Sun.’s Devo - The Spirit of the Word Brings Life

Read: Leviticus 24:1-25:46; Mark 10:13-31; Psalm 44:9-26; Proverbs 10:20-21 God commanded that the lamp stand in the Holy Place would always be kept burning. This was the light of God’s Spirit. Twelve loaves were to be set out on the table of shewbread. They were to be replaced every Sabbath. Every day we are to eat God’s Word. *** An incident happened in the camp where a man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian fought with another Israelite man. The first man cursed and blasphemed the name of the Lord. They brought him to Moses to find out what the Lord wanted done. The man’s mother’s names mean “My word will bring peace.” Moses sought the Lord to find out what His word was. He told Moses to have everyone who heard what the man said take him outside the camp and stone him. *** This is the picture of a person who has Christian parents but have chosen not to follow after God. Their father is the world and Satan. Those who witness his confession are to take him aside and tell him the truth. It is up to the person to decide for himself what he will believe. If he continues to believe the lie, he will die in his sin. *** The law of murder was if you took a human life, you would have to give yours. If you took the life of someone's animal, you must give that person the same animal to replace it. Spiritually, it means if you lead someone down the path to hell, you will end up there also. The reverse of that is that if you give your life up to the Lord, your testimony will probably save many. *** The land was to rest every seventh year. God would make sure that the land provided food for them during that year. *** Every 50 years they were to celebrate the Day of Jubilee. It was to begin on the Day of Atonement. A trumpet would sound throughout the land proclaiming a liberty to all the people. In this year, they were to return to their property. They could redeem any property that belonged to others at a fair price. The price is determined by how much fruit the land produces in a year. They were to be fair and just in their exchanges. *** They were not to worry about what they would eat in the seventh year because God would so prosper their sixth year so that they wouldn’t lack anything for three years. *** If land was sold inside a walled city, the original owner had a year to buy it back. If he didn’t, it was not returned to him at the Jubilee. The exception was the Levites whose land was always theirs. *** I think this law is going to make more sense to us in the future when God’s people possess the land. ***We are always to treat other Christians as brothers and sisters and not commodities. *** In Mark, Jesus showed his great love to the children because we are all his children and must come to him like children. *** A man approached Jesus calling him “good.”He wanted to know what he could “do” to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him why he called him good since no one was good except God. He told him to do the commandments. The man told him he did. 
 *** Since he claimed he could do that, Jesus told him lovingly that he lacked one thing. He didn’t have any treasure in heaven. He needed to learn to give. He told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor. The man went away sadly because he had great possessions. *** The sad thing about that man was that he wanted to live by the law so he would be judged by the law. Jesus was trying to give him a way to live by the Spirit and he was not ready to do that. *** Jesus then said it will be difficult for those who trust in their wealth to enter God’s kingdom. Then Jesus added that with man it is impossible, but with God it is not. All things are possible with God. *** Every sacrifice done for the kingdom of God will receive a hundred fold in a set time in the future. In the age to come they will live eternally. May who are most important now will be the least important and vice versa. *** Lord, help us to comprehend our part in your story and be faithful. Thank you for caring for us and preserving us through the trials of our day. May we look to you for our daily bread.

