It would have been hard to have leprosy in ancient Israel.  Being cut off from everybody that you love and care for.  It makes me wonder if we have any leprous sin in our lives that cuts us off from God.  We can’t follow him whole-heartedly  if we are nursing sin in our lives.

Mark 6:1-29

Maybe offence is a leprous sin we’re hanging on to.  Offence can root down deep into our lives and like cancer kills us from the inside out.  Why do we get offended?  After all we are all going to make mistakes but what good is hanging on to anger going to do us?

Psalm 39

We are nothing compared to God.

Proverbs 10:10

I got totally lost on this one, no insight at all.

It would have been difficult at times to live in ancient Israel.  You would really have to pay attention to what was happening around you.  You would also really have to know God’s Word, which is something we miss in American churches today.  I know for myself personally, I do not know Scripture half as well as I should.  There is always something we can improve in our lives, and for me this is one of them.

Mark 5:21-43

The book of Mark really showcases people who truly believed Jesus Christ could help them.  While some people plotted to kill Him, others trusted Him to heal them and their families.  Father, grant me undying faith.

Psalm 38

We need to daily repent of our sin.  It should grieve us terribly when we sin because it grieves God.  Only He can give us salvation.

Proverbs 10:8-9

To summarize everything that we’ve read in Proverbs so far, the foolish will fail but the righteous man will be praised.

God is holy and to bring anything before Him that is unholy is to bring cursing upon your head.  We should not mock God.  It is easy to go through the day and just float along, but are we setting ourselves apart from the culture or are we integrating ourselves into the culture.

Mark 4:26-520

It is amazing how quickly we forget our faith.  We recognize one minute that God is all-powerful and can do anything and the next minute we are worrying about what we are going to eat.  We are a fickle people, thank you Father for putting up with us.

Psalm 37:30-40

God is our strength.

Proverbs 10:6-7

May we always remember the names of God’s people and pass down their legacy to our children.

Once again I am very grateful that I live on this side of the cross.  All of the rituals that God had them perform would have been difficult.  Yet all of it reinforces the fact that we need blood to atone for our sin.  Every culture has had some form of blood sacrifice.  Just looking back in history to the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Mayans, we can see that all of these cultures sacrificed animals or humans.  Even today we sacrifice to false gods, though not as blatantly as past cultures.  We sacrifice unborn babies to the gods of money, freedom, and convenience.  We need to wake up, church of America.

Mark 3:31-4:25

We never know who is listening or watching.  We should be like the sower, sowing the Word.  The light shining brightly for all to see.  There is nothing to be ashamed of when we preach the gospel of God’s Kingdom.  May it greatly increase because of Christ’s light in me and my fellow Christians.

Psalm 37:12-29

The righteous will inherit the land.  May God’s Kingdom grow quickly.

Proverbs 10:5

May we be wise and bring in God’s harvest.

Leviticus 6:1-7:27

In America’s churches today, sadly we often times disregard the Old Testament. An excuse I hear often is the Old Testament is a covenant of works but we live under the covenant of grace so we only need to look to the New Testament.  How sad, that we throw God’s holy Word out the window simply because we feel that it isn’t relevant any more.  How can we be so blind?  Christ and His followers referred to the Old Testament numerous times, so it probably is very relevant.  The one Levitical law that carried over to the New Testament is found in Leviticus 7:26-27 and we break this consistently.  We are not to be eating the blood of animals.  (Acts 15:20, 29 and 21:25)

Mark 3:7-30

How true, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”  How often are churches divided against themselves?  We are God’s people and God’s kingdom will ultimately be victorious, but how can we spread the gospel of the kingdom effectively if we are divided against ourselves?

Psalm 37:1-11

Do not worry over evildoers, God will cut them off.  Trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 10:3-4

Be godly and diligent and you won’t want for anything, for God will provide.

I am extremely grateful I don’t live in Bible times.  All of the ritual they went through for sacrifices would have been hard.  I’m quite glad I live on this side of the cross where the price for sin has been paid in full.

Mark 1:29-2:12

A crowd had gathered around Jesus.  There was absolutely no way for them to get their friend to Him.  Then an idea dawned on one of them, why not lower their paralyzed friend through the roof.  That is exactly what these men did.  They knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus could heal their friend and they took extreme measures to ensure that this paralyzed man got to Jesus.  Oh to have the faith these men had.  To believe whole-heartedly that God is who He says He is.

Psalm 35:17-28

“Then my tongue shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long” (vs. 28)

Proverbs 9:13-18

Beware of foolishness

The work of the priests garments for ministry are made in this reading and what caught my eye was the plate of the holy crown of pure gold.  Inscribe on it were the words “Holiness to the Lord”.  Am I living a life that is holy unto God?  After today, I know that I oft times fail.  It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and let emotions control.  Living a life set apart to God, a lot harder.  Father, help me to be holy unto you.  Don’t let me get caught up in the heat of the moment, but to remember Christ’s sacrifice for me and live to glorify You.

Mark 1:1-28

It always amazes me how readily the disciples gave up their jobs to follow Jesus.  They left everything they knew and followed Him, simple as that.  Of course, resisting God’s call is impossible but some people put up a pretty good fight.  These men had no idea where they were going or Who they were really dealing with.  They didn’t truly understand Jesus to really be the Son of God until after He rose from the dead.  Oh, that there might be more people like them, who hear God’s call and respond, committing to forsake their wicked ways and follow Christ.

Psalm 35:1-16

A prayer for the wicked to be cast down.

Proverbs 9:11-12

The fear of the Lord brings long life.

This would have been a sight to see.  Think of all the work that went into building the furniture for the tabernacle.  The people that God called to do His work knew what they were doing, of course having some Divine knowledge was the only way this could have happened.  Still God’s people gave their very best.  I keep coming back to how we always need to do our best at something.  It’s easy to do a half job or give up, not so easy to give our all.  Hopefully, we can learn from Bezalel and always give God our very best.

Matthew 28:1-20

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.” (vs. 6)  What wonderful words!  Death, hell and the grave had been defeated.  God’s people can rejoice for Christ has won the victory!

Psalm 34:11-22

The righteous will be redeemed!

Proverbs 9:9-10

Fearing the Lord brings wisdom and understanding.

Exodus 35:10-36:38

This passage describes the start of making the tabernacle and the furniture.  It would have been a wondrous sight to behold, the people of God coming together with a single purpose and the tabernacle itself.  The different skills that would be needed for this task would be quite varied.  These people put their heart and soul into what they were making.  This wasn’t just any old tent, it was God’s tabernacle they put their very best in it.  The other thing that strikes me is how much they give.  They needed lots of supplies to put into the tabernacle and these people kept giving until Moses said that they had more then enough.  Do I put my whole heart into what I’m doing?  Do I give my all?  I’m not building the tabernacle, but my purpose in life is to glorify God and if I’m not doing my all then I’m not giving Him glory.

Matthew 27:32-66

How weird would it be to have a friend or family member, who was dead, come back to life?  When Christ gave up His life for His people that’s one of the things that happened.  The most amazing thing that happened at Jesus’ death was that the veil, that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, was torn from top to bottom.  No longer did God’s people have to go through a priest, they could go to Him directly.  With Christ taking on the sin of His people they no longer had to be separated from Him.  At His last breath, the price was paid, in full.  Thank you, Jesus for taking my sin, shame and death and replacing it with life.

Psalm 34:1-10

Trust in the Lord, He will not let His people down.

Proverbs 9:7-8

Be careful who you correct.