BrothersOfTheBook.com

To whom does your heart belong?

Has God moved your heart?

Exodus 34-35

Toward the end of today’s reading we read:

Exodus 35:21

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.

And

Exodus 35:29

“All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord”.

Yesterday I wrote about the fact that God has given us everything; not just material goods, health, and wealth, but talents, abilities, and intelligence.  I also wrote that this made us His stewards, care-takers of everything He has placed in our care.  What is the proper response of His stewards in response to the trust He has placed in us?

Today we see that those whose hearts are moved bring anything for the work the Lord has commanded.  Is your heart moved?  Do you acknowledge that the source of all you have and are comes from God?  Are you using all of that to your own selfish purposes or for the glory of God?  He put you together in a unique way to be used for His purposes.  I can’t imagine you are as happy as you could be if you are not using His gifts for His purpose.

What do you think?

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

God knows you by name!

Exodus 31-33

“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship” Exodus 31:2-3.

“And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you” Exodus 31:6.

It would have been rather obvious to talk about the golden calf today.  It is quite extraordinary that a group of people who had seen such wonders performed by the one true God should so quickly fall away and start worshiping a created god rather than the Creator God.  I see in this how we Christians can be, saved and on fire for the Lord at first, but after a while we fall into a spiritual coma or worse, revert to the old behavior from which we had been saved.

There’s a lot we could talk about here and if you are so inclined I’d like to encourage you to do so, but those two verses I quoted above have really grabbed me and I’d like to talk about them.  God called this fella Bezalel.  He knew the guys name, his father, and his complete ancestry.  God filled him with His Holy Spirit, ability, intelligence, knowledge, and craftsmanship.  Wow!  God is saying everything about this guy came from Him.  God goes on to say “I have given to all able men ability…”

Here’s what comes to my mind.  God gave you everything you are and have.  He created everything.  He gave you, and all men, ability and intelligence, and knowledge.  Why?  The rest of Exodus 3:16 answers that question: “that they may make all that I have commanded you.”

When God created the world He “took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it”, Genesis 2:15.  You were made to work.  I have often, incorrectly, thought that work was a curse that God placed on mankind after the fall.  God said that by the sweat of our brow we would eat our bread.  Reviewing Genesis reminds me that I was made for a purpose.  You’ve heard me say that purpose is to be in right relationship with God.  Ever wonder why I say “right” relationship?

Plenty of people have a relationship with God.  They pray occasionally when they want something treating Him like the great butler in the sky.  Their approach to their relationship with God is inappropriate.  We’ll get into prayer another time.  The point here is that a right relationship means we understand our proper role.  God is the Master, we are His servants.  Some may not like that analogy.  To man’s way of thinking it is degrading to be a servant; and yet Christ came to Earth as a mere man to serve humanity.  Perhaps this is why God also uses the “Father/Son relationship” as an example of proper relationship with Him.

If your father asks you to do something you do it; you do not lay around the house and ask him to fetch you this and fetch you that.  I don’t know about you but the first time I tried something like that would be the last time I tried something like that.  Many a time my father said to me “come on son, I have something I want you to do”.  He had a right to ask it of me and my proper response was “yes sir”.  We don’t here that kind of response much these days do we?

A proper relationship with God includes acknowledging He is God and you are not; that He has the right to instruct you, and that you have a responsibility to obey.  God gave you everything and He gave it for a purpose.  Every experience, every skill, every dollar came from Him.  He expects you to use if for His glory.  This means you are His steward.  Your wife isn’t yours; she’s His.  Your children are not yours; they are His.  Your talents, and abilities, and income are not yours; they are His.  He expects you to be a good steward of all that He has placed in your care.

Have you been a good steward?  I’ve told you before I hope to hear on that day that I meet my Savior face to face that I will “well done my good and faithful servant”.  I’ve got to do better at this steward stuff.  I’ve got to realize that what is in my possession belongs to God and I must use them and treat them as if they are His.  I must be faithful in developing the skills and abilities He has given me.  I must not misappropriate what is His for my own self-centered purposes but for His good and gracious purposes.

We are not our own.  We were bought at a price.  Your master has left much in your care.  It’s time for you to do your best in taking care of what is His; to His purpose and to His glory.  I think once we understand our proper relationship with Him, and with the materials He place in our care, we will start to have that “right relationship” I’m always talking about.

Have a blessed day guys!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Man! Are those dirty feet!

When we sin we abide in death!

Exodus 29-30

Okay guys, I hate to admit it but once I get through Genesis I tend to really struggle with the remaining four books of the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch, if you haven’t guessed, is the first five books of the Bible.  Those five are thought to have been written by Moses.  When we get into the specifications for this item and that item and the sacrifice for this and the sacrifice for that and so and so begat so and so, I gotta tell ya, my eyes start to get a little droopy.

