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In pastures green He leadeth me. Join me on the journey.
What's Going on Here?
We are reading our way through the bible one chapter per day. The idea behind my personal reading plan is to read through books chronologically, but not solely one book at a time. Thus on Monday we read from the books of the law, Tuesday the books of kings and judges, Wednesday the books of Jewish History, Thursday Books of Wisdom, Friday the Prophets, Saturday the Gospels and Sunday the Epistles. The next Monday we pick up at the chapter we left off in ancient history. You may think that this would be disjointed and would cause you to "lose your groove" but I have found the contrary to be true, the threads of promise, redemption and grace show up more clearly as I make my way slowly through these books in a parrallel fashion and when I pick up where I left off a week before I am reminded of things that stood out to me from last week's reading. Journaling is a big part of my processing scripture and fixing particular tidbits in my mind for the purpose of life application. I would love to have you join me!
Basic Reading Plan
Mon (Law): Genesis-Joshua
Tues (Rulers): Judges-Chronicles
Wed (History): Ezra-Psalms
Thurs (Wisdom): Prov-Jer
Fri (Prophets): Lam-Malachi
Sat (Gospels): Matthew-Acts
Sun (Epistles) Romans-Revelation.
The theme I have given each section is general. Joshua is not a book of the law and Psalms is not a book of history. The main chunk of reading in each section is, however, suitably classified as the theme it is under. In order to make the sections even out to have the same general number of books/chapters, this was the closest I could come. Otherwise one would be reading through certain sections (like the Law) for instance, much more often than the wisdom books, etc.
Posts
A Place of Fellowship....
(Fellowship is) an expression of both love and humility. [It] springs from a desire to bring benefit to others, coupled with a sense of personal weakness and need. It has a double motive – the wish to help, and to be helped; to edify, and to be edified. It has a double aim – to do, and to receive, good. It is a seeking by Christian people to know God better through sharing with each other what, individually, they have learned of Him already. J.I. Packer.
A few introductory words of encouragement....
Think of your time feeding on God's Word as a vital aspect of your health and wellness. You wouldn't go a week without brushing your teeth, or eating physical food, don't treat the nourishing of your soul by the Word of God with any less care.
Don't cram multiple chapters if you fall behind of plan, but *do* "back-read" if you have the passion and earnest desire to do so. My habit if I miss a chapter is usually to leave it until that book comes up again the next week (based on my own reading plan) and then read two consecutive chapters rather than the one I am scheduled to read.
Don't be legalistic about the when and how. If you don't get a quiet time in the morning, THAT'S OKAY. Find a moment in the afternoon to grab a drink, sit down and put your feet up, and soak up a chapter. And if that doesn't happen, THAT'S OKAY. Take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day to plump some pillows up in your bed and soak it up before you go to sleep. And if that doesn't happen, IT'S OKAY. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't let the enemy discourage you from spending time in the word TODAY because you didn't YESTERDAY. That's just dumb. Did you get that? DUMB.
If you don't have time to read, meditate. Allow God to bring a passage of scripture to mind and allow yourself to listen. Take time to be quiet in your spirit. While you are washing dishes, folding laundry, vacuuming... cleaning bathrooms.
Spruce things up. Get yourself a PRETTY journal and jot down little things that stand out to you. Use your favourite mug or a pretty glass to pour your favourite drink. Sit in your favourite spot (this could change from day to day and depending on the time of day you read. A sunny spot on the porch in the morning, a wing back chair and a blanket if it's chilly, a garden swing in the shade on a hot afternoon, or plumped up in bed with soft lamplight in the evening. Again, don't be legalistic about the location, pick a happy spot that fits the moment/opportunity.) Oh, and DON'T wait for the pretty journal. Plain lined notepaper or even a crumpled scrap paper will work just FINE until you get one....
Remember while you read, God's word is FOR YOU. yes, it was written to a particular audience in a particular time in history and for a particular reason. But it was also written with YOU in mind, TODAY in mind, and is designed to give you strength and wisdom for the journey.
