April 9, 2012 … God’s Anointed

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 1st Samuel 9-12 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : 1st Samuel 10: 6-7 … 6 The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

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Highlight Reference Passage #1 : Acts 1: 8 … [Jesus speaking to His disciples just before His ascension just prior to Pentecost] … “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”


My Journal for Today: Yesterday in my reading and study (in 1st Sam. 8), we read about the Israelites pressing Samuel, as their main-man prophet, for a king to rule them in lieu of Judges; and God warned them of the potential of having a king who would relent to his sin-nature and rule out of selfishness rather then from the anointing of God. But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel; and so God, as He will do, turned them over to their own desires; and granted them a king.

And in 1st Samuel, Chapters 9-12, we read of the coming and anointing of Saul to become the first king of Israel. And more specifically, as I read today’s highlight passage, copied above, another passage in the New Testament bubbled up from my memory; and that is the second passage (Acts 1: 8, which you probably know from memory yourself).

My friend and fellow Christian, do you realize that we, you and me as born-again Christians, are anointed (i.e., called out for rule) just as was Saul in the Old Testament? And the same Holy Spirit, which came upon Saul to give him the power he needed to be the King of Israel, is Spirit of the Lord which abides in our lives. The difference is that now that Christ has come and has died on the cross and has been resurrected (what we celebrated at Easter yesterday), we New Covenant Christians have the full and forever anointing of God’s Spirit and His Spirit, residing in our hearts for eternity, not just for a season of time as the Lord anointed and came upon Saul.

But that same Holy Spirit, Who empowered Saul, giving him the power to become and remain king of Israel as long as He submitted himself to God’s Spirit, is the same Spirit who is in my heart and giving me the power to do what God would lead me to do for His Kingdom. That is a daunting and almost haunting thought, isn’t it?

And in many respects, the same thing could happen to me which we’ll soon read will happen to Saul. Though I have God’s full measure of fruitfulness available to me (see Galatians 5: 22-23), I can grieve God’s Spirit and dampen God’s power in and through myself when I do not choose – in my free-will – to exercise the fruit of the Spirit (including self control), which, through humility and meekness, release God’s power in me to empower me to do His will.

Now, God’s Spirit will never leave me (or you, if you’re truly born-again) as the Spirit left Saul; but like Saul, we cannot be the vessel of God which God intends for us to be, or as Saul was intended to be, if we pridefully act on our own, rather than in obedience to God’s will.

Oh, I can be a Saul so easily by striking out on my own rather than surrendering my will to God’s; because when I can – and do – the latter, living with humility and meekness, as did Jesus in surrender to His Father, God can do great things in and through me. And when I live as we’ll soon read of Saul, in selfishness and carelessness, I can dampen God’s Spirit in me; and I cannot be the person God has purposed for me to be. Oh, how scary is that thought.

But, the saving grace which has anointed me in Christ’s Name, is the grace which will never leave me as it did Saul. And, being born-again and gifted with God’s sanctifying Spirit, I can choose to surrender to the Lord’s Spirit anytime and be transformed in my humility and meekness of character into the very image of my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. And that, my friend, is the “Hallelujah” thought for the day.

I am an anointed one; and so are you, my fellow Christian; now – today – what we must do is live like God’s anointed ones.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I thank you, Holy Spirit, for living in me; empower me today to choose to follow You and to avoid myself. Amen

April 7, 2012 … A Godly Vessel Grows

A Humble Blogger’s Note: I hope you take in what I believe God’s Spirit gave for me to write in this journal entry. Why do I feel so compelled to ask this of any who might read this? Because I’m clearly not intelligent enough to write what came from my dig into God’s mine of wisdom this morning. What you read below was written without any editing on my part; and I’m simply not smart enough to write such thoughts. Hence, my charge to dig into these first three chapters of 1st Samuel and to read what God gave me to blog today. Thank you. <’wrb><

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Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 1st Samuel 1-3 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : 1st Samuel 3: 19-21 … 19 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

My Journal for Today: Well, we were quickly through the book of Ruth yesterday; and now, on to 1st Samuel, Chapters 1-3, where we’re introduced to an important character as the history of Israel transitions from the time of the Judges into the era of the Kings. And the character, Samuel, became God’s vessel of light during this transition.

There are many interesting and instructive things about which I could journal from these first three chapters in 1st Samuel. I hope you’ve read the entire reading segment. Not too many key characters in Scripture have the early part of their lives described; but Samuel is one; and we read of how his mother, Hannah, like some other key women in the Bible, was barren and prayed to God a vow to have her son, if God would so allow her to give birth to a son, to become a Nazarite, giving him entirely over to God; and that’s exactly what happened. From Hannah we learn that being true to our word to God will be honored by God.

There is the story of Eli, the Levite Priest, who was a much better mentor than he was a father; and he even abrogated his role as a parent, which allowed for the raising of two sons whom God had to discipline because Eli would not. Here we learn that parenting is a vastly important mission in God’s kingdom which should never be overlooked, … even by those who are in the role of “priesthood,” (which, by the way, are all Christian fathers in these New Covenant days).

And we are introduced to Samuel in his early years, who was raised under the mentorship of Eli to be a priest in the Tabernacle; and later we’ll see that he rose to be a Judge and Prophet for God’s people, a giant who would anoint the first Kings in Israel; and would carry the voice of God to His people. Here we learn how important it is to find and carry out the role which God has purposed for each of us.

As we read through the stories and are introduced to characters like Samuel, I am relearning that God has chronicled these stories – about these people – for a reason … His reason. And our Lord wants us to pay attention to their lives so that their stories, and the stories about His chosen people, can help shape our lives.

For example, I see, from my studies in recent days, just how important it is to be obedient to God’s lead through spoken (now written) word. I see from the life of Hannah, how God wants us to trust Him and His promises; and when we do, good things – Godly things – will happen. I see, from the life of Eli (and later Samuel himself), how important the ministry of parenthood is for God’s kingdom. And I see, in Samuel, just how our success for God’s purposes comes through a deep and abiding relationship with God, which must be fostered, if we’re to be used by God for His glory.

If you’re following along with me in this trek through the Bible chronologically this year, I hope you’re gleaning these lessons from God as well. Yesterday, we saw how Ruth faithfully followed God into His fields where she gleaned what was left in the field by God’s leavings; and her faithful gleanings led to her marriage to Boaz and her conversion to the one, true God from her pagan background. And today, as I scrounge through what God has left for me to glean from His bountiful field of truth, even the gleanings are gratefully gathered and I can amply feed upon God’s food for my life.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank you for leaving so much for me to feed upon in the harvest field of Your word. Amen

April 5, 2012 … They Did Their Own Thing!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 19-21 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 21: 24-25… 24 At that time [i.e., the era of the Judges] the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance. 25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

My Journal for Today: Reading through the last chapters of the book of Judges; and really touched by the last verse, highlighted above, is the bottom line for the history of God’s people in the time of the Judges. And I have summarized these times in a somewhat more colloquial title I’ve given to this morning’s journal entry: They Did Their Own Thing!

And if you’ve read through these last three chapters of Judges, one’s sensibilities are challenged, to say the least, by some of the horrible things which happened amongst these God-chosen people. For example there is the story of the Levite in Chapter 19 which is so reminiscent of that scene in Sodom and Gomorrah involving Lot. In this horrible scenario, the Levite sends his concubine out to be gang-raped by the men of his village; and when she comes back in, having been defiled, he cuts her into a dozen pieces.

And here is what my Parsons Commentary says about how we can look at the application of such a horrible Biblical story: ”When they [i.e., the Israelites] stopped letting God lead them, they became no better than the evil people around them. When they made laws for their own benefit, they set standards far below God’s. When you leave God out of your life, you may be shocked at what you are capable of doing.”

