King James Bible Study

Tempting God

2012-02-12T06:54:00.002-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Tempting God
Date: Sunday February 12, 2012Today's Chapters: Numbers 14-15

Hello My Friend,

The word temptation means the act of tempting; it's the solicitation of the passions, enticements to do evil proceeding from the prospect of pleasure or advantage. How many times have you been tempted to do something when you were forbid to do it? Thanks to our sin nature, temptation comes easy for us, even things that we would never think of doing can entice us when we are told not to do it and if we do not keep our eyes on God we will fall right into them. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” - James 1:12-15.

While we have all had our share of falling into temptation or even being the tempter, the worse person we can ever tempt is God. Now, it is one thing to say to God, “You did it for them, I know You can do it for me.” But it is another thing to say, “I am going to do what I want, I do not believe You can do that to me.” That is tempting God and cause for His wrath, no matter how small the temptation. Right after the twelve spies came back from their expedition to the promise land ten of them discouraged the people and said we cannot enter, it's too dangerous. A big uproar came about to stone Moses and Aaron, but Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies tried to calm them down.“And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.” - Numbers 14:1,2,6-9.

The people did not listen to Joshua and Caleb, or Moses and Arron, God was so angry at their behavior that He was ready to destroy the whole congregation. After Moses pleaded with God and reminded Him of His promise He repented of destroying the people, but not one person that murmured against God, was allowed to enter the promised land, including the ten who caused the uproar in the first place.“Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised...And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper...Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.” -Numbers 14:29-31,39-41,45.

So many people think (unbelievers) that they have the power to go up against God and live to tell about it. These unbelieving Jews pretty much told God, “I am going to the promised land whether you forbid me to or not.” No one can get to heaven on their own, no one, if anyone tries to buy their way or force their way into heaven they will bare their own sins and just like the unbelieving Jews died so will anyone else that tries to go against God. The devil himself has no power over God, even he must obey God and will be cast into hell and the lake of fire with all those who do not believe in Christ. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” - Revelation 20:10.

After the uproar God had Moses gather everyone together to tell them how every sinner, Jew or stranger (Gentile) could reconcile with God and be saved. “One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you...And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” - Numbers 15:15,16,27-30.

Sins committed ignorantly must have an atonement made for them too, although God is very merciful with the ignorant, their ignorance cannot justify them, we face the same judgment for sins committed ignorantly and willingly. Sadly, we learn the fate of a man tempting God in this manner, “And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day...And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.” - Numbers 15:32,35.

Many people ask me why God was so cruel to have this man stoned for picking up some sticks. The reason he was stoned was because he tempted God, He purposely sinned against Him. Do you think God wanted to cast him into hell? Of course He didn't! He does not want to cast anyone into hell, but He will allow it if they have no faith in Him. God loves us so much that He gave Himself as a sacrifice to save us! Who do you know that would take the blame and punishment for your sins? I do not know anyone who would. Therefore, as Christians we are to, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage...For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh...And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” - Galatians 5:1,13-16,24,25.

If you have personally received Christ as your Savior than you are saved, that means you have been reconciled with God simply by trusting in Jesus Christ. We are going to be tempted, we are going to be tried, but as long as we keep our eyes on God we will not fall into the temptation nor will we become the tempter. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”- 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Today's Psalm: 78:18 - “And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.”

Today's Proverb: 16:27 - “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.”

Today's Prayer: God, it is Your desire that we stay faithful to Your teachings. Scripture gives many examples of those who knew to do right, but chose to do wrong. The consequences of their wrong actions brought upon death, loss, life-long regret and emotional pain, not only for themselves, but those around them as well. Lord, help us to avoid the traps Satan has set for Your believers by not only reading Your Word, but applying its truth to our lives, and standing firm when the temptation to do wrong is ever before us. Help us keep our eyes on You so that we do not fall into temptation nor bring anyone else into temptation by not following You in the first place. In Jesus' name. Amen.Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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An Attitude of Gratitude

2012-02-11T11:02:00.002-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: An Attitude of Gratitude
Date: Saturday February 11, 2012Today's Chapters: Numbers 11-13

Hello My Friend,

Faith is talking yourself into believing that God can do something He says He is going to do, quite often, people do not receive the things they ask God for because deep down they do not have faith that He can really do what He says. I always look at how God answers prayers like a traffic light, red means no, I am not giving you that. Yellow means, slow, be patient and wait, and green means, go, you can have it now. There is a reason why God says no, slow, and go, much of is about faith, but also gratitude plays a big part in how God answers prayers.“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear...But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him...They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” - Hebrews 11:1-3,6,37-40.

God loves to provide for His people, it thrills Him to give us what we need, but start complaining that what He gives is not good enough and, how does the saying go, “You better be careful what you wish for.” The problem with the Jews was that they had, and still have, the assumption that since they are God's chosen He will not destroy them, no matter what they do. While God did choose the Jewish nation to represent as His people that did not mean God would not cast them in hell for their sins. As they were heading toward the promised land they began complaining that God was not giving them enough to eat.“And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes...And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?..And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD'S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not...And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.” - Numbers 11:4-6,14,23,31-33.

Although God graciously allows us to complain to Him when there is cause, He is justly provoked if we keep complaining when there is no cause for it and especially when we have been surrounded with His provisions. The plague they were given was the result of their lust and greed, there was not even a mention of thanks either.

Those who do not know Jesus Christ personally as their Savior truly have no healthy appetite for the Bread of life, the things of Christ, and will desire things pleasing to the flesh over things pleasing to God. “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” -Galatians 5:13-16.

Now, Aaron and Miriam were probably the most influential people in the camp, Aaron, a prophet, and the head of the service of God, Miriam, a prophetess, and first rank among the women of Israel. Both were discontent and began complaining about Moses. God heard the complaining and called them all out of the tabernacle to confront them.“And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.” -Numbers 12:4-8.

Moses had the spirit of prophecy in a way that set him far above all prophets, he was able to talk with God in a free, friendly, and familiar manner, as one friend speaks to another, without any fear or dread. To have such a relationship with God would be astounding, but the greatest Christian on earth cannot compare to Jesus Christ, who removes our darkest sins. While God never leaves nor forsakes those who are saved, the removal of His presence is eminent by those who question Him and have no desire to live in His will until they repent. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” -Acts 17:30,31.

God promises to always take care of and protect His faithful servants, but fear can often get the best of us, which keeps us from letting God give us with what He really wants to give us. The time had come for the Jews to see the promised land, Moses sent twelve men, one from each tribe, to scope it out, only two out of the twelve were ready to fight for their land, the others discouraged the entire congregation by telling them that they were too weak. “And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land...And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” - Numbers 13:25,26,30,31.

We have no one, but ourselves to blame for not being grateful and thankful to God for what He has and is willing to give us, we just need to make a little effort sometimes. Remember, faith without works is dead. You can believe in Christ all you want, but unless you admit you are a sinner and ask He to save you, you will not be saved. God loves us and will do anything for us, but unless we apply an attitude of gratitude once in a while He will hold back some of the blessings. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” -Colossians 3:16,17.
Today's Psalm: 100:4 - “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

Today's Proverb: 20:4 - “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”

Today's Prayer: God, I feel such deep gratitude when I consider how patient You are with my frequent shortcomings. You do not toss me aside and move on to a more deserving person, but You continue to come alongside me and Your Word continues to renew my hope day by day. When I am tempted to give up the fight, You never let me go and keep encouraging me to do my best. Let me not use the circumstances in my life to find a reason to complain, but use it as a reason to improve my relationship with You and to fully trust in You evey area of my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Our Faithful Guide

2012-02-10T06:51:00.002-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Our Faithful Guide
Date: Friday February 10, 2012Today's Chapters: Numbers 8-10

Hello My Friend,

Christians, have something in them that no person outside of the Kingdom of God, Satan, or even the angels do not have, we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. He is our guide, our teacher, and our knowledge of Christ and everything God. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him...For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith...He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” -1 John 5:1,4,10-12. What exactly is a Christian? A Christian is a real disciple of Christ, one who believes in the truth of the Gospel, and studies to follow the example of Jesus Christ, hence the word Christ-ian.

Now, every saved born again child of God has the Spirit of God in them, once you accept Christ as your Savior you are saved, it is God's grace that saves us not our being a Christian. However, that does not mean that everyone who is saved is a Christian, to be a Christian one must follow the example of Christ, or at least keep moving toward that example. To do that, one needs to allow that amazing gift in them to guide them. We are no different today then we were before Christ came, the people still needed to be saved, they still needed the Spirit of God to guide them, and they still needed to follow by example, the difference between us and them, God dwelt in a Tabernacle. “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” - 2 Corinthians 5:1.

As we learned earlier, God chose the Levites as the tribe that would serve Him in the Tabernacle, now the time has come to make it official. It was time to concentrate all the Levites and separate them from the rest of the tribes. “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them...And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.” - Numbers 8:6,11-14.

Why were they separated? To keep them from getting mixed up in the world and corrupting themselves. Did you ever wonder why there is so many false religion and even versions of the Bible out there? It is Christians who corrupted themselves by mixing the world in with Christ. To justify their behavior, which they know is sin, they remove Scripture from God's Word and created their own religion based on what they took out or in some cases added to their version of God's Word. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” -Romans 1:21-23.

Next, God commanded that all of Israel and everyone among them who were clean, observe the Passover,“Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel...But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.” - Numbers 9:2-5,13,14.

Just as God freed the Jews out of Egypt, Christ frees us from hell when we receive Him as our Savior, we should never loose sight of what He did for us on the cross and to observe it quite often. Of all the observances of Christ there is to recognize, Resurrection Day is by far the greatest, after all, there will come a day when we will all resurrect, thanks to Jesus Christ those who believe in Him and receive Him get a new glorified body and eternal life those who do not receive Him bare their own sin and receive eternal death. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” -John 5:28,29.

It had been over two years that the Jews were set free and embarked on their journey to the promised land. They had been given all the instructions and commands, now, it was time to move the camp and reach the promised land. “And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel. And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee. And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp.” - Numbers 10:29-34.

