Numbers 29
Feast of Trumpets (7/1)verses 1-6
And in the SEVENTH MONTH on the first day of the month
you shall have an holy convocation
you shall do NO SERVILE WORK
it is a day of blowing the TRUMPETS to you
And you shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savor to the LORD
one young bullock – one ram
and seven lambs of the first year without blemish
and their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil
three tenth deals for a bullock
and two tenth deals for a ram
one tenth deal for one lamb
throughout the seven lambs
and one kid of the goats for a SIN offering
to make an ATONEMENT for you
BESIDE the burnt offering of the month – and his meat offering
and the daily burnt offering – and his meat offering
and their drink offering – according unto their manner
for a sweet savor – a sacrifice made by fire
to the LORD
Day of Atonement (7/10)verses 7-11
And you shall have on the tenth day of this month an holy convocation
and you shall AFFLICT your souls
you shall not do any WORK therein
BUT you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD for a sweet savor
one young bullock – one ram – seven lambs of the first year
they shall be to you without blemish
and their meat offering shall be of flour mingled
with oil – three tenth deals to a bullock
and two tenth deals to one ram
a several tenth deal for one lamb
throughout the seven lambs
one kid of the goats for a SIN offering
BESIDE the SIN offering of ATONEMENT
and the continual burnt offering
and the meat offering of it
and their drink offerings
Feast of Tabernacles (7/15- 21)verses 12-40
And on the fifteenth day of the SEVENTH MONTH you shall have an
an holy convocation – and you shall do NO SERVILE WORK
you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days
you shall offer a burnt offering
a sacrifice made by fire
of a sweet savor unto the LORD
THIRTEEN young bullocks – two rams
fourteen lambs of the first year they shall be without blemish
and their meat offering shall be of flour
mingled with oil – three tenth deals
to every bullock of the thirteen bullocks
two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams
several tenth deal to each lamb of the
fourteen lambs
and one kid of the goats for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering
HIS meat offering – HIS drink offering
And on the SECOND DAY you shall offer TWELVE young bullocks
two rams – fourteen lambs of the first year without spot
and their meat offering and there drink offerings
for the bullocks – for the rams – for the lambs
shall be according to their number
after the manner
and one kid of the goats for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering
and the meat offering thereof
and their drink offerings
And on the THIRD DAY – ELEVEN bullocks – two rams
fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish
and their meat offering and their drink offerings
for the bullocks – for the rams – for the lambs
shall be according to their number
after the manner
and one goat for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering and his meat offering
and his drink offering
And on the FOURTH DAY TEN bullocks – two rams
fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish
their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks
for the rams – for the lambs
shall be according to their number after the manner
and one kid of the goats for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering his meat offering
and his drink offering
And on the FIFTH DAY NINE bullocks – two rams
fourteen lambs of the first year without spot
and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks
for the rams – for the lambs
shall be according to their number after the manner
and one goat for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering and his meat offering
and his drink offering
And on the SIXTH DAY EIGHT bullocks – two rams
fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish
and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullocks
for the rams – for the lambs
shall be according to their number after the manner
and one goat for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering his meat offering
and his drink offering
And on the SEVENTH DAY SEVEN bullocks – two rams
fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish
and their meat offering and their drink offerings for the
bullocks for the rams – for the lambs
shall be according to their number after the manner
and one goat for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering his meat offering
and his drink offering
On the EIGHTH DAY you shall have a solemn assembly
you shall do NO SERVILE WORK therein
but ye shall offer a burnt offering
a sacrifice made by fire of a sweet savor to the LORD
ONE bullock – ONE ram
SEVEN lambs of the first year
without blemish
their meat offering and their drink offerings for the bullock
for the ram – for the lambs – shall be according to their number
after the manner – and one goat for a SIN offering
BESIDE the continual burnt offering
and his meat offering – and his drink offering
These things ye shall do to the LORD in your SET FEASTS
BESIDE your vows – freewill offerings – for your
burnt offerings – meat offerings – drink offerings
peace offerings
And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD
commanded Moses
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation, he shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets to you. (4744 “convocation” [miqra] means assemblies, calling together, reading, recitation, or summons)
DEVOTION: This is the seventh month of the year and in this month are three feasts for the Israelites. In fact, these three feasts take up eighteen days of the month. The people are gathering to celebrate but also to examine their lives in relationship to the LORD. On the tenth day of the month is the Day of Atonement.
