Gehazi's Greed
Author: Corey Baker 2/01/2010 04:02:00 PM Comments - 0 In many things, I seem to find myself liking exactly the opposite of things that most others do. For example, most people like music....I like talk radio. Most people like salad dressing, I can't stand it. Most people when it comes to Bible reading prefer to spend most of their time in the New Testament; I am an Old Testament guy. Don't get me wrong, I love the New Testament. I am all for grace and the redemption story of Christ and the tales of the growth of the early church. I guess one of the reasons I find myself reading through the Old Testament is that I have always been a history guy and the Old Testament is FULL of incredible history. Another reason I like it is because it helps put into perspective exactly how amazing it truly was that Jesus died for us. Reading through the Old Testament helps me to realize that if Jesus would have never come and died on the cross, we would have all been in a lot of trouble with no hope of redemption. Enter Jesus. The rest is history.
One of my favorite books in the Old Testament is 2 Kings. I love the story of the nation of Israel and the interaction between the kings and the prophets that God sent. Elisha was a very interesting man. His mentor, Elijah, was taken away in a chariot of fire before his very eyes. Most people in his land can't stand him because he always seems to be prophesying doom over them. (Which God instructed him to do so) Even his assistant Gehazi was an interesting guy. Gehazi was loyal to Elisha and I truly believe cared deeply for him. Gehazi's story is told mostly in II Kings chapter 5 and unfortunately for him, it doesn't make him come off very well. A foreign military leader named Naaman had heard about Elisha and his God Jehovah. Being that Naaman didn't live in Israel, he was not a follower of God. He had, however heard of the incredible miracles that His prophet Elisha had performed. Naaman had a physical problem. Actually, he had a major physical problem called leprosy. Leprosy in Biblical times was the aids of today. Nothing short of a death sentence. Naaman was desperate and decided to go and see Elisha and he brought with him loads of gifts hoping that he could possibly buy his healing. When he sees Elisha, Elisha instructs him to go and dip 7 times in the Jordan river, (which was disgusting) and after a bit of protest from Naaman, he follows his orders. After he came out of the water the 7th time, the leprosy was completely gone! After being healed, Naaman borderline begs Elisha to take the gifts that he brought but Elisha refuses. Naaman goes on his way back to his homeland. Meanwhile, Gehazi, watches all of this happen and is infuriated! He thinks to himself, wait a minute. "We" worked hard for that. "We" deserve to be paid for the service that "we" provided to Naaman. Verse 20 of II Samuel 5 tells us what was going on inside the head of Gehazi specifically.
"But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him.” So Gehazi set off after Naaman."
Gehazi makes up a story to Naaman about how Elisha changed his mind about the gifts and wanted them so that he could bless some other people. Naaman gives the gifts to Gehazi with no questions asked. Upon receiving the gifts, Gehazi does not take them back to Elisha, instead he goes home to his house and buries it all in a hole. Elisha finds out about the whole ordeal and because of the greed of Gehazi, he has him stricken with leprosy! This whole story I think hammers home one very key point. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that you deserve to be blessed. Gehazi didn't heal Naaman.....Elisha didn't even heal Naaman. God did. When we start telling ourselves that we deserve the blessings of God in our life, we are opening up a crack for the deception of greed to make it's way into our life. God does bless us. But not because we deserve it. He blesses us because He is good.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
Home and Garden
Author: Corey Baker 1/26/2010 04:09:00 PM Comments - 0 Julie and I have very different ideas about what the definition of a good t.v. show is. Julie could sit and watch H/G t.v. for hours on end while I can watch H/G t.v for approximately 13.5 seconds before wanting to change the channel. On the other hand, I could watch an entire baseball game, commercials and all without moving 1 centimeter for 3 hours with no issue whatsoever. Mainly, that is because her and I have vastly different interests when it comes to recreational activity.
Julie loves watching the shows about homes that have been remodeled and redecorated. She also gets magazines about everything from decorating houses to what kinds of herbs and spices go best with which kind of meals. My magazines tell me which team is most likely to win the super bowl. However, being the good husband that I am, (insert smiley face here) I have on occasion watched a few of "her" shows with her. I always am impressed with the time and effort people put into their respective homes on these shows. I remember being on missions trips in 3rd world countries in which while there may be tons of garbage and pollution on the outside of the home, the inside is spick and span. Why? Because each of us greatly value that which is ours. Our parents taught us that right? If we purchase something with our own money, we are 10 times more likely to take care of it than if it was just gifted to us.
