Leviticus 11-27; Numbers 1-5
I have chosen to combine the remainder of this week because there is one overarching theme; our holiness because of God’s holiness. There is a verse in the New Testament that summarizes the principle of holiness that we discussed yesterday; James 1:27 states, “Pure and undefiled religion (worship) before our God and Father is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained (or unspotted) by the world.” Do any words sound familiar from our reading in Leviticus? Pure, undefiled. The heart of the law is to Love God supremely, to love other with His love and to live a life that is set apart. The law is not rigid rules, but instructions on how the Israelites were to love God and love their neighbor; how to live as God' set apart people. James puts this all into one thesis statement. He says that loving our neighbor means taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves, those who are abandoned and without hope; loving with the compassionate love of Christ. Secondly, our calling is to live as God’s holy, set apart people. James is telling us what that looks like. All of the exhausting laws point to one principle; living as God’s holy people. This truth and call is the same for us today. James simply states that we are to live “unstained” by the world. Our choices, actions, attitudes, relationships, thinking, desires; they are all to pure. That sounds like an impossible task. Yet, it is still our call; to be holy because He is holy. Why? To declare His glory to those who do not know Him. In the Old Testament, they accomplished this seemingly impossible task by following the law. The law was their teacher. Today, as New Testament believers, we have the very Spirit of God as our Helper who transforms us, molds us, teaches us. He has called us with a high and holy calling, but has not left us on our own. Our Creator, Father and Redeemer has not left us on our own, but graciously given to us All that we need to live out His calling. We must get into the mindset and habit of measuring ourselves against God’s standard and not the world’s. We will never see the stains of the world if we measure ourselves against the world. I believe that is a trap of Satan; if we look at our lives compared to the world around us we feel pretty good about ourselves. Our life is not about being better than those around us, it is about honoring the God who made us and redeemed us.
I have chosen to combine the remainder of this week because there is one overarching theme; our holiness because of God’s holiness. There is a verse in the New Testament that summarizes the principle of holiness that we discussed yesterday; James 1:27 states, “Pure and undefiled religion (worship) before our God and Father is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained (or unspotted) by the world.” Do any words sound familiar from our reading in Leviticus? Pure, undefiled. The heart of the law is to Love God supremely, to love other with His love and to live a life that is set apart. The law is not rigid rules, but instructions on how the Israelites were to love God and love their neighbor; how to live as God' set apart people. James puts this all into one thesis statement. He says that loving our neighbor means taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves, those who are abandoned and without hope; loving with the compassionate love of Christ. Secondly, our calling is to live as God’s holy, set apart people. James is telling us what that looks like. All of the exhausting laws point to one principle; living as God’s holy people. This truth and call is the same for us today. James simply states that we are to live “unstained” by the world. Our choices, actions, attitudes, relationships, thinking, desires; they are all to pure. That sounds like an impossible task. Yet, it is still our call; to be holy because He is holy. Why? To declare His glory to those who do not know Him. In the Old Testament, they accomplished this seemingly impossible task by following the law. The law was their teacher. Today, as New Testament believers, we have the very Spirit of God as our Helper who transforms us, molds us, teaches us. He has called us with a high and holy calling, but has not left us on our own. Our Creator, Father and Redeemer has not left us on our own, but graciously given to us All that we need to live out His calling. We must get into the mindset and habit of measuring ourselves against God’s standard and not the world’s. We will never see the stains of the world if we measure ourselves against the world. I believe that is a trap of Satan; if we look at our lives compared to the world around us we feel pretty good about ourselves. Our life is not about being better than those around us, it is about honoring the God who made us and redeemed us.
There is a set a verses that I want you to etch on your heart from this week; Leviticus 26:12-13.
“I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (their bondage was slavery; our bondage was slavery to sin), so that (for the purpose of) you would no longer be their slaves. I broke (crushed) the bars of your yoke (bondage) and enable you to live in freedom.” Just stop and let this soak into your heart. As women, we so often walk back to our bondage. We cry out as the Israelites, saying that life was better in slavery. Let us not go back to that place of guilt and bondage. Let us walk in His freedom; not a freedom to live as we please, for that is only a false freedom. Paul declares in the New Testament that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Christ has crushed your bondage, live in the freedom He has given you.
“I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (their bondage was slavery; our bondage was slavery to sin), so that (for the purpose of) you would no longer be their slaves. I broke (crushed) the bars of your yoke (bondage) and enable you to live in freedom.” Just stop and let this soak into your heart. As women, we so often walk back to our bondage. We cry out as the Israelites, saying that life was better in slavery. Let us not go back to that place of guilt and bondage. Let us walk in His freedom; not a freedom to live as we please, for that is only a false freedom. Paul declares in the New Testament that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Christ has crushed your bondage, live in the freedom He has given you.
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