Friday, February 27, 2015

Reading through the Word....Day 58, February 27

LEVITICUS 20:22- 22:16
MARK 9:1- 29
PSALM 43:1- 5
PROVERBS 10:18


"You must carefully obey all my laws and regulations; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you will vomit you out. 23 Do not live by the customs of the people whom I will expel before you. It is because they do these terrible things that I detest them so much. 24 But I have promised that you will inherit their land, a land flowing with milk and honey. I, the LORD, am your God, who has set you apart from all other people. 25" You must therefore make a distinction between ceremonially clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds. You must not defile yourselves by eating any animal or bird or creeping creature that I have forbidden. 26 You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. 27 "Men and women among you who act as mediums or psychics must be put to death by stoning. They are guilty of a capital offense." 21:1 THE LORD said to Moses, "Tell the priests to avoid making themselves ceremonially unclean by touching a dead relative 2 unless it is a close relative-- mother or father, son or daughter, brother 3 or virgin sister who was dependent because she had no husband. 4 As a husband among his relatives, he must not defile himself. 5" The priests must never shave their heads, trim the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies. 6 They must be set apart to God as holy and must never dishonor his name. After all, they are the ones who present the offerings to the LORD by fire, providing God with his food, and they must remain holy. 7 "The priests must not marry women defiled by prostitution or women who have been divorced, for the priests must be set apart to God as holy. 8 You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy. 9 If a priest's daughter becomes a prostitute, defiling her father's holiness as well as herself, she must be burned to death. 10" The high priest, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the special priestly garments, must never let his hair hang loose or tear his clothing. 11 He must never defile himself by going near a dead person, even if it is his father or mother. 12 He must not desecrate the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend his parents 'funeral, because he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the LORD. 13 "The high priest must marry a virgin. 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan, 15 that he may not dishonor his descendants among the members of his clan, because I, the LORD, have made him holy." 16 Then the LORD said to Moses, 17 "Tell Aaron that in all future generations, his descendants who have physical defects will not qualify to offer food to their God. 18 No one who has a defect may come near to me, whether he is blind or lame, stunted or deformed, 19 or has a broken foot or hand, 20 or has a humped back or is a dwarf, or has a defective eye, or has oozing sores or scabs on his skin, or has damaged testicles. 21 Even though he is a descendant of Aaron, his physical defects disqualify him from presenting offerings to the LORD by fire. Since he has a blemish, he may not offer food to his God. 22 However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. 23 Yet because of his physical defect, he must never go behind the inner curtain or come near the altar, for this would desecrate my holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy." 24 So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites. 22:1 THE LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to treat the sacred gifts that the Israelites set apart for me with great care, so they do not profane my holy name. I am the LORD. 3 Remind them that if any of their descendants are ceremonially unclean when they approach the sacred food presented by the Israelites, they must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD! 4" If any of the priests have a contagious skin disease or any kind of discharge that makes them ceremonially unclean, they may not eat the sacred offerings until they have been pronounced clean. If any of the priests become unclean by touching a corpse, or are defiled by an emission of semen, 5 or by touching a creeping creature that is unclean, or by touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason, 6 they will remain defiled until evening. They must not eat any of the sacred offerings until they have purified their bodies with water. 7 When the sun goes down, they will be clean again and may eat the sacred offerings. After all, this food has been set aside for them. 8 The priests may never eat an animal that has died a natural death or has been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile them. I am the LORD. 9 Warn all the priests to follow these instructions carefully; otherwise they will be subject to punishment and die for violating them. I am the LORD who makes them holy. 10 "No one outside a priest's family may ever eat the sacred offerings, even if the person lives in a priest's home or is one of his hired servants. 11 However, if the priest buys slaves with his own money, they may eat of his food. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food. 12 If a priest's daughter marries someone outside the priestly family, she may no longer eat the sacred offerings. 13 But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father's home, she may eat her father's food again. But other than these exceptions, only members of the priests' families are allowed to eat the sacred offerings. 14" Anyone who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an added penalty of 20 percent. 15 No one may defile the sacred offerings brought to the LORD by the Israelites 16 by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. The negligent priest would bring guilt upon the people and require them to pay compensation. I am the LORD, who makes them holy. "


Jesus went on to say," I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power! "2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain. No one else was there. As the men watched, Jesus 'appearance changed, 3 and his clothing became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly process could ever make it. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. 5" Teacher, this is wonderful! "Peter exclaimed." We will make three shrines-- one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. "6 He didn't really know what to say, for they were all terribly afraid. 7 Then a cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said," This is my beloved Son. Listen to him. "8 Suddenly they looked around, and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them. 9 As they descended the mountainside, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until he, the Son of Man, had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by" rising from the dead. "11 Now they began asking him," Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes? "12 Jesus responded," Elijah is indeed coming first to set everything in order. Why then is it written in the Scriptures that the Son of Man must suffer and be treated with utter contempt? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and he was badly mistreated, just as the Scriptures predicted. "14 At the foot of the mountain they found a great crowd surrounding the other disciples, as some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. 15 The crowd watched Jesus in awe as he came toward them, and then they ran to greet him. 16" What is all this arguing about? "he asked. 17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said," Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal him. He can't speak because he is possessed by an evil spirit that won't let him talk. 18 And whenever this evil spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it. "19 Jesus said to them," You faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me. "20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 21" How long has this been happening? "Jesus asked the boy's father. He replied," Since he was very small. 22 The evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can. "23" What do you mean, `If I can'? "Jesus asked." Anything is possible if a person believes. "24 The father instantly replied," I do believe, but help me not to doubt! "25 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit." Spirit of deafness and muteness, "he said," I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again! "26 Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy lay there motionless, and he appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd," He's dead. "27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him," Why couldn't we cast out that evil spirit? "29 Jesus replied," This kind can be cast out only by prayer. "


O God, take up my cause!
Defend me against these ungodly people.
Rescue me from these unjust liars.
2 For you are God, my only safe haven.
Why have you tossed me aside?
Why must I wander around in darkness,
oppressed by my enemies?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you live.
4 There I will go to the altar of God,
to God-- the source of all my joy.
I will praise you with my harp,
O God, my God!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again--
my Savior and my God!


To hide hatred is to be a liar; to slander is to be a fool