You know, we CHRISTIANS would like to think that we’re above such monstrous evil. We’d like to think that, being church-going believers, we could never become like a Ted Bundy, the monstrous serial killer. But my friend, if we turn away from God and His ways and His will, as did the Israelites, there’s no telling what our hearts and flesh are capable of doing. And God – at least for a season – will allow such ungodliness from His collective peoples (for example, from the Church in our day).

When I read the New Testament description – by the Apostle Paul – in Romans 1: 18-32 (linked here for your study). I shudder to think what my life might have become after 22 years of habitualized sexual sin if I hadn’t surrendered my life to Christ. Who knows, unchecked I might have become a monster like Ted Bundy.

BUT … (big “But” contrast), … I did not!!! Instead – and I’m only touting God for this! – I became something different. After I decided to do life God’s way in 1983, I stand here today as a poster child for the proclamation of truth in 2nd Cor. 5: 17 (which I hope you know by heart). I am that “new creation;” I have become like the man about which Rascal Flatts sings in their song to which I link you here. “I’m changed!”

But the Israelites in this day did their own thing; and God let them do it … over and over and over again. And it was not until their Messiah came to provide the way of redemption for His people that this cycle of disobedience and rebellion and degradation could come to a halt.

But even today, we Christians can easily let our lives get out of touch with God when we do life our own way rather than the way God has set forth for us in His word. My friend, we must ask ourselves if we are doing life our own way? If so, beware!!! … God will let us; and who knows where it will lead.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I’m doing life Your way! Amen

April 1, 2012 … KOKO In Christ !!!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 8-9 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 8: 28-35 … 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years. ,,, 29 Jerub-Baal [i.e., Gideon] son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. … 33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god 34 and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.

My Journal for Today: Reading through the closing chapters on Gideon as a Judge for the Israelites (see linked chapters for your reading), we see that Gideon, once he surrendered to God’s leadership, under the guidance and authority of Yahweh and the Old Covenant, he was successful; and for many years he did well in leading Gods’ people, following His Lord; but as we read in the highlighted passages above, Gideon did not finish well.

We read in Judges 8: 28-35 that his later life was tinged by a lack of moral/sexual purity. He had many wives and likely many concubines (having 70 sons – and who knows how many daughters). And like we’ll later see in the life of Solomon, this lack of sexual vigilance produced one son, Abmelek, who later became a rotten apple, trying to become king and leading the people back into Baal worship (see Chapter 9 from the link above).

What this says to me – and probably should say to all Christians – has to do with steadfastness of faith. Our Christian lives are much better compared with a marathon than a sprint. Once our lives are converted and our eternal heavenly future is sealed by God’s grace because we have come into the family of God in faith, we begin the process of letting God’s Spirit reform us into the image of Christ (see Phil. 1: 6); but that process (i.e., sanctification), which God will accomplish, is either hastened and facilitated by our steadfastness and vigilance or, if we fail, it is retarded and dampened.

Gideon is an example of one who surrendered in faith (with some degree of wrestling) to God; but over the course of his life, he waned in vigilance and the “stickability” to finish his marathon well; and viewing what transpired after his death, we see [at least in my estimation] that his lack of spiritual vigilance and steadfast faith resulted in God’s people falling away from God’s will. And when that happened, the cycle of sinful and idolatrous living once again caused God to have to force the issue by His people being cast – for a season of selective abandonment – into subjugation by the pagan cultures which consumed God’s people.

Sure, God would stay with His children and discipline them over and over again. But these cycles of disobedience and subjugation were so unnecessary … just as are the consequences of sinful living in the life of Christians. Satan cannot have our souls once we’re saved; but he can have a temporary victory in our lives if we cannot, or more likely, will not, stay in vigilant surrender mode to the ways and will of God. It is only through living a vigilant and well disciplined marathon of Christlike faith that we can and will remain powerful in being able to witness and carry out God’s will and purpose for our lives.

May we all keep-on-keeping-on in our relationship, walk, and witness for Christ in our lives, shining His light into an ever darkening world and allowing others to see us wearing His robes of righteousness rather than displaying our rags of sin when we let our vigilance wane for even a moment.

Stay strong, my fellow warrior; and become that “hero” which God saw in Gideon before this Judge let his life slowly fall apart. I don’t know about you, my fellow Christian, on this April 1st; … but I want to remain vigilant and God’s warrior rather than becoming Satan’s April Fool.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I run the race, this marathon of living, doing all I can to remain strong by surrendering to Your grace in my life. Amen

March 31, 2012 … Who, … Me?

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 6-7 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 6: 13-17 … 13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” … 14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” … 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” … 16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” … 17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” … And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”

My Journal for Today: Okay, in my chronological study through Judges, I arrived at one of my favorite characters, … Gideon in Chapters 6-7. And maybe I so closely identify with this God-selected Judge because he is so like me when God pursued me and called me out for His kingdom and His service. That comparison testimony is far too long a story to journal here this morning; but a couple of points of description are in order.

First, I identify with Gideon because, when God called him out, he recognized how weak he was. He was hiding from the world (i.e., the Midianite oppressors), recognizing his own spiritual weakness. Even when God’s angel came to Gideon (which BTW may have been a theophany of Jesus), as you can read above, Gideon acknowledged how weak he felt he was. That was me in the early 1980s.

Secondly, God saw much more in Gideon than this fearful recruit saw in himself. The Angel called him a “mighty warrior (or hero)” in Judges 6: 12; and Gideon basically said, “No way, Dude!” to that. And this was also like me back when I had an encounter with God’s Spirit in April of 1983 when I finally surrendered to the Lord much as Gideon finally did after a lot of questioning and struggle of faith.

And finally, Gideon just couldn’t see himself in the role of God’s “mighty warrior;” and that was certainly the way I balked when God called me into His kingdom service of ministry and eldership in our church … even after being a declared and seasoned as a disciple of Christ well into the 1990s.

So, I really identify with this fearful, broken-down believer in whom God saw something which called this man into service for God and God’s kingdom. … My friend, I hope you recognize that any who call upon Jesus as Lord and Savior are called into some purpose of kingdom service. If for no other calling, there is the “Great Commission” (I hope you know Matt. 28: 19-20); and there is the calling to witness in Acts 1:8. And then there is the calling to use the Spirit-given gift (or gifts) we Christians have been given to serve the Lord for His glory (see Rom. 12, 1st Cor. 12, and Eph. 4, where the charge to our gifting is documented). And finally, we believers are all called into the battles with our spiritual enemies in the spiritual warfare we all find ourselves daily (see Ephesians 6: 10-20).

So, we’re all called out as was Gideon; and when we recognize these callings, we probably all feel a bit like Gideon when we recognize and acknowledge how weak we are … in-and-unto ourselves. But the truth is what Gideon was to discover, as did many others in the pages of the Bible … that we are God’s heroes. And the truth is … God’s calling is His enablement. God’s word says it over and over again.

Again, as I have in the past, I site … Isaiah 41: 10 … Rom. 8: 28 … 1st Cor. 10: 13 … 2nd Cor. 12: 9 … Phil. 4: 13 … 2nd Tim. 1: 7 …and … 2nd Pet. 1: 3 … all of which tell us, just a the Angel convinced Gideon, that anyone called into service for God will be given all the enlightenment, enablement, and empowerment needed to carry out the purpose which God has called us to accomplish for His glory. Gideon became God’s victorious warrior (see Judges, Chapter 7 – linked above); and so can we be!

