Scott Beyer

The Name of the Lord

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Deut 5:11)

The most common expletive in society is the name of the One who created all society.

Think about that for a second.

What if your name was used as a cuss word?  What if everyone on the planet said your name whenever something bad happened or every time they wanted to sound shocking or just as a filler for conversation when they didn’t have anything better to say.  It would hurt.  A LOT.

God’s name is holy.  It represents Him.  Words matter and ideas have power.  It is a satanic plan that has us blaspheming His name.  ‘OMG’ isn’t cute or funny – it is irreverent and sinful.  “Oh my, God!” should be exclaimed as we fall to our knees in adoration, not as we laugh at the latest YouTube shock video.

May God forgive us our sinful words, and may His people circumcise their lips once more in honor of Him that made and died for them.

#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

God-Esteem

“The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Num 6:24-26)
 
This is the blessing Aaron was told to give the children of Israel. The greatest blessing they could have was to have God shine upon them.
 
Forget about self-esteem. Self-esteem is dependent on self. My ego drives my value? No thanks. My ego can be deflated by a bad night’s sleep or a passing criticism from my neighbor. My ego can be overinflated by watching others fail or a false sense of security.
 
Give me this blessing. If the Lord blesses us than we are truly blessed. If the Lord values us, then we are truly valuable. If His face shines on me than my face truly shines. Moses taught us that.
 
Forget self-esteem. How does God esteem you?
 
“As the Father has loved Me [Jesus], so have I loved you. Abide in My love.” (John 15:9)
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

Strength Through Adversity

“Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD…” (Num 11:1)
 
Uh oh. The people became like those who complain of adversity? When was the last time I did NOT complain of adversity?!
 
We look at the complaining of the Israelites as a sign of their lack of faith, but it was also a sign of their unwillingness to suffer. Adversity is anything that is less than ideal, anything that fights against us having an easy go of it. The Israelites were complaining because they viewed discomfort as a bad thing.
 
But is it? Discomfort is almost always a sign of growth. Sore muscles mean they are getting stronger. Breaking out of your comfort zone means you are trying something new and probably learning from the experience. Adversity means discomfort and discomfort means growth.
 
The rich man was warned that he received his good things in this life and that is why he was in anguish in the next. Likewise, Lazarus received his bad things, but now is comforted in Paradise (see Lk 16:25).
 
Better to be hungry here and seek the food that satisfies.
 
Don’t complain about adversity – use it.
 
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (Jas. 1:2)
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

The Mercy Seat

“Now when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so He spoke to him.” (Num 7:89)
 
The ark of the covenant was a box (albeit a very fancy one) that contained, amongst other things, the tablets of stone engraved with God’s contract with Israel. That contract was God’s promise to them that if they followed Him, He would abide with them. The lid to that box was called the mercy seat and it was adorned with likenesses of two angelic beings, cherubim, whose wings stretched out and overshadowed that box… and it was between those two cherubim that God spoke to Moses.
 
The New Testament tells us that all of these things were shadows of greater spiritual things (see Hebrews 8:5).
 
Every Jew knew – God’s seat of mercy sits on top of His covenant. Without the tablets of stone, there is no box, there are no promises, and there is no mercy seat. If you want God’s mercy, you have to accept His covenant, too.
 
We won’t look for the mercy and the forgiveness without first realizing the law that we’ve broken. Nobody seeks or understands forgiveness without the foundation of a law coming first. The more we learn of the life that we should be living, the more we properly see our failure to be good enough, the more thankful we become for the One that whispers, “I forgive you” from His throne of mercy.
 
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Rom 7:22-25)
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

Humility Helps

Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num 11:28-29)
 
When God allowed men to prophecy other than Moses, Joshua was concerned – but Moses rejoiced that God had elevated others.
 
Moses was the most humble man of his day (Num 12:3), and one of the purest signs of humility is that other people’s successes bring you joy instead of anxiety. The humble man can “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).
 
Pride prevents us from enjoying the victories of those around us and it prevents us from seeking their success. Humility breeds teamwork, happiness, and brotherly love.
 
