Worship and Sacrifice

"This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish …' "
~ Numbers 19:2 (NKJV)

This verse describes what has long been one of the obstacles for modern day Jews to again establish temple worship and sacrifice: obtaining the ashes of a perfect red heifer for the water of purification.

In my heart there burns deep affection for faithful Jews, my fellow servants in the Kingdom of Adonai. While I, too, ache for the day when temple worship is restored to Jerusalem, I also know that the Lord Jesus has completed everything necessary for me to come before God to offer my sacrifice.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
~ Romans 12:1 (NKJV)

Worship may include our actions, but it is foremost the condition of the heart which continually bows before the Lord God of Israel to offer myself—all I am, all I do, all I have.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.… here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
~ from Hebrews 13:10-15 (NKJV) 

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Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Dare Mighty Things

"Far better is it to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs,
even though checkered by failure,
than to take rank with those poor spirits
who neither enjoy much nor suffer much,
because they live in the gray twilight
that knows neither victory nor defeat."
~ Theodore Roosevelt

"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth."
~ Revelation 3:15-16 (WEB)

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it ... So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."
~ Luke 14:28,33 (NKJV)

Jesus says He prefers even a cold person to lukewarm. Among the various thoughts for the meaning of "cold" are hostile and unsaved, angry and arguing, sinful and in need of discipline, broken and distant. Whichever His meaning, Jesus can evidently work with dynamic coldness, while His reaction to lukewarm is vomit it out. (The King James says "spew," the NIV "spit.")

What brings the person who was once hot or cold to become lukewarm? Just sitting, without movement or risk. Vibrant Christianity carries the risk of disdain, outright rejection, loss of favors, poverty, persecution, even death. And personal sacrifice is a daily cost.

To risk or sacrifice nothing might mean no cost, but it also means no gain—and no value. Those things which cost us the most time, drive, and sacrifice are the things we come to value most. We are anything but lukewarm about them.

Lord Jesus, You paid the greatest price of all history to leave glory and purchase us. You are worth any cost, whatever the pain or sacrifice. In moments of hesitation, please embolden us to dare mighty things. Please let us see the spiritual cost of turning away.

I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: terrystauffer.com

That Day

"We must embrace pain
and burn it as fuel for our journey."
~ Kenji Miyazawa

That Day

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
~ 2 Timothy 4:8 (NKJV)

And walk in love ... an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
~ Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV)

An oft expressed desire of Christians is the day we will stand before our Maker and see His smile, hear His voice, feel His touch. I daresay some are impatient for That Day.

But longing for That Day cannot be at the expense of today. We have on Earth something we shall not have in Heaven.

Here, we can give God expensive love.

I think that in Heaven love will no longer carry a cost. Here, to love the Lord is to ache with longing, to endure the pain of separation, to suffer graciously because Jesus did and asks it of us who love Him.

We can choose to love less and not experience the agony of love. Or we can love our God passionately, and offer to Him now that which we can no long offer on That Day.

My Lord, You know our impatience. You know the kind of love we wish to have for You, and yet fall short of in our selfishness. Please enable us to pursue that love and accept the pain to experience the passion You've created our souls to know.

Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Photo from corbisimages.com

Debt of Love

"The debt of love never diminishes when we pay it."
~ Henry Jacobson

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law... Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
~ Romans 13:8,10 (NIV)

"But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles."
~ Matthew 5:39-41 (NIV)

But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?
~ 1 Corinthians 6:6-7 (NKJV)

God's Word is a fascinating study in contrasts.

The Christian life is a balance between Christian liberty which allows us freedom to live free of law, surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and a life best blessed when lived as taught by Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, manifest in principles of the Bible.

Submission to authority is one principle. So is the concept of being willing to suffer for the sake of righteousness. Yet we are not to compel suffering of others, because God expects us to defend the weak from their oppressors—oppressors who are often those in authority.

How do we reconcile all the Bible's contrasts without conflict? What trumps rock-paper-scissors in a three-way contest which comes up tied?

The law of love trumps all.

