Leviticus: Cleaning Out the Gutters of My Life

Growing up, one of the annual jobs was to clean the gutters. With over 50 inches of rainfall a year, Florida homes have gutters to direct the water that runs down the roof to flow away from the home. What happens to clog gutters is leaves that had once been green on the trees, turn brown, fall, get trapped in the gutter and become a decomposing black slime. If that slime is not removed drainpipes plug up and water damage to your home occurs. Because of the decomposing black slime you had to pick up out of the gutters, this was not a great job to do. You put on some gloves, climb a ladder, get out a trash bag, and clean the gutters. From the ground you couldn’t see what lay ahead, what you could see is the damage done if the gutters stayed clogged as water would run everywhere when it rained. I hated cleaning the gutters. I can’t remember meeting anyone who loves the experience. 

The book of Leviticus is about cleaning life’s gutters. Too often, Leviticus is where reading through the Bible plans go to die. Yet reading through the Bible this year has led me once again to Leviticus where God deals with the decomposing black slime of sin. God also reveals how Israel can become clean and holy in His eyes and theirs. So what does Leviticus have to do with us today? I still see the effects of decomposing black slime of sin in life today, a relationship implodes, an addiction that won’t let go, a worry that erodes a heart, and fear of what the future holds from wars to elections. In Leviticus, God comes to clean the gutters. 

Thanks to Grady Window Cleaning for Picture

1. Leviticus helps me to diagnose the reality of my life. Let’s say you go to the doctor for a check up, and he finds some health problem. Do you want the truth or do you want him to merely say something positive to make you feel good? Instead of telling you about the pre-cancerous growth and how to deal with it, he says, “The good news is you still have your teeth.” When you go to the doctor, you want him to give it to you straight, you want the reality of your health life. Because God loves me, He gives it to me straight. He holds up the mirror of His law so I see the danger of my sin and my need for a Savior.

2. Leviticus invites me to receive God’s gift of holiness.  As someone put it, “Holiness is not the way to Christ; Christ is the way to holiness.” Holiness comes not based on what I can do, because I can’t do it. Holiness comes because of what only God can do. Some people wrongly think that because God has such a high standard of holiness that He is in the guilt business. But God is in the freedom business. God brings forgiveness to clean out the gutters of my heart. He even provided for forgiveness through sacrifice.

In Leviticus, sacrifice with blood was a key pattern for forgiveness. To deal with sin, blood had to be shed for forgiveness to be realized. On the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought forward, one goat as a sacrifice for sin, and the other for the community to confess its sins over and then to be sent into the desert as a scapegoat. Jesus carries our sins. He is the sacrifice and the scapegoat that we might be forgiven, and receive God’s gift of holiness. Jesus sacrifice provides gutter cleaning capability 24/7.

3. Leviticus invites me to embrace the abundant life God gives. Holy can be an intimidating word. Holy means pure, but it also means to set apart. Take the shirt I am wearing. When getting dressed, I had a number of options to choose from out of my closet, but this is what I chose. In the broadest sense of the word, this shirt is holy, because I set it apart for a special purpose. Making us holy, God invites us to embrace the abundant life He gives, to be set apart for the special purpose He has for our lives.

So how are you doing on embracing the life God offers? Are you driven to follow God’s commands out of fear and guilt, or out of gratitude for His love? Are you learning to find joy in following God’s commands, or is it always a chore? As God looks into your heart today, does He see it full of love for Him, partially full, or running dry? What clogs in your gutter need to be removed? Embracing the abundant life is embracing Jesus who gave His life for us, and gives His Spirit to empower us in living. We are holy because God makes us holy.

Leviticus reminds us God comes to us because He loves us. He wants us to diagnose the reality of our lives, He wants us to receive His gift of holiness, and to embrace the abundant life He gives. Why not receive His forgiveness today? Let Him clean out those gutters, and fill your heart with Himself and His holiness, and let the love and grace flow.

The Ten Commandments: What if …

Reading through the Bible in a year has led me to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Americans debate whether these should be posted in a court house in Alabama. Theologians often see their only purpose to be to point out our sin and need for a Savior (I’d suggest a main purpose, but not the only one.)

