Day 1

We're going to start our journey to Facedown where the vision of it all comes from. It's a passage in the Old Testament book of Leviticus that I never knew existed until about two years ago. Today, we'll look at the first six verses of chapter nine. Here's the text:

1On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2and he said to Aaron, "Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. 3And say to the people of Israel, 'Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.'" 5And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD. 6And Moses said, "This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you." Leviticus 9:1-6

Imagine a day so historic, so amazing for a moment. You are one of the Israelites, a part of a new frontier - a new nation of people - and God has annointed you as His people. Wow!

So, one day the leader of your people, Moses, gathers everyone together for a very important moment...the first sacrifice was going to be presented to God. Aaron, the high priest, is there with his sons and the elders, showing support for Moses. And you hear what is required of the sacrifice:

• a male goat for a sin offering


• a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering


• an ox and a ram for peace offerings


• and lastly, a grain offering mixed with oil

After giving the list of requirements, Moses says, "for today the Lord will appear to you."
"Hang on a sec, Moses. What do you mean exactly? The Lord's coming here? Today?"
"Yup."

Naturally, everyone closes in a bit. You're holding your breath because you don't want to miss a thing. And then Moses says something that should speak to our hearts today:

"This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you."

I believe we miss something at times. We approach God expecting to see Him, for Him to reveal just a glimpse of His glory to us, but we don't prepare out hearts to encounter Him. We go to church with our minds scattered in a thousand place, or we go into prayer with our own agenda, and then we scratch our heads wondering why we didn't see Him. I believe Moses hits on something that we need to really soak in today.

We must prepare out hearts and our minds before approaching the throne of God. I'm not talking about a legalistic recitation of your sins (though that is necessary many times). No, I'm talking about humbling ourselves to simply say what the psalmist said many years ago: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! (Psalm 139:23 ESV) And after we do this, it's responding to however He leads. If you have sin you need to confess, do so. If you need to focus your thoughts on Him and not on your to-do list, then do so.

In this edition of Facedown, we're going to try something new. We are shifting our focus away from Facedown being a service and trying to build an experience that serves as a catalyst in your life. And part of that will be the preparation I've been talking about.

It is our desire that each one of us will be refueled so that we can continuing living out in the world around us. I hope you won't miss it. It's going to be amazing!