Tag: faithfully

3.d. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

2 Chronicles 31:1  Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.

And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to minister in the gates of the camp of the Lord and to give thanks and praise. The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the Lord. And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the Lord. As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and laid them in heaps. In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. Azariah the chief priest, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.”

Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. And they faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The chief officer in charge of them was Conaniah the Levite, with Shimei his brother as second, while Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers assisting Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the chief officer of the house of God. And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the east gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to apportion the contribution reserved for the Lord and the most holy offerings. Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah were faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their brothers, old and young alike, by divisions, except those enrolled by genealogy, males from three years old and upward—all who entered the house of the Lord as the duty of each day required—for their service according to their offices, by their divisions. The enrollment of the priests was according to their fathers’ houses; that of the Levites from twenty years old and upward was according to their offices, by their divisions. They were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole assembly, for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy. And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of common land belonging to their cities, there were men in the several cities who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone among the Levites who was enrolled.

Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

Leviticus 27:30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD.

Numbers 18:8-21   Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due.

Malachi 3:8-10    Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.  You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.  Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Giving to the Lord and willing to give to His work, purpose, and plans are our privilege.  Giving our meager offering to the Creator of all there is seems a bit meaningless on the surface.  What can we give that we weren’t given first by Him?  David put it like this; “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”  God does care for us.  He protects us. He has plans and purposes for us.  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

This same God has asked us to give back to Him of our first and best.  He has given us the opportunity to choose to freely to obey to do this out of our reverence and humble service to Him.  He does not take it from us saying “that is Mine give it back” rather He blesses us with so much more than we can imagine and it seems through these blessings a man’s true heart, mind, and soul are tested.  We choose deep in our heart to follow and obey Jesus Christ.  We choose deep in our heart and soul to honor and glorify Him in our thoughts and actions.  We choose deep in our heart, soul, and mind to trust and rely on Him for what we have and need.  We have a battle in our heart and mind for these choices.  The battle between “it is mine and I am going to keep it and get more of it and trust in it” and “it has been given to me by God for His plans and purposes and I have purposed in my heart to hear Him speak and lead me in how to freely use it for His honor and glory.  Set your heart to be a cheerful giver, thankful giver, frequent giver, and one who finds great satisfaction in generosity.

2.f. That I may know what more the LORD will say to me.

2 Chronicles 18:5  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.”

Numbers 22:18-20   But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more.  So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.”  And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”

Jeremiah 23:28    Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully.

Ezekiel 2:7    And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Galatians 1:10    For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 2:4    but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Micaiah spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.  Balaam spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind. Ezekiel spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.  Paul spoke what the Holy Spirit spoke into his heart and mind.  Jeremiah spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.

We must want to be in the presence of God and have a deep desire to hear the leading of the Holy Spirit.  “Seek Me and I will be found,” “Desire Me and I will give you the desires of your heart,” “Come to Me and I will give you rest,” “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”

All of these words from God invite us to come to Him, seek Him, run to Him, desire Him, love Him, and believe, trust, rely upon and cling to Him.  They are words inviting us to surrender ourselves into His arms.  They are words inviting us to want Him more that things of this world.  They are words inviting us to open wide our heart and let Him flood us with knowledge and understanding of grace, mercy, and love for those who are called by His name and thereby love, seek, and desire Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

We only get to this place of surrender by intentionally choosing to surrender our self-centered, self-satisfying, self-honoring, self-pleasing, self-reliant, self-trusting, self-honoring lives.  It is almost impossible to fathom how this change could happen because we have lived so long with this way of living.  How is it we could change from listening to self to that of actively listening to the Holy Spirit?  The good thing is it is not up to our strength and power.  It is only by when we surrender our heart, mind, and soul to the full control, full purpose, and full authority to Jesus Christ will we be able to.  In this humble servant attitude, we find our ears hearing clearly and our mind understanding and our soul rejoicing in and how the Holy Spirit of God is indwelling and leading every moment of our lives. His word takes on a new refreshing place in our heart.  Every day we seem to see something more profound, more clear, and more applicable from Him.  We grow and mature in our walk with Him.  We learn to hear His whispers of leading.  We rely on Him more. We cling to Him more. We trust in Him more.  And though it sounds backward, the weaker we are to self the stronger we become in and through this yielding to the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Our goal is to live every moment in humble service, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, obeying, and trusting Him and saying “As the Lord speaks so shall I do and speak”

101. Consider what great things He has done for you.

1 Samuel 12:6  And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

How does a nation fall away from God?  You have to know that there was the first person who laid the idea, thought, and groundwork for the path leading away from God.  Then others just joined in and soon you have a society modifying God’s word/teachings to fit what they think best.  God’s word does not change.  Expectations, rules, statutes, precepts, commands, promises are all the same.  When the church, individuals, believers, spend less and less time in His word, and more and more time being influenced by culture, society there is a drifting away from God that takes place so secretly that the person does not even recognize it happening.  Tozer said; “We do well to admit this is happening, but we should not accept it as normal, and we should not accept it as inevitable that we are shaped by the world.”  Paul said; “Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Tozer: “That we have to some extent conformed to the world is proof of our weakness.”  We must recognize our neglect, repent, turn back to God and His word, and through obedience to His word, and with thankful hearts of the grace and mercy shown to us through the sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, live humbly serving, honoring, worshiping, following, and obeying.  Through His word, we will find truth and this truth will set us free from the clutches of the worldly passions and desires that rob us of victoriously living for Jesus Christ who is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory forever.

54. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Deuteronomy 28:1   “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 11:13    “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul

Exodus 15:26    saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

Psalms 111:10    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

Isaiah 1:19     If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Isaiah 55:2-3    Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant

Luke 11:28     But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Listen diligently to Me, willing and obedient, do what is right in His eyes, give ear to His commandments, serve Him with all your heart and soul.  How can these words from scripture be taken any other way than how they are presented.

Listen diligently – is a choice to want to hear God speak into your heart, soul, mind, life.

Be willing and obedient – is a choice to act on what God is speaking into your life.

Doing what is right in His eyes – is a choice that actively searches God’s word with a desire to grow in understanding and knowledge so that your life honors and glorifies God.

Serve Him – is a choice that recognizes worldly stuff and self and chooses to serve Jesus Christ for His honor and glory.

It is all a choice of the heart, mind, and soul.  Don’t be neglectful or complacent with choices of serving and honoring God.

Hear and Learn

Deuteronomy 31:12  Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Psalms 78:4-8     We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.  He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,  that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,  so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;  and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Proverbs 22:6     Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Ephesians 6:4   Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 11:2     And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,

We have an awesome responsibility and privilege to speak of God and live for Him so that others might hear and see the hope we have in the power, might, strength, grace, love, and mercy of God.

We should not take this lightly for each day gives us opportunity to bring glory, honor and praise to Him.  God’s word spoken will not return void, our prayers will not be unheard, and a softening of their heart can take place.  Yet at the end of the day it each persons choice to believe in God and through faith come to salvation through Christ.

When we believe, and are saved, redeemed, forgiven and have heart, mind, and soul deep knowledge and understanding of God and the everlasting light He has opened up to us, it is hard to make sense of how we lived and believed before.  We are born again, a new creation, where all things are new and morning by morning new mercies we see.

God’s word in our lives each day will have purpose for growing our love for Him and faith in Him.  Many will try to make sense of the world through wisdom of man, denying God.  Be mindful we too were once lost and without hope.  Live to bring light of God to those still living in darkness.  You never know who those  who choose to live in darkness will have their heart softened by God through you.  Tell of all of his glorious works, wonders, might, and ever lasting love for those who call upon Him.