So we have the people gathering together to worship the LORD. They are not to do any work on the first day of the month. They will not be able to do any work on each Sabbath of the month. This month will be one in which there will be more days of worship than any other month.
There are times to come apart from our normal day’s work to worship the LORD. Most people take vacations to just have fun but here we have people coming from every tribe to not just have fun but to joyfully worship the LORD. Could you imagine a church asking it’s people to come together for eighteen days in one month to just worship the LORD? Part of the worship is to examine their lives in relationship to the LORD. It was also a time for the nation to come together to examine their relationship to the LORD. Was the nation in tune with the LORD? Were the people in tune with what the LORD expected of them?
Are you gathering with the saint each Sunday or like some who claim to be Christians but don’t think you need church each Sunday to be a “good” Christian? It is not a matter of being a “good” Christian. It is a matter of being an obedient Christian. If you are disobedient in church attendance the LORD will not bless you. If HE is not chastening you for skipping church than you might not be one of HIS children because HE chastens those HE loves.
The example of a parent or grandparent that say they are believers but don’t attend church affects their children and grandchildren for the rest of their life.
CHALLENGE: Would we take eighteen days to get our act together with the LORD? It is hard in our day and age to really take time to pray for revival. Take the time in your life!!
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 7 And you shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and you shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work therein. (5315 “souls” [nephesh] means appetite, body, breath, heart, mind, person, or will)
DEVOTION: The LORD had special times for the children of Israel to gather. The most important time of year was the Day of Atonement. On this occasion the children of Israel were to get together to watch the priest go into the Holy of Holies. This only happened on this day in the year. It was the seventh month on the tenth day.
The High Priest had to go in first to make atonement for his own sins and then go in a second time for the sins of the people. If he went into the Holy of Holies in a wrong manner, he would die.
The people were given a special instruction for this feast. They were to afflict themselves. What does this mean? Here we have the one-day a year that everyone was supposed to fast and pray. The afflicting of the body was to help them to concentrate on God. Everyone committed this action on the Day of Atonement.
What is the soul? Here it means that they were to deal with their personal relationship with the LORD. This was a time to examine themselves regarding their personal worldview to see if it was a Biblical worldview. They knew who God was and what HE expected of them. Now they had to see if they were willing to do what HE expected of them. They were to check each area of their life to see if it conformed to HIS will. Those areas that didn’t conform to HIS will were to be changed. It was a lifelong process that needed to be done. Each year they could evaluate what had happened in the previous year. They had to ask themselves: “Was their growth in my relationship to the LORD?”
We are commanded to fast and pray when there is special decision that needs to be made. We can practice fasting on a regular basis in our daily lives. Wesley required all those wanting to be ministers to fast twice a week.
Are we afflicting our bodies, so that, our inner man is right with God? Are we evaluating our lives on a regular basis? Are we doing it monthly when we take the communion table? God wants us to evaluate our lives, so that, HE does not have to.
Side note: we are not still living under the Law but under Grace. We are not required to keep the feasts of the Old Testament.
CHALLENGE: When was the last time we fasted and prayed for our relationship to the LORD? When was the last time we fasted and prayed for our family? When was the last time we fasted and prayed for our nation? Do we think it would make a difference?????
: 11 One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings. (905 “beside” [bad] means part, portion, solitude, apart from, or separation.)
DEVOTION: The second celebration was at the end of the Feast of Trumpets which is the day of Atonement. On this day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies twice. First he went in for his own sins and secondly for the sins of the nation. If the sacrifice was not acceptable the high priest would die.
Remember that he had a robe around his leg and bells on the bottom of his garment. If the bells stopped ringing the other priest knew he was dead and they would put him out of the holy of holies with the robe on his leg. They were not allowed into the holy of holies or they would have died as well.
It was an important day in which they fasted and prayed for forgiveness for themselves and the nation. Everyone was involved on this day. No work was done on this day.
God takes sin seriously. We need to take sin seriously. We need to keep short accounts with God which means that we need to pray daily for forgiveness of sin by confessing what we know we have committed against HIM and others.
There are some who think they have nothing to confess. This can especially be true of children because they have not been taught what sins the LORD doesn’t want us to commit.
They need to be taught not to lie. They need to be taught not to bully or make fun of others. They need to know that they are responsible for doing their homework and chores that are assigned at home because laziness is a sin. The list can go on but it needs to be taught.
