A Freewill Offering

Exodus 35
4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying:
5 ‘Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze;’
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29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.

1 Chronicles 29
9 Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the LORD; and King David also rejoiced greatly.
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17 I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You.

God’s Old Covenant dwelling places were built ONLY with the free will offerings of His people. The command was specifically for a free will offering! Only those whose hearts that were willing and stirred to give brought the building materials or the ability to serve. God’s house would not be built by anything forced or manipulated! This is a mighty, foundational truth! It is a wonderful, liberating truth! It is such precious source of unity, intimacy and fellowship and communal rejoicing.
More important to The Lord than the size of the offering or quality of the materials is the submitted heart of His people. His desire is for free hearts that will willingly and joyfully offer themselves to Him and His service. God does not need our materials, He does not need our efforts, but He longs for a people who willingly choose to believe on Him, love Him and walk with Him. He cannot and will not take our hearts by force or design.

Matthew 22
35 And one of their number, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him.
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect).
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as you do yourself.
40 These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.

John 14
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
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23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Love is a freewill offering, a considered response, just as obedience is a decision and faith is a choice, we love because He first Loved us and that love is the building material for God’s dwelling place. If man does not have the capacity to choose freely then he cannot love and God’s glory is greatly diminished!
It is the depravity, selfishness and rebellion of the free will of man that makes The Gospel so wondrously beautiful! That Almighty God would give Himself so fully and faithfully to redeem, woo and shepherd man’s free will is truly an eternal testament of His Great Grace and Glory! The demonstration of His love is all the greater for He truly can transform sinful man from children of their father, the devil, to joint heirs with Christ! Hallelujah! It is love for The Lord that will produce obedience to His Word and Glorify Him with wonderful fruits of faith and The Spirit!
Today, by the Grace of God, we have the opportunity and privilege to bring The Lord an offering, a freewill offering, whoever is of a willing heart to give may bring it as an offering to The Lord. There is no command to pay, you will not be forced, cajoled, manipulated or begged. God does not need your offering! What The Father longs for is a heart stirred to give, that will freely make the choice to present itself a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto Him. The gift of Salvation is to be freely received, the invitation is freely rejected or accepted, Love is freely returned and faithful service is a chosen response.
What will we offer to The Lord today? A sacrifice of praise? Songs of thanksgiving? A burnt offering of Godly sorrow for sin and penitent repentance? The confession of weakness? A wholly surrendered life available to serve? Two small loaves and five fishes? A giving up of your desires and disappointments in order to magnify Him?
Let us freely bring our gifts to The Lord today as materials for Him to build His church and establish His dwelling place in our hearts. “Freely you have recieved, freely give” Matthew 10:8 Truly there is great joy when we take our eyes off the desires and disappointments of this flesh life and reject them all to gain Jesus. Bring your whole, broken, dissatisfied life as a yielded offering to Jesus and you will find that you are filled with His! Hallelujah!

Proverbs 23
26 My son, give me your heart…

Abraham Rose Early

Genesis 21
12 God said to Abraham…
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning…

Genesis 22
2 [God] said…
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning,

Abraham did not “confer with flesh and blood” (Galations 1:16), He did not lean on his own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-8). He didn’t fast and pray for a week, doubting what he had heard and pleading with God for confirmation. He did not stay up all night in confusion and frustration. He didn’t argue with God or petition Him to change His mind. He didn’t hesitate at all!! Consider what this implies and we will start to understand in a practical sense the relationship that Abraham had with The Lord.
Abraham knew The Lord’s voice so clearly that there was no doubt that He had spoken and no question of what The Lord had asked. Abraham trusted and feared The Lord so completely that He did not fear to carry out His instruction/leading. Abraham was so utterly dependent upon The Lord for life that nothing was too much for The Lord to require of him. This is why He heard The Lord so clearly and this is why The Lord spoke to Him.
So consider, with all that Christ has secured for you, with all that is available to you by the power of The Holy Spirit… Do you know God so intimately? Would you consider yourself to have the same reverence of, trust in and dependence on God? Abraham had this intimacy with The Lord without the indwelling of The Holy Ghost, without all that Christ has won for us at Calvary, before the tearing of the veil… Abraham’s knowledge of God was intimate and it is blasphemous against all that Jesus Christ is and all that He has done to think that we cannot walk this earth with the same intimacy and testimony. Having such intimacy with The Lord is not dispensational, it is relational!!

John 14
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power).
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20 At that time [when that day comes] you will know [for yourselves] that I am in My Father, and you [are] in Me, and I [am] in you.
21 The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]
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23 Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.
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27 Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

May we seek to know our Heavenly Father as Abraham did, as Jesus did; to know and recognise His voice; to walk with the same early obedience and dependence, without hesitation. May we be careful to keep pace with our Shepherd and not run ahead or backslide.
May we be identified with our Lord Jesus Christ and be identified by Him. May others look on and take note that we have been with Jesus! (Acts 4:13) May we lay hold of the precious promises and all that Jesus has secured for us! Hallelujah! What a precious hope! Let us press on, looking unto Jesus! May He increase and may we decrease more and more!
May we learn to rise early and be about our Father’s business, without hesitation. He is worthy. He is Sovereign. He is faithful. Oh that we might know HIM!

He Could Do Nothing Of Himself

John 5
19 So Jesus answered them by saying, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His own accord); but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way [in His turn].

It’s quite a thought isn’t it. The Almighty Creator, Jesus, was always going about fulfilling His Father’s will. He listened for it, He knew it, He was submissive to it and obedient to it.

John 17
23 I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and recognise that You sent Me and that You have loved them even as You have loved Me.

1 Corinthians 11
1 Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ.

It is terrifying to see what the flesh is capable of without God! It is harrowing to look back and realise/acknowledge what I have done according to my own understanding without knowing my Heavenly Father’s will.
Consider all that Jesus accomplished in His complete obedience. Consider the life and testimony of Paul who followed in Jesus example.
Oh may we be so careful to follow in Jesus footsteps. Can we say that we have listened for His will? That we know it? That we are submitted to it? And obey it? Oh Lord teach us your ways, teach us to know your will and to walk in obedience to Your Holy Spirit’s leading. Heavenly Father transform us by the renewal of minds to be one with you so that the world me see and know Your glory and love in our lives.
We will never walk in perfection. The struggle with the flesh is daily but the heart that is at least seeking, hungering and crying to know Him more is the heart that The Lord is seeking for.

Proverbs 23
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

The Reason For Being

All of creation was spoken for this one purpose, to glorify God. He gave the ocean its boundaries and it obeys Him; He told the stars where to shine and they steadfastly obey Him; He told the mountains where to rise and they obey till this day; He told the sun, the moon and all the planets to map their courses and they consistently obey his voice, He tells the wind where to blow and it unquestioningly obeys…

He turns to us and with unconditional, self-denying love He says “Come.” and we say “NO!” Continue reading “The Reason For Being” →

Faith

The bible says that “faith without works is dead”. We read in the book of Hebrews over and over of people who “by faith”… did!! They all acted through obedience and trusted in the promise of God… Paul writes, “by grace ye are saved, through faith”. In modern english – Through trust in God’s word and obedience to it’s commands, you are saved by His grace!! Continue reading “Faith” →