Worship IX Day 10 Family Worship

November 26, 2021 by Mandy Farmer Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

Leviticus 3:1-17
Leviticus 5:14-19
1 Chronicles 16
Hebrews 10:1-18
Hebrews 13:7-16

Worship IX, Day 10

When I first read the book of Leviticus and how Israel was to worship God I thought, “Good grief, the Israelites didn’t have time to do anything but make sacrifices.”

But then I realized . . . we were created for God’s glory (Isaiah 43:7) and are called to glorify Him through lives of worship. My heart is pricked when I think about how lightly I take worship. Has it become something we do out of habit? Or only on Sundays? Shouldn’t it be a lifestyle?

In her book, 7 Feasts – Finding Christ in the Sacred Celebrations of the Old Testament, Erin Davis speaks of spiritual amnesia. Oh! How easily we forget our sinfulness and God’s redemptive plan. But God had a plan from the instant He flung the stars into place to redeem His people and cure their spiritual amnesia. “By following God’s commands to stop, reflect, worship, and sacrifice, these memories become the very fabric of their faith. His invitation was for them to interrupt regular activities to rest and remember how He has met every desperate need they had.” (Whitney Capps, First 5)

In studying Leviticus and Hebrews together, I learned how the sacrificial system of worship laid out in Leviticus pointed to God’s wonderful plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.

Two frequent offerings made as part of the sacrificial system were the fellowship/peace offering and a burnt offering. The burnt offering, such as a lamb without blemish, would be offered up in completeness, as a fragrance to God for the forgiveness of sins. (Leviticus 1:10-13) The fellowship offering indicated communion with God, offered willingly from a heart of gratefulness and devotion. (Jay F. Guin, The Tabernacle, Worship, and the Christian)

Today, we know these sacrifices pointed to Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice for our sins! Hebrews 10:11-18 (The Message) explains, “It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, He did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process.”

King David offered these sacrifices when they brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 16) The Ark, which represented the presence of God, had been captured by the Philistines years earlier. (biblestudytools.com) The Ark’s return must have been a glorious celebration!

After the sacrifices, David used familiar psalms to praise God and encourage the people to worship the Lord. David’s song gives us a great template for worship today! Maybe it would sound like this:

Mandy’s Song
Awake, my soul, to sing the glories of God and King!
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Worship His majesty, for He is worthy!
Testify to love and how I got saved, because His grace still amazes me.
We will remember the works of His hands!
Alleluia, alleluia, for the Almighty reigns.
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear!
How one day, He’s coming, O glorious day!

After this joyful celebration, the people went home to bless their own households. Whitney Capps explains, the people weren’t “just to reflect on God’s faithfulness; they were to rehearse it and live it again and again by telling their children and grandchildren about these stories of real-life faith.” Worship was to be carried to their homes and families.

Theologian and pastor R.C. Sproul stated, “Specifically, God requires heads of households, like good shepherds, to lead their families into green pastures. God expected Abraham to ‘command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the LORD.’ (Genesis 18:19) Consider also the example of Cornelius, who was ‘a devout man and feared God along with his whole household.’ (Acts 10:2) It is no surprise that when [the apostle] Peter came to Caesarea to preach the gospel, Cornelius rallied his household to attendance. ‘We are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.’” (Acts 10:33) (Family Worship 101)

This still applies to us today.
According to A Simple Guide to Family Worship , worship of God begins with family.
Our homes are a training ground for future generations. (Proverbs 22:6)
Scripture implores us to teach our children about God. (Psalm 78:4-7)
The Lord rebukes those who haven’t offered worship in their homes. (Jeremiah 10:25)
Israel’s great leader, Joshua, took responsibility for his whole family, declaring, “As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

In the New Testament, fathers are instructed to nurture their children spiritually. (Ephesians 6:4)
Timothy, a leader in the early Church, was living proof that our training leads to salvation. (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

The challenge before us is to engage our families in a lifestyle of worship. Whether we are raising children within our homes or are part of the larger family of Christ-followers, we can live out King David’s example of family worship!