God has poured out upon us such abundant love that we are forever in love's debt. The commandment "love thy neighbor" doesn't have exemption. We are to love the weak and defend them when it's inconvenient and without payoff, even at the cost of personal sacrifice. We are to love the authority, and not only give in to unreasonable demands (if they do not violate morals), but even "go the second mile." We are to prefer being wronged for the sake of love and unity, rather than raise conflict among Christians.

Christ set the ultimate example of suffering for the sake of righteousness to give us liberty. Among His last prayers was for unity among His followers. He said we'd be known as His by our love.

Liberty and unity and love will never be reconciled with living for Self.

Consider yet another contrast: Salvation was purchased at the highest possible cost and is given as a free gift—but carries an eternal debt of love.

Lord Jesus, Your grace commands our love. We cannot love You too much or follow Your example of love too extremely. Please lead us in Your footsteps.

Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Fool on the Hill

"Empty hands held high—such small sacrifice.
If not joined with my life, I sing in vain ... "
~ Mark Hall *

Fool on the Hill

For we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake ...
~ 1 Corinthians 4:9-10 (NKJV)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:18 (NKJV)

I remember the first time I experienced the urge to lift my hands in praise while singing. But nobody in our church did that, so I resisted being a rebel. But during a later conversation, a respected gentleman admonished me to not resist such an urge from the Holy Spirit.

At our present church I often lift my hands while singing praise. I sit in the back to avoid being distracting, because few (if any) of the other 400-500 people do likewise. Yet the shape of our sloped auditorium doesn't obscure me at its top, and I occasionally wonder if anyone thinks me foolish.

My God was once thought a Fool on the hill as He hung upon a cross for six hours, with hands uplifted by nails. He did it for my sake. He did it for love's sake.

If I'm ever thought a fool for uplifted hands, it's far too little to suffer for Christ's sake. I gladly lift my hands for love's sake.

Lord Jesus, thank You that You put Your Holy Spirit inside of us to empower whatever we do for You. Thank You for allowing us the privilege of offering You praise. May each word of our gift of praise be beautiful to You—as much as the sum total of all beauty in the creation You gifted to us.

Your feedback is appreciated. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

* Lyrics of "Lifesong" by Mark Hall, © 2005 Club Zoo Music

Pearl of Great Price

"By your perseverance acquire your souls."
~ Luke 21:19 (author)

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
~ Matthew 13:45-46 (NKJV)

Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."
~ Luke 18:28 (NKJV)

And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.
~ Psalms 119:45 (NKJV)

The Pearl of Great Price parable is interpreted two ways. One says Jesus' kingdom is the pearl and we forfeit all to gain it. The other says His church—His bride—is the pearl of great price Jesus gave all to attain.

I see it both ways. What more could Jesus have given to purchase us? He asks all from us in return. Not to pay Him back. Not to earn salvation. We give all we are to Him because a man's soul defines all that he is, and Jesus purchased our souls.

In typical kingdom irony, God entrusts our forfeited souls back to us more fully than we ever had them to begin with. We once lived by commandments we could not keep, and were in bondage to sin. When Jesus' blood sets us free through repentance of sin, God grants for our souls to walk at liberty because we use our freedom to seek His ways.

Lord, what more could we possibly expect from You? You gave Your life to obtain our lives and make them everything You created them to be in the time before sin. Please permit us to better know You and trust You so we have no hindrance to obey. Please empower us by Your Holy Spirit to release to You whatever You're waiting to make whole.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Put to Death

Nothing devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed, but shall surely be put to death.
~ Leviticus 27:29 (MKJV)

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
~ Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish.
~ Psalms 73:25-27 (NKJV)

Most translations of this passage from Leviticus refer to "no man" rather than "nothing" being unredeemable. (The more literal translations are similar to the above quote.) In context, it is clear that some things or people could be set aside for God and later redeemed; but some were devoted to Him, whether put to death (as a sacrifice) or to belong to Him until death.

The New Testament is less ambiguous. To receive life in Christ—eternal, resurrection life—is to go to death with Christ. It is to no longer have a life of one's own at all.