Dear one, I hope you know, believe, and are applying all those scriptural truths I’ve referred you to above; and let’s all take heart from the story of Gideon … that we can be God’s heroes when we believe God’s calling through His word and we act on His will for our lives.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I do want to be Your hero and serve You for Your glory. Amen

March 30, 2012 … And the Beat Goes On … and On … and On

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 3-5 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 3: 1-7 … 1 These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses. … 5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. … 7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

My Journal for Today: Back in the 60s, a time when I was off to college and feeling my oats, and separating myself from my relationship with God, a rather comical couple, Sonny and Cher, wrote and sang their signature song back then, And the Beat Goes On. If you’re too young to remember them singing it, here’s a link for a You Tube segment of that great 60s hit.

And what, you say, does that have to do with Chapters 3-5 of the book of Judges? Well, in these chapters we have the beginnings of a beat and refrain which began in Israel when Joshua took the Israelites into the promised-land and continued on with a repetitive chorus of sinful, disobedient living for over 300 years. And here, in these chapters of Judges I was led to read today, we see this pattern beginning.

Israel does “… evil in the sight of the Lord;” … God sends a JUDGE to rescue His people; … the people are shown the error of their ways – usually through some defeat or subjugation on the part of the pagan peoples who had not been eliminated from the promised lands as God had commanded; … God’s people repent, … which is followed by some years of peace and pridefulness, allowing again for the worship of pagan gods like the Baals or the Asherahs (see above in verse 7). And as you read ahead in Judges … “the beat goes on” … and on … and on.

Six periods of Judges – 12 Judges; … and the people, even though they would be given a leader, even a Judge like Deborah, whom we read about in today’s chapters, … a judge who broke all the norms of the culture being a female national leader, … but God gave His sinful, disobedient children a way out of their idolatrous living … over and over again; … and they kept falling into repetitive and redundant patterns of sinful, idolatrous living.

Maybe you have had or now have some stronghold of sin which has been the “beat which goes on” in your life. For some it may be drugs or alcohol; … for others it may be gambling or shopping: … for others – especially in this culture – it may be an obsessive/compulsive habit of viewing p0rnography. I was wrapped up in that one for over 22 years of my life before I came to know Christ as my Lord; and even now the beat goes on in my life in the area of gluttony, … my recurring bondage to my eating desires. I really don’t know what this beat may be in any of your lives; but I do know that the Book of Judges is, as I wrote yesterday, a mirror for our lives today; … and yes, in our sin natures, “the beat goes on.”

BUT (again, a very big “but”), … just as we read in Judges, if we’re willing to seek the LORD, just as in Judges, God never leaves nor forsakes His people; and for us, He sent His own Son as the final Judge, … the ultimate Redeemer, … the One Who shed His blood so that the beat of sinful living never has to go on in the life of a believer.

Yes, I still struggle with my sin nature; and yes, I still sing “the beat goes on” with regard to my pridefulness and my pursuit of the flesh. But when I choose to receive and use the grace which God has provided me in His final JUDGE, Jesus Christ, I have the song stopper; and that beat NEVER needs to go on in my life again.

We’re going to see more of this refrain as we proceed through the book of Judges; … so, get ready as the “beat goes on!”

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to sing Your son and not the song of my flesh which desires that the “beat go on.” Amen

March 26, 2012 … They Did Not Drive Them Out

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Joshua, Chapters 16-18 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Joshua 16: 9-10 … 9 It also included all the towns and their villages that were set aside for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites. … 10 They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.

My Journal for Today: If you’ve been reading along with me chronologically through our Bible this year, you’ve noted that God, in these passages in Joshua, instructs the people – VERY CLEARLY – that He will help them eradicate all the peoples who occupied the lands that the Israelites would take as they entered and settled in the promised-land. For example, you can read such an instruction in Joshua 13: 6. BUT, (yes, another very big “BUT”), God’s people had to choose to follow God … or not!

And as we read above, the two tribes from the family of the patriarch, Joseph, the Ephraimites and the Manassites, who actually got a double portion in the inheritance of the lands, were unwilling to follow God’s instructions and, in disobedience to God, they “… did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer.” And because of taking the Canaanites as slaves rather than following God’s command to eradicate these pagans, these two tribes never were able to live in peace, covered by the promises of God in their inherited portions in the promised-land.

I know it’s tough to read of our God instructing His people to wipe out and kill ALL of the peoples who were living in the promised-land as His chosen people took the lands under Joshua. But God’s plan was HIS plan; and He knew what was best for His people to avoid the pagan practices of worship and living practiced by the non-believers who occupied the lands which God was taking and distributing to His chosen peoples.

I hope all can see the application here for all of us. God wants us to COMPLETELY wipe out all ungodliness and unholiness from our lives as we march forward in life, leaving no such remnants of the ungodliness of the world in the process. This, in essence, was the instruction of the Apostle Paul to God’s people which we read in Romans 12: 1-2; and maybe you have this passage memorized; but if not, here it is copied for your meditation below [in the NKJV, which is my memory version] …

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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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My dear ones, … my brothers/sisters in Christ, … God wants us to eradicate every remnant of unholiness, i.e., worldliness, from our lives once we cross over our “Jordan,” and we choose to make Jesus the LORD of our lives. And as our Lord, Jesus, makes it clear (in Luke 9: 23) that we’re to deny our selves and follow Him and live life HIS way, following HIS will, as we march toward HIS promised-land in heaven.

We simply (though never easily) must eradicate ALL the pagan practices of those who will try to influence us in ungodly ways as we take God’s promised-land. I’ll leave it to you to inventory your life, as I’m doing this morning, to see if we are driving all the ungodliness from our lives by worshipping our God in obedience to His way, avoiding the influence of the world in our lives.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, help me to purify ALL in me to conform to Your holiness. Amen

March 20, 2012 … Life or Death – The Choice is Before Us

Blogger’s note: I know this one is long; but trust me, it’s worth the read!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Deuteronomy, Chapters 30-31 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage : Deuteronomy 30: 1-6 … 1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
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Highlight Reference Passage #2 : Deuteronomy 30: 11-16 … 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. … 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
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Highlight Reference Passage #3 : Deuteronomy 30: 19-20 … 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

My Journal for Today: Today I was led to Chapters 30-31 of Deuteronomy; and I think I could write a small book in journaling on these chapters. In fact, as you see above, I had trouble limiting the highlighted passages that I really wanted you to read and study along with me this morning. And really God’s message – through Moses to His people – back in that day, when the people were about to follow Joshua into the promised-land, was quite stark … and really quite simple. Certainly I’m not saying it was easy, because God knew that His beloved and chosen people were going to fail Him; and for Moses and Joshua God even predicted that one day He, the Lord, would have to abandon His loved ones for a season for them to realize the consequences of their collective sin (to see this prediction, read Chapter 31 from the link above).

But God’s mercy and His promises are everlasting; and God will one day bring His recalcitrant Hebrew children into the promised-land; and so, in the meantime as the history of disobedience was to unfold in their future, as they crossed over the Jordan and were to follow Joshua into the promised-land, the people were reminded (again) of their options; and I charge you to read and meditate on those options in the Deut. 30: 19-20 above.

And my dear ones, who might be reading with me today, aren’t these the same choices that have today? In fact the Apostle Paul even reminded New Covenant Christians of this life-death choice when he wrote – for God – to the Romans (and now for all time to all Christians) in Romans 10: 5-8, and in doing so, he referred to the Deut. 30: 11-14 passage copied above for you.

By reading and meditating on the words of God through Moses and repeated later in history by Paul, we must realize that everyday we have these choices in front of us … obedience versus disobedience … life versus death … selfishness verses “Saviorness.” And so many times, our choice can seem so difficult. Yet, as Moses and Paul point out, it is really quite simple. Do we really believe God and His promises; or do we believe what Satan would want for us to believe? It was the same choice which Adam and Eve had in the garden, knowing God’s commands and being confronted by Satan. And we know the result of their choice, don’t we?