Those who through Christ, are bound for the heavenly Canaan should invite and encourage their friends to go along with them. The Holy Spirit was their guide the entire journey, when He walked they walked, when He stood, they stood. When we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us He will steer us in the right direction all the time, we may perhaps get off course sometimes, but thanks to His GPS He will get us back on the right path when we simply stop and ask Him for directions. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come...At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” - John 16:13,26,27.Today's Psalm: 32:8 - “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

Today's Proverb: 1:23 - “Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.” Today's Prayer: God, it is truly amazing that You love us so much that you are willing to live inside of us to guide us and keep us from that dangers of the world. Although we can get off course from time to time it is comforting to know that You will not leave us lost in the wilderness, but guide us to safety when we simply ask for direction. Lord, lead me and guide me, open my eyes, ears, and heart to listen for You at all times, help me to know the path I am on and whether or it is the right one. In Jesus' name. Amen.Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Free Will Offering

2012-02-09T09:30:00.002-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Free Will Offering
Date: Thursday February 09, 2012Today's Chapters: Numbers 7

Hello My Friend,

We will all stand before Christ one day and one of two things will happen, Jesus will say, “Well done, thougood and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” - Matthew 25:21, and you will join Him in His Kingdom. Or He will say, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” - Matthew 25:41b, and you will be cast into the lake of fire. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” - Revelation 20:12-15.

As Christians we truly have no idea how blessed we are, I do not think we fully understand how merciful God is until we get into a situation where we are dependent solely on God. Every day that goes by I feel wretched and unworthy to even be in His presence let alone to know that I am still forgiven and have escaped hell through my faith in Christ alone. Let me tell you, the closer you get to Jesus the more wretched you feel and truly understand what He did to save you. The best thing any of us can do to thank God for what He did is to offer ourselves to Him. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” - Romans 12:1,2.The Tabernacle was all set up, the people were told what they needed to do, the time had finally come for the Jews to be able to show God how dedicated they were to Him by giving the offerings God explained. After Moses sanctified the Tabernacle prince of each of the twelve tribes stood before the tent with their offerings and every day for twelve days the same offering was offered. “And it came to pass on the day that Moses had fully set up the tabernacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, and all the instruments thereof, both the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them, and sanctified them; That the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, who were the princes of the tribes, and were over them that were numbered, offered: And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen; a wagon for two of the princes, and for each one an ox: and they brought them before the tabernacle. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.” - Numbers 7:1-5.

One by one, each prince brought their offerings to be presented before God, cheerfully and of their own free will. God loves a cheerful giver, He delights in seeing His people acknowledging Him, seeking forgiveness, and giving thanks to Him for all He has done for them. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” - 2 Corinthians 9:6-8.

Now, God knows that we are not going to be cheerful all the time, and that we are even going to be a little slothful from time to time, He accepts that, in fact, He will even tell us when we are overdoing things and need to rest. Yet, even when we are not cheerful we can give ourselves completely to Him, in fact, God will bless us even more for pressing forward through the trying times in our lives. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” - 1 Peter 4:12-14.

After the princes presented their offerings, Moses presented them to God on their behalf. “This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve chargers of silver, twelve silver bowls, twelve spoons of gold: Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: The golden spoons were twelve, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of the sanctuary: all the gold of the spoons was an hundred and twenty shekels. All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve bullocks, the rams twelve, the lambs of the first year twelve, with their meat offering: and the kids of the goats for sin offering twelve. And all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace offerings were twenty and four bullocks, the rams sixty, the he goats sixty, the lambs of the first year sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after that it was anointed.” - Numbers 7:84-88.

Moses was the mediator, the middleman, the one who presented the offerings before God, in a sense he was like a lawyer defending his client. He stood before God, the judge, presented his case, all the evidence, and pleaded before his clients life to be spared. If the judge saw that the offering was sincere He pardoned that man or woman for the sake of the one pleading for their lives. Today, Jesus is our mediator, He presents our case before God and pleads with Him for us, all we have to do to be spared is ask Him to save us. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” - 1 Timothy 2:3-6.

God knows our hearts and whether or not we are wholeheartedly devoted to Him or really have no interest in Him. Count it a blessing that even if you are not wholeheartedly devoted to Him Jesus wholeheartedly devoted Himself to you by giving His life for you. You only have to go before Him once and you are pardoned forever. Even if you never do anything ever again for Him you are saved, but just imagine the blessings you will receive not only here on earth, but up in heaven when you get there simply by giving some of your time to Him. Jesus said, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” - Revelation 22:11-14.Today's Psalm: 32:5 - “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”

Today's Proverb: 23:26 - “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”

Today's Prayer: God, I offer myself freely to You. May my actions not be based on man’s changing words or the standards of my brothers and sisters, for I know we are frail and subject to faulty thinking. I want the standards of Your unchanging, living Word to be an anchor for my soul judging the thoughts and attitudes of my heart so that I will keep moving forward in my Savior Jesus Christ. Help me to be watchful for those who are veering off course so that I can encourage them in the faith and be prayerful for their wandering souls. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Compensated Plus A Salary

2012-02-08T07:19:00.002-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Compensated Plus A Salary
Date: Wednesday February 08, 2012Today's Chapters: Numbers 5-6

Hello My Friend,

A lot of people, including many Christians, are unaware that many of the things they do, which seem normal, are in fact, sin. Sin is any wrong doing in ones life that God sees as immoral, wicked, corrupted, or abominable. Now, whether we have committed sin recently or years ago, we have all sinned and that constitutes us as being sinners. There is a payment owed for sin, even the one we do not think to be sin, the payment owed is death. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 6:23. We cannot earn enough wages to pay for sin, therefore, Jesus came to compensate for us.“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one...Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” - Romans 3:10-12,20-23.Before Jesus came people also owed a payment for sin also,however, in place of their life, God accepted animal sacrifices. Along with a sin or trespass, thanksgiving, and peace payment to God, the sinner had to pay compensation to the one they caused sin upon, if they sinned against themselves they had to give the payment to the priest. “Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.” - Numbers 5:6-8.

Today, those who are trusting only in Jesus Christ to save them do not owe that payment, Jesus made the payment for you. However, any sin not accounted for after you are saved will cause some affliction until you seek forgiveness. Got sin in your life that you have forgotten? Still wrestling with something that happened years ago? You are forgiven, but perhaps there is no peace because you will not let it go. Remember, God forgives all, He wants you to forgive all as well. He will tell you when you need to repent of something from the past, He will tell you when you need to forgive others, and He will even tell you when you need to ask others to forgive you, even from years past. In order for us to move on and grow as a Christian we need to seek forgiveness, be forgiving, sometimes compensate for the pain we caused others. “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” - Luke 6:37.

God gave specific commands to those who were Nazarites, a Nazarite was a person who vowed to separate themselves completely from the worldly things, giving total commitment to God. Now, this does not mean that the person would be sin free, but it would mean that they would live their lives centered on God and do their best to avoid any temptations that would cause them to sin.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried...All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.” - Numbers 6:1-3,8.

When we vow a vow to God, He expects us to keep it, if we do not follow through we are going to face some difficulties until we do what we said. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” - Galatians 6:7,8. Yet, God knows our flesh and that we are going to mess up from time to time, He also knows our heart and whether or not we truly want Him in our lives or not. He will bless us tremendously when we do all we can to live our lives for Him, but is also forgiving when we seek forgiveness.“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9.

God promised the Jews that He would bless them for their obedience. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” - Numbers 6:22-27.

God puts His name upon all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Jesus not only compensated for our sins, He gives us a salary as well. The word salary is defined as money paid for work being done, or something obtained or received, it's a gift. That salary is eternal (forever) life with God in His Kingdom. A person who gets paid a salary gets compensated one amount no matter how many hours worked. He can work 1 hour or 100, regardless he gets paid the same amount. “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.” -Mark 10:29-31.

So, whether we compensated years ago or five minutes ago, the same salary applies to all, eternal life. It does not matter if you were born into the godly life, left then came back, or just got saved today you will receive the same salary, eternal life through Jesus Christ. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 6:23. Praise God!Today's Psalm: 76:11 - “Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.”

Today's Proverb: 13:21 - ”Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.”

Today's Prayer: God, may I never consider my good works or righteous acts to be a cover up for the hidden sin I harbor in my heart or try to use them as payment for my sins. May my attitude be, God be merciful to me a sinner! If I exalt myself it will eventually lead to my downfall, but when I humble myself I will be exalted by You as I fulfill the vow You made when I completely trusted in Your Son to pay the debt I owed. Now, give me the power to fulfill the vow I made when I promised to love You with all my heart, mind, and soul. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Follow The Captain

2012-02-07T06:21:00.000-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Follow The Captain
Date: Monday February 06, 2012Today's Chapters: Numbers 1-2

Hello My Friend,

Because we believe in Jesus and live our lives for Him we are going to face a lot of criticism and rejection, but we are soldiers for Christ in His army, we are His very own elect, and the amazing thing is that He is right there with us. He is our Captain, He is very pleased that we have not gone AWOL on Him, like any good soldier we are going to face some difficulties for serving Him, but as long as we keep fighting we will see some lives saved in the battle. “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier...Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” - 2 Timothy 2:1-4,9,10.The Book of Numbers is the forth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains thirty-six chapters. The author of the book is Moses and it was originally written to the Jews. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 1490-1451BC. The purpose of the book was to record the forty years that the Jews were wandering in the wilderness as a result of their disbelief/disobedience of God. What we are to learn from the book is that God is not pleased with anything less than a total commitment to Him. “If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.” - Numbers 30:2.

It had been two years since God brought the Jews out of bondage to Egypt, God ordered the first census among the people, every male 20 years and older was numbered according to their tribe and automatically drafted into the army, except for the tribe of the Levi.

“Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies...So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.” - Numbers 1:2,3,45-50.

