Receive Power

 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

This power Christians receive, about which Jesus spoke and Luke wrote, is nothing they can manufacture for themselves. Notice the verb “will receive.” The power comes from the Holy Spirit (God). God gives it freely to Christians. This power is part of God’s power and provides believers with the ability to do what God tells them. God gives the ability to do what He commands. This power is part of God’s ability; He can do anything and everything.

With the power of God in them given by God Himself, what was Jesus’ command to His followers? Jesus said Christians are to be witnesses. Witnesses see and hear what God does and says. Witnesses can attest to God's actions and words. Their statements—testimonies—give credence and more power (more punch) so people are more inclined towards believing about God and believing in Jesus.

In Acts 1:8, Luke recorded when Jesus said the Holy Spirit will give Christians the power and ability to serve Jesus by testifying about Him. God expects and empowers believers to hear, see, obey, and then tell other people about Jesus. He compels them by the Holy Spirit, who lives within them, to tell other people. As Christians grow closer to God, it becomes harder to disobey God—His conviction through the Holy Spirit and power within them—and their love for Jesus. Love for God (Father, Son, and Spirit) compels Christians to obey, act, and say what Gods commands, compels, and empowers them to do with His ability.

Understanding that the command, compulsion, and power to obey comes from God makes it easier for the believer to tell whom and go to wherever He leads easier. Love for God makes it easier each day to go further from our safe space, from family, and from friends. That love for God and from Him makes it possible to go far to be a witness about God and the gospel. It helps believers realize no matter where they are, God is already there and always with them. Going far away is easier when your love for God is greater than your love for yourself, your dreams and plans, your parents, siblings, grandparents, and your friends. When God is your everything, He becomes closer to you than these people and things; He becomes mother, father, brother, sister, and friend in your heart. A Christian does not leave these behind but finds that love for God fulfills the love you need.

This means going to your city (Jerusalem), your state (Judea), your country (elsewhere in your country, like Samaria), and the world are easier because of your love for God and His for you. Going and telling is easier because God empowers you with His ability. Witnessing about God is easier because no doubt exists in your mind that God compels and sends you. Obeying is easier because God’s love in you causes you to love the people you have not yet met. God’s love in you gives you immeasurable concern for their spiritual eternity and their lostness—lack of salvation and lack of relationship with God.

Christians’ love for God and people is immense due to their relationship with God and belief in Jesus, making sharing the gospel a necessity. You will stretch yourself so that all people listen to testimony about Jesus. Your relationship with God fulfills you completely, so you lack nothing - family, friends, home, power, purpose, hope, and future. God fulfills each of these needs; He becomes your everything.

What excuse do you allow to keep you from a greater relationship with God, a relationship that comes from obeying Him by being filled with His power and ability?

What excuse do you give for not witnessing about Jesus to people?

God wants to be everything you need. Do not let a human excuse keep you from the abundance of God and from God. Believe and bear witness about Jesus.

Power-filled Command

 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

— Acts 1:8

 

Never before have I been led to focus on the verbs of this verse. Let’s consider them together.

 

Jesus first said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” He was talking to His chosen apostles while eating with them. Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem until His Father had given them His promised gift (vs. 4). This gift is what Jesus spoke about in verse eight, His Holy Spirit. Receiving that gift was very important or Jesus wouldn’t have mentioned it. It was so important that Jesus emphasized it as a command that sounded like, “Don’t leave until you receive the gift.” Jesus had no doubt God would give it. He and the Father spoke continually. This was their plan from before time. Jesus emphatically told His chosen apostles, “You WILL receive power” and it WILL come from the Holy Spirit (a personage in the triune Godhead). Jesus’ Spirit would empower and embolden the apostles. Jesus gives each Christian this promise; His Spirit will come upon us when we believe in Him for salvation. Don’t run out in your own steam living life like you did before you believed in Jesus. You’re supposed to live in the power of the Spirit, who leads you to live out God’s plan for your life. 

 

What was the second part of verse eight? Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses.” Upon looking at this, it may seem Jesus was just foretelling the future of His apostles. But if you look at the Greek words we consider future tense, you will note it’s an indicative. Indicatives are a future telling that carries a command. Jesus looked at the men and told them, “You WILL be.” It’s like a parent telling a child, “You WILL clean up your mess.” Like the parent’s command told the future about the child’s obedience, Jesus’ telling the future about what the apostles will be doing carried a command that resulted in their obedience. 

 

Several things to note here. Jesus didn’t just tell them to go make disciples. He gave them His power, words, heart for people, boldness, and courage by giving them the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t tell His children to do something without giving them the ability, desire, and tools to do it. Another note: Christians, whether called to live changed and godly lives or to go minister somewhere to someone, MUST rely upon the Holy Spirit. Trying to live godly lives cannot be done by human strength or ability. We must intentionally and assertively seek and take hold of the Holy Spirit for His purpose, power, and way to live godly lives. God gives us the gift of His Spirit to give us His power to live for Him. We must accept and take hold of it. 

 

Jesus still foretells the future of our lives. When we believe in Him for salvation, we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father. And we will be His witnesses by and through our lives so that the people around us see Him at work in our lives and want to know more. Some Christians will be called to go to other cities, provinces, districts, and countries to show and tell about the love of God to anyone who will listen. Going and sharing the gospel is an imperative by Jesus for which He provides the power, words, strength, and will.

 

Will you choose to obey Jesus’ command? Will you assertively take hold of the power the Spirit gives to live changed, godly lives? If not, what difference is your life now than before you believed in Jesus?

Kicking the Goads

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:14 [NASB]

Each of us has rebelled against someone or something. We tell ourselves we can control ourselves without that law; it’s for other people who have few morals. Or, we might say, “You aren’t the boss of me.” The reality is other people are our superiors at home, work, and school because of their titles or education. Though our human side rarely wants to accept and submit, this truth has been around since God created Adam then Eve. They knew God and who He was in relation to them. When we read that Adam and Eve hid from God after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:8). They recognized they rebelled against God when they chose to eat from the one tree God told them not to eat its fruits. By hiding from God, they showed they recognized His superiority. In resigned recognition of their sin at God’s continued calling to them, they acknowledged God as their LORD and accepted their discipline and tasks from Him.

