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).