CHALLENGE: Are we challenging those who look up to us as parents or friends what is right to do for others? Teach others to honor God daily!!
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 39 These things you shall do to the LORD in your set feasts, beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meat offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings (5088 “vows” [neder] means an offering associated with the making of a vow, avowed sacrifice, make a vow, a binding promise made to deity or anything vowed)
DEVOTION: In the Old Testament some of the children of Israel would make a special vow to the LORD if HE did something, they requested of HIM regarding something happening in their life.
Today we would call it a promise to God. If we want to go to God and promise HIM something for a special gift, we would like to receive from HIM we can do it. The problem comes when we promise God something and then when HE answers our request, we forget to keep our promise to HIM.
Throughout the Word of God, we find people who need something from God and they pray for an answer to their request but then once they get a positive reply, they forget to keep their promise to HIM.
The first vow recorded was the vow of Jacob to the LORD regarding providing food and raiment and a return to his father, he would allow the LORD to be HIS God. He also promised to give a tenth to God of his goods. He kept his vow.
Sometimes people make foolish vows to the LORD which was the case with Jephthah when he promised the first person coming out of his tent would be sacrificed to the LORD. He kept his vow but he realized it was a foolish vow.
We need to make sure that if we promise the LORD something that we give it to HIM. If we think a vow through, we will not make the same mistake that Jephthah did.
CHALLENGE: Make sure you promise the LORD something that will not be foolish once HE grants your request.
: 40 And Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses. (559 “told” [‘amar] means speak, promised, mention, think, command, to let something be known, or to bring to light)
DEVOTION: The list of the Feasts has been repeated for the nation to remember what the LORD requires of them. Remember that most of the people were not reading the writings of Moses like we presently are doing today.
Notice that the children of Israel were told “everything.” Moses didn’t leave any instructions to chance. He wanted all the people to understand what the LORD expected them to teach their children from generation to generation.
The LORD gave Moses instruction that he gave to the priests who gave it to the people and the people taught their families. The standard of God was to be passed on from one generation to another.
Too bad today we don’t have many families having family devotions where they read the Bible and pray together. Many places I visit I find that most of those who call themselves believers don’t even pray before a meal. The children give this away when they just dig into their food without waiting for prayer. Also, even a deacon who was taking me to speak at his church stopped at McDonalds to treat me to a meal and he was just going to eat without praying. When we arrived at his house, he told his wife that I even prayed at McDonalds. To be honest I really don’t like McDonald’s food and it needed a lot of prayer but it has been a practice that I pray before I eat everywhere. Sometimes I pray alone.
God wants us to instruct our families in HIS standard of living. If we don’t agree with the LORD then we need to go to HIM and tell HIM what we think of HIS standard. The problem is that lightning might strike you and you won’t have to worry about praying over a meal.
“Seriously” as my granddaughter might say we need to accept God’s standard and teaching to our children for the next hundred generations if the LORD waits that long to return.
CHALLENGE: We are God’s priests today. Are you bells ringing or do we need to pull the rope?
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Afflict souls with fastingverse 7
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Feast of Trumpets 7/1verses 1-6
No servile work
Burnt offering
Meat offering
Drink offering
Day of Atonement 7/10verses 7-11
Afflict your souls
No work
Burnt offering
Meat offering
Sin offering of Atonement
Drink offering
Feast of Tabernacles 7/15verses 12-40
No servile work
Seven days
different offering each day
different amounts on each day
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Commandedverse 40
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 2, 6, 8, 12, 13, 36, 39, 40
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Sin offeringverses 5, 11, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Without blemishverses 2, 8, 13, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 36
Atonementverses 5, 11
Afflict the soul [fasting]verse 7
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Mosesverse 40
Children of Israelverse 40
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
The fall season of festivals commenced with the Day of the Blowing [of Trumpets], later called Rosh Ha-Shanah—The New Year. This instrument was the ram’s horn (šôpār) rather than the silver trumpets blown over the burnt and fellowship offerings at other festivals (Num 10:1–10). Ethanim, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar (Teshritu or Tishri of Babylonian derivation), accommodated two other important holy days, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths, making it the most festive (or commemorative) time of the year. In late postexilic times the ten days through Yom Kippur were set apart for penitence and personal remorse, followed by the week-long Feast of Booths beginning on the fifteenth, a total of eighteen days of remembrance and celebration. Rosh Ha-Shanah today is considered the second most holy day of the Jewish calendar.