Saul (Paul) had been a leading Pharisee of the Pharisees. He sought to exceed far beyond the other Pharisees and to have a reputation as the best Pharisee, one who quelled a sect, an offshoot of Jews, who followed a man from Nazareth named Jesus (Acts 26:4-5, Galatians 1:13-14). Saul saw Jesus as just a carpenter’s son and His followers as people deluded or hysterical, but still leading others astray. He convinced some followers to blaspheme against Jesus, but he had others killed. Saul had no qualms in doing whatever he thought necessary to stop the growth and life of this group.

As Saul journeyed to Damascus to do his work against Jesus and His followers, he encountered Jesus. Jesus spoke to him as a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining around him and the others traveling with him. This vividly bright light caused him and his co-travelers to fall prostrate to the ground (Acts 26:12-14a). With Saul’s acknowledgement of someone or something greater around him and automatically falling prostrate, he heard the voice of that One. Jesus asked Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Why are you causing harm to My body, the people who believe in Me and are doing what I commanded them? Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Why was Saul rebelling so hard against Jesus and even willing to imprison, whip, and kill His followers? Saul had ambition. His ambition was to be the best of the Jews and the best of the Pharisees. He’d forgotten the real goal for the first covenant people was to follow God by keeping His commandments. God never told Saul to persecute Jesus’ followers. Saul’s own interpretation of being the best Pharisee meant he should punish and stop anything or anyone who took the Jews away from what he knew came from God. To be better, in Saul’s mind, was to be rigid in defense of the God’s commandments, laws, and precepts. He felt people must see him as standing strongly for God’s laws. Saul had been so caught up on doing for God that He forgot to listen for and to God. Possibly, he heard God’s voice but instead determined to advance in his career. Besides this, he could have feared becoming a member of what the Jewish leaders called a sect of Judaism. Additionally, he could have heard God’s voice, but rebelled against God blatantly. Whatever Saul’s excuse, the result was sin against God and other people.

When the bright light led to Saul’s recognition of someone greater than himself near him, Jesus challenged him further. He said, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” What did Jesus mean by these words? In a non-agrarian 21^st century world, people rarely use the word “goads”. Goads are cattle prods, pointed sticks, used by a farmer to make the bull do what he wants/wills, for example to pull a plow. When a bull kicks against the goads, he rebels against the will of his master. Jesus, when He said this to Saul, meant, “It is hard for you to rebel against the will of God.” God’s will shall occur and Saul’s fighting against it was futile. To fight against God’s will would only hurt Saul, just as his continued persecution of other people would hurt people.

At the point where Jesus confronted Saul about his rebellion, Saul recognized and acknowledged the speaker. He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus affirmed Saul’s understanding by saying, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” (vs 15) From the point of acknowledging and accepting Jesus as Lord, Jesus can use a person. After that, Jesus gave Saul his vision. He told Saul, “Get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen but also to the things in which I will appear to you.” (vs 16)

Saul finally conceded to listen to Jesus when His great light blinded him. He could do nothing except acknowledge the light and Him with this encounter. Earlier Saul’s focus was on being the most devout and the best Pharisee. He did not want to hear God’s voice. He refused to accept the Messiah had already come and was persecuting Him and His followers. Saul became tired of kicking against the goads, fighting against God’s divine will. He accepted his mission from Jesus to preach to the Jews and Gentiles. Jesus had promised Saul, even though the Jews and Gentiles would persecute him, He would rescue him from them. (vs 17)

What causes you to keep running from Jesus? Are you striving to be the best you can be and putting Jesus last in your life? Are you afraid for other people to know you are a Christian because you fear persecution? Or, are you just afraid to submit to anyone because you want to be your own boss? Satan loves to use fear, greed, and fame to blind people from seeing Jesus. Jesus’ light is brighter than any other. His light casts out the darkness with which Satan tries to blind you. We can only stall God’s will by kicking. Eventually, God’s will occurs.

Why do you rebel against God and His will?

Be obedient to God.

Accept His salvation and plan for your life.

Lord, please forgive me. I have sought only to advance myself with degrees, status, and money. I heard Your voice a long time ago but chose things for myself while ignoring You. The only thing I can truly do on my own is cause myself stress because of my striving after things. That for which I seek passes away when I stop pushing my agenda. It is like vapor, here one second and then gone the next. Lord, I don’t want my life to be like that. I want my life to mean something and to have a purpose. I realize the only way that can occur is by seeking You and Your will. Lord, each time I’ve striven after more, I have turned my back on You to do it. Please forgive my rebellion. Forgive me making myself my own master and not acknowledging You. Forgive my sin of fame and greed and help me find contentment in You. Lord, I am a sinner who turned away and against You. Forgive me of my sins. Make me righteous and right with You. Thank you for loving me, never forsaking me, and forgiving me of my sin. I love you, God. Amen.

Doing the Impossible

³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me: what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:35-36 [NASB])

¹⁵ And I (Saul) said, “Who are you, Lord?” And the Lord, said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; ¹⁷ rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:15-18 [NASB])

As Christians, we know without doubt where we will go when we no longer live on this earth. We don’t fear eternity. Yet, many of us fear what will happen to us on earth; what humankind will do to us if we say or do what Jesus' Spirit tells us to say or do. We fear of being ostracized. We fear of being rejected by people we think we want to impress or to have as friends. We fear physical persecution.

In the earthly realm, these fears seem normal and appropriate. Yet, if we truly are followers of Christ and, as such, are the children of God, these fears should not affect how we live. Remember, fear is not of God. Instead, we must submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit and let Him clothe us with the new nature that comes from Jesus. By this, we will become more like Christ every day. We are to submit ourselves, so the fears of the world do not enter our thinking. If we fear, we are letting the old nature block our acceptance and keep us from living in the new nature.

