Month: April 2014

Exodus 29:14
“But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.”

I seriously doubt that we will ever understand the sacrifice Christ made to save us from our sins. When you look at the sacrifices God commanded the children of Israel to observe, you get a small picture of the sacrifice Christ made for mankind. The sacrifice that He made shows the great love that He has for every person.

In the verse above, God commanded Moses to offer a sin offering for Aaron and his sons as a part of setting them apart for the office of the priest. God told them to take a bullock and kill it at the door of the tabernacle. Then they were to take the blood of the bullock and spear it on the horns of the altar and pour the remaining blood at the bottom of the altar. They were then to flay the bullock and sacrifice the inwards of it, but they were to take the skin and the dung and burn them with fire without the camp. In this sacrifice is a picture of what Jesus did to salvage mankind, but I also believe it takes the same from you to be an influence on people to help bring them to Christ. Let me take this sacrifice and show you what it will take for you to be used to salvage people.

First, you must be willing to be a sacrifice. One of the most interesting things about Christ being our sacrifice is that He had to be willing to leave Heaven for you and I. If you are not willing to sacrifice yourself for others, then you will never have the influence upon them to change their lives. Jesus left everything so that He could save a world from their sins, and until you are willing to leave everything for others, then you will never have the impact on their lives to see them changed.

Second, you must love them enough to go where they are. Jesus didn’t stay in Heaven to salvage mankind, but He left a wonderful place to go to a horrible place all because He loved man so much that He wanted them to be saved from their sins. You will never greatly influence people until they see you love them more than anything else. Until you are willing to go where they are, then you will never make a change in their life. I’m not talking about living their lifestyle, but I’m talking about being among them and not being ashamed to bring them to Christ. If you only want to stay in the comforts of your church and home, then you will not reach them. You must go to where people are if you are going to salvage them.

Third, you must lay aside the robes of who you are if you are going to salvage a people. One of the most interesting things about this sacrifice is that the bullock had its skin removed. This was symbolic of Jesus laying aside His robes of Deity and taking on the robes of humanity so that we could be reached. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus Christ was still God, but He took on flesh so that He could reach us. You will never reach people and salvage them if you are not willing to change who you are to become like Christ. You can become stubborn and say that you are not going to change, but you will never reach people. You must realize that God cannot change people through you until you lay aside your robes of humanity to be clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit of God. It is when we take on His likeness that we can influence others.

I ask you, are you willing to do what it takes to salvage people? Jesus Christ was willing to do all of this to salvage you, the least you can do is follow His example to try to salvage those in your world. People are needing you. Be that person who is willing to take these steps to salvage a people for the sake of Christ.

Exodus 13:19
“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.”

The last words of Joseph were, “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” (Genesis 50:25) Those bones that Moses took with him as he exited Egypt were more than a set of bones; they represented something much greater. The meaning of those bones were so great that Moses carried the bones. He didn’t have Aaron or one of the Levites take them, he took them because he was the leader. He understood the importance of what those bones meant to Israel, and he wanted to be sure that the meaning of those bones were not forgotten.

First, those bones represented that God fulfills His promises. The last words Joseph said was that God would “visit” Israel and bring them back to the Promised Land. Moses wanted the people to be reminded that God always fulfills his promise.

Every Christian needs to be sure that they keep God’s fulfilled promises in sight. It is interesting that it took four hundred years before the promise was fulfilled, but God always keeps His promise. You must always remember to look at the fulfilled promises of God so that you don’t give up when God has not yet fulfilled a promise in your life. God will fulfill His promises in his timing, and sometimes His timing is much longer than we would want. Always remember that the bones they are God’s promises fulfilled.

Second, those bones represented their heritage. Though Egypt forgot their heritage, Moses didn’t want Israel to forget theirs. He understood that if Israel was going to keep God’s blessings on their lives, then they must never forget their heritage. Likewise, you must remember the bones of your heritage. Don’t look at your heritage as a bunch of dead bones, but look at those bones and remember who you are and from whence you came.

