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You cannot go wherever you want (Leviticus 16:2), July 24, 2017

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Today’s Podcast


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  1. Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
  2. As much as we might think we can, we cannot go wherever we want. Moses learned that a long time ago.
  3. Scripture
    1. Leviticus 16:2
    2. Go, talk to Aaron, and warn him that he cannot go whenever he wants…
  4. Devotional
    1. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m using another warfighter story today since I’m still deep into a training exercise for a medical command this week. I think it will illustrate my point pretty clearly, though.
    2. We have the units operating on a linear battlefield at the moment. When combat units fight side by side in that fashion, they have what are called lines of coordination that determine exactly where their left and right boundaries are so they reduce the risk of firing into friendly forces. That boundary is usually an easily recognizeable feature like a road or river or some other terrain feature that won’t change despite the intensity of the battle. And one of the units, not both, will own the feature, the road, river, or whatever it might be.
    3. So units don’t go into each others territory without prior coordination. One unit’s soldiers don’t cross the line without coordinating with their adjacent unit first. The reason is easily understood. If you cross the boundary without coordination, you might get shot by friendly force. Not a good thing for anyone. So units warn their soldiers where they cannot go. Don’t cross this road. Don’t cross this river. Don’t go over this hill. Stay out of the adjacent unit’s area. You can’t go wherever you want!
    4. It’s true in our everyday life. We find barriers on the road. One way signs, road blocks, locked doors. Physical barriers that keep us out of places that unless we have the proper authority, we cannot enter those places. I can pretty much guarantee that most if not everyone who hears this has never personally seen the gold in sitting in Fort Knox. We cannot go there. We cannot go wherever we want. If we tried, we would be turned away. If we tried by using force, we would be met with equal or greater force and be turned away. I can assure you that you cannot get to the gold in Fort Knox. It is protected from intrusion and theft and you cannot go there. You cannot see it. You cannot go wherever you want.
    5. There are some severe consequences for overstepping your bounds if you cross physical barriers that are there to restrict your movement. Another example are the barriers our law enforcement personnel put in place during flash floods. Some people are foolish enough to think the barriers don’t apply to them and find themselves caught in the torrent of water grasping on whatever they can when their car is washed off the road. The near death experience and $2500 fine helps remind them you cannot go wherever you want.
    6. All of these examples talk about physical space, but what about our behavior? What about our spiritual lives? What about pushing past the fence that God puts in place to keep us from suffering the consequences of sinful behavior. His laws keep us in line. His laws are much like telling our kids not to put their hand in the flame. Don’t go there, you’ll get burned.
    7. God tells us, don’t do these things. There are consequeces you don’t want to pay if you cross these boundaries. You cannot go wherever you want.
    8. If we would just listen to Him. If we would just pay attention to the warning signs He puts in our path and then refuse to go around them, our journey of life would progress so much better. We would find ourselves with so much more joy and find our priorities ordered properly in the things we face every day.
    9. We understand in our daily lives we cannot go wherever we want. It’s important we apply that same understanding to our behavior and our spiritual lives. Otherwise there are consequences we do not want to pay.
  5. If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
  6. Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com

 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Prepare the soil (Hosea 12), July 7, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hosea 12

Set – Hosea 12; Psalms 73; Hebrews 4

Go! – Hosea 10–12; Psalms 73; Hebrews 4

Hosea 12
1 Eternal One: Ephraim feeds on the wind.
He chases the hot east wind all day long.
He’s becoming more and more deceitful and violent.
They’ve abandoned their covenant to make an alliance with Assyria,
trading oil for favor from Egypt.
2 The Eternal has charges to bring against Judah;
He’ll punish the nation of Jacob for the way he’s acting
and pay him back for the things he’s done.
3 Even from the womb, he fought with his brother by grabbing his heel;
when he grew to be an adult, he struggled against God.
4-5 He wrestled with a heavenly messenger and won;
he wept and begged for his help.
It was the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, who met him at Bethel;
the Eternal Himself spoke with him there; the Eternal One is His memorial name.
6 So you must return to your God, maintain loyalty and justice,
and wait patiently for your God.
7 Like Canaan, Israel is a merchant who uses dishonest scales—
he loves to cheat people!
8 Ephraim gloats, “I’ve gotten rich! I’ve made a fortune for myself!
And in all my dealings no one can charge me with iniquity and dishonesty.”
9 Eternal One: I’m the Eternal One; I’ve been your True God ever since you left Egypt.
I’m going to make you live in tents again,
As you do in remembrance during the Feast of Tabernacles.
10 Eternal One: I’ve spoken to the prophets; I’ve given them many visions,
and I’ve told you parables through them.
11 Because Gilead is so wicked, it is worthless.
They sacrifice bulls at the cultic center of Gilgal,
But their altars will be heaps of stone next to a plowed field.
12 Jacob fled to the fields of Aram;
Israel worked for Laban in exchange for a wife;
to pay the bride-price, he shepherded Laban’s flocks.
13 But the Eternal One led Israel out of Egypt by a prophet;
Moses, God’s own prophet, kept the people safe.
14 But now Ephraim has made his Lord furious, and this is His judgment:
God will punish him for the blood he’s shed
and pay him back for his defiance.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Farmers always expect a harvest. Can you imagine what it would be like to be a farmer but not expect a harvest from the work you put into the crops? You prepare the fields each winter and spring. You spend days and weeks fertilizing, plowing, checking the soiling and making sure it is ready for planting. Then you carefully plant seeds into freshly plowed ground to ensure the best crop possible for a good harvest when the fruit is ripe on the stalks.

You water, weed, fertilize during the season. You protect the crop from bugs, birds, and other animals that might destroy the crop before you can harvest it. Then the big day comes. The crop should be ripe. The harvest should be ready. But instead of a harvest, you have nothing. Can you imagine the heartbreak the farmer must feel? All year he has labored, but he has done so in vain. No farmer goes through that labor without expecting a harvest. He always expects to reap what he has sown.

Life is like that. You reap what you sow. If you sow good deads, in time you will reap a harvest of good. But if you sow evil deeds, in time you will reap evil. Your harvest will reflect the seeds you planted and labored so diligently to grow. So I have a few questions for you along the metaphor of the farmer and his crop.

Have you planted the right seeds? Have you planted good deeds and a righteous life or evil? Let’s assume you are planting good deeds, or trying to.

Are you working diligently on the preparation of the soil before you plant the seeds and after the seeds are planted? Too many think just planting the seed is sufficient to make a bountiful harvest grow. What they find instead is just planting a seed will often result in a scrawny plant.

Pay attention to the preparation of your own soil and in the place you plant the seeds of good deeds. Fertilize the soil of your life and the lives of others with prayer. Plow the field with My word, a sharp sword that can divide body and spirit. That dividing sword can be the plow that creates furrows in the mind and spirit and prepares the heart for the seed being planted.

Once seeds of good deeds are planted, care for them. Water them with My spirit. The evidence of My can be found in its fruit – unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Remove the weeds that come from the world’s interference.

Take care of the seeds of good deeds you plant in others and prepare the soil well. Then care for the field. When you do, you will see a bountiful harvest in yourself and in others. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.