In John 18:36, Jesus implied because His servants, His followers, were not fighting to get Him released from custody, Pilate could know they truly were His followers, Christians. They sought to do the Father's will. Jesus' followers understood, because He told them His arrest and crucifixion would happen and was part of God's plan for the salvation of humanity. Jesus told His followers they would face persecution, too, and stand strong by His Spirit’s empowering of them. Because He stood strong, they could know they could stand strong in the face of persecution.

When Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus, Jesus told Saul He would rescue him from the Jewish people and the Gentiles (Acts 26:17). He made sure Saul knew being a follower of Jesus would mean being, doing, and saying things contrary to what the world wants to hear, see, and be. So, knowing Jesus will rescue him and will send His Spirit to empower and embolden him to endure ostracism and physical persecution, encouraged and gave His later followers the ability to stand strong by the new nature He put within them when they received salvation.

Fear should not affect our following Jesus. We can do or say what the Spirit leads us to do or say in this world. Jesus went before us as the Son of God who lived as a man and became the model for us of how we should live, act, speak, and think. He told us persecution would happen. Jesus told us He would rescue us, too. He might not rescue us immediately, but in the eternal time frame, He has already rescued us and we can go forward with hope and assurance in faith because of Jesus.

Today, some of us are facing battles and persecution. It would be so much easier to give in and give up the fight rather than stand strong against those things. Remember, Jesus has overcome Satan, sin, death, and the world. There is nothing to fear. Live with the new nature Jesus gave you, not the old, mortal, fearful nature. Watch what God is doing and is about to do because of your faithfulness to Him.

God is able and is faithful to do the impossible using the finite for His eternal good.

While I (Jesus) was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which you have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:22 [NASB])

Lord, I want to live and be Your disciple, Your child, here on earth the way You lead me, but at times I allow my old nature and fear to lead me. I say, “I am just an introvert” or “I have small children to protect.” I allow my old nature, my human reasoning to lead me instead of You. I’m sorry, Lord. You are God and can do anything. You are faithful and love me and will do what is best. I can trust in You. Please forgive me to live based on my reasoning and my comfort zone. Help me step out and live in faith where You lead me so other people may hear about, come to know You, and be saved. I love You, Lord. Amen.

Would You?

“But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” Acts 16:25-26 [NASB]

Would you be arrested because you tell people about Jesus the Messiah? Would you suffer beatings because you refuse to stop telling people about Him? Would you sing praises to God while bleeding, sore, and shackled at the ankles after people beat you because you are His child?

This happens today. It happened to Paul and Silas, too. After Paul commanded a spirit of divination to leave the body of a girl, her masters grabbed them. They took them to the magistrates proclaiming they were throwing their city into confusion and teaching customs unlawful for them to accept or observe since they were Romans. Understand, these “masters” made money from their servant foretelling people’s future. They did not want what Paul preached to turn their world upside down or cause them to lose money. The magistrates ordered the guards to whip Paul and Silas then chain them in the prison. After the jailor chained Paul and Silas, they sang praises to God, and the doors of the prison opened and the chains on all the prisoners unlocked.

People are beaten, tortured, imprisoned, and killed for proclaiming their faith in Christ today. With the world becoming smaller because of faster transportation and international media, we have heard of or seen these things happen for ourselves. Some of us have experienced these things. Others of us have faced less harsh persecution and trouble, but still it affected us. We stopped and thought about being silent,  and of not standing for our belief in God and His Word. We considered the world is a different place now and so we need to be different, too. Possibly you have even considered and wondered, because you hear it so often, if God is irrelevant. Deep within yourself, you know He is relevant. You realize He is Almighty God. You know Jesus is the Savior and Your Savior. Still, wouldn’t it be easier not to speak about it so people would not ostracize you, call you names, persecute you, or kill you?

Paul and Silas, being human just like us, possibly thought this, too. Yet, consider what happened in Acts 17:16-34 after their beating and imprisonment in Acts 16. Paul walked through Athens. He realized Athenians’ desire to make sure they worshipped every god. They feared they wouldn’t worship all the gods that existed and erected a statue to “The Unknown God.”. Paul’s heart, being like Christ’s, ached with love for these people. He cared for them and wanted to help meet their need. With his heart beating in time with Christ’s, Paul talked with Jews, God-fearing Gentiles, Epicureans, and Stoic philosophers. People took Paul to the Areopagus where philosophers and teachers spoke, argued, and dissected ideas determining if they would incorporate them into their lives. These leading thinkers of Athens asked Paul to explain what he meant in his teachings and reasonings.

When Paul spoke with the Athenian leaders, he did several things. He met them at their acknowledged need. He spoke eloquently and respectfully to them. Paul recognized their need. Jesus Christ meets people at their need. Paul brought his speech to a moment of decision. He told them he recognized they are a people who realize their own human finiteness. Paul saw they were religious. (Acts 17:16) He humbly showed them respect and acknowledged the Athenians understanding of their own limitations and the obvious existence of a power greater than humanity. (Acts 17:22) Paul did not teach them by ostracizing their gods. He approached them wanting to give them more information because he respected them. (Acts 17:23). In this verse, Paul met the people at their spoken need – to recognize all gods. He then explained about their “Unknown God” being God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ. He spoke to them in a way in which they would realize their needs are met in Christ. Paul explained this God is the Creator of all things and means to righteousness. (Acts 17:24-29) Finally, Paul spoke not only his mind and explained about God Almighty and Jesus Christ, he brought the Athenian leaders to a point of decision. Would these Athenians believe in this God forsaking their handmade gods? Would they believe in and accept the gift of God’s righteousness through His Son, Jesus Christ, the One He raised from the dead? (Acts 17:30)

Paul didn’t back down from speaking because of his earlier arrest, beating, and imprisonment. He, having a heart like Jesus Christ’s, cared for the Athenians. Paul respected them and their desire for knowledge. He saw their need as they recognized it. Paul boldly stepped forward and spoke respectfully with authority and conviction about Jesus. He brought his hearers to a point of decision. Paul didn’t back down from fear of arrest, imprisonment, and beating. He didn’t think himself a coward and so unable to do what Jesus calls all his disciples to do. People continued taking Paul before the authorities. He often experienced persecution and torture. Yes, Paul kept telling people about Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God made available to humanity.