Third, carrying those bones out of Egypt was a sign to the rest of the people that Moses was going to carry on what his forefathers passed down to him. Friend, every generation needs to pick up the bones of their heritage and carry it on. All it takes is for one generation to decide not to carry the bones, and the next generation will forget their heritage. Your children and grandchildren will only learn God’s heritage if you carry the bones. Don’t be negligent because it inconveniences you or is unpopular. Carry those bones for that is the only way the next generation will understand their heritage.

Fourth, those bones represented the responsibility of everyone carrying them. Moses wanted to be the one to carry the bones so that everyone from the top down would understand the importance. Keeping your heritage alive is everyone’s responsibility. We cannot just leave it to a few to fight to keep it alive, but every person must understand it is their responsibility to carry the bones of their heritage.

Are you carrying the bones of your heritage or have you laid them aside because they seem antiquated? Christian, we live in times when people are forsaking the bones of their heritage for something new, and it takes people like you to carry the bones. Don’t be ashamed of carrying the bones of your heritage. Carry them proudly and openly so that there is no mistake that you represent the God of Heaven and that you are not ashamed of what He has made of you.

Exodus 8:28
“And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.”

Moses nearly made the same mistake that many pastors and Christians make had not God stepped in and stopped it. As Moses continued to challenge Pharaoh’s attempt to let them go and sacrifice to God, Pharaoh came back and offered Moses to sacrifice to God, but he said “ye shall not go very far away.” Moses actually agreed to the offer, but God stepped in and hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let them go.

I’m sure this offer didn’t sound too bad to Moses. You must understand the pressure Moses had coming from both Pharaoh and his own people. Moses probably thought that this compromise was a way to relieve the pressure. What Moses didn’t understand is that if he had gone through with this offer, Pharaoh would have known that they were not very serious because they moved one time.

This same offer to not go very far away is what you are faced with on a day-to-day basis. Satan initially attacks the Christian with unreasonable offers that he knows they will not accept, and then he comes back with the offer to not go very far away. Satan knows that if you don’t go too far from the world that he will eventually get you to come back to the world. He knows that as long as the world is in sight that its allure and fancies will eventually cause you to come back. The offer to not go too far away must never be accepted.

We must be careful about our churches accepting the offer to stay close to the world. Many pastors have gotten tired of not seeing their churches grow, and they think that if they don’t go too far from the world that it will bring the world into the church. This is not the case! Pastors must realize that if the world can get the church to move, then they will continue to apply pressure for the church to get closer until they are no longer serving the LORD. The pastor must never accept the world’s offer of not going too far away. The church must stand with truth, for truth will take the world’s viewpoint completely out of sight.

Moreover, every home must be careful about not accepting the offer of staying closer to the world. Parents, don’t become weary of the constant barrage of attacks from your teenager to let up. The Devil would love for you to move your home where it is not too far from the world. Many homes have been destroyed because they stayed in eyeshot of the world only to completely stop serving the LORD to the detriment of their children.

Furthermore, every Christian needs to be careful about allowing the enticement of not going too far away. You may become weary with the criticism about your stand from work or school, but you must never allow the world’s offer to come closer to cause you to move. Friend, they are waiting for you to move one time. If you move once then you have lost the battle. You must continue to stand strong and not move even if the world calls you extreme.

Always remember that when God saved you, He brought you out of the world. The whole reason the world wants you to not go too far is so that you can still see the temptations of the world. The answer is to stay close to God. You are a Christian, and you should never leave God’s side. If you will stay close to God, then the call of not going too far will never entice you.

Genesis 40:23
“Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.”

Have you ever felt that your life is constantly on the bad end of lies? What I mean by this statement is that you are the one who is lied about and is considered the bad guy. This is certainly a helpless feeling, and can also drive a person to try to get revenge.

Nobody epitomizes this better than Joseph. Joseph’s early life seems to be one that was surrounded by deceit. His father was a master of deceit, and it is very obvious that Joseph’s brothers learned it from him. Then, Joseph’s brothers practiced their deceit on him and sold him into slavery. When Joseph must have thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. His master’s wife lied about him trying to force himself upon her which resulted in his imprisonment. Finally, while in prison the inmates whom he helped promised to speak a good word to Pharaoh, and they did not. Somehow, through about thirty years of deceit that surrounded Joseph, he came through life with a good attitude and did not let the deceit destroy him.