Growing up, my parents kept a little garden in the front of the house. My mom liked to plant flowers and the like and it really did look very nice. That is until one day when my brothers and I decided to play a game that involved us jumping out of the front window which was one story high and landing on the plants my mom worked so hard to grow. Not one of my better decisions as the oldest brother. I am still sorry for that to this day.
This whole thought concept about homes and gardens got me thinking about a passage of scripture in I Kings. This particular verse takes place during the reign of Solomon. Solomon, for the first part of his reign at least, was extremely devoted to God. Because of this, the entire nation prospered greatly. Israel was at peace with all it's enemies and the favor of God rested on His chosen people. The promise of God has always been, if we seek after Him first, He will take care of us. Listen to what this verse says in I Kings about the status of Israel during the first part of Solomon's reign. We find the verse in I Kings 4 verse 25.
"During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden."
Yep....you read correctly, each of the families in Israel and Judah, because of the wisdom and obedience of Solomon, had their own homes and gardens. Wow! Can you imagine if that were the case in the United States today????? Tragically, it didn't stay that way for the Israelites. They began to follow other gods, and all that which they worked so hard for began to crumble before their very eyes. I believe the principle of this rings so true for us today and can best be summarized by a very popular passage in Psalm 37:4.
"Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart."
I don't believe in the prosperity gospel. I think that adding any adjective to the gospel distorts the gospel. The gospel is the gospel period. That being said, I do believe that God honors those whose hearts are truly to honor Him with all of their life. The catch is that God will honor us the way that He wants to not the way that we think we deserve.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
A pleasing aroma
Author: Corey Baker 1/20/2010 10:30:00 PM Comments - 0 What smells good to you? What are those things in life that just make you say, "Holy Cow that smells good!" For some it may be the smell outside after a rainstorm. Some may say a certain candle at Yankee Candle does it for them. Still others may say the smell of a certain flower, a certain perfume or leather. There are some who like the smell of odd things. Weird things like gasoline or a box of crayons or paint are often times popular smells. I have a friend who honest to God says that she likes the smell of cow manure. I know, crazy. She is from Wisconsin though so what do you expect:)
For me, the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies is the smell of heaven. I am absolutely convinced that when we get to Heaven, it will small like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. If there was a cologne that smelled like chocolate chip cookies, I would buy it and wear it proudly. Ok....that may be a stretch, but you get the point.
In the book of Leviticus, there is a phrase repeated several times that caught my attention the other day. The phrase simply says, "And the priest burnt the entire sacrifice on the altar. It is a special gift. A pleasing aroma to the Lord."
There were several things about that offering that made it pleasing to the Lord. First of all, it was the whole thing. It wasn't part of the animal, it was the entire animal. So often we give God the part of us that costs us the least or is the most comfortable. The 2nd part of the offering that made it pleasing was the fact that it was a living sacrifice. One that was valuable. What good would a dead sacrifice be? When we give our lives to Christ, we are asked to give Him our whole lives and to lay them down at His feet because of what He has already done for us.
Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your BODIES as a LIVING sacrifice holy and PLEASING to God. THIS is your spiritual act of worship."
I hope and pray that my life is a pleasing aroma to God. At the end of the day, I pray that through my obedience to God and His Word that I have been found acceptable in His sight. So many times in my life, I have wanted to give God a partial offering of my life. One that didn't cost me very much or didn't or was comfortable. I'm done living like that. As the World Series of Poker players often say....."I'm all in." No holding back. No turning away. No partial or dead sacrifices. I want my life to be a pleasing aroma to the one who gave His life for me! What about you? What aroma does your life bring to the Holy and Majestic God. Something to think about.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
Journey through Leviticus
Author: Corey Baker 1/13/2010 11:43:00 AM Comments - 0 One of my goals at the beginning of this year is to read through the Bible in 90 days. I have been on many different Bible reading plans before but I have yet to attempt this one. I am learning so much about myself through this process. In order to accomplish this goal, it requires reading between 14 and 16 chapters every day. The reading plan starts at Genesis which is one of my favorite books in the entire Bible. There are so many incredible characters that are talked about. We read about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Noah, Adam and the list goes on and on. If you are looking for a fresh start in your Bible reading, I highly recommend Genesis to you. It will challenge you! After Genesis comes Exodus which is also a very interesting book. This is the book that details the life of Moses who was known as the friend of God. You read about the incredible escape through Egypt for the Israelites and the beginning portion of their 40 year journey through the Wilderness.
