Lena's Discipleship Journalin' Today to Lev 23

A Holy Convocation, is what KJV says – Summons. That means – command.
Oh how we love commands, and we should love them, for they are safety parameters drawn around us to guard and protect us from evil, its influence, and harm. I’m so thankful for the lines drawn. They show us where to go to have great success. They give us direction, that we’d not have to grope in darkness. They leave us with barely any questions.
Excuses create a whole mound of unsolicited questions that only distract us from knowing the true will of God. It is not the soul or the body who love the commands of God; it is our spirit man, our saved man who wants to keep His salvation until the end. We train and discipline our soul and body to love and follow the commands of God.
We had a special speaker Sunday, a member of our congregation. He made an awesome statement saying, we believe God gave us a job, then we use it as an excuse to not come to church or Bible Study or gather and enter into Christian fellowship. Wow. The command says rest, from your own labor. This week how much did we engage in His labors? That means doing on purpose, boldly what God wanted.
In addition to Sunday morning church service, the Lord has set up more boundary lines to guide us straightaway in to truth. He is amazing. It is amazing how He leads us. He knows what we need before we do. He knows how much fuel we need for the journey ahead. Why do you think He exhorts us to stay as full as possible, and be involved in His word and work more than our involvement in other things in life? He is God And sees what is ahead for us. If He says, “Hey, Let’s go this way this week.” It is so the time to go that way. As you go, in fellowship go ahead and ask why, but don’t stay put asking why before you decide to obey Him and move on His prompting words. He knows.
Bread without yeast. The word without an uprising of rebellion! The word is to be untainted by our own opinion of what we think we really should or should not do. If we love God, we’ll obey Him and that includes a tremendous amount of trust to develop. No trust is ever developed by not moving out in some action of faith.
Whenever we have success in an obedient venture, pride will try to overcome as it offers to us the idea of our own ability to succeed. The Tithe solidifies our trust and covenant relationship with God. The more we increase the more we give. The more success, the more glory, the more offering, the more establishment of the covenant. The tithe squelches out pride as an uprising, it disallows it to have any part in the wondrous glory of God. His glory cannot be shared with another, and we His covenant people are made one with Him through the act of the covenant demonstration of the tithe. It shows we are one and no one else can take what is His away. The success is from Him, the increase is from Him, the bounty is from Him, etc.
Why is the word so detailed about how we offer to God what He desires? There are so many reasons. One is that it causes to see our great need for help to be made righteous, because it is impossible to be right without the acceptance through faith in Jesus shed blood. Another is that in each and every thing we do at each and every time, we need to depend on His spirit inside of us, alive in us, to work in and through us.
Without His Helper we can not do much well. The minute detail become encompassing- exactly. It does not leave a whole lot of room for any else. If our lives are truly given over to God and the participation in His life’s purposes, what else is there? What else are we living for? If we live for everything else and only give a small portion to God, then why do we expect so much from Him in the area of care and blessing?
We are in a covenant relationship. Relationships are reciprocal in nature. It is give give, not give and take. God’s principles are based on sowing and reaping. What we sow we can absolutely expect to reap. If we’ve not sown it is foolishness to expect a harvest blessing of what we do not and do not have plans to give.
Why is fire involved in sacrifice? Fire changes the state of anything. It makes one thing another thing with no resemblance of the former thing. It also purifies what is long lasting. It makes it better and stronger than it was before. But for trash and waste, it takes it away.
Festival of Shelters - a place to stay, a place to dwell. It shows someone is camping out for a reason. They move out of the normal routine of day to day living, they live a new way in a new place, concentrated on the simplicity of the new thing. Their needs are met so they don’t have an abundance of things holding them to the earth, a tent is sufficient in that they can move quickly whenever God says move. They don’t have reasons or lots of excuses to not do whatever it is God says. God is taking us all to this place to live in this place beginning here, but lasting forever.