Focal Passage: I Peter 2:11-17, 21-25 

Most transient people have one thing in common – they travel lightly. How often have you seen a hitchhiker pulling a wagon? They tend to have the clothes on their backs and only a few very portable possessions, because they know they are just passing through. 

Peter addressed his readers as “strangers and exiles” in this world and exhorted them to “abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul” (2:11). He understood that the more we are attached to this world, the more likely we are to be pulled into its temptations. Unlike the transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau who wanted to demonstrate his self-reliance and “suck the marrow out of life” (Walden), we are called to harness this life for the glory of God. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: I Peter 1:13-25 

I learned a hard lesson on conformity before I reached the age of ten. However, I was past twenty before I realized that conformity was the problem. It happened one day when I was pushing my toy tractor through our gravel driveway. 

Between my excessive speed and the size of the gravel, one of my front wheels made a sudden turn and snapped off. After a thorough scolding from my father for being so hard on my toy, I sadly pushed it aside to plow no more. Although it was later replaced, no other childhood tractor was as impressive as it was. [Read more…]

Focal Passage: I Peter 1:3-12 

An earthly inheritance is simply the reception of someone else’s stuff, usually after their death. An inheritance can be so highly valued (either real or perceived) that people build their lives in anticipation of receiving it. 

I grew up near a family that courted a neighbor’s property for three generations! The man who finally inherited the sizable estate died before he could enjoy it. An earthly inheritance is received by someone who either spends it or eventually bequeaths it to someone else. Either way, you can’t take it with you when you die. 

Our spiritual inheritance in Christ is a complete contrast to an earthly inheritance. It cannot be given to you by someone else, because only Jesus can provide the gift of eternal life. Furthermore, God will give the same inheritance to countless people who place their faith in Christ. This inheritance becomes ours by way of the new birth.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Leviticus 26:1-13 

When I was young the Coca-Cola company created a contest that challenged customers to find four bottle caps with each having a word that created the phrase, “Coke the real thing.” As you might imagine, my older sister and I examined every Coke cap we could find but could only spell, “Coke the thing.” The “real” was nowhere to be found. 

I don’t remember how much prize money was at stake, but if we had won we would have spent it quickly. I have often reflected on that childhood treasure hunt and now realize the lesson was worth more than the prize. 

Countless vendors offer lots of things as the solution to life’s longings, but how much of it is real? Church, let’s look in the mirror. When someone new steps into your worship or ministry activities, do they see a product or experience being peddled or do they see authentically transformed lives submitted to the lordship of Christ? [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Leviticus 16:1-10, 29-30 

Liberal theologians reject the idea that God would sacrifice His own Son as our substitute (II Corinthians 5:21) to appease His own wrath toward sinners, calling it “slaughter house religion” that is beneath the loving God of the Bible. Yet even a cursory reading of the Old Testament law reveals a people whose lives centered around the sacrificial system. 

The unfolding of Old Covenant revelation exalted a Suffering Servant (Isaiah 3) who would suffer and die for the atonement of His people. Instead of contradicting the loving nature of God, the Bible paints the picture of the epitome of a loving God who would die to deliver sinners from their iniquities and make them righteous in His sight (I Peter 2:24).  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Colossians 3:1-5, 12-17 

The Apostle Paul was put in prison for preaching the Gospel. While there he wrote letters to encourage the faithful; one of those four ‘prison epistles’ is the New Testament book of Colosssians. 

This letter was written to exhort believers in the town of Colossee not to be taken in by a current heresy that belittled the Lord Jesus Christ; it claimed that Christ was less than God of very God. Paul fought against that teaching by focusing on the preeminence of Christ. In chapter 3 he deals with the preeminence of Christ in the believer’s daily life.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: 9:15 

The redeeming work of Christ reminds us that separation from the world requires far more than lip service or a handful of moral disciplines. Separation from the world is marked by death. The sacrificial system of the Old Covenant required many tangible reminders of the cost of being set apart from the world. On this side of Calvary, it is easy for us to forget the price that Jesus paid for our redemption, and assume it requires little or no sacrifice on our part. 

While many of the marks of holiness come without a financial price tag, some require us to count the cost. If you place Jesus at the center of your life, you will be excluded from some opportunities. There will be jobs you cannot take, social circles you cannot enter, and a wide variety of compromises you must avoid. If you are involved in these things when Jesus saves you, you have to say farewell to the baggage of carnal living.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38 

How we use our resources says a lot about our worship. The children of Israel gave their earrings to Aaron to construct a golden calf for idol worship, because God had not met their expectations. 

After the wrath of God brought about the death of 3,000 of their kinsmen (Exodus 32:27-28), the Israelites gave a variety of gold jewelry and many other items for the construction of the tabernacle to worship God as He desired. Exodus 36-39 provides a detailed description of the construction of the tabernacle and all its contents. 

The manifestation of God’s presence as a cloud by day and fire by night had been with the children of Israel since the beginning of the Exodus (Exodus 13:21), but now God would also manifest His presence by bringing the cloud into an earthly dwelling.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Exodus 25:1-9; 31:1-6 

You have heard it said countless times, “The devil is in the details.” Yet, when we read the Bible we learn that Satan’s ultimate concern is the end (deception), not the means. On the other hand, God is in the details. 

My father was a furniture builder and clearly not a carpenter. He could do much of the work carpenters do, but he demanded much more precision. Whereas a carpenter might be okay to be within a quarter inch on measurements, Daddy said it had to be exact. He read the Bible the same way, and expected moral precision from his children. 

God never asks His people to get close; He calls us to obey. It should not surprise us then to learn that God dictated a detailed pattern for every aspect of the tabernacle. He did not ask Moses to host a yard sale where the children of Israel could collect whatever they wanted to bring to God. God gave Moses an exact list of materials and construction details with no room for adjustment. [Read more…]