After Exodus, we come to Leviticus. In all of my years of talking with people about the Bible, I have never once heard anyone say, Leviticus is my favorite book in the Bible. I have never heard anyone say, my favorite verse in the Bible comes from Leviticus. I hear John quotes a lot, I hear a lot of Psalms and the writings of Paul usually seem to rank pretty high on most people list of favorites. But not Leviticus. To be truthfully honest with you, Leviticus is a tough book to get through. It is a book filled with laws for the Jews to fulfill in order to make them right with God. First of all, if you have studied the Old Testament at all, you know that the Jews made some pretty bad mistakes. However, after reading through Leviticus, they had some tough laws to live up to.
If you haven't realized it before, we serve a God that passionately dislikes sin. Read through the book of Leviticus and see the prices that people had to pay in order to be right with God. I am so glad I didn't live back then! The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever meaning that God still feels the same way about sin now as he did back when the Israelites traveled through the wilderness. In Leviticus, you read all the things that the Israelites had to do to be forgiven from sin. An animal was to be chosen and it couldn't just be any animal. It had to be the best with no defects at all! The priest would then place his hands on that animal which in effect transferred the sin from the individual onto the animal so that the animal could pay the price tag for it. That doesn't seem fair does it? An innocent animal has to die because some dude made a mistake?
Yet we realize that we serve a Holy God who hates sin with every fiber in His being. Sin always has and always will have a price tag. Somebody or something has to pay the penalty for sin. Here is the kicker. Reading through Leviticus made me appreciate all the more what Jesus did for me on the cross. When He stretched out his arms on the cross and said, "It is finished!" What was he saying? He was saying, that old way is finished. The price has been paid. The sacrifice has been offered. I have taken the place of the countless sacrifices that you used to have to do. I am now the ultimate, once and for all sacrifice. The Bible says that "Whosoever will may come." That means that it doesn't matter what you did, the price tag for your sin has already been paid on the cross. Just like those animals, Jesus didn't deserve to die. Yet he chose to because He is crazy in love with you.
That's my lesson from Leviticus. I hope it was a blessing to you today.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
Soap Opera
Author: Corey Baker 1/05/2010 02:44:00 PM Comments - 0 One of my New Year's resolutions is to read through the Bible in 90 days. I started on January 2nd and have just about finished with Genesis. It has been a great way for me to reevaluate how I spend my time. Now, when I have a few minutes to spare, I grab the Bible to make sure I get my reading regiment in for that day. It's been great for my self discipline:)
As I was going through the Genesis account again, I was awestruck by the characters upon which our faith is grounded. Obviously, Christianity is based on the teachings of Christ. However, as Christians, the founding fathers of Judaism have a great deal to do with our understanding of the Bible as well. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were great men and I am learning over again over the course of the past week just how "normal" these guys were. I guess the reason that I like reading about these guys so much as that it encourages me to know that God uses people that sometimes make mistakes. Believe me.....I know how to make mistakes!
Jacob has always been an interesting study to me. Here is a guy that cheated and stole his way to just about all that he received. He deceived his brother to get his birthright, stole livestock from his uncle Laban, and had 2 wives and 2 concubines. Hollywood could make a lot of money basing a soap opera off of the life of Jacob! To me, that wreaks of instability! Yet we know Jacob as one of the founding fathers of our faith and a man who was an ancestor of Jesus himself!
Why does God choose the people that He does? I guess none of us will ever really know for sure. I know that God uses normal, everyday, unworthy people. I think God uses mundane, ordinary, common people to underscore the fact that it is He, not the person, who should get the credit. I am very happy to play 2nd fiddle when it comes to my relationship with God. It's all about him and not about me. My life exists so that people can see God in and through me. Jacob, for all his shortcomings and failures understood that.
This year, put your trust in God and allow Him to be the one that pulls the strings in your life. The path He takes you on may not always be easy and uncomfortable, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that it will never be boring!
