Have you been called to go out on a limb for God? You can bet it won't be easy. Limb-climbing has never been easy. Ask Joseph.Or, better yet, ask Jesus. He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree.

-- Max Lucado

"Do" vs. "Done"

It has been a good week in the Word this week, and in typical sovereign fashion, the Lord has been preparing me ahead of time for things that I get to teach on. This weekend, our church will be continuing a new study of faith essentials (TEAM training for those of you at Crossroads). I get to teach on something that when I learned it through TEAM, it was something that set me free in many regards of my spiritual life. It is the topic of "Law and Grace."

In short, and believe me if I get started I will be here for a long time, the issue of Law and Grace is about how we come to God for acceptance. Law teaches that in order to find your acceptance, you must "do." Grace, on the contrary, teaches that in order to be acceptable before God, you must trust in what has been "done." The cool thing the Lord reminded me this morning, is that even in the midst of the book of Leviticus (a book that is mostly about following a long litany of specific requirements to worship God), God was revealing Grace. And, he says it over and over again!!!!

Look with me at the 21st and 22nd chapter of Leviticus, as you read through this passage, you will notice 3 prominent truths and over again, "I am the Lord," "I am holy," and "You are to be holy." Now, if you haven't skimmed over the specific regulations for these people you could easily become overwhelmed by them (and maybe even a little grossed out). Simply put, these truths are that He is God, He is Perfect, and since they are His, they are to be perfect also.

Then, I noticed another truth I believe that is critical that is repeated in these chapters. If you are not careful, you will miss it. It first shows up in 21:8. "You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy." You see it again in 21:15, 21:3, 22:9, 22:16, & 22:32. The God who is Holy and expected them to come to Him holy in order to be acceptable, says that HE is the one who will make them Holy.

Now for us, we look back at the completed work of Christ and are able to be identified with the righteousness of Christ through placing our faith is what He has done on the cross. For the folks first reading these words, their task was to place their faith in what was to be done. All while they were hearing how they must "do," (or rather could never do) God was telling them that it had to be "done" for them!

Way too often, even in the Christian church, we heap on others what they must "do" in order to be acceptable before God. Folks, that is a lie from the pits of hell. Our acceptance is not found in found we do, but in placing our trust only in what Christ has done.

What about all the things in the New Testament that we are told we to do? I think author Bob George nails this one best in his book Classic Christianity. He says, "...we are not obeying New Testament commands in order to be accepted by God. Under law, a man works in order to be accepted by God. Under grace, a man serves because he is already accepted by God."

If you are trusting in what Christ has done for you, you are accepted by God. Let that sink in. As a matter of fact, chew on that today. Because once you really grasp that you are completely accepted by God, it will change your life. It has mine. I used to struggle with depression because I felt I wasn't measuring up to God's standard, even to the point of having take medication for depression. However, once I embraced this truth, God began to transform me by the renewing of my mind. It has now been 6 years since I took any pills for that because I haven't needed it. You too can be free! Just rest in what has been done.

Start Fresh

We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. God's purpose is not limited by your past. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader and a coward named Gideon in to a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life, too. God specializes in giving people a fresh start.

-- Rick Warren

Blood Bath

I want to ask you the same question I asked the church congregation as we started our worship service yesterday. Before you entered into worship, how many of you made sure that you offered up your sacrifices before you left the house? I asked the folks to raise their hands showing which ones followed through on that biblical command, but there were no takers.

As you might have determined, I have entered into the land of Leviticus in my readings. For years, I would avoid Old Testament books like this with much fear and trepidation. Partly because it was boring with all the specific details of law and ceremony. But today, although I do not consider myself an authority on the sacrificial system of the Hebrew people, I can take away a couple of vital lessons from this rich book. Firstly, the fact of your likely negative answer to the above mentioned question is incredible. You see, God's requirement for relating to Him was literally a blood bath. Your cleansing to be purified before a holy God came at the expense of laying your hands on an animal (bull, ram, dove, etc.) looking into its eyes and killing this innocent animal, and then splashing its blood everywhere so you could worship God. IF that were not enough it had to be done repeated, because the it was only temporary relief. The New Testament book of Hebrews 9 reaffirms Leviticus that the cost of worshipping God was blood shed. But original my question teetered on the absurd because this prerequisite of worship is completely foreign to us today. The biggest "sacrifice" most folks made to come to worship was getting out of bed "early."

