The Central Theme by Melissa Clayton

Today’s Passage – Leviticus 16 – 18 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – John 11 – 12Proverbs 9Psalms 46 – 50)

Read the “0209 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “There Is a Fountain,” and “Abomination.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. … And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.” (Leviticus 17:1113-14)

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

The central theme and significance of the book of Leviticus, and specifically chapter 16, is Atonement. This once yearly ritual where the high priest would come offer sacrifice to the Lord to atone, not only for his own sins, but also for the sins of all the people, is a huge part of understanding the significance of the Cross and Jesus’ sacrifice.

Notice in Leviticus 16:2 “for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat”. The actual Spirit of The Lord dwelled in the temple and because of this, the requirements for the priest, as well as the animals to be sacrificed, were very detailed. Not only did the priest have a very detailed list of how he was to cleanse himself, but he was also to offer a bull for his own sins before he could offer the atonement for the people. Any failure to follow the guidelines exactly as laid out would end in the death of the priest. Im not a man, or a priest, but there is no way I would not have messed this up.  When I was reading this passage, I was overwhelmed with the details. It seems a little excessive until you understand that you cannot enter a place so holy without being, without a doubt, clean enough to enter His presence.

We see all through Leviticus our own sinfulness and the blood required to atone for our fallen condition. There are not enough bulls or goats and there is not enough blood in the world that would ever pay for the sinful condition of man. Thankfully, Jesus made Himself that sacrifice. His blood alone accomplished atonement. We no longer need the blood of a lamb or a scapegoat. There’s no more purifying or rituals, or hoping we got it right. We do not need a earthly mediator, a priest; just the precious blood of our Savior, who provided His sacrifice that was so huge that it atoned for the sins of the entire world.

Melissa Clayton

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This Time in History … by Melissa Clayton

Today’s Passage – Leviticus 24 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – John 17 – 18Proverbs 12Psalms 61 – 65)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 47 and verse 1

Read the “0212 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this morning’s reading – “The Mind of the Lord,” and “Rest for the Land.”

This particular time in history referenced in Leviticus seems like a very stressful time to be alive. Maybe the rest of you are strict rule followers, but If I lived in this day in age, I believe I would be always looking over my shoulder, not because I was trying to be disobedient to the law, but because there were just so many laws to follow. Laws about sacrifice, about holy days; laws about finance and even laws about how and when to harvest your crops. Could you ever follow so many rules? You better try because if you don’t you could be stoned.

The whole passage to me seemed overwhelming and even morbid until I recognized that doing away with an overwhelming number of laws would take an overwhelming amount of grace. Grace that only the Lord Jesus could provide. Being saved from big sin takes grace from a big God. We really are spoiled to live in this “grace” age. We don’t have to fear being stoned for our sins, and we don’t have to rely on a priest to have access to God.

So, are we so subpar with our Christian walk? I pray today that the Lord would continually remind me of His mercy and grace, and that I would take advantage of the absolute privilege that it is to walk with Him in the gift of His salvation. 

The Claytons – New Baby Hayes not shown

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Did You Even Ask God? … by Melissa Clayton

Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 19 – 22 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers Read – John 17 – 18Psalms 61 – 65Proverbs 13)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17

Read the “0513 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Read previous posts from this passage – “The Place of Sacrifice“; and “Get Busy.

“Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.” (1 Chronicles 19:1-4)

It didn’t take very long into chapter 19 for the Lord to speak to me. In this chapter David’s friend Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, has died. He was a good friend to David and David goes to Ammon to comfort his son Hanun. Hanun has this group of friends or advisors, the princes, and they start speculating over the true nature of David’s visit. They start sowing seeds of doubt in Hanun’s ears by saying that David wasn’t there to comfort, but rather to spy out the goods of the land, and soon Hanun starts to believe the things they are saying. This series of gossip, followed by speculation and doubt, set in motion a series of events that wind up costing the children of Ammon dearly. They wind up losing their allies and becoming servants to David.

There are a couple of lessons here. The first one is gossip: these princes think they knew something, and they began to whisper in Hanun’s ear about it. The second is speculation: Hanun listened to these whispers and started this battle in his own mind of doubt. The first thing he should have done is gather the facts. I suspect if he had prayed about this and asked God to give him clarity over the situation, God very well could have said “Well go ask David instead of just sitting here wondering about it.” But, he didn’t ask God; he just chose to act.

But, then I realized that I am just like Hanun. I have been Hanun over and over again in my life. A situation arises with a friend or family member, or within the church, and I gossip, or listen to gossip, I speculate and doubt instead of praying for wisdom. I battle in my mind and then act, and then consequences arise. How many relationships have been broken because of situations like this? Probably a ton. I can do better. We as Christians can do better than that. We need God’s wisdom in our relationships, don’t forget to include Him. 

The Clayton Family

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As For Me and My House … by Melissa Clayton

Today’s Passage – Joshua 22 – 24 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Hebrews 5 – 8Proverbs 19Psalms 91 – 95)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song –  Psalm 25

Read the “0319 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

In this passage we see Joshua is nearing the end of his life and ministry. He gathers all of the tribes of Israel to Shechem for one last message. Joshua starts his message by saying “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,” and then He gives them a pretty extensive list of all the things that God has done for them. This message wasn’t coming from Joshua, but from the Lord Himself. In the first part of this message we see that God wanted them to remember all the things that He had done for them, how He delivered them, how He provided for them, and how He continually blessed them. He reminded them of all of those miraculous things, but how could they have forgotten all of those amazing and wonderful things? They forgot the same way that you and I forget. God saved us, and He has done so many wonderful things for us and yet, we forget. We forget when we are swayed by the things of the world, we forget when things are not going our way, we forget when the world is in mass panic over a virus and we let fear take control of our thoughts about the future.  In the second part of the message Joshua charges them to make a choice: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve…

He wanted them to choose to commit themselves to God, and God alone. He reminded them of God’s jealousy against serving other gods, and how the Israelites made the decision to serve the Lord only. As Christians, we choose to serve the Lord when we when we accept the Lord as our Savior, but I also believe serving the Lord is a daily decision. It is our responsibility as followers of Christ to make that choice every day; to wake up with the attitude of remembrance for all the things that The Lord has done for us, and to “choose you this day” to serve Him. 

Wes, Melissa, Amelia, and Barrett

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