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
New Years Day
Author: Corey Baker 12/29/2009 07:48:00 PM Comments - 0 As 2009 draws to a close, my mind has been racing back through the craziness that was this year. Looking back at this past year, there are so many memories. I can think of many things that went well and several others that didn't go so well. As the calendar turns and we head towards a new decade, many people (myself included) begin the process of self evaluation. January 1 seems to always be the day the people start the diet, hit the gym, take the class, or kick the habit. There is something about that day that brings about a freshness in our lives. On January 1, there just seems to be a new zeel for life. Now I know I am not the only one that can look back at 2009 and see some victories as well as defeats. I am sure all of us would be able to say something similar.
In Old Testament times, the Israelites would celebrate a very important day once a year called the Day of Atonement. Jews today know it as Yam Kippur. On this day, the priest would go before the Lord on behalf of the people of Israel offering a sacrifice in the form of a bull or a goat as payment for the sins of the people for that year. The priest would lay his hands on the bull or goat symbolically transferring the transgressions of the people onto the animal. The animal would be sacrificed and the sins would be forgiven. The only problem with that (okay there were many problems with that) was that it never worked. The Israelites continued to mess up, Disobey God and end up in the same position year after year.
Then, something incredible happened. God sent His son to be the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus died to be the ultimate atonement. When Jesus died on the cross, God laid on Him the sins of all of us just like that priest put the sins of the people of Israel on the bull or goat. But this system is so much better. Before Jesus breathed His last breath He said, "It is finished!" What was finished? The endless requirement of the sacrifice of animals for the sins of mankind. The debt had been paid in the form of the innocent son of God.
As we move forward into a new year, remember that you don't need the change in a calendar to launch you into becoming a better you. All you need is something that already happened. Jesus died for you. He died for your guilt and shame. He died for your destructive habit that you can't shake. He died for your depression. He died for those mistakes that you wish you could take back.
Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
I pray 2010 is the greatest year of your life.
With Expectancy!
Corey
Christmas Traditions
Author: Corey Baker 12/15/2009 09:07:00 PM Comments - 0 Christmas traditions.....every family has them. From exchanging gifts to what meal is prepared, every person that I talk to seems to have at least one unique element about their family Christmas. Our family was no exception. We would always open presents first thing on Christmas morning. My parents would always wait until Christmas Eve to place all of the presents under the tree. It was always such an amazing sight every Christmas morning to see the huge stack of presents piled what seemed like several feet high. Our stocking would also be laid out in order of our age. Each of my brothers, (still to this day in fact) sleep in very late. It is not uncommon for them to routinely sleep in until 10 or 11 oclock in the morning. That was not the case on Christmas. We would all be up by 7:00 am at the latest. Once awake, we would open up our stockings which would be filled with things like socks, golf accesories and candy. After we opened our stockings, we would then go and wake up our parents to begin the main event.
We would always have my youngest brother open the first gift and then procede from youngest to oldest with each of us opening one gift at a time. Once my dad finished opening his first present, that process would start over. Needless to say, this process took well over an hour. My dad had the video camera on at all times video taping our reactions as we saw our gifts unwrapped. Once all of us had finished opening our gifts, there would always be one gift under the tree that was not addressed to any of us. It was a gift to Jesus. After all was said and done, we all in our own ways reflected on the previous year and how incredibly grateful we are that Jesus paid the price He paid for us.
Now that I am married and have a family of my own. I look forward to making some new family traditions. I don't know if we will open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. I'm not quite sure what our family Christmas meal will be. It really hasn't quite yet been decided what the afternoon entertainment will be once the gifts have been open. I don't know which set of grandparents we will see at which time. I do know that there will be a gift for Jesus under our tree. I do know that there will be some time spent on Christmas morning reading the Christmas story together as a family. I want to pass on to my kids the same thing that my parents passed on to me. Christmas is about Jesus and honoring Him for all He has done, is doing and will continue to do in our lives.
What are your family traditions?
With Expectancy!
