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The term leprosy, as used in the Bible, actually refers to a whole variety of skin conditions ranging from rashes, to open sores, to various infectious diseases, and includes true leprosy as we know it today.

According to God’s Law given through Moses, a person with leprosy was ceremonially unclean and not allowed to take part in any form of worship. They were to live in isolation or cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” as they walked about the community (Leviticus 13). Lepers were strictly avoided since even accidental contact would cause a person to become unclean. Therefore, imagine the turmoil in the crowd as a leper boldly approached Jesus.

Matthew 8:2-3
“A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.”

Yes, imagine the turmoil as many in the crowd scattered to get out of the leper’s way. Some must have been calling out warnings, others delivering harsh rebukes. But even more important, consider the faith of the leper as he stepped forward. He knew he would face ridicule and scorn, but he had heard about Jesus and his faith propelled him to action.

Jesus looked past the ugliness of the man’s condition and saw directly into his heart. In the heart, Jesus saw a beautiful man of faith reaching out to be made clean – He saw a heart which reflected the heart of king David; “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2).

Our sin creates an ugliness far greater than any skin disease. Sin caused man to be repulsive to God and totally separated from His presence. But while we were in this terminal state God poured out His love; “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

No matter how bad we think we “look” – no matter how much sin is covering us and making us unclean – Jesus sees directly into our heart. No amount of sin can keep Him from rescuing those with a repentant heart and a desire to be cleansed.

If there is anything causing us to be separated from the presence of our Lord today – any past sin, any current temptations, or any lack of obedience – we must kneel before Him and seek forgiveness. Others may turn away and not understand, but Jesus stands ready to lovingly touch us with His outstretched hand and say, “Be Clean!”

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries

In the last two messages we’ve considered our need to walk with God in continued obedience in order to honor Him and allow us to experience His very best. God’s plan is that we learn to live in His presence and become “conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Romans 8:29). This means we must listen intently for God’s direction and follow where He leads, not just blindly walk down what appears to be His path.

David was crowned king of Judah soon after Saul died in about the year 1010 BC. About seven years later, all of Israel acknowledged David as their new king. One of David’s first actions as king was to attempt to move the Ark of God from the home of Abinadab to Jerusalem. David and all the officials believed that by making the Ark a more central focus for the nation, God would bless all of Israel.

This was a very exciting time. The Ark was being transported on a new cart pulled by oxen, and over thirty thousand people were “celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals” (2 Samuel 6:5). But even during this time of great excitement, God clearly demonstrated the need for obedience.

2 Samuel 6:6-7
“When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the Ark of God.”

Uzzah’s intentions were good, but God considered his actions “irreverent.” Uzzah desired to serve God by keeping the Ark from falling to the ground, but his enthusiastic and well intentioned actions were not directed by God. In fact, Uzzah’s actions were in direct conflict with God’s Word.

During the time of Moses, God had given instructions that the Ark should be moved with poles (Exodus 25:14-15) and that anyone who touched the Ark must be put to death (Numbers 4:15). Uzzah served where he thought there was a need, but he served at the expense of true obedience.

We must learn great sensitivity to God’s leading. Seemingly godly action, if done outside the will of God, is sin. We must never assume that what “looks” good and godly is truly of God. Our Heavenly Father will always be faithful to lead us in His perfect will. But we must be willing to spend time (often, lots of time!) worshiping at His feet, communing with Him in prayer, and waiting patiently for His direction. As we serve our Lord, let’s do so with great enthusiasm; but let’s always allow Him to lead and serve Him in obedience.

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries

Moses was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Through Moses, God demonstrated His awesome power and holiness. At the time, there was no one closer to God than Moses. However, even with this wonderfully close relationship, Moses still struggled at times with trusting God.

After being led out of Egypt, the people often brought their complaints to Moses. On one occasion, the people complained about their lack of drinking water; “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place?” (Numbers 20:5). When Moses entered the presence of God with this concern, he was given clear direction for solving the problem: “Gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water” (Numbers 20:8).

Moses gathered the people as he was told. But rather than simply speaking to the rock, Moses tried to accomplish God’s work with a method of his own choosing.

Numbers 20:10-11
“‘Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?’ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.”

Moses had seen God’s power and knew how much He hated disobedience; yet, at this moment, Moses did not follow God’s command. Moses may have become prideful while leading the Israelites through the desert; “Must WE {Aaron and I} bring you water out of this rock?” Or, he may have thought God needed help from the same staff used to turn the Nile river into blood and part the Red Sea. Either way, his disobedience stemmed from a lack of trust in God – trust is always related to obedience!

God still loved Moses and will fellowship with him for all eternity, but his failure to obey was severely punished; “Because you did not trust in Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them” (Numbers 20:12). God’s perfect plan for Moses clearly included a trip into the Promised land; but, even after 40 years of faithful leadership, Moses’ lack of trust caused him to miss out on God’s very best.

God knows our needs and has a detailed plan which is unfolding according to His perfect timing. Let’s listen intently for His direction and then fully obey. Let’s take the steps to ensure all we do in our ministry – all we do in our family and in every area of our life – is done to bring Him glory and honor. Let’s trust Him and His ways with ALL our heart, and always remember…don’t strike the rock!