There are going to be times in your life when you are going to be the recipient of deceit. When that happens, what you do with it will determine what your attitude is like and what God can do with you. There were four definite things Joseph did that helped him deal with deceit in a good way.

First, Joseph kept doing right. It would have been easy to give up and say, “What’s the use?”, but he didn’t do that. He kept on doing right because he was not going to allow the bad character of others to affect his. When you are the recipient of deceit, you must keep doing right. Don’t lower yourself to the character level of those who are deceitful. Remember, God is watching and will reward both you and the deceitful ones. Don’t reward deceit with deceit, instead keep doing right.

Second, Joseph kept helping people. This is truly amazing when you consider how many people were deceitful towards him. You cannot adopt the attitude that everyone is deceitful so you are not going to help anyone. When you are the recipient of deceit, don’t allow it to cause you to lose your belief in the goodness of people. Keep helping people, for there are plenty of good people whom you can help, and your action to help is what will get you through the damages of deceit.

Third, Joseph saw the whole picture. This is the part that truly amazes me about Joseph. He understood there was a bigger picture than the immediate, and that is what kept him going. When you are the recipient of deceit, don’t forget to look at the bigger picture. You are only living in a small time frame of your life, and you must pull yourself back to see the whole picture and realize that God is in control. You must realize that God is using this deceit for some good. You may not be able to see the good, but it will come if you look at the whole picture and realize that God is in control.

Finally, Joseph didn’t give up. He kept going and believed that this part of his life would end, and it did. Whatever you do, you must keep going when you are the recipient of deceit. There are many people who are still depending upon you to keep going. Joseph didn’t understand how many people were truly depending upon him, but there were thousands of people who would have died had he given up. You don’t know what your future may be and that is why you must not give up. God is going to use you if you will keep a good attitude through the deceit and continue to do what is right. Don’t let the helpless feeling that deceit has dropped upon you cause you to quit. Just keep on going realizing that it is all part of a bigger picture of God’s plan to use you.

Genesis 25:28
“And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

You would think that Isaac would have learned from his parents the dangers of selfish parenting. He saw firsthand what would happen if parents become selfish, because he dealt with it through his step brother, Ishmael. Yet, we find that Isaac and Rebekah both got involved in selfish parenting which led to sibling rivalry in the home. The sibling rivalry didn’t stop in the home. It followed them throughout their young adult lives. There were three very selfish things Jacob and Rebekah did that led to the sibling rivalry of Jacob and Esau.

First, they played favorites with their boys. It says that Jacob loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob. This no doubt affected the way they treated their sons. It probably affected the way they punished their children as well as their time spent with each child.

Parents have to be very careful that they don’t play favorites with their children. Every child must be loved the same. Yes, you may love each child in their unique way, but you cannot give any perception of favorites. This creates a rivalry atmosphere among children. Children need the security that they are as loved from both parents as each of their siblings. God certainly does this with His children. God doesn’t love one child more than another just because one is better than the other. Just because one child may act a little better, you must never portray that you love them more than the child who may be a little more challenging to raise.

Second, they manipulated circumstances in the home by using their children. When Rebekah saw that Esau was going to be blessed, she used Jacob as a tool of manipulation to be sure he was blessed and not Esau. Using your children to manipulate your spouse to get what you want only teaches your children to manipulate things to get what they want. Children don’t need to be taught to use manipulation to get what they want, for manipulation is dishonesty. You may use your children to manipulate circumstances, but eventually you will find they will begin to manipulate you to get what they want. Instead of teaching your children how to manipulate situations to get what they want, you should teach them to be honest and work hard to get what they want.

Third, they wanted to be friends to their children instead of parents. Both Isaac and Rebekah were guilty of trying to be their favorite child’s friend instead of being a parent and correcting them when they did wrong. This selfish style of parenting only causes you to lose your children in the end. You are not supposed to be your child’s friend, you are supposed to be their parent. Sometimes a parent must make tough decisions that will cause their child not to like them, but that is being a parent. Parents must rear their children to do right, and many times that will cause them to dislike your decisions.

