Leviticus 19:5-8 Peace with God!

 5When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance. 6It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; but what remains on the third day must be burned up. 7If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is tainted and will not be accepted. 8Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people. 

The significance of the peace offering was for the enjoyment of peace with God and fellowship with Him, was always to be made by one’s own free will. God did not want forced fellowship from His people.

“To profane something is to treat it as if it were not sacred. The whole expression may be rendered ‘has shown his spite for what belongs to the LORD’ or ‘has desecrated something the Lord considers sacred.’” (Peter-Contesse)

Do you have peace with God? 

“Before we can understand what it means to have peace with God, we must recognize that human beings in our natural state are enemies of God. Because we inherited a sin nature from our first parents, Adam and Eve (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12), we are born with a disposition to please ourselves and be our own gods. That rebellious nature sets us at odds with our perfect Creator. His just nature cannot overlook our sin; justice demands punishment”.

“Peace with God means our consciences are cleared (Hebrews 10:22; Titus 3:5). The overwhelming weight of guilt that plagued us all is gone, placed on Jesus on the cross (Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24).”

Hebrews 10:22 NLT let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, believes in his heart that Jesus is the only way to God, and is willing to surrender to Him as their Savior and Lord can have peace with God.

Romans 10: 9that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

Have you called on the name of the Lord?

https://www.gotquestions.org/peace-with-God.html

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 19:4 What is an Idol?

 “Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. NLT

"Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the LORD your God. GNT

What is an idol?

“An idol can be anything we place ahead of God in our lives, anything that takes God’s place in our hearts, such as possessions, careers, relationships, hobbies, sports, entertainment, goals, greed, addictions to alcohol/drugs/gambling/pornography, etc.”

https://www.gotquestions.org/idol-worship.html

Other forms of an idol can be;

 A smartphone. 

Are you addicted to it? 

The internet.

Can’t stop searching it?

While both of these are useful tools we can put both of them ahead of the Lord.

I use an iPad and the internet to prepare my devotional. I recognize that I’m not a Charles Spurgeon or a Chuck Swindol but I make an attempt to read through the Bible by preparing it and I thank you for allowing me to send it to you. 

Preparing my devotional for you keeps me sane in this insane world and allows me to; Ephesians 6: 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Do you put on the full armor of God?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 19:3 Honor your father and mother!

 3Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

Ephesians 6: 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

There are several occasions I didn’t respect my mother and father that I’m not proud of. I would advise any youngsters out there to be respectful of their parents.

“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),”

If we don’t honor our father and mother then we aren’t honoring the Lord either because it’s His commandment!

Have you ever been disrespectful to your parents?

Are Christians required to keep the sabbath?

https://www.gotquestions.org/Sabbath-keeping.html

It’s your choice.

Romans 14: 5One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 

Colossians 2: 16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.

Do you keep the sabbath?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 19:1-2 Set Apart!

 1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Be holy means being "set apart" from the world unto the Lord. 

The Lord wants other people to know you are His by your actions and lifestyle.

1 Peter 1: 13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. 15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Peter was quoting verse 2 😇

When we come to Christ we are slowly transformed into His image of being holy. 

Our heart is transformed into a heart ❤️ like Jesus. We are to become separated from the sinful beliefs and ways of this world!

He is preparing us for our future with Him in heaven.

Are you “set apart” from the unholy things of this world?

Blessings, David

https://www.gotquestions.org/holiness-Bible.html

Leviticus 18:26-30 Defiling ourselves!

 26But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. 27For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. 28So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you.

29Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. 30You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

Defiling ourselves!

This chapter is pretty frank about sex and sexual relations. 

We have a loving and forgiving God.

I am thankful what was written by king David when he was confronted with the sin of adultery and murder. He repented and was forgiven but did suffer consequences.

2 Samuel 12: 13Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

“The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.

If you have committed sin and thought, the Lord will never forgive me!

Read 2 Samuel 12 and consider king David’s sins.

We are all sinners, I encourage you to lay it before the Lord and ask for forgiveness.

He loves you and is a forgiving God.

Blessings, David

Leviticus 18:19-25 “I am the Lord”!

19You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period.

20You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her.

21You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. 

22You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.

23You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.

24Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. 25Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.

Some of these verses may seem harsh to some that study them. We have to remember where they come from!

“I am the LORD.”

Some preachers may dance around them lightly, but look at His warning!

“Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices,..”

“so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.”

Our government has strayed from God. Our schools made it illegal to teach about God. We allow the killing of the unborn. 

I could go on and on.....

Do you wonder why our country has so much turmoil?

Blessings, David 

Leviticus 18:6-18 Marriage, A Social Institution!

 6None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.

7You must not expose the nakedness of your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

8You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.

9You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.

10You must not have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for that would shame your family.

11You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.

12You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.

13You must not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.

14You must not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations with her; she is your aunt.

15You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her.

16You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would shame your brother.

17You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved.

18You must not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive.

Regarding sexual relations, the Lord is specific in these verses.

“Marriage as a social institution is regarded throughout Scripture as the cornerstone of all other structures, and hence its purity and integrity must be protected at all times.” (Harrison)

How is our country doing regarding marriage as a social institution?

Blessings, David