Taking Aim

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Numbers 1: 47-54

Israel had now been in the wilderness just over one year.  Having stopped for a lengthy period of time at Mt. Sinai to receive the Law, God  told Moses and Aaron to count all the men who were old enough, and able enough, to go to war.  But there was one particular group that God did not want counted--the family of Levi.  He was setting them apart from the rest of the men to serve Him as priests of the Tabernacle. 

Beginning that day everything concerning the Tabernacle of His dwelling would be the work the Levitical priesthood was charged to do.  They would fight battles on a different front than the battalions God now was counting.  They would soon be waging war between a just God and the sins of all Israel, through their worship and their sacrifices and offerings on the altar.

But their work assignment involved so much more than that. For the priests, everything that they would do was to be focused primarily on God.  They were the first ones who would completely order their lives around God.  He clearly had designed it that way.  Not only would they be taking care of the tabernacle and its laver, altars, sacrifices, lampstand, table of showbread, veil and ark of the covenant, they were to station their tents immediately around this tent where God dwelt.  And when God said it was time to move to the next place, they would be the ones to pack up "God" and take Him with them.  God was, in all reality, at the center of their lives, for everything they would do was related to "keeping charge of the tabernacle."

Oh, believing friend, how this life is ours today as well!  As part of the royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9), we now carry the tabernacle of God in our hearts!  It is now our calling to make Him the very center of all that we think, say, and do.  God intentionally designed the lives of the Levitical priests to focus on and center around Him, creating a picture for us of what it means to be part of His royal priesthood now. Your hearts and mine are the very tabernacle of God!  How well are you keeping charge of your heart?  Is God the "bull's eye" of all you think, say, and do?  As His children, we are to keep Him in the center, the target we are aiming at in all things. 

Reach over your shoulder and pull an arrow from your quiver.  Set it in the string of your bow. Carefully, pull back the arrow, taking aim by aligning the point of the arrow with the bull's eye.  Now, gently release the arrow.  Did you hit the target? 

At the end of this day, count the number of arrows that hit the target.  Then count how many arrows you shot.  How did you do?

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 16

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Day 16:  The Thankful Leper (Luke 17: 11-19)

Again we find Jesus in today’s passage on His way to Jerusalem, to the cross on which He would die to bring salvation to the world.  His path led Him through the middle of Samaria on the north, and into Galilee.  Upon entering a village along the way, a group of men stood off in the distance, hoping to meet Jesus.  Seizing the opportunity at hand, the ten men went out to the One they had heard so much about.  By this time, Jesus had healed many people.  Word of these healings had surely reached their village.

“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” they cried out, desperate to be heard over the crowd that was surrounding Him.  These ten men had been afflicted with the awful disease of leprosy, and they knew He had an authority like no one else they had ever seen.

Jesus’ attention turned to the lepers.  “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  His answer was simple, yet it begged the next question.  Why did they need to go and show their leprosy to the priests?  It had been required of them when they first contracted it. Why show the priests now?  Jesus mused, knowing their thoughts, and knowing as well that their healing was on the way!  He had sent them to show the priests that their leprosy was healed.  In just a moment it would be GONE!

Deciding that it was best to obey the Master’s words, the ten men took off to show the priests, even though it seemed to make no sense.  On the way to the temple their “mercy” came.  All ten of them were healed of their despised condition.  What had made no sense before made perfect sense now.  Their meeting with the priests would render them all clean.  Nine continued on to the temple to fulfill the Jewish law, but one of them made a clear transition from the Law to the Grace of Jesus Christ.

As fast as his feet would carry him, he turned back to Jesus.  Glorifying God loudly, he fell at the feet of Jesus and worshipped Him, giving Him thanks for the awesome miracle that had taken place in his life.  On that day ten received cleansing, but only one received the greater healing—he was saved.  His faith had made his HEART well.  How’s your heart?

The Drink Offering I Require

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Jacob disobeyed My command.  He went his own way, and there was a tremendous price to pay.  You see, I called him to return to Bethel, the place where he first met Me.  But after he was reunited to his brother Esau, instead of coming "home,"  he chose to go to Shechem.  It was a disastrous decision that left his daughter's life in ruin, and two of his sons became murderers.  But most of all, he had separated himself from Me. He had listened to his own voice, instead of Mine.  So I spoke to him again, commanding him to return to Bethel, our special meeting place.