No complaint here. The psalmist says, "there is none upon the earth that I desire besides You." That "none" includes me. The life I once desired was on a path to death and no good to me. The solution? Go ahead and be put to death, and experience Christ in me, the strength of my heart.

Lord Jesus, You know the depth of human agony apart from You. To know You, living in me, is the only life I want. Please Lord, use me, my words, my life, all I am to bring others to more fully know life in You. Please enable all of us to sacrifice whatever makes more room for You.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Love Your Neighbor

"You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people ... You shall not hate your brother in your heart.... You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD."
~ Leviticus 19:16-18 (NKJV)

So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.... To love [God] with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."
~ Mark 12:32-34 (NKJV)

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
~ Matthew 7:12 (NKJV)

The God who gave the New Covenant is the same God of the Old Covenant. Hundreds of laws, rituals, ordinances, precepts, statutes and judgments of the Old Covenant had the same purpose as New Covenant grace: show how to love God foremost and fully, and how to love your neighbor. In these two commandments is summed up all the law and prophets.

How do you love your neighbor as yourself? We are so dense that Jesus makes it simpler yet. Do to others what you'd want done to yourself under the same circumstances. Forgive as you've been forgiven by Your Father in heaven. Show to those who offend you a fraction of the grace God has shown for your infinitely greater offenses against Him.

Whatever we might offer as a sacrifice, whatever we'd do to show ourselves children of God—in faith, hope, or love—we can do nothing greater than simply love.

Dear God, You've shown us perfect love. Please humble us so we might be filled with Your Spirit and able to love You as much as is humanly possible, and love the people around us who You love as You love us.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Sweet Aroma

And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
~ Leviticus 1:9 (NKJV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
~ Romans 12:1 (NKJV)

Of all the appealing smells of summer, catching the sweet aroma of steaks on a nearby grill has got to be one of the most enticing. (Note to northern locales: spring is coming.)

The phrase "sweet aroma" appears forty-one times in the Old Testament, always referring to an offering by fire. The offering might be of an animal, grain, oil, wine, or incense. The sweet aroma of offering could not occur unless someone sacrificed something they owned.

In the New Testament, God asks for the living sacrifice of ourselves. It is a holy, acceptable, and reasonable sacrifice. It demands forfeiting what would otherwise be used to please ourselves to please God.

And though it may lack the distinct appeal of steaks on a grill, it is to God the most sweet aroma in the universe.

Dearest Lord, You are worthy of any and every sacrifice we might make to You. Whatever You ask of us, please help our hearts to see it as reasonable. Please help us to discern the great pleasure You receive when we give more than time or money, but give You our very lives.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Fruit of the Lips

"I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,"
Says the LORD, "And I will heal him."
But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
When it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
"There is no peace,"
Says my God, "for the wicked."
Isaiah 57:19-21 (NKJV)

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. ~ Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)

"Thus says the LORD:
'Again there shall be heard in this place ...
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness ...
the voice of those who will say:
"Praise the LORD of hosts,
For the LORD is good,
For His mercy endures forever" —
and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the LORD.' "
Jeremiah 33:10-11 (NKJV)

Fruit is produced by a seed which is planted in good soil, watered and tended, and patiently waited upon until the day its new life manifests sweetness and new seed. The Word of God is a seed planted in our hearts, watered and tended by the Holy Spirit that it might produce the sacrifice of praise born of perfect peace—the fruit of the lips.

Popular lyrics proclaim, "Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful ... blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering.* " Amid plenty the sacrifice is giving pause from blessing to praise the Lord who gave it. Amid suffering the sacrifice is giving no place to pain which restrains praise.

The heart right with God produces peace and praise regardless of circumstances. The wicked heart knows neither rest nor peace and withholds praise—regardless of circumstances.

