February 15 - Numbers 7:1-89

Good morning everyone,

The first longest chapter in all of the Bible is Psalm 119 which talks about the Scripture and the blessings that come from the Word of God. This morning we begin our reading with the second longest chapter in the Bible, Numbers 7, which deals with with giving. God wants us to be givers, He cares greatly about everything we do for Him, every gift we bring Him.

After Moses anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils, the leaders of the 12 tribes brought their gifts and offerings for its use and maintenance. While you are reading, take note of how God wisely and graciously ordered more carts to those that had the most work. The Gershonites, having a pretty light load got two carts for the curtains and hangings.The Merarites, having a larger load got four wagons because they had to transport the boards, pillars, sockets, and such. With both groups, if they were not able to get all they were to carry into the carts then they were expected to carry the rest on their backs. I rather imagine there was some very strategic packing going on. Wouldn’t you agree. 

Then there was the Kohathites, they would get no wagons because they were to carry ark upon their shoulders with particular care and honor. Later, when we get to 1 Chronicles we will see just how serious God is about the care of the ark and the price a man named Uzza had to pay.

The chapter finishes up with God speaking to Moses. We’re told that whenever Moses went into the tabernacle, God spoke him from the Most Holy Place. Imagine, if you will, hearing the very voice of God. Job said it is a thunderous voice. While we may not know the same experience as some in the Old Testament; God speaking directly to His people to tell them the proper way to live, He is always there for us to talk to and receive direction from. God will answer us through His written Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The amount of guidance you receive will be determined by how diligently, how earnestly you seek His face. Right?! He loves you, He loves me and He totally wants to bless us abundantly. I would encourage you to just let go, and let God. 

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February - Exodus 39:32-40:38, Numbers 9:15-23

Good morning everyone,

As we begin this morning, the tabernacle is finally finished. Six months of pounding gold and other precious metals, fitting doors, sanding wood, weaving and so much more, is at last ready to be checked out, examined, assuring a job done to specification. And that is just what Moses did, he inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

Now the assembly process would begin. No quick moving exercise here. No, no. Moses would be quite careful to follow God’s instructions, to the letter; very meticulous while setting up of the tabernacle, making sure everything was in its proper place. And once everything was, Moses was to take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it. After which, Moses was to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting, wash them with water then dress them. 

Then Moses took the tablets with the law written on them and put them in the ark, and brought that into the tabernacle. he placed the lamp stand, the gold alter and the basin for water all where they belonged. The last thing Moses did was set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And then Moses had finished the work at least for the time being. The daily care of the tabernacle would require a long list of tasks, each one just as important as the other in maintaining God’s house.

Moses was able to finish the work of the tabernacle because he knew exactly what God wanted, right down to the smallest detail. He had spent forty days on the mountain top fasting and praying to God as He laid out the plan He wanted Moses to follow. May I suggest to you that if you are to know the plan God has in mind for you, it is imperative you take time, real time, more than just a quick “Dear God bless my day” type of time to be with Him. I am talking forget the rest of the world, I am devoting this block out of each day to get quiet, to be still and fellowship with God time.  A time when you can read His Word and be sensitive to the gentle guidance He will bless you with. A time where you can share with Him your cares and concerns, leaving them at the cross. A time where you can be encouraged and strengthened in His mighty power. That is so awesome! That is our God.

Habakkuk 2:1-2 reads, “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.” Habakkuk in addition to being determined to hear God and His and his directions, also had an expectation that God would speak to him. He was looking for it. We too should be so bold. God told Jeremiah, “ You will find me when you search for Me with all your heart.” 

Friends, are you searching with all your heart? Not just going through the motions but sincerely surrendering your whole self to God. The Bible tells us to seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Psalm 14:2 says, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.” Great thing wait ahead for those who drop all pride, all self and wait on the Lord. Amen?