Many feel this is the way you earn your path towards God, and feel comfortable they have not killed or stolen (outside of warm cookies from the oven), and figure they are good to go with God. That is until you read Jesus Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and he picks up things like anyone angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement.

Thanks to WikiMedia for the 10 Commandments Parchment of 1768

In other words, none of us are sinners emeritus. We all need the grace of God. Jesus came for you and for me. The 10 Commandments affirm this need for God’s grace in our lives.

But what if the 10 Commandments not only show us our need for a Savior, but also show us life as God intended? Barry Neil Kaufman taught me this in his book, Happiness is a Choice.  He suggests, “God’s message of from the heavens detailed how people would behave if they took Him into their hearts.”

What would life be like, if we all followed the 10 Commandments?

God would have 1st priority in our lives. His love and His Word would guide, direct and empower all that we do and are.

God’s name would not be used when I drop something on my foot, but when I declare the wonders of a sunset and of a Savior.

Instead of living lives of fatigue and exhaustion, people would take time weekly to rest, re-charge, re-create and re-calibrate to the purpose God has for their lives. Instead of running on empty, we would be leading and living from rest.

How about a life where the generations get along, honor is held for those who are parents or in authority. Instead of tearing down those who raise up, we would lift them up.

Life would be seen as a gift from God for all. Your life. My life. All life. One’s value would not be based on age, gender, finances, social statue or health condition, but valued as a gift from God, a creation of God, and a life redeemed by God through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Marriages guided by God would live out the love of Christ. Faithfulness and purity, trust, respect, love and honor. How might marriages be transformed if we stayed faithful to the vows and the dreams of our wedding day?

What if possessions were safe? No need for keys, no need for passwords. Each person’s “stuff” is respected and recognized as a gift from God to be leveraged to honor God and to express love to others.

What if truth was found in the words we spoke to one another. Words that are not only honest, but also uplifting, transforming, and life building.

What if we didn’t crave what others had, but instead appreciated what God has given us — our family, our homes, our work, our lives.

As Louis Armstrong sang, “What a wonderful world it would be.” Some might call it heaven.

We’re not there yet. We still need that forgiveness daily (at least I do). But when God gave the 10 Commandments He not only showed us our sin and our need for a Savior. He also showed us what life is like when we follow His Word and His love each day. What if we lived that way today?

God in Every Breath

From the burning bush, God for the first time tells Moses who thinks he is a nobody, God’s own personal name. When Moses asks for God’s name? We are told in Exodus 3:14-15, ¹⁴God answered Moses, “I Am Who I Am. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵Again God said to Moses, “This is what you must say to the people of Israel: The LORD God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever. This is my title throughout every generation.” — (GOD’S WORD)

Where you see LORD capitalized in Bible translations is the Hebrew word, Yahweh. In the original Hebrew language there are 4 consonants which would be pronounced, “Yahveh.” The Hebrew language didn’t really have vowels. The closest thing the Hebrew language had to vowels would be a “yod,” a “he,” and a “waw” until they used dots and small capital T’s underneath their consonants.

Note Hebrew reads right to left

Generally with Hebrew words, there’s a root word that names come from so you can always trace it back to something that gives you an idea. The fascinating thing about this word is some people believe it has some connections with the name “I AM” and “to be” and “becoming” and “coming to the fulfillment.” Thanks to the work of Ray Vander Laan and others, I have learned that the yod, he, waw, he, were sounds of breathing so that you’re barely able to even pronounce them. Because these letters sound like breathing, they believe the name in Moses time was unpronounceable.

Thanks to the work of Ray Vander Laan and others, I have discovered that it’s like you saying, “God, what is your name?” And God breathes. Once a year, the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies to say the name of God. So the high priest prepares all year long, and on the Day of Atonement goes into the Holy of Holies, into God’s presence, and breathes? Yod, he, waw, he.