Want to be a humbler person? Make it your goal to help others meet theirs.
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

One Standard

“There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 24:22)
 
Standards are important. We set high standards for our children’s education, we expect high safety standards from the automotive industry, and we desire high standards in the hygiene of the people that handle our food. We also like uniformity to those standards. We like knowing that all restaurants expect their employees to wash their hands, and we like knowing that seat belts are functional in any car we buy. High standards must also be consistent standards for them to be effective.
 
And that is exactly what God offers us. He expects much out of us and believes us capable of meeting a higher standard of ethics and godliness. He also refuses to show partiality in that standard. Kings and peasants alike are held to one standard.
 
We should be moved by God’s high and consistent standards – touched that He would set them for all of us. It is a sign of His justice and His love for all of His creation, not just a chosen few. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world, not just part of it. His standards are a reflection of His belief that all of us can meet those standards. They are unified standards because they are attainable ones… especially since we have the hope of forgiveness in Christ when we fall short in our efforts. Rejoice in His one glorious standard, the Bible. He wrote it for all of us.
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

Fearless

“But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.” (Lev 26:7-8)

We are impressed with the faith of David – a faith that caused a normal-sized man to defeat a large-sized man.  Without undervaluing David’s character, David’s victory was mustard seed in size compared to what Leviticus 26 says God can do.

Be bold.  The Goliath-sized problems in your life are tiny compared to what God has promised.

Doubts from the devil.  If you knew you couldn’t fail – what righteous act would you do today?

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

What the Soul Pines For

“I, in turn, will do this to you; I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.” (Lev 26:16)
 
Jehovah warned the Israelites of the consequences of not obeying Him and living as He intended them to. However, some of those consequences are subtler than we would expect.
 
He’ll give you a pining soul that wishes for a life that would be more fulfilling.
 
Or a sense of futility that you “sow your seed uselessly” and no matter how hard you work, you can’t get ahead.
 
A lack of fulfillment in life and a sense of hopelessness are real impacts we receive from removing God from our life. When we don’t put God first, all the other pieces don’t fit right. A poor foundation leads to an unsteady building.
 
Check your schedule and then ask, “Is God in my calendar?”
 
Check your bucket list, and then ask, “Are my goals, His goals?”
 
Check your budget, and then ask, “Do I save treasure in heaven or on earth?”
 
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat? or What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt 6:31-33)
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

The Work of Worship

“It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls” (Lev 23:32)
 
The Sabbath was the Jews first introduction to what true worship was supposed to be like. The word ‘worship’ means to bow low. Worship is an act where we recognize the greatness of something else and the smallness of ourselves. Worship is a humbling act that gives us perspective.
 
We need perspective… and we need it regularly. If you’ve ever gotten on your high horse, worship will knock you back down to earth. There is something very freeing about remembering that we aren’t as big as we think we are. Humility is a necessary part of a healthy spiritual diet. It may taste more like broccoli than pie, but it has a lot more nourishment to it than the “we’re the greatest” message of today’s culture. Worship prepares you to serve, it equips you for the work of service we should be doing every day of our lives.
 
Worship isn’t about you. That’s why worship shouldn’t be about what we want it to be or how we want it to make us feel. Worship is the humbling of our souls to the Creator who made it. It is about bending our will to His, because we are small and He is not. Today’s “worship-tainment” atmosphere in religion misses the whole point.
 
“When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Ps 8:3-4)
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4

More Holiness Give Me

“Thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev 11:45)
 
Holiness is imitation of the Creator. It is the creation crying to the Creator that we adore Him and wish to be near Him in character. The Christian is holy for the same reason a child imitates their father.
 
“I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean…” (Lev 20:24-25)
 
The Jew understood that what they ate, how they worshipped, and even how they dressed was because they were meant to stand out as peculiar – as holy. Their God was different so they would need to be different. Simple Christianity asks the same of us (1 Pet 2:9).
 
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Wake up, be holy, and flatter God.
 
#Biblebites Matt. 4:4