As in the previous chapter, this section accentuates the role of the priests in sacrificial worship. The inclusio formed by the use of the phrase “pleasing aroma” highlights the anthropomorphic soothing aspect of the sacrifices by which God is heartened and satisfied with the act of the worshiper. The priests performed their duties as intermediaries for the community, and in concert the special relationship between God and man is fulfilled. The former and latter prophets alike heralded God’s demand for faithfulness and obedience on the part of the priests and the people. Apart from these traits their sacrifices were detestable and could never achieve their purpose (Judg 2:10–19; Amos 5:21–27; Jer 5:20–31; Zeph 3:1–8). (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, pp. 477–478). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
The first ten days of the seventh month are a penitential season that culminate in the day of atonement, whose distinctive ceremonies are more fully described in Leviticus 16 and 23:26–32. Here the quantity of extra sacrifices is again the chief concern (7–11). (Wenham, G. J. (1981). Numbers: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 225). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
The work of Christ on the cross as “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet 1:19) brought ultimate fulfillment to the ritual of Yom Kippur. Functioning as a superior high priest (Heb 7:22–28), he offered himself as a once-for-all, eternal sacrifice (Heb 9:11–28). His work accomplished our redemption from sin and cleansed our guilty consciences (Heb 10:19–22). (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 479). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
The third in the series of seventh month holy days is the Feast of Booths, an eight-day celebration concluding the agricultural season that began with Passover. The fall harvest of the vineyard, olive orchards, and vegetable crops, the fruit of God’s abundant blessing upon the community, was celebrated in concert with the remembrance of God’s special provision of dwelling places (sūkkôt, “tents, booths”) in the wilderness. When the people entered and settled the Promised Land, they were to actively imitate their forefathers by building sūkkôt adjacent to their homes and living in them during the seven days of the feast (Lev 23:39–43). Branches from four green leafy trees were utilized in the celebration, perhaps in a ritual procession in the temple courts, a tradition known from Second Temple times and modern synagogue custom. The association of Sukkoth with the Exodus from Egypt provided a continuation of the salvation-redemption and providence-preservation motifs of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost. (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 480). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
The first and eighth days of Sukkoth were Sabbaths for sacred assembly. Days of rest were for remembrance of creation, covenant, and deliverance, fundamental aspects of the unique relationship between God and his people. (Cole, R. D. (2000). Numbers (Vol. 3B, p. 480). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers)
Since peace offerings were the only type of sacrifice in which the layman had a share of the meat, it made these occasions very festive and joyful. Individuals could also offer peace offerings whenever they liked: these were called freewill offerings (according to Lev. 17, anyone who wanted to eat meat had to offer the animal as a peace offering. Deut. 12:15ff. relaxes this rule for those who lived far from the altar) (Wenham, G. J. (1981). Numbers: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, pp. 227–228). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
The burnt offering which is wholly consumed in the altar fire represents these truths more starkly and simply. The animal given in its totality to God pictures at once the total annihilation the sinner deserves and the total consecration God expects from his followers. (Wenham, G. J. (1981). Numbers: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 228). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
There is a great spiritual analogy in these festivals. Passover (commemorating deliverance from Egypt and death) corresponds with Christ’s crucifixion; Weeks or Pentecost (the day of firstfruits) corresponds with the sending of the Holy Spirit and the firstfruits of the gospel harvest (Acts 2). So Tabernacles corresponds with Christ’s second coming at the close of the age, marking the end of the harvest. The time between Weeks and Tabernacles was a busy period when Israel laboured for the harvest. Similarly, between Pentecost and the second coming labourers are sent to reap the harvest among the Gentiles (Mt 9:37–38; 13:30–39; Lk. 10:2; Jn. 4:35). At the end of the age, the harvest will be gathered in and the weeds thrown into the fire (Mt. 13:39; Mk. 4:29; Rev. 14:15). (Carson, D. A., France, R. T., Motyer, J. A., & Wenham, G. J. (Eds.). (1994). New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 193). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
