israelites who this was written for these names have great meaning.

When I lived in North Carolina the church I ministered with dated back to the late 1800’s. The church building had been constructed before the turn of 20^th century. There was so much history that had taken place. My neighbor told me several times how the property the church building sat on was given to the church by an ancestor. Throughout the building were reminders of those who came before who gave out of their hearts to furnish the building and help the church with its purpose and mission. There was pride (not the bad sort of pride, the good sort) in knowing that their family had been involved in helping that church become who she was.

I think the same can be said of our reading today. We may not swell with pride when read this, but there are and were people who did. Each of the twelve’s tribes were represented in the gifts offered as sacrifices. Each of the twelve tribes was able to look at this chapter in numbers and say “we participated in the dedication and purification of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle.” I understand that reading passages like this may be difficult, believe me I labor to get through them myself, but remember we are not the original audience. Oh they serve a purpose for us today, but we are not the people they were written to. To a Jew living after this dedication, this had a completely different meaning. Understanding that will help us to understand the purpose of including this in God’s Word.

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February 25 – Numbers 5-6

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 5-6. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

From time to time it is a good idea to step up your spiritual game. God seemed to think that as well. In our reading today we find God giving instructions on how to do that. In chapters 3 and 4 yesterday, (which I did not comment on, please forgive me) we find God giving instructions for the Levites to serve along with Aaron and his sons as the priestly helpers. While only Levites could serve at the Tabernacle, God did not want to limit service to him by tribe or even gender. He gave the Nazirite vowel to offer increased levels of service to all Israelites.

For a pre specified time period, I guess it was up to each person, they could dedicated themselves to increased spiritual service to God and to take their commitment and fellowship with God to a deeper level. The growth of their hair would be an indication to others of this vowel. The act of sustaining from fermented drink and the fruit of the vine was a spiritual discipline. Keeping away from dead bodies was a purity issue. We know of a few people who the Bible comments on living such a way … the most famous being Sampson. Some believe this was the lifestyle of John the Baptist in the New Testament.

The idea of stepping up your spiritual game should be something all Christians partake of from time to time. But let me caution you with this … do not try to do too much at one time. Take it in small steps so not to overwhelm and to help you become successful. In the past I had all these spiritual goals, but what I found is I wanted to accomplish too many and too much at one time. It’s a growth process. I wanted to get deeper in Bible study, in prayer, in personal worship, and various other areas. I would start off strong but then quickly fail miserably. So last year I set out to do the Bible study end of it. I succeeded. This year I am working on my prayer life. And it is going better. Learn what is going to work best for you as you strive to step up your spiritual game.

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February 23 – Numbers 1-2

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 1-2. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Today we begin the book of Numbers. This is the fourth book that Moses is responsible for writing. It continues the giving of the Law, taking account of the Israelites who came out of slavery in Egypt and it will be here that we see the spies sent into The Promised Land, punishment for disobedience, as well as witnessing God’s power and majesty.

As we begin the reading we encounter a census of the people. As American’s we participate in a census for our government every ten years. For us it helps align the government with the populations of our country, plus other things. For the Israelites it helped give them order. It tells us not only are there 603,550 fighting men and their leaders, but there are also women and children, and may even be men who are not listed that are too elderly to fight. We are safe to assume this nation is over one million strong in population and possibly even over two million strong.

This census helps to organize the nation into their family clans. In Numbers 2 we see God giving them instructions on how to move about, how to set up camp, and how to divide into fighting groups. I think it teaches us that in the midst of chaos … you try moving one to two million people through the wilderness without chaos happening … that God desires some sort of order. You look at the world he created and it has order. Our natural world functions with order. Our natural world functions as if it has purpose. This can and should be a lesson for us in the way we construct our lives. 

February 22 – Leviticus 26-27

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 24-25. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Today in our reading we find two contrasts. God shares what he will do if they follow him … seasonal life giving rains, constant work because of bountiful harvests, plenty of food, peace in the land, no wild animals, deliverance from enemies, being a fertile people, and God living among them. On the other side, if they do not follow him … punishment, sudden terrors, disease, enemies eating and destroying crops, defeat from enemies, oppression of foreign peoples, disaster, and ultimately hostility from God. Now I do not know about you, but I pick the first one.

