February 27, 2012 … God’s Standards for Worship

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 8-10 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Numbers 9: 1-14: … [The Second Passover]… Use this link to review this passage for my comments below ...

My Journal for Today: Today I was reading through the three chapters in Numbers to which I’ve linked you above; and the segment in Numbers 9: 1-14 drew my attention for meditation and comment; but since that passage is a bit long to copy/paste above for my blog today, I’ve also linked it for you to seek out and read. And if you’re going to read along with me, I’d ask that you please review this passage carefully.

And when you do read through and meditate on this passage, you’ll see that God was giving His people follow-up instructions in the Passover worship and remembrance so that they would be able to properly worship the God Who had delivered them from Egypt. And their Passover celebration needed to have the preparation of purity and the reverence of holiness God had instructed them to carry out a year earlier, … this being the celebration of the second Passover since they had left Egypt (see also Exodus, Chapter 12 and Leviticus 23:5, 6).

And it’s interesting to note from this study that some of the men could not meet God’s ceremonial standards for the Passover feast; and since God’s standards of holiness and worship never change, these men were not allowed to carry out the Passover celebration at the designated time for that worship. But did God shut them out from their heartfelt desire to celebrate Passover? NO! God mercifully established for these men a “PLAN B” for Passover; and they were able to purify themselves and come back a month later and worship Passover in the way God had designed for their worship.

I think now of the instructions we, as Christians, are given to celebrate the Eucharist (i.e., Communion) properly. And the Apostle Paul gave such instructions for God’s Church in the remembrance of the Lord’s Supper in 1st Corinthians 11: 17-34. Let me link you there so that you can review these instructions from God’s word.

God doesn’t want to exclude any serious worshipper from worshipping Himself; but God does have standards for coming into His Holy presence for worship, especially those celebrations of remembrance which God, Himself, has established for His people – whether it be Old Testament or New. Therefore, we should – when we come to worship our Lord – purify our hearts and minds in preparation as we come to the Holy of Holies for remembrance and worship.

I believe many Christians take Communion at the Lord’s Supper without being in the proper state of mind/heart to do so. Sometimes it’s because Communion – in some denominations/traditions – is taken so often and there is no preparation or reminder for the believers to be in the right state of mind/heart to carry out the ritual which God Himself has established for His special times of worship. But all too often it’s simply a matter of the worshipper not being in the humble and pure state of mind which he/she should be to come before the Lord to celebrate and remember what God has done for us.

Therefore, I hope we all rekindle our remembrance of our God from this study … that those specially established ceremonies for worship, … like Passover for the Jews and Communion for Christians (and there are certainly others). Each of these special times of worship should be undertaken with the care and preparation which matches the standards of what God has done to deserve our remembering His glory, His mercy, and His holiness.

As Jesus, Himself, said at the establishment of the first Communion supper, “This [i.e., taking the bread and the cup] … do in remembrance of Me.”

My Prayer Today: … Amen and Amen!!!

February 16, 2012 … God’s Protection of Worship

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 11-13 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Leviticus 11: 24-25 : … [Purity for Worship]… 24 “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening.

My Journal for Today: As I read though Chapters 11-13 of Leviticus this morning, one could get the idea that God felt that those who touched unclean things, women who had babies, or people with skin diseases were sinful because of their circumstances and conditions. But that would be a misinterpretation of these very careful regulations God was imposing – through Aaron and the Priesthood – on God’s children and their worship in the Tent of Meeting, i.e. the Tabernacle.

No, what God was doing with all these careful instructions to protect the conditions of worship was to set the worship of their living God, Jehovah, apart from the worship of the pagan gods in the cultures surrounding God’s chosen people, the Israelites.

