January 19, 2014 – Sunday

Start Time: 5:27 A.M.

End Time: 6:02 A.M.

Title: Provision for Priests and Levites

Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:1 – 22

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ The priests, the Levites, that is, all the tribe of Levi, will have no part or heritage with Israel; their food and their heritage will be the offerings of the Lord made by fire.  And they will have no heritage among their countrymen; the Lord is their heritage, as He has said to them.  And this is to be the priests’ right; those who make an offering of a sheep or an ox are to give to the priest the top part of the leg and the two sides of the head and the stomach.  And in addition you are to give him the first of your grain and wine and oil, and the first wool cut from your sheep.  For he and his sons after him for every, have been marked out by the Lord their God from all their tribes, to do the work of priests in the name of the Lord.  And if a Levite, moved by a strong desire, comes from any town in all Israel where he is living to the place marked out by the Lord; then he will do the work of a priest in the name of the Lord his God, with all his brothers the Levites who are there before the Lord.  His food will be the same as theirs, in addition to what has come to him as the price of his property.

NOTES:

Ø God is our heritage!  He is our legacy, our birthright!  Everyone who gives everything to the Lord, deserves the right to have God for him!  So when we give up everything we have for the Lord, be assured that we have the right and the inheritance of God’s greater glory, God’s greater power, God’s greater provision, God’s greater wealth, God’s greater presence, God’s greater wisdom, God’s greater healing, God’s greater righteousness, etc.  Everything that is of God’s now becomes of us for He is our inheritance!  What an amazing God we serve!  When we lay down everything of us, we gain the right to have Him and everything of Him becomes available for us!  Wow!  What a great revelation!  So why do we hold on to things when we can lay them down to God and have everything?

→When they have come into the land which the Lord their God is giving them, they are not to take as their example the disgusting ways of the other nations.  Let there not be seen among them anyone who makes his son or daughter go thru the fire or anyone using secret arts or a maker of strange sounds, or a reader of signs or any wonder-worker, or anyone using secret force on people, or putting questions to a spirit, or having secret knowledge, or going to the dead for directions.  For all who do such things are disgusting to the Lord and because of these disgusting things the Lord their God is driving them out before them.  They are to be upright in heart before the Lord their God.  For the other nations whose land they are taking, give attention to readers of signs and to those using secret arts; but the Lord their God will not let them do so.  The Lord their God will give them a prophet from among their people, like Moses; they will give ear to him.  In answer to the request they made to the Lord their God in Horeb on the day of the great meeting, when they said, “let not the voice of the Lord your God come to my ears again, and let me not see this great fire any more, or death will overtake me.”  Then the Lord said to Moses, what they have said is well said, God will give them a prophet from among themselves, like them, and God will put His words in his mouth and the prophet will say to them whatever God give him orders to say.  And whoever does not give ear to God’s words, which the prophet will say in God’s name, will be responsible to God.  But the prophet who takes it on himself to say words in my name which God have not given him orders to say, or who says anything in the name of other gods, will come to his death.  And if they say in their hearts, how are we to be certain that the word does not come from the Lord?  When a prophet makes a statement in the name of the Lord, if what he says does not take place and his words do not come tru, then his word is not the word of the Lord; the words of the prophet were said in the pride of his heart and they are to have no fear of him.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who wants to communicate with His people!  God ensures that a prophet is chosen to speak or mediate between men and Him during the old times so that the people can hear His words and know Him.  This prophet is to carry out God’s words alone and not his own opinion, his own beliefs, his own understanding, etc.  This clearly shows that God wants to talk to us and at a time when there’s a big gap between man and God, God found a way to communicate with us, thru choosing an upright man to act as His mediator between us.  Today, our mediator is Jesus, who took that place so we may have a strong and intimate relationship with our Lord. 

Ø God wants to build an honest and transparent relationship with us!  God requires honesty and truth from the mediator or the prophet appointed by the Lord.  And though, God knows that man has the tendency of being swayed by their emotions and may use His name to speak words that are not of His, He warned the appointed prophets before they were chosen to fill in the role.  Good thing that today, our mediator is Jesus who has nothing but truth in Him.  So we can be assured that our relationship with the Lord is based in pure sincerity, honesty and truth, making it stronger than ever because our mediator is upright and just!  He is our Lord Jesus Christ who we build relationship with and HE ensures that this mediator is untouchable so that our relationship with Him is basically untouchable as well!  Wow!  Praise the Lord!  Thank You Lord for such a wonderful truth!  Now I can be assured that my relationship with You is built in strong foundation… unshakeable and unbreakable because my mediator is… J

Application / Realization:

Ø God is inheritance…Clearly He wants everything He has to be ours but we need to lay down everything we have to Him.  Coz how can we see His wealth, provision, healing, strength, when all we see is our savings, our money, our own efforts, our pain, our own strength…We need to let go of what we have and trade it with what God has in store for us!  So just like the Levite, we don’t have any inheritance on earth (in the natural or earth) but our inheritance is God and everything that is of Him.

Ø God wants to communicate and build a relationship with us that is based on the truth and a strong foundation, who is Jesus Christ, so it is unshakeable and unbreakable!  He wants a solid relationship that nothing can ruin, not time, not circumstances, not sin, not death, not anger, not lack, not anything… and only Jesus overcame everything on the cross that’s why our relationship with God is based on Jesus and sealed by His Holy Spirit!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, amazing and wonderful!  I am grateful and touched for Your infinite wisdom and love for me.  I am amazed of Your knowledge, Your power, and Your identity.  You are able to see things ahead and thought of every details to ensure victory and You wants to give that victory to me.  Thank You Father, thank You my Lord.  I am moved of the thought that You want me to have You as my inheritance.  In reality, You have given Yourself as my birthright but it is up to me to claim that birthright!  Thank You God for such a wonderful gift.  I can not believe that You are my inheritance!  You who owns everything!  This means that as my inheritance, I can own everything that You own!  So thank You Lord.  Holy Spirit help me to surrender everything that I have and to take full advantage of my inheritance in my life.  Lord thank You because You want to build a solid relationship with me in Jesus Christ and You did everything to ensure that this relationship cannot be broken or shaken.  Thank You for that assurance that my relationship with You will always be stronger than anything because Jesus Christ defeated everything that can shook a relationship, including death!  Thank You Lord, Thank You God, Thank You Jesus!  In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!