We can share meals together,
those with plenty freely offering to share with those who have need. (1 Chronicles 16:2-3)

In thankfulness, we can recount and praise His faithfulness,
the testimony of one building the faith of another. (1 Chronicles 16:7-36)

Together, we can “minister regularly” (1 Chronicles 16:37) to the Lord in worship,
through lives built around and upon “[giving] thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:41)

In doing so, we make our very own fellowship offerings.
Let’s follow Joshua’s lead, declaring, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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Fruitful Day 9 Kind Beauty: Digging Deeper

September 2, 2021 by Mandy Farmer Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Kind Beauty!

The Questions

1) Who and what is Paul addressing in his letter to the church in Rome?

2) What do we know of the riches of God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience from other Scripture passages and how do these apply to us?

3) How does God’s kindness lead us to repentance?

Romans 2:4

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Original Intent

1) Who and what is Paul addressing in his letter to the church in Rome?
Paul was writing to believers in Jesus living in Rome. He was anxious to return to Rome to encourage and strengthen the church and he reminds them of core doctrinal truths for understanding who we are, who Christ is and what He did, where our Hope lies for eternity, and how we are to live as believers while we wait for that Hope. Paul foundationally states how all are declared righteous and have access to live for eternity, faith! “The righteous shall live by faith”. (Romans 1:17) He also speaks of God’s just wrath on the unrighteous because they chose to ignore God’s redemptive offer of love and forgiveness, turning instead to love themselves and their own lusts, to which God gave them over. He speaks expressly of the lusts of the flesh. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator…”. (Romans 1:22-25) Having addressed the “outwardly unrighteous person”, Paul turned his attention to the “morally just”. Those who “appeared” moral and thought they were “better than” the “unrighteous”. They errantly believed their “sin” was less deplorable to God. Paul warns that God will judge everyone by the same standard, His Holiness, of which we all fall short. (Romans 3:23) I’m reminded of the Pharisee who proudly prayed, thinking he was better than the tax collector. However, Jesus said the tax collector, who humbled himself asking for mercy by faith, would be justified rather than the Pharisee. (Luke 18:9-14)

2) What do we know of the riches of God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience from other Scripture passages and how do these apply to us?
The word “loving-kindness” occurs only in the Old Testament, but as equivalents, New Testament authors use “mercy”, “goodness,” “kindness,” and “brotherly love”. In verse 4, the Greek word for kindness is derived from the Hebrew “chacadh”, meaning “to be gracious or merciful.” W.L Walker says, “Goodness and justice are several aspects of one unchangeable, infinitely wise, and sovereign moral perfection. God is not sometimes merciful and sometimes just, but He is eternally infinitely just and merciful.” (Biblestudytools.com) Consider all the times the rebellious nation of Israel turned away from God, but God lovingly drew them back to Him. In His kindness, He warned them over and over of consequences for their rebellion, and as they continued to turn from Him, He allowed trouble to befall them. Still, He never let them out of His sight. He always had a perfect plan for bringing them back home. Oh, what a good and kind Father! “Being such an essential and distinctive quality of God, the prophets taught that it should also characterize His people. It is part of the Divine requirement in Micah 6:8 (ESV), ‘to love kindness’ and in Zechariah 7:9 (ESV), “Show kindness and mercy to one another.” (Biblestudytools.com)

3) How does God’s kindness lead us to repentance?
The Amplified Version of Romans 2:4 describes the riches of God as “kind, tolerant, and patient; withholding His wrath.” Paul reminds the saints (all those who have trusted Christ as Savior) of how God’s kindness led them to repentance. How He gently drew them to Himself, waiting patiently for them to turn to Him. (2 Peter 3:9) David personally had experienced the Lord’s patience and loving-kindness toward him. It had been over a year removed from David’s plot to murder the husband of the woman he slept with when the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin. David begged the Lord to restore fellowship with Him. The first thing David said was, “Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.” (Psalm 51:1) God did deal with David according to His loving-kindness and He still does for us. This kindness was not only extended to David, but to anyone who genuinely repents and turns away from their sin and toward the Savior Jesus Christ. My heart cannot grasp how good, kind, and patient God has been, not just to His own people, Israel, but for all of us!

