David's Bible Blog

Leviticus 24:13-16 (NKJV)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

"Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.

Reading through Leviticus has been sobering for me. Of course, I have to keep in mind that God is using his relationship with the Israelites (his special people), as a teaching aid to all of us to demonstrate the seriousness of our sin problem and the absolute holiness of God. The seriousness of the sin can be measured by the penalty God demanded.

What does it mean to curse God? Certainly we have seen the outright mocking and derision some hold for any kind of idea of God. But how far does this go? The Jews to this day won't even mention God's name in spoken word or even in print. I have noticed how rabbis will write "G-d" to avoid even spelling his name out of consideration of this very passage of Leviticus.

I remember after I got saved, my language changed quite a bit. When I would hear others use God's name in a curse I would wince and still do till this day.

Proverbs 10:19 (NLT)

Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut

Lord, help remind me of this today. I also beg you to remind me before I speak and not afterwards.

When I do speak, may it be with few, well-chosen, edifying words. If my words must carry truth that might sting another, let it be with love.

Mark 9:23-24 (NKJV)

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

This man said that he believed but then immediately asks the Lord for help with is unbelief. Which is it? In this case, he wants to believe, that is to have faith, but he recognizes that his faith is not perfect that that there are still lingering doubts. So this unbelief is not a refusal to believe but rather recognition of weakness. So he asks for help with his fledging belief. This is a wonderful example of how we should be: willing to believe, willing to trust, but conscience of weakness and totally dependent on the Lord for help.

This is an incredible thought, that the power of God in which "all things are possible" is waiting only on our belief before acting. Lord I believe, help my unbelief!

Leviticus 19:9-10 (NKJV)

'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

Our governmental welfare system is broken. It discourages those who are on it from getting married, it encourages them to have even more illegitimate children, and it discourages them from finding work.

Notice God's welfare system above. The poor have the right to glean in the fields around the edges and corners, and they are allowed to follow behind the harvesters to pick up what ever may have been dropped. Not only are the poor allowed to do this, but the landowners are commanded to leave these behind for this specific purpose. However, the poor must work for their sustenance; it is not handed over to them.

Our welfare system is a modern invention. Perhaps we should rethink the whole thing.

1 Timothy 6:18 (NKJV)

Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,

1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Leviticus 18:22 (NKJV)

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

The Bible is very clear, homosexuality is a sin detestable to God. There are churches that condone this behavior today. The only way these churches can do this is to say that the Bible is not the word of God. I wonder what these churches base their hope in?

This sin is grouped with all sorts of other sins and is just one of many. Never think that because a Christian says homosexuality is sin that he is overlooking other sins. No, they are also sins, but no one is trying to parade them out as an alternative, and even wholesome and good lifestyle. That is the problem with the homosexual agenda—calling evil good.

Romans 1:27 (NKJV)

Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Mark 7:14-16 (NKJV)

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"

I heard my pastor say that if you want to see what a person is made of, just jostle them up and see what spills out. We put on our best faces for the world to see but so often it is all just a front. We think we might be doing something quite admirable but have we ever examined the true motivations that lie behind.

Jesus said "apart from me you can do nothing." If we desire please God, we need Jesus to do it through us. It is only by dying to sin and self and allowing Jesus to live in us that this is possible.

Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Mark 6:46 (NKJV)

And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.

In this chapter, Jesus had just finished feeding the 5,000 with only two fishes and five loaves of bread. And He was about to walk out on the water to the disciples who were struggling with their boat in a storm. But Mark records that Jesus departed to the mountain to pray. Crowds had pressed in on Him all day, but He wanted to be alone with His Father in prayer. From the text we can know that he spent about ten hours in prayer on that mountain before going out to his disciples on the lake at about 3:00 AM.

Jesus was doing incredible miracles, demonstrating his power, but more importantly, demonstrating who He is. But in His humanity, he needed that connection with His Father. Not in short prayers but in long extended prayer, at night and on the mountain alone. If Jesus needed such time of prayer, how much more should we, if we need a miracle, spend concerted time in prayer alone with our Father in Heaven.

Matthew 6:6 (NKJV)

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Mark 6:4-6 (NKJV)

But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Only when the gospel is heard and believed does it have power to change lives. Jesus hometown acquaintances were intrigued with his wisdom and teaching but they were unable to believe his words. It was not that Jesus tried to heal and found that He could not do it. It is that God will only act in response to faith. In essence, unbelief has the power to stop God from saving you. That is why Jesus said that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we would be able to move mountains. That would not be our power but God's power made willing by our faith.

Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. His hometown friends were too familiar with "good ole Jesus" to recognize Him for who He was. The bible says that familiarity breeds contempt. Perhaps we should check our own level of awe and reverence for the things of God.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Leviticus 11:44 (NKJV)

For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

God gives the Israelites instructions regarding what is clean and unclean. Animals with split hooves and who chew the cud are clean while others are not. It seems so strange. While we can see obvious health benefits for some of these laws, others have no rational basis.

In the above verse God tells us what is going on. We are to be holy because he is holy. To be holy means to be set apart. Obedience to such detailed practices set God's people apart. God's people are to live differently from everyone else. We don't obey God because it makes sense. We obey God because he is God and has instructed us and we must be holy people of God, obedient to his every command.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Mark 4:26-29 (NKJV)

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

A farmer knows how to grow and harvest a crop. But does he really know what is happening? The above verse says that our crops of fruit and vegetables come from the earth. Basically a seed has the ability to build a wonderfully sweet, succulent cantaloupe out of, well...dirt, air and water basically. And it attaches itself to a solar energy source as well. It was not until recent times that man has begun to understand the workings of DNA and the marvels of life. However understanding how a thing works is not the same as understanding how it came to be.

Why does the seed produce a live plant? Because the seed contains life itself. In the same way, the word of God which is sown in men's hearts produces life. All that is required is fertile ground which is prepared to receive the seed.

Leviticus 7:37-38 (NKJV)

This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.

These verses summarize the seven preceding chapters of the details God had given to Moses regarding the ordinances of sacrifice. By the length of the passage and by the minute details we know that this must be very important to God. But surely the constant need to kill and sacrifice animals creates in us a longing for something better, something more permanent. Indeed that is what the law does; it teaches us about our great problem: sin, and our great need: forgiveness of sins. And it teaches us that we need to be sanctified, to be made holy, to be separated from the world, to be united with God.

The laws concerning the sacrifices of the Old Testament all paint a picture of the perfect sacrifice of God the Son, Jesus Christ. All of the sacrifice, blood, sanctifying power, priesthood and presence of God are wrapped up in Jesus.

Hebrews 9:12-14 (NKJV)

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

I went backpacking with some wonderful friends of mine. David Scearce and his family, Roxanne, Charity, Tiffany, and her boyfriend Will. David Grage and I came along for the fun and fellowship.

We had planned this weekend several weeks ago and canceled at the last minute because it was supposed to go down to 12 degrees. So we were ready rain or shine this weekend! We arrived at the trailhead at 12:00 on Saturday Feb 16th, 2008. We knew it was supposed to rain about an inch and were fully prepared (or so we thought!). It started raining when we started hiking and the first item was to cross Falling Water River at the trailhead. So we took our obligatory group shot and got started. Click on the picture for a larger version.

The crossing was maybe a little deeper than I remembered but not bad. We were anxious to get on the trail and make it to our site to make camp a few miles away. We planned to camp at a central location for two nights and dayhike a couple of waterfalls on the middle day. Then hike out Monday morning and get back home by Monday evening.

The rain was steady for the entire hike and even though we had good rain gear on. We were still soaked. We got to camp and set the tents up in the rain which is not a fun thing to do and you can't avoid getting the inside of your tent wet, no matter how fast you are. The main thing to avoid is getting your sleeping bag wet because no matter how miserable things get, the bag is your lifesaver and place of comfort in the wilderness.

After starting a fire with wet wood, and cooking dinner, sitting around the fire and talking about our adventures was not on the agenda. We hit our tents by 7:00 and stayed in them for over 12 hours. It rained and thundered all night long finally letting up at about 3:30 the next morning. I was tired though and slept really well between the periods of thunder and heavy rain. On thing we all noticed however was the increasing loudness of the river we camped near. It turns out it rained about 4-5 inches. I had visions of waking up the next morning and finding the bank of the river lapping up around my tent door.

So, we started to stir and I got up, made some coffee and surveyed the situation. The river was up, way up! And we had to cross it to get back to our truck. You can see in the picture on the left the raging torrent that was just about 100 feet from my tent.

We had to make a decision. Do we stay here and hope that the river goes down enough for us to get out or do we leave that day and give ourselves a whole day to consider our options. We'll we marked a spot for the height of the water and started to watch as the water began to fall. It was falling about an inch or more an hour. But it sure seemed like it had a long way to go. I had estimated that the water was up about two feet. It turns out that it had risen by 4.5 feet in the middle of the night but had dropped back considerably by the time we started measuring.