Claim ONE part of the passage and take it to heart. Read through the chapter without too much introspection at first and see what part most stands out to you. Go back and look at that part more specifically and ask yourself what is in there for YOU?
Ask relevant questions. I usually look at a passage with 2 questions in mind. 1. What does this passage tell me about God's character? 2. What does this passage tell me about humanity (ie, ME, in relation to God? a final and very important question to ask is "What does this passage require of me on a practical level?" Write down one attitude, practice or truth you want you live out TODAY in light of what God has just revealed to you. This is how we take ownership of the Word of God and allow it to relate to us and shape us on a personal level.
Build yourself a monument. As I ponder a passages relevance to me I journal the thoughts that arise. Jotting them down somehow cements my convictions in my mind, almost like laying out stones in a monument so I can go back to that place later and be reminded. I also use those notes to come here and share my thoughts later with others.
Keep your actual quiet time concise. This will help make it more likely the habit will continue to happen on a regular basis. Better to spend 15 minutes in the word daily, than 1 hour once a week.
Don't require absolute "alone" and uninterrupted time (without kids around). If they are around, they can learn to not interrupt you for 15 minutes, just like you spend time with other people when they are around, you can spend time with the Lord with them around too.
Think of God’s Word as a love letter to you. When you read stories of God’s wrath in the Old Testament, think about WHAT love paid the price for all that wrath and how a hand that once smote anyone who dared touch the ark of His covenant now beckons YOU to draw near to the throne of grace. Read everything in light of who God is and how much He loves mankind that in spite of our being so deprived, His love story reaches out, encompasses us, washes us clean, and seeks to draw us near.
May you seek Him, may He be found by you, and may you be blessed on the journey.
Don't cram multiple chapters if you fall behind of plan, but *do* "back-read" if you have the passion and earnest desire to do so. My habit if I miss a chapter is usually to leave it until that book comes up again the next week (based on my own reading plan) and then read two consecutive chapters rather than the one I am scheduled to read.
Don't be legalistic about the when and how. If you don't get a quiet time in the morning, THAT'S OKAY. Find a moment in the afternoon to grab a drink, sit down and put your feet up, and soak up a chapter. And if that doesn't happen, THAT'S OKAY. Take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day to plump some pillows up in your bed and soak it up before you go to sleep. And if that doesn't happen, IT'S OKAY. Tomorrow is a new day. Don't let the enemy discourage you from spending time in the word TODAY because you didn't YESTERDAY. That's just dumb. Did you get that? DUMB.
If you don't have time to read, meditate. Allow God to bring a passage of scripture to mind and allow yourself to listen. Take time to be quiet in your spirit. While you are washing dishes, folding laundry, vacuuming... cleaning bathrooms.
Spruce things up. Get yourself a PRETTY journal and jot down little things that stand out to you. Use your favourite mug or a pretty glass to pour your favourite drink. Sit in your favourite spot (this could change from day to day and depending on the time of day you read. A sunny spot on the porch in the morning, a wing back chair and a blanket if it's chilly, a garden swing in the shade on a hot afternoon, or plumped up in bed with soft lamplight in the evening. Again, don't be legalistic about the location, pick a happy spot that fits the moment/opportunity.) Oh, and DON'T wait for the pretty journal. Plain lined notepaper or even a crumpled scrap paper will work just FINE until you get one....
Remember while you read, God's word is FOR YOU. yes, it was written to a particular audience in a particular time in history and for a particular reason. But it was also written with YOU in mind, TODAY in mind, and is designed to give you strength and wisdom for the journey.
Claim ONE part of the passage and take it to heart. Read through the chapter without too much introspection at first and see what part most stands out to you. Go back and look at that part more specifically and ask yourself what is in there for YOU?
Ask relevant questions. I usually look at a passage with 2 questions in mind. 1. What does this passage tell me about God's character? 2. What does this passage tell me about humanity (ie, ME, in relation to God? a final and very important question to ask is "What does this passage require of me on a practical level?" Write down one attitude, practice or truth you want you live out TODAY in light of what God has just revealed to you. This is how we take ownership of the Word of God and allow it to relate to us and shape us on a personal level.
