Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today is Sunday February 1, 2009 and we are beginning our studies on the book of Leviticus.

Today's Message: Giving Freely
God loves a cheerful giver, especially one who gives voluntarily. When we give freely we are pleasing God by showing Him that we are not thinking solely of ourselves nor looking to get something in return.

Today's Bible Reading: Leviticus Chapters 1-3
You can read the chapters by clicking on the link above, if the link does not work you can copy and paste this link into your browser: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%201-3&version=9

The book of Leviticus is the third book of the Old Testament and contains 27 chapters. The author of the book is Moses and it was written to the people of Israel. This book was a manual of worship for Israel. It provides instruction to the religious leaders and explains how sinful people can approach righteous God. It relates to the coming of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The purpose of the book was to show Israel how to live as a holy nation in fellowship with God and prepare them to extend the redemptive plan of God to all nations. What we are to learn from the book is how to live holy as God requires holiness of All His people.

Leviticus reveals how Israel was to live as a holy nation in order to be in fellowship with God, it begins by explaining the sacrifices that were pleasing to God. The first three offerings mentioned were called sweet savor offerings, which means they were voluntary and pleasing to God. The first offering mentioned is called the burned sacrifice. The offering was to be a bull, lamb, or goat, turtledoves or pigeons, each according to the financial ability of the offerer. "And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.................And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish..................And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons." (Leviticus 1:1-3,10,14).

When the offerer voluntarily gave a sacrifice he was in full submission to God and without a selfish motive. If the offerer owned a herd, then he offered a bull. If, however, the offerer possessed only flocks, then his offering would be a lamb or a goat; for either of these men to offer pigeons would have been offensive to God. But, if the offerer were so poor that he did not own a herd or a flock, then an acceptable offering could be the less-expensive turtledoves or young pigeons.

Some Christians think they should meet their personal desires first and then consider what they will give to God from what is left. This might agree with worldly economics, but it is spiritually unsound. No person is too poor to return 10% of their income to God. Whatever was chosen for the offering was to be the best of its kind, usually a male that was perfect and had no spots or blemishes, this is symbolic to Jesus, our perfect Savior.

The procedure for the burned offering was for the offerer to lay his hands heavily upon the head of the animal, symbolizing the transfer of sin from the guilty to the sinless to atone for his sin. "And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." (1:4-5). The blood offered to God indicated that a life had been given as a substitute for the one who had sinned. This act was a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as the ultimate sacrifice.

More detail concerning Christ is provided in the Book of Leviticus than in any other Book. This book is mentioned more than 80 times in the New Testament that we might know what Christ has done for us and expects from us in our conduct and worship to please Him. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2:11-14).



Jesus Christ is Revealed: Through the meat (meal, grain) offering which was made without leaven.
"No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire."

Today's Psalm: 96:8
"Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts."

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,
Help us to learn Your commands, apply them to our hearts, and carry them out in our daily actions. We desire to be obedient to You and to bring our children into a faithful relationship with You as well. We love You with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.May our absolute devotion bring honor to You and witness to others of our fervent commitment to serve You all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name.................Amen.

Have a wonderful and blessed day/night and rest of the weekend.
God Bless,
Christina

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