Will post Saturday's Living Life #19 tomorrow!

Sorry about the mess...

God taught me the true purpose of this Living Life Blogging through a small accident on Saturday, but Saturday I was too busy processing the real meaning behind God's little surprise attack...

Anyways, God bless!

Hope you had a great weekend & will have a great week ^^

-Love, GinniePark

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Memory Verse of the Week [new!]:

"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not ert justice by siding with the crowd." - Exodus 23:2

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Character of God - Exodus 23:1-13

God of Justice

1: "Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness."

2: "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not ert justice by siding with the crowd,"

3: "and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit."

4: "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it."

5: "If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it."

6: "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits."

7: "Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit [declare innocent] the guilty."

8: "Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent."

9: "Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt."

 

God of Holiness

10: "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,"

11: "but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove."

12: "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed."

13: "Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips."

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Reflection

God of Justice (23:1-9)

Here, the Israelites are commanded to be attentive to God's justice in a court setting. Especially prominent in this section are God's concern for the poor (v.6) and the foreigner (v.9). God is a God of justice, and this justice is the very attribute to God, engraved in His core being. Out of our intimacy with the triune God, we are compelled to love and serve the world as He would - seek peace where there is destruction, justice where there is injustice, and equality where there is oppression and segregation. When Jesus came down to Earth, He came with an attitude of utter humility and incomprehensible love. We should imitate His shalom in seeking social justice in every area of our society. We are called to be concerned and actively involved in the social issues of this world. Our deeds become a profession of faith and love - faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

 

God of Holiness (23:10-13)

The Israelites are commanded to allow the land to rest. The purposes of this command are many. Agriculturally speaking, the land bears more productivity if left fallow every so often. However, the focus here is not so much productivity but more humanitarian and social. The purpose of this command is so that the poor and the wild animals may eat from the fallow land (v.11) and oxen and donkeys may rest (v.12). This is a deeply social concern. However, the Lord ends His command by reminding the Israelites that there is no other God but Him (v.13). The Jews are called to practice their social and humanitarian responsibilities precisely because of their allegiance to the God of justice and holiness. This command also echoes the creation account in Genesis 2, where God rested on the seventh day. They are commanded to rest because they are called to be holy just as God is holy.

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Application

-Are you indifferent to the social concerns of this world? We are called to preach the Gospel and to live out our faith, and this includes active concern for the world that we live in. Ask God to give you His heart.

-God gave us Christians social responsibilities, but it doesn't just end there. Our ultimate concern and chief end is the glory of God. Ask God to give you a heart to love and worship Him and become more Holy just as He is holy.

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A Letter to God

Dear Father, thank You that You are the God of justice and holiness.

Help me to imitate Your character, and help me to become more and more like Your Son, Jesus Christ.

In His name, Amen.