Thursday, March 2, 2017

Thurs.’s Devo - It’s an Upside Down Kingdom

Read: Leviticus 25:47-27:13; Mark 10:32-52; Psalm 45:1-17; Proverbs 10:22
God proclaimed that the Israelites were his servants so if an Israelite becomes poor and works for an alien who has become rich then he can be bought back by one of his own family in jubilee. I think that this has to do with a family member who has become a slave to sin. A family member can buy him back from that lifestyle through prayer and love. Jubilee means “a continuous blast of a horn, the signal of the silver trumpets.” The blast of the horn was to call the people to assemble for a meeting or for war. Silver is the color of redemption. A person who has been a slave to sin needs us to come together as the body and war for them until they are redeemed. We do this by gathering prayer warriors to pray for our family and those God has put on our hearts.
If we redeem a father or a mother, we will get the whole family. (Leviticus 25:54)
In Leviticus 26, the Lord gives strict commands regarding making a graven image of Him. He didn’t want them to make anything that they could imagine to look like him because Jesus was going to be the exact image of God according to Hebrews 1. They would have never made an image as a servant to be their God. Then God gave them the blessings of following his laws and the curses of not. It’s a no-brainer as to which is more beneficial.
In Leviticus 27, God give the taxes that are to be given for each person. It is ridiculous to think that God is weighing your worth in terms of shekels so that is not what he is doing. He is weighing their amount they owe to society based on their work they will do. When they are young, they can’t work so their taxes are small. During their prime, they can work so their taxes are more. People over sixty have paid their due and their taxes are less. Jesus was a son of the king so he said he didn’t owe taxes but just so they wouldn’t be offended, he paid them. We are to pay the taxes the government requires of us but know that as a child of the king, he has paid it all for us.
Jesus’s disciples were arguing over which was more important to Jesus and which one would have the highest honor when Jesus came to his kingdom. Jesus told them the one who suffered the most and gave up the most. That was not what they wanted to hear. At that time, a blind man came and begged for his sight. He was humble and just wanted to see. Jesus healed him then he followed Jesus. His humbleness and hunger was what Jesus was looking for in a follower. I hope the disciples got the connection. It is not about being exalted, it is about being humble.
In Psalms we see that Jesus is exalted through his children. We bring glory to him on the earth.
Lord, may our lives be humble and full of love. Be exalted in our lives on the earth today.

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