Build yourself a monument. As I ponder a passages relevance to me I journal the thoughts that arise. Jotting them down somehow cements my convictions in my mind, almost like laying out stones in a monument so I can go back to that place later and be reminded. I also use those notes to come here and share my thoughts later with others.
Keep your actual quiet time concise. This will help make it more likely the habit will continue to happen on a regular basis. Better to spend 15 minutes in the word daily, than 1 hour once a week.
Don't require absolute "alone" and uninterrupted time (without kids around). If they are around, they can learn to not interrupt you for 15 minutes, just like you spend time with other people when they are around, you can spend time with the Lord with them around too.
Think of God’s Word as a love letter to you. When you read stories of God’s wrath in the Old Testament, think about WHAT love paid the price for all that wrath and how a hand that once smote anyone who dared touch the ark of His covenant now beckons YOU to draw near to the throne of grace. Read everything in light of who God is and how much He loves mankind that in spite of our being so deprived, His love story reaches out, encompasses us, washes us clean, and seeks to draw us near.
May you seek Him, may He be found by you, and may you be blessed on the journey.
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9 comments:
I found it curious that all of these sacrifices were for INVOLUNTARY (my translation said "accidental") sin. Made me wonder about voluntary or conscious acts of sin and how they fit into the picture. This chapter is showing that our involuntary sins, the sins we don't even KNOW about are vile and must be atoned for. How much more our conscious, self centred, voluntary sins??? Here we see the chasm between Holy and unholy. And what a great chasm it is.
This is ONE comment chopped and continued, due to space requirements at Blogger:
_______________________________
Leviticus 1,2, and 3 dealt with Burnt Offerings, Grain Offerings, and fellowship Offerings.
ALL are voluntary acts of worship and outlined in depth in a comment at Leviticus 3.
Lev 4 and 5 involve Mandatory Offering for specific unintentional sin.
Chapter 4 is Sin Offering and Chapter 5 is Guilt Offering.
(Guilt Offering is worse, for a 20% restitution is required for atonement (say, as in a case of theft).
Four classes of people involving unintentional sin are listed:
[1] "the annointed priest"(V.3-12)
[2] "the whole Israelite conmmunity" (V. 13-21)
[3] "a leader" (V. 22-26)
[4] "a member of the community" (V. 27-35)
Hebrews 9:7 speaks of sins "committed in ignorance" in referring to the Day of Atonement.
Protestants are quick to enjoy a laugh at the Catholics who honor Venial and Mortal Sin. This is likely for they have not read Leviticus, or have concentrated on the blood and guts, and have no clue to significance of physical cleanliness versus spiritual cleanliness and purity.
V.4:3 lays it out on the priest's sins now becoming sins of the people. Israel as a nation was consecrated to God. The relationship of the priests to the people was so intimate that the people became guilty when the priest sinned. Hence, compulsory offering enters, instead of voluntary.
Atonement has three principles:
1)Substitution (the bull is presented
2)Identification (lay hands on its head)
3)Death (of the substitute via slaughter) (all in V4)
The second type of sin offering was for the leader of the nation or a private individual.
Did Lyndon Johnson napalm the children of Vietnam? Or did we the people?
Did the man who wrote "All men are created equal" deny that Africans were men and indeed, keep slaves?
Has not God created man to be spiritual head of the household, but women allow that they control their body and abortion is a sole decision?
Unintentional sin comes in many forms.
Wall Street greed took compliance with Auditors of great firms, and ALL of us, hellbent on individual greed, as the boats lifted us an inch for every mile it lifted them.
Healthcare is on its deathbed, though all agree we need healthcare for all. Those who benefit under the status quo, will lobby to maintain the status quo.
We "hear' lobby.
The word is bribery.
The poor have no voice.
" And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly,
and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God."
~~~ Micah 6:8
Later chapters of Leviticus, reveal the sequence and events of mandatory offerings (sin, guilt, and even trespass).