The reason the tribe of Levi was not numbered is because they would not be serving God as a layman, but in His ministry. While God appoints an elect to serve Him in the ministry, the majority of people will be laymen, soldiers in His army to serve Him outside of the ministry. Why? There is only so many people that can be reached in a church, laymen serve God in the occupations, studies, and even their hobbies by being a testimony for Christ. The most important job God has given us is to tell the Gospel to everyone we meet, if they do not want to hear it, that's okay, your tried and that is all God asks, but a good solider for Christ, follows their Captain by preaching the Gospel, just as He did. “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him... And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” - Matthew 4:18-20,23.After the tribes were numbered they were given specific areas within the camp to dwell according to the number of people in the tribe. The tribes were to encamp about the Tabernacle, which was to be in the center of them. It was a token of God's gracious presence among them, yet, they were to pitch their tents at a distance from the tabernacle. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch... Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards...And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.” - Numbers 2:1,2,17,34.God is a God of order and not confusion, therefore, the camp of His followers should be compact, in order, training to be ready for battle, and close to the Captain and able to reach Him at a moments notice. Soldiers for Christ are not grouped up in one bunch, they are spread abroad and scattered all over the world, teaching the Gospel to all who will listen. Why? Remember our beginning Scripture? “Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” - II Timothy 2:10. We keep going, where ever our Captain leads us to find more willing souls, and more recruits for His army.

So, how do we follow our Captain? Jesus explains, “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house...And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” -Luke 10:2-5,9-11.

Healing the sick is preaching the Gospel to the lost, some will accept it and be healed, some will reject it and die. “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” - Mark 2:17. There is nothing we can do if they reject Christ, but pray that God will soften their hardened hearts. It is God that saves we are merely the messengers of the Gospel, if they reject the Gospel, they are rejecting God, not us. There will be many, including family and friends, that will reject Christ, but we must keep going, we must follow our Captain and never stop believing that every soul can be saved if they believe. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9.
Today's Psalm: 18:39 - “For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.”

Today's Proverb: 21:31 - “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.”

Today's Prayer: God, We want to march on as good soldiers for Christ, as our Captain gives the orders to go out and tell the Gospel let us not be weary in the fight for victory over Satan and death to every soul lost. Give us Your power and might to be bold, to march on even when we are rejected, and to keep going no matter how difficult it gets. In Jesus' name. Amen.Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Redeemed & Restored

2012-02-06T06:20:00.000-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Redeemed & Restored
Date: Sunday February 04,2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 25-27

Hello My Friend,

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Was there a time that you said in some form, “God, I admit I am a sinner, I believe that Your Son died to pay my sin debt, and that He arose from the dead to give me life too. I ask You to save me and from this moment on I am depending only on Him for my salvation. Amen.” If you said something like that than you are a sinner saved by grace and child of the One And Only Living God. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”- Romans 10:9,10. Praise God! Regardless of whether you said that prayer today or forty years ago, you are a child of God. Have you messed up since then? Sure you have, we all have, but you are redeemed and God has restored you, not only that You will receive an inheritance that no one can take from you.

God gave specific instructions to the Jews on how they were to behave when they got into the promised land. But knowing the flesh He came up the with year of jubile. The year of jubile would be a time of restoration, a yearlong period to be observed by the Jews once every fifty years, during which Jewish slaves were to be set free, alienated lands were to be restored to their original owner or an heir, and allagricultural labors were to be suspended until the next year. “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field...And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.” - Leviticus 25:10-12,24,25..

The kinsman redeemer is an illustration of Jesus Christ who took on our nature in order to be our next of kin to redeem a piece of land for our inheritance in the Kingdom of God, which we forfeited through sin. Jesus, who is our Redeemer, restores us when we receive Him. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,” -1 Peter 1:3,4.

We should never disregard nor take for granted the wonderful gift that God has given us, while obeying God has nothing to do with our salvation, it has everything to do with honoring and respecting Him for giving His life for us. Keep in mind, Jesus died once on the cross, that means we only have to ask Him once to save us. No matter what we have done or will do in the future we are still saved. Now, that does not mean that we will not face any chastisement for future sin, but it does mean that you are saved by grace alone and that you will not lose your inheritance in the Kingdom of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” - Ephesians 2:8,9.God promises the Jews if they obey His commands, He will continue to bless them, but if they disregard them they can expect to face some consequences, in fact, they will be seven times more severe. “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit...And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.” - Leviticus 26:3,4,15-18.When we allow Christ to live through us it only gets better, however, those who choose to live the same life they lived before they got saved with no intention of repenting are going to face some serious tribulations. While God wants to see everyone trust in His Son for their salvation, He will not stand for a person receiving Him for the sake of remaining in their sinful life. Jesus said, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” - Revelation 3:15-20.

God foretold to the severe punishment the Jews would receive if they did not walk in His statutes and commands.“And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.” - Leviticus 26:21-24.

Once in a while I will get someone quoting Bible verses like these to me, claiming that God is cruel and will strike you down if you do not do exactly what He says. That is just absurd. All the events that took place happened because they did the very things He warned them not to do. God does not give us commands so we cannot live He gives so we can live. The things that these people did to get God that angry were things that would anger us. And let me tell you, God is more forgiving than we are, I did some pretty cruel things to people out of anger before I repented of the life I lived in the world. People reap what they sow, and unfortunately innocent people get tangled up in the reaping, but God will get the vengeance upon anyone who hurts His child. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” -Romans 12:19-21.
Today's Psalm: 49:16 - “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.”

Today's Proverb: 23:11 - “For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.”

Today's Prayer: God, it is because of the great love of Your Son, Jesus, and His willingness to take on our sins to redeem us that we can receive Your inheritance. It is truly amazing, the love You have for me and everyone, when I was lost, broken, and without hope, You took me in, You accepted me, and You made me one of Yours. Lord, I want to be grateful and honor You as Your child, lead me and guide me to understand and obey Your statutes and commands. In Jesus' name. Amen.Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Holy Things

2012-02-04T19:39:00.000-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Holy Things
Date: Saturday February 04, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 22-24

Hello My Friend,

Every person that has received Christ as their Savior has one person dwelling in them that enables them to live the life that God wants them to live. That person is the Holy Spirit, and believe it or not the talents you have were given to you to serve God in some way, like I said before, all God wants is someone to be ready and willing to serve Him in the profession that He has given them. The key to being ready and receiving the gifts rewarded for serving Him is letting the Holy Spirit do His work in you. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ...And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” - Ephesians 4:4-7,11-13.

God chose the tribe of Levi to be those who would serve Him in the ministry, that did not mean that He would not use any other tribe to serve Him, but that they would be the ones who would work in the actual church. God gave Aaron specific instructions on how he and generations after him would serve Him in the church. “Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD...They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them. There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.” - Leviticus 22:2,3,9-11.

The holy things offered to the priests and their family members was the meat offerings given as provision for the work they had done for God in the church. No priest or member or his family who had become unclean was allowed to touch or eat of the sacrifices unless they were cleansed from their sins, no stranger was allowed to eat of them either unless their soul was bought and they became part of the family. This is an illustration of Jesus, while we can serve God, unless we receive Jesus He does not accept the offer, Jesus purchased our souls when He died on the cross, and the only way to partake of the sacrifice is to receive Him as your Savior. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” - 1 Corinthians 6:19,20.

God instructs the Jews on holy people, holy things, and holy places, now He instructs them of holy days. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.” - Leviticus 23:2-4.

Though the yearly feasts were made more remarkable by general attendance at the tabernacle, these must not be observed more than the sabbath. On that day they must withdraw from all business of the world. It is a sabbath day of rest, representing a spiritual rest from sin, and rest in God. God's sabbaths are to be observed in every private house, by every family apart, as well as by families together, and in holy assemblies. This does not mean that we should all take Saturday's or Sunday's off, but we should have one day a week where we devote it only to God. “Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” -Matthew 12:5-8.

The word blaspheme is defined as to speak evil of, to swear, slander, or abuse, especially toward God or in reference to Him. We all go through things in life or see things happening and wonder at times why God allows them to happen. That is natural and God expects and accepts our questions, even when we get angry or upset. God can handle anger, what He can not handle is speaking evil of, slandering, or abusing His name. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.” - Leviticus 24:13-16.

Today, we are lucky that this law is no longer in effect, but the same rule applies to the blasphemer, to the one who curses God, he shall bear his sin, that is, bare the punishment for cursing God. Out of all the sins we can commit nothing is more dangerous the Holy Spirit. “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:” - Mark 3:28,29.

We have the great Spirit of God dwelling in us, it is our gift to Him for trusting only in His Son to save us. That means that we have something holy in us, which no one can take from us. He is our guide, our teacher, our conscience, our only way to understanding the Bible and how God wants us to use the talents He has given us for His glory. When we truly respect God in reference to His law there is nothing that He will not do for us. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” -1 Corinthians 2:9,10.
Today's Psalm: 37:4 - “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Today's Proverb: 20:25 - “It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.”

Today's Prayer: God, Your arm is not too short to save, nor Your ear too dull to hear our prayers. Our iniquities have separated us from You. Today, I repent of those things that have distanced me from my holy God, Lord, reveal anything that I need to part with to be in complete harmony with You. Help my faith to be renewed and help me resolve to follow Your will. May I be found faithful as I call out to You, for I know You hear me because Your Son is a part of me. In Jesus' name. Amen,
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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I Am The Lord Your God

2012-02-03T20:59:00.001-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: I Am The Lord Your God
Date: Friday February 03, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 19-21

Hello My Friend,
Many people know of Jesus or even believe that He died to save people, but very few will believe in His death, burial, resurrection, and that He alone is the Only One who will save them from hell. However, it is only when we believe that Jesus Christ is the one who can save us and receive Him as our personal Savior can we be saved. Any alteration to this simple rule is among the unbelieving who will not be one of God's children and will be cast into the lake of fire no matter how good you try to be.
“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” -Revelation 21:6-8,27.

God chose Israel to be the nation that He would represent as His children, but that did not mean that every Jew would be one of His children. They had to live by the law and if they did anything that God considered to be an abomination they were cut off from the family. But God did not just limit Himself to the Jews, any person, regardless of their race that wanted God in their lives was able to receive Him, they just had to follow the same law. “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will...And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God...Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.” - Leviticus 19:2-5,33,34,37.

The same punishment that we receive regarding sin is the same punishment they received as well, the second death, anyone who rejected God, regardless of their race, would be sent to hell and later on will be cast into the lake of fire when Jesus returns. God did and still saves those who want Him in their lives, a sacrifice is still required, but this time it is not the blood of animals that saves us, but the blood of Jesus Christ, He became the only acceptable, perfect sacrifice to redeem a soul from hell. “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” - Romans 2:7-11.

