Unfolding Words

God brought Jacob and his family to the land of Goshen. This is where the children of Israel flourished.  It’s also where they experienced hard times and eventually slavery. God was letting them know-this is not your home. This is not the place I have ordained for you. 
A place that was once a blessing for you may be drying up and becoming difficult. Might it be that God is moving you on to a place where He wants you set apart for a specific purpose?

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Luke 8:1-3 tell us Joanna was the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward. We read that she herself received healing from Jesus. As a result, Joanna “provided for them out of [her] own resources” (Lk. 8:3). ‘Provided’ translates the Greek diakoneo. It has been commented that the word “refers almost exclusively to the menial labour of women and slaves, performed for the people of higher rank on whom they were economically dependent”. This woman of high reputation, took it upon herself to support the ministry of Jesus by serving as a servant would.

Women like Joanna supporting Jesus’ ministry was key because Jesus and the disciples had practical needs that had to be tended too. Joann's gratitude was shown in a tangible and practical way. How much more should you serve God with what you have?

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Every one of us is like a fruit tree in the garden of God, and God is expecting fruit from our lives. That is why we are here. He puts us here for a purpose, since everything on earth is here for a purpose. What is the purpose God has for you and me? It is to produce fruit. 

I love the metaphor of tree and a believer. You are not a reed moved about by every wind which blows, nor a creeping ivy or plant that grows along the ground. A tree is upright, and grows heavenward. This tree is planted instead of one that grows wild. A planted tree is under the care and cultivation of its owner. The metaphor reminds us that those who delight in God's Law are owned by God, cared for and pruned by Him.

Remember, as you look around God’s orchard at other trees that different fruits have different ripening requirements. Some produce we can collect on in earlier years, other fruit don't come to full term until we are older adults. The key is to stay next to the rivers of water. When one harvest comes in seed needs to be set aside for the next wave. Don't fear crop failure. Farmers optimists by nature. So too with God, and we should be also. We have God's promise – “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest... winter and summer... shall not cease."

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The initial launch of Abraham’s journey into the Promised Land was not promising. There was fierce competition for the land (Gen. 12:6), and Abraham spent a long time trying to find a place to occupy (Gen. 12:8-9). Rocky economic conditions forced him take his family to Egypt, hundreds of miles away from the land of God’s promise (Gen. 12:10). Talk about a road trip gone bad. 

Many people of his stature probably would have headed back. When Abraham left his home in Haran and set out for the land of Canaan, his family was probably already quite large by modern standards. We know that his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot came with him, but so did an unspecified number of people and possessions (Gen. 12:5). Soon Abraham would become very wealthy, having acquired servants and livestock as well as silver and gold (Gen. 12:16; 13:2). He received people and animals from Pharaoh during his stay in Egypt, (outside of the land of promise) and the precious metals would have been the result of commercial transactions, indicating the Lord as the ultimate one to bestow blessing.

When you look at the promise, the problems are clear

God called Abram to a land that was 

1. Inhabited
2. Famine struck
3. Unable to support he and Lot
4. War torn.

Even is all this, Abraham did not forsake God or walk away from His promise—which mainly looked like a problem from the get-go. God’s blessing often operate opposite to how we would expect. It is given to the most unlikely recipients and it advances though human opposition is strong.

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As soon as Jesus came down from delivering the Sermon on the Mount, He encounter a leper. In the Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5–7), Jesus teaches about the kingdom of heaven; now He begins to demonstrate it through powerful deeds.

In the Old Testament, God was not to be touched or handled—think of the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, which represented His presence. Leviticus was all about being clean to even be in His presence. But in he New Testament. Jesus goes out into the world touching all manner of uncleanness and cleansing it and healing it.

Easton’s Bible dictionary says: Leprosy was “the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; a meet emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the presence of a pure and holy God”
In the Old Testament, a high priest who touched a leper would have been unclean and unfit for temple service— a serious penalty. Touching someone with leprosy should have made Jesus—a high priest unfit for service. But instead, He turns that rule upside down. He touches the leperous man who knelt before Him.

With one act, Jesus broke the law (and fulfilled it).

