There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous.

Ecclesiastes 8

There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. Ecclesiastes 8:14

I continue my study of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book. My focus this morning is Ecclesiastes 8 and how the takeaway of this text relates to the second division of the commentary for chapters 7-11: Sin Leads to Brokenness and Meaninglessness. V14 succinctly encapsulates the futility of life without God - regardless of what you do, apart from God sin persists.  Solomon is a product of the Old Testament and the ceremonial law that led people to believe that works (without a heart set on pleasing God) were pleasing to God.  The point of course is that Jesus Christ and His death on the cross ended the need for the ceremonial law and the sacrificial system as He died as the spotless lamb - the once and for all time perfect sacrifice for all of humanity's sin.  Solomon's futility pointed to the need for Jesus.  Hebrews 8 serves as a fantastic example from scripture that illustrates that what Jesus offers is infinitely better than covenant offered to Israel in the Old Testament.  God does not want animal sacrifices, He wants Your heart and life surrendered to Him.  See also Psalm 50:8; Hosea 6:6; Psalm 51:16; Psalm 40:6–8; Isaiah 1:11–31; Jeremiah 7:21–23; Hebrews 10:4–10.  Surrender and believe!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - saving me and pour out Your mercies ceaselessly. Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love and compassion and mercies.  My sin is great and it is daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.          

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.

Leviticus 21-22

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. Matthew 5:19-20

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - wrapping up chapter nineteen - Holiness and Leadership - covering Leviticus 21-22, looking specifically at the fifth and final theme for the chapter - God Calls Us to Know Him Through His New Covenant in Christ.  Here, the commentary summarizes the key takeaways from Leviticus 21-22.  It starts by stating that "God's commands about [the] worship practices and priests [as described in these books] are helpful since they symbolize the way God relates to His people.  On the other hand, the old covenant sacrificial system and priesthood have been superseded by the new covenant in Jesus....However, the book of Leviticus is valuable because it is doubtful we will understand much of what the New Testament says about Jesus unless we know and understand Leviticus." We are encouraged to review how Jesus fulfills the laws in Leviticus 21-22. 

• Jesus is our high priest: see Hebrews 7 and 1 Timothy 2:5
• Jesus is our perfect sacrifice: see Hebrews 9:26
• We worship through Jesus; how we worship matters; we are to be right with God so we must ask Him for forgiveness of sin before we worship: see Hebrews 10:29 and 13:15 
• Jesus defines holiness - it not elitism as practiced by the Sadducees and Pharisees, but humble submission (including death on the cross!); it is also not externalism and a focus on ritual/ceremonial law, but on heart transformation: see Luke 18:9, John 7:49, Luke 12:48, Matthew 5:19-22, 27-28    

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is so full of amazing grace for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a God.  My sin continues - worry, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

 Leviticus 5

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing with chapter five - Five Eternal, Counter Cultural Truths about God, Us and Our Sin - covering Leviticus 5:1-13, looking specifically at the theme God Provides Atonement for Sin. The commentary this morning focuses on atonement and starts by stating how the word is defined as reconciliation, with the implication being that sin separates us from God and atonement via the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was designed to provide a path for forgiveness and reconciliation. The commentary reinforces a recent post on the importance of our heart vs mindless rituals.  God's instructions on how to perform the sacrificial system as laid out in the Old Testament go to great lengths of details because details matter, and when we slow down and are careful, we can give more thought to what the rituals and corresponding details mean, and why God's design for the sacrificial system at the time was perfect.  However, God also knew at the time that the Old Testament sacrificial system was temporary as we knew Jesus was needed to die once and for all from the very beginning in Genesis. Ultimately, as the commentary points this out - Jesus became both the sacrifice and the mediator (priest). The commentary points to 1Timothy 2:5-6 as a great scriptural reference. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who provides a path for atonement and reconciliation - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You died for me and provided this path, nor for any of the blessings You pour out for me.  I continue to sin, gossip, worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord....But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit....I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jeremiah 15-17

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord....But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit....I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:5, 7-8, 10 

Day 211 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with my study of Jeremiah. This morning, my reading focuses on the challenge of Jeremiah's mission - to chastise Judah of her wickedness and to warn her of impending captivity.  My commentary* discusses how Jeremiah feels the weight of his mission, particularly in light of how false prophets claim peace and prosperity will continue for Judah.  Jeremiah is mocked, many seek to kill him, and God seeks great sacrifice from Jeremiah, telling him not to marry, mourn at funerals, or to feast (Jeremiah 16:1-9). As Jeremiah complains, God seeks to both chastise and reassure Jeremiah in the mission.  One of God's key messages to Jeremiah and Judah is how "trust in man [is] futile" and how "God knows the heart".  God wants Jeremiah to glorify God through the mission - do what God says and in the process worship and seek to bring glory to God...and God will work through You to accomplish His will.

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

We must focus on our heart condition as we strive to love the Lord more each day.

God gives each believer a mission and we are encouraged not to focus on worldly definitions of mission success - but instead on worship and the glory of God.  John Piper provides great insights on this topic.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has done MUCH in my heart and life - I love You Lord!  Thank You for the many blessings You have poured out in my life!  I am not deserving of such love and blessings.  I sin...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Portions of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy

It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. Deuteronomy 17:19-20

Day 56 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) focuses on God's directives to build on Moses' leadership by providing guidance on the selection of a king, the establishment of courts and judges, and for fairness and justice. 

With regards to selection of a king, love of the Lord is first and foremost.  A king should be humble.  As I have posted recently on arrogance, I must remember that we exist to glorify the Lord and that we should live in such a way that others see God in us - this is only possible if we deny ourselves.

We must also not be seduced by the world in looking for a king (v14) - God's anointing of David should be a lesson for us.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God who loves me and who has placed many Godly men in my path who have led to me - and helped me grow closer to You.  I am deeply grateful for these men and for You placing these men in my life.  I am not deserving of such love and blessings.  I sin...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.