God has distinguished His children from all others by a holy covenant, and while being or not being obedient to Him is what saves us, He expects His children to be holy, because He is your God, and He is holy. “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you. For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death...If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them...And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” - Leviticus 20:7-10,13,26.

While God uses certain people to serve Him in the ministry, He accepts all, no matter what infirmities we have, after all He made us. God instructs Aaron on who would serve Him in the ministry. Priests laboring under any personal defect were not allowed to officiate in the public service, they might be employed in some duties about the sanctuary, but could not perform any sacred office, meaning receive the sacrifices.“Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.” - Leviticus 21:17-23.

The reason why a priest with an infirmity was not allowed to receive and offer the offerings of the people to God was because their physical appearance would have caused a distraction to what the people would really be there for. This did not mean that God pushed the person away from serving Him, He just gave them other jobs to do. It is the same way today, there are hundreds of women heading up churches today, this is considered as an infirmity and one in which God does not agree with. While we can all be teachers we are not all to be ministers, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” - 1 Timothy 2:12-15.
People ask me all the time, why is it important to learn these laws when they do not apply to us today? The entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, represents one person, that is Jesus Christ and the theme of the entire book is the Blood. All of the laws before He came to earth were a foreshadow of Him and while we are no longer bound to the law itself, it is important that we understand what God detests, and that they are things that we should detest. We need to be very grateful that we are no longer bound to the law, otherwise we would learn very quick how to fear God. The truth is we all need to fear God, and I do not mean to be afraid of Him, I mean to respect Him, to honor Him, and to be holy, for He is the Lord Your God. How hard is it for us to live the way God wants us to live? To have some morals about how we live our lives? If we truly want to understand God and live the way He wants us to live it is important to learn all of His Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” -2 Timothy 3:16,17.
Today's Psalm: 34:11 - “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”

Today's Proverb: 14:26 - “In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.”

Today's Prayer: God, I will never understand just how simple it is to be one of Your children, but I believe that Your perfect Son died for me to save me from that horrible second death and I am trusting only in Him to save me. However, I do want to show You how much I love You and how grateful I am to be redeemed and the only way I can show that gratitude is to be holy as You are holy. Lord, keep me in Your Word, help me to understand the importance of learning all of it and applying those concepts to my life today. In Jesus' name. Amen
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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The Day of Atonement

2012-02-02T21:48:00.002-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: The Day of Atonement
Date: Thursday February 02, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 16-18

Hello My Friend,

God gave the things of the world to be desired and possessed as He intended, to be used by His grace and glory. God wants us to have things, but believer's must learn not to desire or possess things that introduce sin. The world draws the heart from God and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God fails. Three are three things in the world that destroy our relationship with God, 1, the lust of the flesh, which is the appetite of indulging in sensual pleasures. 2, the lust of the eyes, which is the appetite of seeking something that belongs to others. And 3, the pride of life, which is the appetite of one's own power and glory.“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever...And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” - 1 John 15-17,28,29.The Day of Atonement was the one day of the year that the high priest could make an atonement for the entire congregation for their sins of the past year. In addition to the normal sin, trespass, and peace offerings were two goats, one for God and one to be the scapegoat. A scapegoat one that takes the blame and punishment for others. “Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering...And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” -Leviticus 16:3,6-10.

Since it was for the entire congregation Aaron, the high priest, in a sense, took on all their sins. Aaron had to put his hands on the scapegoat, placing all the sins of the people on that goat, he said a prayer and let the goat take off into the wilderness, taking all the sins with it. This entire ceremony represents Jesus Christ, first, He is our high priest, He took on every sin known to man. Second, He became the sin sacrifice, and third He became the scapegoat, which takes away all the sins of those who believe in Him, making an atonement for their sins. Jesus took the blame for all of us and died for all of our sins, only those who believe in Him will receive the atonement for their sins. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” -Romans 5:10,11.

Did you ever see a person hooked up to a heart monitor? There is a line that goes across the screen, you hear bleeps when the heart beats. The bleeps are a persons lifeline, the thing that keeps the heart beating is the blood, without blood pumping into it you would hear flatline instead of a lifeline. Blood is so important to God that He gave strict commands on how to handle blood.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.” -Leviticus 17:11-14.

There is nothing more powerful than blood to bring life to a person, I am anemic and there are times when I get so drained that nothing cures me, but eating a good steak. The rich blood in that meat brings me back to life, if you have Jesus in you, you have His blood pumping through you, He is your lifeline, He brings life to you. Jesus said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” - John 6:53-57. This is spiritually speaking, when we receive Christ we spiritually eat the sin sacrifice, drink of the blood that He shed for us, which then His rich blood gives us life.

While all sin wrecks our relationship with God, some are just plain disgusting to Him, the most disgusting are of the flesh. Fleshly lusts war against the soul and will certainly be the ruin of it, God commanded Israel to abstain from all lusts of the flesh.

“After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD. None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD...Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her. And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.” - Leviticus 18:3-6,20-23.

We think that what we see going around the world is something new, it is not new to God. There is not one thing in this life that God has not seen already over the centuries, this includes every immoral act of the flesh such as fornication, adultery, incest, bestiality, homosexuality, and even bringing immorality into the marriage bed. We are children of God, that means that we are to start acting like it and not do the things that we see or have done while we were in the world. Yes, we may have done some things while in the world that we were ignorant to, but that does not give us an excuse to do them now. A saved soul has much more to affliction to deal with than one who never knew Christ. Why? To get them to repent, to turn away from living in sin. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” - 2 Corinthians 7:10.Today's Psalm: 116:17 - “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.”

Today's Proverb: 21:3 - “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”

Today's Prayer: God, thank You for Your indwelling Spirit that replaces my sinful nature with that of a spiritual nature. As I walk in Your ways year after year, I am aware of sins that wreck my relationship with You. Help me to remove all the sin that keeps me from receiving the desires and possessions You have for me for my faithfulness to You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
ChristinaAre You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? You Can Be. Visit: God's Price
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Cleansed And Cured

2012-02-01T21:23:00.000-05:00

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Cleansed And Cured
Date: Wednesday February 01, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 14-15

Hello My Friend,

To be clean means to remove all foreign matter from, to be free from dirt or impurities, to be purified. If you have ever been really dirty and sweaty than you know how good it feels to get into a hot shower and feel all the grime wash away. No matter how clean we get the outside of our bodies soap and water does not clean the inside, so even though one can be clean on the outside they can still feel quite grimy and dirty on the inside. That is where Jesus comes in, only Jesus can clean the inside, remove all the dirt, and purify the mind, spirit, and soul. How can Jesus cleanse us? Besides His precious blood to cleanse the soul, He removes the guilt and shame that plagues the mind, and awakens the dead spirit inside, but the only way He can cleanse us is by confessing our sins to Him.

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” - 1 John 1:3-10.

We have been reading a lot about leprosy the last couple of days, like I said earlier, leprosy is a deadly disease, it's caught by those who have not kept themselves clean. It's highly contagious and can be passed onto others, who keep themselves clean. I remember once when I was in high school having contracted ring worm, not sure if it was one of my brothers that got near someone of if it was me, all I know is that everyone in the house contracted it and we had to suffer with this disease for a couple of weeks, we could not go outside nor near anyone or they too would get infected. Them nasty worms were dug their way inside our skin, we needed to put this cream all over our bodies to get rid of them. What an illustration of sin, we are exposed to it from the outside, once it gets in, it digs it's way into our skin, the only way to remove it is to apply Christ to it, it takes some time to get rid of it, but as long as you keep applying Christ to it it goes away.
The word leprosy struck terror in the heart of a Jew for two reasons. First, the person who had leprosy became an outcast from society. He was forced to leave his home, family, friends, and the place of worship. When anyone went near him, the leper had to cry out, Unclean, Unclean, and people had to avoid him. Now, regardless of how many sacrifices brought to the priests the only way a person could have been cured from the disease was by God Himself. If God cured the person of the disease they were able to take the steps needed to be fully cleansed.
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.” - Leviticus 14:1-7.

The steps taken for a Jew to be cleansed are representative of Christ, the two birds represent, Christ dying for our sins and rising again to cleanse us, freeing us from our sins. The cedar wood represents the freedom given by Jesus to remove all the corruption that sin had brought upon our lives. Scarlet represents the persons stained blood and the blood of Christ that removed those stains. Hyssop represents the fragrant smell given off as we are cleansed from our sins, deemed holy, and reconciled with God. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” - Romans 5:8-10.

Besides leprosy, there were other issues that a person had to be cleansed from that could spread illness and disease. Men and women having cleansing issues had to be separated from population until their issues were dissolved. “And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even. And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even. The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even. And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.” -Leviticus 15:16-19.

God even addresses how a woman was to be separated from the people when she was menstruating. Do you know how many diseases can be spread simply by touching someones infected body fluids? It was for that reason why God enforced these rules. Today, these rules are not enforced, but the same concept still applies, keep yourself clean, if you are not clean, separate yourself from those who are clean until you are, if it is incurable do not spread it to others for your own selfish lusts and pray to God for a miracle.
Maybe you have gotten caught up in something that you think God can never forgive you for. God forgives all who come to Him and He will cleanse you too. Your cure, is Jesus Christ. We can praise God for one drop of that precious blood of His, it is the only blood that is pure and comes into the soul for a good cleansing “by water and blood”. “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one...He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” - 1 John 5:5-8,12.
Today's Psalm: 51:7 - “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Today's Proverb: 30:12 - “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”

Today's Prayer: God, It is indescribable the love You have for me, to offer Your perfect Son to take the blame for my sins. He gave His life to save me, to cleanse me from all the filth of sin that encrusted my body for years. Thank You Jesus, for such a sacrifice, while nothing I do can ever repay You for what You have done for me, I can do my best to live a clean life as I apply of You are to all of me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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To Make A Difference

2012-01-31T20:26:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: To Make A Difference
Date: Tuesday January 31, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 11-13Preview of Today's Message:
All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Those who believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as their personal Savior are children of the one and only Almighty, Living God. That means we have the Spirit of God dwelling inside of us, that means God dwells inside of us. Naturally, since we are children of God that means we are to act like children of God, meaning just as He is holy, we are to be holy. In other words, we are to separate ourselves from the world, to be make a difference and be clean.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” - 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

God gave the Jews specific instructions on what food they were allowed to eat or even touch. Every creature of God's is good and made for a purpose, all the way down to fly, but God did not want His people to consume or touch certain animals that would defile their bodies and make them unclean, which means foul, dirty, or filthy.
“And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth...For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.” -Leviticus 11:1,2,44-47.