Sometimes I wish I could read God’s word as if I did not know what was playing out. I wish I could read it as if I had never read it and it was like a fun new exciting novel. Because if I had read today’s reading that way, I would have been rooting for them to get it, to follow God. Now that might be naivety since we have already seen their sinful nature … complaining to Moses about food, water, and weariness. We have seen them resort back to making a golden calf to worship when Moses disappears on Mt. Sinai. But maybe, in my optimistic mind, they might just get it and follow him.

Would not life be grand for them if they just did what he asked? Unfortunately we are going to in the next several months witness the negative play out because they do not follow him. But here’s the cool thing even in this destruction God does not abandon his covenant with them, he keeps a remnant and prepares the world so that all peoples on earth would be blessed through Abraham … and he said he would in Leviticus 26:40-45 NLT …

““But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me. When I have turned their hostility back on them and brought them to the land of their enemies, then at last their stubborn hearts will be humbled, and they will pay for their sins. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land must be abandoned to enjoy its years of Sabbath rest as it lies deserted. At last the people will pay for their sins, for they have continually rejected my regulations and despised my decrees.

“But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”

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February 21 – Leviticus 24-25

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 24-25. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Today’s reading really spoke to an Issue I really find repulsive in our culture today. You cannot turn on the TV, walk into a store, have a conversation or receive a text message without hearing “Oh my God” or reading OMG. I understand the phrase “Oh my God” has permeated our culture to the point where people are not saying it to offend God or to summon his wrath, sadly it is simply a saying of astonishment. It has permeated our culture so much so that I hear many in our churches use it as part of their vernacular.

To be transparent … whenever I hear someone using “Oh my God,” especially more when it comes from a fellow Christians; my blood boils. And I think it should. Jesus, the Son of God died to save me from my sins. Since the sin of the Garden he has been on a relentless pursuit of me and you to restore our relationship. He is master, creator, sustainer, and deliver. He is worthy to not have his name spoken in a flippant nonchalant way.

After reading the passage today, I believe he feels the same way. We saw a young man blaspheme the name of the Lord … blasphemes means to “speak carelessly, falsely or insultingly about God or holy things” … and you know what his punishment was … death ordered by God. (Leviticus 24:10-16) God takes his name seriously. I think we should too. When we casually say things such as “Oh my God” we are blaspheming the name of God. We are blaspheming the one who saved us. It should enrage us to hear others use that name in flippant and casual way, especially those who call him Lord and savior. I do not know about you but there is no curse word that angers me more than hearing people use my fathers name in such a way. I hope it does you as well.

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February 20 – Leviticus 22-23

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 22-23. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

God is constantly reminding us of who He is. In our reading today he does that over and over again. At the end of various sections we find these words … “I am the Lord” (22:2, 22:3, 22:8, 22:9, 22:16, 22:30 22:33). God reminds us the reader that we do what we do because He is the Lord. He is master, He is creator, He is sustainer, and He is behind it all. We do it all to bring praise, honor, and glory to His name.

Do you live your life with that thought process? Do you remember that He is Lord; he is master, creator, and sustainer? According to our reading today we would be wise to constantly remember that He is the Lord, we are not, and that we are trust in Him in all we do.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

February 19 – Leviticus 19-21

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 19-21. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Spiritual Prostitution … are you guilty of it? In the New Living Translation of the Bible the translators decided to translate Leviticus 19:5 as … “I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.” The New International Version simply says … “prostituting themselves to Molek.” (The various translators have decided to translate the English spelling nof Molech/Molek two different ways. We will use the NLT spelling today) I love ~ love the use of the word choice, hate what it is referencing ~ the way the NLT translates this idea. It paints such a drastic picture of what we do when we give our devotion to anyone or anything other than God.

The sin of worshiping Molech was grotesque. Molech was one of the God’s of the Canaanite people. At various times worship to Molech would involve the sacrifice of babies … infants. If this is not a gruesome enough picture for you, they would be live infants placed in the arms of a statue that was blazing hot because of the raging fire beneath it. The babies would be cooked to death. Just imagine the wails that would come from these children. Just imagine the weeping and gnashing that came from the mothers watching as this horrific sacrifice is offered. This sacrifice often took place in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom that is part of the city of Jerusalem. It was also known as Gehenna. In Jesus day this valley was used as the waste dump of the city. When Jesus talks about what Hell will be like he is referencing this valley and the acts that took place here.