You know why?  Because in one regard all of that is meaningless to me.  Now before you all start running to the phone to call the pastor on me let me explain.  Clearly if something is important to God then it should be important to us.  Since God takes so much time going over all of this, it clearly has some important significance.  That significance is that God is holy and we are not.  He intends for us to be holy so we can spend eternity with Him.  What God does through out the entire Old Testament is show us how there is nothing we can do of our own that will make us right with Him.

He creates the Law and all the specifications for this that and the other thing to show us how impossible it is for us to be made right with Him without His intervention.  He is also foreshadowing the coming of His Son to permanently make us right with Him; not through our own effort but by His.

So in today’s reading we learn about the sin offering.  This offering is intended to “atone” for our wrongs against God, sin.

ATONE

To make reparation, compensation, or amends, for an offense or a crime one has committed; To clear (someone else) of wrongdoing, especially by standing as an equivalent.

Our sin separates us from fellowship with God.  We ain’t in the Garden of Eden any more are we?  I read in a commentary that when we sin we “abide” in death.  This term “abide” keeps popping up for me.  In fact I find it in one of my favorite verses

John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Did you know the word “abide” shows up 10 times in John15:4-10.  I think we need a definition of abide.

ABIDE

To stay; to continue in a place; to have one’s abode; to dwell; to sojourn.  To remain stable or fixed in some state or condition; to continue; to remain.

I think that fella in the commentary is on to something here.  When I sin I am abiding in death.  I am causing a separation from God and I am living in, and remain stuck in, death.  By the same token, when I accept Christ I am able to abide in Him.  I cam dwell with Him; I can sojourn with Him; I am in a stable, continual state of life!

John 14:6

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We, in our own power can not restore ourselves to life-giving fellowship with God.  Our sin demands blood.  That is the verdict.  We have sinned against God.  Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.”  God is the judge.  We have been found guilty.  Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death“.  Sentence has been pronounced and will be carried out.

Fortunately the Judge has stepped down from the bench and has offered Himself up and will serve your sentence.  This makes you eligible for a pardon but you will have to accept the pardon.  Jesus made reparation for you.  He atoned for your sin.  He paid it all.  The quote of Romans 6:23 above is incomplete.  There is a big BUT immediately following that quote.  The rest of the verse is “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Moses’ day the only way they could get atonement that would save them from the death and separation from God that they deserved was to slaughter a one year old lamb every morning and every evening, Exodus 30:38-39.  That was bloody business.  There was no such thing as “once saved always saved”.  You get the picture?  One sacrifice of an innocent lamb wasn’t going to get them through.  Because of their fallen nature they were going to keep sinning.  They had to sandwich their day with the slaughter of those poor beasts because they just couldn’t help themselves.

You and I both know that once we have accepted Christ we still continue to struggle with sin, losing occasionally.  Why don’t we need to sacrifice Jesus every morning and every evening?  Because His sacrifice paid it all; and because He sent His Holy Spirit to us to live in our hearts and to continually help us to fight that battle and to continually cause us to be the men God created us to be.  Praise be to God!!!

The reason I said earlier that all of this, the Law, is meaningless for me is because I have been redeemed.  I am no longer under the Law and my wages of death.  I live though “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.“, Galatians 2:20.

Finally guys, I saw something interesting in today’s reading.  I thought I’d ask you all to comment on this thought.  In Exodus 30:17-21 Moses is instructed to make a bronze basin in which Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before entering the presence of the Lord “so that they may not die”.

God is holy.  Entering His presence in filth is deadly.  Here the priests of God are to wash their feet before coming into His presence.    Does any other foot washing come to mind?  At the Last Supper Jesus knelt and washed the feet of His disciples.  When He finished He said:

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” John 13:14-15.

Okay, I may be reading too much into this but should we as brothers in Christ be helping each other to be the priests before God that He intends us to be?  Should we be holding each other accountable; helping each other by “washing each others feet”; knocking the filth off?

Am I trying to tie things together that don’t go together?  What do you think?  I look forward to hearing from you!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Aaron's Priestly Garments

Holy To The Lord

Exodus 27-28

In today’s reading we continue on with God’s detailed instructions on everything that is to be associated with the Tabernacle and meeting with God.  As I mentioned yesterday, God has made a new arrangement for meeting with us.  That arrangement is the acceptance of His Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin and the further gift of His Holy Spirit which takes up residence within you once you have accepted Christ.  The new Tabernacle or Temple is your heart.

I found a couple of things really standing out to me as I read these passages.  First was the description of the “Breastplate of Judgment” which Aaron, the High Priest was to wear over his heart.  In Exodus 28:30 we read “…Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.”  Now I know Jesus Christ is the new High Priest.  Of course, when we speak of the spiritual tabernacle which resides within you, one might say the Holy Spirit plays the role of High Priest.  But here, as we read about the old high priest Aaron, I think I’m getting a picture of how we are to come before the Lord.

