50 day journey to Christ - Day 15

Daily Reading:

Deuteronomy 18

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Provisions for the Levites

1^{"The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel.  They will eat the Lord's fire offerings; that is their inheritance.  2} Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the Lord is his inheritance, as He promised him. ³ This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach. ⁴ You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first sheared wool of your flock. ⁵ For Yahweh your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in His name from now on.^[c] 6 When a Levite leaves one of your towns where he lives in Israel and wants to go to the place the Lord chooses, ⁷ he may serve in the name of Yahweh his God like all his fellow Levites who minister there in the presence of the Lord. ⁸ They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.^[d]

Occult Practices versus Prophetic Revelation

⁹ “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. ¹⁰ No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire,^[e] practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, ¹¹ cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. ¹² Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things.¹³ You must be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.

¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. ¹⁶ This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ ¹⁷ Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name. ²⁰ But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’ ²¹ You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ ²² When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Discussion Topic: The Israelites were commanded not to participate in the sins of the people who dwelt in the land.  In fact, those who dwelt in the land were going to be driven out by God because of their detestable sin.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Even now, He commands us not to partake in the sins that are rampant in the society in which we live today.  Looking at the world around you, can you see any areas in your life where you have been participating in something that the world views as normal but which God views as sin?  (Join the discussion on G+)

Prayer: Oh heavenly Father, I praise and worship You for who You are.  Through Jesus you have set before us the standard by which our lives are measured; an example of a perfect life in You.  I pray that You will reveal to me any areas of my life where I have compromised or have walked in blindness.  Reveal to me those thing in my life that have not brought glory or honor to Your name.  As these areas are revealed to me through your Holy Spirit, I pray that you will give me the strength to make the necessary changes and the wisdom to handle the situation in the correct manner.  I pray that as these changes are made, light will shine in the areas of my heart which were previously in darkness.  Thank you, Lord, for calling me and revealing to me the gift of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

(Acknowledgments: Scripture Text - BibleGateway.com, Moses speaking to the Israelites, illustration from a 1907 Bible card)

50 day journey to Christ - Day 13

Daily Reading:

Exodus 20

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The Ten Commandments

1 Then God spoke all these words:

² 

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

³ 

Do not have other gods besides Me.

⁴ 

Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. ⁵ You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.

⁷ 

Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.

⁸ 

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: ⁹ You are to labor six days and do all your work,¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

¹² 

Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ 

Do not murder.

¹⁴ 

Do not commit adultery.

¹⁵ 

Do not steal.

¹⁶ 

Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ 

Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The People’s Reaction

¹⁸ All the people witnessed^[a] the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it^[b] they trembled and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”

²⁰ Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not^[c] sin.” ²¹ And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Moses Receives Additional Laws

²² Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. ²³ You must not make gods of silver to rival Me; you must not make gods of gold for yourselves.^[d]

²⁴ “You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. ²⁵ If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it. ²⁶ You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.

God used the perfect medium to write his Ten Commandments by writing them on stone tablets.  This can be seen as being an outward example what God has done in our cold hard heart.  

Discussion Topic: As you can see, instead of falling on their face and submitting themselves completely to the Lord God Almighty, the people avoided that personal contact with their Creator by begging Moses to speak to God for them.  What do you think was going through their mind and how have things changed since then?  Why do we feel so free and open to seek the Lord instead of hiding from His voice? (Join the discussion on G+)

Prayer:  Oh Father, I am so thankful that you have made a way for me to speak directly to you.  Thank you for loving me so much that you would make a way for me to enter directly into Your throne room.  I cannot comprehend Your desire to have a relationship with me while I am in this sinful state.  I know that you see me clothed in the righteousness of Christ; not because of anything that I have done, but because of what Jesus did for me.  Thank you for revealing to me my sinful nature and for sacrificing Your only Son in order to offer me salvation through Him.  Your commandments have revealed my sin, and by your grace and through the blood of Christ, you have rescued me from the punishment I deserve.  All glory be to you Father!  In Jesus' name, Amen!