Back in Leviticus God is telling his people that if they worship Molech they are committing spiritual prostitution. I know in our age this is not something we are going to struggle with ... offering human sacrifices. But to his audience this would be an easy step to make … remember they have just come from a land full of pagan worship, they even built as the slave of Egypt their pagan symbols of worship. God considered this step spiritual prostitution.

But he did not stop there. Throughout chapter nineteen he continues to talk about spiritual prostitution. He calls giving our devotion to anything other than Him spiritual prostitution. Have you committed spiritual prostitution? Have you devoted yourself to anything other than God yourself? Examine your life and see if you are seeking spiritual monogamy with God, not selling yourself to the lust of the flesh.

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February 18 – Leviticus 16-18

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 16-18. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

As a Christian there are theological issues that I feel I have a really firm understanding of. Then there are issues that for various reasons I just do not get at all. In some instances it is easy just to assume that this is the case and take it at its face value. In other instances it really pushes my faith … it really stretches me. One of those theological issues that I have not understood but trusted the Bible was over the shedding of blood and the whole need for a sacrifice.

I cannot say I have doubted the need for blood sacrifice but at the same time I just have not completely or fully understood it. To be honest even after the revelation I had in my mind after today’s reading, I still cannot say I fully understand it. However, in Leviticus 17 today God began to shed some new light in my mind on this issue.

Read again these words … “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.” ‘Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.” Leviticus 17:11-14. I guess the reason an animal sacrifice works is because it has given up its life, and the blood represents that life. It is through the blood that nutrients, oxygen, and other needed things are delivered to the parts of body. Blood is life!

It’s cool to experience a new understanding. While I am nowhere close to full understanding, a little light bulb went off in my brain this morning, which is really cool! Thank you for letting me share this little ah ha moment with you.

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February 17 – Leviticus 14-15

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 14-15. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

There is an image painted in today’s reading that I find absolutely remarkable. We found out yesterday that anyone who had an infectious skin disease would have to be removed from the people and live in isolation. This was an incredibly horrible separation. We learned in Genesis when God created Eve that man was not meant to be alone. Isolation we know today is one of the most dreaded punishments that any of our prisons can offer. For someone with an infectious skin disease they dream of the day when healing might happen.

And if and when that healing took place an amazing symbol is performed. Read again verse seven of chapter fourteen … “Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the infectious disease and pronounce him clean. Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields.” Lev. 14:7 NIV84. When a person with an infectious disease is found to be clean a bird is to be released to fly free. When a person with the disease is now clean and pronounced clean, they are like that bird able to fly free, hug loved ones, mingle in the marketplace, fellowship with other people, and find intimacy with their spouse. They have been set free.

Here’s the really remarkable … in Christ’s no matter what blemish we had that separated us from God it has been paid in full for. We are set free like the bird, no longer bound by sin, and no longer diseased in the eyes of God. We can now have intimacy with God. What an awesome reminder of this.

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February 15 – Leviticus 8-9

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 8-9. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

When you know God has been present in your life and has done something how do you react? Do you get excited? Do you just let it happen with no acknowledgement? I hope you get excited, because I think it’s a biblical reaction. Look at what the Israelites did when God presented himself after the ordination of Aaron and his sons and the sacrifices they offered … “Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.” Leviticus 9:23-24

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February 14 – Leviticus 5-7

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 5-7. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

I have to be perfectly honest with you … this is one of the sections of the Bible I dread to read. I understand and get all the Laws that God put in place. I think it was a necessary thing for His people to have. I think it is beneficial to us to understand the Laws, culture, and world that Jesus lived in and the church was established in. But I find it incredibly boring to read. I imagine that I am not the only one who feels this way. Let me encourage you, if you have a hard time reading a section of scripture to read it out loud. When I do not read it out loud I find myself having to reread, getting easily distracted, or having no clue what I just read.

While reading today I also found something I thought was really cool. God tells Moses … “If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the Lord as a penalty for his sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.” Lev. 5:7 NIV84 or “‘If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering.” Lev. 5:11 NIV84. Both of these passages show that God is not consumed with the dollar amount you are able to give. It is the heart that you give with. God made provisions for His people to give what they could afford.