The reason the Jews were to follow this law was to make a difference, to set them apart from the rest of the world. Many of these animals were objects of superstition and idolatry to the heathen, which was all an abomination to God. The laws, however, were probably primarily for sanitary reasons and necessary to the good of the people. We are no longer subject to this law, but the same concept still applies, do not consume or touch anything that would make a body unclean, today, some of these things would be alcohol, drugs, pornography, adultery, and fornication. “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” - 1 Corinthians 6:16-20.

From uncleanness contracted by the touching or eating certain animals, God now comes to the uncleanness which arises from ourselves. Every person born, except Jesus, is born into sin from the second they are conceived, not necessarily by conception, but simply through our human nature, it seems unfair that the second we are brought into this world we are considered sinners, but that curse got passed down to us through Adam and Eve. When a woman had a child she was considered unclean and had to go through a purification process.

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.” - Leviticus 2-5.

The purifying of her blood refers to the complete purification of a woman's body after she gives birth, which took about forty days if she gave birth to a male and eighty for a female. It is called the blood of her purifying because of the expulsion of unclean blood, which is referred to as menstruation. The reason a woman had to wait twice as long was to keep the female population from getting larger than the male. Today, there is only one way to be purified and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” - 1 John 1:7.

God did not just single out women, men too were to keep their bodies pure as well, if they weren't they would become leprous. “When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean...And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.” - Leviticus 13:2,3,45.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that affects and controls the entire body, it starts out as a small white spot then slowly eats through a persons muscle, causing the nervous system to shut down as well as hair loss and even the loss of limbs. If a person had leprosy he had to avoid everyone that was clean and yell out unclean by anyone he passed. Sin is like leprosy, it starts out small and slowly takes control of the person, and it is infectious, it causes others to sin and or be exposed to the sin. Could you imagine getting a disease that spreads your entire body because you exposed yourself to sin and having to separate yourself from everyone and yell out unclean if someone came near you? Talk about separation?

Therefore, as children of the Almighty, Living God we are to still separate ourselves from the world, we are to make a difference, be the people God wants us to be. Show the world that it is a great thing to be a child of the Almighty Living God. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” -1 Peter 1:13-19.
Today's Psalm: 119:9 - “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

Today's Proverb: 16:2 - “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.”

Today's Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to walk on this earth and show us the way to You. It is only through Him that we have forgiveness and hope of eternal life when we confess that we are sinners and ask Him to cleanse us. Now, as one of Your children, show me how You want me to live, teach me to be obedient to Your commands, keep me from exposing myself to sin, and help me to remain separated from the uncleanness of the world and to make a difference as you day by day cleanse me from all that defiles my mind, body, and spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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On God's Terms

2012-01-30T21:39:00.002-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: On God's Terms
Date: Monday January 30, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 8-10Preview of Today's Message:
All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Have you ever stopped to think about how powerful things are that you cannot see? For instance, the wind, you cannot see it coming, but when it does, you can sure feel it, it can be pleasant or quite dangerous. The air, you cannot see it, but it is what we breathe, without it we would die. How about electricity? It is perhaps one of the most dangerous elements that we cannot see, it's all around us, touch it and it can kill you. Now, imagine how powerful God is, we cannot see Him, but He, in fact, made all these things. Talk about power! God's power is awesome and He uses it on every one of us, and depending on our walk with Him that can be a pleasant or quite dangerous experience. If you have chosen to serve God, it would be wise to do that on His terms, not yours.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God...And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” - Hebrews 12:1,2,27-29.

While God will use any willing heart to serve Him, regardless of their past, He expects that willing heart to serve Him unconditionally. Aaron built a golden god for the Jews to worship, but God still used him in His service. He would become the first high priest of God and his sons would be priests. In order for them to even be able to serve God they had to be consecrated. God gave Moses instructions on how to consecrate Aaron and his sons.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation...And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you. As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded. So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.” -Leviticus 8:1-3,33-36.

The word consecration means the act devoting and dedicating a person for the service and worship of God. Consecration does not make a person holy, but it declares them to be devoted to God in serving Him on His terms. The priests did not consecrate themselves, Moses was the appointed instrument of God to do this work, he was their mediator to God. Without Moses hand in presenting them to God, any work that they would have done in service to God would have been worthless because God only acknowledges the works of those who are consecrated. Today, our Mediator is Jesus Christ, He presents the believer to God for consecration, if we do not know Christ than any service to God would be worthless. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” - Matthew 7:21-23.

Now, after the seven days of consecration, they still were not able to do their duties just yet, first, they had to be redeemed, forgiven of their sins. Remember, to stand before God we must be holy, consecration did not make them holy, just prepared their hearts to stand before Him, now, it was time for the first sin sacrifices to be offered. “And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the LORD shall appear unto you...And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.” -Leviticus 9:6,22-24.

The glory of the Lord, the fire that came down from heaven and devoured the sacrifices, was so powerful that the people fell on their knees in fear. There is no greater way to redeem someone than fear, many of us get saved and have no desire to serve God until we see the glory of the Lord. It us truly the fear of God that gets us serving Him unconditionally. “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” -Hebrews 10:29-31.

So, once you are saved, have Jesus on your side, and choose God over sin, you are capable of serving Him and seeing the blessings from it. However, altar this plan once and it will be fatal. This proved to be true for two of Aaron's sons. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.” - Leviticus 10:1-3.

The strange fire offered to God was not holy, it came from outside of the tabernacle, therefore, it was tainted, corrupted and since God is holy we must present ourselves holy before Him, not with corrupted offerings, but pure, undefiled offerings. If you want God in your life and want to serve Him, do it His way, do not alter any part of His plan. Today, offering strange fire to God would be altering the Gospel. To be saved, one must admit they are a sinner, believe and understand that Jesus (who is sinless, died, was buried, and resurrected three days later), is the Only One who can save them, and the only way they can be redeemed is to accept Him in their lives. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” - Romans 10:9,10.

Altering the Gospel would be saying, that you must be baptized too, or that if you sin again you have to do it all over again. We are saved by grace, not by our works, salvation is simply trusting in Jesus alone to save you, nothing else. Everything else, from baptism to serving God is done in obedience and reverence to Him, not to remain saved. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” -Titus 3:5-7.
Today's Psalm: 2:11 - “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

Today's Proverb: 1:7 - “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Today's Prayer: God, it has been written that he who stands for nothing will fall for anything. Most within our generation stand for very little that has eternal value though we have been given thorough instruction from Your Word to guide our lives, teach us right from wrong, and how to prepare for eternity. We are convinced of these teachings by the Holy Spirit, by men and women of deep faith, and by our own defining experiences in life. God help me to stand unashamedly and fearlessly before You, ready to serve You unconditionally, with Jesus by my side. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Reconciled

2012-01-29T15:57:00.002-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Reconciled
Date: Sunday January 29, 2012Today's Chapters: Leviticus 5-7Preview of Today's Message: We are all sinners saved by grace. So, when we mess up, what happens? We make it right with God, we reconcile our relationship with Him through confession. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

The word ignorant is defined as lacking in knowledge, training, or awareness. Being ignorant or lacking in knowledge means that we are capable of learning. I use to say, “Sometimes not knowing is better off than knowing.”, but usually I found out that knowing would have kept me getting caught up in a mess. I do not know how many people I have talked to when asked, “If you were to die today, do you that you would be in heaven?” respond with, “When I die, I die, that's it.” No, that is not it. The flesh dies, but there is also soul inside every person and if that soul does not know Jesus Christ than that soul will end up in a lake of fire much more horrific than the thought of being in hell. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” -Revelation 21:7,8.

Yesterday we talked about sin, meat, and peace offerings, today we are going to talk about trespass offerings. Trespass offerings were offerings given for specific sins, something that they knowingly knew they did. Now, if a person knowingly sinned, meaning they were not ignorant to what they were doing, they would be subject to some major affliction until they admitted their sin before God. “And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty. Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:” - Leviticus 5:1-5.

Confession of sin is the only way we can not only get right with God, but ourselves and others as well. If we are knowingly living in sin everyone else around us is affected. Until we come clean it only gets worse, just like any parent, the punishment is less severe when we admit what we did. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9.

Now God gives the instruction of the trespass offering, “If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour; Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,..And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.” - Leviticus 6:2-4,6,7.
The trespasses here mentioned, still are trespasses against the law of Christ, which insists as much upon justice and truth, as the law of nature, or the law of Moses. Trespass against our neighbor is trespass against God, because it is an offense to our Savior who has redeemed us commanded that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” - John 13:34,35.
There is no difference between sin committed unknowingly or knowingly, it is all sin to God and cause for redemption. It is wise to go before God and ask Him to reveal any hidden sin, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” - Psalm 139:23,24. However, if a person gets saved and continues to live in sin with the attitude that “No matter what I do I am saved so, I am going to do it anyway.” he will suffer more and more until he repents, turns away from the sin. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9.

Even those who live for God sin, we are not perfect nor will we be, that means we have to seek forgiveness too. God instructs Moses on how the priests were to give their offerings to God. “Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy. In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar...And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering. Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy. As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.” - Leviticus 7:1,2,5-7.

There are times in our lives when we just have to cry before God and say I am sorry, even if we have not done anything wrong that we can think of. I have a habit of keeping things that bother me all bottled up and when that happens I can feel estranged from God and everything else in my life too. When I get to that point I just cry out to God. He needs to hear our love and dependance of Him, there is no better way to be reconciled with God than by crying out to Him. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” -James 4:8-10.
Today's Psalm: 86:5 - “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.”

