Total Teamwork, Total Offerings

 Please click this link for the video version of today's blog :

 

 Key passages: 

      Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood - two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide , and a cubit and a half high.                    Exodus 37: 1

      The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels,[o]according to the sanctuary shekel.The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census was 100 talents[p] and 1,775 shekels,[q] according to the sanctuary shekel—  one beka per person, that is, half a shekel,[r]according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more, a total of 603,550 men.     Exodus 38: 24-26

      

The topic I received today from Jesus is: Total Teamwork, Total Offerings

       Every paragraph in Chapter 37 starts with either "Bezalel made", "He made(Bezalel)" or "They made". I sense here very strongly a careful, wonderful and difficult teamwork to carry God's exact command to build a place for the presence of God. 

     

      And, that total offerings are incredible! Where did all the gold and silver come from? One metric ton of gold and 3.4 metric tons of silver. According to Chapter 38, each one of the chosen one offered 5.5 grams. I found out that 3.4 metric tons equals to 3,400,000 grams and that if each one offered 5.5 grams, then there were 618,181 men twenty years old or more who offered those silver. That is just as this chapter says: 603,550 men. And these men represented all two million there with women and children.

     They were in "exodus" and what they received might be their little amount of gold and silver; yet they offered what they had.

       Can you guess how complicated it was and how much team work was required to carry everything in the tabernacle in order to walk around the desert for 40 years? That is why almost everything, no matter small or large, had rings so that people could carry them.

      Total teamwork and total offerings is what I heard from Jesus today if we want our church to enter into the "Promised Land". Shall we start this Journey?

      Dear Lord Jesus,

Help us to be able to teach more people to worship you in a way you would like them to and  us to start this journey of total team work and total offerings that we can glorify your mighty Name. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

 

Reflect on these questions:     

1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?

      

    2.  What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus, to be holy - that is to do what Jesus wants you to do and not to do what Jesus wants you not to do?

    

    Family Corner:

   Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 

    

    Time with Abba (Psalm 25:8-15, Exodus 37:1-38:31; Matthew 28:1-20; Proverbs 9:9-10)

    Please click this link for today's Time with Abba one year Bible four passages: http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

     Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him.    

   For the Chinese version of this daily blog and video, please click this link (中文版請按此連結):

    https://timewithabbaprayinglisteningchinese.blogspot.com

     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link:http://twa.pastoralcareschool.org/

     If you would like to follow my "Subject shifting Devotion Method" from the "Time with Abba, Praising Singing", you are welcome to follow the direction below and then go back to the top of this blog to read today's key passage and my listening and sharing:

        Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

      2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

     Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Sing a song to praise the Lord

      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method) 

https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

 My first blog "Devotion on Fire"  was written in English only  (July 17, 2009年7月17日至November 22, 2012年11月22日). Each day one chapter of Bible, from New Testament and then Old Testament. Completed in four months and three years:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/blessings-from-rev-dr-john-stott.html

My second blog "Discipler 123"  was written in both Chinese and English (March 6,2011to December 31, 2016 ):

https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-1-choose-light-away-from-darkness.html

and "Time with Abba" blog and video (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2024): 

https://discipler123.blogspot.com/2017/01/1-2017.html