I think that holds true in our giving today. God expects our best from him, whether it is a monetary gift, our physical service, our spiritual service, or any other types of gifts we choose to give. God wants our best regardless of how extravagant it is. He wants us to give the best that we can, straight from a desire to give.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

February 13 – Leviticus 1-4

Today’s reading comes from Leviticus 1-4. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

God will provide. I think that has been a lesson we have seen over and over again in the exodus of the Israelites out of the Egyptian land of slavery. He has provided food, water, safety, and provisions to construct the articles of worship. Now he is providing for his servants the priests.

In today’s reading we find out about the various sacrifices that are to be offered; burnt offering, grain offering, guilt offering and peace offering. It is in the grain offering that we see God providing for the priests … “The rest of the grain offering will then be given to Aaron and his sons as their food.” Leviticus 2:10 NLT. God was not going to give the priest any inheritance in the land; they would have no land of their own except for the priestly cities. Beyond that they were depended upon those they served to provide their needs.

God doesn't leave them looking for handouts. God does not leave them begging on the streets. From the very beginning of their duties God has put in place a system to care for his holy men. God knows our needs long before we do. He has a plan for our lives. He is in charge, and from this small example we are reminded that he has our best interest at heart. 

February 12 – Exodus 29-40

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 39-40. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

I am sometimes jealous of the Israelites. Don’t get me wrong I am thankful to be living in an age with all the technology we have invented. I am thankful for modern medicine. I am thankful for my mode of transportation. I am thankful that I am saved by Christ death on the cross, and that I no longer have to practice animal sacrifices. Most of all I am thankful that I am the temple, that God lives in me, and that I can have an intimate relationship with God.

But … how cool would it have been to have the very presence of God living among you and your people!?!? The Israelites did. That is how the book of Exodus closes out … “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  … In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out-until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire in the cloud by night.” Exodus 40:34 &36-37 NIV84. What a really cool sight to see and what an awesome representation of God.

What baffles me is even with God’s presence among them in such a manifestation, they still struggle to believe and follow. They see Moses disappear upon a mountain in a cloud of smoke and they struggle to believe. God did all the amazing things in Egypt and at the Red Sea and they struggle to believe. In a short time Moses will send twelve spies into the land and the people will listen to the ten naysayers and not the two who have faith in God. They had this entire struggle with faith, and yet they see the presence of God in a cloud during the day and fire at night. He has done what we would call miraculous and yet they struggle to believe.

 I wander if we would be any different? I don’t know. I know I struggle with faith from time to time. I think it is part of our sinful nature. It is a tactic used by Satan himself. If those who had the miraculous done in the presence and they struggled, I am sure we will as well. Here is the lesson, let us learn to fight off Satan so we don’t go down the tragic slope that the Israelites did, so that our faith remains strong and pure.

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February 11 – Exodus 36-38

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 36-38. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

When God ask you to do something for him, God ends up supplying the talents and resources needed. That is the main lesson I take away from today’s reading. Today we are given a glimpse of all that went into making the Tabernacle and all that went in it. There is a lot of detail given. Right now I am doing my reading from the New Living Translation of the Bible. Instead of using cubits to define the measurements of the Tabernacle it has converted it to feet. This has been helpful because feet relate better in my mind … I do not know about you, but when I finished the shoe molding in my kitchen this weekend I did not use the distance from my wrist to my elbow – the standard for measuring a cubit – to mark my pieces, I used feet and inches … and with that relation the Tabernacle is huge.

For this massive undertaking God supplied the resources and talents needed. Two men Bezalel and Oholiab were well skilled for the task at hand. Where did they get these skills? Their skills came as slaves in Egypt. Their time in Egypt prepared them to build the home of God. The resources needed were provided by God when they plunder the Egyptians when they left the land of Egypt. I think this is a good reminder that when God calls us to something, he will supply what we need. We are also reminded that just because days are tough it does not mean God is not preparing us for something else, something greater.