Everyday Application

1) Who and what is Paul addressing in his letter to the church in Rome?
Having concluded his description of those appearing outwardly “unrighteous”, Paul begins chapter 2 with a warning, “Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.” (Romans 2:1) We are all just as unrighteous as another. (Romans 3:23) Romans 2:4 was penned so we understand the vast goodness of God set against the ugly backdrop of our own sinful judgment toward those we deem “less than righteous”. Paul asks how we judge those without Christ since we also were once without Christ as well. (Romans 6:17) His loving kindness drew us to repentance and faith; how could we reflect anything less to those who don’t yet believe?! Certainly, we must confront sin, but only when we are exemplifying a lifestyle reflecting God’s character. If we aren’t, we are hypocrites. Consider two fighting sisters. One sister points her finger at the other as the culprit without acknowledging her own involvement. If we can see a fault in someone else, then certainly we should be able to recognize that fault in ourselves. (Matthew 7:1-5) (J. Martin Commentary) Sadly, the church does a lot of finger-pointing saying, “THAT IS SIN!”, but we refuse to recognize our own sin, instead justifying ourselves. Jesus tells us we will all be judged by the same measuring stick, His Holiness; He shows no favoritism. (Romans 2:11) We will certainly draw more people to Christ by living out His example of kindness and patience than we will through condemnation. I knew a wonderful lady from church who passed away. At her funeral, her son shared that Mrs. Majel would always invite “sinners” to dinner. He often asked her why for “They didn’t deserve her kindness.” Her response stuck with me for years, “Some people will not make it to heaven unless we carry them”. Her kindness reflected God’s kindness to us, “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance”. (verse 4)

2) What do we know of the riches of God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience from other Scripture passages and how do these apply to us?
May we never forget how long God waited for us to see our sinfulness in light of His glory and trust Him. How many times we have sinned, yet found God forgiving us. We, too, must model that kind of kindness, forbearance, and long-suffering patience toward others. Jesus instructed, “whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them”. (Matthew 7:12) This Golden Rule tells us in a few words that kindness carries the whole of the Gospel. (The Four-fold Gospels Commentary) As we say in the south, “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” And thus, we will draw more people to Christ with kindness then judgment. Greg Laurie at Harvest Ministries in California shared in a recent devotion, “Believers sometimes approach nonbelievers with strange verbiage, then conclude that some people just take offense to the gospel. Yes, there’s offense in the gospel. But many times, people are offended because Christians are just weird and unnecessarily offensive. They don’t know how to use tact. We should use a little tact, a little winsomeness, when we share our faith. Someone has defined tact as the intuitive knowledge of saying the right thing at the right time. For example, when the apostle Paul saw that the people of Athens worshiped everything imaginable, he could have said, ‘You’re a bunch of pagan idolaters!’” Read what he told them in Acts 17:22-23. “Ah, Kindness. What a simple way to tell another struggling soul that there is love to be found in the world”, said poet, Alison Malee.

3) How does God’s kindness lead us to repentance?
Famous author, Mark Twain, said, “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Kindness touches the soul of man. Our lifestyle of winsome kindness will draw others to Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:15) Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers, “Be kind… compassionate … forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” (Ephesians 4:32) To the Colossians Paul wrote, “Act wisely toward outsiders (…) Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.” (Colossians 4:5-6) Living like Jesus draws others to Himself through us! It causes one to “want some of that”. When they ask us what is different, we should be “ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence…”. (1 Peter 3:15) While kindness may come more naturally for some, true kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. It develops out of our willingness to fully surrender to the Holy Spirit at work within us as believers in Christ through faith. In her book, Jesus in Me, Anne Graham Lotz writes, “While you have the Holy Spirit within you, the cooperation of your full surrender, obedience, and faith is required to activate it. She quotes Dr. Alan Redpath of Moody Church, “it is a moment-by-moment surrender to the moment-by-moment control of the Holy Spirit” (The Making of a Man of God: Lessons from the Life of David) This surrender is a daily commitment to rise in the morning and give your day to the Lord. It makes all the difference in cultivating the kindness of the Lord in us!

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

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Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

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