Friday, March 31, 2006

Today's TRC DB 2 Chronicles 2 w/ Lena's Journalin' too

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


2 Chronicles 2:1-18
Preparations for Building the Temple
1Solomon now decided that the time had come to build a Temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself. 2He enlisted a force of 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, and 3,600 foremen. 3Solomon also sent this message to King Hiram F8 at Tyre:
"Send me cedar logs like the ones that were supplied to my father, David, when he was building his palace. 4I am about to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God. It will be a place set apart to burn incense and sweet spices before him, to display the special sacrificial bread, and to sacrifice burnt offerings each morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon celebrations, and at the other appointed festivals of the LORD our God. He has commanded Israel to do these things forever.
5"This will be a magnificent Temple because our God is an awesome God, greater than any other. 6But who can really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?
7"So send me a master craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron; someone who is expert at dyeing purple, scarlet, and blue cloth; and a skilled engraver who can work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem who were selected by my father, David. 8Also send me cedar, cypress, and almug F9 logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are without equal at cutting timber. I will send my men to help them. 9An immense amount of timber will be needed, for the Temple I am going to build will be very large and magnificent. 10I will pay your men 100,000 bushels of crushed wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley, F10 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil. F11 "
11King Hiram sent this letter of reply to Solomon:
"It is because the LORD loves his people that he has made you their king! 12Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given David a wise son, gifted with skill and understanding, who will build a Temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
13"I am sending you a master craftsman named Huram-abi. He is a brilliant man, 14the son of a woman from Dan in Israel; his father is from Tyre. He is skillful at making things from gold, silver, bronze, and iron. He also knows all about stonework, carpentry, and weaving. He is an expert in dyeing purple, blue, and scarlet cloth and in working with linen. He is also an engraver and can follow any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and those appointed by my lord David, your father.
15"Send along the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine that you mentioned. 16We will cut whatever timber you need from the Lebanon mountains and will float the logs in rafts down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa. From there you can transport the logs up to Jerusalem."
17Solomon took a census of all foreigners in the land of Israel, like the census his father had taken, and he counted 153,600. 18He enlisted 70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 as stonecutters in the hill country, and 3,600 as foremen.
FOOTNOTES:F8: Hebrew Huram, a variant name for Hiram; also in 2:11, 12. F9: Hebrew algum, a variant name for almug; compare 9:10-11 and parallel text at 1 Kgs 10:11-12. F10: Hebrew 20,000 cors [3,640 kiloliters] of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley. F11: Hebrew 20,000 baths [420 kiloliters] of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.

Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Solomon means peace, Shalom kind of peace God’s Kingdom kind of peace.
completeness, soundness, welfare, peace
completeness (in number)
safety, soundness (in body)
welfare, health, prosperity
peace, quiet, tranquillity, contentment
peace, friendship
of human relationships
with God especially in covenant relationship
peace (from war)
peace (as adjective)
So those who have God’s kingdom peace, are made complete in Him, trust in Him safely and are made whole decided to make a house for God and set up a house for their own “families” also.
I looked at the words for house (temple, palace). It says a place, an abode, a habitation where light and darkness are distinct, a home where those of the same family come together in an organized body, making inward preparations.
That made me think of our churches as family units in preparation towards a purpose, the purposes of God. Then I thought of how we speak of homes being in order. Why? As preparation also. Maybe this is the place where we are inwardly prepared to go out into a greater body who is being prepared to go into the world bringing what was inside of these houses out to a disorderly world.
Why are these things always so specific, why does God seem to require so much and so many people to get the job done? He is a family “man”. He does not desire to be alone, work alone and live alone. Neither does He desire for any of us to dwell and work alone. He makes the “jobs” too big for just one person to do “on purpose”.
Isn’t it just mind boggling how many people were assembled to do just this one work of making a visible home of God on earth? It takes one whole body of Christ with many many members to show the one Him, Jesus Christ to our world.
Isn’t it quite impressive when we see a family that seems to be in order? The husband and wife are in love and being loving, the children are respectful, the house is clean…If that is impressive to any of us, what impression does the world have of God’s house, His church in the earth? Is it orderly, where people willingly work together? Is it a peaceful place? Is it clean and inviting? Or is there division, and all of the works of disorderly flesh?
How can one assemble as many as Solomon did and still have order? I mean we in the great USA have trouble getting along or following orders from just one boss or one family member, how can 80,000 + people be at peace?
One purpose.
Many members, many talents, many ideas, one purpose.
One purpose expressed and heard clearly. Outlined and followed.
Are we following after the same thing or are we trying to decide? Once decided, can we work with someone who is not like us and doesn’t think as we do, and then won’t do the project as we would do it?
Are we unified in spirit sacrificing our own ideas and ways for the great purpose of God, to build a house unto Himself, and a household of order.
What does it take to get us towards this kind of unity? Clarity of purpose. Does God call us and we come, or do we have to go sort out a bunch of things first and then think about it awhile before we give our word to Him and join His work? What does it take for Him to recruit us? Does it take tragedy? Despair? Destitution? Or a wiling and obedient heart?
Which one are we?
The palace was built to offer incense, display sacrificial bread, and to burn offerings each morning and each evening forever……
Incense is the mixing of these 80,000 + people together for the same work and igniting their lives with a same passion for God, a work unto Him together, not a complaining session, where we get that taken out of us, by the firey trial of being and working together, what a smell that would bring up to God, dead flesh being burned up- peuuuuu. Incense is a sweet smell, the sweetness of purpose coming together as one for Him and in Him and with Him. Emmanuel, God with us, all.
Sacrificial bread. Picture Jesus the bread of life lain on the cross, all beaten up and dying there for you and me. He was the example of bread broken for the world, the blood covenant sacrifice displayed for all the world to see. What does the world see when they see us, a lot of us, or a lot of Him in us? Do they call us Christians? Do they say, wow look at that “family”, they look like Christ? Is the sacrifice of the tendencies of the old me what is on display or the crucified mixed together with other members of Christ’s body what they see, do they see me a member of another’s purposes or a person with a whole lot of my own purposes to fulfill?
Who is the Master Craftsman who makes all of this oneness work? The Holy Spirit is. The Son is Jesus, and do we know the Father? J We can’t see Him, or can we? Can we see Him through the Son and by the spirit, yes we can and we can also manifest Him in joining in with His purpose and plan.


Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Today's DB from TRC w/ Lena's Journalin' to Numbers 16 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Numbers 16:1-50
Korah's Rebellion
1One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. 2They incited a rebellion against Moses, involving 250 other prominent leaders, all members of the assembly. 3They went to Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the LORD?"
4When Moses heard what they were saying, he threw himself down with his face to the ground. 5Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow those who are chosen to enter his holy presence. 6You, Korah, and all your followers must do this: Take incense burners, 7and burn incense in them tomorrow before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!"
8Then Moses spoke again to Korah: "Now listen, you Levites! 9Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near him as you serve in the LORD's Tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them? 10He has given this special ministry only to you and your fellow Levites, but now you are demanding the priesthood as well! 11The one you are really revolting against is the LORD! And who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?"
12Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, "We refuse to come! 13Isn't it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects? 14What's more, you haven't brought us into the land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool us? We will not come."
15Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them." 16And Moses said to Korah, "Come here tomorrow and present yourself before the LORD with all your followers. Aaron will also be here. 17Be sure that each of your 250 followers brings an incense burner with incense on it, so you can present them before the LORD. Aaron will also bring his incense burner."
18So these men came with their incense burners, placed burning coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle F58 with Moses and Aaron. 19Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to the whole community, 20and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 21"Get away from these people so that I may instantly destroy them!"
22But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. "O God, the God and source of all life," they pleaded. "Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?"
23And the LORD said to Moses, 24"Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."
25So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed closely by the Israelite leaders. 26"Quick!" he told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins." 27So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents with their wives and children and little ones.
28And Moses said, "By this you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own. 29If these men die a natural death, then the LORD has not sent me. 30But if the LORD performs a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD."
31He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. 32The earth opened up and swallowed the men, along with their households and the followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33So they went down alive into the grave, along with their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished. 34All of the people of Israel fled as they heard their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them, too. 35Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
36And the LORD said to Moses, 37"Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning incense 38from the burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives. He must then hammer the metal of the incense burners into a sheet as a covering for the altar, for these burners have become holy because they were used in the LORD's presence. The altar covering will then serve as a warning to the people of Israel."
39So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died in the fire, and they were hammered out into a sheet of metal to cover the altar. 40This would warn the Israelites that no unauthorized man—no one who was not a descendant of Aaron—should ever enter the LORD's presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. Thus, the LORD's instructions to Moses were carried out.
41But the very next morning the whole community began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You two have killed the LORD's people!" 42As the people gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the LORD appeared.
43Moses and Aaron came and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle, 44and the LORD said to Moses, 45"Get away from these people so that I can instantly destroy them!" But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.
46And Moses said to Aaron, "Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it and carry it quickly among the people to make atonement for them. The LORD's anger is blazing among them—the plague has already begun."
47Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague indeed had already begun, but Aaron burned the incense and made atonement for them. 48He stood between the living and the dead until the plague was stopped. 49But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the incident involving Korah. 50Then because the plague had stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
FOOTNOTES:F58: Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 16:19, 42, 43, 50.
Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~Lena’s Journalin’~
Why does rebellion seem to be the deepest rooted and most prevalent sin? It IS the root of all sin. Pride was its culprit. Notice how pride rises up, it says things such as, “I know how to do that better, who do they think they are telling me what to do?”, and things like, “I know how to run my own life just fine thank you”, and a BIG one, “I’m ok by myself, leave me alone”! After pride voices her opinions then rebellion executes the self deemed rights of action.
Korah means to make one’s self bald. We have to think of this spiritually today, put on Christ’s mind and discern the word by the spirit, not the flesh. Being bald is being without cover, without hair on top of the head that covers. Without covering on the head. In battle, which all of us are engaged in, in this world. It is God’s victory in a hostile environment where enemies hate God. Pride has risen and taken action against His Divine images- us. So, we find ourselves daily in battle.
Inside of battle the head is usually covered for protection of a vital body part, so vital a part that one cannot live or function without it, and so enemies are after it (there’s a revelation there about our thoughts!), in fact if they can’t injure it, they’d like to remove it. If it is injured the body does not function right, if taken the body dies. If we believe we are God’s chosen messengers and we love and serve Him, we protect what is His in battle, we cover our heads with what He’s provided as armor.
Pride may say: “I’m my own man, I don’t belong to anyone, I’m not gonna be told what to do, leave me alone”….This person just uncovered their heads willingly. They are a prime target, whether they acknowledge it or not. They’ve taken off their “hair”. Their name is Korah. What comes against God comes against them, yet rather than being covered, they lose their heads and their body has no function, they are dead in sin and trespasses.
Pride and rebellion love to recruit others into their suicide battalion.
We have got to see the greater picture, we have got to give ourselves wholeheartedly to the work of God to the victory of His spirit, no matter who the “commanders” are. Who they are, those who rule us or are over us etc, are only tools in the Lord’s hands to help bring us into perfection and accountability before God and to hone us into tools in the hands of God. Who or what type of personality of a person, stands in the place of rule is irrelevant, it is the victory in Christ that is relevant, and that can only come by being covered.
The presence of God is holy. God is right-eous, Almighty, Glorious, a God of order. He is Great and greatly to be praised and feared, loved, served.
We do not call the shots, we cannot have anything of God on our own terms in our own way. What He says is what He means. The world dilutes His words, by reason, saying, well He must have meant this or that, or I’ll think about it, then maybe I’ll move a few steps towards doing it, but when I do I’ll do it the way I think is best..
If you are ever brought into the council of the disgruntled, especially against the people and leaders of God, be very careful, try to put out the fire of contention, no matter the reason. God is not looking at reason, He’s looking at His word and the order of the Divine.
We will never be able to say, “Well I wouldn’t come to Jesus because the person who was trying to lead me there was a person I didn’t agree with”. That is a cop out. Do you agree with God and His word? That’s all He’ll be asking you. You will never be able to say, “Well I was mistreated”, or “it didn’t feel right” or “they were mean to me”, and “Well, they were stupid and uneducated and did not know what they were doing in being a leader”. Those are excuses keeping men and women on the pathway of death and hell’s fire. The head is uncovered.
When men and women complain against leaders, it is as though they strip the hair off of the heads of the leaders, making them bald in their eyes.
It’s kind of like the emperor with new clothes. Some saw what was and some saw what wasn’t; to each the appearance was different. To one their leader’s head is covered, to another they are bald. If your spiritual leader is “bald”, being uncovered by your criticisms, they’ve been uncovered by you, you are in serious trouble. Your body is about to die. If you do not have a leader and will not come under command, you are in death’s zone. The Bible says submit your self to God, then resist the enemy, then he will flee. God sets people under other people for discipleship sake, if you’re not under, are you over? Now one over is not under or submitted and accountable to someone. Are you accountable, or do you rebel saying, no one needs to tell me what to do? That person is a baby, a very immature person. They’re either young and being taught and raised up or they are old handicapped and led by their rebellious nature, which is trying to take their life.
Plagues, ever hear of outbreaks of disease? Outbreaks. When one is covered there is not a breaking out or opening for disaster, but when one is uncovered or uncovers it opens up places for all types of destruction. Notice how disease easily spreads, so does a contentious person’s attitude. It is a ploy of the enemies of God, to rise from within, making enemies within, to tear down within and conquer.


Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Today's TRC DB w/ Lena's Journalin' Numbers 7 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Numbers 7:1-89
Offerings of Dedication
1On the day Moses set up the Tabernacle, he anointed it and set it apart as holy, along with all its furnishings and the altar with its utensils. 2Then the leaders of Israel—the tribal leaders who had organized the census—came and brought their offerings. 3Together they brought six carts and twelve oxen. There was a cart for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. They presented these to the LORD in front of the Tabernacle.
4Then the LORD said to Moses, 5"Receive their gifts and use these oxen and carts for the work of the Tabernacle. F24 Distribute them among the Levites according to the work they have to do." 6So Moses presented the carts and oxen to the Levites. 7He gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonite division for their work, 8and four carts and eight oxen to the Merarite division for their work. All their work was done under the leadership of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. 9But he gave none of the carts or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.
10The leaders also presented dedication gifts for the altar at the time it was anointed. They each placed their gifts before the altar. 11The LORD said to Moses, "Let each leader bring his gift on a different day for the dedication of the altar."

12On the first day Nahshon son of Amminadab, leader of the tribe of Judah, presented his offering.
13The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. F25 These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 14He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, F26 which was filled with incense. 15He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 16a male goat for a sin offering; 17and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Nahshon son of Amminadab.
18On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of the tribe of Issachar, presented his offering.
19The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 20He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 21He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 22a male goat for a sin offering; 23and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Nethanel son of Zuar.
24On the third day Eliab son of Helon, leader of the tribe of Zebulun, presented his offering.
25The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 26He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 27He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 28a male goat for a sin offering; 29and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Eliab son of Helon.
30On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, leader of the tribe of Reuben, presented his offering.
31The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 32He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 33He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 34a male goat for a sin offering; 35and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Elizur son of Shedeur.
36On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, leader of the tribe of Simeon, presented his offering.
37The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 38He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 39He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 40a male goat for a sin offering; 41and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
42On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, leader of the tribe of Gad, presented his offering.
43The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 44He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 45He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 46a male goat for a sin offering; 47and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Eliasaph son of Deuel.
48On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, leader of the tribe of Ephraim, presented his offering.
49The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 50He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 51He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 52a male goat for a sin offering; 53and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Elishama son of Ammihud.
54On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the tribe of Manasseh, presented his offering.
55The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 56He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 57He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 58a male goat for a sin offering; 59and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
60On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, leader of the tribe of Benjamin, presented his offering.
61The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 62He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 63He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 64a male goat for a sin offering; 65and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Abidan son of Gideoni.
66On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the tribe of Dan, presented his offering.
67The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 68He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 69He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 70a male goat for a sin offering; 71and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
72On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran, leader of the tribe of Asher, presented his offering.
73The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 74He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 75He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 76a male goat for a sin offering; 77and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Pagiel son of Ocran.
78On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan, leader of the tribe of Naphtali, presented his offering.
79The offering consisted of a silver platter weighing about 3 1/4 pounds and a silver basin of about 1 ¾ pounds. These were both filled with grain offerings of choice flour mixed with olive oil. 80He also brought a gold container weighing about four ounces, which was filled with incense. 81He brought a young bull, a ram, and a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering; 82a male goat for a sin offering; 83and two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering brought by Ahira son of Enan.
84So this was the dedication offering for the altar, brought by the leaders of Israel at the time it was anointed: twelve silver platters, twelve silver basins, and twelve gold incense containers. 85In all, the silver objects weighed about 60 pounds, F27 about 3 1/4 pounds for each platter and 13/4pounds for each basin. 86The weight of the donated gold came to about three pounds, F28 about four ounces for each of the gold containers that were filled with incense. 87Twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old male lambs were donated for the burnt offerings, along with their prescribed grain offerings. Twelve male goats were brought for the sin offerings. 88Twenty-four young bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats, and sixty one-year-old male lambs were donated for the peace offerings. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed.
89Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark's cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. F29 The LORD spoke to him from there.
FOOTNOTES:F24: Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 7:89. F25: Hebrew silver platter weighing 130 shekels [1.5 kilograms] and a silver basin weighing 70 shekels [0.8 kilograms], according to the sanctuary shekel; also in 7:19, 25, 31, 37, 43, 49, 55, 61, 67, 73, 79, 85. F26: Hebrew 10 shekels [114 grams]; also in 7:20, 26, 32, 38, 44, 50, 56, 62, 68, 74, 80, 86. F27: Hebrew 2,400 shekels [27.4 kilograms]. F28: Hebrew 120 shekels [1.4 kilograms]. F29: Or Ark of the Testimony.


Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved
~Lena’s Journalin~
6 is the number of man, yet 12 is the number of the Divine rule of God working among men. 12 is God’s way among men, His provision for man to do God’s vision.
In reading this I saw the correlation of the Uzzah story, where a man moved towards steadying a cart of oxen with the Ark of the covenant balanced on it and the man died. God is specific about His way and for some reason men want to go all around bushes and skirt issues and do it every other way. God always goes back to His words, His words do not change, our understanding and obedience to them changes, but His words remain the same. If he said carry the Ark or presence on men’s shoulders, he did not mean carry it on a cart. If he said use a cart he meant it. Specifics lay it out clearly for all to see and know, trouble comes when we disregard the specifics deviating into ideas of our own reason.
What does it mean to you when we go through this long list of all of the gifts that the leaders brought to the Lord and His work?
To me it means, they gave, they gave into what was important to them, what was truly precious to them. Notice the first parts of each gift were all in the same proportion to one another. It was a symbolism of what God requires, our faith in the Lordship of Christ Jesus, silver is the metal of redemption. We have to give our lives over to God to redeem them. We must die with Christ to our old life, our old self. Our self life cannot redeem us, never ever. No matter how good we are, we have to forsake that old man and His ways and surrender our lives to Jesus and His Lordship.
What do we give into daily? What do we spend our lives on or involve ourselves in? What do we spend our time on? Surround our thoughts with?
If we were one of these leaders, would what would we bring the Lord for His work? Would it be something precious to us, like our time? Would it be something that cost us sacrificing something else we like a lot?
What would we bring? Would we give ourselves over to the work of the Lord? Do we now? What prevents us?
Worry?
Care?
Money?
Time?
Do you think any of these leaders had to make any adjustments in life to give what they did? Could it be that some sold things they had to cash in on something of value?
Did you know that your soul is at stake. It’s up for “auction” to the highest bidder. Someone will pay, what we give up may be in direct relation to who owns our souls. Or what we withhold may be in relation to who does not own our souls. We can gain the whole world and lose our own souls, or give our world to God’s world (view and plan) and live eternally.
It is our freewill choice everyday.



Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

TRC DB Today Lev 16 ++ Lena's Journalin

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Leviticus 16:1-34
The Day of Atonement
1The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons, who died when they burned a different kind of fire than the LORD had commanded. F33 2The LORD said to Moses, "Warn your brother Aaron not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; the penalty for intrusion is death. For the Ark's cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud over the atonement cover.
3"When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering. 4Then he must wash his entire body and put on his linen tunic and the undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are his sacred garments. 5The people of Israel must then bring him two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering.
6"Aaron will present the bull as a sin offering, to make atonement for himself and his family. 7Then he must bring the two male goats and present them to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle. F34 8He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be sacrificed to the LORD and which one will be the scapegoat. F35 9The goat chosen to be sacrificed to the LORD will be presented by Aaron as a sin offering. 10The goat chosen to be the scapegoat will be presented to the LORD alive. When it is sent away into the wilderness, it will make atonement for the people.
11"Then Aaron will present the young bull as a sin offering for himself and his family. After he has slaughtered this bull for the sin offering, 12he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the LORD. Then, after filling both his hands with fragrant incense, he will carry the burner and incense behind the inner curtain. 13There in the LORD's presence, he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark's cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. F36 If he follows these instructions, he will not die. 14Then he must dip his finger into the blood of the bull and sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover and then seven times against the front of the Ark.
15"Then Aaron must slaughter the goat as a sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the blood on the atonement cover and against the front of the Ark, just as he did with the bull's blood. 16In this way, he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites. 17No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle while Aaron goes in to make atonement for the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after making atonement for himself, his family, and all the Israelites.
18"Then Aaron will go out to make atonement for the altar that stands before the LORD by smearing some of the blood from the bull and the goat on each of the altar's horns. 19Then he must dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel's defilement and return it to its former holiness.
20"When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, and the altar, he must bring the living goat forward. 21He is to lay both of his hands on the goat's head and confess over it all the sins and rebellion of the Israelites. In this way, he will lay the people's sins on the head of the goat; then he will send it out into the wilderness, led by a man chosen for this task. 22After the man sets it free in the wilderness, the goat will carry all the people's sins upon itself into a desolate land.
23"As Aaron enters the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he wore when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there. 24Then he must bathe his entire body with water in a sacred place, put on his garments, and go out to sacrifice his own whole burnt offering and the whole burnt offering for the people. In this way, he will make atonement for himself and for the people. 25He must also burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26"The man chosen to send the goat out into the wilderness as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe in water. Then he may return to the camp.
27"The bull and goat given as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement for Israel, will be carried outside the camp to be burned. This includes the animals' hides, the internal organs, and the dung. 28The man who does the burning must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.
29"On the appointed day in early autumn, F37 you must spend the day fasting and not do any work. This is a permanent law for you, and it applies to those who are Israelites by birth, as well as to the foreigners living among you. 30On this day, atonement will be made for you, and you will be cleansed from all your sins in the LORD's presence. 31It will be a Sabbath day of total rest, and you will spend the day in fasting. This is a permanent law for you. 32In future generations, the atonement ceremony will be performed by the anointed high priest who serves in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments 33and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire community. 34This is a permanent law for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once each year." Moses followed all these instructions that the LORD had given to him.
FOOTNOTES:F33: Hebrew when they approached the LORD's presence; compare 10:1. F34: Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 16:16, 17, 20, 23, 33. F35: Hebrew azazel, which in this context means "the goat of removal"; also in 16:10, 26. F36: Hebrew on the Testimony, referring to the terms of God's covenant with Israel, which were kept in the Ark. F37: Hebrew On the tenth day of the seventh month. This day of the Hebrew lunar calendar occurs in September or early October.


Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
All of life here on earth seems to be about instruction, correction, and then obedience or rebellion.
When one is born they innately have a sense of selfishness, which starts out as a protective self preservation tool. Everyday one is taught birth by words and by example, in fact God made each human to be a “copy-cat”.
There is a way to see the world, the glasses or lenses are either clear or clouded depending on age, maturity, and mostly teaching. Our world starts by revolving around us then expands to include others. It takes a great deal of training to see outside of and participate in a world greater and larger than self.
We test the world to see how much of ourselves can be retained throughout life. Yet, if we are trained in the will of God we quickly see, it is clearly not all about us and our wills to do whatever we think is correct, but we begin to see that there is a much bigger world than even our eyes can see, so we grow to gain a sense of Him, His will, His plan and to show Him how much we’d like to be involved in it as ministers of His gospel.
The point I’m bringing us to here is that there are ways that seem right to men, but are not. There are ideas we have and they need correcting. There are pathways we start on that we need to turn around and run from. Most human ideas stem from the result of a fall where rebellion occurred and separation from God was made clear. God’s idea is to restore the previous fellowship prior to that painful separation. That is called redemption.
God has called men to be redeemed, and then redeem other men. He is looking for those who will receive Him and walk with Him in restoration, then live a restored life and lead others into restoration to God.
He has set out specific ways for that to be accomplished. The accomplishment of restoration is a very holy thing. It must be accomplished through the wills of men, who must accept the truth or perish, but the Way to restoration must be a freewill man or woman or child with a desire to live as another deems.
Oh boy, is that an easy task? It depends.
A freewill being doing what another has said, the way that other says it?
What does that statement do to your insides?
Just the thought of being told what to do and how to do it makes most people cringe.
You might be able to tell me what to do, but I’ll do it the way I see is right.
Or you may be able to give me a suggestion on how to do it, but inside of my heart I have plans to do it my way.
The only problem is that redemption and restoration of the rebellion cannot come that way.
The redemption and restoration must come the way it went. The curse has to be reversed through the freewill of one doing another’s will freely.
Many times a person will go through a motion and do what they are told, so it will look as though they are obedient, but God sees inside of the heart and knows whether the freewill is surrendered to another’s or not. There’s no fooling of God.
WHY is this so important to God? It is the restoration of the separation of death and life. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Darkness and light cannot dwell together. Where darkness is there is death, not life. Where light is there is no death. Jesus came and made a way to God’s light and life once again. There’s just one “catch”, one must choose with the freewill to accept or reject Him.
I’m not completely sure what happened with Aaron’s sons that day, but it was priests going before God for people’s sins. Lots of people’s sins. They had to be as pure as the lambs they offered. Not only in outer clothing, but even on the inside.
If they had any ideas of their own or wanted to try things their own way or point attention to themselves at all, there was darkness and thus death involved. They knew how serious God is about saving people from sin and how it must be accomplished. This cannot be accomplished by the hand or idea of man. There is only One Way to the restoration of our life before the Father and unto the Father. If we do not walk this way, we may die early, before our time.
Jesus is the way.
Being good is not the way
Jesus is the way.
Having a great idea about worship is not the way
Jesus is the way
Giving God some of my time is not the way
Jesus is the WAY back to God, back to light, back to life
There is only One WAY
That narrows down a few things, huh?
Yep quite a few.
An atonement had to be made for the sins of men that separate them from God or they will die eternally, never having another chance to see His light.
It had to be done God’s way. The sacrifice had to be given rather than taken away.
I can lay on an altar because I believe God wants my sacrifice and yet not really want to do it.
He wants to change our want to’s by His love, His great love. He loved us so much that His Son, in comparison to Aaron’s sons, did it his way with a desire to do it His way. His Son’s love was tested to the ‘nth degree. His desire became His father’s desire. He gave up His life. No one took it, it was given freely.
What has God asked of you that you give freely, willingly, without grudgery, without doing it your way? Was it reasonable to go to a cross, let men beat you up and bleed there in your underwear or rather naked, between two undeserving thieves? Is that reasonable, at all?
Why do we respond to God with resistance? Back to the beginning here. Rebellion, immaturity, self-centeredness….These works of our flesh corrupted nature war against the work of God and keep us from being saviors to a lost world. These things prevent us from learning, growing and being sacrifices for sin to save.
Thank God for Jesus who is the way to God.
Let’s ask for His help today with an open mind, to do it His way. No if’s and or buts at all. Not my will but Thine be accomplished today!


Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Today's TRC DB & Lena's Journalin to Exodus 40 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Exodus 40:1-38
The Tabernacle Completed
1The LORD now said to Moses, 2"Set up the Tabernacle F93 on the first day of the new year. F94 3Place the Ark of the Covenant F95 inside, and install the inner curtain to enclose the Ark within the Most Holy Place. 4Then bring in the table, and arrange the utensils on it. And bring in the lampstand, and set up the lamps.
5"Place the incense altar just outside the inner curtain, opposite the Ark of the Covenant. Set up the curtain made for the entrance of the Tabernacle. 6Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the Tabernacle entrance. 7Set the large washbasin between the Tabernacle F96 and the altar and fill it with water. 8Then set up the courtyard around the outside of the tent, and hang the curtain for the courtyard entrance.
9"Take the anointing oil and sprinkle it on the Tabernacle and on all its furnishings to make them holy. 10Sprinkle the anointing oil on the altar of burnt offering and its utensils, sanctifying them. Then the altar will become most holy. 11Next anoint the large washbasin and its pedestal to make them holy.
12"Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tabernacle, and wash them with water. 13Clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him, setting him apart to serve me as a priest. 14Then bring his sons and dress them in their tunics. 15Anoint them as you did their father, so they may serve me as priests. With this anointing, Aaron's descendants are set apart for the priesthood forever, from generation to generation."
16Moses proceeded to do everything as the LORD had commanded him. 17So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the new year. F97 18Moses put it together by setting its frames into their bases and attaching the crossbars and raising the posts. 19Then he spread the coverings over the Tabernacle framework and put on the roof layers, just as the LORD had commanded him.
20He placed inside the Ark the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, F98 and then he attached the Ark's carrying poles. He also set the Ark's cover—the place of atonement—on top of it. 21Then he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Tabernacle and set up the inner curtain to shield it from view, just as the LORD had commanded.
22Next he placed the table in the Tabernacle, along the north side of the Holy Place, just outside the inner curtain. 23And he arranged the Bread of the Presence on the table that stands before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded.
24He set the lampstand in the Tabernacle across from the table on the south side of the Holy Place. 25Then he set up the lamps in the LORD's presence, just as the LORD had commanded. 26He also placed the incense altar in the Tabernacle, in the Holy Place in front of the inner curtain. 27On it he burned the fragrant incense made from sweet spices, just as the LORD had commanded.
28He attached the curtain at the entrance of the Tabernacle, 29and he placed the altar of burnt offering near the Tabernacle entrance. On it he offered a burnt offering and a grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded.
30Next he placed the large washbasin between the Tabernacle and the altar. He filled it with water so the priests could use it to wash themselves. 31Moses and Aaron and Aaron's sons washed their hands and feet in the basin. 32Whenever they walked past the altar to enter the Tabernacle, they were to stop and wash, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
33Then he hung the curtains forming the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar. And he set up the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. So at last Moses finished the work.
The LORD's Glory Fills the Tabernacle
34Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled it. 35Moses was no longer able to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the LORD.
36Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle and moved, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. 37But if the cloud stayed, they would stay until it moved again. 38The cloud of the LORD rested on the Tabernacle during the day, and at night there was fire in the cloud so all the people of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.
FOOTNOTES:F93: Hebrew the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting; also in 40:6, 29. F94: Hebrew the first day of the first month. This day of the Hebrew lunar calendar occurs in March or early April. F95: Or Ark of the Testimony; also in 40:5, 21. F96: Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 40:12, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, 35. F97: Hebrew the first day of the first month, in the second year. See note on 40:2b. F98: Hebrew the Testimony.


Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’ ~
I love to study the tabernacle. It is an amazing specific and intricately detailed model.
What is it a model of? It is a model of people. Isn’t that so cool? Are we not amazing and specifically detailed? Even more so than this Tabernacle model.
Why did God model it so? Why so specific?
It shows He loves and cares and wants us, even in our own sinful nature, to be led to Him and come into His holy awesome presence where we find He is all we need and where our needs for Him will be revealed and satisfied.
I like how this scripture details the tabernacle from the outside in.
Set up the tabernacle and place the Ark of the Covenant inside of it.
What does that mean?
It means you have a living being, born of natural means, now the first thing and most important thing to do is to make a place inside of that person for God to live. They need to be born again, they need to be sanctified by God’s spirit through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, get saved from the effect of the natural bloodlines they were born in. Get cleaned up from the call of the flesh and the world, open the door to Christ, invite Him in and allow Him to live in and through each person alive on earth.
Let there be light enough to see God’s presence there continually.
Put incense just outside of this holy of holy place. Let there be a sweet scent there, and inviting fragrance for intimacy there.
Outside of here, as one approaches the presence in the inner person, let there be a washing from where we’ve been that is not in or of the unhindered pure presence of God. Even as ministers of God who stand in the gap for people, helping them to come to forgiveness and be able to see God for themselves, one can get stained by natural blood. They’ve stood in a place of service and have done very good things, but were dirtied by life and its requirements. They need to be washed.
With washing also needs to come replenishing. Anointing and covering with what is of God, rather than what is of the world or your natural heritage or even service and ministry to others, for God. The priests anointed all that leads us to approach God. I was thinking about the scents. From outside of the tabernacle, we smell like who we are or where we’ve been or where we go each day, even in our thoughts. Then we come towards God’s presence and need to be stripped per se of all of this.
There’s a need for blood shed. Blood shed for the forgiveness of sin. What does that mean exactly? It means one gives his life for another. Lays down his life a ransom for the payment of the penalty that sin required. In order to have God’s presence in us someone had to die for that privilege to be awarded. Sin’s penalty is death. If we don’t die, someone or something has to. God made lambs to take the place of man, and then Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away all sins. Lambs were sacrificed for each person’s sins, but Jesus was sacrificed willingly for all sins. So we approach through shed blood.
Can you imagine the smell of shed animal blood? Even if one washes he cannot be completely rid of that smell, especially if he is the priest who has to sacrifice for say 50 people in a day! I bet sin became putrid to him. I bet he wished there was a better way. I bet he was so happy when people repented! Went and sinned no more. One less sacrifice to make. Yet if they sinned he rejoiced that there was the ability to make a blood atonement for the sin, so those who sinned could be forgiven rather than die un redeemed.
The smell on him was a scent of flesh. God provided ways to change the scent. Anointing the utensils, anointing the tabernacle furnishings, and the persons who desired to serve the Lord.
The incense was being burned so that even the air was being cleared of the flesh’s scent.
When a priest approached the most intimate place of God’s presence he wanted to stand before God all washed, all anointed, and newly scented in ways the Lord liked, in what was pleasing to God. A cleaned up, redeemed vessel is oh so pleasing to God.
May the pleasure of the Lord be upon us and work in us change, from worldliness, and flesh natured scents to Divine life and Holy Anointing which pleases the Lord.
Aaron and his descendants after him were anointed and clothed for the approach of God’s Holy presence and so we should be. They were taken out of the world and made holy unto the lord for the Lord’s use and work. They were in God’s continual presence, this is our destiny, this is our call, to always be in His presence wherever we are at the time. To carry God’s presence everywhere we go.
I recently heard that we may not think we take God everywhere. Like if we grieve Him in a certain place we go He stays home, no we are His mobile presence and we take Him along , we may grieve Him where we go, but we do take Him there.
Now be careful little eye what you see, now be careful little ears what you hear for the Lord who loves you so goes wherever you may go so be careful little feet where you walk…. And That’s not just for Sunday school aged kids, It’s for us all!