Corey
cbaker@famfm.com
Author: Corey Baker 2/01/2010 04:02:00 PM Comments - 0 In many things, I seem to find myself liking exactly the opposite of things that most others do. For example, most people like music....I like talk radio. Most people like salad dressing, I can't stand it. Most people when it comes to Bible reading prefer to spend most of their time in the New Testament; I am an Old Testament guy. Don't get me wrong, I love the New Testament. I am all for grace and the redemption story of Christ and the tales of the growth of the early church. I guess one of the reasons I find myself reading through the Old Testament is that I have always been a history guy and the Old Testament is FULL of incredible history. Another reason I like it is because it helps put into perspective exactly how amazing it truly was that Jesus died for us. Reading through the Old Testament helps me to realize that if Jesus would have never come and died on the cross, we would have all been in a lot of trouble with no hope of redemption. Enter Jesus. The rest is history.
One of my favorite books in the Old Testament is 2 Kings. I love the story of the nation of Israel and the interaction between the kings and the prophets that God sent. Elisha was a very interesting man. His mentor, Elijah, was taken away in a chariot of fire before his very eyes. Most people in his land can't stand him because he always seems to be prophesying doom over them. (Which God instructed him to do so) Even his assistant Gehazi was an interesting guy. Gehazi was loyal to Elisha and I truly believe cared deeply for him. Gehazi's story is told mostly in II Kings chapter 5 and unfortunately for him, it doesn't make him come off very well. A foreign military leader named Naaman had heard about Elisha and his God Jehovah. Being that Naaman didn't live in Israel, he was not a follower of God. He had, however heard of the incredible miracles that His prophet Elisha had performed. Naaman had a physical problem. Actually, he had a major physical problem called leprosy. Leprosy in Biblical times was the aids of today. Nothing short of a death sentence. Naaman was desperate and decided to go and see Elisha and he brought with him loads of gifts hoping that he could possibly buy his healing. When he sees Elisha, Elisha instructs him to go and dip 7 times in the Jordan river, (which was disgusting) and after a bit of protest from Naaman, he follows his orders. After he came out of the water the 7th time, the leprosy was completely gone! After being healed, Naaman borderline begs Elisha to take the gifts that he brought but Elisha refuses. Naaman goes on his way back to his homeland. Meanwhile, Gehazi, watches all of this happen and is infuriated! He thinks to himself, wait a minute. "We" worked hard for that. "We" deserve to be paid for the service that "we" provided to Naaman. Verse 20 of II Samuel 5 tells us what was going on inside the head of Gehazi specifically.
"But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him.” So Gehazi set off after Naaman."
Gehazi makes up a story to Naaman about how Elisha changed his mind about the gifts and wanted them so that he could bless some other people. Naaman gives the gifts to Gehazi with no questions asked. Upon receiving the gifts, Gehazi does not take them back to Elisha, instead he goes home to his house and buries it all in a hole. Elisha finds out about the whole ordeal and because of the greed of Gehazi, he has him stricken with leprosy! This whole story I think hammers home one very key point. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that you deserve to be blessed. Gehazi didn't heal Naaman.....Elisha didn't even heal Naaman. God did. When we start telling ourselves that we deserve the blessings of God in our life, we are opening up a crack for the deception of greed to make it's way into our life. God does bless us. But not because we deserve it. He blesses us because He is good.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
Home and Garden
Author: Corey Baker 1/26/2010 04:09:00 PM Comments - 0 Julie and I have very different ideas about what the definition of a good t.v. show is. Julie could sit and watch H/G t.v. for hours on end while I can watch H/G t.v for approximately 13.5 seconds before wanting to change the channel. On the other hand, I could watch an entire baseball game, commercials and all without moving 1 centimeter for 3 hours with no issue whatsoever. Mainly, that is because her and I have vastly different interests when it comes to recreational activity.
Julie loves watching the shows about homes that have been remodeled and redecorated. She also gets magazines about everything from decorating houses to what kinds of herbs and spices go best with which kind of meals. My magazines tell me which team is most likely to win the super bowl. However, being the good husband that I am, (insert smiley face here) I have on occasion watched a few of "her" shows with her. I always am impressed with the time and effort people put into their respective homes on these shows. I remember being on missions trips in 3rd world countries in which while there may be tons of garbage and pollution on the outside of the home, the inside is spick and span. Why? Because each of us greatly value that which is ours. Our parents taught us that right? If we purchase something with our own money, we are 10 times more likely to take care of it than if it was just gifted to us.
Growing up, my parents kept a little garden in the front of the house. My mom liked to plant flowers and the like and it really did look very nice. That is until one day when my brothers and I decided to play a game that involved us jumping out of the front window which was one story high and landing on the plants my mom worked so hard to grow. Not one of my better decisions as the oldest brother. I am still sorry for that to this day.
