Rules are good - or are they?

I must admit I've been reading Leviticus for a few days now at the same time as reading Exodus, in fact I'm about a third of the way through. I must also admit it is quite full on and I don't understand all of it, but I know that all of God's word is important and that I can learn through reading any of it.
I guess my first thought about what I've read so far is that it is a book of rules. We all have to live by rules, in fact  every day we chose whether to break a rule or obey a rule.
God made the rules for the Israelite people so that they could be closer to him, so that they could be Holy and righteous. However, because we live in a fallen world, the Israelite people were fighting a loosing battle. The rules and laws that they were meant to keep became a huge problem for them so much so that the rules eventually became more important than God himself.
One of my favourite passages of scripture is where Jesus is having a go at the Pharisee's and teacher's of the law. In Matthew 23 Jesus is quiet scathing as he calls them hypocrites. 


²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Matthew 23:23-24


The Pharisees are so concerned with the law that they are forgetting the important stuff, their forgetting loving one another, helping one another and more importantly loving God. They are only concerned with keeping the rules, and so they judge those who are not as good at keeping the rules as they are!
I would also like to say that rules are good for us too! Anyone who knows me will know that I am a person that always has to obey the rules.  If we disobey the rules of life then we are generally going to get into trouble. Many of the laws of our land are based on the 10 Commandments, e.g. do not murder, do not steal etc...But it also tells us in the bible to obey the laws of the land -
  
¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 1 Peter 2:13-14


So even though reading Leviticus can seem a little daunting, I am really glad its in the word of God, not just because it shows me that I must obey the law, but also that I can Praise God that I don't live under the law, instead I live under grace. This means that I don't have to perform all the sacrifices that the Israelite people had to, instead I know that Jesus died for me as a sacrifice once and for all, so that I can be saved, forgiven and accepted into the family of God. We are so fortunate to live this side of the cross, we don't have to go through a priest; we don't have to make a sacrifice; we don't have to stay away from others because we are unclean. All we have to do is accept Jesus as Lord of our lives, acknowledge that he died for us and ask Him to forgive our sins - JOB DONE!

Mo strikes again!

Well I guess I'm coming to the end of Exodus, and beginning a new chapter in the lives of Moses and his mates. In today's bible study we continue with Moses back up the mountain with God. He's on a second go at the 10 Commandments as he smashed them previously in temper. 


I like the thought of Moses receiving the second set of Commandments, I know that Moses probably didn't, lets face it he's already spent 40 days and nights up the mountain and just because the people make a mess of things he's back again. Anyway, the reason I like this is because I serve the God of the second chance. How awesome is that? My God loves me so much that he gives me a second chance just like he gave the people of Israel a second chance. I know that people were punished for what they did, but God is a loving God and he doesn't want to see anyone lost and so because of that he gives me chance after chance to sort things out.
On the same thought though, even though God is full of love for everyone, one day God will judge us all for the things that we have done wrong. I know that I am not perfect and that there is no perfect person, except Jesus, so we have to make sure that we keep short account with him and know that he will give us the second chance even when we don't deserve it. Lets do the same to others, lets give others their second chance too.

What's the idol Mo?

Today's bible passage is a very famous story. Moses has gone up the mountain to receive the 10 commandments  from God, meanwhile the people are asking Aaron to make them a god they can worship. The golden calf just pops out of the flames and the rest is history.
We all have idols, things that we put before God. The Israelites were impatient and easily swayed, so what is it that sways me? What is it that takes the things of God from the forefront of my mind?



I guess today's idols are not the same as in the time of Moses. We worship other things: Family, friends, TV, Music, Work, Computers, Holidays, Money, Gadgets, etc...the list is endless. Whatever we love more than God is an idol, whatever we put before God is an idol. Whatever we think about the most is an idol. 



The other thing that this story shows me is the impatience of people. We ask God for help and if it doesn't happen instantly then we get bored and think that God isn't listening or has forgotten about us. God is interested in us, in everything about us, but what we need to realise is that God's timing is not as ours. He sees the big picture, whereas we only see our small jigsaw piece. If there is something that you've asked God, then don't give up, Moses pleaded for the lives of the Israelite people to God and God listened to his plea. Let's always remember that God is for us, and if he is for us then no-one can come against us. 

It's just me!

Today's reading is in Exodus again and it follows on from God's commandments to Moses. In chapter 28, God instructs Moses to make a uniform for Aaron, so that he can approach God on behalf of the people. This got me thinking...I don't need a uniform to approach God. I can come just as I am. I don't need to have a priest go and chat to God for me, I can talk to God myself. 


                                           Hebrews 4:14-16 

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.



When Jesus died, he made a way for us to have a direct relationship with God. We no longer need to have a priest ask for forgiveness for us and make a sacrifice. When Jesus died on the cross he was the ultimate sacrifice which means that we no longer need to make those sacrifices, we just have to believe in him.
So lets do what Hebrews 4 says and 'approach the throne of God with confidence'

Sin has a consequence...Moses strikes again!

So, I was reading my bible again this morning and the thing that came to mind was that 'Sin has a consequence' I know that this is obvious, but how seriously do we take this statement? 
In Exodus once again we can learn from Moses and his mates! In Chapter 20 God has just given the commandments to the people and in the following few chapters we find a list of do's and don'ts that need to be obeyed. Do you know what? I'm so glad that I don't have to live under the law of the Old Testament. I'm so thankful that I live in the grace of God.