Sin offerings include confession, symbolic TRANSFER of guilt by laying on of hands, the priest offering sacrific made atonement for the sin and the Lord promised forgiveness (in Chap 5:13). Under conviction of sin, a Sin Offering sought restoration of fellowship with God.
The details of guts and blood are far to laden with meaning, for a full examination here, but one is noted. Look at V.4:6 "He is to dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain of the sanctuary."
WHERE is critical for a reason.
WHICH finger is critical (right forefinger--in Chapter 14).
The NUMBER of sprinkling too....seven times...is the number symbolic of perfection and completeness, hence a Sabbath in Genesis, after completeness of Creation.
Most who read Leviticus, concentrate on the blood and guts, and animal of choice or procedures. They leave bereft of knowledge of the Lord.
They leave unholy.
They leave un-set apart.
continues.......
more....
People who lived outdoors primarily, or in caves, who found their daily bread by hand picking grain, and seeing animals killed for food was a daily event, lived under the vast expanse of stars at night, were well used to such sights.
We are far removed as we avoid the slaughterhouse, and visit a grocery shelf....for the same goods.
A critical distinction occurs here.
Pagan rituals all included sacrifice in those times too.
But the specific procudures for the Covenant People of Israel, were specifically outlines to "set apart" their sacrifices from pagan sacrifices (for example, "a perfect offering without blemish", symbolizes Christ in the future).
The rituals of completion and procedures to be "set apart'...."set apart is STILL our command, to "be holy.
Leviticus is an entire Book on "Be Holy".
There can be no understanding of Calvary in the NT without a true understanding of Leviticus, the reasons , the types, the methodology, and myriads of symbolism, were designed to show that in prophesy to come, ONLY the Messiah could meet and fulfill all the prophecies.
[sidebar: instead of "laying on hands", Pilate WASHED his hands of the blood of Christ! Unintentional sin is in every age; the people gathered before Pilate, watched and participated.
Today, we do the same with Capital Punishment].
You have heard "The devil is in the details". This is a bastardization of truth.
The Lord is in the details. Little things make big things. God is in the details.
Please note, we today also have sin and guilt via priests, leaders, and community folks.
From Jim Baker (Assembly of God) to pedophile Priests (Catholic), to Jimmy Swaggart and even Joel Osteen proclaiming the Gospel of Prosperity---give to God and you will be rich for he knows the plans he has for you, yada, yada, yada. Um, Christ said: "The POOR you will ALWAYS have with you"
So choose Christ, OR Osteen, OR Rick Warren, and the Gospel of prosperity for all to believe. These men grow in stature not by teaching TRUTH but by saying what the people want to hear.
A lottery ticket is as useful as their service on Sunday.
Having walked THROUGH the Red Sea miraculously and having the enemy drowned, Moses went for direct rules and leadership from God on the Mount. Below, priests and leaders told the people what they wanted to hear, not truth. Golden calf was the result. Mega money is the result in our churches today----all of them.
In our simultaneous reading of Acts 3 and 4, we see all the people sold their goods and land, and laid the money at the feet of the apostles. It was distributed to all as their needs were known.
Contrast that with modern Karl Marx: "FROM each according to his ability; TO each according to his needs". Oh my!
As you read Leviticus, read how God is making His people into "Be Holy", separate and apart from the world. That happens to be the essence of the New testament, after the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ, was offered as sacrifice for all sin, voluntarily.
God killed himself, so that the wages of sin, we all create, were paid; and restoration of fellowship to the Father was made.
As for being responsible and sinning when it was the community, priest, leaders, etc., just recall the Code of Ethics at our Military Academy and some schools.
If I see you cheat on a test, I must report it immediately out of honor ("set apart"). Failure to do so makes ME as guilty as the cheater. I am not to report it tomorrow; I am to report it NOW, gets into SPECIFIC procedure, eh?
Just like Leviticus!
continues...
the rest......
We, as people, continue to elect leaders at all levels, who legalize abortion.
Community sin and Leader sin in now done in one shot.
Priests who preach at variance from God's Word are committing heresy.
