The Lord said to Moses: “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar.

Portions of Leviticus and Numbers

The Lord said to Moses: “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. Leviticus 6:8-9

Day 50 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 the various (five) offerings commanded by God to Moses to instruct the Israelites to perform, including sacrifice of firstfruit offerings from the harvest as well the burnt offering as means to atone for sins.

According to my commentary*, the burnt offerings "are continuous sacrifices of unblemished animals which are completely burned and never eaten"  Overall, "the sacrifices and offerings are designed to bring the removal of guilt (expiation) or the obtaining of God’s favor (propitiation)".

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

Because we all sin and the wages of sin is death, we need a Savior...and Jesus Christ is that Savior - as John Piper refers to Christ as the "perfectly complete" sacrifice.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and You willingly offered Yon urself as the perfect "once for all" complete sacrifice - for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such an act and such a God.  I sin...daily, including gossip, worry, harshness to others, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome my sin 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 understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

“‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, offer these to the Lord at your appointed festivals: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings.’”

Portions of Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers-Deuteronomy

“‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, offer these to the Lord at your appointed festivals: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings.’” Numbers 29:39

Day 49 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 command told to the Israelites through Moses to hold sacred assemblies for the following festivals: Passover, (Numbers 28:16-25), Weeks (Numbers 28:26-31), Trumpets (Numbers 29:1-6), Atonement (Numbers 29:7-11), and Tabernacles (Numbers 29:12-38).

Moses' Laws required much of the Israelites and God knew that the Israelites would never be able to fully uphold their end of the covenant, hence we have a New Covenant with Jesus Christ that does away with many of the "ceremonial" vs "moral" laws.

I am grateful that Jesus Christ is so full of mercy and compassion for me that He gives me this new freedom in Christ.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of mercy and compassion for me.  Thank You Jesus - I am not deserving of such mercy and compassion.  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.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Portions of Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers-Deuteronomy

  Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  Exodus 20: 8-11

Day 48 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 speaking through Moses to remind the Israelites of the laws before they enter the Promised Land.  Of particular importance in today's scripture is to rest on Sabbath - the 4th commandment.

The importance of Sabbath rest is reinforced by it's mention more than 15 times in the Bible.

My commentary refers to the Sabbath "as symbolic of the day upon which God rested after creation, and a reminder that no day of rest was permitted when the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage. It is the one day each week when all attention can be focused upon God and his blessings. And, although the Sabbath falls on the last day of each week, it foreshadows a time when the first day of each week will be observed in memory of the greatest event which will have happened since creation".

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

As I have posted on arrogance this past week, it is important that we focus on God and His blessings - keeping in mind that these blessings are not because we are righteous or deserving, or due to our own efforts but because of God's grace and rich mercy.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is rich in blessings and mercy for me - thank You Jesus!  Please help me constantly remember these blessings - not just on Sunday but all the time - You are a great God!  I am not deserving of such blessings and mercy.  I sin...daily, including worry.  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.

You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus-Leviticus-Deuteronomy 12-13, 17-22, 26-28

You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit, since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 12:8-9

Day 47 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 Moses' laws which my commentary* describes as "some of which he gives here for the first time—or at least they are recorded here for the first time—and some of which he has already given but now further explains or reemphasizes. (As indicated earlier, all the laws previously given have been held in abeyance until this section in order to bring the total together in one collection organized by subject matter.) Although these laws are traditionally known as the Laws of Moses, it is of course God who is their source. However, because there will be other laws of Israel as the nation becomes more fully developed, it is appropriate to distinguish these early commandments by referring to them as Moses’ laws".

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

Much of the focus here is God's 2nd and 3rd commandments (see Exodus 20) where:
- "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3
- "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6

To that end, God (through Moses) warns us of being seduced by "the world" as we will sow the seeds of destruction.  The more we grow comfortable with the world, the more we sow these seeds.  Instead we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6) and be "doers" of the Word as James exhorts us. 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has given me Your Word, the Holy Spirit, and so much more so that I can be filled - as I have been!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings because I know I am not righteous as You are.  I sin...daily..with arrogance and other sins.  Please forgive me 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.

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9-11

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.  Deuteronomy 9:4-6

Day 46 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 once again on Moses exhortations to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. As I have posted for the past two days, Moses and the Israelites know that Moses will not be entering the Land, but he loves the Israelites and seeks to impart both encouragements and warnings for those he loves.

Re-emphasizing the exhortations to avoid arrogance and to instead be humble, Moses sets the record straight with the Israelites that God's gift of the Promised Land to them was "not because of [their] righteousness" but instead due to the wickedness of the inhabitants of the Land and "to accomplish what [God] swore to Abraham, Issac, Jacob" and their descendants.  Yesterday, my post was about how our skills and abilities do not produce wealth - instead it is God who produces such wealth, and that any skills and abilities that contribute to such wealth building all come from God.  Today, the angle is that we don't deserve how God blesses us - we all have some degree of the Promised Land in our life - this is true for every single one of us because what we all deserve is death as we all sin (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8), not one of us is righteous (Psalm 14:3, Psalm 53:3, Romans 3:10-11), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 

God, please help me be humble.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who - out of great mercy and compassion - has humbled me and helped become less arrogant - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such mercy and compassion because I am STILL arrogant - 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.

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 5-8

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.  Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Day 45 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 a second address Moses gives to the Israelites in preparation for their settlement into the Promised Land.  Moses and the Israelites know that Moses will not be entering the Land and that he will be dying soon.  Although not as much as God does, Moses loves the Israelites deeply - he gave up a royal position to intercede and fight for them (Exodus 2).

In this second address to the Israelites there are important takeaways for us all:
- Ten Commandments (originally laid out in Exodus 20 but restated in Deuteronomy 5)
- "Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess". Deuteronomy 5:33
-  "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates". Deuteronomy 6:6-9
- Avoid idol worship and seduction of the world
- Remember what the Lord has done for you 
- "You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear". Deuteronomy 7:17-19
- Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.  Deuteronomy 8:5
- You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.  Deuteronomy 8:17-18

On this last verse, arrogance is important to recognize and on this note, I've been taught important and humbling lessons by God...and I am a WIP in this area.  Please help me God.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has provided me with all things including the air I breathe, the food I eat, and the shelter where I lay my head at night - this and so much more.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not worthy of such blessings because my arrogance continues and this causes me to be harsh with others because I believe I am more important than others.  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 understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Deuteronomy 1-4

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 4:29-31

Day 44 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 Moses' words to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land - he recaps how God rescued the Israelites out of Egypt, provides for them, disciplines them, and protects them through victories over enemies.  Moses also ensures the Israelites are aware of how faithful God is as He has kept His promise to make the Israelites a great nation and to give them the Promised Land.  Moses also shares lament over His own sin and how this prevented Him from entering the Land.  He encourages the Israelites to stay near to God and to obey His laws and decrees.  Moses knows that he is about to die and pass on the baton of leadership to Joshua.

Moses believes idolatry is a great threat and he warns the people of how they will face God's anger should they worship "any kind of idol" (Deuteronomy 4:25-28).  Sensing the Israelites likely will worship idols, Moses offers encouragement for those who repent.  We all sin - but God is full of compassion and mercy.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has offered me great mercy and compassion as You have rescued me from the sting of sin and death - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a gift...I am harsh to others.  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.  Please 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.