Agape Devotions

READ : Catch-up Day / Psalm 75 Verse chosen for meditation: Psalm 75:2-3 2 “At the set time that I appoint     I will judge with equity. 3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,     it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah REFLECT These verses are spoken from the perspective of God himself, and in some ways, may be regarded as His answer to the questions and cries in Psalm 74. In the face of adversity and destruction, the psalmist was demanding action from God in Psalm 74. These pleas probably came with an urgency, like many of our human appeals, with hopes of immediate action from God. Here, God assures and reminds us of several things. First, is that He will judge, and it will be done uprightly. Action will occur in a way that brings justice to the wicked, restoring peace and order to the righteous and faithful. We would not have it any other way and know that God is the best judge. If judgement were left to us, we woul...

  Read Psalm 74 This is a Psalm of great sorrow of the people of God under siege by the enemy and the destruction of the sanctuary (or temple). The psalmist lamented that because of God’s wrath, He has forsaken them and that all hope seemed to have been lost with no signs of help from God. There was a great sense of helplessness and nothing could be done in the midst of the oppression by the enemies who held no regards for God. I gathered 3 parts for reflection: The state of helplessness and despair when God seems to be not responding Remembering God’s favour and power Plea for God to remember His covenant and to help We do not know when this psalm was written (could be during the siege by Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar as some have suggested). The psalmist was cognisant of the wrath of God that had brought this event upon them (v1) but he also believed that God is a covenant keeping God (v2). Hence he continued to remind God to keep His covenant with the people He redeemed. Even...

Read Leviticus 27; Psalm 73 Verse chosen for meditation: Leviticus 27:30 ESV “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord." Reflect Two weeks ago, we looked at 2 types of offering, sin and guilt, and learned the subtle difference between them. Today, we look at yet another category of payment and offering, redemption and tithe.  But before we take a closer look, we need first to differentiate between dedicated and devoted things. Though seemingly alike, they cannot be more different. Relate The things that are dedicated may be redeemed or bought back. Like taking out a mortgage on a house for instance. Once the full repayment is made, one can rightfully claim back the house. Such items usually mean a lot to the owner. Except that for the duration of the repayment, they belong to the mortgagee, which is usually the bank, or in some cases, the pawnshop. The Israelites found themselves in a similar s...

  READ : LEVITICUS 26; PSALM 72 TEXT FOR MEDITATION : Leviticus 26:2-6 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,  4  then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.  5  Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.  6  I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.    REFLECT In this passage, God was promising blessings that He would bestow on the people of Israel if they walked in the commandments that God had given them. Obedience would bring ri...

No devotional today.  Read: Leviticus 24:10-25:55 / Psalm 71

Read: Lev 23.1-24.9 / Psalm 70 Verse chosen for meditation: Leviticus 23:3 "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places. Reflect Leviticus 23 focus on the Sabbath and feast days. One important aspect about the Sabbath, is that like the feast days, they are “appointed” days of the year.  Who sets the appointment? The Lord Himself. He set the appointment with the people of Israel within the framework of His covenant.  Why did the Lord set the appointments? The Lord set the appointment because He wanted them to gather as a people to remember His covenant. The covenant which included obedience as the foundation for Israel to grow as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  The Sabbath commanded the people to stop their ordinary work and focus their eyes on God. Their worship of God on Sabbath included a time of solemn rest. Where rest was not...

READ Verse for meditation. Leviticus 21:6 " They shall be holy to their God and   not profane the name of their God. For they offer the   Lord 's food offerings,   the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy." REFLECT In   'the Gospel according to Leviticus,'   we come today to a section which is specifically addressed to priests, to Aaron the high priest and his sons. This family, as you know, was set aside in Israel to do a specific work of ministry for God. All the members of Aaron's family were priests by birth. They did not become priests by choice or by desire on their part, but by being born into the family of Aaron. There was no other way to become a priest. No other family was ever recognised as having valid membership in the priesthood. But even though they were members of Aaron's family, they could serve as priests only if they met certain qualifications. So there is a difference between merely being a priest and serving as a priest. Th...