And immediately in reading these three chapters, I was drawn back – by the enlightenment of God’s Spirit, I believe - to instructions which the Apostle Paul gave to New Covenant worshippers, those who’ve come to the Living Tabernacle, Jesus Christ, in faith and desire to worship Him forever, having been purified by His blood on the cross. Jesus was/is the reason why we don’t have to have the same protections which are written of in these three chapters of God’s Book of the Law in Leviticus. And Paul exhorted us – Christians – how to prepare ourselves for worship, when God had him write in Romans 12: 1-2, ... 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

My memory also reflected back to the instructions to believers by the Apostle John’s vision, about preparing for the coming BrideGoom, our Savior, Who will be coming for His Bride, the Church, for the wedding feast of The Lamb. The instructions for the preparation of the Bride for the Groom (i.e., our preparations for the worship of the Lamb of God at the wedding feast) are found in Revelation 19: 7-10, where it says, ... 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) … 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” … 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

And by combining the exhortation of Romans 12 with the instruction of Revelation 19, we can glean God’s desire that we – His chosen Bride - be purified for worship … that we be prepared to bow before God with our lives, … purified by keeping our linens clean (i.e., living righteous lives and avoiding the impurities of this world). We are to live lives of “living sacrifice,” pure and undefiled, which was symbolized by the detailed instructions for purity given to God’s people as they prepared themselves – by their living the way God instructed – to avoid those parts of the world and their own flesh which would render them defiled for worship.

God simply wants His Bride – His chosen church (i.e., that’s you and me, fellow Christian!) – to be in a ready and purified state of “living worship” (as Paul wrote in Rom. 12: 1), having our lines clean and purified for the BrideGroom, Who will come to get His Bride for the wedding feast of the Lamb of God.

Are you ready for Him coming for you, my friend? Are we living lives, purified and prepared for worship on a 24/7 basis in life? I don’t know about you; but I could use some more cleansing of my linens as I prepare for my Groom to come for me.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me prepare for You today by cleansing my linens in the purifying blood of Calvary. Amen

November 14, 2011 … The Motive for True Wisdom

Passage of the Day: James 3: 17a [highlighted verse in bold/underlined] … 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

My Journal for Today: The pursuit of Godly wisdom (i.e., finding the mind/will of God) is a pursuit of purity. So, what is James referring to when he writes that Godly wisdom is first of all “pure?”

Well, the Greek word for “pure” in this verse is the word “men” (pronounced “may’-een”); and, according to John MacArthur in his Strength for Today entry on this date, it refers to “… spiritual integrity and/or moral sincerity.” Jesus Christ was, of course, our perfect example, as He is with all such characteristics to which we ascribe as Christians. Following Jesus’ life, we see a total absence of the jealousy and/or selfish ambition referred to in James 3: 16, which characterizes the wisdom and/or understanding pursued by or coming from the world or the flesh.

As MacArthur puts it, “… the true believer (in Christ) will [as he matures in the faith] have pure desires;” … and I would add that if a Christian falls into choices and/or behaviors characterized as “impure,” he/she will be immediately convicted by that thought or action as Paul spoke of in Romans 7: 15 – 21. And that is God’s Spirit calling the Christian to purity and then onward to know God and His way more deeply … with purity becoming more and more a part of that Christian’s sanctified life.

In Old Testament prophesy (see Ezekiel 11: 19), God said to His people that He would give them a new heart, … a totally pure and undefiled love for God. Now, though there may be debate over the context of the passage from which Ezek. 11: 19 comes (i.e., Ezekiel 11: 16 – 25), I believe this was a reference to the purity of heart found in the believer rewarded in Heaven from the Great White Throne Judgment. In other words, when all of God’s people are taken to God’s ultimate “promised land” in the New Heaven, we will have totally pure hearts; and our pursuits will be totally focused on worship of the Lamb of God. That is the ultimate completion and perfection referred to by Paul in Phil. 1: 6; and it is the ultimate outcome of sanctification. However, until that prophesy becomes reality in glory, it must be the goal of every believer, as we read in today’s verse, to pursue the mind of God with as much spiritual energy and purity of heart as we can muster.

Unfortunately right now, in this life, that heart for Godly wisdom, is, as MacArthur puts it, is “…incarcerated in our old flesh,” which is going to produce continual warfare (see Romans 7: 22 – 23). But God has blessed the born-again believer with a newly indwelt heart, one which seeks after purity (see Matt. 5: 8); and one which is stronger than that of the flesh or the enemy (see 1st John 4: 4). And one day in glory, after pursuing God through the rigors of sanctification, our hearts will be as Christ’s (meditate on 1st John 3: 2). And to that end, even now in our imperfection, we must pursue God’s mind for His glory.