Today's Proverb: 28:13 - “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Today's Prayer: God, I know that I am a sinner saved by grace because I am simply believing in and trusting Your Son, Jesus to save me from hell and the lake of fire. As a child of God I know there are sacrifices that You ask of me, most especially to follow You and obey You no matter the cost. I can’t do this in my own strength, but I know I can do them in Christ's. Circumstances will test me, but I know I can overcome them with Your Son. I am determine to remain faithful to You so that my faith will grow and my Christian walk will be strengthened. I will not be ashamed, but rather glory in the amazing transformation You are in me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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The Perfect Sacrifice

2012-01-28T06:48:00.001-05:00

DailyBible Study Devotional
MessageTitle:ThePerfect Sacrifice
Date:Saturday January 28, 2012Today'sChapters:Leviticus1-4Previewof Today's Message:Thelegal sacrifices under the law, were shadows of Christ’s atonement,but could never fully justified the sinner, it had to be a continuousoffering to God. Christ became the perfect sacrifice to make thatatonement permanent. AllScripture quoted from the King James Version.

HelloMy Friend,
Underthe Gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ became theperfect atonement for the sinner, His sacrificial death justifiesthem once and for all. “Forthe law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the veryimage of the things, can never with those sacrifices which theyoffered year by year continually make the comers thereuntoperfect...But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sinsfor ever, sat down on the right hand of God;..For by one offering hehath perfected for ever them that are sanctified...Now whereremission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Havingtherefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the bloodof Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;.. Let us draw near witha true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkledfrom an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”-Hebrews 10:1,12,14,18-20,22.
TheBook of Leviticus is the third book of the Old Testament/Bible andcontains twenty-seven chapters, the timeline is approximately 1490B.C (This is a continuation of Exodus and Numbers). The author of thebook is Moses and it was written to the people of Israel. This bookwas a manual of worship for Israel, it was provided to give theminstructions on how a sinner could fellowship with God. The purposeof the book was to show Israel how to live as a holy nation infellowship with God and to prepare them to extend God's plan ofredemption to all nations. What we are to learn from the book is thatGod only redeems and fellowships with us if we go to Him willingly.“Ifhis offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a malewithout blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at thedoor of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.”- Leviticus 1:3.
WhileGod would love for everyone to offer themselves to Him, God does notand will not force Himself upon anyone, they must offer themselves toHim willingly if they want Him to be in their lives. Now, anoffering is a sacrifice,a donation, present, or gift, it is something given willingly with noforce or persuasion by others. So, when we offer ourselves to God wewillingly give ourselves to Him, but to give ourselves to Him comeswith a price, we must be righteous to stand before Him, to fellowshipwith Him. Since no one is righteous, except Jesus, God gave atemporary solution for people to be righteous before Him, sacrificialofferings. Today we will learn about sin, meat, and peace offerings.
Thesin offering was to be of animal flesh, it had to be a male under ayear old without one spot on it, the person had to offer the offeringwillingly as a payment for their sin. Once they brought the offeringthey had to place one hand on the head of the sacrifice and then killthe animal. Once the offering was killed the animal was handed overto a priest where he would cut it up, clean it, place it upon thealtar to be a burnt offering unto God.
“Speakunto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of youbring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of thecattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be aburnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: heshall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of thetabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put hishand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be acceptedfor him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullockbefore the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring theblood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is bythe door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”- Leviticus 1:2-5.

The sin offering could have been in theform of any animal, this was to provide a way for every person, richor poor to fellowship with God. The sin offering was abolished whenChrist offered Himself without spotto God for the atonement of sin once and for all. The same ruleapplies in order to fellowship with God, one must willingly come toChrist. “Thatif thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shaltbelieve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thoushalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”-Romans 10:9,10.
Themeat offering was not the flesh of an animal it was actually bread,vegetables, baked or fried in olive oil and spices, this was the onlyoffering offered that was able to enter the tabernacle. “Andwhen any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shallbe of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincensethereon: And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and heshall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oilthereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burnthe memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, ofa sweet savour unto the LORD: And the remnant of the meat offeringshall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of theofferings of the LORD made by fire. And if thou bring an oblation ofa meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes offine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed withoil...Nomeat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made withleaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offeringof the LORD made by fire.”- Leviticus 2:1-4,11.

The meat offering was offered to God asa way to show thanks for God's atonement as well as what He blessedthem with throughout the year. Christ is the Bread of life, whooffered Himself as a sacrifice, meat offerings today would bepresenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, not a dead one, butliving sacrifice. Leavenis the emblem of pride and honey, sensual pleasure, which is why itwas not an acceptable offering. We are to offer our bodies to Godholy and acceptable. “Ibeseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that yepresent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world:but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may provewhat is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”-Romans 12:1,2.
Thepeace offering was to be animal flesh, it could be a male or female,but it had to be spotless. This was an offering given after the sinoffering and meat offering for one to be able to communicate andfellowship with God. “Andif his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it ofthe herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it withoutblemish before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head ofhis offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of thecongregation: and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the bloodupon the altar round about. And he shall offer of the sacrifice ofthe peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fatthat covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by theflanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall hetake away.”- Leviticus 3:1-4.

The word oblation means to offer itwillingly, today, the same rules apply, we still need to seekforgiveness for our sins, we still need to offer ourselves as aliving sacrifice, and we still need to do both to be able tocommunicate and fellowship with God. The only difference is thatJesus paid the price for our sins permanently, that is if we call onHim to save us. Without Jesus we cannot receive atonement for oursins, we cannot be all we can be for Him, and we cannot have a goodrelationship with Him. “Byhim therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to Godcontinually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to hisname. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with suchsacrifices God is well pleased...Now the God of peace, that broughtagain from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep,through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Makeyou perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you thatwhich is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom beglory for ever and ever. Amen.”-Hebrews 13:15,16,20,21.
Godinstructs Moses on how the Jews were to present their offerings,there were actually five offerings that were to be made. The sinoffering, the peace offering, the burnt offering, the meat offering,and the trespass offering. Above all was the sin offering, it was theonly one to be given for the atonement of their sins, even if theyignorantly sinned, were not aware of the sin, they had to present asin offering. “Speakunto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin throughignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerningthings which ought not to be done, and shall do against any ofthem:..And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering,and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burntoffering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offeringwith his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burntoffering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom ofthe altar: And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat ofthe lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; andthe priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offeringsmade by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonementfor his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.”- Leviticus 4:2,33-35.
Whileanyone can accept Christ, not everyone lives for Christ once theyaccept Him. Only when we live for Him can we truly understand what Hedid for us. Ignorancedoes not save a person from hell, we all have sinned, we all must paythe same price for sin. Ouronly hope is in the acceptance of Him who “became sin for us”.“Nowthen we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you byus: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For hehath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might bemade the righteousness of God in him.”- 2 Corinthians 5:20,21.
Today'sPsalm:101:2 - ”Iwill behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou comeunto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.”

Today'sProverb: 4:18 - “Butthe path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more andmore unto the perfect day.”

Today'sPrayer:God, Here I am again, Your work in progress. Though I committed mylife to you many years ago the finished work will not be revealeduntil I reach You on the upper side. In the midst of my struggles,failures, and doubts I remain confident that You will complete thework You began the day I surrendered my life to You. You accepted meas I was and You lovingly began reshaping my life to reflect Your ownnature. Not only are You continuing the good work You began, but Youare perfecting the situations that weaken my faith and my Christiantestimony. I thank You that You will fulfill Your purpose for me thisday as I commit all my ways to You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoythe rest of your day/night. GodBless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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A Willing Heart

2012-01-26T21:42:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: A Willing Heart
Date: Thursday January 26, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 35-37Preview of Today's Message: God loves a willing heart, in fact, if a heart is not willing He rather it not do anything for Him than do it and not enjoy it. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Jesus Christ is the chief Shepherd of the whole flock and heritage of God. All those that faithfully serve Him will receive a crown of unfading glory, infinitely better and more honorable than all the authority, wealth, and pleasure of the world combine. The key to receiving such glory is having a willing heart, willing means with free will, cheerfully of ones own choice. God wants a cheerful, servant coming to Him with their own free will.
“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away...Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” -1 Peter 5:2-4,8-11.
The time had come for the tabernacle to be built, just as God instructed Moses to the exact specifications, Moses instructed the people. God did not force anyone to participate He wanted people of a willing heart to build His dwelling place. “And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,..And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;” - Exodus 35:4,5,10.

God will never force anyone to come to Him, just as He wants a willing heart to do His work He wants a willing heart to accept Him into their lives. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” - Mark 12:30.

God stirred the hearts of many, whatever skill they had, men, women, and children came eager to make and do the things that needed to be build for the tabernacle, which by the way, they would never enter or work in. “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.” - Exodus 35:21-23.

God will use anyone willing to work for Him, while there are some things that He only wants men or women to do specifically, He will put anyone to work for Him that have a willing heart to do so. In fact, He gives us the skills that we have today to be used of His purpose. For example, I am a website designer, God uses me to build websites specifically for the service of spreading the Gospel and the truths of His Word. Everything we are good at is a gift from God. “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” - Ephesians 4:11,12.

Much of what we read today is a replay of what we read a couple of days ago, while it may seem a waste of time it is important. Why? It shows that every detail from the very last candle stick was made according to God's specifications and that we can be obedient to everyone of God's commands. God chose Bezaleel and Aholiab to build the parts that would go in the tabernacle.

“Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.” - Exodus 36:1-3.

Bezaleel's name means master builder or carpenter, Moses was in charge of making sure every piece was built to God's specifications. Today, Jesus is our master builder, when we accept Him into our hearts and allow Him to work through us we are built to God's specifications too. “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 3:9-11.

The Tabernacle was more than a worship center, this was the place where the Spirit of God would dwell and the only place that the people could come to communicate with God, that is unless you were one of the select few that God had used to be His mouth and guide others to Him. Today, God still dwells in the tabernacle of every person who has accepted His Son, Jesus Christ, as their Savior. “If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” - 1 Corinthians 3:15-17.

Incidentally, the design of the tabernacle was a foreshadow of Christ. The Ark, Mercy Seat, Table of Showbread, the Candlesticks, the Altar, and everything within the Tabernacle represented a part of Christ. Christ was placed upon the altar (tree) and became the sin sacrifice that would redeem the sinner who believes in Him, permanently. “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect...Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” - Hebrews 10:1,9,10. Praise God!
Today's Psalm: 9:1 - ”I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.”