Yesterday we each felt ostracism by someone because of our belief in Jesus. Today and tomorrow you might experience it, as well as persecution and torture because of your faith. Each believer in Jesus throughout time since His life, death, and resurrection will have faced it at least once. Is that supposed to stop us proclaiming God’s love and the salvation He offers to all people? Does that mean we should lambast people as being “stupid” in their beliefs? Does that mean we should grudgingly tell people about Jesus, but disrespect them or not lead them to a point of decision? NO to all these.

We are to be like Christ, whom Paul emulated well. Though faced with imminent death, Jesus continued to proclaim God’s salvation had come. He continued on the path set before Him to His purpose, to be the sacrifice for the sins of every person. Jesus said He suffered at the hands of man and His followers would suffer the same and more. BUT, Jesus never stopped loving the people for whom He came to give up His life. He never belittled them. Jesus kept telling the people the day of their salvation had come. He met them at their need – illness, poverty, imprisonment, and status in life – and made them whole because of His power and their belief in Him.

We each will face troubles, persecution, maybe torture, and possibly death because of our faith. These will come at the hands of other people. We must decide in advance we will love the people no matter what they may do to us. We must resolve to stand strong in our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. We must determine to treat the people with respect and tell them about Christ leading them to His throne. Above all, each of us must decide for ourselves to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. Jesus told His followers, when they asked Him what they must do to have eternal life, “Come follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21)

Will you love, proclaim, teach, and lead like Jesus?

Will you be willing to suffer the darts and arrows of Satan because you follow Jesus?

Lord, so often I stop obeying You because I am tired or scared. Please forgive me. Make me bold and courageous willing to follow You no matter what may happen. Give me a love for people who don’t know You so I will tell them about You no matter the consequences. Lord, You are Creator, Provider, and Redeemer. You hold time and our lives in Your hands. You could kill us without a thought, but Your love for us is so great You do not want us to die without knowing You and being made righteous. Lord, I am not good enough, nor can I ever make myself good enough to be in Your presence, but You have provided the way for me to be with You. Thank you, God, for loving me even though I am sinful. Thank you for providing a way for me to be with You forever. Thank you for calling me to tell others about You and making me brave enough to do it. Help me tell others with Your love in my heart. Make me whom You need me to be. Amen.

PRAYER (part 1): What, Why, and How

Introduction

If you are a Christian-a follower of Jesus-then ministers and teachers undoubtedly taught you about prayer. Many people have written books and study guides to teach other people what prayer is, how to pray, what comprises prayer, and whose prayers God hears. This Bible study is an earnest seeking of everything the Bible says on prayer and praying-noun and verb. There are over 130 verses in the Bible about prayer, praying, calling out, supplicating, asking, petitioning, and requesting.

In this Bible study, I researched and found 132 verses that speak on this topic. Of the 132 verses studied, sixty-four related to four of the fifty-nine areas of prayer denoted within the verses. That means of the fifty-nine areas related to prayer, the Bible spoke of four areas in over half the verses. That is statistically significant.

Before getting to that discussion, let us understand what this study will show us. By studying the Bible, we find answers to the following questions on prayer and praying.

·         What is prayer?

·         What do we do when we pray?

·         How do we/are we supposed to pray?

·         What is expected of the pray-er?

·         When should we pray?

·         Should we expect God to answer prayer?

·         What happens when we pray?

The study of God’s Word-the Bible-is a discipline every Christian should follow. A person cannot grow in his or her relationship with God without knowing more of Him and striving to become more Christlike. The Bible teaches both these things. The people in the Bible understood what prayer is. Jesus Christ taught His disciples how to pray and modeled it regularly for them. If for no other reason, these should compel us to pray, too. Join with me in the first of a fifteen-part Bible study series on prayer as we learn what the Bible teaches on prayer and the person who prays–the pray-er.

What is Prayer?

The word “prayer,” according to 2 Samuel 7:27 (the first place in the New American Standard Bible to use the word “prayer”), comes from the Hebrew word tephillah and means prayer, to pray a prayer, hear prayer, and house of prayer[i]. In this passage, David talked with God about building His temple. God promised him his royal line would not vanish. Notice prayer is listening and speaking.

For a relationship to exist and grow, communication must occur. People of every era have known having a relationship with their god or with Yahweh, the One true God, requires praying to their god or God. For Abraham and his descendants-his blood descendants (the Israelites) and faith descendants (Christians)-praying was/is being in conversation with the One and only God, Yahweh.

Most people learn for communication to occur, each person involved in the conversation must listen and speak. If one side does all the talking, no true communication or growth of relationship occurs. The talkative person uses the other person as a sounding board only. With that in mind, for true communication to happen between a person/people and God, the person/people must listen to God and speak to Him.

From this understanding of communication, we know prayer is a person or group of people listening to and speaking with God–communicating and communing with Him. Before David’s prayer in 2 Samuel 7:27, other people spoke to God. Consider Moses at the burning bush or on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandment tablets from God. Besides this, consider Abraham when God spoke to him about being the father of many nations. Recall Samuel hearing and speaking to the LORD when he was a small boy working with Eli. These men spoke to God, and He spoke to them through the writers of these parts of the Bible did not use the word “prayer.” 

At other times in the Old Testament, the writers used specific words that describe how or what the person or people prayed–crying out, petitioning, thanking, etc. Other places in the Bible that refer to speaking with God through prayer are: first Kings 8:28, Job 16:17, Job 22:25-27, Psalm 18:6, Psalm 19:14, Jeremiah 7:16, Daniel 9:20, Luke 3:21, Acts 10:2 & 9, Acts 20:36, Ephesians 6:18, and 1 Timothy 2:8.