God bless your day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

February 13 - Exodus 37:1-39:31

Good morning everyone,

In today’s scripture we read about the exact design and detail that went into the planning and building of the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the alter of incense, the alter of burnt offering, the basin for washing, and hooks, bands on posts and curtains used for the courtyard. According to Exodus 38, the amount of gold used was 29 talents and 730 shekels, or if you prefer, 2,800 lbs. Pure gold throughout the scriptures speaks to holiness on such a high level it cannot be reproduced by man. Gold is made by God and represents the divine glory of the Lord Jesus as "the Son of God" and "God the Son". 

The amount of silver used was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels or 9,600 lbs. All throughout Scripture, silver figuratively speaks of  redemption. Right? Silver is symbolic of the redemption that comes through Jesus Christ and Him alone. It foreshadows the great value of Christ as the ransom for sinners.  There is no silver mentioned in heaven. Why? The people will already have been redeemed. Thank you Jesus.

The total amount of bronze used was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels, 6,700 lbs. Bronze was used in the places where exceptions strength and heat resistance was necessary. Bronze represents judgement. Bronze typifies the divine character of Christ who took upon Himself the fire of God's wrath, holiness and justice by becoming a sin offering.

The colors in the priestly garments were blue, which is always mentioned first; It represents the blue of heaven, reminding man that that is his final destination. Then purple, the color of royalty, Jesus himself as King of king's and Lord of lord’s. Next was scarlet which speaks of sacrifice, Christ in His sufferings.

I could go on and on about the fine linen, the goats hair, badger skins, acacia wood, and then the spices for the incense and oils which were restricted for tabernacle use only, anyone violating the command was put to death. It is all so amazing and all so on purpose. The total value of the project in our economy would exceed three million dollars. Amazing!

However, the tabernacle, as big and as grand as it was, was so much more than a place for the Hebrews to establish true worship with God. The ultimate purpose of the Tabernacle, was to point to Christ Jesus, the true treasure and Matthew and Luke both tell us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It begs the question, “Where do you store the True Treasure? In your heart or shelved some place until you have time? Who are you serving? I pray that you are serving the Father and Him alone, for He alone is worthy. He alone, can fill the void in your life. He alone can allow you access to heaven. He alone is God. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..

February 12 - Exodus 35:1-36:38

Good morning everyone,

As we begin today’s reading, Moses is back in town and it is time to get to work on the tabernacle. First, however, God wants it made known that though there is a lot of work to be done, they are to only work for six days, taking the seventh off to rest. He was so serious about it that He told them, “Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.” We, as a whole, would be wise to claim the practice of resting one day each week. Too many of us do not, powering through from day to day, week to week, year to year until we don’t even know how to rest anymore. We all need this rest God speaks to. It allows us less stress for starters, and then there is better health, more time to work on your relationships with spouse, children or even friends. Plus it provides us an opportunity to have quality quiet time with God, to be fed by Him who will then bless us with perspective and balance. Everything looks so much better when we are rested fed. Agreed?

Next the Lord called for an offering from everyone who was willing. What I love was, everyone was willing! They brought their gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, basically everything in their possession. They gave until Moses had to tell them, “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary,” because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. That is awesome. I have been to many churches in my life time and never have I ever heard the pastor say, “Yeah …. you guys have been so generous, you can take a break from giving.” Most churches have their faithful few who offer up all that they can all of the time while others hold tightly to all that they have, all that really belongs to God. God wants us all to be cheerful givers. 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I would encourage us all to give above our tithe, happily to missions, teen ministry, the food bank or any ministry that can use your help. 

Friends, it should be our honor to tithe and give to our God and when you do, without expectation, you will be blessed beyond belief, You can never out give the Lord. Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Your blessings may or may not come in dollars, greenbacks, pesos, euros, pieces of eight, but if the Lord promises to bless you, you can count on being blessed. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..