I am reminded of this right now. I am really sore. On Friday morning I was laying in bed watching an infomercial for Insanity. I have heard of others doing it and loving it, I have watched the commercial before, but I am too cheap to buy the program. So I went searching for an app on my iPad that would be a good timer, found one and began to create my own work out program. I have it done it Saturday and this morning. And I am hurting … really bad, but I know that if I keep it up the pain will go away and I will soon be in much better shape, able to fully complete the workout and even begin adding to it. Who knows I might one day have the abs I hope for. The pain must come before the results.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

February 9 – Exodus 30-32

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 28-29. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in six days and then we learn on the seventh day he rested. In Exodus twenty we read the Ten Commandments. One of the commandments is to honor the Sabbath by keeping it holy. God in various times has instructed his people to partake of the Sabbath rest. When God provided the manna for his people he gave enough on the sixth day so they did not have to gather on the seventh. When we look in the New Testament period they had all kinds of manmade rules about what was considered work on the Sabbath. They knew how many steps they could take before it was considered work. The Sabbath was very important part of the Law God gave.

In today’s reading I was reminded how important it should be to us as well. Many Christians do not follow the principle of a Sabbaths day’s rest. Many push forward seven days a week. I know I am one of them. And I don’t think that because the old covenant has been fulfilled and we are now under the covenant of Christ that we can go on without a Sabbath. Read again what God told Moses … “It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:17 NIV84.

Now the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant to Israel just like circumcision was. God gave his people circumcision for many reasons but one major one was for a cleanliness purpose. We continue to circumcise today not because it marks a covenant but because it is much cleaner. I think God knew what he was doing when he commanded the Sabbath. Are we bound by the covenant God poured out through Moses? No, we in Christ are saved by grace for freedom from the bounds of the Law. But what God gave to be beneficial to His people then, I would believe is beneficial to us today. So how can we develop the habit of a Sabbath day’s rest in our life? Where do you need to start?

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 8 – Exodus 28-29

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 28-29. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Sections like what we find in today’s reading makes me thankful that I am living after the cross. Today we see the setting a part of Aaron and his family as the priestly family. It will be their responsibility to go before God on behalf of the people of Israel. By the way, when we read chapter twenty-nine we see some pretty amazing things done to Aaron and his family when they were ordained as the priest. Can I just say that I am glad my ordination did not involve the slaughter of bulls and the sprinkling of their blood!

Here is the cool thing, since we live after the cross we do not need anyone to go before God on our behalf. Jesus paid the price, he has redeemed our sins. In Christ we have found our ultimate mediator and we came come before God on our own. We now have the privilege of calling God Abba, Father, Master, and Savior. I am thankful for the savior that has saved me. Are you as thankful?

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 7 – Exodus 25-27

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 25-27. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

The Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle would have been an impressive sight to see. God was very specific in the instructions he gave for its construction, and rightly so. The Ark of the Covenant was the very representative of God amongst the people of Israel. It was his physical manifestation. The Tabernacle, which was a mobile Temple, created nearly five-hundred years before Solomon’s Temple, was the home of God amongst the people because that is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.

God was very specific in his direction for how the Ark was to be built. It was also grand and beautiful. Some believe it was one of the greatest pieces to ever be built in the ancient world. I think we get a great glimpse into whom God is and that he takes beauty and care very important. God wanted his residence to be beautiful. He wanted it to be of precise construction. He wanted it to be of the finest materials. God wanted his home to be the best that any human could make it.

By the time Jesus is living on the earth the Tabernacle is no longer in use. Under Solomon the first Temple is built. The Babylonians destroy Solomon’s Temple and nearly seventy years later it is reconstructed under the leadership of Ezra. During King Herod’s reign the temple is expanded and remolded. During Jesus day it is the third rendition of the Temple. By this time thought the Ark of the Covenant has been lost. Even though the Ark is lost, this huge and massive Temple is still the home of God; it is his physical representation among the people. But when Jesus died on the cross something happened at the Temple … “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.” Matthew 27:50-51 NIV84. The curtain separated the Holy of Holies … the most holy place that a priest got to enter once a year … from the rest of the temple. In essence God has left his temple saying its purpose is now over; there is no need for this curtain to separate man from what was once the Holy of Holies.

God no longer resided in the beautiful, ornate, and well crafted temple. He wanted something that was beautiful and majestic, but this time it did not come in gold and stone, but in flesh and bones. Paul tells us that in Christ we are now the Temple of God. In Christ God has taken up residence in our hearts … “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV84. In Christ we are now the Holy of Holies. So I wander how much God cares about the physical appearance and health of his Temple today?