People throughout time prayed to God. They sometimes queried whether God listened to them when they prayed. God spoke of hearing the prayers of His people in Jeremiah 29:12. This verse is part of a covenant-a promise-He gave to His children, Israel, and to His adopted children through faith. Second Samuel 7:27 records David’s recognition that God heard his prayer relating to his desire to build His temple. Along with this verse, Daniel 2:23 and 9:20, and Acts 9:11 speak of God answering Daniel’s prayers and speaking to Ananias. Daniel requested God’s will concerning his circumstances. He gave him an answer. In the second reference, Daniel prayed to God and God sent His messenger, Gabriel, to help him. Ananias received word from God through a vision telling him to go to a blind Saul and restore his sight. Each of these show positive conversations from God. God often told His servants/prophets not to pray to Him for Israel (negative conversations) because He would not listen nor answer the prayers. Jeremiah 7:16 and 11:14 record these types of conversations.

One other point must be made about being in a vital relationship with God, a relationship where two-way communication occurs. God desires to be in a relationship with every person. This desire requires a person be cleansed from his or her sin by the sacrificial death of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. The relationship with God is so precious to Him that John recorded in Revelation 5:8 and 8:3 that the prayers of the saints (believers) are incense, a sweet and pleasant fragrance, to Him. Our relationship with God is sweet and pleasing to Him and blesses us. Prayer is not only important as a sounding board for us, but for developing a pleasant, harmonious, and blessed relationship with Yahweh, too.

What do We do when We Pray? 

Prayer is life-giving (vital) for our relationship with God. When we pray, we recognize God for Who He is–Creator, LORD, Provider, and Lover of our souls. He gave His own Son to die in our place so we could be saved and live forever with Him in heaven. When we relate to God positively, we realize God is greater than anything we can perceive and all we know. With that in mind, we understand why the Bible shows us how to relate to God and approach Him in prayer. We must recognize seven things relating to God and respond to Him with reverence so we do not abuse/misuse our relationship with Him. He is God and we are just part of His creations.

David expressed in six of his psalms and in 2 Samuel who God is. His writings teach us today how to approach God in prayer. To approach God in prayer, we must recognize these things regarding God.

Ø  Recognize God is to be Revered – 2 Samuel 7:27

Ø  Recognize God’s Mercy – Psalm 4:1

Ø  Recognize God Exists – Psalm 65:2

Ø  Recognize God’s Power – Psalm 65:2

Ø  Recognize God’s Faithfulness – Psalm 143:1

Ø  Recognize God’s Righteousness – Psalm 143:1.

Other Bible writers such as Luke, Paul, and Job recognized some of these same things in relation to God and approaching Him in prayer. Consider the following verses–

·         Acts 10:2, 1 Corinthians 11:4 (revere God)

·         Job 22:25-27 (recognize God’s power)

Besides remembering these six aspects of God when approaching God in prayer, Solomon, Nehemiah, Daniel, Luke, and James spoke of another thing to recognize or do when praying to God. They said to recognize God lives in heaven, so pray towards there. Recognize God is greater than themselves-is eternal and all-powerful-so keep focused heavenward–keep focused on God. First Kings 8:28, Nehemiah 1:6, Daniel 9:20, Acts 8:22, and James 5:16 teach this.

The final thing spoken concerning what we do when we pray comes from Acts 20:36 and Colossians 4:3. Luke and Paul taught our prayers are to give testimony of God. This testimony comes from the previous seven things listed and from what God has done for you. If your prayer is not a testimony of who God is and what He has done for you, then your prayers are just a laundry list of “gimmes,” like a child’s Christmas wish list. If a “gimme” list describes your prayers, then your prayers-your supposed two-way conversation with God-are not effective. Your relationship with Him is not vibrant and growing. How should we pray then?

How Should We Pray to God?

When I was a child, my Sunday School teacher taught me to pray to Jesus for other people and myself. As a teenager, a minister taught more on prayer. He said prayers to God should include the words of the acronym A.C.T.S.–Adoration, Confession, Thanks, and Supplication. Considering the latter, I find it interesting the Bible records more concerning petitioning God for one’s self and others than any other part of A.C.T.S. I believe this occurs because people throughout time realized their need for God to provide for them and intervene for them where they lived. Most people approach God when his or her body or life is under threat. Do we forget Him at other times and only realize our need for Him in our lives when we face dire days? We see this truth for many of God’s children. Yet for those who strive to have a growing faith and relationship with God, prayer is more than an SOS. It concerns relationship. Let us consider how we pray to God.

Petition for Self

Both the Old and New Testaments record people praying to God as petitioning Him to help them. Authors of books in the Bible recorded twenty-four times when people petitioned God to help themselves. The New Testament records these prayers of petition nine times. Consider these verses:

·         Judges 15:18,

·         2 Samuel 7:27

·         1 Kings 8:28, 8:38

·         Nehemiah 4:9

·         Job 21:15

·         Psalm 5:2, 18:6, 35:13, 66:17

·         Jeremiah 29:12

·         Daniel 2:23, 9:20

·         Matthew 7:11

·         Mark 11:24

·         Luke 11:13, 21:36

·         John 16:26

·         Acts 7:59, 8:24

·         Philippians 4:6

·         1 Thessalonians 3:10

·         2 Thessalonians 3:1

·         James 1:5-7, 4:2

·         1 John 5:14-15

Besides these verses, which in specific mention “praying for” or “petitioning” the Lord for one’s self, other verses record people “crying out to” or “pleading for” the Lord’s help in their plight. These verses include 1 Kings 8:45; Psalms 4:1, 17:1, 35:13, 66:17, 88:2, 118:5, and 143:1; and Lamentations 3:8.

Petition for Others

As mentioned in an earlier paragraph, petitioning to God for other people occurred often in the Bible. Petitioning God for other people occurred at least twenty-three times in the Bible. Sometimes petitioning to God for self occurred at the same time as petitioning for others. The verses that record these prayers are–

·         1 Samuel 7:5, 12:19

·         1 Kings 8:28

·         Job 42:8

·         Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, 14:22

·         Daniel 9:20

·         Luke 22:32

·         Acts 13:3

·         2 Corinthians 1:11

·         Philippians 1:19, 4:6

·         Ephesians 6:18

·         Colossians 1:9, 4:3

·         1 Thessalonians 3:10, 5:25

·         2 Thessalonians 3:1

·         1 Timothy 2:1-2

·         Hebrews 13:18

·         James 5:16

When people petition for other people, they care enough for the other person to intervene for them to God asking His help or protection for the person. Notice, when we pray to God as part of a growing relationship with Him, we do it because of love for Him. When we pray for other people, we do it because of our care/love for those people. This shows we follow what God taught in the Old Testament with the Ten Commandments–love God and love other people. It shows, too, what Jesus taught with the Greatest Commandment–love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus taught His follower to go a step further than this with His next teaching.