February 11 - Exodus 32:1-34:35

Good morning everyone,

So as we begin this morning, Moses has been up on the mountain for forty days, hanging out with God while He wrote down the commandments on stone tablets. Below, the natives are getting restless as they look up from below and see fire and smoke, what I would imagine looked a lot like a live volcano. Some were even wondering if Moses was still alive? 

They brought these concerns to Aaron and he told them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” They did and Aaron took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf. What?! This is Moses’ brother, the priest left in charge. Oh good grief. The crowd must have been very threatening to him, which begs the question where was his faith? Nonetheless, the people wanted to see the God they worshipped and Aaron provided an idol for them to represent that God. Big mistake …..HUGE! Second Commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” “You shall not!” And yet they wanted and Aaron did.

I think it is prudent that we take a look at the “they” who were, which most commentators agree with, the “Mixed Multitude.” Exodus 12 tells us they, the Egyptians and mixed races, came up out of Egypt with the Israelites. These people, in their culture, worshipped the bull deity Apis. With a few exceptions this multitude was controlled by a selfish motive. Because of the terrible judgments of God upon the enemies of His people they thought it was safer to leave with the Israelites. Not only did they desire to escape the plagues, but they had heard the glowing accounts of the promised land as a country “flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.” Kind of like, follow the “yellow brick road to Oz.”  Right? They wanted to share with Israel in the inheritance but they wanted to do it on their terms. 

Well, as we all know, Moses comes down off the mountain with tablets in hand. He sees the orgy, the excessive drinking and unrestrained sexual activity, and most offensive of all, the worshipping of the golden calf and he looses it. He throws the tablets down, shattering them then sets about the task of bringing order back to the camp, wanting only those who are prepared to follow God to remain. Imagine yourself as Moses, what would you be thinking.

The message I am getting from this today is, friends, we need to be careful about our primary circle of friends. They need to be like minded as it is so easy to fall. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not saying to not associate with anyone but Christians. What I am suggesting is be careful, to not get sucked into the “ways of the world.” Make sense? It can be so subtle and so fast that you will be circling the drain and not even know it. Stay true to yourself in God, know your weaknesses, make wise choices.  We make hundreds of choices each day.  Some choices are spontaneous and of little consequence, like what mug we choose in the morning.  Other decisions are more significant, like choosing the person we will marry.  In either extreme or with any decision in between, learning how to make wise choices is an important life skill for every believer in Christ Jesus. In fact, doing God’s will is really a matter of making right choices on a consistent, daily basis. Make sense? I would encourage you, and keep reminding myself, to know our priorities, to seek wise godly council and make sure our decisions fall in line with God’s Holy Word, always making sure God gets the glory, while we get the encouragement. James 3:17 tells us, “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” Christians, believe in our God, our Abba. He most certainly believes in you. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all. 

February 10 - Exodus 29:1-31:18

Good morning everyone, 

Todays Scripture speaks to the consecration of the priests. It is because the people’s sin prevented each individual from dealing directly with God that He appointed priests from the tribe of Levi and set up a system of sacrifices to help the people approach Him. God promised to forgive the people for their sins if they would offer these certain sacrifices, the priests being the go between, on behalf of the people.

In the Old Testament, to say there was a lot of blood shed in an effort to give thanks and be forgiven, would be a gross understatement. Until Christ came, the priests were the people’s only  representative before God, the only way they could have their sins forgiven would be the shedding of blood. Each and every person would would have to have an offering for slaughter. Can you imagine what that would look like today if God had not sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for all? 

Forgiveness is something no one finds easy and yet it is something none of us can live without. The Old Testament reveals to us a God who, because sin is so detestable He cannot look on it, made a way, albeit gross (in my humble opinion), to be with the people He absolutely adored. A people he cherished and would do anything for.  

And then there is “us”, flash forward to New Testament and we find the same God who is Love, and Mercy and Grace. A God who longs to forgive even our greatest of sins and wickedness. A God who just as desperately longs to have a relationship with us. The same God who still, because sin is just as detestable as forever could not look on it, sent Jesus to be the sacrifice, the blood shed all sins for all of mankind forever and ever.