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Today's Rock Church (TRC) Daily Bread (DB) w/ Lena's Journalin' to 2 Cor 2

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


2 Corinthians 2:1-17
1So I said to myself, "No, I won't do it. I won't make them unhappy with another painful visit." 2For if I cause you pain and make you sad, who is going to make me glad? 3That is why I wrote as I did in my last letter, so that when I do come, I will not be made sad by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely you know that my happiness depends on your happiness. 4How painful it was to write that letter! Heartbroken, I cried over it. I didn't want to hurt you, but I wanted you to know how very much I love you.
Forgiveness for the Sinner
5I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt your entire church more than he hurt me. 6He was punished enough when most of you were united in your judgment against him. 7Now it is time to forgive him and comfort him. Otherwise he may become so discouraged that he won't be able to recover. 8Now show him that you still love him.
9I wrote to you as I did to find out how far you would go in obeying me. 10When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive him (for whatever is to be forgiven), I do so with Christ's authority for your benefit, 11so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are very familiar with his evil schemes.
Ministers of the New Covenant
12Well, when I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord gave me tremendous opportunities. 13But I couldn't rest because my dear brother Titus hadn't yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia to find him.
14But thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. 15Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing. 16To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this? 17You see, we are not like those hucksters—and there are many of them—who preach just to make money. We preach God's message with sincerity and with Christ's authority. And we know that the God who sent us is watching us.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.


Daily Repetitive Verses:

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.

~Lena’s Journalin’ ~
Does true love ever hurt?
Does love hurt? I mean a good kind of hurt, not a destructive abusive hurt, an everyday discomfort, due to the need for change, evaluating, bite the bit type of hurt.
YES, true love hurts, because it calls for change. It calls for growth. It won’t leave us alone as we are. It will tell us truth we did not see and will cause us to walk in a different direction than we were headed in. It will change our plans that were self centered and temporary in nature to plans that are people and God centered and eternal. That is not always without pain, but the level of pain depends on us.
Are we willing to be loved by someone who will do this to us? The biggest lover of all time is God our Father. Many people are angry with Him for suggesting and leading them into change. Many feel He is forceful, as His passion for us and our welfare is expressed through people, of an insistent nature.
They’ll say God loves me as I am. You know that is so true, He loves us like we are, where we are. He loves us enough to bring us towards change. He loves us so much, He’ll never leave or forsake us. He won’t leave us alone to the extent of changing us into His loving life-giving image. That is not always naturally easy on us, our flesh nature does not desire it or initiate it normally, but as we learn more and more of God’s will for us and His true love desire for us and we learn to trust Him, we may welcome the lessons of change.
Sin hurts more than love does. Sin hurts eternally, long term. Love may hurt now, but will secure one’s future forever.
Love leads us into right standing with God, into relationship and into eternity, sin separates us from God, His will and the eternal realm of life with Him forever. That is what real hurt is about. If someone really loves someone else with the true love of God they will do all they can to help deliver them from the cage of sin, they’ll try all they can to get the keys and unlock the prison doors of lies laid out to trap one for eternity.
Sin is an eternal trap. If sin continues to be able to be exercised in a person’s life without change in behavior, that one will die eternally. Only trust in the shed blood sacrifice of Jesus for the penalty and judgment call of our sins can we be saved. When we are “saved” our desires and exercises of behaviors change. If the behaviors do not change, then change has not truly occurred. Maybe there is needed a greater revelation of the price paid for us or the penalty of the sins.
Any and all sin is an offense to God, separates us from Him eternally, but all sin can be covered by the shed blood of Jesus. Repentance is the way to righteousness. Repentance means I turn around, I change.
So say yesterday I found that fornication was sin that separates me from God’s plan for eternal life in Christ. That uncovenantal behavior separates me from God’s plan for me for eternity. I realize it offends God in that I can’t walk with Him into eternal life. I change, I stop fornicating. In stopping I’ve repented. I stop because I’ve repented. I did not think it was wrong, nor did I care if it offended anyone, let alone God. Now I realize the severity of the effect of my sin on my eternal choices, so I ask for God’s mercy. I receive His mercy because Jesus died so I could be forgiven by God for this very type of sin, any and all sin. He shed His blood for me, for me to be able to change. I’m covered by the forgiveness of the shed blood of the Lamb of God who died to take away the sins of the world. Do you think the shedding of His blood was easy? Not at all, yet He did it for the love of me, so that in my fornication I could see Him, receive Him, and be changed. Sin hurts.
Each one of us can endure pain differently, and the type of pain we endure can either lead us to change easily or not. Stubbornness can make us have to go through more pain than needed. Jesus bore our pain. Let’s accept that and not bear the pain anymore, ease the pain and go ahead and accept change, embrace change.
This is the incense, the crushing of the powders of our lives, the pressing of the fruits that bring the oils.
We bring who we are to God and to the Body, the church, we are mixed together with other members who are dealing with the need for change also, they are also being pressed into the mold of God or going through the fire of purging or the storms of life, or the re-routing of root systems, etc. This is all beautiful in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus whom we have made our Lord. What a beautiful sight when many people who are going through the same process of eternal change gather together in places all around the world to worship the One who loves us enough to speak truth to us, save us and change us.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Today's TRC DB & Lena's Journalin' Exodus 35 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Exodus 35:1-35
Instructions for the Sabbath
1Now Moses called a meeting of all the people and told them, "You must obey these instructions from the LORD. 2Each week, work for six days only. The seventh day is a day of total rest, a holy day that belongs to the LORD. Anyone who works on that day will die. 3Do not even light fires in your homes on that day."
Gifts for the Tabernacle
4Then Moses said to all the people, "This is what the LORD has commanded. 5Everyone is invited to bring these offerings to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; 6blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen; goat hair for cloth; 7tanned ram skins and fine goatskin leather; acacia wood; 8olive oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; 9onyx stones, and other stones to be set in the ephod and the chestpiece.
10"Come, all of you who are gifted craftsmen. Construct everything that the LORD has commanded: 11the entire Tabernacle, including the sacred tent and its coverings, the clasps, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; 12the Ark and its poles; the Ark's cover—the place of atonement; the inner curtain to enclose the Ark in the Most Holy Place; 13the table, its carrying poles, and all of its utensils; the Bread of the Presence; 14the lampstand and its accessories; the lamp cups and the oil for lighting; 15the incense altar and its carrying poles; the anointing oil and fragrant incense; the curtain for the entrance of the Tabernacle; 16the altar of burnt offering; the bronze grating of the altar and its carrying poles and utensils; the large washbasin with its pedestal; 17the curtains for the walls of the courtyard; the posts and their bases; the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; 18the tent pegs of the Tabernacle and courtyard and their cords; 19the beautifully stitched clothing for the priests to wear while ministering in the Holy Place; the sacred garments for Aaron and his sons to wear while officiating as priests."
20So all the people left Moses and went to their tents to prepare their gifts. 21If their hearts were stirred and they desired to do so, they brought to the LORD their offerings of materials for the Tabernacle F74 and its furnishings and for the holy garments. 22Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing. Some brought to the LORD their offerings of gold—medallions, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces. They presented gold objects of every kind to the LORD. 23Others brought blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, or goat hair for cloth. Some gave tanned ram skins or fine goatskin leather. 24Others brought silver and bronze objects as their offering to the LORD. And those who had acacia wood brought it.
25All the women who were skilled in sewing and spinning prepared blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen cloth, and they brought them in. 26All the women who were willing used their skills to spin and weave the goat hair into cloth. 27The leaders brought onyx stones and the other gemstones to be used for the ephod and the chestpiece. 28They also brought spices and olive oil for the light, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense. 29So the people of Israel—every man and woman who wanted to help in the work the LORD had given them through Moses—brought their offerings to the LORD.
30And Moses told them, "The LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31The LORD has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, intelligence, and skill in all kinds of crafts. 32He is able to create beautiful objects from gold, silver, and bronze. 33He is skilled in cutting and setting gemstones and in carving wood. In fact, he has every necessary skill. 34And the LORD has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their skills to others. 35The LORD has given them special skills as jewelers, designers, weavers, and embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on fine linen cloth. They excel in all the crafts needed for the work.
FOOTNOTES:F74: Hebrew Tent of Meeting.


Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.


Daily Repetitive Verses:


Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.
~ Lena’s Journalin’ Today ~
Work, Work, Work is this our passion in life? Or someone else’s passion in life for us? Maybe it’s the enemy’s passion for us to “burn” out, even before we die, or to lead us to death. If we work, work, work and never rest, and especially never set aside time to be in God’s presence, we will burn out and we will head closer and closer towards the grave.
Ever hear someone say, he was worked to death? Isn’t it weird how when we work more it seems more work is needed, as though the work is almost eternal? We go into it thinking we can work on it and it will be over and for some reason it grows and grows and grows. It calls to us, calls for our strength, for our meditations, for our time for our money, it tries to take all of us, which is in such opposition to the call of God on us. The call of God says love Me with all of your heart, mind and strength and then your neighbor the same. Yet we serve and love by actions, the call of money.
This is why the Bible states we cannot serve God and money’s call to us. It’s impossible in the human make up to do and accomplish it all, we just can’t. We have to stop service to the world in order to serve God. How am I supposed to do that? IF I do that I won’t make it. If you don’t do that you are dying anyway. If we give our lives over to God He gives us eternal life and it’s blessings of health strength etc.
I know of so many Christians who have had to say no to others, in an adamant way, in order to serve God. Some will say they won’t work on Sunday’s, some say no to overtime, some say no to desires of certain purchases, etc. They give up things to pursue the kingdom of God. When one gives this kind of time, strength and thought to God’s will and His kingdom, life begins to flow from His vessel, pushing out the edict of death.
It is interesting how it says here, don’t even light fires on that day of rest, on that day set aside to be wholly in the presence of God. The first thing I thought of was passion’s flames, desires for self fulfillment, and then I thought of strife, striving to get and be and work things out.
Then Moses said, bring gifts to the house of God, then he starts to list the gifts. HEY wasn’t that some of the stuff I worked for? I worked hard and gave my time, energy, thought to? U huh…exactly. If a person is willing to give some of that away to God they show the world and its call, that there is no eternal death hold on them.
Do you see how God has instructed Moses to tell the people to give of the very things we give our jobs and the very things we do to make a living for ourselves?
Strength/ability/Time (body, mind)
Affection/thought (mind, heart)
Desire & drive or passion (heart)
Give who you are, what your made of, how well you do things, that time and energy to the work of God, be spent there, for He will replenish you. Come to Me all you weary, spent up to the world’s call ones…I will give you the rest you need.
Working for the world, we have to find refreshment and replenish ourselves, with God we give, we also receive of Him, He is living water of life, not death.
Those who gave, gave with willing hearts, because they understood and were so grateful to God. He wasn’t taking from them, requiring it of them. If it was required or if it was taken it was not what he was asking for, don’t even give it if you feel taken or required from. One person can be asked something and feel taken from or required of, the person sitting right beside them can hear the same word and feel an opportunity to give, what makes the difference? The heart and it’s issues, issues that flow form life or death. Love gives, even if it feels its being taken from. It says, no man can take my life I give that same life as a ransom for many. Have a giving heart, give all. Did Jesus not give ALL for the salvation of our souls? He was an example to us, as He gave, so give.
He wasn’t making them, He’d asked and they were giving into His work and the work of building His household. They were in preparation to give of themselves to God. As they gave, God gave to them and increased of their talents. Isn’t that cool? They didn’t go to more classes to get more talent, they gave and they received. (I wasn’t saying don’t go to classes, it’s just here it was of such a magnitude that the giving and receiving was of a miraculous measure).