Pray for Persecutors

Jesus in the New Testament taught what God taught in the Old Testament, but He took it a step further. He taught the people that the neighbor they were to love might be their enemy. Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies and pray for them, even those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44). To love and pray for their enemies, Christians must be in a growing relationship with God. They must become more Christlike. By becoming more Christlike, the love of God for their enemy grows in the Christian. From that growth of love, the believer can love and pray for his/her enemies. By loving and praying for one’s enemies, the believer will be like Jesus when He loved and prayed for those who persecuted Him.  

A.C.T.S.

You may ask, “What happened to A.C.T.S.?” The Bible writers wrote so much regarding petitioning God and asking Him to help that it appears adoration, confession, and thanks are unimportant. That is not true though. Remember, in communication we ask for people to help us, and encourage them, thank them, and often confess sins/faults to them. These must be part of our conversations with God, too. They are more important with our conversations with God than with people. 

Confession

When we sin, we sin against God. Remember, sinning separates us from God because He cannot be in the presence of sin since He is holy. We must be made holy again and so must confess our sin to Him and ask for His forgiveness. This will keep our relationship with Him unstrained. God is holy and all-powerful. That means He is merciful and cleanses sin from us when we confess and ask for His forgiveness. David, Nehemiah, Daniel, Luke, James, and John each speak on this in these verses–

·         1 Kings 8:28

·         Nehemiah 1:6

·         Psalm 42:8

·         Daniel 9:20

·         Acts 8:22

·         James 5:16

·         Revelations 5:8

Thanksgiving

Throughout the Bible, the authors of individual books and Jesus taught prayer includes thanks to God, too. To be in a growing and strong relationship, communication must include thanking the person for caring, helping, and praying for you. A relationship with God through Jesus Christ should include thanks to Him, too. God does and has done many things for us over the years as individuals and as a group from the beginning of time.

David spoke in his prayer that only those who lived with God could thank Him (Psalm 6:5). Daniel thanked God for giving him power and wisdom (Daniel 2:23). Jesus thanked His Father for the fish and bread to feed the 5000 people (Luke 9:16-17). Paul taught people to thank God for what He would do in answer to their prayers (Philippians 4:6). He told them to devote themselves to prayer and thanksgiving to God, too (Colossians 4:2). Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 each Christian should pray and petition God for people in authority and give thanks for those leaders. Finally, in 1 Thessalonians 6:16-18, he told the people of Thessalonika to give thanks in everything. As seen, thanks to God should be part of every prayer. Believers must thank Him for what He has done and will do in their lives and the lives of other people for whom they pray.  

Adoration

Praising and exalting God is adoration. God deserves praise because He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (all places at once), and because He is the One true God. David, Daniel, Paul, James, and Luke praised God and taught other followers of Jesus to adore (praise and exalt) Him.

David called God His Rock and Redeemer. He was the strength upon whom David could rely (Psalm 19:14). He said God was merciful (loving-kindness) in Psalm 66:20. David called God his King and extolled (praised and exalted) Him (Psalm 5:2 & 66:17). Daniel recalled his ancestors followed Yahweh God, and He carried them. He said God gave him wisdom and power (Daniel 2:23). Paul and Silas gave testimony of God’s greatness and love while they were in prison (Acts 20:26). Paul taught believers to rejoice always because the Lord was their God. He aligned this with thanking Him in all circumstances and praying continually (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). James taught people to pray with cheerful songs to God. John saw people bowing before the Lamb in a vision while on Patmos (Revelation 5:8).

Adoration-praise and exaltation-is a form of prayer/song to and about God. Adoration differs from thanks because it does not necessarily refer to what God has done, but always to who God is. We praise God because He is greater than anything life can throw at us and we know God conquers all things. We can have hope amid trying times because we know we will be in heaven with Him one day. Knowing God as our Lord, Redeemer, Creator, Protector, and Provider gives us joy and hope that should flow back to Him as praise and exaltation–adoration. Adoration and thanks to God come out of our love as believers for Him.

Recap

In this lesson, we learned that prayer is communicating and communing with God, which requires speaking to Him and listening to what He says. For communication to be effective and growing, it must be two-way. God listens to our prayers and responds to them as David and Daniel found out. He is faithful to His children even if they are unfaithful to Him.

In the second part of this lesson, we learned we have to recognize God for who He is and approach Him with reverence. We must recognize His mercy, existence, power, faithfulness, righteousness, and that He rules over all from heaven. Besides this, when we pray and revere God, we give a testimony about God through our prayers. Paul and Silas did this while in prison.

The final part of this lesson taught us how to pray. Whether using the acronym of A.C.T.S. or remembering the specific parts from the Bible verses above, we must remember prayer–communication/communion with God–includes each aspect as seen in the teachings of Jesus, the apostles, and other Bible writers. Besides this, for our prayers to be genuine-providing a growing relationship with God and a growing Christlikeness-we should praise and exalt God, confess and ask forgiveness, thank Him, and petition for ourselves and other people, including our leaders and enemies. By offering prayers in each of these areas, we show love for other people and for God. We will have a continual growing relationship with God for which He provided salvation for every person.

Relevance and Conclusion

How active and vibrant is your prayer life? Do you only go to God when you need help or want something? Is He your super-Santa? That should not be.

If you are a Christian, you should continue to grow in your relationship with God. This relationship occurs because He provided the cleansing from our sins that separated us from Him through the blood of His only Son, Jesus Christ, who died for each person’s sin penalty. If you pray regularly, do you remember to adore, praise, and exalt Him? Do you thank Him daily? Often, we have our needs supplied and we do not give a thought that God’s faithfulness to us provided what we needed before we asked. Consider the bed you slept on last night. You probably bought or received it years ago, but forget to thank Him for it and praise Him each day for knowing in advance just what you needed before you did. That is God’s omniscience. That is God’s faithful love to you, too.