When a baby is born, what is the first thing it has to do or it won’t live? Breathe or say the name of God? The last thing you do before you pass on to another place is you take your last breath. Or is it when you are no longer able to say the name of God, you are dead? So in every breath of life, we need to recognize our need for God’s divine strength and power.

So take a deep breath, breathe in that breath of life and breathe out your praise of God. Where do you need to sense God’s presence amid your breathing today?

The God Who Comes Down

My favorite song from the movie, “Prince of Egypt,” is when Jethro consoles a distraught Moses, by singing, “Look at your life from heaven’s eyes.” Moses has fled from Egypt, from an earthly perspective he has gone from prince to pauper. In Moses’ own eyes, life is over. He no longer sees value or meaning. He’s on the verge of losing hope. But then comes the burning bush, and God affirms His hand at work in Exodus 3:7-8a, ^7aThen the Lord said, “I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, ^8aand so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians.” — (Today’s English Version)

Notice  those words in verse 8, I have come down. In reading through the Bible in a year, one phrases keeps popping up when I read is that phrase, come down. When Adam and Eve blow it in the Garden of Eden, God comes down.

When people try to build a tower to God to show God how great they are, God comes down to see what’s happening.

When Sodom and Gomorrah are about to be destroyed, God comes down.

And now in Exodus, when His chosen people are under slavery, God comes down and when He comes down here, He comes to rescue.

We follow the God who comes down. He comes down so much, that He came to a manger, we lifted Him up on  a cross, but death came down that 3rd day and He rose again.

No matter what you face today, remember there is a God who care and who comes down.

Where do you need that caring presence today?

Judah: Integrity amid Dysfunction

Where is God in the following? Sibling rivalry. Attempted Murder. Rape. Incest. Murder. Stealing. Dysfunctional family. Fighting. Making Enemies. Lying. Deception. Homeless. Famine. The list could go on, but you get the idea. So where is God?

The amazing story of the descendants of Abraham in Genesis 23-50 is that each of these events happen in the lives of these people, and miracle of miracles, God is with them. The list, I just mentioned sounds like a series of shows for Jerry Springer, or the latest Fox reality show. Instead, they are stories of what happen in Genesis, and what amazes me is God’s presence in the experiences of the lives of people and the power of His grace at work.

Promise to Abraham -- Descendants as numerous as the sand on the seshore

Reading through the Bible this year has brought to the adventures of the descendants of Abraham and Isaac, the story of Jacob and his children. Jacob the deceiver raises a patch of deceivers whether its vengeance on those who have violated their sister Dinah or their plan to get rid of Joseph, the sons of Jacob are known more for their deception and dysfunction then their faith and their values.

Yes, Joseph is an exception, though he battles with pride. His lessons will be valuable to learn in the book of Genesis.

Then their’s Judah, and his gross me out story in Genesis 38. Let’s see if I can keep it clean, his sons die while trying to have children through Tamar. Not wanting to lose his last son, he tells Tamar to wait until the boy is of age. But when the boy is past age, Judah has no intent to ever send him to Tamar.

So Tamar comes up with a plan, she will seduce Judah. And she does, playing a shrine prostitute. To guarantee future payment, she takes his seal, his cord, and his staff. Then when Judah seeks to pay, no prostitute to be found.

Later (I’m guessing more then 6 months later), Tamar is found to be pregnant, Judah is ready to have her killed. How dare she defile the family name?

Tamar sends a message back, I am pregnant by the owner of this seal, this cord, and this staff. You guessed it. Judah.

Then comes these incredible words amid a family of dysfunction in Genesis 38:26, Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.”

She is more righteous than I. Instead of deception, their is integrity. Admission of guilt. Acceptance of fault. Affirmation that Judah is the cause of the problem.

The line of Jesus flows through Judah through Tamar through an illicit act that revealed an act of integrity amid dysfunction. Gives me hope amid the dysfunction of our day that God will continue to raise up people of integrity.

What acts of integrity are inspiring you today?

The Isaac Challenge

Reading through the Bible this year, I discovered the Isaac Challenge in Genesis 26. You are probably thinking the Isaac Challenge is from Genesis 22, and his submitting to Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice. I have always thought it’s one thing for Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son, it’s another that Isaac was willing to let him do it.