We decided that the plans for visiting the near by waterfalls were risky so we broke camp and headed back to our crossing. We were hoping to find it crossable by the time we got there. We'll it was not to be. The crossing was deep and wide where it had been shallow and narrow the previous day. After looking for quite a while for feasible plan to get across the river, we finally gave up an decided to make camp no more than 100 yards from our truck but on the other side of a raging torrent. Maybe the river would be down by the next morning.

Now I should say this. We are all praying Christians and we had had group prayer before leaving and that morning and we all were praying individually the whole time. We were not anxious. We had plenty of food and we knew the water would go down eventually. In fact even while making our supplications before God we were thanking him for the rain, trusting that he would care for us. That state of trust and comfort was before we discovered that one of our guy's sleeping bag's had gotten soaked when breaking camp. His tent had filled with water the night before but he had a thick air mattress that had kept him above water. We'll the bag got wet when packing it up. As I said before, a down bag is a wonderful thing to keep you warm in the coldest of weather and it was going down to 24 that night. But when a down bag gets wet, it looses all its insulating capabilities.

We were in a pickle all of a sudden. David Scearce was the only one who knew about this at that point and he prayed right then and asked God to help. Just a few minutes after this prayer, he turned around and saw some kayakers on the river. They had pulled up to the bank and David began talking to them. He mentioned our situation and immediately they offered to help us get across the river. Talk about God's providential answer to prayer!

We broke camp in record time and these guys not only helped us get across but we did not even get wet doing so!

Below you'll see a graph of the water levels in the river. Each vertical line is at midnight. You can see that we started hiking just after noon on Saturday the Feb 16. The river started rising soon after and by the time we got to camp the rain had socked in pretty well. The water continued to rise until about 3:00 the next morning when it stopped raining. The next morning, the water had dropped some but it had a long way to go. You can see that the water level was about 2.2 feet when we made our crossing the day before and by the time we were rescued it was over 2 feet higher, up to our chests. And that is on the tall guys! We had three ladies for whom the water would have been around their necks!

So, had we not made the decision to leave when we did, we would never have seen the kayakers on Monday morning and the water would still have been up about 15 inches. Thank you Lord for providing for us!

Psalm 37:4-5 (NKJV)

Delight yourself also in the Lord , And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord , Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

You can have your desires! This is a wonderful promise. When I delight myself in the Lord, then I find my desires line up with His desires. Notice the verbs in these verses that relate to us: delight, commit, trust. I find great pleasure in considering the things of God. When this is true, I find it easier to surrender myself to Him. Now notice the verbs that relate to God: shall give and shall bring. This is strong wording and expresses the certainty of this promise.

Leviticus 4:27-31 (NKJV)

'If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all its fat, as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the Lord . So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.

This passage talks about an unintentional sin for which we are still culpable. To our natural minds this seems unfair. We did something wrong and didn't know it? In God's economy, we still must be redeemed and forgiven of this guilt. Willful disobedience is a different matter, but this speaks of our sin nature. Once we become aware of it, we must carefully take the steps prescribed by God to atone for it.

The Bible speaks of a very bloody religion. Such a requirement by God seems horrific. God wants us to understand his absolute holiness, our absolute lack of holiness, and the unfathomably costly sacrifice He has made to allow us to bridge the gap.

The Bible tells us that the rituals of the Old Testament were mere "shadows" of the real to come. The animal had to be without blemish, just as Jesus was perfect. The animal was a substitute, just as Jesus is our substitute. Each sin was placed on the animal identifying it with the sin, just as Jesus identified with us and our sins taking them on himself. The animal had to die giving its life for the offerer, so Jesus had to die for us giving us access to His sinless life.

Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV)

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Mark 1:35 (NKJV)

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

There was a period in my life where I was really into landscape photography as a hobby. I found that the best time to take pictures was when the light was golden and horizontal: sunrise and sunset. I would get up about an hour before sunrise, make coffee and head out to my favorite park while it was still dark. Then I would setup my camera and tripod and prepare for the magical moment. Some mornings were spectacular and others were just OK depending on the weather conditions. I would shoot pictures for about 30-45 minutes then go for a nice long walk with my dog. I did this several times a week in all seasons as a matter of habit for several years. Those times bring back great memories and I have the wonderful pictures to remember them by. It certainly cost me something to have these experiences but it was well worth it.

Getting up to meet with the Lord in prayer ought to be the same way. It cost something but it is we'll worth it. It takes discipline and preparation just like my photography did. Some mornings you will experience the glory of God in majestic splendor and other mornings will feel foggy and hazy. But the long haul will be an important experience that will pay off in wonderful ways. And if you journal your times with the Lord, you will be able to go back and see the "pictures" of how God showed himself in your life.