This whole thought concept about homes and gardens got me thinking about a passage of scripture in I Kings. This particular verse takes place during the reign of Solomon. Solomon, for the first part of his reign at least, was extremely devoted to God. Because of this, the entire nation prospered greatly. Israel was at peace with all it's enemies and the favor of God rested on His chosen people. The promise of God has always been, if we seek after Him first, He will take care of us. Listen to what this verse says in I Kings about the status of Israel during the first part of Solomon's reign. We find the verse in I Kings 4 verse 25.
"During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden."
Yep....you read correctly, each of the families in Israel and Judah, because of the wisdom and obedience of Solomon, had their own homes and gardens. Wow! Can you imagine if that were the case in the United States today????? Tragically, it didn't stay that way for the Israelites. They began to follow other gods, and all that which they worked so hard for began to crumble before their very eyes. I believe the principle of this rings so true for us today and can best be summarized by a very popular passage in Psalm 37:4.
"Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart."
I don't believe in the prosperity gospel. I think that adding any adjective to the gospel distorts the gospel. The gospel is the gospel period. That being said, I do believe that God honors those whose hearts are truly to honor Him with all of their life. The catch is that God will honor us the way that He wants to not the way that we think we deserve.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
A pleasing aroma
Author: Corey Baker 1/20/2010 10:30:00 PM Comments - 0 What smells good to you? What are those things in life that just make you say, "Holy Cow that smells good!" For some it may be the smell outside after a rainstorm. Some may say a certain candle at Yankee Candle does it for them. Still others may say the smell of a certain flower, a certain perfume or leather. There are some who like the smell of odd things. Weird things like gasoline or a box of crayons or paint are often times popular smells. I have a friend who honest to God says that she likes the smell of cow manure. I know, crazy. She is from Wisconsin though so what do you expect:)
For me, the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies is the smell of heaven. I am absolutely convinced that when we get to Heaven, it will small like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. If there was a cologne that smelled like chocolate chip cookies, I would buy it and wear it proudly. Ok....that may be a stretch, but you get the point.
In the book of Leviticus, there is a phrase repeated several times that caught my attention the other day. The phrase simply says, "And the priest burnt the entire sacrifice on the altar. It is a special gift. A pleasing aroma to the Lord."
There were several things about that offering that made it pleasing to the Lord. First of all, it was the whole thing. It wasn't part of the animal, it was the entire animal. So often we give God the part of us that costs us the least or is the most comfortable. The 2nd part of the offering that made it pleasing was the fact that it was a living sacrifice. One that was valuable. What good would a dead sacrifice be? When we give our lives to Christ, we are asked to give Him our whole lives and to lay them down at His feet because of what He has already done for us.
Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your BODIES as a LIVING sacrifice holy and PLEASING to God. THIS is your spiritual act of worship."
I hope and pray that my life is a pleasing aroma to God. At the end of the day, I pray that through my obedience to God and His Word that I have been found acceptable in His sight. So many times in my life, I have wanted to give God a partial offering of my life. One that didn't cost me very much or didn't or was comfortable. I'm done living like that. As the World Series of Poker players often say....."I'm all in." No holding back. No turning away. No partial or dead sacrifices. I want my life to be a pleasing aroma to the one who gave His life for me! What about you? What aroma does your life bring to the Holy and Majestic God. Something to think about.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
Journey through Leviticus
Author: Corey Baker 1/13/2010 11:43:00 AM Comments - 0 One of my goals at the beginning of this year is to read through the Bible in 90 days. I have been on many different Bible reading plans before but I have yet to attempt this one. I am learning so much about myself through this process. In order to accomplish this goal, it requires reading between 14 and 16 chapters every day. The reading plan starts at Genesis which is one of my favorite books in the entire Bible. There are so many incredible characters that are talked about. We read about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Noah, Adam and the list goes on and on. If you are looking for a fresh start in your Bible reading, I highly recommend Genesis to you. It will challenge you! After Genesis comes Exodus which is also a very interesting book. This is the book that details the life of Moses who was known as the friend of God. You read about the incredible escape through Egypt for the Israelites and the beginning portion of their 40 year journey through the Wilderness.
