Are you fulfilling your priestly role by holy living?

 2 Feb 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One

Readings:

Exodus 29

Exodus 30

Matthew 22:1-22

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people (1 Peter 2:9). 

Are you fulfilling your priestly role by holy living?

Moses receives directives from the Lord to sanctify Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. The Lord says to Moses, “And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests” (Exodus 29:1). Also, God previously chose Israel as a nation to serve Him in a priestly role. “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Whether Old Testament Israel, high priest, or a member of the church-age royal priesthood, God desires His people to separate from the moral contamination of this world’s system. Peter proclaims, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). 

Employment Point: Live according to your holy calling as a royal priest.

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Reflections

“The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord to atone for your lives. Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.””

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭30‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• we read here that atonement made for both the rich or the poor has no difference. Both are to give half shekel. It reminds me that the Lord looks at us all the same. Not how much we own, what status we are, or where we are in our journey. When He saves, He saved all, regardless of our background. 

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭30‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• as i was reading all the details of what the Lord wants Moses to do and the elaborate details of what goes into the offerings, the altars, what colours, etc., it reinforces to me how our Lord can be so detailed and bothered by all these things. 
• As if one is bothered by even the smallest details, it just tells me how much it means to that person. You know similarly how the Lord cares for each and every one of us, that He knows all our likes and dislikes and He prepares us for many things ahead. It just goes to show how much Love and care, He takes to make us feel loved. 
• Friends, if you have thoughts that nobody loves you or nobody cares about you, let me assure you that our Lord does. He loves us and deeply cares for all of us!!

““Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.”Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• while I was reading this, a thought struck me. It seems to say that when the time comes, when heaven is ready, not every one of us will be ready. Because we will be so lost in our own world, doing the things that we thought are important but would hold no meaning to the Lord. And that day will come when we finally realised it, it will all be too late.
• This is a reminder to me not to be too absorbed with our own things, our family, our friends or our work but be totally absorbed with the Lord. To keep seeking Him is the right things to do. Remember Martha and Mary and be a Mary, sitting at His feet. Let not busyness take us away from the first things we ought to focus on, that is on Him alone.

““Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• this to me sounds like inviting every one to eternal life. Spreading from the Jews to the Gentiles. It doesn’t matter what their lineage is, what work they do (even if they are murderers or prostitutes), the door is open to all who is willing to come. And so long as they want to.

“He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.”Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• it is somewhat confused reading about this verse and commentary says that he is only there as a physical being. Since the king had sent out invites to anyone who can come, in any decency a man would come dressed appropriately, noting that the feast he is about to enjoy is about honouring the king’s son. You cannot honour someone by going to an invited dinner in singlets, shorts and a pair of slippers. It would at least be decent. 
• We saw how this guy only wanted what is material (the feast that was offered) but gave totally no regards to the host. Definitely in his heart there was no love at all.
• It is reminder to us too that when we come to Lord, we offer our hearts. We are not here for miracles, or blessings or healings. The Lord sees all these and we hope what we all do what pleases Him and will not get thrown out of heaven - living a holy life but His calling.

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The Constraint of the Call

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

February 02

Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! —1 Corinthians 9:16

Have you been called to preach the gospel as a disciple of Jesus Christ? If you have, beware of turning a deaf ear. The call to discipleship is a special kind of call. Everyone who is saved is called to testify to their salvation, but there is nothing easier than being saved. Salvation is God’s sovereign work; all we have to do is turn to him. “Turn to me and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22). Our Lord never says that the conditions of discipleship are the same as the conditions of salvation. We are condemned to salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ, but discipleship has an option with it: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

To become a disciple is to be made broken bread and poured-out wine in Jesus’s hands; it is to experience the pain of being constrained. In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul describes the distress that would seize him if he tried to break free. Having accepted the conditions of discipleship, he is now “set apart for the gospel,” entirely kept and bound for God (Romans 1:1).

To lead a set-apart life is to suffer agonies worthy of the name disciple. Every personal ambition is nipped in the bud; every personal desire is erased; every perspective apart from God’s is blotted out. Discipleship is not for everyone. But if you have felt God grip you for it, beware: woe to the soul who puts a foot in any other direction once the call has come.

Exodus 29-30; Matthew 21:23-46

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10. 

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Reflections

To be made broken bread and poured out wine is exactly what we are called to do, being followers of Jesus Christ. He was broken, pierced, tortured and His blood flowed for the many who has sinned against Him. If we want to be His disciples and follow Him, we ought to do the same thing. 

The things that He has called us to do including loving people, even our enemies and living out His commands for us, are all part of being broken bread and poured out wine. Because there is just no way we can do all that without His grace or a transformative heart through Christ Jesus. We would have to be able have His kind of heart, to see things through His eyes and hear things through His ears and a hearts with His love for His people. We need to understand and also surrender when He tells us to stop or not minister to someone due to reasons unknown to us. 

Coming to Him in full obedience when it is about our calling is a must. It is no longer us who do it but Christ in us. Pray that the Lord continues to guide us and lead us, giving us the strength and courage to do His will. 

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ps. Doing this on a second running felt different and I realised what I wrote was different too, when I reflected back then the troubles or challenges that I faced a year ago. Am learning and still learning how to properly love someone from His heart.