Right Standing with God

Based on Leviticus 26-27, Psalm 27

"And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright."
Leviticus 26:12‭-‬13.

As we discussed, being a slave to this world is a back-breaking, unfulfilling thing. But when we take on the easy yoke & light burden of The Lord, He makes us stand strong & upright-when we are ready to be in right standing with Him! Just like a parent/child relationship, God has so much patience with us. We need to look at our relationship with God this way, and hopefully it can help us in our relationships with our children!

"Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." Psalms 27:9‭-‬10.

Our parents love us, and we love our children, but God's love for us will always be greater. As we will see in this passage, God continues to bless & benefit those who choose to serve, but there still is punishment for the disobedient. But even in the midst of all that, God never ever completely forsakes us! We should strive to be in right standing with Him!

"And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land."
Leviticus 26:6.

Just as we talked about God's provision, His protection is also with us in our obedience. When we choose to abide in His pasture like sheep, He will not let anything harm us! He is our God, but remember, He is also our Father! He wants what's best for us, so we must trust in Him!

But in the times of our staying away & disobedience, our Father does have to take action; however, He is just! So we must be just like Him in our parenting! When we remove ourselves from right-standing with God, we slowly bend & bow ourselves in slavehood to the enemy once again. We literally walk beneath the standards God has set before us. We need to recognize when our kids know better. When we've taught them, they need to be responsible for adhering to those rules. If that's what we expect, then that's what God expects!

"And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins." Leviticus 26:20‭-‬21.

Sounds a lot like Egypt again, right? Also a lot like the Prodigal son situation in the New Testament. For although God allows us to get back in this state for our disobedience, it was our choice to leave the pasture, just like the Prodigal son chose to leave his father and gamble his life away. But in these stories, THERE'S STILL HOPE! The father embraces the son, and we can still embrace our heavenly Father as well:

"And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord."
Leviticus 26:44‭-‬45.

...And for all that, God is STILL faithful. He holds out hope for His flock. Even when He gives us over to our enemies, He keeps a distant watch over us. This is why we should give our all to God. In chapter 27, there is more detail on tithing, offering & devoted things. Have we devoted ourselves? Have we honored God as our God and Father of all "...who is above all, and through all, and in you all." ? (Ephesians 4:6). Are we applying His parenting styles? I pray that as we strive toward right standing with God, that our families will stand strong upon the parenting values He has set in place, in Jesus' Name!