Thurs Devo: Clean Ashes

Does “clean” or “dirty” come to mind when you think of ashes? Dirty comes to my mind. However, God gave the Israelites instructions on using ashes in their water of cleansing. 

Numbers 19:9     ⁹ “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.

It may seem strange, but that’s what God decided as a way for the Israelites to purify and cleanse themselves in His sight. Jews followed this law for centuries, otherwise they would have been cut off.

Numbers 19:20-21       ²⁰ But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean. ²¹ This is a lasting ordinance for them.

Now that God sent Jesus as our once and for all sacrifice for sin, accepting Jesus’ blood in our place purifies us from sin. Then, we can live a life pleasing to God, in fellowship with Him and others.

Hebrews 9:13-14             ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

I John 1:7  ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Are you cleansed and purified and forgiven by God?

Are you trying to clean yourself your own way?

Or have you accepted and submitted to the one way God determined?

Alice 

I Can Do It!

When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”

But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”

Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”

“Yes, come,” Jesus said.

So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.  Matthew 14:26-29

Last week, I felt entirely spent mentally having dealt with many things that had been going on in both the short and long term.  Even though I would like to think I have a pretty high threshold for taking on things, I was struggling to find a way to be energetic.  Fortunately my annual recharge known as The Leadership Summit ended the week, and as usual, it greatly uplifted my spirits.  While there were typical well renowned speakers that gave great informative talks, it was a gentleman from Nigeria (Sam Adeyemi) who gave me the greatest pause for thought.  He provided a different spin on an old story.  He spoke on the story of Peter walking on water (Matthew 14:26-31).  As Christians, we tend to focus on the moral of the story, which is to have faith in Jesus.  While that is true, the story is also a reminder how Jesus encourages us to do His will.

Jesus wants us to know that we can do anything through Him.  We already know of the literal words of Paul in Philippians 4:13 (For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength).  The story of Peter walking on water with Jesus is a prime example of this.  Peter could not visualize how he could walk on water.  However, Jesus, the great leader He is, does not try to teach Him to walk on water.  Why?  First, Jesus is already standing on the water as proof that it can be done.  Second, He knows Peter’s heart, and understands the faith he has in Jesus.  What Peter lacked was the confidence that he could do it.  So Jesus says plain and simply, “Yes, come.”  This is Jesus being the encouraging force saying ‘if I can do it, you can do it!’  We often come across situations where we cannot see a clear pathway.  When God calls us to do something, we need not focus on the obstacles ahead or the lack of preparation we were given.  Like Peter, we must simply come to Jesus because if He says we can do it, we can!

God has given us everything we need to do His will.  Like most things with God, we must not focus on what we see.  We must trust in what He says.  If Paul focused on his circumstances (murderer of Christians) and education (not well versed), we would not have the majority of the New Testament.  When you find yourself stuck or struggling to achieve something God is asking of you, do not run to the corner of ‘failure’ and ‘disappointment.’  Trust in Christ not just in word but through His examples.  When is the last time you trusted God beyond what you could see?  How can you look less at circumstances and focus more on what God is asking of you?  My prayer is that we are encouraged by Jesus Christ to know that if He could do it, “I can do it!”  Amen!

Tues Devo: Growing pains

Hello,

A couple of weeks ago we had an interesting experience at our house. My son started complaining that his leg was hurting. He hadn't fallen or done anything – it lasted for a few days, and we believe it was growing pains. I never really thought that was a real “thing” – but there was no doubt he was being honest about the pain.

It got me thinking about our walk with God as believers – there is often pain with the growth. We may not make a bad choice to bring the pain – it may just be a necessary element of the growth process at the time.

So what? Well, when we encounter pain in our walk we need to ask the right questions. If we only focus on getting out of the pain as fast as possible, we may very well miss that growth opportunity. We need to ask what we can learn and how we are to respond. If we focus on learning and responding, we can then trust God to bring the right ending/next step for His glory and His purpose.

A passage from Philippians 3:7-11 to encourage us to focus on Him and keep moving forward:

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (NASB)

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Whom Shell I Fear?

Luke 12:4-5

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”

It seems that we live in a world where more and more evil can be found all the time.  Many are scared of the world anymore because of everything you hear on the news.  No one trusts their neighbors anymore let alone a stranger that you run into on the street, at the mall or sometimes even at church.

We have been told that those people are not who we are to fear.  We are to fear God!  God is probably someone that you often don’t think of as someone to fear because you know that he loves you and wants the best for you.  While this is true, he is also a just God and he does hold the power to throw us in hell. 

I think we need to wake up and remember these things because we often just go through our lives without worrying about our future beyond this earth.  This world is just temporary however Heaven and Hell are forever. 

Let’s start today with fearing God and as a result, live to please him in everything we do.