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Feasts

Read: Leviticus 22:17-23:44; Mark 9:30-10:12; Psalm 44:1-8; Proverbs 10:19 God gave them special days to celebrate so they would always remember what he did. The first was the Sabbath to be observed every seven days. It was to be a constant reminder of God’s day of completion. Our lives are like a week. We are born on the first day, get saved on the third day and die on the seventh to complete our lives. These days differ with each person. *** God also divided the year into feasts to show us his plan for the world. On the tenth day of the first month it was the Lord’s Passover. Jesus was crucified on this day. On the fifteenth day of the same month was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They were to eat unleavened bread for a week and every day present a food offering to the Lord. On the first and seventh day they were not to work. This day represents how Jesus lived his life sinless from the day he was born to the day he died. When we become Christians, we live in unleavened bread where we are cleansing the sin from our lives. This is called sanctification. *** The next feast is First Fruits. When they harvested their wheat they were to bring the first fruits of their harvest to the Lord and the priest would wave it before the Lord. Jesus rose on this day being the first fruit to rise from the dead. *** Fifty days or seven weeks later from the day after the Sabbath, they were to bring two loaves of bread to be waved along with seven lambs and one bull and two rams. In addition they were to bring a grain offering, drink offering, food offering, sin offering and a peace offering. The priest would wave the bread of their first fruits to the Lord. This represented the fruits of their labor. This feast was called the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. It would represent the day God sent his Holy Spirit in Acts Two to dwell with us. *** In the seventh month on the first day they were to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. It would be a solemn day of rest beginning with the blast of trumpets. This will be the first trump and is a call to repentance. The gates are open wide for those to come to repentance. *** On the tenth day of this 7th month was the Day of Atonement. It was the most holy day of the year. On this day the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and offer blood on the altar to pray for the nation. When this day is fulfilled, the gates to heaven will be shut and no one will be allowed to come in after this day. *** On the fifteenth of this month will be the Feast of Tabernacles where they will celebrate living in booths they make from certain branches of trees. This is to remind them that all their lives they were living in temporary bodies and temporary houses. This is to remind them that God will one day dwell with us. This day marks the end of the world as we know it. *** On the eighth day of this feast they were to hold a holy convocation and do no work. This will be the day the world begins again in the new earth. *** In Mark, Jesus is on his way to be crucified and his disciples are discussing who will be greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus knew what they were saying and told them that if they wanted to be first in his kingdom they would have to be willing to be a servant, now. Life is preparation for eternity. Life is our test. *** Jesus explained that those who do something good in his name are doing it because they believe in him. If they believe in him then they believe in God because he came from God. If they do some mighty work in his name they will not speak against him. The smallest act done for Christ’s followers will be rewarded. But, if anyone causes an innocent person to sin, they will be judged harshly. *** Jesus taught in Matthew that we are the salt of the earth and now Mark tells us that the salt is fire. It is the fire of trials and sacrifices. Trials and tests are what makes us effective. *** Lord may we respond correctly to our trials and learn patience, compassion, mercy and love from what we go through. May we grow to love our enemies and may we bless those who bless us. May we be a blessing to you.

Fri.’s Devo - Be Ye Holy As I Am Holy

Read: Leviticus 20:22-22:16; Mark 9:1-29; Psalm 43:1-5; Proverbs 10:18 God warned them to keep his laws so they would be able to stay in the land he was giving them. They were to live separate from those who had been there before them. They were to be God’s holy people. *** All of God’s laws have spiritual meaning to us. They were not to let the uncleanness of others wear off on them. They were not to hang with sinners unless they were part of their family. They were not to do heathen rituals as part of their worship to the Lord. If a believer goes after other gods, he is profaning the Lord and will be purified with the fire of God’s judgement (vs. 9). *** The priests were not to let their hair hang loose nor tear his clothes. That would represent flaunting their sins and exposing their unrighteousness. Paul told them not to use grace as an excuse to sin. *** Verses 11 and 12 have to do with stepping outside God’s boundaries. If God has delivered you from alcohol, he will probably not send you to the bars to witness until you are mature enough to handle it. *** When God speaks of marriage he is talking about making earthly covenants. He warned them to look at the person’s track record before you make a covenant with them. *** No one with a blemish was to offer God’s bread or draw near to God. Then he gives a list of what these blemishes are. They all have to do with unconfessed sin. When we confess our sins, he forgives us and makes us clean. Then we see clearly, walk upright and our actions are pleasing to the Lord. *** We are to minister to the Lord with clean hearts. God even gave concessions for the prodigal son (vs. 13) and the one who unintentionally sins. He must add grace to his offering and God is merciful to forgive us. He gives us a way so that we will not to have to bear our iniquity. He sanctifies us. *** In Mark, Jesus told his disciples that some of them would live to see the kingdom of God come in power. This happened on the day of Pentecost and continued after that day. *** He was also speaking of the seventh day when Jesus will be glorified before us. Jesus took his three closest disciples up on a high mountain after six days making it the seventh day. He transfigured into his glorified body right before them and they saw him talking to Elijah and Moses. Peter wanted to make tents for each of them so they could stay. But God spoke from heaven and said, “this is my beloved Son; listen to him.” Then the vision was over. *** As they came down from the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell any one what they had seen until he rose from the dead. They asked Jesus why Elijah had to come first. Jesus explained that John the Baptist was Elijah and they did to him just what Elijah had prophesied they would. *** When they joined back with the other disciples, there was a crowd formed. The disciples had been trying to deliver a man who was mute and oppressed with demons. The disciples were not able to deliver the man. Jesus called them a faithless generation and asked the boy to be brought to him. The boy was a picture of that generation. They couldn’t hear what Jesus had to say and they were full of demons that controlled their lives. The boy, like them, refused to be delivered. *** The father of the boy asked Jesus if he could to help his son. Jesus put the answer back on the man and told him that he had to believe. The man said he did believed but needed help with his unbelief. *** Jesus did deliver the boy and when his disciples asked him later why they couldn’t deliver the boy, he told them that this kind could not come out by anything but prayer and fasting. I don’t think he meant it for the disciples to fast and pray but for the nation to fast and pray. It was the one that needed healing and deliverance. *** Lord, may our nation receive healing, deliverance and salvation. May we believe and see your salvation come.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Holy and the Profane

