Priestly Sacrifices

    Leviticus has been an instruction manual for the first nine chapters. It lists exactly how to sacrifice certain animals and what each sacrifice means. Chapter ten moves back into action. Aaron goes through the process of sacrificing to God on his behalf and on behalf of the people. Moses and Aaron have asked God to show his presence to the Israelites. They believe that if the people can see and feel the presence of God, they won't be as tempted to sin. Once Aaron completes the sacrificial rituals, God shows his glory and his presence with fire. He consumes the sacrifices, and the Israelites shout for joy.

    I don't sacrifice goats in my backyard, but this story is true to my heart anyway. I pray constantly to feel or see the presence of God. If I feel God with me, then I know I am on the right track. If God is guiding me, I am protected. My sacrifices come in different forms. We give our money to both church and charity. I spend time each morning praying and reading the Bible. Is it enough? Some days I feel that my sacrifice is adequate, some days I know I could have given more to God. I understand that the need for blood sacrifices was paid for by Jesus on the Cross. We don't need to slaughter animals anymore, but God is asking us give back anyway!

    During the day, when I am in the middle of my work or parenting duties, it is easy to lose focus on God. I will go hours at work, so busy that I don't think of anything except the task at hand. It is in these moments that I need the presence of God, but I have to be willing to make time for him to come to me. Sometimes the sacrifice God is asking of me is simply my time.

Thankfulness

    I have mentioned numerous times that I am trying to branch my writing skills into new areas. I have prayed about this change for about two years, and have experienced enough success in this field to believe I should keep going. As a writing teacher, I write every day. It occurred to me two years ago to actually do something with these stories and articles I produced for my students. As I began taking some classes and exploring different areas of writing, I quickly learned that if I wanted to make money at this trade, I would have to learn to write in many different styles.

    Most recently, I submitted a few proposals to line up work for the summer. I would love for that work to carry me on through next school year, but I have also learned that God controls my plans more than me. I am encouraged to see this process moving forward.

    The point of this rambling?? Thankfulness. I read Psalm 9 this morning, and it begins with thankfulness. I am so blessed! Why shouldn't I begin with thankfulness? I don't know for sure, I haven't adequately research this Psalm, but it seems as if David is writing about war. He is pursued by his enemies, but knows God is in charge. David is forever thankful for God's guidance for his life and command over his enemies.

    I am not at war. No enemy is trying to kill me. I have so much more to be thankful for! On this Memorial Day, we all have much to be thankful for. We are months from Thanksgiving, but let's celebrate thanksgiving today!

***Note: I learned in a footnote from biblegateway.com that Psalm 9-10 are believed to be an acrostic poem with each line beginning with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. How incredible is that?!

Who Will Stand Up For Me?

This morning in church, our minister was asking us to put others ahead of ourselves always.  His point was that, in our relationships, we sometimes spend more energy trying to be right than doing what is right.  He told us that we often think we have to stand up for ourselves because nobody else will stand up for us.  But that isn't true!  God will stand up for us.  He said that Jesus not only stood up for us, but was raised up on a cross for us. 

Two hours later, I sat here on my couch and read Psalms 7:10-11.  This is what it says:
¹⁰ My shield is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
   a God who displays his wrath every day.

I hope this week, I can focus more on doing what is right instead of being right!I am that person who tries to always be right.  I told someone just this week that our lives would be simpler if my husband would just accept that I need to be in charge! 

Guilt, Grace, and Glory

I was raised as a Christian.  There wasn't a defining moment when I remember hearing about Jesus's sacrifice for the first time.  When Christian values and beliefs have been present always, it is easy to take them for granted.  Reading the Psalms reminds me of the power and wonder of God.  David reminds me that I should feel guilty when I have done wrong.  He reminds me that God's grace is what saves me from my enemies.  He reminds me that the Glory of God created the majestic world and me.  When God created me, he made me just the way he wanted me to be.

Spoken About Me

So my lack of knowledge with computers shines with extra brightness tonight.  I haven't posted for a couple of days because I thought something major was wrong with my blogger account. Actually, I just needed to restart the computer.  Once I did that, everything worked just fine.  However, I haven't posted in two days.  Let me recap!  I have read Psalms 3-6 and Leviticus 5-6. 

Tonight, however, I reread them to prepare for a post when I realized it was working for me.  As I reread, two verses spoke to me as if they were written yesterday.  You know how you read an article in a magazine and you realize the author is talking DIRECTLY to you?  That's how I felt tonight.  Here are the verses of Psalms that were written for me.

Psalms 3:3 But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
   my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

Psalms 5:3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
   in the morning I lay my requests before you
   and wait expectantly.
The first gets me because I am tired.  This was field day at school.  Remember that day?  The day of competition?  Our track events have transformed into water balloon fights, but still competitions.  Storms have kept me awake this week.  After all the tornadoes that have attacked people in their sleep, I wake up to a storm and worry.  However, the Lord is my sheild around me!

The second passage gets me because I usually read my Bible first thing in the morning.  It is when I listen to hear God's voice.  I can't wait to get back into the groove tomorrow morning, even though it is Saturday!

The Book of Psalms

Because I am following a scripted plan, my books do not go in order.  After John, I begin Psalms.  I did a little research on the book of Psalms this morning before reading any of it.  I always assumed David was the author, but apparently there is a but of dispute over authorship.  It is now believed that David wrote many of them, but perhaps a group of authors, many unknown, wrote the rest.  It is also believed that David wrote Psalms that were probably carried down throughout the days of Moses. 

When I have more time I would like to look further into how different religions use the Psalms.  I found some information about it, but didn't read much.  It looks as if the Psalms have great importance with several groups, though, from Muslims to Christians, to Jewish and several other groups.

As I began to read Psalms 1-2 today, I remembered how much I enjoyed them.  I have a friend who read one everyday.  Often she comes and tells me a verse that touched her that day. 

I think the draw of the Psalms is timeless.  The word Psalms, translated, means praises.  I spend more time in prayer to God than I do praising him.  This book offers a way to praise God on a daily basis.

Great Endings

As a beginning writer, I am just learning the craft.  As a writing teacher, I have tried to divide the major components of writing into categories that can be taught in a meaningful order.  One of the first things I teach is how to create a beginning and an ending to your story.  When fifth graders develop their ideas, it is usually the middle that they think of first.  They need help figuring out how to create a beginning that catches your attention.  Next, we work on how to create an ending that wraps up their story leaving the reader with a feeling that the plot was satisfied. 

John was a master of beginnings and endings.  He chose not to begin with the birth of Christ, but the first chapter of John grabs the reader into the story of the ministry of Christ.  The ending of chapter 21 struck me as a fantastic ending.  He is clearly speaking to the reader.

 ²⁵ Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Isn’t that a great ending for the beginning of my day?!