But don’t let me get ahead of myself.  Reading further I see that Aaron is also to wear a turban with a gold engraved plate positioned so as it rest on his forehead.  This plate is engraved with the words “Holy to the Lord“, Exodus 28:36.  That may sound like a neat title to have but God goes on to say in verse 38 that Aaron will “bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts.“  I know some of you already know this but for those that may not, the word “holy” means “set apart”.

Finally, I read that Aaron and his sons are to serve God as priests.  They are to be dressed for “glory and beauty” and anointed, ordained, and consecrated.  Each of these three actions is a process of being “set apart”.  Coming before the Lord is clearly a big deal.  We think of God our Father, Abba, Daddy.  He is that but in our casual relationship with our Father we forget that he is Holy.

God chose Israel to be a people “set apart” unto Him.  He chose you and me, those who accepted Christ as our Savior, to be “set apart” unto Him as well.  We are to be holy.  I wonder if the putting on and wearing of the very distinct outfit God prescribed for Aaron wasn’t part of getting his heart right to meet God.

You and I can get pretty lost in the world around us and then rush through our Bible reading and prayer time like it’s just one more thing to check off before the day is through.  In the process of rushing to and from church and through our prayer and reading time, do we ever stop to get our heart in the right place before coming before a holy God?  Yes He is Daddy, but He is also God.  I think it might be best if we start preparing our heart before we come into the presence of God.  This includes thinking about ourselves as individuals “set apart” unto God.  We need to stay away from unclean things and I’m not speaking O.T. here; I’m talking about all the toxic cultural stuff our eyes and brain are awash with every waking moment.

Let’s set ourselves apart for God’s glory.  Let’s prepare ourselves to come before a Holy God.  We are to be a “royal priesthood”: an anointed, ordained, consecrated, and holy priesthood.  Not sure about that?  Well let me leave you with what Peter had to say about it:

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We are “Royal Priests” let’s start acting like it!

Have a blessed day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

The veil is torn and Christ lives with in you. Is He living in a tabernacle or a dump?

God cares about the Tabernacle where He meets you!

Exodus 24-26

My intention when writing this blog is to discover what God has to tell us about being Godly men.  Being a Godly man includes being a Godly son, husband, father, sibling, employee, citizen, customer, employer, boss, vendor and any other role a man might be responsible for in his life.  In today’s reading God goes into minute detail about the construction of the Tabernacle where God will meet and speak with Moses, Exodus 25:22.  Two things came to my mind as I read: 1) the importance of the place where we meet God and 2) our need to grow up spiritually as men.

I’m sure thought one makes more sense to you than thought two but I’ll explain what I mean presently.

In chapter 25 and 26 God goes into the most minute detail about every aspect of the tabernacle He is instructing Moses to build.  Size, materials, number of items, artistry, location, basically everything about this tabernacle is described by God.  Why?  God created the World, why wouldn’t he delegate some of the details to Moses.  “Let’s see what you guys can come up with!”  I mean if God says “make poles with which to carry the ‘Table for the Bread of Presence’”, Exodus 25:26-28, don’t you think they could figure out that they need rings in which to place the poles so the table can in deed be lifted?  And what does it matter if it’s rings or hooks or some other method?

I think we have to go back to what I’ve said in the past about our purpose for existing.  God made us for a right relationship with Him.  If that is our purpose then their is nothing more important than the place in which we are to meet God.  This takes on particular importance when we realize that God is Holy and we are not.  When discussing this concept I often think of Star Trek and their warp drives fueled with anti-matter.  As any Treky knows, matter and anti-matter can not come into contact; they can not share the same space.  If an attempt is made to bring them into contact a horrific explosion is going to wipe out every living thing within so many light years of the incident.

Now with God, He won’t be wiped out in such a meeting, but we will.  We are so corrupt, so far from His perfection that we could not exist in the same vicinity with God with out some extraordinary precautions and safety measures put in place.  For our sake God still wants a relationship with us but, because we so fouled things up, He’s got to arrange things in such a way that we will survive the encounter.  Thus the attention to detail, and boy am I thankful.

When Christ died on the cross for our sins God established a new meeting place.  He abolished the physical tabernacle and established a spiritual tabernacle within the hearts of all who accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  When Christ said “It is finished” and took His last breath upon the cross, the veil in the physical tabernacle which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, was ripped from top to bottom.  Let me repeat, from top to bottom.  Why is that important?  That veil separated us from God.  To cross that veil was to be obliterated.  Man did not tear the veil; doing so would be suicide.  There is nothing in our power to force reconciliation with God.   For reconciliation to take place, God had to tear the veil and thus is was torn not from bottom (man) to top (God) but from top (God) to bottom (man).