Friend, parenting is not an easy chore, but selfish parenting only makes parenting harder. Be careful that you don’t become selfish in your parenting. Selfish parenting leads to selfish children, and having selfish children leads to sibling rivalry. If you don’t want your home to be a battleground of sibling rivalry, then don’t be guilty of being a selfish parent.

Genesis 16:2
“And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.”

One of the main causes of dysfunctional homes is that one or more family members are shirking their duties. When you look at Abram’s home, you would have a hard time saying that it was not dysfunctional. He himself was the result of a dysfunctional home, and he didn’t seem to overcome some of the problems that affected his upbringing. Then you look at Abram himself and see that there was lying, unfaithfulness and disrespect for each other. It is no wonder that his home was dysfunctional. Yet, there were two main things that led to the dysfunction in his home.

First, Sarai shirked her duty of following and pressured Abram to let her take the reins of household leadership. From the beginning God never intended for the wife to take the leadership role. Because Abram and Sarai had no children, and because their desire for a child was great, Sarai pressured her husband into going in unto their maid to try and have a child through her. Sarai stepped out of her role of following her husband and used her influence over her husband in part led to the dysfunction in their home.

Ladies, the power you have over your husband is great. You can use that power to get your way, but that will only lead to a dysfunctional home. Your silence because your husband decides to do something you don’t want to do is your way of manipulating your husband into doing what you want to do. Then there are some ladies who are not manipulative about not following their husband, they just won’t follow and they make that known. You may get what you want, but your unwillingness to follow your husband’s leadership will lead to a dysfunctional home. Ladies, you must be careful that you don’t use your influence to pressure your husband into doing something that will lead to a dysfunctional home.

Second, Abram shirked his duty of leadership. It doesn’t matter how much pressure Sarai put on her husband, he should have never allowed her pressure to cause him to step down from the role of leader in the home. When he shirked his duty as the leader in the home, it led to dysfunction that followed his family to this day.

Men, your job is to be the leader in your home. When you shirk your duty of leadership, then you cause your home to become dysfunctional. I don’t care how much pressure your wife may put on you, and it really doesn’t matter how uncomfortable the pressure may be. You are a man, and you should lead no matter what pressure is applied. Far too many men shirk their duty of leadership in the home because they just don’t want to put up with the grief their wife will give. Men, if you want your home to be what it ought to, then you need to lead your home.

Every dysfunctional home can be traced back to either the husband or wife shirking their duties. The duty of the wife is to follow her husband’s leadership, and the duty of the husband is to lead the home. If both husband and wife will fulfill their duty in the home, then you will find a home that operates properly and a home that is filled with peace.

Job 38:3
“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.”

You should never want tragedy to come your way and you not get better through it. Your desire is that tragedy would make Job 23:10 come to life when it says, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” There is no doubt that Job is the perfect picture of turning tragedy into triumph. I see there were five things that Job did that helped him to recover from tragedy and turn it into triumph.

First, if you are going to recover from tragedy you need to get up. One of the first words God said to Job when He addressed him was, “Gird up now thy loins like a man…” God was saying that Job had wallowed long enough in his self-pity and that it was time for him to get up and get going.

Wallowing in tragedy will not help you. I know when tragedy first hits the easiest thing to do is to go into hibernation and hope that you don’t have to see anyone, but that will only make your hardship worse. When tragedy comes, you are purposely going to have to get up every day and live life. You are not the only one who has gone through tragedy, and you still have life to live. So, get up and live life.

Second, if you are going to recover from tragedy you need to look up. For the next several verses, God got Job to look up and see the great God Whom he served. Friend, there is only One Who can truly help you when tragedy comes, and you must look up to see Him. Looking to God is the only thing that will help you come out of tragedy the right way. He is the One Who can help you. When you get up, be sure to look up and see the God Who has the power to help you.