Read: Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17 God called the people to be holy because they were worshiping a holy God. They should respect their parents and God’s Sabbaths. They were not to make metal gods to worship. *** When offering a peace offering to the Lord, anything left till the third day was to be burned up with fire. The third day represents resurrection and new life. None of the old can come into the new life. It represents the day a person comes to Christ. That is their third day. *** When they reaped their land they were to leave some unharvested along the edges for the traveler. They were also to leave any that fell on the ground. *** They were not to steal, cheat in business or lie to one another. They were also not to use God’s name to swear by falsely. *** They were to treat people with respect whether they were a hired worker or the handicap. They were not to show partiality in legal matters, slander or take vengeance or bear a grudge; but love their neighbor. *** They were not to mix seed whether it be in breeding cattle or sewing garments with two different kinds of material. We can not mix holy with profane. ** When they came into the land, any new plant must not be eaten the first three years. The fourth year it is the Lord, but in the fifth year you may eat its fruit and multiply its seed. I think this has to do with people who are many times referred to as trees (Psalm 1). We get saved and it is our third year. We give our first fruit to the Lord and in the year of walking in grace (5) we bear fruit that remains and grows. *** God gave them many laws to keep them from entering into the occult and to keep their worship pure. One of the greatest of these warnings had to do with offering their children to Molech. *** God gave them many sexual laws to keep them pure and holy. *** In Mark, the Pharisees came to Jesus wanting a sign to show that he was from heaven. Jesus told them that they would not be given a sign and left. (Jesus had the teaching on boundaries down!) *** When he was alone with his disciples he told them to be aware of the yeast of the Pharisees. He was talking about their false doctrines but the disciples thought they were being rebuked for not remembering to bring bread. 
 *** Jesus rebuked them for thinking carnally and physically when he was teaching them spiritual concepts. He had multiplied food two times showing that he was the God of more than enough and yet they still worried about carnal things. *** Lord, may we get beyond the natural and carnal things in our lives and see with spiritual eyes. You have promised to meet all our needs and to never leave us or forsake us. May we honor you today and honor others.