Thankfully, in that same passage of Hebrews, it also describes the permanent washing of all sin came when Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God. He, in Himself, completely satisfied God's requirement of an atonement for sin. We were able to speak the name of God and relate to Him yesterday without the required blood bath because of what Christ did. So, next time you worship, give thanks to God for what we so often take for granted that we no longer have to be repeatedly cleansed in such a violent manner before we enter into His presence.

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

Peek-a-Boo!

My youngest daughter has earned the nickname "Boo." She has, for months, loved playing peek-a-boo and hide-and-go-seek. Nothing seems to bring more giggles of glee as when we find her and go "Boo!" So, the name name stuck. The funny thing is she LOVES to be found... over and over again, and I must say that it is really cute when she does this. I guess part of her joy comes from knowing that her father is seeking her.

Did you know that your Father is seeking after you? Jesus testifies to this to the woman at the well when He tells her that, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:23b) In Exodus, God outlines some of what this looks like. God being God, has the right describe to us what His expectations are when it comes to worship. In my reading this morning, I noticed a couple of things that seems to be prerequisites for worshiping in spirit and in truth.

The first thing I noticed is that God is seen for who He is. God himself describes some aspects of His character; He declares to Moses who He is. Moses responds IMMEDIATELY: "Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. " (Ex. 34:8) Just as Christ tells the woman, truth of who God is is part of what God seeks in our worship. How can we worship what we do not know? God has revealed Himself in so many ways in His word, in His creation, in His Son; do you know Him for who He is?

Secondly, I noticed is that God outlines for Moses and the Hebrews "HOW" they were to come to Him. The cool thing is that He not only lays out what He expects them to do or not do in order to worship Him. After He reveals Himself, He then makes provision for them to be right before Him. In verse 10 of the same chapter, God initiates the covenant with His people, so that, as the NIV renders it, "The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. " How would like to try to guess how to please God, knowing that the wrong methods would result in a non-humorous version of the cartoon I posted yesterday?

Lastly, we see that the people responded with glee. In chapter 35, their hearts were moved for God, and they gave massive amounts of money and materials to contribute to the building of the tabernacle. Over and over in scripture, we see that God is seeking those who will do what it takes to honor God not because it is something they HAVE to do, but because it is something they WANT to do. Are you worshipping Him begrudgingly, or is it something that excited you to pour out your love to Him as He deserves? The result in the end of this book was a Tabernacle was constructed to be able to meet with God, and God's Glory filled the place.

These are some of the things that God is seeking. Do we giggle with glee when He finds us, or do we run from Him and hide in shame?

Good Night, Sleep Tight

For those of you that have read and followed my online musings you will have noticed an absence of blog entries, or at least a deviation from the consistency thereof once present. My work schedule has kept me incredibly busy... too busy. My physical body has been wrought with exhaustion from lack of sleep. Even though my body is physically tired, I often fell short in the necessary rest needed. Often times, I find myself up at night replaying the day's events or waking very early going over the tasks before me in the coming day. My mind does not settle, therefore, neither does my body. Sometimes it is worry that keeps me up (or wakes me up), often times however, it is simply a desire to be done with my list. My personality is task-oriented and so I tend to operate best in a context of completing the tasks I have begun. However, when tasks on my list are incomplete, it causes a restlessness within me that can affect my sleep. It is probably a good thing that I am not a farmer or rancher where tasks are seldom completed or at least they drag out for days.

I have, however, been teetering dangerously in a realm that is not healthy neither physically nor spiritually. I was reminded this morning of this as I read an exchange that took place between Moses and the LORD. The Hebrews had just completed the apostasy of the calf in Exodus 32. God is about to wipe them out, Moses pleads for them, and in chapter 33, God says that He would remove His presence from them and not go with them into the promised land. Again Moses pleads that God not remove His presence from His people. There in verse 14 I found my transgression. The LORD says, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you REST."