If he cared enough nearly thirty-five hundred years ago when he gave Moses the instructions to erect the Tabernacle and the Ark, I believe he cares enough now. As people who are the Temple of God, I believe we have a responsibility to care for God’s Temple. I believe we have reason to invest into our appearance. I am not saying we need to define beauty the way the world does. I am not saying we need to spend money we do not have. I am not saying we need to be on the cutting edges of fashion. But proper care for the body regarding health, whether our appearance is sloppy or not, and those kinds of things, I think to some degree they matter. Remember God seemed to care when he created the Tabernacle and Ark, and I think to some degree he cares today as well. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments below.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

February 6 – Exodus 22-24

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 22-24. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Have you ever thought how it would be to find a Buick in a pyramid? I hadn’t either until I heard Jeff Walling give this illustration. Just imaging you were on an archeological dig in Egypt and you have come accost a pyramid that hadn’t been unearthed. No grave robber, no treasure hunter, no historian, no human being had entered this tomb since the Egyptians closed it up nearly thirty-five hundred years ago. You walk into the tomb, and yours are the first set of human eyes to spy all the shinning gold, the sparkling emeralds, the well-defined statues, and the 1957 Buick sedan.

You completely look over the beauty of the objects in the room as you scratch your head as you stare at this mint condition Buick sedan. You examine the room but you find no signs of anyone ever entering it in the last fifty-six years. The layers of dust on the Buick are the same as all the other objects. There are no relatively fresh tire marks. There are no doorways big enough to get that car in there. Your team later does all the carbon dating that can be performed and it dates to the time you thought the Pharaoh was buried in the tomb. This is a mystery you just cannot wrap your head around.

What you think if I told you the Bible contains many Buicks in a pyramid? The Buicks presence in the tomb makes no sense to us. In today’s reading we begin to encounter the Laws that God gave to his people to live by. Yesterday we read the Ten Commandments. Today we read about how to develop good relationships with others and what to do if we mess them up. Throughout the Laws we will read guidelines to the people that seem really odd and strange. However, with our modern science we know they were really good directives.

Take circumcision. God ordered his people to circumcise baby boys on the eighth day. Circumcision was a symbol of the covenant God struck with Abraham. But did you know the eighth day was the perfect day to circumcise. It isn’t until the eighth day that breast milk has reached its full capacity. It is on the eighth day that mom is producing all of the anti-bodies needed to protect the healing of the circumcision. That my friends is a Buick in a pyramid. It makes sense to us why God ordered it, but not to the people it was given to. They didn’t know the science behind it.

Or we can use certain foods that they were to abstain from. We know today that pork needs to be cooked more fully than other meets because it is more susceptible to bacteria and disease. They didn’t have our modern science and FDA but they had God and he knew best. He placed the Buick in the pyramid for their protection! What an awesome God we serve. While these Laws may not make sense to us today God put many of them in place to offer safety and protection to the Israelites.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 5 – Exodus 19-21

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 19-21. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

When the Israelites encountered God at Mt. Sinai there was some preparation on their part before God would come. “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” (Exodus 19:10-11 NIV84) In another place Moses commanded them … “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.” (Exodus 19:15 NIV84) To encounter God, they had to prepare themselves, to get their minds right. They needed to be as holy and pleasing before God as they could be without the stains of sin in their way. Let me note here that sexual relations does not make one dirty, but for this purpose I believe Moses wanted their heart and thoughts to be on God and God alone in preparation. God created sex as a binding covenant forming physical act between a husband and a wife. It wasn’t created just for procreation but to strengthen and bring pleasure to marriages.

Let me ask you this … how do you prepare to encounter God? When you sit down to read His word, when you get ready to spend time in prayer, when you prepare for gathering with other Christians, when you get ready for worship, how do you prepare? Do you consecrate yourself; do you clean your heart and mind? Do you center your focus so the business of life is not cluttering your mind? If we begin to prepare we might just hear God in a more powerful way!