Who indeed, can go through the perusal of so many Chapters concerning sacrifices, and behold them again and again repeated and insisted upon, in such awful terms, for obedience, without being wonderfully struck with the conviction of the infinite importance of the blood and righteousness of Jesus Oh! thou precious, precious Lamb of God! who hast by the one all-sufficient, all-effectual offering of thyself once offered, for ever perfected them that are sanctified. Oh! may I feel my heart more powerfully constrained to the love of thee, in every renewed perusal of these sacrifices of the law! Dearest Jesus! in every service, under every ordinance, in the feast days of holy rejoicing, or the fast days of humiliation; both when the gospel trumpet is sounded, of pardon, mercy, and peace, in the blood of thy cross; or when the laws of a broken commandment are read, to shew my soul that by a covenant of works no flesh can be justified before God: in any and in all be thou my hope, my joy, my confidence, my righteousness, my all in all, to bring my heart to God. (Hawker, R. (2013). Poor Man’s Old Testament Commentary: Genesis–Numbers (Vol. 1, p. 725). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
The CHURCH in an age of CRISIS by James Emery White
Colbert debuted his show by introducing another cultural reflection: truthiness, which suggests that actual facts don’t matter. What matters is how you feel, for you as an individual are the final arbiter of truth. In an interview Colbert said, “Truthiness is sort of what you want to be true, as opposed to what the facts support. Truthiness is a truth larger than the facts that would comprise it – if you cared about facts, which you don’t if you care about truthiness. (p. 78)
There have been three major theories of truth throughout the history of western thought. The first and most dominant, has been the correspondence theory of truth. The idea is simple: If I say, “It is raining,” then either it is raining or it is not. You simply walk outside your door and discover whether my statement corresponds with reality. A second theory regarding the nature of truth is often called the coherence theory, which is the idea that truth is marked by coherence – meaning a set of ideas that do not contradict each other. A third major contender for the idea of truth is the pragmatic theory of truth. When someone is being pragmatic, he or she is pursuing a course of action because it achieves an end result. So a pragmatic theory of truth maintains that what is true is that which works.
Taking truthiness into the world of Wikiality allows a new theory of truth to insert itself into our psyche: truth is what the majority take it to be. So with the democratization of knowledge comes the democratization of truth, resulting in an evolution of the idea that “what is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me is true for me” to what is true for us is true for us,” but not necessarily its corollary, which would be “and what is true for us is true for us,” but not necessarily in corollary, which would be” and what is true but for them is true for them.” In a world of Wikiality, there is no truth outside of what the majority determines. (p. 79)
We live in an “open source” world where “crowd wisdom” reigns supreme. (p. 80)
The little boy put on his clothes for the cold and then told his father:
“Ok dad I’m ready”
His Dad, the pastor, said: “Ready for what?”
“Dad, it’s time to go outside and distribute our flyers.”
Dad replied: “Son, it’s very cold outside and it’s drizzling.”
The child looked surprised at his father and said: “But dad, people need to know about God even on rainy days.”
Dad replied, “Son, I’m not going outside in this weather.”
With despair, the child said: “Dad, can I go alone? Please!”
His father waited for a moment and then said: “Son, you can go. Here’s the flyers, be careful.”
“Thank you dad!”
And with this, the son went out into the rain. The 11-Year-old walked all the streets of the village, handing out the flyers to the people he saw.
After 2 hours walking in the rain and in the cold and with his last flyer in his hand, he stopped in a corner to see if he saw someone to give the flyer too, but the streets were totally deserted. Then he turned to the first house he saw, walked to the front door, touched the bell several times and waited, but no one came out.
Finally the boy turned to leave, but something stopped him. The child turned back to the door and began to touch the bell and pound the door strongly with his knuckles. He kept waiting. Finally the door was opened gently.
A lady came out with a very sad look and gently asked:
“What can I do for you, son?
With radiant eyes and a bright smile the child said:
“Lady, I’m sorry if I upset you, but I just want to tell you that God really loves you and that I came to give you my last flyer, which talks about God and His great love
The boy then gave her the flyer.
She just said, “Thank you, son, God bless you!”
Well, next Sunday morning, the pastor was in the pulpit and when the service began he asked:
“Someone has a testimony or something they want to share?”
Gently, in the back row of the church, an older lady stood up. When she started talking, a radiant and glorious look sprouted from her eyes:
“Nobody in this church knows me. I have never been here, even last Sunday I was not Christian.
My husband died a while ago leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday was a particularly cold and rainy day, and it was also in my heart; that on that day I came to the end of the road, since I had no hope and didn’t want to live anymore.
Then I took a chair and a rope and went up to the attic of my house. I tied and one end of the rope to the rafters of the roof; then I climbed onto the chair and put the other end of the rope around my neck.
I then stood on the chair, so alone and heartbroken, I was about to throw myself off the chair, when suddenly I heard the loud sound of the door being knocked.
