He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40-41

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

I continue my deep dive of Isaiah, based on the Precept Upon Precept study series. Today, I move on Lesson 15, Day 2, which looks at Isaiah 40. My commentary provides the following divisions for this chapter:

1. The proclaimed glory of God comforts sinners with forgiveness (v1-11)
2. The immeasurable glory of God dwarfs the cosmos and the nations (v12-26)
3. The limitless glory of God strengthens the weary (v27-31)
   

As previously indicated in the past couple of posts, chapter 40 marks a transition as the commentary states that God yearns that his crushed people, humbled and broken under his judgements, will see that atonement for their sin is God's final purpose....Now at last Judah is assured that full atonement is provided for all her sins."

The commentary shares the following applications for Isaiah 40:

1. trust in Christ
2. expect the need for daily strengthening of our faith
3. pray confidently and humbly
4. appreciate our own fragility and mortality
5. set our hope on the grace to be given to us when Jesus Christ returns

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me - daily!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love, grace and compassion.  My sin is great and it continues daily.  Please forgive me Jesus!  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.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Leviticus 3

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - looking at chapter three - Peace with God - covering 3:1-17, looking specifically at the theme We Bring Our Lives to God.  My commentary ends this morning by urging us to look at Romans 12:1 and how Paul seeks to have believers offer our lives "as a living sacrifice."  Leviticus 3 specifically discusses the peace offering and how animals served as a substitute for the sinner as the "wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). The commentary also emphasizes how it was expected that confession of sin accompanied sacrifice and how the sacrificial system (still in place now albeit via Jesus Christ vs Old Testament ceremonial sacrifice) included:

1. acknowledgement of (and confession) sin
2. affirmation that God's just penalty for sin is death
3. acknowledgement of the principal of sustitutionary sacrifice - the animal took the worshiper's place
4. seeking of atonement and peace with God

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who provides a path for atonement and peace with You - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You forgive me and provide a path for forgiveness and reconciliation with You.  My sin, of arrogance, worry, impatience, harshness, etc. continues.  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.

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Leviticus 1

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:10

This afternoon, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing a review 1:1-7, looking at the theme Jesus is the Final and Perfect Means of Atonement. Here, my commentary seeks to reinforce the takeaways from the previous five days of my study of Leviticus with this commentary (all looking at different aspects of v1:1-7). The commentary writes:

• "the sacrifices [required by God] were physical acts, but they pointed to spiritual realities"
• "they [the sacrifices] pointed to the holiness of God-sin must be removed in order for people to be in God's presence"
• "they pointed to the mercy of God--He provided the means for sin to be taken away, and He invited people into His presence"
• "they pointed to the desire of the worshipers to be right with God--they were obeying God's requirements for reconciliation"

The commentary then emphasizes how the sacrificial system required by God "pointed forward to Christ" and that God had already (in Genesis 3:15) prophesied how "the seed of Eve would strike the head of the serpent."  It then describes a distinction between Old Testament sacrifice - how God taught sacrifice - and New Testament sacrifice - how God, through Jesus, provided sacrifice for sin. 

Here, in Leviticus, we have a path to reconciliation with God as it describes the sacrificial system required by God to remove sin.  We are urged to see how God has always desired us to be in union with Him through sacrifice (to remove sin), and how Jesus' death on the cross serves as the perfect and final means of atonement. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, I love You and I am grateful that You provide a path to remove my sin and You of course have saved me and I am part of Your family - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a gift - the greatest gift of all time.  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.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. - Part 2

Leviticus 1

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Leviticus 1:4

This afternoon, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing a review 1:1-7, looking at the theme God Provides the Means of Atonement.  My post yesterday, which also looked at v1:4, focused on how our sin requires atonement and today the focus is on how God provides a means for atonement.  This means of atonement as described in my commentary should be taken seriously, and unfortunately the Israelites too often offered sacrifices as empty rituals. The commentary highlights Psalm 40:6-8, demonstrating that God cares about our heart condition, desire for Him, and a desire to please and glorify Him. 

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.  Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:6-8

We must be prepared to truly repent of our sins and draw near to God.

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who provides a means for atonement - thank You Jesus!  I need to be forgiven and I need salvation - You provide both!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love - 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.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Leviticus 1

He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Leviticus 1:4

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing a review 1:1-7, looking at the theme Our Sin Requires Atonement. Here, the focus, as the theme states, is on atonement - my commentary indicates that Leviticus mentions "atonement" 53 times while "only 43 times elsewhere in the whole Old Testament.  Thus, Leviticus says more about atonement than any other book in the Old Testament." The word is defined as describing reconciliation with the "Hebrew word translated 'atonement' refers to the beginning of that process.  It denotes doing what is necessary for two parties to be reconciled.  In the case of our relationship with God, it refers to the taking away of sin."  The commentary gives Leviticus 17:11 as another scriptural basis to help us understand the role of shed blood with atonement, as shed blood "was the ransom payment for the death the worshiper's sin had earned." The laying of hands on the head of the burnt offering is described as transferring the sin and guilt of the worshiper to the animal sacrificed. The sacrificial system required by God is based on what the commentary describes as "a universal and unalterable truth-sin leads to death" as "laid down" by God since The Fall where just prior to the eating of the forbidden fruit God states that if you eat it, "you shall surely die (Genesis 2:17)." The commentary summarizes the sacrificial system by stating that:

1. Sin leads to death
2. God is perfectly holy - no sin is allowed in His presence
3. Our sin must be taken away for us to worship God and to enjoy fellowship with Him

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has taken my place as a ransom for my sin - thank You!  I am grateful as I know this is the greatest gift of all time and I am not deserving of such a gift.  My sin continues, and I know You are not done with my sanctification. Please forgive me for my worry and other sins.  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. 

"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock."

Leviticus 1

"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock." Leviticus 1:2

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing a review 1:1-7, looking at the theme God Invites Us to Meet With Him. The commentary describes the word "bring" in v2 as draw near to God and how God has always provided a path for atonement of sin - that is how much He loves us.  The commentary refers to Genesis 3:1-9 (The Fall) and how God (even with full foreknowledge of their sin) immediately pursued Adam and Eve to remain in relationship with them. We must understand and appreciate the depth and breadth of God's love and how He forgives us.  The commentary offers the following verse as another scriptural example demonstrating how God offers a path for atonement and forgiveness - knowing everything about our sin and knowing full well that our sin continues. 

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Isaiah 55:1-3

Just as God spoke to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3) and how He spoke to Israel and Judah (despite their sinful ways) through Isaiah - offering a path for atonement and forgiveness - He does for all of us and that is through Jesus Christ.

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is full of mercy and compassion for me.  Despite my sin, You offer a path for atonement and forgiveness - Jesus Christ!  Thank You Jesus!  The greatest gift of all time.  I am not deserving of such a gift.  My sin continues...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.