Today, you and I will confront something which says to us, “Okay, which choice will you make, … life or death … sinfulness or Saviorness?” And we’re going to have to make the same choice which was made by God’s people in response to the charge given to them as they were to march forward into the promised-land; and we know, from the Bible, how miserably they failed. But we also know, from the same Bible, that God has provided the perfect redemption and atonement for the sins of His people; and that redemption also comes from a choice. And oh how I pray you have made that choice … to receive God’s everlasting grace of salvation; and I pray that we’re marching – this very day TOGETHER – toward God’s promised-land.

Now, one last word, my friend; … I know, from experience, how easy it is to make sin choices and get so mired in habitual sin, walking far away from God, that you don’t feel you can choose to move back into a state of harmony with God. But my friends, God always has the choice of sinful death or eternally cleansed and blessed life out in front of us. And if we’re willing and able to make the “life choice” today in repentance, He’s ALWAYS ready to take us back in to His loving arms. That, of course, was the message of Christ’s wonderful and powerful “prodigal” parable, wasn’t it? And if you’ve been away from God for a season in your life; and you want to know what God has waiting for you IF you can make the choice to come back to Him today, listen to this wonderful song, performed by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, and relish in the love of God as He says to us this morning, “Come back home!”

Here’s the link to that song on You Tube; and I so hope you’ll take 5 minutes and be lifted up by the reality of God’s grace. And then if you have a few more minutes, listen to this song by the same group, singing of how God and His angels will celebrate when and if we can make the righteous choices He lays out for us today. And then one last link to a song in this little mini-concert about the grace of God when we choose the Savior over self.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I’m so grateful that You were willing to pursue me with Your grace and to give me the time to choose Your grace; and now I’m so grateful for Your patience in allowing me to become the Saint You are shaping me to become. Today, from the choices You will offer me, … I will choose LIFE! Amen

March 18, 2012 … Where’s the Fruit?

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Deuteronomy, Chapters 24-27 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Reference Passage #1 : Deuteronomy 26: 16-19 … 16 The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. 18 And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. 19 He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.

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Highlight Reference Passage #2 : Deuteronomy 27: 9-10 … 9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Be silent, Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the LORD your God. 10 Obey the LORD your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today.”
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My Journal for Today: In the chapters I was led to read/study for my chronological read in Deuteronomy today (i.e., Chapters 24-27), Moses was reviewing the law for the people and laying out God’s protective guidelines (i.e., His rules and regulations for their living when they crossed into the promised-land). And the bottom-line charge to this sin-purged generation of Israelites was “obey and live as God’s mercy will provide; … disobey and die in ignominy.” And this is born out by the review declarations by Moses in the two highlighted study passages above.

Do you realize that if you, as have I, accepted Jesus Christ as your Messiah and Lord, you have crossed over the Jordan, leaving behind the old life of sin; and being cleansed by the sacrificial blood of the Lamb of God, you can walk into the promised-land, pure and clean, to become a light of God’s love as you take the land of eternal promise which our Lord has for us in Heaven. It’s the Apostle Paul’s promise in 2nd Cor. 5: 17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Okay, let’s say you’ve crossed over your own, personal Jordan River, declaring in your own mind of faith that Christ is the Lord of your life, … that He died on the cross to save you, and allow you to move into His promised-land of eternal life. So, therefore, as a promised-land disciple of Christ you believe and aspire to what Christ said of His followers (in Luke 9: 23: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” And, … you also know the truth of Christ’s proclaimed way to tell the real-deal Christian from the pseudo-christian, when he used the fruit-tree word picture, declaring, in Matt. 7: 20: ”20 Therefore by their fruits [i.e., of false witnesses] you will know them.”

So, knowing what Moses declared to God’s family of believers about disobedience and obedience to His word; and also knowing what Jesus has said about His family of disciples, what fruit do we have in our lives to show that we are obedient disciples of the One Who, by His blood shed on the cross, has allowed us to cross over the Jordan river, leaving behind the wilderness of sin behind and claiming the life He has for us in His promised-land?

I will leave that question for you to ponder as you walk, prayerfully WITH Christ in this life, shining your fruit-bearing light to lead the way so that others can walk out of the darkness, cross over the Jordan river of faith, and walk themselves into the Promised-Land, showing clearly, by our fruit, that we are part of the family of God.

My Prayer Today: … Oh, my dear Lord, I pray that others see Your light shining in me and there is obvious fruit on my tree of life for others to see and sample, leading them to You by the way I live. Amen

March 17, 2012 … God’s Sex Talk

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Deuteronomy, Chapters 21-23 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Chronological Passage : Deuteronomy, Chapters 22: 13-30 … To study this passage, go to this link -
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Highlight Reference Passage #2 : Colossians 3: 5-7 … 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
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Highlight Reference Passage #3 : 1st Corinthians 6: 18-20 … 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
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Highlight Reference Passage #4 : Ephesians 5: 3-6 … 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
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Highlight Reading #5 : Proverbs, Chapters 1 - 9 … To study this passage, go to this link -

My Journal for Today: Today’s chronological Bible reading has me (us) in Deuteronomy, Chapters 21-23, linked above for your reading; but the passage which hit me hard today was in Chapter 22: 13-30. And studying it bubbled up several other Bible passages from the Apostle Paul’s teaching in the NT as well as from Solomon’s proverbs; and I have referenced them above for your review and my discussion below.

Today, in our primary highlight passage, Moses was going through a number of the laws and practices which God needed to relay to His chosen people to help keep them on His pure and righteous pathway, especially after they were to enter the promised-land. And the section I’ve highlighted today reminded me of a father sitting down with his young son and giving him “the sex talk,” … much as Solomon was doing with his son in the latter referenced Proverbs, Chapters 1-9.

It is of interest to me – especially in light of the ministry God has led me to found and lead (see http://www.battleplanministries.org) – to read the extent to which God’s word emphases the avoidance of sexual sin, both in the Old and New Testaments. God knows the sinful and disobedient nature of His fallen children; and He puts this much emphasis on the sins of the flesh, knowing how vulnerable we humans are to this particular stronghold of sin. And Satan knows it too; and God’s #1 enemy, who has been given a certain degree of reign over this world, has developed more and more sexually oriented weapons to come against God’s people, using sexual temptations and minefields to bring down the children who would desire to follow God’s way and His will.

So, God through Moses and Solomon under the Old Covenant and the Apostle Paul under the New Covenant, laid out strong warnings for God’s people, through God’s written laws and word , charging God’s children to exercise their free-will and to avoid letting the body be a vehicle of disobedience and desecration against God.

And the applications in today’s world, reading and mediating on the Scriptures I’ve highlighted above, speak, from God’s very own word, as to His purpose to have His children to do all they (we) can to avoid falling into Satan’s tarpit of sexual sin. And it would take a fool not to be able to see how strongly Satan and the world uses this strategy of sexual temptations to distract the attention of the unsaved away from God’s call and to discourage the saved from being able to live and witness with purity the life God desires for His children.

Today’s “triple-X industry,” as I call it, is a fortified cadre of sexualized super-weapons which attempts to lure people away from the purposes of God. And for 22 years of my own life, before I came to know Christ as my Lord/Savior, I was deeply bound up in my own habitual pursuit of selfish sexual pleasures. And even now, living in Christ and having been delivered from that past of habitual sexual sin, I have to arm myself EVERY DAY to do battle in a world which tries to distract me, especially as men are so visually and sexually driven, away from the empowering grace God, in Christ, provides for me to make Godly rather than ungodly choices. Every day is a battle in this hypersexual world; and that’s the reason we call our ministry Battle Plan Ministry; and we’ve been called and anointed by God to help Christians, especially men, walk strongly and with purity in Satan’s world … a world which is set up to bring them (us) down.