What does this mean for me and you today?  God shows us in these passages that the place where He meets us is to be Holy.  Holy means “set apart”.  If He meets you in your own heart through the Holy Spirit don’t you think that place needs to be Holy too?  Are you expecting God to meet you in a dark, dull, filthy place?  Not likely my friend.  Men, it is time for us to purify ourselves.  To be a Godly man is to make your heart a Holy place.  We need to take a broom to self-centered, flesh appeasing, filth we hold on to.  Christ said that anyone that would follow Himself needed to deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Him.  Deny yourself.  Is it really that hard?  Is it really that hard to deny yourself the filth of this world so you can follow Christ into the fullness of life He came to give you?  Okay, maybe it is hard, though for the life of me I don’t understand why, but the battle is well worth the reward.

By the way, battles are fought by men not children.  That’s what I meant above when I said we need to grow up spiritually. When I was a young man there was a man in our church who I viewed as a man.  To me he looked like a man.  He seemed tall, had a full mustache and I think he might have even had thinning hair.  The thing is, he wasn’t really a man.  Unfortunately his brain was stuck at about the age of 7.  His father loved him very much.  I could see that.  I could also see the sadness he had at the thought that he would never have a “grown-up” relationship with his son.  He mourned the loss of that mature relationship.

Are you and I stuck at the spiritual age of 7 or are we just refusing to grow up?  We can’t continue to run around holding on to our sin like our little blanky.  God has called us to deny ourselves, to deny sin, to join Him in His battle to conquer sin.  It takes a real man to do that.  It takes spiritual maturity.  We’re not spiritual babies any more.  We’re spiritual men, and it’s time for us to accept our responsibilities as men and grow up!

Wow!  I laid it on a little thick there didn’t I?  Maybe so but I’m afraid some of us needed to hear that.  Let’s keep up the good fight men.  The battle has already been won.  We just need to show up!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

He sends His Angel before you!

An Angel guards me on the way!

Exodus 21-23

In chapters 21, 22 and about ¾ of 23 of Exodus we are reading “The Law”.  Law and Punishment; if you do this then this is the penalty.  As I read those laws I thought to myself that this all seems like pretty common sense and basic justice.  I don’t know if this is because God has written His law on my heart or because my parents raised me right; I suspect the answer is both.  As I reflect further, however, I realize that many in the world today violate these basic rules of justice on a daily, on-going basis and that they really don’t feel any compunction about doing so.

While I have said before this blog is not a place for politics, I must admit that as I read one verse I thought of our politicians and fervently wished they would read their Bible more and perhaps change their ways.  The verse is Exodus 23:8 “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.”

Oh well, my trust is in the Lord and not in them.  What I’d like to discuss with you out of today’s reading, however, is Exodus 23:20-21 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.”

Now I don’t think there is much debate that the allegory of the Promised Land points to Heaven or that the “Him” in this verse is Jesus Christ, but as I read it I was reminded of the Holy Spirit and our battle against sin that we discussed yesterday.  When we accept Christ the real battle with sin begins as we begin the journey of becoming the men God created us to be and which will be complete when we enter God’s presence in Heaven.  I mentioned yesterday that we needed to depend on God, prayer, and our fellow Christian brothers in our fight against sin and I mentioned that Christ sends his Holy Spirit to those who accept Him to help in this battle as well.

In these verses, Exodus 23:20-21, I also see that image of the Holy Spirit that doesn’t go before us so much as it goes with us on our journey and in our battle against sin.  We need to pay careful attention to the Holy Spirit and obey His voice and He will guard us on the way to the place Christ has prepared for us.

My friend, if Christ is within you then sin hurts you.  I don’t mean cosmically, although that is true as well, I mean you will be bothered by it.  You know it’s wrong and it bothers you when you sin.  The reason it bothers you is Christ is within you waging war with sin.  The Holy Spirit is battling sin on your behalf but you must join in the battle.  You must reject sin; fight it like the terrible enemy it is.  In Exodus 23:33 God says in reference to the inhabitants of Canaan “They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Again, if the inhabitants are an allegory for sin and the flesh then we have here another statement that we shall not let sin dwell within us, our land.  We are to be in the world but not of the world.  God calls us to separate ourselves from sin and those who would draw us into sin.  Brothers, is there sin in your life to which you need to strike a mortal blow?  Are you allowing yourself to be influenced by people and things that could be a snare to you?  It’s time to go to battle.  It’s time to take up your cross and follow Christ.  He will fight with you but you must do your part!  Rejoice!  The battle has already been won; you must simply claim your prize!

Question: What do you think of the Holy Spirit analogy?  Am I way off here or do you see other evidence to support this thought?

Blessing brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!