But the Isaac Challenge I discovered comes in Genesis 26:28 where Abimelek and his leadership team say to Isaac, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you.” NIV 2011

For Abimelek and his entourage the issue is financial success. When Isaac lived among them, Isaac was blessed with wealth, but so was Abimelek. After Isaac is forced to move by Abimelek, Isaac doesn’t suffer, Abimelek seems to suffer his own version of the great recession.

And I started to wonder when do people say about Christ followers today, We saw clearly that the LORD was with you.

Quite common when Tim Tebow throws an 80 yard bomb to win on the 1st play of overtime, but was God with Tim when the Broncos dropped 3 in a row? (I think so, my guess is Tim does, too.)

Is the evidence of God’s presence seen only in victory and financial success? Or is it seen when Christ followers reach out to the poor and lift up their needs? Does my neighbor see that the LORD is with me, even more that I am with the LORD?

Who do you see the LORD with this day? Or how about the Isaac challenge, who do you think sees the LORD with you today?

 

Follow the Ru into the Gu

From a post this past May and a reminder of the One who comes to us this Christmas and this day …

Guru” is 1 of those words I just like the sound of. Guru also gives great insight into the life of Jesus. But what’s a “Guru”? Guru is a Sanskrit word, typically defined as “one with great knowledge and wisdom.” It’s one I hear in India often. Though Jesus fits the definition of one with great knowledge and wisdom, it’s the make up of the word that gives insight into Jesus life. Gu in Guru stands for darkness, Ru in Guru means light. Literally, a Guru takes someone from the darkness into the light. That’s what leaders do. That’s what John tells us as he opens his gospel account. (Thanks to Kevin Hall’s book, Aspire for this background for the meaning of guru.)

The Christmas day Gospel reading tells us in  John 1:5, “The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.”

Hindu Pilgrims going into the Gu of the Ganges River in India

Into the Gu, God sends the Ru. We call that Christmas. Theologians call it the “Incarnation.” God takes on human flesh. Into the darkness, into the mess, comes the light. God’s own Son is born in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. That’s kind of ironic because in our day when you see a nativity scene, it’s not a mess. Our manger scenes are clean and tidy.  Clean bath robes on the shepherds. Well behaved (or stuffed) animals.   But where Jesus was born, there was a mess. Into the gu, into our mess, Jesus comes as the Run to give us light.

The Ru brings life to those dead in the Gu. We call that what Jesus did on the cross. Theologians call it “Justification”. Jesus pays the price for our darkness, that we might have light, that we might have life. John describes the human condition as: We walk in darkness, apart from God, apart from His presence and goodness. Darkness is spoken of some 200 times in the Bible. It’s a picture of life apart from God, apart from His direction, His wisdom, His love and care. We are foolish, ignorant, or confused; that is darkness. We fumble around. We hurt people. We become afraid. We walk in darkness. Jesus meets us in our darkness, and gives us His light, even more He gives His life that we might life.

The Ru guides us through the Gu. We call that Jesus guiding presence in every day life. Theologians call that “Sanctification”, the life we live empowered by the light of Christ. A lighthouse guides a ship away from the rocks in the water. A beacon guides home an airplane in the darkness of the night.The reflectors on the highway in the median will guide a driver through the fog.

Perhaps most amazing of all, Jesus the Guru sends us out as His gurus into this world. In John 8, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” In a world that loves the darkness more than the light, that loves the Gu more than the Ru. God calls us to not only follow the Ru into the Gu, He calls us to be the Ru amidst the Gu. That’s what leaders do.

So what Gu do you find yourself facing today? How is the Ru shining His light in you and even more through you? Shine bright today. Follow the Ru into the Gu.

 

Spirit Power for All People

Reading through the Bible in a year led me to the prophet Joel. He’s one of the 12 minor prophets. His short 3 chapter book packs a powerful punch. He even gets quoted in Acts 2 as the Christian church begins.