The rebuke was strong. The sin is a common one especially found in those who serve vocationally in ministry. Although staying in the Word, I have been so wrapped up in doing "the work of the ministry" I have neglected to find rest in Him and just enjoying His presence. Psalm 4 and Psalm 62 reiterates that in God's presence and that alone do we find rest. Jesus offers the same counsel in Matthew 11.

Please bear with me in my repentance. Oh Lord, I have neglected your gift of rest by neglecting your presence. Please forgive me for not trusting in You alone and trying to go it alone. In the words of your servant I find my plea O Lord, "Then he said to Him, 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?'" (Ex. 33:15-16) AMEN.

I pray that we all rest well tonight.

Until "Life" Do Us Part?

"There is not one marriage in today's culture that is not vulnerable. Why? Because we've allowed the culture to seep into our souls. ... Clearly we can no longer pattern our marriages after the people around us -- if we ever could. Not only does the world not know how to divorce-proof its marriages, it is well on the way to making broken relationships the norm!"

-- Dr. Fred Lowery

Longing For Sinai

I sinned this week. Multiple times. Some of those were even deliberate. Don't you judge me though, you have sinned too. But the sixty four dollar question is, "why?" Why, when we know what not to do, or we know what we should do, do we fail miserably? The Apostle Paul struggled with the same issue and his explanation is recorded in the famous Romans 7 passage. But why do we continue in our sin? I think Max Lucado hit the nail on the head, "Sin is not an unfortunate slip or a regrettable act; it is a posture of defiance against a holy God." While we will not be rid of our sin nature until we are finally in the Lord's presence, we are still called to live holy lives.

So, where do we start? In Exodus 20, just after Moses had descended from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the people were literally trembling from the physical expressions of God's might in the mountain. They thought they were about to die. I can only imagine the what it was like. Then, Moses tells the people what I think we too need to hearken to, "''Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.'" (Ex. 20:20)

Several years ago, there was a slogan that became popular on T-shirts and bumper stickers, "No Fear." This appeared everywhere, and eventually took on many different variations. But I think that if we adopt a variation of this, our world would be a different place... our churches would definitely be different places. We should "KNOW FEAR." Very simply put, we sin, because we do not take God seriously. Sometimes, I wish we could revisit Sinai and remember how big God really is. And yet, God continues to give us demonstrations of His might-- reminders that He alone is in charge. Some people call this global warming. I think it is just God flexing His muscles. I have yet to hear the media make the connection of the gross increase in immorality to the increase in natural disasters. Maybe this would be a good study. Any takers?

I Theenk I'm Gonna Need a Beeger God

In my continuing study through the life of the Hebrew people in the Exodus, I came across a passage that has a lesson we would all do well to learn. I know I haven't mastered it yet. And it seems, the older I get, the more I realize how little I really have mastered it. Oh, when I was in my twenties, I thought I had it figured out pretty well. It is the lesson of theology proper. While there are more complicated definitions, theology is simply defined as the study of God. Not long ago, I used to think that theology was boring and only for people who sit in closed seminary offices. However, I have since changed my mind. A.W. Tozer wrote, in Knowledge of the Holy, that worship of God requires that we think rightly about Him. He says, "The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God." That makes sense really, how can we worship what we do not know? Jesus said the same to the woman at the well.

How great is your idea of God? In Exodus 15, the Hebrews had gotten just a few glimpses of how big a God He really is, and it caused them to worship. If you have problems having reasons to worship Him, then perhaps your concept of God is too small. The fact that we cannot begin to fathom the mysteries of all who God is, is a great place to start. My absolute all time favorite quote still remains, "If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped." (Evelyn Underhill) If we are not in a constant state of being awed by our God, perhaps it is time for us to take the little god out of the boxes we so often put Him in and get a bigger God!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever!
Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 (NASB))