Like the leper, we are polluted by sin, but the presence and work of God cleanses all that. We don’t have to bring ourselves clean to Him, He does that for us. The miracle happened when that leper stepped out in faith and knelt in worship before Jesus. His act of worship ignited Jesus’ willingness to take away His unclean state.

Mentioned on the Show:

Matthew 8:1-4

Leviticus 13:45-46

Malachi 3:2-3

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While reading through the book of Leviticus, what struck me is that the Israelites  had to always be aware of their state of purity or impurity. Anything could turn their otherwise clean state into an unclean one, like touching a dead animal, giving birth, or something as simple as a skin rash. It was always Israel’s responsibility to ensure that they returned back to a state where they could approach God.

In Leviticus 10:10-11, God says to Aaron, “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”

It was the priest’s duty to teach the people what was considered holy and what wasn’t. Today, it seems this is a lost art. Political correctness has trampled over any talk of holy living. And the “I’m going to do me” mantra rules even in churches today.

Leviticus 10:10: “And that you may make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,”

God is holy, and nothing that comes short of that holiness is to be permitted into His presence. Nothing ritually unclean must enter the Sanctuary and its precincts, for it will defile it. So it was the responsibility of the priests to make the distinction and see that it was observed.

Today, we are to be responsible for making sure that we are in a state of holiness as we appear before God.

Mentioned on the Show:

Leviticus 10:10-11

qadash- Hebrew word for kindness

Leviticus Commentary by Jay Sklar

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It’s easy to let circumstances dictate your identity and direction.

Like Mephibosheth, the grandson of King Saul and son of Jonathan, we are all sinners have been wounded, crippled, because of the fall of Adam and Eve in Garden of Eden. Like Mephibosheth, you are crippled—it may be a crippled heart, while he had crippled legs. Maybe your lameness comes in the form of a sin that trips you up, worry, anxiety, a failed relationship, trouble with finances, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and the list goes on. It’s easy to flee when you fear punishment just like Mephibosheth fled to LoDebar with his nurses help in fear of death. Like Mephibosheth, you may fear returning to where you belong--the palace where King Jesus lives. 

Mephibosheth was off in LoDebar—in hiding—in fear of being murdered following the battles that took his father’s life and led to his grandfather’s taking his own life. LoDebar means “no pasture,” “no word,” “no communication.” Mephibosheth sought refuge in a barren land.

So too, it is with us. We try to hide from God—to our own LoDebars where the pasture is non-existent and we are not fed. Where we are not daily in the Word of God. Where we don’t pray and seek communion with Christ.

But God calls us out to reconfirm our identity and highlight our royal status.

Mentioned on the Show:

2 Samuel 9:1-13

chased- Hebrew word for kindness

Who You Say I Am by Hillsong

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God promised the children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey as they wandered in the wilderness for decades. And just as they were on the cusp of crossing over into it, a group rose up and asked to stay in nearby cities east of the Jordan because the land was beneficial for their flocks. Instead of moving into their Promised Land, they opted for ease and peace in the border land. What they saw was enough for them rather than the unknown goodness that God had assured. In this episode, we'll look at how opting for easy can point to the fact that you are serving a safe God you created.

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"He was moved with compassion." This is said of Christ Jesus several times in the New Testament. It is expressive of the deepest emotion; a yearning of the innermost nature with pity. Theologian Benjamin Warfield’s book is called “The Person and Work of Christ” There is a chapter in that book entitled, “The Emotional Life of Our Lord.” He tried to synthesize the biblical passages that spoke of the emotions of our Lord Jesus. He stated, “His whole life was a mission of mercy...His entire ministry is summed up as going around the land and ‘doing good.’” The word that best summarizes Jesus our Lord is no doubt the word “compassion.”  It is the emotion most frequently attributed to Him. Do you ever think of God as having feelings for you? If not, why not? If so, which feelings do you tend to attribute to God? Do you believe that God is “filled with love and compassion” for you? If you really believed this, how might it impact your relationship with God? How might it impact your relationships with others? The scriptures give us example of how God feels love and compassion for each and every one of you.

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