My Prayer Today: Help me to find Your heart, O Lord, and to be pure as I seek to know You and become more like You. Amen

2010 – December 30 – The Pure Who Endure

Study from God’s Word… Revelation, Chapters 14 – 19: 5 … Passage for Reflection: Revelation 4: 3 – 5 [underlined] … NIV 1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first-fruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

My Journal for Today: All this apocalyptic imagery in God’s revelation to John can be mysterious and a bit overwhelming as we read and study this great Book of the Bible, The Revelation, especially trying to get its application for our lives today. But it’s important that we do our best, maybe with the help of teachers, like my devotional shepherd this year, Dr. LaGard Smith, to see how these writings, coming from God’s Spirit through John, having powerful messages we need to heed.

So, today we deal with that number of saints, 144,000, who were saved out of the great tribulation and are discussed in today’s highlight text. What do we glean from a study of their significance? Well, the answer is in why they are mentioned as special; and the explanation can be found in the portion of scripture today which is highlighted in bold and underlined.

My fellow readers, … these 144,000 who were those saved from the later heat of the lake of fire are protected by the Lamb of God because of their PURITY and their STEADFAST FAITH. These were the ones, in spite of the taunts and terrors of Satan and the Anti-Christ, remained sexually pure and followed Christ in the worst of the Great Tribulation, … right to the very end of time as man would know it.

And our application? Well, it’s brought out in today’s question by Dr. Smith, as he writes at the end of his daily devotional: ”In the battle to remain pure, am I overcoming or succumbing?” And that is the question so many in our world, as Christians, are dealing with right now, especially in a world where Satan has created many fortresses and weapons to prevent the lost from finding their way to Christ and for tearing down the testimonies of Christians and rendering their witness as ineffective or worthless.

Think about it. How many Christians, of whom you know, who have fallen prey to impurity, when they know that God calls for purity and devotion to His commands? Christian men are surrounded and enveloped by sexual temptations these days; and these worldly-fleshly superweapons, such as internet pornography, have been created as a tribulation of temptation to draw the attention of the lost onto the flesh and away from the Savior, as well as to draw the focus of Christians onto flesh and away from faith.

No Christian man in this world can be the man God intended for Him to be if he does the opposite of what Christ commanded (see Luke 9: 23), focusing on self and not following the Savior. And Christian men, in droves, are falling on the battlefields of sexual temptations and being rendered powerless as husbands, fathers, community leaders, and, most certainly churchmen.

No, it’s not the Great Tribulation yet; but we get a taste of what that horrible time will be like when we yield to selfish, flesh-driven, temptations and we choose to move away from Godly purity in our unfaithfulness. In these times in which we live, we, who follow Christ, need to become like the faithful 144,000 in those times of the Great Tribulation. We need to heed the call of Christ and deny self, take up our crosses daily, and follow Him … to the end.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, today and tomorrow, purity for Your glory is my focus. Amen

2010 – December 16 – Excellent Thinking

Study from God’s Word… The entire letter to the Philippians … Passage for Reflection: Philippians 4: 8 … NIV Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

My Journal for Today: For years I’ve had this word picture, which I try to live by and use to teach the need to intentionally overcome the impurities of life by filling my mind and heart with what Dr. Smith today calls “excellent thinking.” The picture is based on the proverbial truth of Proverbs 23: 7, which in the NKJV reads, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

In other words, we become what we allow our minds (and thereby our hearts) to be filled with. And it is this premise, from today’s highlight text, which Paul is addressing to two women in the church in Philippi, with whom Paul had a deep and long-lasting love relationship from his trips there in the past. These women, Euodia and Syntyche, because of their conflicting ideas, were splitting the Christians in Philippi; and Paul, in his letter to the church, was exhorting these two and his fellow Christians to get their act together … to become united in the thoughts and ideals influence by none other than Christ; … in other words, “excellent thinking” in Christ would lead to excellence of united action.

Back to my word picture. It is of two clear beakers, one filled with clear water and the other filled with black ink. I picture a person taking the ink-filled beaker and dropping just a few drops of ink into the beaker of clear water. What will happen? Well, of course, the clear water begins to become murky because of just a few drops of ink. And that, my dear one, pictures what we confront from our minds being influenced with the many droplets of thought we get from Satan, from the world, and from other people influenced by the flesh, all of which will continue to cause our minds/hearts to become impure by dropping as many droplets of impure images, ideas, and impressions into our minds. And to the extent that our minds become clouded by the fogginess or impurity of thought, we will make impure or inaccurate choices. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

But again back to my word picture, … in reverse. If you have a beaker, clouded to some degree by ink, how long do you think it will take one, pouring clear water into that murky beaker, to make it clear and pristine with pure water again? Yes, I’m sure you can see it taking quite a bit of time and discipline, pouring clear water into that murky beaker to clean up the murkiness cause by allowing some ink into what used to be a clear beaker. And therein you have Paul’s exhortation in Phil. 4: 8, for the Christian to do all he/she can to pour “excellent” (i.e., Godly) thoughts, primarily from the well of clarity which is God’s truth (i.e., Scripture), into his/her mind so that that person’s heart will be more readily influence by God’s will and His way in living.