Wed.’s Devo - God is Faithful

Read: Leviticus 16:29-18:30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16 Yesterday we read how the high priest was to come into the Holy of Holies and today we read when he was to do that. It was on the 10th day of the seventh month on the Day of Atonement. This would be the day every year when he would make atonement for the nation. *** Anyone who killed an ox, lamb or goat in their house or outside the camp and did not bring it to the tent to offer it as a gift to the Lord was considered a murderer and was to be cut off from his people. We see in verse 7 that they were sacrificing to goat demons but this was no longer going to be tolerated. This law went to the foreigners also. *** They were also not to eat blood. When they hunted for food, they were to make sure the animal was dead before they ate it. They were not to eat any animal they found already dead. If they did, they were to wash their clothes, bathe in water and be unclean until the next day. If he didn’t do this he was to bear his iniquity. *** This is important for us to consider. If we have ancestors who sinned and did not repent or become Christians, then they passed their sin on to their posterity. We can clean our blood line and repent for the sins that our ancestors sinned and stop the cycle. *** The next part we read is about “uncovering nakedness” which is another way of saying “having sex with.” Remember how Ham saw the nakedness of his father and was rebuked for uncovering his father’s nakedness. We read in these verses that the way he uncovered his father’s nakedness was by having sex with Noah’s wife. It is believed that she had a son from that union named Canaan and that is why he was cursed by Noah. Ham did this to usurp his father’s position and be the head. Noah cursed Canaan and said he would serve his other son’s. *** Moses reminded them that they had come out Egypt where they practiced idolatry and he was giving them the land of Canaan where they practiced idolatry. In the wilderness, they learned God’s ways and God’s laws and they were to take that into the land and make it a nation that honored God. *** In Mark, Jesus was in a heathen place - Tyre and was approached by a heathen lady whose daughter had an unclean spirit. She came to Jesus and begged him to cast it out. Jesus told her that the children had first rights to deliverance and healing it wasn’t right to take their bread and give it to dogs. The woman was not giving up. She agreed but added that even the dogs eat the scraps that the children drop under the table. Jesus was so impressed with her answer he sent her on her way and told her her daughter had been delivered. When she returned home she found her daughter healed. *** Jesus came back to Galilee and a man who was deaf and dumb came to him begging for healing. Jesus took him aside and put his fingers into his ears. He spit and touched the man’s tongue with his spit and prayed that his mouth be opened. His ears and tongue were opened and he could hear and speak plainly. People were amazed that he could make the deaf hear and the mute speak, just like Isaiah had prophesied. *** Jesus fed 4,000 hungry people who had come to hear him with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Seven baskets were filled with leftovers. I find it interesting that the Syrophoenician lady talked about crumbs falling from the table and Jesus demonstrates how much left-overs they have. It would be the ministry of his disciples to take the crumbs to the Gentiles. *** Lord, may we never give up believing in your promises. These people had waited for years for deliverance and it finally came. May we have patience to wait on your deliverance for our bodies and our nation. You are our only hope, and you do not disappoint.

Tues.’s Devo - Jesus, Our High Priest

Read: Leviticus 15:1-16:28; Mark 7:1-23; Psalm 40:11-17; Proverbs 10:13-14 God gave them laws to keep the spread of disease. The answer was to stay away from the person afflicted and not touch anything they had touched. If they did they were to wash themselves and their clothes and be unclean till the evening which to them was the next day since their day started in the evening. *** If a man had an emission of semen or the woman had her monthly menstrual cycle they were considered unclean. These two acts represent potential life that did not come to be. So, they represent death. They were considered unclean during this time and everything they touched unclean. *** The spiritual concept is that when we sin or let something unholy come from our body, whether it is sexual, our talk or our actions, etc., we are contagious. Gossip is contagious. Negativity and bad news are contagious. News syndicates don’t get as many listeners telling good news; they are watched the most when they are telling news that is bad and juicy. *** After what happened to Aaron’s two sons, the Lord told Moses to tell Aaron not to come into the Holy of Holies any time he wanted or he might die. When the Lord appears over the mercy seat in a cloud, he is to offer a sin offering, a burnt offering for himself and put on the holy garments of the high priest. The people must offer two male goats for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering to atone for their sins. *** Aaron would offer the bull for a sin offering first for himself and his house, then cast lots over the two goats. One shall be the Lord’s and the other for Azazel - the goat of departure. The one who fell for the Lord would be sacrificed and the other set free into the wilderness. *** When Aaron offered his own sin offering, he shall take some of the coals from the altar and two handfuls of incense and bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the altar before the curtain of the mercy seat. This incense will make a cloud to cover the mercy seat so he won’t die when he approaches the mercy seat to sprinkle it with blood. *** Then Aaron was to repeat this for with the goat offered for the people. Hebrews 7:27 explains how Jesus did not have to first offer up sacrifices for himself because he offered himself, the sinless sacrifice for the sins of the people. Hebrews 8 continues talking about how Jesus is the great High Priest who obtained a more excellent ministry, and he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. (Hebrews 8:6) *** Then Aaron was to put his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the people of Israel. Iniquities have to do with sins of their ancestors and transgressions have to do with sins they commit. Next, Aaron was to take off the linen garments and leave them there. He was to bathe and put on new garments to show that he was a new man: righteousness and clean.The man who took the goat into the wilderness must wash before he comes back into the camp and the sin offering must be taken outside the camp and burned up. Then the people and their surroundings will be clean. *** In Mark, the Pharisees complained that Jesus didn’t make his disciples follow their man-made traditions of washing their hands before they ate. Jesus called them hypocrites because they only honored God with their vain worship of traditions but their hearts were far from the Lord. They put the traditions of man above the law of God. *** Then Jesus gave them an example of this. God told them in the law of Moses to honor their father and their mother, but the Pharisees taught them that it was more honorable to give the money they would spend tending to their elderly parents to the Temple instead. *** Then Jesus told the people that it wasn’t what they heard that would defile them, it was what they acted on that would defile them. It is what a person lets enter his heart that will defile him. Then his actions will follow what is in his heart. *** Lord, I thank you that your Psalm says that your steadfast love and faithfulness will preserve us. You are our deliverer. We seek you and rejoice in you. Great are you, Lord!