"The Message" by Eugene Peterson is a popular paraphrase today. It is the word of Mr. Peterson, not the Word of God. Priests AGAIN tell the people what they want to hear, not what the ancient manuscripts reveal from the mouth of God.
[Note God allowed that nothing could be added or removed from His Word].
I have no problem with using the Message as a side filler or different angle, but would never rely on it for truth. It is NOT inspired by the Holy Spirit, or it would be based on the ancient manuscripts, not modern vernacular.
What such books do is say to the people from the priest:
"I believe THIS resource will help you understand our God, BETTER than the Holy Spirit, taking a single sentence I utter from the Bible and making it come alive in DIFFERENT forms in each heart in the audience, as the Spirit knows every heart, and every need.
In effect, blashphemy and heresy.
Commentaries are fine, but priests today PREACH from the Message and books like it, not from the Word of God.
God went to a lot of trouble in Leviticus, to show the details involved in stitching His flesh and blood, with Our flesh and blood once we are separated by sin. (I add stitching spirits anew too).
ALL of Leviticus, is hardly ancient ritual. It is ALL reflected in the New Testament.
False bloggers and priests and pastors allow that we are under a New Covenant of grace.
They forget; Christ did not come to ABOLISH the Law, He came to FULFILL it!
"Grace" is a fluent, spiritual language in both the OT and the NT.
Romans and Hebrews are directly related to Leviticus and Numbers.
Be Holy.
Be set apart for the Lord.
It is all in the details.
Hmmm. I'm processing all this, and don't have much time but a few links and thoughts.
Not sure how or why Rick Warren got paired up with Joel Osteen et al. I know there is lots of web trash talk about Warren because he leads a Mega church, but when I actually looked into him myself (read his stuff, read COMPLETE (not excerpted) interviews with him and listened to him speaking in person) I can find nothing to condemn him for.
if you listen to Osteen you can't get through one sentence without the sickly sweet it's all about the better life God wants for you (physically, financially, emotionally) health and wealth gobbledy-gook showing up, but listen to Warren and his message is inevitably that God is sovreign, God has a plan, and God uses pain to good purpose.
http://www.beliefnet.com/Video/Beliefnet-Interviews/Rick-Warren/Rick-Warren-Interview-Our-Problems-And-Gods-Plan.aspx
Warren himself is a reverse tither, rather than tithing 10 percent, he takes a salary of 10 percent of his book sales and tithes the rest. Paid back 20 some years of salary to his church and takes no salary from them, lives in his same simple home, drives his same Ford truck and as a couple Rick and Kay have vowed to not change their lifestyle in any way except to invest more in kingdom building.
You can read more about this here;
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2005/10/Rick-Warrens-Second-Reformation.aspx?p=1
As to what you had to say about the Message translation, I have to admit, someone gave us a Message translation when we were married and I could. not. stomach. it. I thought it was trailer trash washed down, washed up slang and pretty much blasphemous. I chucked it.
It turned my stomach to hear it quoted from the pulpit and various concerns and fears plagued me (the word of God was going to get flushed and we were going to be left with our own gospel made to scratch our itchy ears, etc.)
Years later I had a conversation about this with someone and they urged me to research Petersen, his credentials, and the truth behind the translation. I am a researcher at heart, so I did just that. I was amazed by what I found. I don't read the Message translation much (I do have one somewhere, but I have about 15 different translations) but sometimes I will see it quoted and it will hit me right between the eyes, and I know it has nothing to do with Eugene Peterson... and everything to do with the power of the HS that transcends words on a page and brings truth to life in our hearts.
The word is living and breathing, there is no blasphemy in the Message, it presents truth in contemporary vernacular and Petersen KNOWS what he's writing, He is VERY well versed in Greek and Hebrew. Some textual studies I did on a few key passages showed that he actually portrayed the true text better than the NIV or more "acceptable" translations, even though it wasn't word for word translation.