I hope I don’t need to give you, my beloved, God’s sex-talk. Because God’s word, highlighted above, does it with far more authority than I can write here warning you to DO WHAT GOD SAYS to live a life which shines God’s light of purity into a very darkened world.

So, … my last assignment – and one of God’s strongest sex-talks – is to study through Solomon’s warning to his son, linked above in Proverbs, Chapters 1-9, where Solomon, speaking for God, the Father, lays out one of God’s strongest warnings to walk circumspectly in this world, avoiding all of the pitfalls and temptations which Satan will use to lure us into his tarpits of sexual sin.

I am praying that we all take heed to God’s sex-talk and walk in a way which glorifies our Lord.

My Prayer Today: … Oh, Heavenly Father, empower me through Your grace this very day to walk Your walk of purity and to honor You with this Temple You have given me … my body. Amen

March 14, 2012 … Say it again, Moses!

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

Deuteronomy 11: 26-28: … [The Choice!] … 26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

My Journal for Today: Actually, as we read through Deuteronomy, Chapters 11-13 (if you’re with me), I was taken by Chapter 11 today where Moses (AGAIN) lays out God’s choice for His chosen ones with regard to the Mosaic Covenant. I hope you’ll use the link above and read all of Chapter 11: but THE CHOICE is spelled out again for us by Moses, laying it out for a people who had a track record of forgetfulness, selfishness, and blatant childish disobedience [sound familiar?]. And Moses was concerned that the children of the current generation of Israelites, those who had never seen all that God had done for His people, miraculously delivering them from Egypt, providing for them in the wilderness for 40 years, and being there with them in the Tabernacle as they traveled, would very easily lapse into disobedience as they went into the promised-land. The Prophet could easily foresee the likelihood that this youngest generation would be vulnerable to disobedience and, therefore, breach their obligations to follow God’s commands as they traversed into God’s promised-land; and Moses knew what the result would be. So, the aging Prophet laid the fateful choice out for God’s people once again, writing it down in what was to become God’s Book of the Law. And, my friends, we of the New Covenant, in this age of God’s grace, really have the same choice, don’t we?

We can choose to live or die under the covering of the blood of Christ. We can choose to believe in Jesus and obey Him and live eternally as His disciples; or we can choose to reject, in disbelief, what He did on the cross; and the result of the latter choice is eternal death, … i.e., never being allowed into God’s heavenly promised-land. And even after we make the choice which leads to eternal life, it is God’s New Covenant (in Christ) to give us His resurrection power in our lives, living eternally blessed in God’s promised-land. In other words, even as saved believers, we can choose to be disobedient and experience the deathly consequences of our disobedience in sin, which will render us impotent against the powers of our spiritual enemies, … Satan, the world, and our own flesh. The choice is still obedience and power in the promised-land … versus … disobedience and death in our lives; … and WE CHOOSE.

I’m praying this morning – as I do so many mornings – that I will see the power of surrender to God’s will, seeking and finding His way by following God’s word, which was what Moses laid out for God’s people in God’s Book of the Law; and it is what we have laid out before us as believers in the truth of God’s word. Let me pray that you see the choice as Moses and Jesus have laid it out for us; and I pray that we all choose life.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I pray that all who read here with me have made their choice, as I have, and we choose to follow You in obedience to Your word, knowing that You will provide life for all who do. Amen

March 13, 2012 … The Red Flag of Blessing

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

Deuteronomy 8: 10-14: … [Beware the Good Times!] … 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

My Journal for Today: As I was reading through my directed chronological read in God’s word this morning [Chapters 8-10 of Deuteronomy], there were a number of lessons about which I could blog. However, the issue of being aware of blessing struck me as the one on which I should journal because it’s a matter which hangs me up frequently; and that is why I’m calling this entry “The Red Flag of Blessing.”

In all of Deuteronomy 8 (upon which you can study/meditate by the link above), Moses is trying to get God’s people to remember that God takes His children through the tough times to prepare them for the good times. And Moses clearly reminds his people that as God took them through all those years in the wilderness, the Lord provided everything they needed … even though the times seemed so hard. But one warning God lays out through Moses can be found in the highlight passage I’ve copied above from Deut. 8: 10-14; and that has to do with watching out for what is produced when we are led through life when “the good times roll.”

In our culture, and especially our Christian culture, we have a tendency to think of “blessings” as all the warm and fuzzies and goodies which come during those “good times” in life. It’s when we feel “blessed” by abundance, good health, and well being. But when we’re in times of privation, problems, or pain, it’s very hard to feel and acknowledge that we’re being BLESSED by those hard times.

So, as Christians do we really take to heart what Moses writes about for God’s people in Deuteronomy 8; and in our internalization of these truths, as well as passages in God’s New Testament, for example Romans 8: 28, do we see the tough times as times of “blessing?”

AND … when we’re being blessed by the warm and fuzzy times, when God is allowing us to see “the good times roll,” are we duly grateful, openly expressing our thanks to God for all of what is easy to see as “blessings?” … No, … I think Moses nails it in the section of Scripture which I’ve emboldened and underlined above in Deut. 8: 12-14. When the good times roll, with our deceitful hearts (see Jer. 17: 9), we have a tendency to default to becoming prideful; and we generally think we – our SELVES – have created the good times rather than acknowledging Jehovah Jireh, our Lord and Provider.

Hence, I call attention to the “RED FLAG OF BLESSING;” and I hope we can take heed from the teachings of Deuteronomy 8, … that the tough times teach us humility and the good times call for that humility to recognize – with gratitude – from Whom all “blessings” flow – good times and bad.

And in that regard may I link you to a wonderful song, written and performed by Laura Story, whose personal witness is found in the lyrics. Here’s the link: … and then I want you to hear Laura’s story at this link. And when you hear Laura Story’s song and witness about “blessings,” you will see that she has experienced the “blessings” of the tough times as well as the gratitude for seeing God’s “blessings” in the good times.

I pray that we all can see the truth and believe Paul’s words in Romans 8: 28 and live in all the “blessings” of this life – the tough times and the good times as the Prophet Moses wrote about for us in Deuteronomy 8.

My Prayer Today: … Thank you for all your “blessings,” Lord … the good times and the tough times. Amen

February 17, 2012 … God’s Careful Precautions

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 14-15 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Leviticus 14: 54-47 : … [Skincare and Mold]… 54 These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease, for a sore, 55 for defiling molds in fabric or in a house, 56 and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot, 57 to determine when something is clean or unclean. … These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.
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LEVITICUS 15: 32-33 … : … [Bodily Discharge and Sexual Intercourse] … 32 These are the regulations for a man with a discharge, for anyone made unclean by an emission of semen, 33 for a woman in her monthly period, for a man or a woman with a discharge, and for a man who has sexual relations with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.

My Journal for Today: As one reads through Leviticus, Chapters 14-15 in today’s chronological read of the Bible, you have to be impressed with the details of God’s care for His people; and we must remember that this detail is in the context of the healthcare of those times and in that culture.

Part of God’s watch-care and healthcare precautions were an attempt to help separate God’s chosen people from the health care (or lack thereof) of the other pagan tribes and cultures in those regions, … the “Gentile” cultures. God’s people were being asked to do life God’s way, not in the ways and watch care of the pagans. God was teaching His children to do it the way of their loving, caring, and watching Heavenly Father; and their God would not ask them to do something – anything – which was not for their good. Therefore, if God’s children, obediently followed through with instructions like the ones given to them through Moses, they would remain healthy and hardy. If not? - … Well, you get the picture.

