One Year Bible, February 18

LEVITICUS 6:1-7:27
All the sacrifices were made "holy" with the addition of salt and oil and frankincense. Oil for the Holy Spirit anointing and approval, frankincense for experiential faith, and salt for preservation (sanctification). (1 Thess 5:23, Be sure you read it.) Anything that touched the sacrifices was considered "holy" also. HOWEVER, be assured, it is the person who is touched by the sacrifice who is holy.  BUT anything that particular person now touches, is NOT made holy by that touch (second-hand holiness) (Hag 2:12). Holy things are only for holy people.

About those offerings: Anyone who broke the Law concerning them would be "cut off from his people" (Being "cut off" meant you would be treated like an outsider by the congregation and by God Himself). Sanctification (being made holy) is a serious process and must ALWAYS proceed from the death of the sacrifice. Every precaution was made to keep the sacrifice from becoming polluted.

RESPONSE:   I am grateful for the provisions God made for my sanctification. I am both the offerer and the sacrifice, the "living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1). I know that "in me lives no good thing." (Rom 7:18) Jesus, BE holy IN ME. I will be more dependent on You than ever as I form the new habits of sanctification.

MARK 3:7-30
The Twelve:   "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;" (Luke 6:12-13) Jesus had an enormous task ahead of Him. Mark 3 says He chose "those He wanted".....after praying all night. Not many people realize this, but the 12 disciples were probably between the ages of 14 and 21, with John being youngest (14) and Peter (over 20) being the oldest. Matt 17:24-27 tells that taxes were paid for only Jesus and Peter, probably the only ones over the age of 20. And in Luke 10:21, and John 13:33, Jesus refers to them as "little ones", probably not an address to a bunch of old, bearded men. Still, each of the 12 left families and homes to travel and spread the Gospel, all but two dying as martyrs, after being beaten, tortured and imprisoned.

And how were they trained? Verse 14 says that they were to "be with Him" and then were sent out to preach.

RESPONSE:   No wonder the training of the 12 disciples was such a grand adventure! They were a teen-aged posse! No wonder they followed courageously, they loved passionately, and they argued and were afraid at times. They were kids! Well, we call them kids, but in their time they probably weren't looked at that way. But they were pretty ordinary. Until Jesus got ahold of them! I am encouraged to keep up with them. 

PSALM 37:1-11
This Psalm was probably written in David's old age, and asks the question:, why do the wicked prosper and the righteous perish? The long-range view is that the prosperity of the wicked is short-lived because it has within itself the seeds of self-destruction. Faith demands that the righteous "fret not, neither be envious", "trust" and "do", "delight", "commit", "rest", and "wait".

What does it mean to "delight thyself in the Lord"? The instructions are actually given in this Psalm!  (V.1) "Fret not,..neither be envious" Fretting and envying are things that make our spirit uneasy, unsettled. To "fret" is to blaze up in anger. (See v.8 "cease from anger") Don't let what others are doing get you unsettled. God is in control and will take care of all that stuff. "Trust in the Lord" (v.3) means "to be boldly confident and without fear". "Doing good" (v.3) is the result of trusting Him.

This all means that the Lord is the end of my search, not the means to something else. The deepest and most lasting happiness is found IN GOD. When I rest in faith, committing myself to Him as my Life, and trust that He is "enough", He is all I really need to be fulfilled --- then I can BEGIN to "delight myself in the Lord." Anything less is dishonoring to God. To not enjoy being with Him, to not worship Him joyfully, is a terrible disservice to God. A secret? You have to "forget about yourself!" By the way, I believe "delighting" is done out loud.

PROVERBS 10:3-4
God gives satisfaction to the soul of the righteous, but the desire of the wicked is never satisfied. This is because the wicked deal "with a slack hand" - the literal meaning of which is "treachery or deceitfulness". Those who take advantage of others by fraud and treachery will, in the end, impoverish themselves.

RESPONSE:   The only way to really get satisfaction in my life is IN GOD. Not FROM God, but in Himself. He is good and He is great. There just is no other way to look at it. God is either enough all by Himself, or He is a terrible fraud, because He claims to be all we really need. I, for one, can testify that He is truly enough for me to be fulfilled. God fills my abysmal neediness and He satisfies my bottomless hunger. Oh yes! I have to instruct my heart every day to believe the Truth. But that is better than living my whole life based around lies.....that I need anything else besides God. Substitutes for Truth and for God are idolatrous, vain, empty and self-destructive.