Today's Proverb: 16:1 - “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.”

Today's Prayer: God, thank You for enlisting us as Your servants in the kingdom of God here on earth. You do not require a royal title or a fancy degree to serve You. You look for willing hearts whose love and commitment to Christ spill over into their words and deeds in every day life. Thank You for the many testimonies of lives that are fully yielded to Your purpose as they glorify You while influencing others to have willing hearts. Lord, lead me and guide me, prepare my heart, help me to be eager to diligently study Your Word so that I can effectively serve You in the areas of Your calling. I love You and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Just Wait

2012-01-25T21:06:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Just Wait
Date: Wednesday January 25, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 31-34Preview of Today's Message:
All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Perhaps one of the toughest things about being a Christian is waiting for God, we labor, we pray, we read, we obey, we confess, over and over again in hopes of that one thing we are waiting for to happen. So, what is to come of all this waiting? To perfect us and to prepare us to handle receiving what we have been asking for. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” - James 1:3-7. We must never give up on God and we must never ask Him anything in doubt, doubt gets us into nothing, but trouble.

Each and every person who has received Christ as their Savior has the Spirit of God indwelling them, He talks to us, teaches us, protects us, and even corrects us. That special skill you have is a gift from God to be used for serving God, you may not know right now what God will have you do for Him, but your skill, all your skills, will be used to serve Him in some way. God gave Moses the names of the people who would be helping him build the parts needed for the tabernacle and everything in it. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;” - Exodus 31:1-6.

God gave them wisdom, understanding, and the knowledge to be able to build the parts for the tabernacle, He used people whose hearts were ready to do what He commanded. Sometimes God waits to give us things until we get our heart right with Him. “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” - Jeremiah 24:7.

Meanwhile the people were impatiently waiting for Moses to come down and give them some direction. They demanded that Aaron make them a god that they can worship, Aaron gathered all the gold jewelry given to him, melted it, formed it, and out came a golden calf.
“And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?” - Exodus 32:7-11.

Moses earnestly intercedes with God on their behalf, he pleaded with God for them not to be destroyed. However, when Moses came back down and actually saw what what going on he got so angry that he broke the two tablets of stone containing the ten commandments and ordered every man that was against God to be killed. Three thousand men died that day, but the next day Moses went before God to make an atonement for the rest of the people. “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” - Exodus 32:31-35.

Do you know how many people even today make themselves gods of gold because they do not want to wait for God? There are many, just take a look at all the false religion out there, including evolution and atheism, all gods of gold. Careers, people, hobbies, whatever takes first place over God becomes their god of gold. I heard someone say last night, “God bless you and God bless America.” I thought, “What god are you blessing us with?” There is only One True and Living God, ignoring Him does not save us from the judgment given to us. God hates sin so much that even the tiniest of sin blots a person out of the book of life. There is only One person able to save us and that is Jesus Christ, He is the perfect Lamb that shed His blood to give is life. “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it...And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” -Revelation 21:22-24.

An amazing thing happens when you have Christ in your life and overcome the challenges that God places before you. You begin a relationship with Him, one so strong that eventually you will be able to speak to God as if you were standing face to face with Him. Moses literally stood face to face with God, well, he wasn't allowed to see His face directly, but God stood before him while they talked as friends. “And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.” - Exodus 33:5-8-11.

Moses was not a perfect man, he had to daily offer sacrifices to God as well, he just found favor in His sight because he obeyed Him and when he messed up he sought forgiveness. God does the same for us, as we live for Him and wait patiently for Him there is nothing that He would not give us, it's just all in His timing. Do not give up on God, He is working, preparing you, perfecting you to be able to receive the very thing you have been waiting for. “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.” - Isaiah 64:4,5.
Today's Psalm: 27:14 - “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

Today's Proverb: 20:22 - “Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.”

Today's Prayer: God, we want to be faithful to You, but it’s often a challenge and there are many excuses we can give for wanting to quit before Your appointed time. It would have been so understandable for Jesus to give up His plan to redeem the lost, but He was faithful to the mission which is our only hope for salvation. Help me to remember that my labor is not in vain, that my faithfulness is critical to the mission You have called me to do. As I remain faithful to You and wait patiently for You I know that You are perfecting me and getting me ready to receive what I have been waiting so long for. Thank You, Lord for Your patience with me as well. I love You and pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Holy Garment

2012-01-24T21:55:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Holy Garment
Date: Tuesday January 24, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 28-30Preview of Today's Message: We all want to be accepted by God, to know that He hears us and to see Him answer prayer. In order to be holy and accepted by God we need to put on our holy garments. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Since we all grow at different levels of our Christianity we can expect that not everyone knows what is sinful in God's eyes. As we grow we learn to eliminate the things that hinder our relationship with God, but sometimes we have a hard time of letting those things go. It does not mean that we are better than anyone else, it means we all have something that we need to eliminate. The key to eliminating those things is being a living sacrifice. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” -Romans 12:1-3.

God instructs Moses to make holy garments for Aaron and his sons, they were to be the priests of the tabernacle, the ones who would receive the sacrifices of the people and offer them to God on their behalf.“And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office...And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.” -Exodus 28:2-4,40,41.

To minister means one who serves at the altar, in order for the men to serve God they had to put on these holy garments. We can serve God in many ways, but unless we put on our holy garments we are unprofitable. I am a Sunday school teacher, if I teach the kids that they are not to smoke, drink, or fight and I am doing those things I would be an unprofitable servant of God. I cannot expect God to hear me and bless me if I am not holy and acceptable to God. “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” -Matthew 25:29,30.

Now, before the priests were to even enter the tabernacle they had to be cleansed as they were sinners too. God instructs Moses on how they were to be cleansed, they needed two rams for a sacrifice. “And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar...And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about...And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.” -Exodus 29:16,18-20,33,34.

The first ram was just an offering to God, it was a token of their dedicating themselves to serve God, the second ram was to give as a sin offering, this would be their atonement, their cleansing of all their sins to be able to stand before God holy and acceptable. The atonement blood was to be applied to their right ear, thumb, and toe, signifying the need to be to the right of God. The ear was to cleanse their ears from what they have heard and to prepare them to hear God. The thumb was to cleanse them from touching unclean things and to prepare them to serve God. The toe was to cleanse them from any corruption or sin they walked into and to prepare them to stand before God holy and acceptable for duty. Today, we too need to apply the blood of a sacrifice upon our ears, hands, and feet, but it can only be the blood of Christ. His sinless sacrifice made the atonement for all mankind, in order to apply it we need to accept it. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” -1 Peter 1:18,19.
One other thing that hinders our relationship with God is Satan, he is the biggest culprit of keeping us from eliminating sin. We can overcome Satan, but we need to put on our holy garments, which is the whole armor of God. Only by putting on the whole armor of God can we ever overcome Satan, sin, and truly receive all of what God has to offer us. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” - Ephesians 6:11-17.

The whole armor of God is truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. Each piece of armor we put on is holy and brings us closer to God and receiving His blessings. “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” -Ephesians 4:22-24.
Today's Psalm: 19:14 - “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Today's Proverb: 21:3 - ”To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”

Today's Prayer: God, there is nothing we can do or say to merit salvation. It is a gift freely extended to all who believe in the ultimate price that Jesus for our sins. He who knew no sin washes away our sin His precious blood shed on Calvary. Thank You, for accepting Christ’s blood as our holy garment to stand before You holy and accepted. Lord, help me apply the whole armor of God upon me so that I am able to overcome all the hindrances that keep me from serving You with my whole heart. Lead me and guide me away from Satan's ploys to keep me from receiving all the blessings You have waiting for me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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God's Judgments

2012-01-22T22:03:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: God's Judgments
Date: Sunday January 22, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 21-23Preview of Today's Message: God sets judgments upon His people, the laws He enforces are given to not only keep us moral, they are given to protect us from the dangers of the world. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

Judgment is the act of determining, as in courts of law, what is conformable to law and justice, also, the decision, or sentence of the court, or of a judge; the mandate or sentence of God. A pardon may be pleaded in the case of judgment. The sentence given to all mankind by God is death and hell, the judge is Jesus Christ Himself, and we will all stand before Him. There is only one way to be pardoned of this judgment, Christ Himself. “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” -John 5:22-25.

While many of the laws God enforced upon the Jews are not enforced upon us today, they are good reminders of why He enforced them in the first place and of why we are to live a moral, uncorrupted life.“Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them...He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death...And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death...If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.” -Exodus 21:1,12,15,22-27.

The law which authorized retaliation was a civil one. It was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage private revenge. The later Jews, however, mistook it for a moral precept, and were corrected by Jesus on this matter. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also...But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” -Matthew 5:38-40,44,45.

The people of God should ever be ready to show mildness and mercy, according to the spirit of these laws. We must answer to God, not only for what we do maliciously, but for what we do ignorantly also. God continues giving His judgments. “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” -Exodus 22:16-24.

Some of God's judgments should be common sense to man, but just like any law given it is enforced because someone did it first. God can see everything! He sees what we do, He even knows what we think. Nine times out of ten the things we think of become action regardless of whether those thoughts are good or bad. I woke up this morning from a dream (nothing immoral) wondering what God thought of that dream in my head and even asked forgiveness for thinking how the dream would end. Of course, we cannot control our dreams, but we can control our thoughts that lead to those dreams. I was thinking about the things that lead to that dream for a couple of days now, I do not want them to become actions, at least the corrupted things. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” -James 1:13-15.

God does not enforce judgments upon us to keep us from enjoying life, He does it so we can enjoy life. All of the dumb decisions I made over the years that I suffered for are of my own doing and I deserved it. God promises to always be there for us, to love us through think and thin, whether we obey His judgments or not. However, imagine the blessings that God gives to us from living by those judgments all the time. God said,
“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” -Exodus 23:20-25.

That angel is none other than Christ, he blesses us and takes away the sickness of our sins when we obey His voice. Jesus said, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” -Matthew 10:28-34. Today, Christ lives in every believer in the form of the Holy Spirit and pardons all who accept Him.
Today's Psalm: 105:7 - “He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.”