So, should we be doing healthcare exactly as instructed by God’s word in the Old Testament. Well, there are some things which could be incorporated from the Levitical system which would help us out; but generally, since we have God’s updated New Covenant plans for His children, under the watch care and covering of Christ’s blood, we would not have to carry out these legal ways of healthcare. In fact, God has given us – in our times – other, very wonderful, healthcare systems and precautions which are far superior to those in the Old Testament times/cultures.

The primary principle under inspection here is to seek, hear (or read), and follow God as we live our lives. And when we find God’s will for our lives, we live it out, trusting the ways of God to lead us through cultural, as well as healthcare, issues. It’s the working out of the principle of Proverbs 3: 5-6 for our lives as Christians. Find God’s way, primarily through His word, and live out His will. So, do we follow every Levitical law to the letter? No, … that’s not what I’m interpreting here – or God’s will, I believe – would say to us. Those healthcare laws and ways were for God’s children in those times and under their knowledge of the world at that time. Now, we must use what God has given us in the way of healthcare principles to allow us to thrive – in this world and in this time.

The principle of Proverbs 3: 5-6 and others under the watch care of God’s word are not time or culturally limited. And yes, seeking, finding, and knowing God’s will and HIS way, through His word, can be challenging at times for our finite individual and collective minds. BUT, … when Jesus said (in Luke 9: 23) for His disciples to “… deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me,” … those instructions were for any time, any culture, and any generation. And His watch care for our generation, under the watch care of His word, will always keep us healthy: … physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is our responsibility to seek out HIS will, and HIS way, through HIS word … and then to follow it … obediently and without question. That was God’s over-riding principle of watch care for His children in Leviticus … just as it is now, as Christians, in this 21st century.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I seek Your way. … Shine Your light of truth on my path and then help me to follow Your will … always! Amen

February 13, 2012 … All That Sacrifice!

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 1-4 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Leviticus 1: 1-3 … : … [Animal Sacrifice]… 1 The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the LORD, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. >>> 3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD.
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LEVITICUS 2: 1; 11-13; … : … [Grain Offering] … 1 “‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it …
11 “‘Every grain offering you bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the LORD. 12 You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of the firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma. 13 Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.
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LEVITICUS 3: 1, 5, 6, 11, 17; … : … [Peace Offering] … 1 “‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the LORD an animal without defect. … 5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is lying on the burning wood; it is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
6 “‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the LORD, you are to offer a male or female without defect. … 11 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the LORD.
17 “‘This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.’”
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LEVITICUS 4: 1-3; … : … [Sin Offering] … 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands — 3 “‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. … ”
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My Journal for Today: Ugh! I know. Leviticus. All those rules and regs that God puts forth in the Old Testament for His chosen people. Seems like boring reading, doesn’t it? But if you haven’t used my link above to read and study through the first four chapters of this book, at least I hope you take in what I’ve copied and pasted above to highlight the presentation, in these first chapters, of some of the sacrificial system which God set up for His followers once they had built and dedicated the Tabernacle, … the place where all these offerings would be brought for sacrifice.

And one has to be impressed with how much blood and work would be produced with over two million people, … nomad cattlemen, shepherds, and farmers, who were asked to bring their best animals and their first-fruits to the Levite Priests for various sacrifices to their God, … the God Who had established residence in their midst, … and the God Who loved them enough to set up a system whereby they could atone for their natural sinfulness and selfishness, allowing them to find redemption in this elaborate scheme of sacrifices and offerings.

AND … they probably did not recognize it in those times; but it also was giving them a picture of the perfect sacrifice Who would come in the perfect Person, the perfect Lamb of God, their promised Messiah, Who would come to BE the fulfillment of all of the sacrifices we read commanded by God to atone for the sins and spiritual enmity of God’s very fallible and sinful people. Ouch! That’s me we’re also talking about, as well!

And we see that the sacrifices demanded of God were to be the best and the most perfect the people had to offer to their God. If it were to be a bull, it was to be a PERFECT bull. If a lamb, a PERFECT lamb was offered. If it were a grain offering, no yeast would be involved and salt would be added to complete the sacrifice as a covenant sacrifice. All the offerings were to be the first and the best the people could bring to the Priests to be able to bring themselves back into a right relationship with a Holy God, Whose relationship with His chosen people demanded perfected blood or provisional sacrifice to the only One Who could redeem them from their sin.

And as New Covenant Christians, having the advantage of “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say, we know that Jesus, The Christ, came to be our perfect sacrifice and atoning offering for the sinfulness which demanded all of these rituals and sacrifices under the Old Covenant. But are we, who’ve been covered by the blood of Jesus, off the hook when it comes to sacrifice to our God? And I harken back to the word of God through the Apostle Paul in one of my favorite, and most convicting, NT passages – Romans 12: 1-2, where we are exhorted (actually COMMANDED) to become “living sacrifices,” with the way we live being our blood sacrifice (i.e., our atoning blood flowing from the way we live) to the Holy God Who has redeemed us and atoned for our sin. God gives us, through the once-and-for-all perfect blood sacrifice of His Son, the sanctifying and enabling grace to live as first fruits and perfected blood sacrifices for God’s holiness. The question is: “Are we living as sacrifices, pleasing to our God.”

My friend, … anytime we choose to avoid sin and come away from the cross and follow what Christ demanded in Luke 9: 23, we become, under the New Covenant, what was symbolized by these commanded sacrifices in Leviticus, Chapters 1-4. So, my fellow Christian, let’s go out today and be living sacrifices for our Lord on His altar of grace with His Tabernacle being with us in our hearts, provided for by the Lamb of God.

My Prayer Today: … Oh, my LORD, may I be a sacrifice of worship in the way I live for you. Amen

February 10, 2012 … Glimpses of Glory

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 33-35 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Exodus 33: 7-11: … [Yahweh Meets With Moses] … 7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
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Exodus EXODUS 34:33-35 … : … [God’s Glory Revealed on Moses’ Face] … 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

My Journal for Today: Reading through Exodus, Chapters 33-35 in my daily chronological reading plan, a scenario involving God’s revealed glory to Moses struck me; and I chose (with God’s help I believe) two highlight passages (see above) which reflect this very personal relationship God had with His friend and chosen leader, Moses.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t seem to reveal Himself so personally and dramatically to us in these times as He did back with Moses in the era I’m reading/reporting on today? These encounters Moses had with God are called “theophanies;” and like several other Old Testament chosen ones, Moses had several of these (for example in the burning bush or in these scenarios reported above). And it was so apparent to the people that Moses had this special relationship with God; … so apparent that Moses’ face glowed with the radiance of God and even had to be covered with a veil.

But why Moses and not Bill Berry – or you? Why doesn’t God reveal Himself in some angelic or creational form as He did for Moses or Abraham or Daniel in the Old Testament [as we read above in Exod. 33: 11 or to Abraham in Gen. 18: 1-11 or to Daniel in Dan. 3: 25] ?

Well, … I believe there are two angles to answer that question.

The first is that God doesn’t need to be so dramatic in intervening - Himself - with mankind in this New Testament or New Covenant era because He has revealed Himself to man in a once-and-for-all incarnation in the form of His Son, Jesus, The Christ (read about that in Phil. 2: 6-11). AND, we also have God’s written story (i.e., HIStory), the Bible, where God, Himself, is revealed in the pages of Scripture [see 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17]; and God doesn’t need to travel in physical, revealed theophanies appearing as He did with His people when He was establishing His relationship with His chosen people, the original Jewish children. We – you and I – can simply go and have a revelational encounter with the living God everyday – if we so choose, as I have this morning – in and through His word. And though you may not see the glory of the LORD shining on Bill Berry’s face as God’s glory shone on Moses’ face, prayerfully you do see God’s glory shining – at least a little bit – in what I’m writing here … or maybe in the way I’m so compulsively addicted to pursuing my relationship through God’s word daily. Surely you don’t think that I’d be here, so obsessively – on a daily basis – NATURALLY; … do you? My friend, anything you read in these blogs or see in the way I live which reflects the character of God IS NOT NATURAL. It’s not Bill Berry! It’s a God thing!!!

