Thurs.’s Devo - Mixture

Read: Leviticus 16:29-18:30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16 The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It is a day all Israel was to fast and offer sacrifices to purify themselves and their nation. It was a day of atonement and the only day the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies to pray for the welfare of the nations. God had given them laws pertaining how he wanted them to offer sacrifices to him and if a foreigner that lived among them did it differently, they were to cut them off from their community. To eat or drink blood in any form is a sin and that person must be cut off from their community. God explained that the life of the body is in the blood. They were to offer living animals and their blood was to be given in exchange for their life. The nations that served other gods drank the blood of the living while the sacrifice was still living. This is detestable and God did not want them to do that in any way. If they killed an animal while hunting, they were to drain the blood and bury it because that blood represented that animal. God does not want us mixing bloods or semen; both produce life and he wants life to be sacred and holy. God gave a whole list of people that a man was not to have sexual relations with because it would mix bloods that were not to be mixed. Life is in the blood and it was our atonement. Jesus’ blood was pure and undefiled and we are to be an example of this. God told them that the land they were going to take was full of people who had mixed bloods to produce giants and powerful people. This was not his plan and not what he wanted of his set apart ones. The land they were going into was full of people who were giants and had so mixed their DNA with animals and creatures that they had produced their own version of humanity. God wanted all of that erased from the earth. He wanted humanity to return to his design. In Mark, Jesus is approached by a Syrian Phoenician woman who had a daughter that was possessed by an evil spirit. Jesus used this woman to teach the people about how to move God’s hand. Jesus explained that he had come first to the Jews, but her answer moved his heart. She understood she was not the native born, but she was willing to get the scraps that fell from the children’s plates. In other words, she knew there was more than enough and that God was bigger than just being a God to the Jews. Jesus commended her for her answer because truly he was sent to the world. He gladly answered her prayer. She was a forerunner to things to come. When Jesus died, his message went to the world. Jesus went to the coast of the Decapolis which was a circle of ten cities known as the “heathen circle”. He healed a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. He put his fingers into his ears and spit and touched his tongue with his own saliva. Jesus put his DNA inside this man’s mouth. It produced life! Jesus told the man’s ears to be opened. He could hear and the ligament of his tongue was loosed. Jesus told them not to spread this but they did. Another crowd had formed and the people became hungry. Jesus took seven loaves and a few fish and fed the 4,000. They picked up seven large baskets of leftovers. Once again, Jesus was showing his disciples that God was enough for all of their needs. The kingdom of God was for all people. Lord, help us to get the mixture of the world out of our lives. Help us to desire holiness in every area of our lives. Show us what does not please you and cleanse our thoughts. May we walk in your holiness and truth.