Do you ask God to help you see your sins of the day so you can confess them and ask for forgiveness from Him? God’s righteousness means He cannot be in the presence of sin, in your unrepentant presence. His righteousness has a flip side, like a coin. Because He is righteous, He must bring judgment for sin, yet because of His mercy and loving-kindness, He provided the penalty-bearer (Jesus Christ) before your birth and later sins. This action for you means He genuinely wants to be in a relationship with you. Have you confessed your sin today so God can give you His love and mercy today?

Praying for things is as natural as breathing to most of us. Want, need, and desire remind us to pray for our circumstances and our selves. Praying for other people is not as easy to remember. Just as we breathe and petition God for ourselves, we should petition for other people, including our enemies.

What is prayer? It involves and affects our relationship with God. Prayer is two-way communication with God that brings growth in our relationship with Him and in our Christlikeness. It produces Christian virtues and leads us closer to Him and closer to perfection through salvation in Christ.

It is time to reflect upon ourselves. What are our questions today?

v  Do you pray each day?

v  Do you recognize God for who He is and revere Him?

v  Are you in a growing relationship with the Lord so you do not have a Christmas wish list, but love and effective communication?

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[i] Brown, Driver, Bringgs, and Gesenius. “Hebrew Lexicon entry for Tephillah.” “The NAS Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon.” (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/tephillah.html). 

A Holy People: Food Laws Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Deuteronomy 14:1-21

            In the last two chapters of Deuteronomy and the resultant Bible studies, we read about one sanctuary and one God. We learned, too, about what that means for us today. Today’s lesson begins a series on one holy people. In Deuteronomy 14:1-21, Moses began and ended this passage with the statement to the Israelites that they are holy to the LORD God. In this sermon, Moses told the Israelites what it means to be a holy people of the LORD. The specificity for the next thirteen chapters begins in today’s study with the food laws God commands for the Israelites so they stay holy and set apart for Him. Before He gave specifics about the food laws, He gave two commands about mourning the dead. Each of these concerns the body - the external and the internal. Let us look now at these twenty-one verses.

Sons of the LORD

            Verse 1 says, “You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.” First, note that this verse is the only time the Israelites are called the “sons of the LORD your God” in the Old Testament. God wanted them to know He cherishes them and gives them commands out of love just as a father to his child. Note that the word “son” comes from the Hebrew word ben, which denotes a male child. In this circumstance, it can mean the people of a nation, too. God spoke to the whole of Israel as His children. The laws He gave were for His children who are His followers/worshippers. God gave these laws for His children and the nation He called His own.

The second half of verse one is interesting. What did God mean when He told them not to cut themselves or shave their foreheads for the dead? The custom of the nations around the Israelites was to cut their bodies or shave part of their head in the grieving of their dead family member or neighbor. Jeremiah 16:6 and 41:5 mentions this. The nations around the Israelites did this as a part of the worship of their gods, too (1 Kings 18:28). The Israelites saw the Egyptians shave their heads and eyebrows in the worship of their god, Isis. God forbade the Israelites to cut themselves or shave their heads to keep them separate from the worship of other gods. The Israelites cut themselves via circumcision as a sign of their covenant with Yahweh. To cut or mark themselves for funerary reasons, would put a mark of a false god on themselves. God’s laws told them not to harm themselves, physically and spiritually. To keep the Israelites from absorbing the worship practices and rituals of the surrounding nations, God gave them laws about certain practices, such as not cutting oneself or shaving the hair on one’s forehead. This law may appear arbitrary, but God was providing safeguards for anything that might become absorbed into the Israelites’ way of life, which was against God’s commandments.

A Holy People

In verse two, Moses explained why God gave the laws. He said, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” God said He chose them. Remember in Deuteronomy 7:6-7, 10:15, and 12:5, God said He chose them to set His affection of love on them. He chose them as His own possession from every people group on the earth. In Leviticus 20:26, God said He set them apart from every people to be His. The English word “chosen” in this verse comes from the Hebrew word bachar, which means to be chosen, decided for, or elected. The word “possession” is from the Hebrew word vegullah and means a treasured possession or special treasure. As any father would protect his family, God’s love for the Israelites was protective. Because He loves His people, He provided every measure of protection over them to prevent their being deceived or led astray from Him. This verse, then, tells the Israelites the reason for the laws set out in the next nineteen verses. Because they are a holy (set apart and consecrated to God) people, they must do nothing that God’s laws prohibit.

The next nineteen verses told the Israelites what they could and must not eat. They must not eat any detestable or abhorrent thing, anything God considered detestable or an abomination (vs. 3). Over the centuries, people have tried to understand why God allowed the eating of some animal meat and not others. Four trains of thought about this have arisen. First, people think God disallowed the eating of certain animals because people used them in pagan rituals. This idea would stand to reason considering that pagans used animals in the worship rituals of idols, but people of other nations offered bulls to their gods, too. Another view is that God disallowed the eating of certain animals for hygienic reasons. The people of the time did not have the ability to clean and prepare certain meats so that eating the meats would not make people sick. Yet any of the meats could have made people sick if kept for more than a day since they had no means of refrigeration. Other people reckon God disallowed certain foods because of the symbolism. Because God only allowed animals that did not prey on other animals or did not die of their own as offerings or sacrifices, these were the animals God commanded the Israelites not eat. This reasoning makes sense, but does not account for all the animals. What makes sense of God’s reasoning of allowed and disallowed animals for eating? It comes down to what God says is “clean” or “unclean.” Before the Mosaic covenant, Noah knew without asking which animals were clean and unclean when God told him to take two pairs of unclean animals and seven pairs of clean animals on the ark (Genesis 7). God has sovereign choice. He did not choose Israel because they were the most moral people on the earth or the largest or the most devout. Along with this reasoning, God did not appear to choose which animals were clean or unclean based on human reasoning. He used sovereign choice. This reasoning fits when the others do not. God chose Abraham, Jacob, Mary, the Israelites, and which animals to be eaten and sacrificed. This point shows God’s choice and election just as discussed at the beginning of verse two.