BUT....
Do we think...its only a little sin it doesn't matter? 
Do we tell only 'white' lies that don't matter, or do we realise that when we sin we have 'MISSED THE MARK?' We have missed living the perfect life that God had intended for us.
In the Old Testament the people of Israel had to do so much to absolve their sins, in fact they had to do so much that it was pretty much impossible to keep up with! I just thank God that I can come before him and ask him to...

1. Forgive me
2. Help me not to continue in sin
3. Guide me in his ways

I know that I won't ever be perfect this side of Heaven, but I guess my prayer is that God will help me take seriously the sin in my life and deal with it.

There is a consequence for sin, we have to realise that we can't just carry on sinning without anything happening. I guess there are lots of people that think the things they do wrong are so small that they don't matter, or that they are good people.

However, we need to remember that we live in a fallen world and that we are born in sin. That it is the sin in our lives that separate us from God. The only way we can sort this sinful nature is through the Blood of Jesus. When we receive Jesus as Lord of our lives, and believe that he died for us and enter into a relationship with him, then and only then are we saved. 

Aren't we glad that we are living after the cross and not before it. We are in a privileged position as we can have forgiveness of our sins without sacrificing anything as Jesus has paid the price for every sin that we have done and will do. We don't have to do all the sacrificing and ritual cleanings that the Israelites did, we are cleansed by Jesus blood.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life 

John 3:16

                                                                                                                                                                

.                                                        

Good 'ole Moses

Reading the continuing story of Moses this morning, once again it made me think! I know reading the bible is meant to make me think, but like I said yesterday, its the obvious things that we can so often miss. And lets face it, we can read the same passage time after time and see something different each time!
Anyway this mornings reading was once again from Exodus. Moses has gone up the mountain to speak with God. No-one is allowed on the mountain except for Moses, or else they would die! Moses after speaking with God comes back down the mountain to tell the people to get ready to meet with God themselves! They then prepare for 3 days to meet with God, during which they cleaned and consecrated themselves etc...
This got me thinking, how much do we prepare to meet with God? Do we come to church on a Sunday just to meet with friends, or because its what we've always done? Do we just go through the motions of church or do we really come to meet with Almighty God?
I think this passage of scripture shows us how Awesome and Powerful God really is. The Israelites knew that if anyone had gone on the mountain they would've died. If we really knew how Powerful God was, I think we'd have a little more reverence for him. 
We come into church on a Sunday, we talk and catch up with friends, sometimes we are even late! What's that about? We are coming to worship the one and only Creator of the Universe; the God that flung the stars into space; the God that loves us so much that he sent his Son to die the worst death imaginable so that we can have a relationship with him! HOW DARE WE! Would we be late for an appointment? Would we talk and chatter in front of the Queen? NO! 
We need to be ready to meet with our King. We need to be ready to worship our God. We need to come into the house of God expectant, and wanting to be close to him. I think we have really started to miss the point. When we come before God it is not something small and insignificant, it is something amazing, paid for by the blood of Jesus!
Let's learn from the Israelites and come into the presence of God with reverence, and awe. Let's come before the throne room of grace and meet with our God.

Our God created the World, the sun, the moon, and the stars. We need to remember that when we come into the presence of God we are coming to worship our creator, our Father, our King and our Saviour. Let's be in awe of Him!

Thinking some more...

I've been thinking today how much do we support one another? Am I an encouragement to the people I work with? Am I an encouragement to the people I work for? Do I encourage my friends and family in their walk with Jesus. 

I was reading an amazing passage of scripture this morning, in fact it's one of my favorite stories about Moses. In Exodus 17:8-16 we find the story of when the Amalekites are attacking Israel. Moses sends Joshua with some troops to go and fight them, and while the fight is going on, Moses stands on the mountain with his hands in the air. When Moses' raised the staff of God, Joshua is winning the battle, when Moses lowers the staff of God, then Joshua and his army begin to loose the battle. Moses' arms get tired and so Aaron and Hur hold Moses arms up for him so that Israel can win the battle - which they inevitably do.

I know that this is an obvious point that I'm making, but less face it, sometimes the obvious things are missed! When Moses held the staff of God upwards the army was winning! When we lift God high in our lives then we cannot lose. When Moses' didn't hold the staff of God up the army was losing, its the same for us, when we look away from God then we are on a path to destruction. We need to hold the name of God high, we need to praise God for everything he's done in our lives, we need to look to God in everything and then we cannot lose.

Another thing to think about - When Moses got tired his friends were there to lift him up! How often do we encourage one another in our Christian walks? When we are low we need to be there to encourage one another to keep going in our faith. Paul did exactly that with Timothy as I wrote last time. How often do we say an encouraging word; or join in something that isn't our thing just because we want to support the people doing it; or join in something just because its God's will. Sometimes we have to do things no matter how stupid, or how much we don't want to do it, we just do it to obey God and support others in their obedience to God.

My prayer is that God would help me to keep my eyes on him, to be an encourager, and help me to show the people that I meet that I belong to him. I want to show others that Jesus is Lord of my Life!