However…all three of these things show up right next to each other in scripture. Right now some of your just shook your head and condemned me for saying that such things might be in scripture. Don’t believe me…? Turn to Leviticus 18, 19, & 20. You will find very quickly that it does in fact deal with all the above and more. For some reason we read those words together and get offended, yet God makes a point to talk about all of them.

In fact, God sings a similar song as the Sesame Street crew above. The exception is, is that God is saying that in fact all three of these belong here. In fact without one of them the other two will eventually overshadow God himself. So what did I learn in my weird journey through Leviticus this morning.

1. God has a “no off limits” policy with us his creation. If we want to know, he is willing to share. Even when we don’t want to know…God usually shares. I LOVE THAT ABOUT GOD!!!

2. I read Leviticus 18:23 and it says this, “A man must never defile himself by having sexual intercourse with an animal, and a woman must never present herself to a male animal in order to have intercourse with it; THIS IS A TERRIBLE PERVERSION!!!” After reading that I wrote in the margin of my bible these words, “Thought this was a given.” But apparently it was not, because God had to take the time to make mention of it. I even began thinking how perverse a people, that God had to make sure to tell them this. Then I realized that we have done and will do things that God has to say, “STOP DOING____________BECAUSE THIS IS A TERRIBLE PERVERSION!!!” Just because we think it is a given does not mean that it necessarily is. Sometimes God has to spell it out in detail and very explicitly for us to understand what we are not to do.

3. What God really longs for in us is this…HOLINESS!!! In Leviticus 19:2 he says, “You MUST be holy because I, the Lord Your God, AM HOLY!!! If we do not have Holiness we are simply a lost and perverse group of people. If we are not constantly trying to become like God himself we are no more than the Terrible Perversion that God speaks against in scripture. Not to mention that God uses the word MUST here. Implying that this is not optional if we are going to call him our God.

I am amazed at how God uses these crazy laws, thoughts, and topics to simply remind us that all these things are keeping us from the most important thing…HOLINESS!!!

As I read and study Leviticus the one common theme is that God wants and longs for his creation, his chosen people to simply…

BE HOLY AS GOD HIMSELF IS HOLY!!!

What crazy things have you read in scripture that have caused you to stop, think, and change?

He responded with this. He said, “I have come to find that the Holy Spirit frustrates me more than anything. I have found the harder I try and understand it, the more frustrated I become.” I immediately went into “help save my friend from despair” mode. He promptly stopped me and said, “It’s ok, I hope the Holy Spirit frustrates me the rest of my life. That is how I know that God is still revealing himself to me today.”

WOW!!!

I was taken back by his answer.
I was frustrated now that I was not frustrated by the Holy Spirit.

Was I living in such a way that the Holy Spirit decided to not reveal more of God to me until I was willing to step into that frustration?

SO…

With that said I sit here in a quiet little coffee shop wrestling and being frustrated by the Holy Spirit today. Today I started reading in the book of Leviticus and I have been haunted by what takes place in the first eight chapters. At first glance it is nothing more than God telling them how to make atonement for certain actions. However, a deeper look reveals more to the minds eye.

There is this phrase amidst it all. It is this…“WHEN they become aware of THEIR SIN…”

Wait…what? Did you feel that? Yeah that is the kick in the gut.

What on earth does this mean? When they become aware of their sin…?

You mean it is not just simply being revealed to them? It is not plain as day and right in front of them to grab a hold of? God is not hammering it into their minds for them to understand? At first I read those words and wanted to know how one can repent of something that they have no idea they are doing? But then I realized that eventually all things come to light. That all things are revealed that are not good and pleasing to God.

As I came to this new (again) revelation I realized that I was once again frustrated. This time however, I was frustrated in a completely different way. My frustration came from the fact that I wanted to now know WHAT SIN IN MY LIFE DO I NEED TO BECOME AWARE OF!!!?

What is it that is keeping me from being all that God longs for me?

What is is that is keeping me from being the husband and father he calls me to?

What is it that is keeping me from sharing the love and passion of Him with others?

What is it that may in fact be keeping me from having an intensely intimate relationship with him like I never have before?

All I know is this…When I become aware of what it is…I will do the only natural thing I know to do…

FALL ON MY FACE IN REPENTANCE AND OFFER ALL OF MYSELF BACK TO GOD HIMSELF!!!!

-What is the one thing that the Holy Spirit of God is frustrating you with today?-