It’s also one of my favorite Joel verses from Joel 2:28-29, ²⁸“After this, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. ²⁹In those days I will pour my Spirit on servants, on both men and women.

Thanks to Dana Burkey for picture of Holy Spirit at work in Nepal

If you are in God’s family, God’s Spirit is at work in your life. Doesn’t matter your age. Doesn’t matter your gender. Does matter who your Savior is. God is at work in you and through you. Joel’s Old Testament vision of life with God finds its fulfillment not only in Acts 2 but in the hearts and lives of believers today.

Joel then says in Joel 2:32, “Then whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” You too can be part of God’s “whoever” plan. Because whoever means you, means me, means every one you come across this Christmas season.

Peace on earth comes as the world discovers the Prince of Peace for all people. Doesn’t matter what you have done, who you are, as well as that age/gender stuff he just dealt with. Does matter that God calls, and the Good News is God is calling you. Ready to tap into that Spirit power today?

Love the Leader’s Best Option

Reading through the Bible in a year has led me to 1 John, and his favorite word: “Love”. Love is the command to follow. Love is who God is. Love is what God has shown to us. Love is what God brings to us. Love is what God calls us to bring to this world. Love is the leader’s best option.

Tina Turner might ask, “What’s love got to do with it?” John answers: Everything!

I am at the age where I can still drink caffeine in my coffee. I still need caffeine in my coffee. I know some people prefer decaf with their coffee, but let’s be honest. A cup of decaf coffee might look good, smell good, taste good, but does absolutely nothing on the inside. Put caffeine in the coffee and you get that morning jolt that puts a spring in your step and an edge to your living.

 

Unfortunately many relationships fall in the decaf coffee mode. They look good on the outside, but are empty of any energy or passion on the inside. Such relationships need some oomph, some caffeine, a jolt of love that lives out God’s love. John  gives us the leader’s best option, We love because he first loved us.  (1 John 4:19)

Such love drives out fear, builds up faith, and is the foundation for solid leadership.

I haven’t heard the value of love debated about it any presidential debates. Outside of Tim Sanders book, “Love is the killer ap”, I’d be hard pressed to see at the top of any business leadership book list.

Yet John knows of what he writes, for John experienced the love of Christ and that changed his life. It can change your life, too.

So what is love? 1 John 4:10, This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. (GOD’S WORD Translation)

Jesus not only said, greater love has no man then to lay down his life for his friends. He went out the next day and did exactly that. John heard Jesus say it, John saw Jesus live it. John learned to lead with love.

Who have you seen lead with the power of love? What made their leadership so unique?

Ultimate Faith

Reading through the Bible this year led me to Daniel 3, and the story of what is to me: “Ultimate Faith”.

Daniel 3 is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar (who makes Donald Trump look humble) has built a gold statue, and when the music plays, all people are to bow down and worship the statue. That is except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

When Nebuchadnezzar fines, he goes ballistic. He has some serious anger management issues. He threatens to throw them into the fire. He even gives them another chance to reconsider their options. The original turn and burn choice to be made.

Here comes the ultimate faith response of these 3 great men of faith in Daniel 3:16-18: ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, “Your Majesty, we will not try to defend ourselves.¹⁷ If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will.¹⁸ But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty may be sure that we will not worship your god, and we will not bow down to the gold statue that you have set up.” 

Thanks to Dana Burkey for Photo of Path at Torrey Pines

It’s one thing to believe God when He acts to save you, when He affirms the good choice you have made, when you do what He commands. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego pick it up a notch. Look at the 1st five words of verse 18: “But even if he doesn’t.” They will believe no matter what. No matter how hot Nebuchadnezzar makes the fire. No matter if their death is the end result. These 3 are sticking with God. For me it is one of the greatest expressions of faith in God in all of the Bible.

Turns out that with these 3, there is a 4th one in the fire, One who is with us in the fire of life. Powerful tyrant anger management needing kings of the earth do not have the final word, the King of Kings does. Never let go of that faith.

What Bible story inspires your faith to stick with God in those “even if” moments of life?