Mon.’s Devo - Cleansing from Sin -

Read: Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12 To be cleansed from leprosy, the person would be brought to the priest to be examined outside the camp. He would give the priest two live clean birds, cedarwood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. The priest would kill on of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. He would then take the live bird and dip it in the blood of the bird and sprinkle the man seven times and pronounce him clean. He would then set the living bird free to go into the open field. He would then wash his clothes and shave his hair and bathe in water. He was allowed into the camp but had to stay outside his camp for 10 days. One the seventh day he was to shave off all his hair even from his head, eyebrows and beard and wash his cloths and bathe in water and then he would be clean. *** On the eighth day he was to take two male lambs that were spotless and one ewe lamb a year old and a grain offering to the priest. The priest shall take his offering and wave it before the Lord, kill the sin and guilt offering and put the blood of the guilt offering on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb and his big toe of his right foot. He shall also do with with oil. *** Then the priest would offer the offerings on the altar to be burnt. (Other less expensive offerings were acceptable for the poor.) Then the man will be clean. Phew! That is a lot. Thank God we don’t have to do that every time we sin. *** Everything the man brought to the priest were present at the cross. The birds both represent Jesus. The first was killed in an earthen vessel. Jesus was the earthen vessel that came to earth to die as a man to become our faithful high priest. The bird that was set free was also Jesus who bore our sins and carried them as far as the east is from the west. The man was shaved of all his hair on the seventh day to show that on our final day, we will stand before the Lord spotless and sinless. *** On the eighth day, which represents our glorious new day in the new world, we will rejoice because of all God has forgiven us. Everything we hear, put our hands to do, and our walk will be completely cleansed and anointed with God’s Spirit. *** Remember when Jesus healed the lepers and told them to go and present themselves to the priests. He wanted them to see this act of cleansing and relate it to what was going to happen to him in the very near future. *** The same process was done if leprous disease was found in the house. The house would represent a church or a family. The stones or sin or false doctrine would need to be cut out and done away with. Paul had to do that in several churches like the one in Galatia. *** In Mark, the apostles returned from their mission trip and told Jesus all the things they did and saw. Jesus wanted to take them away to rest but the crowds followed them. When Jesus saw the people and how hungry they were for the truth, he began to teach them. *** It was late in the afternoon so the disciples told Jesus to send them home so they could eat. Jesus told them to give them something to eat. They told Jesus it would take 200 days wages to feed this crowd. So Jesus asked them how much they had. They came up with five loaves and two fish. Jesus commanded everyone to sit in groups of fifty. He took what he had and lifted up to heaven and blessed it. Then he began breaking it and giving it to the disciples. Everyone ate their fill and there were twelve baskets left over. If God asks something of us, it is because he knows we have what he is asking. He has given us everything we need to be godly and follow him. He multiplies our little and makes it a lot. God’s provision is more than enough! *** Immediately after they had gathered the left-overs, Jesus had his disciples leave in a boat to Bethsaida. He dismissed the crowd and went up to the mountain to pray. Later that night he saw that his disciples were fighting the waves, so he walked out on the sea meaning to pass them by. But they saw him and thought he was a ghost. He told them to have peace, it was him. The minute he got into the boat, the waves stopped. They were utterly amazed. *** They came to the land where they had delivered the demoniac and then were begged to leave. This time they brought everyone to see him and to heal all their sick. The demoniac’s testimony had prepared them to accept Jesus. *** Lord, teach us to know your ways because they are not our ways. May we have faith to believe the impossible.