Listening to the Word

Ex 39-40; Psalms 15; Acts 12   “The bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of the robe to be worn for ministering, as the Lord commanded Moses.” Exodus 39:26 The smallest details of the clothing worn by the priests were followed “as the Lord commanded Moses”. The Lord had a detailed plan, or as the writer of Hebrews wrote, Moses’ Tabernacle was a “copy and shadow of what is in heaven” (Hebrews 7:5). These details were all significant and prepared God’s people for their fulfillment once the Messiah would come. More importantly, this pattern prepares God’s people for what he has prepared for us in heaven. The details and design of the elements and components of the Tabernacle are important because they reveal God’s ways to us. We discover the character of the Architect. God’s holiness, revelatory nature, forgiving nature, his order, and his desire for reconciled relationship, are all revealed in the Tabernacle. Pomegranates are the only fruit mentioned in the Tabernacle and...

Ex 37-38; Psalms 19; Acts 11 “But who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:12-14 David’s desire to walk in unbroken fellowship with the Lord meant that he invited the Holy Spirit to expose the sin in his life prevent further sin. David desired his words and actions as well as the hidden meditations of his heart to be pleasing to the Lord. Our primary responsibility, or work as disciples or apprentices of Christ, is to walk in unbroken fellowship with Jesus so he can live in and through us. Hidden meditations that grieve God become sin which eventually become actions that rule over us through habits. Our accountability to others in discipleship is helpful; but our primary accountability is to the indwelling Holy Spirit who ...

Exodus 35-36; Acts 10   “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’…The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.’” Acts 10:34, 35, 45, 46 It’s easy and understandable for anyone coming from many generations of God-fearing people to believe they have an exclusive relationship with God. If not exclusive, then very special and even favored. Do we believe that God accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right? What if their theology or practices are different from ours? Do we have a ‘centered set’ view of mission or a ‘bounded set’? A bounded set is one with very clear lines of who is ‘in’ or who is ‘out’; while a centered set views Jesus at the center and people at different stages or distances fr...

Exodus 33-34; Psalms 16; Acts 9   “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Psalm 16:5, 6 “…’Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’” Acts 9:15, 16 When the Lord is our inheritance, we lack no good thing. Not many find this inheritance and experience this rest of spirit and soul. The alternative is to make our own inheritance and worry about our security, health, and future. When we make the Lord our portion and our cup, he provides all we need. Saul became a chosen instrument in the hand of the Lord when he gave his life to the Lord. He realized he had been resisting the Creator, even as he persecuted the Church. When we, too, offer our lives to the Lord, he gives us assignments in his kingdom-mission that he has...

Exodus 30-32; Acts 8   “…On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samarian…Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Acts 8:1, 4 The thousands of families who formed the church at Jerusalem were Jewish, enjoying the teaching of the apostles, fellowship with each other, and the breaking of bread together. The great persecution following the stoning of Stephen scattered the church throughout Judea and Samaria, fulfilling Jesus’ promise that his disciples, once empowered by the Spirit, would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. It is often hard to leave the safety, familiarity, and comfort of Jerusalem to travel to the ends of the earth. When persecution scatters the church, the gospel becomes more valuable because it has now cost us everything. That which is valuable we freely share, rather than a cheap gospel that cost us...

Exodus 28-29; Acts 7   “’After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them. Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests…Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.’” Exodus 28:41; 29:7 When the Lord pours out his Spirit on our lives, he is anointing us for service, consecrating us to serve him as priests. We are a “royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). The pouring of anointing oil ran onto the beards and clothing of Aaron and his sons (Psalm 133). This picture of an overflowing abundance of God’s presence is also captured with the term ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit.’ When we are baptized, we are completely immersed in the realm and presence of the Holy Spirit. This consecration, or setting apart, is not only for our empowerment, equipping, or effectiveness, but for the Lord’s glory first. We serve the Lord first before any service to others. Have we been anointed unto the Lord? “Lord Je...