Today's Proverb: 19:29 - “ Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.”

Today's Prayer: God, all the goals and strategies that I set for my life are the blessings of knowing that as I keep obeying Your judgments that I will eventually hear You say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant“. You have persevered me and endured the hardships for me. Others in this world may earn titles and win prizes for worthy earthly pursuits, but the greatest prize that I will ever obtain is my entrance into Your Kingdom where I will see you face to face. Amazingly, not because I earned it, but because I believe in and have accepted Your Son as my personal Savior. Only through Jesus am I pardoned of my death and hell sentence. Thank You Jesus! In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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If You Love Me

2012-01-21T21:16:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: If You Love Me
Date: Saturday January 21, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 17-20Preview of Today's Message: While we are all sinners, we can live a pretty righteous life with God as long as we are willing to follow His commands. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

I was out soul winning last night and the last person I visited sincerely wanted a life with God, he clearly did a lot of studying on the matter, the problem was, he looked to every religion and book he could find rather than the only Book that would show him how to do that. I did not debate him on his findings, even after he told me that Jesus and God's name were not correct in the Bible. I simply said after I handed him a Bible tract, you have done a lot of research and I hope you find the truth, which I just gave you, I hope to see you in heaven one day, God wants to see you in heaven, He knows who He is, He knows His name. He looked at me and nodded as if a light bulb just went off in his head. So many people want God in their lives and likewise He wants to be in their lives too, the key, “Follow My Commands”.

“Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” -John 14:11-16.

There really is no better encouragement or motivation to follow God's commands than to see Him work. To see the impossible become possible, if you are saved, if you have received Christ as your Savior and kept Him in your life than you are proof that God can make the impossible possible. The life you live with Christ now did not happen over night it took some effort, it took some faith, it took some discipline. We cannot grow as a Christian, we cannot grow in our faith, and we cannot see the impossible become possible unless we follow God's commands. As the Israelite's continue their journey to the promised land God placed obstacles before them. Why? To get them to depend only upon Him to make the impossible possible. Time and time again they saw only the obstacle and not God, even though He was right there in front of them. Once again God placed an obstacle in front of them only to have the same response.
“And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” -Exodus 17:3-7.
Massah means temptation, Meribah means strife, they began to question whether God was with them or not. This is called their “tempting God,” because of distrust in Him after they had received such proofs of His power and goodness. Every time we question God's ability or existence when facing difficulties we are tempting God. Now, we all have questions for God, but to tempt Him is another story, it is as if we are saying, unless you do this for me I am not going to believe in you anymore. The rock represents Christ, and their drinking of it is represented as their being made partakers of the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” -John 7:38.

Some time later, when Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, heard all that God was doing for Israel and that they were now free he met up with him. He was pleased to see all that God had done, but was a bit disturbed to see that Moses was taking on all the burdens of the people all by himself. “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.” -Exodus 18:13-18.

Moses did what Jethro suggested, he taught and appointed people to take on most of the burdens of the people, except for the things that really needed his attention. We all need help from time to time, it is wise to teach others what we know, we are not invincible and we will not be around forever, so, it is important that we teach others so they can continue to do what we have worked so hard to accomplish. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” - II Timothy 2:24,25.

We all need God's help, in everything that we do, God promises to always be there for us when we keep following His commands. “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel...And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.” -Exodus 19:5,6,9.

God Himself spoke to the Israelite's from a mountain, “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” -Exodus 20:1-6.

I am not going to be the first to tell you that I understand all of the commands that God enforces, but I can tell you that whatever God wants to keep us from is for good reason and all He is really wants is for us to trust Him and have some morals about us so that we can be seen as His peculiar treasure. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” While our works certainly do not save us, Christ does and our keeping His commandments are simply our way to show Him that we truly love Him. Unless we study His Word and only His Word can we even know what those are. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” -2 Timothy 2:15.
Today's Psalm: 119:10 - “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.”

Today's Proverb: 13:13 - “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

Today's Prayer: God, Let Your commands be pressed upon my heart, Your love and blessings motivate and encourage me to obey You in all that I do. Lord, help me as I study Your Word from cover to cover, show me what Your will is for my life and give me Your power to fulfill that will and entrust You completely with my life, after all, You know what is best for me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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A Diligent Doer

2012-01-20T21:09:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: A Diligent Doer
Date: Friday January 20, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 14-16Preview of Today's Message: Anyone can read the Bible, but those who live by it not only find favor with God, they are blessed. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,
If Jesus Himself was our preacher and we rested in hearing His Words only, it would never bring us to heaven. People had Him right there in front of Him and yet they died and went to hell because they did not do what He said. We have a right to choose whether or not to believe in Christ, and many do believe that He existed and died to save them, but unless we do what we hear from the Bible concerning our salvation we will never get to the Kingdom of God. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” - James 1:22-25.

Israel finally had their freedom, they were no longer held in slavery to the Egyptians. Right in front of them was a pillar leading the way to the promised land, it was with them day and night, that pillar was God Himself. Can you imagine looking up and knowing that God was right there in front of you? I envy what the Israelite's had, they saw so many miracles from God and were chosen by Him to be their people. You would think that the Israelite's would have had more faith in God than anyone, but the sad thing is that they did not. The second they were faced with difficulties they began complaining, their first test of faith came when they were being chased by the Egyptian.

“And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” - Exodus 14:10-14.

When God is on our side we have nothing to fear, He loves us, and guess what, He even takes care of us and protects us when we have no faith in Him at all. We need not seek vengeance, God gets the vengeance all the time, and let me tell you, both you and your offender will know who God is. Egypt and Israel both saw God part the Red Sea and devour all the Egyptians once the Israelite's were safe. “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.” -Exodus 14:30,31.

Yea, they feared God, right up until the next challenge, three days later, when they could not drink the water. “So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” - Exodus 15:22-26.

One amazing thing about God is that He wants us to prove Him as the Almighty God, that is why He faces us with challenges. Is there anything too hard for God? He welcomes the challenge and always comes through, but the key to seeing His blessings come to pass is having faith in Him. Faith, is talking yourself into believing something to be true when you cannot see it. You put your faith in God knowing He is true, without seeing His face and you will see those blessing unfold right before your eyes. That word diligence means to keep doing what God tells you through His Word, when you become a doer of His Word that is what gives you the faith to believe in God. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” - Hebrews 11:1,6.
I have this talking alarm clock on my computer, I have two alarms set, one to pray, one to read today's Scripture. Since I want to put God first I try my hardest to keep to this schedule because if I am not it throws my entire day off. The last two days I have overslept and have not done either one on time, it's frustrating, and quite upsetting to know that I let God down. Then it hit me, while schedules are good to keep us on track, we are on God's schedule not our own. God knows what we need, He certainly knows when we are going to best serve Him, so, rather than get upset about what we see as failures, we need to be thankful that God counts all failures as opportunities for us to be diligent in all we do for Him, whether that is at home, work, or His ministry. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” -Colossians 3:23,24.
Today's Psalm: “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” - Psalm 119:4.

Today's Proverb: “Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.” -Proverbs 7:15.

Today's Prayer: God, we want to be diligent in our walk with You, we want to study Your Word to show ourselves approved of You and to fully understand Your plan for our lives. Thank You for Your Word that is a lamp to my feet and light for my path. Your Spirit illumines my path so that I do not walk in darkness, but walk in the power of the Holy Spirit who keeps me going in the right direction when I diligently seek You. Lord, keep me on the right path and help me to be diligent about serving You every where we go. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Victory Through Christ

2012-01-19T21:09:00.001-05:00

Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Victory Through Christ
Date: Thursday January 19, 2012Today's Chapters: Exodus 11-13Preview of Today's Message: The sting of death is sin, but death is swallowed up in victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

There is a song, “Where would you be if Jesus came five minutes ago?” There is a lot to think of just in the title of that song. Where would you be if Jesus came five minutes ago? In the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of a trumpet Jesus will be here. Will you be raised from the dead and changed into something glorious or would you be cast into the lake of fire? “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.
Eighty years ago Pharaoh was fearful by the strength and number of the Hebrews that in order to control their population he ordered all male Hebrew babies born to be cast into the river. Well, who would have thought that after all this time that the same thing would happen to the Egyptians. Egypt will be judged, the first born of every household, man and beast, Egyptian or Hebrew in the land of Egypt will die.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether...And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.” -Exodus 11:1,4-6.
God, gave specific instructions for Israel to follow if they wanted to be saved from this plague, each household was to take a perfect male lamb, kill it, take the blood and apply the blood over the door post, then roast the flesh and everyone in the house was to eat of the sacrifice. It was to be just enough for all of them to eat, with nothing to be left over. “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt...And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” -Exodus 12:11-13,48,49

While God chose Israel as the people that would be His people, He is not a respecter of persons, He allows anyone to be a part of the family. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” - Romans 2:9-11.

The time had come, God would bring His judgment upon Egypt, just as He said, at midnight He passed over Egypt and every first born that did not have the blood applied to the doorpost died. “And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.” -Exodus 12:28-31.
The key to us being saved from death is doing what God instructs us to do, it's simple, believe. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Romans 10:9-13.

The Hebrews were free, for the first time in over four hundred years they headed for the promised land, they had no idea how they would get there, but they had the best guide of the land, God. “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt...And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” -Exodus 13:17,18,21,22.

God never leaves us wandering around in the wilderness, although He may take us the long way around, He guides us and leads the way to victory all the time. We cannot do anything or go anywhere without the Lord leading the way, even if we have gone astray He is leading the way and will take us where we need to be. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:35-39.
Today's Psalm: “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” -Psalm 91:14.

Today's Proverb: “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:” -Proverbs 8:20.

Today's Prayer: God, we do not have to fear the present nor the future when we place our complete confidence in You and recognize that Your plans prevail. Daily we make our plans but we know that You have the final say. Help us to find comfort in You for the circumstances of life that throw us for a curve, knowing all the while, that You will supply us with the needed resources and spiritual support that leads us to victory so that we can truly proclaim from the depths of our hearts, “All is well, with my Lod!” In Jesus' name. Amen.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night. God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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