365 Reflections

Hey readers! My book is finally out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! Dieting seems to be an American obsession. Someone is always inventing a new and improved way to help people lose weight without losing the opportunity to eat. Or someone is inventing a crazy extreme form of dieting that makes for serious discomfort and pain. We long to eat in a way that most benefits our lives. Where does this desire come from? The Lord.  Remember that the Lord put the man in a garden - a place for food to be grown and enjoyed. We are made to eat and enjoy the blessing of God in our world. But sin has distorted that pleasure in our hearts and lives and made us turn to food for things it was never meant to provide - comfort, fulfillment and escape. Food is for nourishment and enjoyment in the presence of God.  Israel was given a meal ...

Hey readers! My book is finally out! I believe it will give you the tools you need to get moving in the right direction. Don't let worry, fear, and comparison call the shots in your life,  Get a copy and get MOVING WITH GOD! 2 Chronicles 30:1–4 (ESV) Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month— 3 for they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— 4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. Hezekiah turns from cleansing the temple and priests to celebrating the Passover. Way back when we began looking at 1 Chronicles we talked about how these two books were instruction manuals for retur...

Josiah is a king like no other before him or after him in the Old Covenant. His reforms clean house in a nation utterly corrupted. His passion to obey God was unparalleled even by David and Hezekiah. He not only brought Israel to national repentance, but he also restored the sacred meal that signified who they were.  2 Kings 23:21–23 (ESV) And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. The Passover for Israel was what the Lord's Supper is for us. It is the meal that God's covenant people ate with their deliverer (Jesus for us/Moses for them). Both meals were inaugurated on the night before the death of the firstborn (of God for us/of Pharoah for the...

Joshua 5:10–12 (ESV)   While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.  Joshua 5 holds key concepts that are related to us in the New Covenant. We discussed circumcision in the last post and now we should discuss the Passover feast celebrated right after they were circumcised. Israel has been "baptized" in the Jordan and thus "baptized" into the family of God (through circumcision) and now are welcome to the table that points back to their original salvation.  As Christians, we share relevant practices under the terms of the New Covenant. First, we are baptized in water as a sign we've been baptized into the body of Christ. We are then invited to the Lord's table where we eat to remember the work of our redemption accomplish...

What do you do when life leads to places where you cannot be all God expects you to be? The answer lies in Numbers 9. Israel is about to celebrate the Passover for the first time since it's origination in Egypt. This is the meal that would define them as a people and ultimately point to Christ as the final Passover Lamb of God. The passover meal taught Israel how God was their hope in bitter circumstances, how they had been spared by God's elective grace from His wrath. The Passover was also a time to gather in homes and share a meal, learning to be a community of love in the care of their God and one another. The Passover was the most important meal of the year. But what about those who could not celebrate Passover because of less than perfect conditions? Numbers 9:6–8 (ESV) And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said ...

Leviticus 23:1–2 (ESV)  The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations ; they are my appointed feasts. We come now to the 23rd chapter of Leviticus. It is the chapter that outlines the three festivals for Israel's calendar. There are seven feasts listed in Leviticus. The three main festivals are Passover, Pentecost and Booths/Tabernacles. These three feasts represent the three stages of our life with God. Passover represents our deliverance from bondage to sin. Pentecost represents our fulness in the power of the Spirit and Booths represents our ultimate home in heaven with God where the dwelling place (tabernacle) of God is finally and forever with man. The word that is often repeated in the chapter is "convocation", appearing 11 times. When a word appears that often in one chapter, we need to explore it a bit further. "Convocation"...

Exodus 12:24–27 (ESV) You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord ’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. The Passover feast is central to Israelite worship in the Old Testament. It is the most important of the feast and it begins the new year for the people of God. They were to celebrate this convocation as a community every year forever. Think of that! Every year forever! Why does God instruct them to repeat this feast every year? Because it is a reminder to the entire nation - we are who we are because of God's power and salvation, not our goodness or works! I t...

It's a rather abrupt shift in focus from the end of Exodus 11 to the first part of Exodus 12. God has described the final of the 10 plagues that will wipe out the firstborn of Egypt, from Pharaoh to the handmaid. It says: Exodus 11:6 (ESV) There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. In other words, the worst thing to happen to the Egyptians ever will be happening now.  Then immediately Exodus 12 opens with a vivid description of what God wants for His people concerning the "Passover." They are to take a year-old perfect male lamb into their homes on the 10th day, kill it on the 14th day and spread it's blood on the doors of their homes. They are to roast the lamb whole (with its inner parts) and eat all of it leaving none till the next day. They are to eat it in haste. There's more... They are to eat one lamb per household. This will be a community experience. They are not to ...