Lord God, You know all is not well in our lives. But Your Son's blood has reconciled us to You, Your Spirit lives within us, and all is well with our souls. You are indeed good. You are the Author of perfect peace. Produce in us the fruit of the lips which blesses and praises Your name.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy

* Lyrics of Blessed be Your Name by Beth Redman and Matt Redman, © 2002 ThankYou Music

Going up to Jerusalem

"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem ... and they will mock [the Son of Man], and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." Then James and John ... said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:33-38 NKJV)

"Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." (Deuteronomy 5:32 NKJV)

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
(Luke 9:51 NKJV)

I shudder to think of the times I've been as insensitive as Jesus' disciples. He describes His horrific death, and they respond by jockeying for position. Might that request for position on the right and left of Jesus have gone through John's mind when he stood at the foot of three crosses?

God plans for us a journey going up to Jerusalem. Like drunkards unable to walk a straight line, we inevitably veer off the path He designates, and seek an easier route slightly to the right or left. The only way to stay on course is to resolutely set our faces to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

The empty cross not only symbolizes Christ's resurrection, but also the vacant cross each of us faces, waiting for us to take our place upon it—every day. The surest path to fullness of resurrection life is via the cross, laying down the will of Self.

Lord Jesus, how did You say "yes" to every step going up to Jerusalem when You knew what awaited? You are our God. Please give each of us the endurance to stay the course—to say "yes" as You lead step by step, to learn to walk in Your ways, and to follow You all of our days.

"When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." ~ Dietrich Boenhoeffer

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2008, Anne Lang Bundy

The Cup

We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks!
For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near...
But God is the Judge: He puts down one,
And exalts another.
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup,
And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;
Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth
Drain and drink down.
But I will declare forever,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
(Psalms 75:1,7-9 NKJV)

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-44 NKJV)

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46 NKJV)

Learned scholars debate the nature of "forsaken" when Jesus declared it of Himself, arguing Trinity unity prohibits separation. Indeed, it could mean no full, final separation when the Son was by the Father forsaken.

Yet in marriage—God's picture of being united in heart, soul, mind and body—there are painful moments of separation. Not the finality of divorce, but agonizing rejection when one spouse embodies a concept the other finds abhorrent, and unity is impossible until a change occurs.

The wicked must not sip but drain a cup filled by sin with separation from God. It was not merely crucifixion's suffering, but the separation from which Jesus drew back when the Father presented that cup in Gethsemane. To embody our sin meant Jesus became abhorrent to the Father just long enough to accept our death penalty.

For whatever else we give thanks, let it often be that God is near, and we need not drink of the cup from which the very Son of God three times begged His Abba to be delivered.

Lord Jesus, thank You for drinking from the cup that belonged to us. Thank You for receiving the agony we will never know. Thank You for taking upon Yourself the sin so utterly abhorrent to both You and the Father. Please enable us to accept from Your hand whatever You offer us.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com.
Copyright 2008, Anne Lang Bundy

An Offering's Value

In spite of a terrible ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy, along with their deep poverty, has resulted in the abundance of their generosity. I can testify that by their own free will they have given to the utmost of their ability, yes, even beyond their ability. They begged us earnestly for the privilege of participating in this ministry to the saints.
(2 Corinthians 8:2-4 ISV)

"Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood." (Mark 12:43-44 NKJV)

O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
(Psalms 51:15-17 NKJV)

Most Sundays at our church, a gentle woman of limited mental faculties presents a spontaneous offering of praise. She stands just behind and below the director and "conducts" the choir and orchestra.

An offering may or may not require sacrificing many hidden hours of preparation to polish it. Everyone in the Sunday auditorium has opportunity to bring from a humble heart of love offerings of praise, thanksgiving, worship, tithes, prayers, repentance.

Most offerings are made another day of the week. Many are altogether unseen. Some require financial sacrifice. Some cost many hours. Some cost tears. The most precious offering is when a soul puts everything on the altar.

God alone knows the value of each offering. How fitting, since He and not man is the recipient.

Almighty God, You are worthy of all we are, all we do, all we have. No offering—no sacrifice—is too costly to bring before you. We are nothing without You.

Feedback may be posted to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mailed to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com.
Copyright 2008, Anne Lang Bundy