HOLY IS HIS NAME

 

HOLY IS HIS NAME

Lev. 22:31-33 “You must faithfully keep all my commands by obeying them, for I am the LORD. Do not treat my holy name as common and ordinary. I must be treated as holy by the people of Israel. It is I, the LORD, who makes you holy. It was I who rescued you from Egypt, that I might be your very own God. I am the LORD.” NLT

Let’s reword these verses today and see how they might apply to us. “You must faithfully keep all my commands by obeying them, for I am the Lord. Do not treat my holy name as common and ordinary. I must be treated as holy by all my children. It is I, the Lord, who makes you holy. It was I who saved you from your sin, that I might be your very own God. I am the Lord.”

Think about how you treat the Lord’s name. Many of us use His name as if He were no different than anyone else we know. We freely throw His name out there without regard for the fact that He is holy and must be revered as such. His name is not like any other name. It is not common and ordinary. It is not to be used like we do any other name.

We use names to identify people. When we speak someone’s name we know who we are talking about or to. One’s name represents who he is. There are certain things that are known about the person whom we identify by name. The better we get to know the person, more meaning their name has to us. Only those whom we know well have names that mean much to us.

We use names sometimes for personal gain. We use the phrase, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” Because of someone’s reputation or stature in life doors are often opened by using their name.

God’s name is not like any other name. God is the essence of all life. He is absolute goodness, love, truth, and holiness. There is no one like Him. He is the cause and creator of all things and all things exist for His glory. He is the one who makes it possible for us to have a relationship with Him. He is the one who makes us who we are in Christ, a holy people who are well-pleasing in His sight. He is the one before whom we must bow. He is the one who holds the keys to heaven and hell. He is not like us; He is God.

It is not a good thing, nor is it acceptable to God for us to use His name as if it were common and ordinary. We disrespect God when we do. Let us take an honest look at how we use His name and think about how we use it. If you find yourself misusing His name, repent of it and strive to think twice before you use it. He is holy and our Savior. Let us treat Him like it.

 

HONORING PARENTS AND THE LORD’S DAY

Lev. 19:3 “Each of you must show respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest, for I, the LORD, am your God.” NLT

Although we are living in grace and not under the law, I believe there are two very important truths here we need to pay heed to. It is always a good thing to show respect to our parents, and it’s always good to observe the Lord’s Day.

Now, I know that there are many parents who have not left their children much, if anything, to respect them for. This is a general guiding principle that can be applied to those children who have had good parents. How might we respect our parents? We can ask ourselves, “Do we bring shame or favor to the family name? Are we living in such a way that it would make them proud? Do we treat them well? As they get older and no longer are able to take care of themselves, do we stay involved in their lives? Do we visit and pay attention to them, no matter how much or little they may know or appreciate it?” Respecting one’s parents means that we treat them as people worthy of our love and affections.

Observing the Lord’s Day is going to vary in application, but I still believe that we need to set aside a day in our week whereby we can focus our attention and energy on the Lord. I don’t believe that we need to be legalistic about it, but certainly, there has to be more that we can do than what is being done in most Christians’ lives these days. It seems to me like we no longer consider the Lord’s Day sacred. We have gotten the idea that as long as we attend church, we can do whatever we want with the rest of the day, no matter how strenuous it may be on us. The Lord calls His day a day of rest for a reason. It is no wonder why so many of us are so stressed out and have health problems.

Also, I believe that the Lord withholds the blessings He wants to bestow on us when we treat His day as just another ordinary day. How we act on the Lord’s Day is a good indicator of how much we respect the Lord. It is good to do good on the Lord’s Day, but it is not good to do good to the point where our bodies, minds, and souls do not get refreshed and prepared for the new week.

The Lord does not give us His Word just to hear himself talk. It is for our benefit and the honor of His name that He gives us His Word. Wise is he who hears and listens to what the Lord is saying. We must learn how to respect our parents and the Lord’s Day. To do anything less is sin.

BLOOD ATONEMENT

 

BLOOD ATONEMENT

Lev. 17:11 “¦..for the life of any creature is in its blood. I have given you the blood so you can make atonement for your sins. It is the blood, representing life, which brings you atonement.” NLT

This declaration from God is the key to understanding why blood sacrifices had to be made for sin. When God created physical life, He instilled blood as the carrier of life of every living creature. Blood is the one thing that no life can do without. There are ways in which life can happen without other parts of the body, but no life can happen without the blood. Blood represents life.

God gave people before Christ specific instructions regarding how their sins were to be atoned for, and it always required the shedding of blood. In order for life to continue with God, life had to be sacrificed. Without the shedding of blood, there could be no forgiveness. And since the blood shed was the blood of animals, it was not sufficient enough to take care of man’s sin problems. It would cover up man’s sin for a while, but it had to be offered repeatedly. Man’s inherent sin problem did not go away as long as there was a need for animals to be sacrificed. The blood of animals was a temporary fix for an eternal problem.

When Jesus came and offered His life as the sacrifice for sin, it was good enough. He is eternal God. He became man for a season and lived a sinless life. He was qualified to die a sinner’s death. He was able to take all of our sins upon himself and wash them away with His blood. His shed blood was an eternal fix for man’s sin problem. He provided a buffer between God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. He is what God sees when He looks on the heart of His children. God can accept us as His own because He accepts the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins as sufficient. Jesus becomes our righteousness and holiness before God.

God has always provided a way for man to be forgiven, for his sins to be atoned for. What the blood of animal sacrifices could not do, making our hearts righteous and holy before God, Jesus did for us at Calvary.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me, Praise the Lord!

