God Showed Us Love in Leviticus

Back to Leviticus for a minute . . .

When we were toddlers, an adult (usually our mother) took us by the hand to help us cross the street. We had no clue why we had to hold hands, we just did it. As we grew older, we were taught to look this way and that way before crossing the street, and so we learned that it was important to watch out for on-coming cars in order to cross safely. Before we knew it, we were grabbing the hands of young children, teaching them to cross the street the same way we had learned; by example and by instruction. It wasn't that our parents/caregivers didn't want us to cross on our own, they just knew we had to be taught how and cautioned about the dangers when we were able to understand them. So from the first

"Don't go out into that street," to the last

"Take my hand so we can cross,"

we learned how to proceed safely and now we cross without even thinking about it.

The laws in Leviticus are the same. God wants us to be able to live righteously on our own, but He knows that without direction we don't exactly know how to maneuver across the busy road of life and we don't know what dangers await us. So God gave the Israelites a road map. He showed them exactly how things needed to be done to ensure their safety, their good health and their spiritual maturity.

Today, He still speaks through the Old Testament and through the New Testament to let us know how we should live. And, even though we don't always understand why we should follow His commands, we know that He won't let us walk out into the street blind. In His word, we're assured that if we let Him, He'll take our hand and guide us and teach us, until we have completed His will for our lives. We need to avail ourselves to the reading of His word; the Word where He gives us a road map on living; the Word that shows how much He really does love us.

A Woman With Purpose

The woman mentioned in today's suggested Bible reading of Mark 5:21-34 could have blended in with the crowd milling about Jesus like so much fine winter wheat in a weathered vat of smooth, shifting granules.

But while men, children and other women all jostled about Jesus and bumped shoulders with each other, stepped on the heels of each others' sandals, brushed roughly about the hem of their equally attention-vying fellow spectator, THIS woman -- the one with the 12-year long hemorrhage --

THIS woman approached Jesus.

And she did it with purpose.

The disciples were right on when they said to Jesus, "Dozens have touched you!"

And how sad to be one of those dozens of dozens who had actually touched Jesus but hadn't received anything.  They were tossing about in the sea of people waving and weaving around Him, intent on reaching a destination, completing a goal or desire.

And their touch of Jesus was probably accidental and only given a postscript notice on their mental check-list of the day's happenings.

THIS woman's touch of Jesus grasped hold with purpose and premeditation.

This woman rode the wave of her faith-filled purpose until she saw it completed and fulfilled.

Lord, help me not to float through life with my only contact with You being accidental because the circumstances of life jostled me against You and on down the road of life.  My purpose stretches out between You and me like a sometimes-mossy-smooth and sometimes-overgrown garden path that I want to walk on with purpose until I reach Your side.

"Jesus said to her, 'Daughter, you took a risk of faith... Live well, live blessed!..." (Mark 5:34)

Positioned for Joy

Monday night, February 7th found Women With Purpose gathered at City Church around tables graced with smiling faces, plates of delectable morsels, mugs of steaming coffee and a matrix of joy. “The Joy Project,” a DVD series by Pastor Bo Stern of Bend, OR, facilitated a night of discovering and discussing how:

• God wants His people to know real joy!
• But joy can be snuffed out the moment we place on our own shoulders the cares and concerns of life …
• So it’s best to put the government of those things on the shoulders of God,
• As we watch over our heart because that’s where our treasure is, which has the tendency to remain laced with strings connected to our government instead of God’s;
• And if what we treasure has become a part of the rulership of who we are,
• Or if we are stressed or uptight about something in life…
• That means we have tugged those cares from God’s shoulders and slung them over ours.

God won’t tower over us in a wrestling stance and wrangle it from our shoulders, but He is graciously available to receive it from our outstretched, tired, stressed hands and exchange it for peace and joy.

Real, unshakeable, unstoppable joy.

Joy that is accessible even in times of sorrow, making you braver than you ever thought you could be.

GPS’ing the location of our treasure – of our heart – and finding it buried in the Word of God, nestled in His government will release great joy. There God waits, ready to show us when and how to...
take a step, to make a decision ...
to handle finances ...
to care for our spouse and children...
to marry ...
to work.

He removes from those things the heavy stresses of our government and infuses them with His safe, healthy, pure joy.

Women With Purpose will meet the first Monday of every month, 7.00 pm at City Church to continue “The Joy Project,” with a time to catch up with friends over a beverage and refreshment, plus a video segment, discussion and prayer.

Several women agreed, “The discussion time was so encouraging as I heard other women share similar challenges – and how to overcome them.”

Small groups also meet throughout the city on various days of the month; their leaders are listed to the right on this page.

Watch for small group details and “Joy Project” discussions and updates right here!

February 4, 2011 From Fear to Promise

Exodus, to me, is a book of fear hope, faith and promise. From the first chapter we see the king of Egypt afraid that the people of Israel were becoming too populous so he decided to kill all the male born babies, FEAR. Then a woman from the tribe of Levi thought to hide her "special" baby boy in a papyrus basket and place him on the banks of the Nile, HOPE. The princess sees the baby and decides to keep it, but agrees to have the mother feed him until he is older. That turns the Levi woman into a mother of FAITH, knowing that her baby really is special. This is seen throughout the book of Exodus where God takes his peoples fears and gives them hope (water out of a rock) and leads them to His promises. Today, in Exodus 34:6b, we read "Yahweh, the Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin." Don't be consumed with the trials of the day or overwhelmed by the signs of the times. Let the God of compassion take your fears and fill you with the hope of His word so that He can lead you to faith in Him and lavish you with His promises!