Jacob's heart was receptive.  But he didn't just pack up his family and belongs and make the move.  This time, before doing anything else, he set things right in his heart.  And he asked his family to do the same.  His instructions to them were clear and precise.  He said, "Put away your gods from you, purify yourselves, and change your attire." (35:2)

Jacob understood what it would mean to follow My ways, now.  It would require him to put away everything in his life that was set before Me.  Then he would have to remove the "residue" of the impact of those gods by allowing Me to change the filthy garments of his character.  By letting Me in to his life in this manner, he was building an altar of worship to Me. (35:3)

When Jacob, whom I now called Israel, arrived in Bethel, he wasted no time returning that point where I first met with him as he was fleeing from his brother Esau, whom desired to kill him.  Twenty years later, My Jacob, came back to Me, with more than a simple belief in Me.  He returned with a holy desire to be pleasing to Me, to sacrifice all  for Me on his altar of worship.  It was there that he poured out a drink offering to me, a hin  (gallon) of wine, over the pillar of stone he built to honor Me.  Little did he know that the wine he poured out to me was less important to Me than the sacrifice of his whole life to Me.  Jacob, My Israel, poured out his life when he put away his gods, purified his life life, and "put on" new spiritual clothing by "changing" his character.  That is the drink offering I require.  It was the drink offering Paul, thousands of years later, referred to when he said, ". . . I am being poured out as a drink offering. . ." in Phil. 2:17.

My precious one, I will require the same thing from you, but you must return to that place where we first met.  Come to Me, lay down your life to Me by putting away your gods, allow the Spirit to purify your heart (motives, will,  emotions), and change your robes.  I have set aside for you glorious robes of RIGHTEOUSNESS!

My child, the glass of your life that you wish to pour out to Me is filled with your spiritual life blood.  Tip it over; pour it out; empty it completely.  And I will fill you with Myself.  THIS is the drink offering I require.

The Idols Of Our Hearts

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC Israel had seen God execute His judgment on the Egyptian gods by the plagues He sent. Now Israel was being sent into Canaan, their Promised Land, to drive out the wicked Canaanites, their pagan gods, and demonic worship practices. Israel was to go in and utterly demolish every evil thing in order to possess the land God was giving them.  He asks us to do the same thing with every evil thing in our hearts.  (Numbers 33: 4, 50-55)

God will always judge what is wicked.  While we may not always understand how a loving God could orchestrate the annihilation of people, we must grow up in our understanding so that we can discern that God knew the hearts of those He was about to destroy.  He knew that they had already chosen to be anti-God.  He knew the evil of their "worship practices."  And He knew that they would not be converted to a faith in Him.  As a matter of fact, He knew that they would lead His people astray.  Therefore, God, in His infinite wisdom, used His own people Israel to execute His judgment on the people living in the Promised Land.  He did this so that Israel would have a pure nation to dwell in, one that was rid of pagan worship.

In God's direction to His people we clearly see the battle plan:  cross over the Jordan into the land, drive out the people by force, destroy all of their gods and idols, demolish their high places (altars of worship), and take possession of the land.  God certainly did not want any corrupt practices to dwell among His people and lead their hearts astray.  Now can you see where WE are heading?

Inside each of our hearts there camps many gods and idols.  These very gods are not set on a mantle and worshipped.  Instead, they are part of the sin in our lives.  All of us have attitudes that we default to.  We have sins that we practice that are more important to us than God.  Oh, we don't like to say that is true, yet it is.  Many of us can see what the god of our heart is by merely looking at our checkbook, taking note of what we spend our money on.  Many more of us will realize what our god is simply by listening to what pronouns we speak the most:  I, me, my, mine!  The priority of self points to who is really the god of our life! 

If you think God is the only authority in your life then it might be a good thing to consider this list:

Self-sufficiency, self-reliance, self-absorption, selfishness, impatience, hatred, unforgiveness, depression, anxiety, worry, bitterness, self-superiority, argumentative, self-deprecating, gossip, pot-stirring, envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, deceitful, lying, malice, abusive speech, coarse speech, partiality, bigotry . . .  The list is endless!  But we must begin to think in terms that identify these as the very evil practices that they are!  God's Word says they are the evil in our flesh that battles against the Spirit of the Living God in us!

Since God is an unchanging God, then His view of evil practices has not changed either.  If He charged the Israelites to destroy all evil practices so that they could live in purity instead of sin, what do you think our unchanging God will want our battle plan to be?  Of course, He wants us to destroy the very things inside our own hearts that lead us astray and away from Him!

In my forthcoming book (May 1, 2011) God has given me a great way to get these idols and gods into His hands and off of our backs.  It involves first identifying what is really in your heart, and then taking full vengeance on what He reveals to you.  This book, Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, can be purchased right now on Amazon.com, or directly from me (and I will sign your copy!).  Request your signed copy by contacting me at cherylgnagey@gmail.com or at www.cherylgnagey.com.