Third, if you are going to recover from tragedy you need to fess up. Job said in Job 40:4, “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.” Once Job looked up, he saw what he truly was and he fessed up to God. Part of the reason God allows you to go through tragedy is so that you can get rid of sin so you can “come forth as gold.” You will never fess up until you look up, and you will never look up until you get up. Once you look up and see where your weaknesses are, get them right so that God’s refining process will work.

Fourth, if you are going to recover from tragedy you need to shut up. Look at Job 40:4 again, “I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.” Friend, one of the things we must not do when tragedy comes is to whine and complain about it. You must realize that someone else always has it worse than you. When you whine and gripe about your tragedy, you are only showing others that you don’t have a God Who is powerful enough to help you through it. Praise God instead of whining about your tragedy.

Fifth, if you are going to recover from tragedy you need to pray up. Job 42:10 says, “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends:” When going through tragedy you certainly want to pray to God about your heartache, but be sure to pray for others as well. It was when Job prayed for others that God turned the tragedy into triumph. Prayer is the only thing that turns tragedy into triumph. As long as you gripe and complain you cannot turn tragedy around. It will only happen when you pray, for prayer is the tool that engages the forces of Heaven to work on your behalf.

Turning tragedy into triumph starts when you get up. Whatever you face today can certainly be turned into triumph if you will get up and take the next four steps. Don’t let tragedy destroy you, instead take tragedy and turn it into triumph by following these five steps. Let your tragedy become gold to which others can look to for encouragement through their tragedy.

Job 15:10
“With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.”

I was very young when I started out in evangelism. I had barely made it through my twentieth year of life when I stepped out by faith into full-time evangelism. Because I was so young, one of the hardest things I had to overcome was the age barrier with those who were elderly, especially among the fraternity of preachers.

Now that I am in the middle years of life, I have the opportunity to help young men get started in the ministry. One of the common complaints I get from these young men is that they have a difficulty getting through the age barrier. It’s as if the aged believe that a youth has nothing to teach them.

From my childhood I have learned to respect the aged. My parents always taught me to give up my seat to the aged. They taught me to address the aged properly by never addressing them by their first name. They also taught me to listen when in the presence of the aged so that I could learn from them. I’m thankful that they taught me these things for they have been very helpful to my advancement in life.

However, age doesn’t always mean a person is wise or someone to whom I should listen. The friends of Job used their age and gray hairs as a defense of their attack against him. It was as if this was the golden grail of wisdom, and that he should listen to them because they were simply older than he. Yet, when I continue reading in the Book of Job, I find that it wasn’t the aged person who had the right answers, but a younger man who respected the aged enough to let them speak first before he finally spoke on God’s behalf.

Just because a person has age does not mean that you should follow their advice. There are many heathens who have age. Does that mean that we should forget everything the Scriptures teach to follow their wicked advice? Certainly not! Just because a person has age does not mean they are a wise person. Just because a person has age does not mean that is worthy of a person being followed. Age is in no way a determining factor of whether someone’s advice should be followed.

The determining factor on whether you should follow someone is whether they follow the Scriptures. The Scriptures are always the determining factor of right and wrong. Just because someone has inhabited this earth for many years does not mean they know more than God.

Furthermore, age doesn’t always mean someone has common sense. One of the most disturbing things I find in our day is the lack of common sense. Common sense will help someone go a long way in life. Certainly someone with age should have more common sense because they have lived longer, but that isn’t always the case.

This devotional is in no way a condemnation to the aged, but it is a caution to use age as the determining factor of whether you should listen to one’s advice. Always remember the Scriptures are the final authority. If the aged don’t follow the Scriptures, then the aged should not be followed. Yes, you should respect the aged and give them a hearing when they have walked in the pathway of the Scriptures, but don’t think that age always makes them right.

Moreover, the aged person needs to give youth a break. I can certainly understand an aged person desiring respect, but respect goes both ways. Don’t belittle a person just because they are young. Give them a break and allow them the opportunity to do God’s will for their life. Don’t treat the youth as if they have no knowledge. Always remember that everyone is your teacher, this includes a youthful person who follows the Scriptures.