(Acknowledgments: Scripture Text - BibleGateway.com, Moses artwork from: http://kids.christiansunite.com/Bible_Stories/Bible_Story_027.shtml, Mt. Sinai artwork from: http://www.prayermountainco.com/glory-storm-worship/)

50 day journey to Christ - Day 12

Daily Reading:

Exodus 12

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ² “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. 
³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household. ⁴ If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each person will eat. ⁵ You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. ⁶ You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight. ⁷ They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. ⁸ They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. ¹⁰ Do not let any of it remain until morning; you must burn up any part of it that does remain before morning. ¹¹ Here is how you must eat it: you must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am Yahweh; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. ¹³ The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute. ¹⁵ You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat—you may do only that.

¹⁷ “You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute. ¹⁸ You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month,from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day.¹⁹ Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel. ²⁰ Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.”

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. ²² Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. ²³ When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, He will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.

²⁴ “Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, you are to observe this ritual.²⁶ When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ ²⁷ you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” So the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸ Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. ³⁰ During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. ³¹ He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yahweh as you have asked. ³² Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”

³³ Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We’re all going to die!” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.

³⁵ The Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ³⁶ And the Lord gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 soldiers on foot, besides their families. ³⁸ An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they had been driven out of Egypt they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the Lord’s divisions went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations.

⁴³ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it. ⁴⁴ But any slave a man has purchased may eat it, after you have circumcised him. ⁴⁵ A temporary resident or hired hand may not eat the Passover. ⁴⁶ It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷ The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. ⁴⁸ If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate; he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. ⁴⁹ The same law will apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.”

⁵⁰ Then all the Israelites did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.⁵¹ On that same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their divisions.

Think of our American feast or festivals that we consume to celebrate Independance Day or even Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Think about how that food reminds us of memories of past celebrations.  Holiday traditions remind us of similar memories as we celebrate the joy of the seasons.  

Discussion Topic:  How do you think the Israelistes responded to the traditions of eating a passover meal fully dressed with staff in hand?  Do you think the bitters and unleaven bread helped put them in a state of rememberance and reflection? Additionally, can you imagine the closeness of living with the family lamb for the 4 days leading up to the mass sacrifice on the night of the passover, what would your own feelings be if you applied that to our modern day thanksgiving feast and say a family turkey?

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Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank you for your sacrifcial lamb that you have given us.  The Lamb of Jesus Christ, whose blood causes the angel of death to passover our house even to this day.  Lord as we approach this time of Thanksgiving, let us prepare our hearts for a time of thankfulness to you, for what you have done for us.  Let us seek the true meaning of this festival, let us seek you in all that we do.  In Jesus, the Lamb of God's name, Amen!  

(Acknowledgments: Scripture Text - BibleGateway.com, Lamb - Artist Unknown from blog of Stephen Sizer http://www.stephensizer.com/2011/09/christ-in-all-the-scriptures-exodus-and-the-passover-lamb/, Passover Door - Artist Unknown from website http://familydads.com/blog/family-passover-feast/ , Turkey - Artist Unknown, from website http://www.businesspundit.com/the-secrets-behind-mass-turkey-production/ )

50 day journey to Christ - Day 11

Daily Reading 
Exodus 3

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

3 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. ³ So Moses thought: I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

⁵ “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then He continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. ⁸ I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁹ The Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

¹¹ But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹² He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”

¹³ Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?”

¹⁴ God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

¹⁶ “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁸ They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God.

¹⁹ “However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand. ²⁰ I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I will perform in it. After that, he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give these people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. ²² Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Key - Purple = Words of God, Bold = Verse of the Day

Reflection:  We see again, when God calls a person, they answer, Here I am.  Today we learned the name of God is actually I AM.  Reflect on your own life and your own calling, when God calls us do we answer Here I Am?  Do we make ourselves available or do we pretend that we can't or don't here him?  

Discussion Topic:  Give an example in your own walk of a Here I AM moment, and how that faith helped guide you into the mission you were given.
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Prayer:  Dear I AM, you are, and always will be.  I am humbled by the simple complexity of your Name.  Teach me your ways oh Lord, so that my every response to you is Here I AM.  I know that you ARE always there for me.  Thank you Jesus.  In your Holy and Perfect name I pray.  -Amen.  

Acknowledgments: Biblical Text - Bible Gateway, Image - Fred G. Zaspel (http://www.credomag.com/2011/12/13/i-am-and-the-burning-bush/)