I would hope that I need not go on here for you to get God’s point here from Paul in Phil. 4: 8, which is that we can’t expect to make clear choices from unclear minds; and we can’t expect to make clear, Godly choices if we allow our minds to become impure by taking in the murky, impurity the world will bring into our minds by all the means Satan now has available to him to cloud our minds and hearts to influence our choices and behavior.

So, I ask today: What are we doing in a disciplined and daily manner, to avoid exposure to impure thoughts, images, or ideas and to allow God to pour His pure ideals from His word into our minds that we might have “excellent thoughts” influencing our ability to make excellent choices? Personally, I’m driven to continue to do what I’m doing every morning, by pouring as much of God’s word into my mind as I can so that I might do what Paul exhorted to Philippi in Phil. 4: 8 or what God charged Joshua to do in Joshua 1: 8 or what the author of Psalm 119: 9-11 wrote in his love-song about God’s word.

What is your plan to promote excellent thinking and Godly action?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, You’ve convicted me to KOKO in Your word to purify my mind and bring me to excellence of action to glorify You. Amen

2010 – October 12 – How Shall We Be Remembered?

Study from God’s Word… Nehemiah, Chapters 11 – 13 (especially the latter passages) … Passage for Reflection: Nehemiah 13: 22 … NIV Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to Your great love.

My Journal for Today: When one reads what was chronicled by Nehemiah (probably by a scribe or maybe even Ezra), Chapter 13 reads somewhat like a eulogy. In this last chapter of the historical book by his name, Nehemiah has written about a number of failures by God’s people, which he discovers after he had returned to Susa and had been released by Artaxerxes to go back, possibly permanently, to Jerusalem to be the permanent governor. And when Nehemiah returns, to his chagrin, he discovers that the people, in the time he had been gone (we don’t know how long) had desecrated the Temple, began intermarrying with the non-Jewish peoples again, and were not observing the Sabbath properly. And in a historical picture of the Messiah, Who would come to cleanse the Temple some centuries later, Nehemiah was enraged and struck out against God’s chosen people with righteous anger.

And apparently identifying with the heart weakness of these people, in today’s highlight passage in Neh. 13: 22, we read of Nehemiah praying to God for the Lord to have mercy on him, remembering what he had done to cleanse the Temple and set the people on a path which could/would honor God. I can almost read Nehemiah’s mind, possibly remembering the words of Jeremiah, who had come before him with the prophetic description of the deception in any man’s heart (see Jer. 17: 9). I can imagine Nehemiah, returning to Jerusalem again to see the Temple desecration and the worship of idols again, and saying to himself, something like, “There, but for the grace of God, go I;” and then taking righteous action to cleanse the Temple and drive the people to follow God’s law.

And yes that would be the “M.O.” of our Messiah as well, who would come into His Father’s house centuries later to see similar desecration and idol worship, grieving at the hearts of God’s people, and then overthrowing the Temple tables and dispelling wickedness from His Father’s House.

How about you and me, if you’re reading with me here? Do we see desecration in the Temple of our own hearts; and are we angry enough – with a righteous anger toward our sinfulness – to strike out and cleanse our own hearts and rid our own lives of idol worship as well as become more vigilant about guarding the walls of our hearts – i.e., God’s Temple – against the onslaught of evil in our world?

Will we be eulogized when we go to be with Jesus, by someone saying, “This man was driven, Lord, to honor You and to maintain the Temple of his heart pure to honor You and shine a light for all to see Your glory.” That, most certainly, is something I would want said at my home-going. I pray that it will.

What about you? What do you want said to God and to the world as your life is honored when God brings you home?

My Prayer for Today: Lord, may my life be a pure worship for Your glory. Amen