Food Laws

What did God say the Israelites could and must not eat? Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11 contain the list of clean and unclean animals. Deuteronomy 14 says the Israelites could eat any animals that had a divided hoof and chewed the cud. These animals included the ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. They, too, could eat anything from the water with scales and fins, any clean bird, and any winged insect that had jointed legs above their feet with which to jump. Leviticus 11 does not give the list of divided hoof cud chewing animals like Deuteronomy, but lists the winged insects that are clean – locusts, devastating locusts, grasshoppers of all kinds, and crickets of all kinds. Leviticus 11 does not speak of the clean birds the Israelites must not eat. As to the unclean things, both Deuteronomy and Leviticus give much more detail, with Leviticus giving more than Deuteronomy. The unclean animals God forbade the Israelites to eat included the following - 1. Animals that chew the cud but do not divide the hoof (camel, hyrax/shipman, and rabbit); 2. Animals that do not chew the cud, but have divided hooves (pig); 3. Animals in the water that have no fins or scales; 4. Swarming/teeming life (insects) with wings; 5. Winged insects that walk on all four feet; 6. Whatever crawls on its belly; 7. Whatever has many feet; 8. Swarming things (mole, mouse, great lizard and all its kind, gecko, crocodile, lizard, sand reptile, and chameleon); and 9. Unclean birds (eagle, vulture, buzzard, all kinds of kites, falcon, ostrich, owls, sea gulls, all kinds of hawks, pelican, cormorant, stork, all kinds of herons, hoopoe, bats, ravens, and carrion vultures). Of the unclean animals, Leviticus is more specific about the swarming things. To this list, Deuteronomy adds that any animal that “dies of itself” must not be eaten (Deut. 14:21). Deuteronomy adds one other thing that Leviticus does not include. Verse 21b says, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” God gave this same law in Exodus 23:19 and 34:26. The rationale is not obvious, though Philo, the philosopher, conjectured God commanded this because milk symbolizes life and cooking symbolizes death; thus, you cannot have both life and death in the same pot. Notice verse twenty-one says they can give or sell any of these things to aliens/foreigners in their towns and cities, but they are not to eat it. For people who are not God’s chosen people like the Israelites, the laws of the LORD did not apply.

A Holy People – Reprise and Expansion

Moses repeated for them why they were to follow this law of God. He encapsulated the food law with this reason. They were a “holy people to the LORD God,” Moses said. God’s children, those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ, are the LORD’s “holy people.” What, then, does the food law mean for us today? First, remember that the Israelites lived under the Mosaic covenant, which was a covenant of relationship with God and other people, a covenant of community. The Mosaic covenant led the people to know of their sins and ask forgiveness, but it never provided absolute salvation from their sins. God’s laws were outward actions that did not always reach inside the people. The Israelites’ thought processes focused on keeping unclean things from contaminating their inward selves. When Jesus came to earth, He taught what goes into a man is not what makes him clean or unclean, good or evil, but what comes from the inside of man that makes him these things (Matthew 15:11; Mark 7:15-22). Jesus Christ taught that He came to fulfill the Law not abolish it (Matthew 5:17). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached on the attitudes of people. He taught that what is on the inside - in the heart, soul, and mind of a person - is what and who the person is. That is why He taught that the person who wants to be His follower must love the LORD God with all his or her heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). Since Jesus taught what comes from inside a person determines if he or she is clean, good, and right with God, a follow of Jesus can only be one who accepts Him with his or her whole heart - the inner man, not the outer man. Actions do not make a person acceptable to God, but the circumcising and giving of one’s heart. Actions do not lead to salvation; faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior from our sins does.

Food Law Today?

What does that mean about God’s food laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy? First, we must remember what Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 15:11, what enters a man is not what defiles him, but what proceeds out of his mouth does. Along with this, we must recall Peter’s vision from God in Acts 10-11. God lowered a sheet of many kinds of animals and told Peter to kill and eat them. Peter told God he never ate any unclean thing. God told him, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” From this lesson with God, at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, Peter said the Gentile Christians do not have to become Jews before becoming Christians. He instructed them “abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood” (Acts 15:28). Paul stated in Romans 14:14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” Paul spoke about not creating obstacles for Christian brothers and sisters. Later, in 1 Corinthians 10:25-26, Paul said, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without questioning for conscience’s sake; for the earth is the LORD’s and all it contains.” This alludes back to what God told Peter in His vision and what He said at creation, everything He created is good. Paul told Timothy this same thing in1 Timothy 4:4, “For everything created by God is good, and nothings is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.” I think that is a major point. The attitude of the person receiving and eating the food determines if the God received glory or not when the person at the food. Remember what Paul wrote to in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Glorifying, praising, and thanking God for everything while doing all things comes from the inside of a person, from the person’s heart and soul. From the inside of a person comes either good or evil. When a person glorifies God, God declares the person and his actions good. So what a person puts into his or her mouth is not what defiles him or her. What defiles is what comes out of the person’s heart via his or her mouth or actions. Hence, with these New Testament verses as explanation and with the new covenant that Jesus Christ brought, the food laws God gave to the Israelites are not valid for Christ’s followers. Jesus fulfilled the laws of the Mosaic Covenant and brought salvation through His once-for-all death and resurrection for sinful humanity.

This leaves us each to decide. Are you still living under the Mosaic covenant, not receiving the salvation Jesus paid for with His life? Have you come to believe Jesus is the Son of God sent to die the death penalty for your sins? Have you asked Jesus to forgive you and be the LORD and Master of your life? For those who are followers of Christ, have you allowed the laws of life to hold you down so you do not live a victorious life for the glory of God? Now is the time to let Jesus live and shine through your life – your submission, words, and actions. Will you let Him break the yoke of slavery to laws and sin in your life? It is up to you. 

God’s plans were still unfolding; His promised Messiah’s time had not yet occurred. For the Israelites to stay in communion with God, they had to follow God’s laws, statutes, and commandments. These laws, statutes, and commandments led them to see God and keep Him in their lives, but the laws could never offer them perfect absolution from their sins.