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.

Sun.’s Devo - Sins of the Flesh

Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10 Today we read about diseases of the flesh and spreading diseases in the skin and in garments. Rather than getting really detailed we are going to step back and see it as a whole. *** In the New Testament we are told that sin is a disease of the flesh. 1 John 2:16 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. Jude 1:23 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 1 Peter 2:11 11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Galatians 5:19-21 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. *** Every time their disease became apparent to them they brought it before the priest to examine it. He was looking to see if it was more than skin deep. Once it goes beyond the skin, it is in the heart. He is also looking for a scar to show that it has healed. A scar reminds us of a wound that has healed, but we don’t want to repeat it. He did this on the seventh day. As a Christian we live crucifying the flesh and on the seventh day - the day of judgment we will stand before Jesus our High Priest and he will declare us clean. *** The different diseases of the flesh caused different manifestations. Anger and pride could be associated with swelling. Chronic diseases could be addictions. A burn could be caused by an offense someone did against you. An itching disease could be unforgiveness or gossip. We fight all this with the fruit of the Sprit which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. *** In Mark, Jesus came to his hometown and went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. The people questioned everything about him because they knew him as a child. Now, he was doing miracles and teaching with authority and they were having a hard time believing he was anything other than their neighbor they had known as a child. Jesus couldn’t do many miracles there because of their unbelief. *** Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He told them to take nothing but their staff and sandals. If they are not received they are to shake off the dust as a testimony against them. They went out preaching repentance and cast out many demons and healed many who were sick. *** King Herod heard about Jesus and all he was doing. Some of the people said Jesus was John the Baptist who Herod had beheaded. He had been tricked by his wife, Herodia to kill John since John spoke out about their marriage. She was married to Herod’s brother but had left him for Herod. Herodia used Herod’s sin of lust to get him to behead John the Baptist. *** Lord, may we see the sins of our flesh and bring them to you to be sanctified. We consecrate our ears, our eyes and our hearts to you. Thank you that you gave given us authority over every unclean spirit.

Sat.’s Devo - The Clean and the Unclean

Read: Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Mark 5:21-43; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 10:8-9 God gave Moses and Aaron a list of clean and unclean animals. They were allowed to eat animals that parted the hoof, had cloven feet, and chewed the cud. They had to have all three of these characteristics to be clean and edible. *** In Romans 7:14 we learn that the law is spiritual which means that everything it says has spiritual meaning for us today. We are told to taste and see that the Lord is good. To “taste” something means that you personally experience it. Jesus told his disciples that they had to eat of his flesh and drink his blood or they would have no part of him, but he gave them bread to symbolize his flesh and wine to symbolize his blood. All of these characteristics of what animals they could eat represent how we should partake of spiritual food like reading God’s Word which is our daily bread. *** The animals had to have parted hoofs which would mean they had a firm and rightly divided foundation. As believers our foundation is the Bible which teaches that Jesus died for our sins on the cross was buried in the grave and rose from the dead on the third day. We can receive eternal life from his sacrifice when we believe it in our hearts, repent of our sins and live for him, nourished with his Word. That is our foundation. *** The cloven feet means three toed. These toes represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our foundation has to have all three. *** It must also chew the cud which means it doesn’t swallow everything it is fed. Chewing the cud is a metaphor for meditating on something. When you hear something new you need to let it in and meditate on it till it feels right and you know that it is confirmed in scripture and in your spirit. *** The water animals they could eat had to have fins and scales. Water has to do with Spirit so when we dive into the spiritual realms of the Lord we need to have balance and be covered. Fins balance the fish and scales cover the fish. We are to have a balanced view of God’s Word and the godhead. We are to be covered with the shadow of God’s wing, the blood of Jesus and the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Being unbalanced in spiritual things will lead to New Age and the occult. *** The birds they were not to eat were all birds that hunted at night and ate dead animals. We are children of the day and life. *** The winged insects they could eat must be able to bow their knees and didn’t have four feet. I don’t understand the four feet but it does sound odd to have wings and four feet. If you are meant to fly then fly. *** To touch something unclean made you unclean. Sin is contagious that is why we need to stay away from it. If Eve had stayed away from the tree and not been curious about it, she would never have been tempted to eat of it. *** Things that swarmed were unclean as well as things that crawled on its belly. These are the characteristics of demons, not things of God. Followers of the Lord walk upright and don’t follow the crowd. *** When a woman has a male child he is to be circumcised on the eighth day and she is to be purified for 33 days. If she has a daughter, she will be purified for 66 days. Then she is to bring a burnt offering and a sin offering to the priest who will atone for her and she will be clean from her flow of blood. *** In Mark, Jesus had just been on the side of the sea where the demoniac had been delivered and now he was returning back to the other side. A crowd had gathered and one of the rulers of the synagogue came and begged him to heal his 12 year old daughter who was about to die. Jesus went with him to lay hands on the girl. *** The crowd followed him to the ruler’s house. Meanwhile a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and was unclean had heard of Jesus and thought if she could just touch the hem of his garment, she would be healed. She did just that and was instantly healed. Jesus felt healing power leave his body and stopped to see who had received it. Jesus asked who had touched him which was a strange thing to say since people all around him were touching him. But the lady understood what he meant and confessed and told her story. Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole. He sent her away healed and with peace. *** While this was going on, the ruler received news that his daughter had died, so he didn’t need to trouble the Teacher. Jesus overheard this conversation and told him to have faith and not fear. Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to see the girl. People were already weeping and wailing. He told them to stop because she was not dead, only sleeping. They laughed at him. *** Jesus woke the girl up from death and brought her out to the amazement of the crowd. Jesus told them not to tell anyone and to give her something to eat. *** Both of these women are associated with the number 12 which means government. They both represent Israel. Israel had never become clean from her bleeding and she had been asleep in death. Jesus came to make them clean and give them life. *** Lord, thank you that you are our healer and our salvation. You cleanse us from the uncleanness of the world and give us new garments of righteousness. May we walk worthy of your sacrifice.