After Exodus, we come to Leviticus. In all of my years of talking with people about the Bible, I have never once heard anyone say, Leviticus is my favorite book in the Bible. I have never heard anyone say, my favorite verse in the Bible comes from Leviticus. I hear John quotes a lot, I hear a lot of Psalms and the writings of Paul usually seem to rank pretty high on most people list of favorites. But not Leviticus. To be truthfully honest with you, Leviticus is a tough book to get through. It is a book filled with laws for the Jews to fulfill in order to make them right with God. First of all, if you have studied the Old Testament at all, you know that the Jews made some pretty bad mistakes. However, after reading through Leviticus, they had some tough laws to live up to.
If you haven't realized it before, we serve a God that passionately dislikes sin. Read through the book of Leviticus and see the prices that people had to pay in order to be right with God. I am so glad I didn't live back then! The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever meaning that God still feels the same way about sin now as he did back when the Israelites traveled through the wilderness. In Leviticus, you read all the things that the Israelites had to do to be forgiven from sin. An animal was to be chosen and it couldn't just be any animal. It had to be the best with no defects at all! The priest would then place his hands on that animal which in effect transferred the sin from the individual onto the animal so that the animal could pay the price tag for it. That doesn't seem fair does it? An innocent animal has to die because some dude made a mistake?
Yet we realize that we serve a Holy God who hates sin with every fiber in His being. Sin always has and always will have a price tag. Somebody or something has to pay the penalty for sin. Here is the kicker. Reading through Leviticus made me appreciate all the more what Jesus did for me on the cross. When He stretched out his arms on the cross and said, "It is finished!" What was he saying? He was saying, that old way is finished. The price has been paid. The sacrifice has been offered. I have taken the place of the countless sacrifices that you used to have to do. I am now the ultimate, once and for all sacrifice. The Bible says that "Whosoever will may come." That means that it doesn't matter what you did, the price tag for your sin has already been paid on the cross. Just like those animals, Jesus didn't deserve to die. Yet he chose to because He is crazy in love with you.
That's my lesson from Leviticus. I hope it was a blessing to you today.
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
Soap Opera
Author: Corey Baker 1/05/2010 02:44:00 PM Comments - 0 One of my New Year's resolutions is to read through the Bible in 90 days. I started on January 2nd and have just about finished with Genesis. It has been a great way for me to reevaluate how I spend my time. Now, when I have a few minutes to spare, I grab the Bible to make sure I get my reading regiment in for that day. It's been great for my self discipline:)
As I was going through the Genesis account again, I was awestruck by the characters upon which our faith is grounded. Obviously, Christianity is based on the teachings of Christ. However, as Christians, the founding fathers of Judaism have a great deal to do with our understanding of the Bible as well. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were great men and I am learning over again over the course of the past week just how "normal" these guys were. I guess the reason that I like reading about these guys so much as that it encourages me to know that God uses people that sometimes make mistakes. Believe me.....I know how to make mistakes!
Jacob has always been an interesting study to me. Here is a guy that cheated and stole his way to just about all that he received. He deceived his brother to get his birthright, stole livestock from his uncle Laban, and had 2 wives and 2 concubines. Hollywood could make a lot of money basing a soap opera off of the life of Jacob! To me, that wreaks of instability! Yet we know Jacob as one of the founding fathers of our faith and a man who was an ancestor of Jesus himself!
Why does God choose the people that He does? I guess none of us will ever really know for sure. I know that God uses normal, everyday, unworthy people. I think God uses mundane, ordinary, common people to underscore the fact that it is He, not the person, who should get the credit. I am very happy to play 2nd fiddle when it comes to my relationship with God. It's all about him and not about me. My life exists so that people can see God in and through me. Jacob, for all his shortcomings and failures understood that.
This year, put your trust in God and allow Him to be the one that pulls the strings in your life. The path He takes you on may not always be easy and uncomfortable, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that it will never be boring!
With Expectancy!
Corey
corey@firstassemblywest.com
New Years Day
Author: Corey Baker 12/29/2009 07:48:00 PM Comments - 0 As 2009 draws to a close, my mind has been racing back through the craziness that was this year. Looking back at this past year, there are so many memories. I can think of many things that went well and several others that didn't go so well. As the calendar turns and we head towards a new decade, many people (myself included) begin the process of self evaluation. January 1 seems to always be the day the people start the diet, hit the gym, take the class, or kick the habit. There is something about that day that brings about a freshness in our lives. On January 1, there just seems to be a new zeel for life. Now I know I am not the only one that can look back at 2009 and see some victories as well as defeats. I am sure all of us would be able to say something similar.