So I thought: “I’ll wait for a minute and whoever it is will go”
I waited and waited, but the door knocking was getting louder and louder every time. It got so loud that I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
So I wondered, who could it be?
No one ever comes close to my door or come to visit me!
I released the rope from my neck and went to the door, while the bell was still ringing and the door was still being knocked on.
When I opened the door, I couldn’t believe what my eyes saw, in front of my door was the most radiant and angelic child I’ve ever seen.
He’s smile, ohhh, I can never describe it! The words that came out of his mouth made my heart, dead so long ago, come back to life, when he said with the VOICE OF CHERUB: “Lady, I just want to tell you that God really loves you”
“When the little angel disappeared between the cold and the rain, I closed my door and read every word of the flyer.
Then I went to the attic to remove the chair and rope.
I didn’t need them anymore. As you see. Now I am a happy daughter of the King.
As the direction of the boy, when he left, was to this church, I came personally say thank you to that little angel of God who came just in time and, in fact, to rescue my life from an eternity in hell. And replaced it with an eternity in God’s presence. “
Everyone cried in the church.
The Pastor came down from the pulpit to the first bench of the front, where the little angel was sitting; he took his son in his arms and cried uncontrollably.
Don’t let this message die of cold; after reading it, pass it on to others.
Remember, God’s message can make a big difference in someone’s life, never be afraid to spread it.
This may or may not have been, as many pundits claimed, the “most important election of our lifetimes,” but it certainly has been the most contentious one of mine. In a series of reflections posted on Facebook, a former Colson Center colleague and current Family Research Council Senior Fellow Joseph Backholm said what all of us should be thinking, “The fact that there is a bipartisan expectation of riots and destruction means that in really important ways everyone has already lost. The peaceful transfer of power and faith in our institutions has been a critical part of our national success. If we’ve lost that, it’s a bigger issue than the guy in the White House.”
And, I would add, it should be an issue obvious to us all, but in the months leading up to the election, the sheer anger on both sides of the political aisle has been, to understate it, a distraction. We get so angry when someone doesn’t agree with us. In too many cases, we want to win more than we want to be right.
At the same time, the heightened temperature and heightened rhetoric that has us all weary right now reflects what is at stake. Elections matter. Elections have consequences and, at times, victims. And I don’t want to downplay how important this election was. Still, it remains unclear just how we might move forward together, not just as a nation but, specifically, as a church.
In addition to our atheist Twitter trolls and ideologically opposed commenters, I frequently receive troubled and angry emails from a particular BreakPoint follower frustrated that I don’t see political realities completely the way he does. In his view, I am not conservative enough and, because of this, my sincerity, motives, intellect, and even my faith are in question. To be clear, our disagreements have nothing to do with the historic teachings of the church or moral teaching. After all, most people think I’m politically conservative, too. We disagree primarily over political personality and pragmatics.
At some point, preferably sooner than later, we will have to address the deep relational rifts created and/or exposed by this election, especially between those with whom we agree on virtually every other issue.
Over the last several weeks, inspired especially by one of the Colson Center’s weekly times of prayer for the church and the nation, I’ve been struck by a particular part of Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer,” which is recorded for us in John 17. A central theme of this most important of all prayers, in which God the Son appeals to God the Father on the evening before His crucifixion, is unity. “Holy Father,” Jesus prays, “keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.” Unity would even, Jesus said, help the world believe that He was the Son of God.
It would take months to unpack this prayer, especially the mind-blowing idea that our unity with each other is to be such that it reflects the unity Jesus has with His Father. Such unity seems impossible, of course, unless we remember how such unity is achieved. We may, Jesus prayed, “all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us…
In other words, it is only through vertical unity with God that the horizontal unity of His people is possible. This is why true unity is never achieved by compromising what is true. As we are unified with God in Christ, we are unified with each other.
Our attempts to achieve unity primarily around political party or political strategy reveals the increasing dominance of politics over other aspects of life and culture. Chuck Colson often said that politics is downstream from culture. However, politics has become the most dominant aspect of our culture, and that’s not a healthy condition for any group of people.