RESPECT GOD FOR HE IS HOLY

 

RESPECT GOD FOR HE IS HOLY

Lev. 10:1-2 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over it. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him a different kind of fire than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD. NLT

Abraham had four sons who served alongside him as priests before the Lord, Eleazar, Ithamar, Nadab and Abihu. We are told in Exodus 24:9-11 that they had gone up the mountain with Moses and had seen God. They were given enough of a glimpse of God to recognize Him. Can you imagine what that moment must have been like for them? As amazing as this experience was for them, Nadab and Abihu didn’t let it change the rest of their lives. Nadab and Abihu took it upon themselves to offer incense before God that was forbidden. They did not treat God as holy, nor did they fear Him.

Scripture records that they put together incense that they offered up to God that was contrary to what God had instructed them to do. God made it very clear what was and what wasn’t acceptable to Him. Nadab and Abihu got the notion that either God didn’t mean what He said or it didn’t matter what God said. They tried to offer incense of their own making and paid the ultimate price for it. They did not treat God as holy. They treated with contempt their sacred office as priests. They became arrogant in the presence of God. The Lord sent a fire from heaven that consumed them on the spot.

We must be careful that we don’t become like Nadab and Abihu. We must always strive to be holy before God. We must never disrespect Him by disobeying His commandments. We must consider it serious business to enter into the presence of the Lord. There is a price to pay for treating the Lord with anything but our highest respect. Don’t profane that which is holy. And most of all, don’t profane He who is holy.

We must not treat lightly what it means to be in the presence of the Lord. We must allow the Lord to change us so we will be and do that which is pleasing in His eyes. It is important for us to seize the opportunities the Lord gives us to be transformed by His Word and Spirit. It is not a trivial thing for us to gather together before God in worship. Only those made holy in Christ are fit to enter into God’s presence.

Letting Jesus make us holy should be every believer’s number one priority in life.

GOD'S COVENANT WITH US

 

GOD’S COVENANT WITH US

Lev. 2:13 Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God’s covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings. NLT

It is a good thing for us to be constantly reminded of God’s covenant with us. We dare not forget or neglect what God has promised. God’s covenant is a covenant of love. He declared it and carried it out. Before He created anything, He declared His love for us by providing a way for our sins to be forgiven. He knew that we would abuse our freedom of choice and sin against Him. He knew that we would never be able to have a relationship with Him on our own. He knew that the only way that sin could be taken from us would be for Him to come and do it for us. The only way for sin to be forgiven was through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. Slowly and steadily throughout history God revealed these truths to us. God made a covenant with us that He would make a way for us to be forgiven that we might have a relationship with Him.

God’s covenant with us is a covenant of love as displayed at Calvary. God has declared His love for us and His desire to forgive us of our sins if we would but turn our lives over to Him. God’s covenant is that He would eternally love us and show it by never leaving or forsaking us. When we are saved, we enter into a similar covenant of love with God.

We dare not ever forget what Jesus has done for us. It is so easy to take our salvation for granted and lose our sense of gratitude for Him and His love for us. It is so easy to get so caught up in this life that we forget about what God has promised is yet to come. It is so easy to neglect this great salvation that God has provided for us.

We must do all that we can to remember God’s covenant with us. We must constantly be reminded of our debt of love to Him. We must never lose our sense of gratitude and admiration. We must seize every opportunity we have in life to think about our great salvation. The more we remember what God has promised and done, the closer we are drawn to Him. We must not be casual observers, but constant observers of these things. Don’t neglect this great salvation we have in Christ Jesus!

OBEYING GOD'S COMMANDS

 

OBEYING GOD’S COMMANDS

Ex. 39:32 And so the Tabernacle was finished. The Israelites had done everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. NLT

I wonder; is there any task that the Lord has given you to do that is not finished because you failed to obey the Lord and do it? The Lord has great plans for each of us. He has tasks that are uniquely ours to do. He depends on us to do our part and if we don’t, either the task is left undone or the end result is not as good as it could be.

God does see to it that His will is done, but He sometimes has to get it done another way because of our disobedience. And, when we fail God, it’s always us that suffer for it. God richly blesses those who follow and obey Him. He withholds His blessings from those who don’t obey Him.

Also, for the best results, we must do things God’s way. His plan is always the best plan and the only plan that will work to achieve the best results. We don’t have the right to choose to do what we want to do if we want God’s will to be done in us and through us. And, this means that we must always keep our souls near to the heart of God so that we don’t mess up. We must wait before Him and let Him direct our path. We must be His hands and feet. He is the potter and we are the clay.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Ex. 36:6-7 So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Bring no more materials! You have already given more than enough.” So the people stopped bringing their offerings. Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project. NLT

When is enough, enough? For some, whatever there is, it’s not enough. Many crave money and are never satisfied with what they have. The love of money (fame, power, etc.) causes some to do anything to get more.

Some churches and ministries fall into this trap. They beg and plead for more than what they are given or need. The thirst for more seems to never be quenched. We must be very careful about this. We must not let our thirst become our passion and purpose in life. We must learn to be content with what the Lord provides. What He provides is always enough to get done what He desires to be done. The plea for more becomes tiresome and drives people away from the Lord. For many it becomes the message; it becomes more important than the message of the Gospel. It gives the Church a bad name in the world.

It’s a hard lesson to learn, but learn it we must. God supplies all of our needs, not all our wants. When we let our wants rule our needs, we fall into sin and bring shame to our Lord. Any ministry or individual who tries to lay a guilt trip on you because you do not give enough for their cause is not speaking from the Lord. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and does not honor giving given reluctantly or because of someone’s emotional appeals.

God blessed the giving of the Israelites because they gave willingly and cheerfully. And what they gave was more than what was needed to get the job done. The Lord never asks you to give more than what you can give. He gives you all that you need and blesses your offerings of love.