In Old Testament times, the Israelites would celebrate a very important day once a year called the Day of Atonement. Jews today know it as Yam Kippur. On this day, the priest would go before the Lord on behalf of the people of Israel offering a sacrifice in the form of a bull or a goat as payment for the sins of the people for that year. The priest would lay his hands on the bull or goat symbolically transferring the transgressions of the people onto the animal. The animal would be sacrificed and the sins would be forgiven. The only problem with that (okay there were many problems with that) was that it never worked. The Israelites continued to mess up, Disobey God and end up in the same position year after year.
Then, something incredible happened. God sent His son to be the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus died to be the ultimate atonement. When Jesus died on the cross, God laid on Him the sins of all of us just like that priest put the sins of the people of Israel on the bull or goat. But this system is so much better. Before Jesus breathed His last breath He said, "It is finished!" What was finished? The endless requirement of the sacrifice of animals for the sins of mankind. The debt had been paid in the form of the innocent son of God.
As we move forward into a new year, remember that you don't need the change in a calendar to launch you into becoming a better you. All you need is something that already happened. Jesus died for you. He died for your guilt and shame. He died for your destructive habit that you can't shake. He died for your depression. He died for those mistakes that you wish you could take back.
Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
I pray 2010 is the greatest year of your life.
With Expectancy!
Corey
Christmas Traditions
Author: Corey Baker 12/15/2009 09:07:00 PM Comments - 0 Christmas traditions.....every family has them. From exchanging gifts to what meal is prepared, every person that I talk to seems to have at least one unique element about their family Christmas. Our family was no exception. We would always open presents first thing on Christmas morning. My parents would always wait until Christmas Eve to place all of the presents under the tree. It was always such an amazing sight every Christmas morning to see the huge stack of presents piled what seemed like several feet high. Our stocking would also be laid out in order of our age. Each of my brothers, (still to this day in fact) sleep in very late. It is not uncommon for them to routinely sleep in until 10 or 11 oclock in the morning. That was not the case on Christmas. We would all be up by 7:00 am at the latest. Once awake, we would open up our stockings which would be filled with things like socks, golf accesories and candy. After we opened our stockings, we would then go and wake up our parents to begin the main event.
We would always have my youngest brother open the first gift and then procede from youngest to oldest with each of us opening one gift at a time. Once my dad finished opening his first present, that process would start over. Needless to say, this process took well over an hour. My dad had the video camera on at all times video taping our reactions as we saw our gifts unwrapped. Once all of us had finished opening our gifts, there would always be one gift under the tree that was not addressed to any of us. It was a gift to Jesus. After all was said and done, we all in our own ways reflected on the previous year and how incredibly grateful we are that Jesus paid the price He paid for us.
Now that I am married and have a family of my own. I look forward to making some new family traditions. I don't know if we will open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. I'm not quite sure what our family Christmas meal will be. It really hasn't quite yet been decided what the afternoon entertainment will be once the gifts have been open. I don't know which set of grandparents we will see at which time. I do know that there will be a gift for Jesus under our tree. I do know that there will be some time spent on Christmas morning reading the Christmas story together as a family. I want to pass on to my kids the same thing that my parents passed on to me. Christmas is about Jesus and honoring Him for all He has done, is doing and will continue to do in our lives.
What are your family traditions?
With Expectancy!
Corey
cbaker@famfm.com
About
With Expectancy is a blog from First Assembly of God West in Cape Coral, Florida.
Recent
Gehazi's Greed
Home and Garden
A pleasing aroma
Journey through Leviticus
Soap Opera
New Years Day
Christmas Traditions
Who let the dogs out
Dance me Daddy
Thanksgiving
Archive
January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010
With Expectancy is a blog from First Assembly of God West in Cape Coral, Florida.
Recent
Gehazi's Greed
Home and Garden
A pleasing aroma
Journey through Leviticus
Soap Opera
New Years Day
Christmas Traditions
Who let the dogs out
Dance me Daddy
Thanksgiving
Archive
January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010