68 - "God Sets Up Residence in Our Neighborhood" Leviticus 26-27; Mark 11:19-33

"I'll set up my residence in your neighborhood." Lev 26:11 MSG. If we surrender, He is our neighbor. Oh!  

If we confess our sins...wait, when was the last time I repented of sin?  About 15 minutes ago.  I went into the living room to my husband to ask his forgiveness for being very rude to him, but you know what happened?  I sinned again right there cause I didn't like his response.  We have the awesome privilege of going into the Holy of Holies and living no longer curved in.  Repentance isn't just asking someone to forgive me but it's turning from it.  

66 Love Letters: "Think of holiness as relational energy that is more concerned with another's well-being than our own. Think of unholiness as perverted relational energy that is more concerned with our well-being than another's."  

So, as we close the Book of Leviticus, what would holiness look like as we relate to our spouse today?  What would it look like as we relate to our children?  What does it look like this day as we relate to our world?  My prayer for all of us as we end this book is Colossians 1:29:  As you face and embrace some really hard things, may you struggle well with "His Energy that so powerfully works in you." 

So what does the Book of Leviticus stir in you? "These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai." Lev 27:26. Given for their joy. Manifested in holy love.  

Father, it is incomprehensible that we can partake of your Divine Nature.  The Israelites looked forward and thought they'd give anything to be at that place.  You are Here.  Invade my day, this moment, with your Holy Presence.

And so the book of Leviticus ends.  And you have to always ask yourself as you read your Bible:  So, what's the point?  Here it is:  all these kinds of laws were directed toward Israel's society not ours. The laws we just read are culturally specific.  Yet, Paul wrote in the NT that "the laws were written for our instruction" and they are "useful.  So, as we close this book of laws, we ask:  What did I just learn from all of these laws about how God wants me to truly live and about how he wants my society to truly live.  And the word I walk away with is "rest."  It's real rest that I long for.  And Sabbath rest. May I find true rest in Him, not in the tangibles of life. 

PHOTO:  Stumbled upon this beautiful place as I walked 10,000 steps today. Turned a corner. There it was. And There. God setting up His residence.