I haven't read this book, but I want to, and I've read excerpts of it, and Petersen's passion for the Word excites me.
http://books.google.com/books?id=edhMe4f4_LkC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=eugene+peterson+greek+hebrew&source=bl&ots=1XyH-UxtY8&sig=0acbHehPJkKageOCy6czWlm8bO8&hl=en&ei=MvCSStXIJZLgsQOUga0M&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false
When I used to read the Bible I would read the text and look outward to the world and cast stones and judgement about all the stuff that was "going wrong" out there. It was a miserable way to live. Now I read the Bible and I ask "What does this tell me about God?" What does this show me about MYSELF? What am *I* going to do with this knowledge???
I know there are Joel Osteen's out there, it just told me in Timothy yesterday, but it also told me;
"Preach the good news."
I tend to get oppressed, depressed and stressed when I spend my time focusing on the "attacks" to the truth. It's a way Satan gets a foothold in my life and robs me of the fruit of the Spirit. On the other hand if I focus on truth, on living out the positive mandates, being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, self controlled.... well, I am strengthened by grace and am far more able to be alert and strong to pray and keep a heavenly perspective.
You have heard "The devil is in the details". This is a bastardization of truth.
The Lord is in the details. Little things make big things. God is in the details.
I really loved this. So true!
In a discussion on Leviticus 4, amidst all I had to say, you are "alert and strong".
So it comes to me as a surprise that you missed this line on my thoughts on The Message:
"I have no problem with using the Message as a side filler or different angle, but would never rely on it for truth. It is NOT inspired by the Holy Spirit, or it would be based on the ancient manuscripts, not modern vernacular."
Further, when you rely on a book other than the Bible, you rely on an author, not the HS....your personal insight and experience notwithstanding.
As for Rick Warren, Leviticus 4 is clear on unavoidable sin, and its effect on you or I or anyone.
It specifically addresses the priests and the part they play in this.
I do not choose to go in side debates with you on links, who is better or worse, acceptable or unacceptable, but as you seem to enjoy research, type five words in Google:
rick warren caught in lie
uh, that would be a priest sin in Leviticus (the subject of discussion, I thought).
YouTube clips are abundant in showing Rick say one thing, and then another....opposite.
Doing so on Larry King complicated his stance, for people actually watch Larry King and listen.
Warren got caught big time on Prop 8 whoppers.
I met Joel Osteen and your assessment is correct. But if we were at variance on him, as we are on Warren, it would not matter one iota to the sayings and study of Leviticus.
Driscoll preaches sex, sex, sex in a heathen city, and I found his sermons off the wall.
However, our town has an aggregator of all bloggers in the community under one roof. I read the angst of a 17 year old girl all year last year in school, and she was having an obviously difficult life, colorful language, and typical peer behavior.
Then, she made a post on a Pastor That Rocks. Whether it was the sex talk or what, I do not know. But where all local pastors have managed to keep her in the sphere of heathen, a fellow 2,500 miles away was able to connect to this young gal. I give Driscoll kudos for that alone.
I have tried to keep my comments on topic, even when the next chapter would better explain a particular item in a current chapter.
I regret you have taken offense and lingered at Osteen, Message,and Warren, in Leviticus.
John Bevere wrote on Satanic strongholds and titled his book on it, with the greatest way satan operates. The book is titled
"The Bait of Satan", and upon reading it, you find the bait he uses is to get someone to "take offense". THAT is his stronghold originator. So do not take offense with my comments.
If all of us agree on everything already, there is no need to communicate past that. But if there is variance, or additional insight, we learn from one another.
I don't know why my comments aren't showing up, but I wanted to state that in no way was I offended by your thoughts, and I wasn't meaning to debate or convince you otherwise, just communicating my own thoughts. I believe you are right and that it was a shame I picked up there and took that rabbit trail, it did lead us away from the chapter at hand. I actually gleaned much from the book the Bait of the Satan and have never been one to even be tempted by offense since reading it, so no worries there. I think I often unwittingly CAUSE offense which is a whole nuther matter, LOL!
Writing is always a difficult means of communication when you don't know someone, it is so easy to misconstrue meaning or motive. I prefer to not get into pointing fingers at "whose doing something wrong" but to focus on what is pure and right, and good, and peace loving. The dross will inevitably be separated from the gold.
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