And my second way of answering my rhetorical question (in bold above) is that we do have glimpses of God’s glory in our lives; and sometimes He shows himself pretty clearly in the events of life to us; or sometimes these signs of the living God are more subtle. Have you ever had something happen to you that simply could not be explained naturally or in terms of human reality? Well, I sure have. >>> Many of you have heard or read my testimony of how God used the number 13 in my life to reveal Himself to me … so clearly that I could not deny Him. If you’re reading this and you don’t know that story, email me (at … willieb13@rocketmail.com ); and I’ll be glad to tell you about it. But I’ve had other times where God just showed up – in wonderful ways – to remind me of His presence or His power; and I call these “glimpses of glory.” And if you know God as your personal LORD and Savior, I’d bet you have a story or two of such glimpses of God’s reality in your life.

So, our faces as Christians may not shine forth as did the face of Moses as he intervened with/for God in Exodus; but if you have a deepening relationship with God, wrought through your discipleship and devotional life with God in pursuit of the LORD through His word, in prayer, and in time spent with Him daily, it’s going to show in your life … the decisions you make, … the peace of your waiting on God, … and your power in spiritual warfare daily. That my friend is giving you – and others – a glimpse of God’s glory in/through your life. And it is the working out of the truth we read in passages like ... Josh. 1: 8, Prov. 3: 5-6, Psalm 119: 9-11, Ephesians 2: 10, 1st Cor. 10: 13, and of course, Jesus’ spoken word in Matt. 5: 16 and Luke 9: 23. And, … when others see these truths shining forth in your life, they get a glimpse of God’s glory and they can see Him – and not the reality of your humanity – in and through the proclamations, choices, and actions of your life.

Oh, … that is my prayer this morning for all of us.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, reveal Yourself to us in Your word; and then shine brightly as we reflect these glimpses of Your glory in and through our lives. Amen

February 9, 2012 … Pondering Important Questions

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 30-32 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Focus Passage of the Day #1: Exodus 30: 11-16 : … [Payback for God’s Atonement] … To study this passage, go to this link -

Focus Passage of the Day #2: Exodus 31: 12-17 : … [Keeping the Sabbath]
… To study this passage, go to this link -

Focus Passage of the Day #3: Exodus 32: 1-6 : … [The Golden Calf]
… To study this passage, go to this link -

My Journal for Today: I’m going to blog this morning’s devotional time a little differently than I have during my chronological read through the Bible and my journal entries thus far in 2012. To this point I’ve asked God to highlight one passage from each day’s study/meditation, blogging about that passage from a personal or teaching point of view, letting God give me something FOR ME, personally, or maybe something He, The Holy Spirit, wants me to share with others. However, today three passages, documented with links above, stood out for me; and there’s no way I could journal on all three and not overburden you, … especially given my tendency toward wordiness (i.e., my logorrhea – I hope you’re smiling right now ;>).

So, I’m simply going to ask you to read – AT LEAST – the three focus passages to which I’ve linked you above. But before you do, pray seriously and ask God, the Holy Spirit, to really give you HIS MIND and HIS WISDOM (as He promises He will in Isaiah 55: 11 and 2nd Timothy 3: 16-17 and James 1: 6-7). Ask the Lord to let one or more of these passages be a light unto your path, trusting COMPLETELY as believers in Christ are instructed to trust in His word - see Prov. 3: 5-6 and Psalm 119: 105. And then see what God’s Spirit gives you this morning. And below, I’m going to take each one of these focus passages and give you a few questions for you to ponder (I promise that’s all I’ll write!) … points upon which God’s Spirit was causing me to dwell today. And if you’re so led, maybe you might take a few moments and journal what you think God is leading you to consider. The latter is up to you; but I can promise – from experience – that if you do the latter, God will bless you with HIS ministry of enlightenment, enablement, or empowerment.

Focus Passage of the Day #1: Exodus 30: 11-16 : … [Payback for God’s Atonement]
WRB Comments: What do we owe God from our 24/7 life of worship? How do I need to live to be the “living sacrifice” of Romans 12: 1-2? Do I give enough to my church – joyfully … as instructed in 2nd Cor. 9: 6-7 - to account for my atonement and Christ’s sacrifice?

Focus Passage of the Day #2: Exodus 31: 12-17 : … [Keeping the Sabbath]
WRB Comments: Do I really keep THE SABBATH? And when I don’t, what does God say that I deserve? But what has He made provision for me from 1st John 1: 9 and Prov. 3: 5-6?

Focus Passage of the Day #3: Exodus 32: 1-6 : … [The Golden Calf]
WRB Comments: Have I built any “golden calves” in my life? If so, how can I tear them down and come back to a surrendered worship of my Yahweh, … my LORD and Savior? And again, how can I be or become the “living sacrifice “ of Romans 12: 1-2?

Well, my friends, those are some question which God has me pondering over this morning; and they are pretty serious issues, at least for me. What about you? Well, I’ll leave you and God together to deal with those questions in your life and for your worship of the God Who saved you - as He has me.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, as I pray so often, … shine the light of Your word on Your will that I may surrender and follow You as Your “doulos” (i.e., Greek for “slave”). Amen

February 1, 2012 … Miracles Or The Message?

Blogger's Note: Continuing on with the chronological reading plan through the Bible this year (found in www.youversion.com for those who desire to following along). Now it's day 32 - in February, getting to know God more through His truth-filled word.

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Exodus, Chapters 7-9 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Exodus 7: 10-13: … [God Speaks, … Man Can’t Hear] ... 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

My Journal for Today: In my chronological reading plan today [Day 32, BTW], I’m taken to the accounts in Exodus of Moses encountering Pharaoh with one miracle event after another, beginning with the one copied above where Aaron’s staff became a snake. And if you’ve studied these miracle plagues which God used to communicate His message of deliverance through Moses/Aaron to Pharaoh, we know that each plague/miracle was a message to the Egyptian king and the people in Egypt that their gods were impotent to overcome God and His plan of deliverance. In each instance, from the simple snake illustration to other more elaborate and horrifying plagues, God was saying to Pharaoh, “You’ve got nothing to overcome Me … because ‘I AM’ !”

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t do a similar gig in these times to show the rulers of the word that things have gotten way out of hand and that God’s people, the Church, are being enslaved by the world and Satan’s schemes? I used to wonder that early in my Christian life; but then God showed me, through HIS-STORY and His word, that we have all the truth this world needs; and we don’t need plagues and wondrous miracles to either establish or bolster our faith. We have THE MESSAGE in the established and canonized WORD OF GOD, the Bible, which carries all the truth we need to know the great I AM and to live according to His will.

Why would I, if I had a hardened heart, like Pharaoh, need anything more that the truth of 2nd Timothy 3: 16 – 17, … and Isaiah 55: 11, … and John 3: 16, … and Phil. 2: 6-11, and Romans 10: 9 – 13 to establish me in faith or to help me to decide the truth of Hebrews 11: 1, 6. I hope you know God’s communication of truth from that chain of messages from the Bible I’ve listed here. If not, I’ll leave it to you to go back, read, and meditate on them. But in a nutshell, these passages say, from God’s word (i.e., Scripture), all we need to know God’s purposes and His plan for our lives; and when we know and believe that truth, God’s love was made complete in the life , death, and resurrection of Jesus, The Christ, … that whomever believes in what He did for us on the cross and by His resurrection, … that one will have eternal life.

