Meditate

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.—REV. 3:19.

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.—Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.—He maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.—Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.—I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.—He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Heb. 12:5,6. -Prov. 3:12. -Job 5:18. -I Pet. 5:6. -Isa. 48:10.Lam. 3:33. -Psa. 103:10-14.

“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.”

John 17:22

Behold the superlative liberality of the Lord Jesus, for he hath given us his all. Although a tithe of his possessions would have made a universe of angels rich beyond all thought, yet was he not content until he had given us all that he had. It would have been surprising grace if he had allowed us to eat the crumbs of his bounty beneath the table of his mercy; but he will do nothing by halves, he makes us sit with him and share the feast. Had he given us some small pension from his royal coffers, we should have had cause to love him eternally; but no, he will have his bride as rich as himself, and he will not have a glory or a grace in which she shall not share. He has not been content with less than making us joint-heirs with himself, so that we might have equal possessions. He has emptied all his estate into the coffers of the Church, and hath all things common with his redeemed. There is not one room in his house the key of which he will withhold from his people. He gives them full liberty to take all that he hath to be their own; he loves them to make free with his treasure, and appropriate as much as they can possibly carry. The boundless fulness of his all-sufficiency is as free to the believer as the air he breathes. Christ hath put the flagon of his love and grace to the believer’s lip, and bidden him drink on forever; for could he drain it, he is welcome to do so, and as he cannot exhaust it, he is bidden to drink abundantly, for it is all his own. What truer proof of fellowship can heaven or earth afford?

“When I stand before the throne

Dressed in beauty not my own;

When I see thee as thou art,

Love thee with unsinning heart;

Then, Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.”

Leviticus 6

6. Offering Regulations

¹ In Hebrew texts 6:1-7 is numbered 5:20-26, and 6:8-30 is numbered 6:1-23.The LORD said to Moses: ² “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, ³ or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit— ⁴ when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, ⁵ or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering. ⁶ And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. ⁷ In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.”

The Burnt Offering

⁸ The LORD said to Moses: ⁹ “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. ¹⁰ The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar. ¹¹ Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. ¹² The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. ¹³ The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

The Grain Offering

¹⁴ “‘These are the regulations for the grain offering: Aaron’s sons are to bring it before the LORD, in front of the altar. ¹⁵ The priest is to take a handful of the finest flour and some olive oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial Or representative portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. ¹⁶ Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, but it is to be eaten without yeast in the sanctuary area; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ¹⁷ It must not be baked with yeast; I have given it as their share of the food offerings presented to me. Like the sin offering Or purification offering; also in verses 25 and 30 and the guilt offering, it is most holy. ¹⁸ Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it. For all generations to come it is his perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the LORD. Whatever touches them will become holy. Or Whoever touches them must be holy; similarly in verse 27’”

¹⁹ The LORD also said to Moses, ²⁰ “This is the offering Aaron and his sons are to bring to the LORD on the day he Or each is anointed: a tenth of an ephah That is, probably about 3 1/2 pounds or about 1.6 kilograms of the finest flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ It must be prepared with oil on a griddle; bring it well-mixed and present the grain offering broken The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. ²² The son who is to succeed him as anointed priest shall prepare it. It is the LORD’s perpetual share and is to be burned completely. ²³ Every grain offering of a priest shall be burned completely; it must not be eaten.”

The Sin Offering

²⁴ The LORD said to Moses, ²⁵ “Say to Aaron and his sons: ‘These are the regulations for the sin offering: The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the LORD in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it shall eat it; it is to be eaten in the sanctuary area, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ²⁷ Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in the sanctuary area. ²⁸ The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken; but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water. ²⁹ Any male in a priest’s family may eat it; it is most holy. ³⁰ But any sin offering whose blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place must not be eaten; it must be burned up.

Luke 3:7-14

3. Baptism of Jesus

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Psalm 129

129. Psalm 129

¹ “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”
   let Israel say;
² “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
   but they have not gained the victory over me.
³ Plowmen have plowed my back
   and made their furrows long.
⁴ But the LORD is righteous;
   he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”

    ⁵ May all who hate Zion
   be turned back in shame.
⁶ May they be like grass on the roof,
   which withers before it can grow;
⁷ a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
   nor one who gathers fill his arms.
⁸ May those who pass by not say to them,
   “The blessing of the LORD be on you;
   we bless you in the name of the LORD.”

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