Lord, help me to desire the early morning hours with you so that no cost is too high to spend time with you.

Exodus 40:36-38 (NKJV)

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

The Israelites enjoyed the company of the Lord in their camp as the Lord tabernacled with them. They could see Him as a pillar of cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night above the tabernacle. They certainly would not up and pack up the tabernacle while the Lord was stationed there for fear of defiling the holiness of that place. But when the Lord moved, they felt the freedom to move too.

We should be like that. If you are a Christian your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and the Lord is residing in you. Wait on Him. Don't move until he moves.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Matthew 28:2-4 (NKJV)

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

Angels are magnificent creatures. God created them to do his bidding. We read about Gabriel and Michael the archangels. They are powerful; the Lord sent a single angel one evening who cut down every mighty man and captain in the army of Assyria. Just think what a whole host of them could do! When artists of the world paint pictures of angels, they are these sweet, delicate creatures. The bible paints a different picture.

The bible speaks of warfare going on in the heavenly places between forces of evil and of good. The battle for us is for the hearts and souls of men.

Psalm 34:8 (NKJV)

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

I can witness, argue, persuade and otherwise plead with you to put your trust in the Lord, but there comes a point in which you must find out for yourself that He is everything the Bible says He is. You don't have to believe me, try it yourself and you will find out.

You have heard it said: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating of it." The world says, "I'll believe it when I see it." The bible says the opposite: "You will see it, when you believe it." Jesus invites us to try an experiment:

John 7:17 (NKJV)

If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

Matthew 27:27-31 (NKJV)

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.

When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

How incredibly ironic that the God of the Universe would be so mocked and humiliated by ignorant, cruel men. That Jesus, the one who spoke the worlds into existence, willingly went through this for our sake is the most incredible act of love ever. The way to view the crucifixion is as a substitution. Jesus was taking upon himself our punishment.

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

People today continue to mock Jesus by using his name as a sacrilege in their profanity. It's odd how when someone smashes their finger, you never hear them yell out "Buddha" or "Mohammed". But there is coming a day when the tables will be turned:

Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV)

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Psalm 33:6 (NKJV)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

Psalm 33:9 (NKJV)

For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

The word of the Lord is awesomely powerful. Even inanimate matter obeys His word. The picture I get from these verses is the instant obedience of the stars to begin their existence and to take their positions in space. Come to think of it, there is really only one thing that does not instantly obey the Lord God. And that is…us.

Judges 21:25b (NKJV)

everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Matthew 26:52-54 (NKJV)

But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"

Whenever I read this passage, I find myself wishing Jesus had just gone ahead and called down this twelve legions of angels. Certainly Jesus had no need for a pitiful band of disciples with swords as His defense. A Roman legion would have almost 7,000 soldiers in it. What a sight that would have been, what a story! I would be on the edge of my seat during that battle scene in which the enemy gets wiped out by 78,000 glorious angels. Consider the awesome power that was available to Jesus, yet this is not what happened. The plan had been in place since the foundation of the world. Jesus went on to die an excruciating and shameful death on the cross, receiving upon himself the punishment due us for our sins. In so doing the bigger enemy was defeated, once for all.

1 John 3:8 (NKJV)

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Revelation 19:11-16 (NKJV)

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Revelation 19:19-21 (NKJV)

And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Exodus 29:15-18 (NKJV)

You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram; and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar. Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

When I read the instructions given to Moses for worship and consecration, I am struck with a feeling of revulsion. I find myself thinking, how is it that God is pleased with such horrible activity? Then I am reminded of what this all represents in the mind of God. Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God. His blood was poured out for us. The bible says "without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." What is it that pleased God? It was that His justice and His mercy would both be satisfied in the ultimate sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.

The feelings we have about the sacrifices are purposely intended to shock us and to repulse us with the horror of our sinfulness and with the magnitude of the unapproachable holiness of God. It is an illustration of the length to which God has gone to provide for us a way to be saved from his wrath.

Romans 3:24-26 (NKJV)

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make us whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know; Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Exodus 28:34-35 (NIV)

The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die.

The instructions God gave to Moses for the construction and operation of the Tabernacle were very specific. The high priest had to wear a robe with bells around the hem. He had to perform every task in a very particular way when he would enter the Holy Place. This was God's dwelling place. If the high priest were to depart in any way from the instructions, he would die in his duties. It has been said that they would tie a rope around the ankle of the High Priest so that if they ever heard the bells stop ringing, they would know he had died and they would use the rope to pull his body out of there. This is a picture of the complete holiness of our God. The bible says that he is of purer eyes than to behold any sin.