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries

In the message “Believe and Be Restored” we considered our need to believe that what God said is true. He said the death and resurrection of Jesus was the final sacrifice for our sin, and that those who believe would receive the gift of eternal life.

Our Salvation is clearly a gift from God; “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). We did nothing to earn our Salvation and there is nothing we must now do to keep it, we simply must believe; “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Though our sins are forgiven and Jesus is 100% sufficient for Salvation – though we walk in grace and are absolutely free of condemnation – sin in our life still causes temporary separation and tension in our relationship with God. Therefore, over and over in scripture, we are called to a life of holiness: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:14-15). Holiness is to receive top priority in our life; “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy” (Hebrews 12:14).

So why such an emphasis on holy living? After all, if we are saved by grace, our effort toward holiness plays no part in our Salvation. The answer is found in examining our purpose for life beyond Salvation: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).

2 Peter 1:5-7
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”

After we are saved, we live to worship and glorify God; but this can only be done by growing in our faith and presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice. For any sacrifice to be pleasing to God, the sacrifice itself must be pure, and the one who presents the sacrifice must be holy. So when we “make every effort” toward a life of holiness, we don’t do so in order to earn or maintain our Salvation; rather, we strive for holiness because we desire to truly worship our Heavenly Father with every heartbeat of our life.

We must never lose sight of God’s wonderful gift given purely by His grace. But now our Father’s plan is for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son and live in a continual state of worship. His design for our life is that we mature in our faith and worship Him by living a holy life.

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries

In the message “Promotion to Servant” we saw our need to turn aside from the self-advancement mentality of the world and become a humble servant of Christ. We also acknowledged this was no trivial task. Every morning, we must decide which analysis method we will use to guide our decisions. We must either choose the method given by the world, or the method given by Jesus. It’s unfortunate so much of our “training” has been in the method of the world.

As children we are taught that more is better and one plus one equals two. And as we become adults, we are trained to make decisions based on a spreadsheet type analysis. We learn to choose a direction based on which path will bring the greatest pleasure, or which path will add the most to the “bottom line.” And we even allow a Godless media to define what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman, and what it means to be married and raise a family.

But Jesus, as our supreme example, was never constrained by our finite way of thinking or our pathetic worldly influences. He taught us the correct path is the path of simple obedience; and He demonstrated that one plus one, plus faith, will always equal whatever God desires.

John 6:5-7
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do. Philip answered Him, ‘Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!'”

I imagine Philip sitting beside Jesus with his laptop computer, frantically entering numbers. After analyzing the data, he points to the screen and says: “Look Jesus, it just doesn’t compute. Your plan cannot be accomplished!”

Of course, Jesus then swept aside Philip’s analysis, blessed two fish and five loaves of bread, and proceeded to feed over 5000 people.

Our Heavenly Father has given us various tasks for today, as well as for the coming weeks, months and years. Many of these tasks will be challenging and require serious decisions. In our finite, number-crunching, mentality we will often shake our head and say the task isn’t practical or can’t be done. But Jesus is calling us to a new analysis – a new way to live which is centered on Him – one that believes “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

When we face our challenges, let’s learn to “Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Let’s live each and every moment by faith and allow each step along our path to be guided by a Christ-centered analysis.

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries

In the message “At The Lord’s Command” we saw how, for forty years in the desert, the Israelites moved or stayed based on the movement of God’s cloud. Being able to recognize God’s “cloud” and sense its movement is one of our great challenges. For this challenge there is no answer but to draw closer to God through prayer, study, and worship. He will reveal Himself if we will wait and place all our hope and trust in Him. But when we hear Him call, we must be prepared to look beyond our ability and trust He knows our strengths…and weaknesses.

After His death and resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and many others. He called them to believe and tell the world of the truth. But with Peter, Jesus took time to speak directly and personally.

John 21:15a
“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love Me more than these?'”

Jesus used a word meaning absolute, unconditional love (agape). With one simple question, Jesus was forcing Peter to analyze his faith. Peter had previously stated: “Even if all fall away, I will not” (Mark 14:29), and even more boldly, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You” (Mark 14:31).

And yet, Peter failed Jesus in the garden: “Are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (Mark 14:37). Peter failed again when he denied Jesus three times – the third denial being violent: “Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!'” (Matthew 26:74). Peter knew how his actions had fallen tragically short, so he now said his love was more of a deep affection – a brotherly love (fileo).

Jesus continued His questioning until Peter finally replied; “You know all things, You know that I love You” (John 21:17b). In this statement, Peter was humbly saying that Jesus knew from experience his level of love…or his lack! But even with a complete understanding of Peter’s weaknesses, Jesus still called: “Follow Me!” (John 21:19). Jesus had a plan for Peter that would not be hindered by Peter’s failures.

As we grow to a better understanding of God’s love, we will ultimately face how small our love is by comparison. But let’s take comfort that God knew our weaknesses when He called us into His Kingdom. He has a wonderful plan and will always provide what we lack in order to accomplish all He desires. There is nothing hidden from God. He knows everyone He calls; so let’s boldly follow, in spite of our weaknesses!

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God’s Daily Word Ministries