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Today is Thursday February 04, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Leviticus, chapters 9-10. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-february-4

Title: Bible Study: Forgive and Forget
In the past nine chapters we have learned that, through Moses, God had explained the purpose of all the sacrificial/meat offerings and instructed the priests on the specific manner in which they were to accept and handle the offerings. They were now cleansed and deemed holy before God and it was time for them to begin accepting the offerings from the people. “And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the LORD will appear unto you. And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.” - Leviticus 9:1-5. God knew that if Moses just told the people that they were to start giving their sacrifices to Aaron or his sons that no one would believe. So, He had Moses gather all the elders (head of the twelve tribes) together to be a witness to this phenomenon. Aaron and his sons were the first to offer up sacrifices to the Lord, if you notice a calf was added for a sin offering, this was a reminder to Aaron of the huge sin that he made by making the golden calf when the people complained about Moses being gone for so long. Every day he was to offer up a calf as a reminder that he rendered himself for ever unworthy of the honor of the priesthood, on which he had reason to reflect with sorrow and shame, in all the atonements he made. “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” - Hebrews 2:17.
These many sacrifices, which were all done away by the death of Christ, teach us that our best services need washing in his blood, and that the guilt of our best sacrifices needs to be done away with by One who is more pure and more noble than even the greatest earthly high priest. Let us be thankful that we now have Jesus Christ as our High Priest and that we no longer have to be reminded daily of our past sins. Praise God! This is a reminder to all of us who have some things of the past that we hold on to. Stop killing yourself over them, you asked God to forgive you and He has and forgot all about them, but as long as you keep bringing them up you are proving God to be a liar and God will keep you suffering until you once and for all let it go and forget about it. We can not change the past no matter how much we try, but we can change the future, God does not want you living in guilt for the rest of your life, He wants you to put all of it away and feel good about life. Trust me, I know this for a fact, as long as I held on to my past I was not going anywhere, it took me almost dying before I realized that it was time for me to get out of the past.

You know, sometimes we can get so hyped up about doing things for God that we do not pay attention to what we are doing for Him. Of course, God loves a cheerful and eager servant, but we need to be careful of what we do and allow ourselves to get caught up in. This proved to be the case as we read about two of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.” - Leviticus 10:1-3. Nadab, and Abihu were eager to show their love for God, but they failed to pay attention to what they were to offer up to God. There are two kinds of fire, the eternal fire that comes from God and the eternal fire that comes from Satan. God Himself placed fire upon the alter, it was holy and acceptable to use to burn incense, but they already had it burning with fire that was not from God. If it had been done through ignorance, they would had been allowed to bring a sin-offering. However, they did it presumptuously and in contempt of God's majesty and justice. The wages of sin is death, therefore, they died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath. Though Aaron's heart must have been filled with anguish and dismay, he spoke not a word to the justice served of God.

When God corrects us or those for sin, it is our duty to accept the punishment and rejoice at the fact that we have been redeemed through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God! I will tell you that I am still suffering the consequences of some of the things that I have done in the past, but I am a forgiven child of the Living God. Although we are all forgiven and are required to forgive and forget, that does not exempt us from facing the consequences of our past actions. So, how do you forget the past although you live in the consequences of your sins? You put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, seek Him for guidance, and move forward knowing that all the suffering will come to pass and a brighter future will unfold as we live our lives for His glory. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” - Romans 5:1-5. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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