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 14 – Exodus 16-18

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 16-18. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Do the Israelites frustrate you? They have experienced or been protected from the ten plagues … water turned to blood, frogs coming out of the river, dust turned to gnats, swarms of flies, death of livestock, boils all over the skin, hail raining down, locust devouring the earth, complete and total darkness, and the death of the first born which God protected them with in the Passover. After leaving Egypt God has erected a pillar of fire by day and a cloud of smoke at night to protect and lead with. He leads them safely through the Red Sea on dry ground while swallowing up the pursuing Egyptian army. Today we learn he provides manna  to supply their dietary needs, and he has Moses call water from a rock.

But after all that the Israelites frustrate me. They have witnessed and experienced God like I never have. They have seen his power and might. They have seen him laugh at the Egyptians gods. They have seen him deliver their basic needs, water and food. Yet they still grumble against him and doubt his sovereignty … “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:2-3 NIV84) Now granted this is before the quail arrives on the scene and they grumble in a similar way before water comes from the rock, but come on people, you have witnessed God in a way I never will and you have doubt?

Do you doubt God? Are you like the Israelites? Have you seen God work in your life but when you get in tight situations you worry about how YOU are going to overcome, how YOU are going to make things work, instead of trusting in God to bring you through, to provide the resources you need, and to give you the will and guidance you need? Let’s learn a lesson from the Israelites and do all we can to trust in God and allow him to work. He is capable for far greater things then we can ever imagine.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 2 – Exodus 10-12

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 10-12. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Have you ever experienced darkness? I mean really experienced it, where you can see nothing, not even the shadow of you hand, where there is no light being created anywhere or even creeping through a crack in the room or dwelling you are in? I do not know if I have ever truly experienced real darkness. The closest I have ever come was in a cave in Kentucky that I ventured through with my youth group when I was in high school. We found a room in the cave where we stopped, paused, turned our flashlights off and worshiped God. It was a really cool experience; however, it was not complete darkness. Off in one direction you could see light coming in reflecting in the water. This little bit of light was enough to provide comfort. Still the darkness was kind of eerie.

I cannot imagine the darkness those in Egypt felt. The only light was coming from God’s people. It was a darkness that forced everyone to stay home. No light, except from God’s people, could be generated. Is not that a cool reminder of the truth? That those in Christ, that those connected to the one true power source, are the only ones able to generate real light in this world.

People should see Christ living in you. People should see the light that you as a follower put out. We were not created to live in darkness, and that is the joy of knowing Christ … we know light, and people are attracted to the light. Let your light shine.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

February 1 – Exodus 7-9

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 7-9. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

I love the power and might that I see in God and nowhere in the entire Bible outside of the creation story is that stronger than here in Egypt as he displays who he is. These ten plagues we see God display before Egypt all have significance to the Egyptians. The Egyptians believed in many God’s. Many of the natural wonders they attributed to the various God’s they had created … I think this is a clear indication that we were created to worship. Every civilization that has not known about the one true God has created a god or various gods to worship. We have been created to worship.

When God erupts these ten plagues on the land and people he is going straight for their various gods. He is letting Egypt know that whatever magic arts they have … it’s amazing, they were able to turn their staffs into snakes (although Aaron’s snake ate the other snakes … I love God’s sense of humor), they are able to turn water into blood, and they are able to call up frogs on the land. But they could not turn dust into gnats … God wanted them to know he was more powerful, that he was the one true God. I believe they had “magic” powers, whether bestowed upon them by God, or done through the hold Satan and his demons had on the Egyptians … Tangent ~ I guess we could theme today “Tangents” ~ Satan knows we have been created to worship so if he can get us to worship anything other than God he has found victory. He doesn’t care if it is sports, TV, Facebook, or our own created gods, whatever ranks ahead of the one true God, and salvation in Jesus Christ, that is a win for Satan.

God is ready to reveal himself to the Egyptians. The purpose of Pharaoh hardening his heart and then God hardening his heart, the purpose for this destruction, the purpose for the eventual death is for this God stated reason … “Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.” Exodus 9:13-14 NIV84. Did you get that God’s entire purpose was to reveal himself, to make his name famous and to teach the Egyptians that there is nothing greater than him.

Is that a reminder you need in your own life? Pray and ask God to reveal the level of his importance that you hold of him in your life. Seek his leadership in your life and worship him only.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.