Since Jesus is now our great High Priest, we now can approach the throne of grace with boldness if we have been consecrated to him by accepting his free gift of salvation.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Matthew 25:30 (NKJV)

And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is the end of the parable of the talents. The master gave one person five talents, another person two talents and another one talent. The ones with five and two talents doubled their master's money. The one with one talent buried his not putting it to work for his master. He was called wicked and lazy.

A talent is a large sum of money so by being given only one, the third servant was not being slighted. Many today are living without Christ and many are pretenders. The unprofitable servant was not a murderer or a thief; he just did nothing with what was offered him freely.

Matthew 7:19-20 (NKJV)

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Exodus 23:20 (NKJV)

"Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

This was a promise given to the Israelites after they had been delivered out of Egypt and before they had come in to the promised land. As a born again Christian, I have been delivered out of "Egypt" an idiom of the world. But I don't consider myself to have arrived at where God wants me yet. I believe God has prepared a place for me and he has put an angel before me to keep me in the way. What a delightful thought that is.

Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Matthew 24:24 (NKJV)

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

When you begin to see wonderful things, be very careful. Test everything against the Word of God.

Even Pharaoh's magicians were able to perform many of the miracles that Moses performed. I've seen some very impressive magic shows but an entertainer magician will always say that they are using slight of hand in their "magic." Notice that Jesus says these signs and wonders will "deceive." They are not the real thing; they are deceptive. But it will be a very strong form of deception.

Jesus goes on to say that when He comes, there will be no mistaking it. It will be quick as lighting. It will not be a localized appearance, the whole world will see it in the sky. Angels will come with the great sound of a trumpet and gather all the elect.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 (NKJV)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Psalm 28:4-5 (NKJV)

Give them according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve. Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, Nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them And not build them up.

I was in a small discipleship group one morning talking about the abortion industry and all the doctors who perform abortions. We discussed whether those who kill abortion doctors are justified in their actions. I believe that such retaliation is reprehensible murder and does terrible damage to the cause of Christ. But as we closed our time together with prayer I heard one of the guys praying that God would keep the abortion doctor's cars from starting that morning. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of that as I agreed with him, while not trying to make light of such a grave situation as abortion.

Then as I was reading this Psalm how David prayed that God would "Render to them what they deserve." I thought that even though it would be inappropriate for us to take matters into our own hands it would be very appropriate for us to pray like David and ask God to deal with them according to their wickedness. God will by no means clear the guilty but He does offer forgiveness already paid-for if they will have it. Let's pray for God to change their hearts, but if such grace and mercy is refused by them, let's pray the kind of prayer David prayed.

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)

Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

An expert in the law had asked Jesus, of all the laws (the Pharisees had lots of them), which was the greatest. I love the way Jesus answered. Instead of showing him which one command was the most important, he gave him two commandments and then pointed out that if you get these two right, you won't need to worry about the rest of them. They had become so bogged down with keeping the most minute detail of the law (legalism) that they had forgotten the whole point of it all.

The apostle Paul simplified his life too: he said "this one thing I do ..."

Philippians 3:13-14 (NKJV)

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

There are lots of lists in the Bible that help to simplify our thinking about God.

Micah 6:8 (NKJV)

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 22:29 (NKJV)

Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.

The Pharisees had tried to trip Jesus up with a question about the resurrection and this was Jesus' reply. Whenever we are confused about something related to God, we should remember this verse. The way to avoid error is to know the Word of God and believe it. More importantly, believing God's word takes an appreciation of His awesome power. So many things just cannot be explained without it.

Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Exodus 14:13a (NKJV)

And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.

The Israelites were driven to the sea and were hemmed in by the Egyptians. People say "don't just stand there, do something." God says "don't just do something, stand there." Why? Because God was about to part the Red Sea. I am reminded of another similar verse:

2 Chronicles 20:17a

You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you...

General Lee found himself surrounded on all sides by war. He wrote his wife: "I am sorry to learn that you are anxious and uneasy about passing events. We can not change or hinder them, and it is not part of wisdom to be annoyed by them. In this time of great suffering to the State and country, our private distresses we must bear with resignation, and not aggravate them by repining, trusting to a kind and merciful God to overrule them for our good."

No matter what the situation, how bad it is, how impossible it seems, God has provided the way of escape. That way is to trust Him. He may remove the problem or He may take you straight through the problem, and not around it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV)

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.