Joseph Backholm’s admonition in his Facebook post, is spot on: “The future of our country and the quality of our lives is not determined primarily by who is in public office. Politicians are the fruit of the tree, they are not the tree. Our future will be determined by the strength of our families, and we all have control over that. Be great husbands, wives, parents, friends, and neighbors. Live for others, and live as if your kids, and God, are always watching. God is always watching, and our kids are watching more than we realize. Find things to be grateful for and resist the temptations to complain. Go out of your way to make someone else’s life better and yours will be too, even if you don’t like who is in the White House. If our joy is dependent upon a political outcome, we’ll never be happy.”
Amen.
In fact, Christians have the only other viable alternative on offer: unity in Christ. After all, Who occupies the throne in Heaven matters far more than who occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. (Break Point)
I Thessalonians 4
Paul informs the Thessalonians regarding the Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming.
INSIGHT
Death is a mysterious, unavoidable experience. For the most part a fearful and foreboding process, death is a common factor in human experience: We live to die. Understandably, the most profound question human beings ask is: What happens when we die? Death is fully addressed in the Scriptures – and the answer is one of the most satisfying answers in the Bible: “The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (vv. 16-17). (Quiet Walk)
THE ULTIMATE TEST
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. 1 John 4:2
The most important test is conformity to scriptural teaching. “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” How do I know that this is a spiritual test? All I know about Him, I put up to the test of Scripture. Indeed, you get exactly the same thing in the sixth verse of 1 John 4 where John says, speaking of himself and the other apostles, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” The first thing to ask about a man who claims to be filled with the Spirit and to be an unusual teacher is, does his teaching conform to Scripture? Is it in conformity with the apostolic message? Does he base it all upon this Word? Is he willing to submit to it? That is the great test.
Another test is the readiness to listen to scriptural teaching; to abide by it is always a characteristic of the true prophet. You will find that the other man rather tends to dismiss it. “Ah yes,” he says, “but you are legalistic, you are just a theologian. I have experience, I have felt, and I have produced this and that.” The tendency is not to abide by the teaching of Scripture but to be almost contemptuous of it; that has always been the characteristic of those who have tended to go astray. Read the history of the Quakers, and you will find that such an attitude became a prominent feature—the inner light rather than the objective teaching of Scripture itself.
A Thought to Ponder: The most important test is conformity to scriptural teaching.
(From The Love of God, pp. 23-24. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Ramesh loves to tell others about Jesus. He boldly speaks with coworkers, and one weekend each month returns to his village to evangelize from house to house. His enthusiasm is contagious—especially since he’s learned the value of taking time to rest and relax.
Ramesh used to spend every weekend and most evenings proclaiming the gospel. His wife and children missed him when he was out, and they found him exhausting when he was around. He needed to make every minute and conversation count. He couldn’t enjoy games or small talk. Ramesh was wound too tight.
He was awakened to his imbalance by the honest words of his wife, the counsel of friends, and somewhat obscure passages of Scripture. Proverbs 30 mentions trivial things, such as ants, roosters, and locusts. It marvels how “a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces” (v. 28).
Ramesh wondered how something so mundane made it into the Bible. Observing lizards required significant downtime. Someone saw a lizard darting around the palace and thought that’s interesting, and paused to watch some more. Perhaps God included it in His Word to remind us to balance work with rest. We need hours to daydream about lizards, catch one with our kids, and simply relax with family and friends. May God give us wisdom to know when to work, serve, and relax!
By Mike Wittmer (Daily Bread)
Focus Your Mind
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2)
The command of this verse is contained in the Greek word phroneo. The noun form has an emphasis on the emotive side of our thoughts. Its use in secular Greek literature favors what we might call our gut reactions or our intuition. Obviously, the verb is recorded in the imperative mode, making the term both intensive and authoritative. It could well be translated “direct your reactions so that they respond to” heavenly matters.
The Lord Jesus rebuked Peter because he did not “savor” the things of God (Matthew 16:23). In many other places, the translators have chosen “mind” as the term’s best rendering (e.g., Philippians 2:2, 5; 3:15-16; 4:2). But in each case, the emphasis appears to be on the way we react to our relationship to God’s Word or to each other.
And in each case, as in our text for today, the emphasis is always for us to focus on the matters of eternity, not on our earthly circumstances. Paul’s great teaching throughout Romans 6, 7, and 8 gives a wonderful comparison and contrast between the flesh and the spirit, concluding in chapter 8 that “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5).
Insisting that the believers in the Philippian church follow his own life’s example, Paul agonizes over many among them who walk so “that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things” (Philipians 3:18-19)
A worldly lifestyle is very dangerous for a believer. Please remember the warning “whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
(HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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