SCOTTISH CHARITY NUMBER SC006235                                        THE CHARITY’S LEGAL NAME St Andrews Church of Scotland: Dumbarton

SOME DAILY MEDITATIONS FOR YOU

20th August: Leviticus 18:24-19:37

Holiness and love - the two belong together (1,18,34). God calls us to live a life of holiness, a life of love. Through His Spirit - the Holy Spirit, the  Spirit of love - , He enables us to live this life. We need His promises. We need His commands. Take them both together - not one  without the other! Promises without commands - We take God for granted, we presume on His blessing. Commands without promises - Our 'obedience' becomes a legalistic thing which has nothing to do with the Gospel of  grace. We are to 'be holy...before Him in love' (Ephesians 1:4). 'The holiness without which no one will see the Lord' (Hebrews 12:14) is to be accompanied by the 'love' without which we are 'nothing' (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The Lord has redeemed us: By His grace, we shall 'be holy...in love' (34,36).

21st August: Leviticus 20:1-27

The life of  holiness is not an expression of our own moral virtue. It is an expression of the holy character of God being reproduced in us: 'I am  the Lord who sanctify you' (8). God wants us for Himself - This is why we must not live the world's way: 'I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine' (26). God has a great purpose for us: 'You shall inherit their land...I will give it to you, a land flowing with milk and honey' (24). 'You prepare a table  before me in the presence of my enemies...my cup overflows' (Psalm 23:5). 'The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly...in Christ Jesus' (1 Timothy 1:14). This is the pathway to holiness: 'By grace you have been saved through faith...for good works' (Ephesians 2:8-10).

22nd August: Luke 4:31-5:11

'His Word was  with power' (32). Where there are hindrances, obstructing the flow of God's Word, we must pray that God's Word will be heard for 'what it  really is' - 'not the word of men but the Word of God' (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Our hearing of God's Word is not to be a superficial thing - Here, the people of Capernaum 'tried to keep Him from leaving them' (42). Later, Jesus said, 'You, Capernaum...shall be thrust down to hell' (10:15). We must hear the Word of God and act  on it (1,3). We may feel, 'it's a waste of time'. We must be obedient to God: 'at Your Word I will let down the nets' (5). We are to be 'partners' in the Lord's work (7): 'workers together with God' (2 Corinthians 6:1). All the glory belongs to the Lord: We are 'sinful' - Through His grace, we can win others for Him (8,10).

23rd August: Leviticus 21:1-22:16

We are sanctified by the Lord (21:8,15,23; 22:9,16). It is His doing - God's  call to holiness is founded in His gift of holiness: 'the Holy  Spirit...has been given to us' (Romans 5:5) - 'every virtue we possess...every victory won...every thought of holiness, are His alone' (Church Hymnary, 336). When we are so conscious of our own weakness, God says, 'I am the Lord' (21:12; 22:2-3,8). He is more than sufficient for our  justification, sanctification and glorification. Between our justification (the forgiveness of our sins) and our glorification  (heaven) there is our sanctification ('conformed to the image of His Son'). This is God's doing. From beginning to end, it is the work of God (Romans 8:28-29). We lack faith, we lack holiness, we lack perseverance: In this we rejoice - 'Salvation is of the Lord' (Jonah 2:9).

24th August: Leviticus 22:17-23:44

God says, 'I am the Lord' (22:30-33): Let Him be 'your God' (23:14,22,28,40,43,). We are to 'worship in Spirit and in truth' - 'in the Spirit on the Lord's Day' (John 4:24; Revelation 1:10) When Christ died - This was the day of atonement. We worship Him, 'our Passover Lamb' (22:28; Exodus 12:13; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). After 'fifty days' came the Day of Pentecost - What a day that was (Acts 2:4,16-21,41)! Bring 'the first fruits of your harvest' (9): 'What can I give Him? - my heart' (Church Hymnary, 178). Blow the trumpet (23:23; Joel 2:1,15) - It must be a 'clear call': 'Get ready for battle' (1 Corinthians 14:8). On the 'day of worship' (3), God is preparing us for the rest of the week: 'Be strong in the Lord' (Ephesians 6:12). Pray for the 'fire' of God (8,18,25,27,36-37; Acts 2:3-4).

25th August: Luke 5:12-32

'You can make me clean...I will; be clean' (12-13). Look at Christ's death for you - Can you doubt His  desire to save you? Look at His resurrection - Can you doubt His power  to save you? The Lord 'desires all people to be saved' (1 Timothy 2:4). We are saved through 'the Gospel' which 'is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith' (Romans 1:16). Jesus can save. Jesus will save. 'The power of the Lord' (17) is available to all: 'Whoever wishes' may 'come' and receive 'the free gift' of salvation (Revelation 22:17). To each one, Jesus says, 'Follow Me' (27). We must not think of ourselves as 'righteous'. Each one must come as a 'sinner' to Jesus, the Saviour of sinners (32). Through prayer, the Lord's saving power can be released among us (16-17; John 14:13-14; 1 John 5:14-15).

26th August: Leviticus 24:1-25:24

'Pure' worship is to be offered 'continually': This is what God is looking for (1-8). 'Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place?': No-one else but Christ - He alone 'has clean hands and a pure heart', He alone 'will receive blessing from the Lord' (Psalm 24:3-5). Our worship is offered to God - in Christ...to the praise of His glorious grace' (Ephesians 1:3,6). This is our worship, this is our joy - We have been reconciled to God 'through our Lord Jesus Christ' (Romans 5:11). The 'jubilee' - 'fiftieth year' (25:11): Half a century is such a short time in the light of eternity (James 4:14). God has been good to us. How have we lived? How much do we love God?  How much have we loved one another? Rededicate yourself to 'the Lord your God' (25:17).

27th August: Leviticus 25:25-55

Moral conduct is to be grounded in divine redemption. Throughout the detailed ethical instructions, there is the recurrent emphasis on God's salvation: 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you  forth out of the land of Egypt (Salvation) to give you the land of  Canaan, and to be your God (Sanctification)...For to Me the people of  Israel are servants (Service) whom I have brought forth out of the land  of Egypt: I am the Lord your God' (38,55). Salvation; Sanctification; Service. We do not begin with the questions, 'How can I live a godly life? How  can I serve the Lord?' We begin with the question, 'What must I do to be saved?'. God's answer is clear: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus ...` (Acts 16:31).

28th August: Luke 5:33-6:16

There is such a difference between the 'old' legalism and the 'new' life in the Spirit (36-39; Romans 8:2-4). The question, asked in verse 2, springs from the dead hardness of strict legalistic religion. Christ is Lord (5) - not the 'Pharisees'. They try to control people's lives.  With their kill-joy attitude, they only succeed in making everybody  miserable - like themselves! The 'old' needs to be 'crucified', so that the 'new' can be born in us (Romans 6:6; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Some say, 'I don't need to be born again'. Jesus disagrees (John 3:3). Disciples, Apostles (13): We learn everything from Jesus - nothing from the 'Pharisees'! We are sent out by Christ for Christ - not by the Pharisees to spread  Pharisaiam! God is interested in names (14-16): 'rejoice that your names are written in heaven' (10:21).