LEVITICUS 21-27

Today is Thursday.  I'm so looking forward to a fellowship time at lunch with the Prime Time w/ Pastor.  We will be going to Multnomah Falls and enjoying a great lunch at the lodge there.  I just finished my second cup of coffee and now I'm ready to type some.  Today I am in Leviticus again and here are a few thoughts: 1) Pure Priest- In chapters 21-24, we see the rules for serving as a priest.  They are very strict as well they ought to be.  Most people don't realize the requirements that God puts upon His servants and the pressure that involves.  You ought to pray fervently for your pastor because he will always struggle to be "good enough" to lead God's people.  In reality, we are never "good enough", but we always strive to be the best we can for God and His people.  Many different things are mentioned that would disqualify a priest from his office.  The man is not important, but the office is!  2) The Sabbath- In chapter 25, we see that the Sabbath was not just for man, if was for the land as well.  Man needed rest every seven days, so God established it.  He set the pattern in creation.  The land needs rest every seven years and this is what this chapter refers to.  When the people neglect this principle, then God will see to it that the land is given rest.  The Israelites went 490 years without obeying the Sabbath for the land, so they went into Babylonian captivity for 70 years.  One year for every seven they did not let the land rest.  So in essence, the land rested for 70 years to "catch up".  You might not tithe, but God will have you spend it anyway!  You might skip out on Church, but God will tie up your time anyway, only it will not be pleasant.  3) The Tithe- The Bible says in Leviticus 27:30-32   "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.  And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.  And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD."  There is a move across our land to say the tithe is not relevant.  Such a move goes against historic Christianity and the teaching of the Word of God and Churches for hundreds of years.  It also is breeding the very destruction of the Church as we know it.  That doesn't matter to those who promote that for they are not for the local church anyway.  They would rather have a "house church" where a few people fellowship, but do not further the cause of Christ.  We should tithe as Christians, and then do more because the need is there.  May God richly bless you!  Pastor Mike Mutchler -- Posted By Blogger to Cup of Coffee with Pastor Mutchler at 5/12/2011 08:11:00 AM

NUMBERS

I'm reading in Numbers today.  God loves numbers, He even named a book after it.   1) God speaks- In Numbers 7:89- God speaks from the mercy seat.  The mercy seat is where sin is settled and forgiven.  After sin is settled, then we have an open line of communication with God, but not before.  It is only after we accept Christ as our Savior that we can communicate with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  After sin is paid for and applied by faith, then we see that God speaks!  God speaks to us through His Word, and by His Spirit.  Are we listening?  Lord, help us to listen as You speak to our hearts today. 2) WHAT IS REALLY FREE?- In Numbers 11:5, the children of Israel are gripping and say that "We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely: the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:"  They ate in Egypt freely??  Maybe they forgot something.... "They were slaves!!"  How does a slave eat anything freely?  And yet in verse 6 and 7, the manna was provided for them to eat and it was free!  They didn't appreciate what they truly ate in freedom.  I hope we have better attitudes about God's blessings than they did.  Lord, help me to be thankful today for all that I'm blessed with in this free country and that you indeed give to me freely.  The Bible says that God gives us "freely all things".  Wow.  Thank you Lord! Hope you have a blessed day.  Yesterday I sent my blog and it didn't upload.  I'll try again!  Pastor Mike Mutchler

Fw: [Cup of Coffee with Pastor Mutchler] LEVITICUS 21-27

--- On Thu, 5/12/11, Blogger <no-reply@blogger.com> wrote: From: Blogger <no-reply@blogger.com> Subject: [Cup of Coffee with Pastor Mutchler] LEVITICUS 21-27 To: m.mutchler@yahoo.com Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 8:11 AM Today is Thursday.  I'm so looking forward to a fellowship time at lunch with the Prime Time w/ Pastor.  We will be going to Multnomah Falls and enjoying a great lunch at the lodge there.  I just finished my second cup of coffee and now I'm ready to type some.  Today I am in Leviticus again and here are a few thoughts: 1) Pure Priest- In chapters 21-24, we see the rules for serving as a priest.  They are very strict as well they ought to be.  Most people don't realize the requirements that God puts upon His servants and the pressure that involves.  You ought to pray fervently for your pastor because he will always struggle to be "good enough" to lead God's people.  In reality, we are never "good enough", but we always strive to be the best we can for God and His people.  Many different things are mentioned that would disqualify a priest from his office.  The man is not important, but the office is!  2) The Sabbath- In chapter 25, we see that the Sabbath was not just for man, if was for the land as well.  Man needed rest every seven days, so God established it.  He set the pattern in creation.  The land needs rest every seven years and this is what this chapter refers to.  When the people neglect this principle, then God will see to it that the land is given rest.  The Israelites went 490 years without obeying the Sabbath for the land, so they went into Babylonian captivity for 70 years.  One year for every seven they did not let the land rest.  So in essence, the land rested for 70 years to "catch up".  You might not tithe, but God will have you spend it anyway!  You might skip out on Church, but God will tie up your time anyway, only it will not be pleasant.  3) The Tithe- The Bible says in Leviticus 27:30-32   "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.  And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.  And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD."  There is a move across our land to say the tithe is not relevant.  Such a move goes against historic Christianity and the teaching of the Word of God and Churches for hundreds of years.  It also is breeding the very destruction of the Church as we know it.  That doesn't matter to those who promote that for they are not for the local church anyway.  They would rather have a "house church" where a few people fellowship, but do not further the cause of Christ.  We should tithe as Christians, and then do more because the need is there.  May God richly bless you!  Pastor Mike Mutchler -- Posted By Blogger to Cup of Coffee with Pastor Mutchler at 5/12/2011 08:11:00 AM