Includes...
For a couple of years now I have pondered why there is a 4 day gap between the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. The analogy God has given me is to think about is buying a house. Think of the Day of Atonement as the closing day when God purchased a new house to live in, which is us. Before closing can happen all of the accounting must be reconciled so that there is a clean slate. After closing, God has to move in, furnish, and decorate the house. These 4 days are a reminder that God has fully furnished us for every good work. He moved everything he has on the inside of us. After he has moved in he wants to have a 7 day party to celebrate the new house.
2 Timothy 3:17 says... So that the servant of God may be fully furnished for every good work and Proverbs 15:6 says the house of the righteous contains great treasure.
God has some good works for us to walk in and he has furnished or equipped us to walk in them. We...
Monday evening starts the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Think of Tabernacles like a fall harvest festival. The people were commanded to build small huts and dwell in them for the 7 days so they would never forget how God brought them through the wilderness to the promised land. God is now tabernacling with us. He has moved in. In the Old Testament when the temples were built they were not finished until God's glory filled the temple. His glory is his presence, power, and goodness. Because we have been cleansed and reconciled by Jesus God can live in and among us. In the Old Testament God couldn't get too close to the people, because his glory would kill them, but now because of Jesus he can live within us.
Over the next week take some time to get more aware of his presence with you, rejoice, and express gratitude that the creator of it all, can now tabernacle with us. The tradition in the Jewish culture is to eat stuffed foods during this week, which...
Yesterday we took communion over being reconciled with God. The next step is partnering with God. Partnership is one of the most powerful table turners in life. In our finances, I think of partnership as the number one thing that can turn the tables. When we partner effectively we gain access into wisdom, knowledge, experience, resources, networks, and much more that we can't access on our own. And God is the most important one that any of us can partner with.
If you have never officially made God your partner in life, then today's communion is an opportunity to do so. To get into partnership with him is to partner around a common vision, to get into agreement with him, and to make decisions together. After making God your partner today, I would encourage you to record the date the partnership started so you can see how the tables turn.
I am praying for you.
Daniel
Today is the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur. Today is like the close of the year or the major deadline on God's calendar. This day is a reminder for us that God has reconciled us to himself in Christ. To reconcile is to overcome distrust or hostility, to gain goodwill, harmony, or favor, to make agreeable, to resolve differences, and make one again. When you think of Atonement think of At - ONE - MENT.
In accounting to reconcile is to balance and remove any differences or errors found. Here are some scriptures to meditate on about being reconciled to God.
Romans 5:10-11...For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:10-11
Colossians 1:19-23...For God was pleased to have...
Tonight starts the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which was the official start of the Year of Jubilee. In the Old Testament, every 50th year was the Year of Jubilee, which meant slaves were set free, all debt was forgiven, and the people were restored to their land(the inheritance God had given them). It was a resetting of the economy in Israel and the official start of Jubilee was the Day of Atonement.
Leviticus 25 1-4, 8-10 says....
The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD ... You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths...
In 2 Samuel 7 God promises to make David's name great, give him rest from all his enemies, to establish his house, and that his house and kingdom would endure forever. Then is 2 Samuel 8:1 and 10:1 the phrase "In the course of time," is used to describe how things began to happen.
God gave David some amazing promises that came to pass in the course of time. Time is a course, it is full of twists, turns, obstacles, and most importantly change. Change is guaranteed in life and we can fight it or embrace it.
The Hebrew word that is used for "in the course of time," is Hayah which means... Came to pass, to be or become.
Hayah indicates something that is changing and dynamic. Time and change are a gift God has given us in this world, but why? I believe he gave us time and change because he doesn't want us to stay the way we are. We all have room to grow and expand to become more like him, which is why he gives us time and change so that in the course of...
The other day I was watching the Virginia Tech football game and there was an interview where Tom Brady's head coach said he felt like one of the biggest reasons for all of Tom's Super Bowl victories is that he comes to practice every day like a little kid, excited to learn and get better.
This reminded me of how Jesus said kids hold the secrets and we must have childlike faith.
In Matthew 21:16 Jesus said... “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”
Jesus was quoting Psalms 8:2 which actually reads a little differently. Psalms 8:2 says... Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
Praising God like a little child perfects our praise and establishes a stronghold against our enemies. Being established means it is fixed, secure, and immovable. The Hebrew word for...
For a while I have been working on a new book and the main idea is that God is the source of beauty. God wants to make our lives beautiful and provide beautiful solutions to the problems we face. Here are some scriptures to meditate on today about beauty...
Presence is what I call the grace table turner. When we are present and aware of God's presence with us, it turns the tables and allows God's grace to flow so that we walk in all the things he put within us. The indicator of presence is joy, because in God's presence there is fullness of joy. Therefore, when we are present and in joy God's grace begins to flow allowing us perform in his ability rather than our own.
But, there are many things that try to steal our presence, and one of the biggest is insecurity. When we feel insecure we turn inward to protect ourselves, which steals our presence. This is where it is important to find our security in God, because perfect love casts out all fear. But, to walk securely in God requires trusting and resting in his unfailing love and that nothing is impossible with him. When we learn to trust and rest in him it leads to security, which leads to presence, which leads to joy, which leads to grace flowing.
As we...
Here is this week's Yearly Cycle Update.
Today is day 4 of the 10 Days of Awe. When thinking of AWE think of awe, reverence, and respect for God. These 10 days should be a time to remind us to take action on the things we know to do and to do it cheerfully. Anytime things we know to do pile up on the inside it blocks both our mental clarity and our ability to hear as clearly from God. The goal is that we get to the Day of Atonement(Sept 15-16), with a clear conscience, and nothing piling up on the inside.
Here are some action steps to think through...
You will be amazed at what can get done in the remaining 6 days if you will commit to taking action. As we clear out the things piling up...
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