This gift, and it is a gift, Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” is there for anyone who chooses to accept it. This gift cannot be earned. It is received by faith offering you, offering us all eternal life, as promised in Romans 6:23, "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What could be better than that?

It begs the question, have you accepted the free gift of salvation offered by Jesus Christ? If you are uncertain, you can accept it right now. There is no special sacrifice of blood you need to bring, Jesus paid it all. There is also no special prayer you must pray, Romans 10:9 tells us all you have to do is "confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved.” 

If this is you, you can right now pray: "Dear God, I realize I am a sinner and could never reach heaven by my own good deeds. Salvation is a gift that only you can give. So right now I place my faith in you, Jesus Christ as God's Son who died for my sins and rose from the dead to give me eternal life. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to live for you. Thank you for accepting me and giving me eternal life.”

If you did more than read this, if you actually prayed this prayer and meant it in your heart then congratulations. Oh my word, your world will begin to change in amazing ways. It will be scary at times, and not always easy but the joy and the peace that comes with being a believer in God’s perfect plan will be much greater. I would encourage you to read your Bible, start in the Book of John. Get to know Jesus and how much He loves you. Also get hooked up with a body of believers, like minded people who absolutely know that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How exciting!

I am reminded this morning of a song I love. The chorus goes: “Oh victory in Jesus. My Savior, forever. He sought me and bought me, with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him And all my love is due Him, He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood.” And all God’s people said ….. Amen!

have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..

February 9 - Exodus 25:1-28:43

Good morning everyone,

This morning’s reading begins with a specific set of instructions God gave Moses on the mountain for the construction and furnishings of the tabernacle. But first they will need some capital and ask for an offering. The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.” Please note that they were not ordered to give. God hoped that they would love Him enough to want to give. Make sense? Remember that they were not a wealthy people, the money, the treasures they had came from what they had taken from the Egyptians before the exodus. Remember? God provided now, God guided, and as it happened the people were more than happy to give back to the church a portion of what He had blessed them with.

Now, I’ve got to say, I am absolutely blown away by how specific the plans, God gave to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle, the table, the lamp stand the ark, its cover, the curtains, the everything were. All the the detail is so perfect, it excites me. It is so right up my alley. I love order and knowing exactly what is expected, and that is what God allowed them. He told Moses, “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” Then about the lamp stand, “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain,” and the alter of burnt offerings, “It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.” Every measurement was to be exact, every talent of gold was to be measured out, God left no room for questions on anything.

May I suggest to you that  God is no different with the plans for our lives. God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Friends, think about that for just one minute. Before we were even formed in our mother’s womb He knew us and had a plan for our lives. Not a plan of failure or complacency. Oh no! A great plan, a perfect plan. God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Hope, according to Webster, is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. 

The Bible is abundantly clear that there is a plan for our future. Psalm 33:11 tells us that, “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.” And this plan is fail-safe, every detail is taken into account. God’s plan is all-inclusive. It is based on His omniscience (knowing all), so that everything past, present, and future is taken into account. It excludes “good luck” or coincidences and includes seemingly insignificant details all designed to bring glory to the father.

However unlike the tabernacle and all its content, the plans God has for our lives are, much to my dismay, not as detailed. While God has revealed all that we need to know about His plan for creation, there is much He has purposed not to reveal to us. We are instructed not to seek to fill these gaps as secret things belong to the Lord. I believe we could not mentally handle all God has planned for us, if made known. Make sense? God trusts that we will walk in faith, The Lord says in Psalm 125:1-2, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” So while there is no real set of “first A then B” instructions for our lives, there is a promise that “If we will but trust and obey”, if we will, “Be strong and courageous!”if we “Do not be afraid!” The Lord our God will go ahead of us. He will neither fail you nor will He forsake us. I love that promise, and believe we should all purpose to live that plan. Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..