It’s all there! We don’t need any wondrous miracle or a series of plagues to know God’s message of salvation and His plan of sanctification, … do we? We have the MIRACLE of His word, His MESSAGE, to establish His plan of salvation and His plan of truth for our lives. Oh, there was a time in my life (in fact for the first 39 years) which I was like Pharaoh, … hard hearted, hearing Spirit-led Christians giving witness to God’s truth and His word, but like Pharaoh, summarily rejecting God’s message which was being transmitted to me through His word. But finally, also like Pharaoh, a series of life challenges helped me to receive and believe the truth of His message in His word. But unlike Pharaoh, I was able to humble myself and receive the truth of God’s plan for my life; and I was saved.

I hope – and pray – that anyone who might read this can allow the “plagues” of life circumstance [those are the MIRACLES] to break through and allow you to see that God wants you to get His MESSAGE, from His word, to give you the gift of His saving grace. Yes, we today do have MIRACLES – even plagues - in life to help us see and receive God’s MESSAGE; but it is the MESSAGE, from His word, which carries God’s truth, not the MIRACLES.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I know You through Your MESSAGE of truth from Your word; and I’m bolstered to know You more through the MIRACLES of life which bring me back to Your MESSAGE. Amen

January 30, 2012 … Being Readied for God’s Purposes

Passage[s] of the Day: Chapter/Verse Reference …Exodus 2: 15: … [God’s Cleansing Plan] ... 15 When Pharaoh heard of this [i.e., Moses killing an Egyptian slave master], he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
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Exodus 3: 1: … [Moses Transformed for God’s Purposes] … 1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
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Exodus 3: 10-12: … [God Speaks – Moses Balks] “ … [God speaking] … 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

My Journal for Today: From these readings in my chronological reading plan in the initial chapters of Exodus, I respond with empathy to how God chose to use a very out-of-place descendent of the family of promise, Moses, to be His emissary of deliverance for God’s people. And to accomplish all of this, God had to strip him of his misplaced royal pride and pseudo-heritage and put Moses through a rigorous training program in the desert country of Midian so that Moses could ultimately be a leader of peoples he knew with whom he identified. He would have been a lousy deliverer if God’s chosen peoples, who were desert shepherds and nomads, had they perceived Moses to be an Egyptian prince as he had been raised to be in the palace of Pharaoh.

So, using a series of events to break Moses down, … his killing of an Egyptian slave driver, alienating him from Pharaoh and causing Moses to flee to Midian. From these experiences God began reshaping Moses for the task for which God had birthed him. Moses’ years in Midian, and transformation into the role of shepherd, merely prepared him for becoming the deliverer which God would call out Moses from the burning bush.

And wow, I really identify with all of this, because years before I was called into the ministry, God had to break me down and do a total make-over of my attitudes and people-skills so that I could be called out, anointed, and ordained to carry out the task for which God had brought me into this world to perform. It’s a long testimonial, which will go without detailed description here; but there was a time, being a “professional” in healthcare when I would have been totally unsuited for what God has led me to do as the mission for which I now see He was preparing me for years ago.

Like Moses, I had to be broken down and then rebuilt, through a long process of discipleship, … reshaped into the person He could use for the task He had purposed me. And like Moses, when I first began to learn of the path where God was leading me, I balked – big time, … feeling totally inadequate to the calling for which I recognized God calling me. But like Moses, God connected me with the right people to be my support team; and He showed me that I didn’t have to do His calling all on my own.

And though I didn’t have burning bushes, Aaron casting staffs before Pharaoh, or a series of plagues to use as communication tools, God showed me the truth – from His empowered word – of His calling being His enablement (see Isaiah 55: 11 and 1st Cor. 10: 13). So, overtime, I learned and grew in faith that God will give anyone He calls all the resources and power to carry out His anointed will.

So, I pray that wherever you are in the process of being prepared for God’s calling, … that you are growing in faith so that you can be used to fulfill God’s purpose for your life. And my friend, God most certainly does have a purpose for you; … and whatever it is, He will prepare you for it … IF … you just surrender and let Him.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, thank you for remaking me and for continuously reforming me for the task You’ve called me to perform for Your glory. Amen

January 26, 2012 … God Is In Control

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Genesis, Chapters 41-42 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Genesis 41: 14-16: … [God’s Providence and Design] ... 14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

My Journal for Today: Have you ever had a set of circumstances in your life which you can look back on and see clearly that God was in total control in your life and all the happenings were being outlandishly engineered by God for you to live out HIS purposes for YOUR life? Well, I have; and the circumstances of Joseph’s life, as illustrated by the reading today in Chapters 41-42 of Genesis, is illustrative of the principle that GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL of what is going on in our lives. And isn’t it wonderful and mysterious that the LORD uses our free will and human choices to weave His tapestry of eternal design!

Today, I was led to read of Joseph, after being two years in prison unjustly, … then being brought – by a wild set of human interactions – before Pharaoh because of a perplexing dream with the king had, a dream which none of his court magicians could adequately interpret. Gee, I wonder Who planted that dream in the Pharaoh’s mind? And gee, I wonder how the court cup-bearer just happened to remember an event when his was unjustly in prison earlier where this young Hebrew had interpreted a dream of the prison guard which just happened to unfold exactly as this boy (who was Joseph, of course) had interpreted? … … DUH! … Enter Joseph into the life of Pharaoh – just by coincidence of course [… NOT!!!]. And if you’ve read ahead in Genesis we see how these circumstances, which so “mysteriously” transpired, allowed Joseph to become Pharaoh’s governor and second in command; and they also – so wonderfully - allowed Joseph to be in control in Egypt when his long-lost father, Jacob (“Israel”), sent Joseph’s ten brothers to Egypt to obtain grain during a providential famine in the land at that time. And just who – coincidently - did the ten brothers, who just happened to have sold their brother, Joseph, into slavery in Egypt years before, encounter? Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, “You know the rest of the story!”

I think back on the wild, wacky, and wonderful set of circumstances, which, on April 13th, 1983, led me to recognize my spiritual brokenness and allowed me to be able to see that only by surrendering to Christ’s control in my life would I be able to find the spiritual strength which I had so unsuccessfully been trying to find in those days in other religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, or New-Ageism. I’ll not go into all those details of my testimony; but save it to say, on that fateful date in my life, I saw that only an omnipotent God could have engineered the circumstance in which I found myself and only God could be THE One to set me on a course which could reset my course in life in a direction of spiritual strength and not the weakness which I was experiencing. ONLY GOD!!!

But in today’s focus passage, when Joseph was brought by the Pharaoh to the court to interpret the king’s dream, Joseph knew exactly WHO was in control. And in Verse 16 of Genesis 41 above we read of Joseph witnessing to Pharaoh that ONLY GOD could interpret the dreams for the king. And this showed, later when the dreams were correctly interpreted, that Joseph, by surrendering to the one, true God, had power that could only come from a powerful God, … Whom we know of as THE ONE AND ONLY GOD!!! And our God, of course, is THE GOD … Who is control of all things and all circumstances in the lives of believers on His Name; and as it says in Romans 8: 28, all of those circumstances in life – as they did for Joseph – work together for the good of ALL those who believe in the Lord and are THE CALLED according to His purposes.

That was true for Joseph. It is true for Bill Berry; and if you believe in the same God Joseph and I follow, it is true for you too! Oh, how I hope we all believe and recognize that God’s control in our lives … as did the young boy, Joseph.

My Prayer Today: … My LORD, God, … I truly know and believe that You have worked it all out in my life … by Your design … and for Your purposes. And to that all I can in praise is HALLELUJAH!!! Amen