Tag Archives: Clean up

Christmas… Do You “Get It”?

Posted in Daily Devotions: Chapter by Chapter, Reflections From My Heart by

Christmas

Today’s Devotion: Numbers 19

It’s Christmas Eve. Do you want to know something? Since I became a born-again believer over 10 years ago Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning. One of my friends, Kent Maichle, who received Christ this year had an amazing post on Facebook. He says, “A few have asked, since my son is getting older. Does he still believe this Christmas? My answer is yes and for the first year his Dad does too.” As I paste this unto this blog tears run down my cheeks…. for the first year his Dad does too. (Awesome, absolutely awesome!) There is nothing more beautiful that a heart who ‘gets it.’ I remember so vividly my first Christmas with Christ – A whole new meaning, an entirely new perspective on life!

I went into my bible study in Numbers 19 today with the intention of extracting a Christmas message. After all, it is Christmas. What kind of blogger would I be if I just blogged through the holiday and didn’t acknowledge the special event of Christ’s birth. But then I came to realize something. By reading God’s Word, I celebrate Christ’s birth, life, and resurrection everyday.  Through the reading of His Word, I am constantly reminded of who God is, what He has done and how I should live in a surrendered, humbled, God-honoring life.

So that being said, of course there is a message of Christmas in Numbers 19, and this is what I found.  Verse 20, “But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean.” We are unclean, all of us. During this time in history, God put the calf and other sacrifices in place for man to deal with their sin and dirtiness. Today, because of Jesus, we HAVE a way to deal with our sin and become clean. The disconnect is knowing that and then living for that.

So Christmas is a symbolic celebration of the coming of our LORD Jesus to earth, as a human infant, to live a perfect life, so that we may live an eternal life. But when we truly come to accept that gift, we not only have His eternal promises, but we are clean. It’s like a Holy shower. So I pray for all of those who haven’t unwrapped their gift from God and given their hearts over to Him. My heart grieves when I remember seeing Christmas Day as the finish line for my 6 week marathon of retail frenzy. Now I go into the Christmas season with my heart and budget in tact. True peace on earth!

Wash Up – Get Clean

Posted in Daily Devotions: Chapter by Chapter by

wash

Today’s Devotion: Leviticus 14

All these offerings speak of Christ, through whom the cleansed leper is acceptable to God. There is nothing special about him just because he is a cleansed leper. Too often we see Christians who feel that somehow they are different and special. They withdraw from the others and think they are better than the others. My friend, we each must come just as all the rest come. Everyone must be acceptable to God through Christ. We each need to be washed.

When I was younger, we used to attend church wearing our Sunday best. My mom was especially picky that we dressed to be presentable to the Lord. We were constantly reminded to make sure we were clean.

“Make sure you wash your face,” She would remind my brothers.

One morning we were on our way and before we even got to the end of the driveway she looked into the rearview mirror and saw remnants of breakfast on my brothers cheeks. She pulled over to the side of the road, grabbed him from the back seat, marched him down to the creek next to the road and smeared water all over his face. I don’t think my brother ever left the house with the dirty face again!

Being clean before God was important to my Mom. It wasn’t that this added to our salvation or gave us favor in God’s eyes. It was about being respectful and honoring Him. Yet, we weren’t clean. We are far from clean and there is nothing in us or about us that we can do on our own to make us Holy and acceptable to God.

Chapter 14 takes our leprosy story and references our homes; our homes, in this context, is our bodies. Just as my brother was told to wash up and be clean before God. Chapter 14 is God’s way of showing us that He needs to be the one who does the cleaning. Not only will He transform us from the inside out, but He took our sin on the cross and removed it permanently. That is if we have surrendered our will (to do it ourselves) over to Him, allowing Him to take our sins away.