SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2011 7:56 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: We Must Give our
Gifts to God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Nehemiah
12:44-47
Message
of the verses: “44 On that day men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms
for the offerings, the first part of the harvest, and the tithes. They were
responsible to collect from the fields outside the towns the portions required
by the Law for the priests and Levites. For all the people of Judah took joy in
the priests and Levites and their work. 45 They performed the service of their
God and the service of purification, as commanded by David and his son Solomon,
and so did the singers and the gatekeepers. 46 The custom of having choir
directors to lead the choirs in hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God began
long ago in the days of David and Asaph. 47 So now, in the days of Zerubbabel
and of Nehemiah, all Israel brought a daily supply of food for the singers, the
gatekeepers, and the Levites. The Levites, in turn, gave a portion of what they
received to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.”
This section is about giving, and
God has much to say about giving in His Word.
As this celebration continued to unfold this was the last thing that the
children of Israel would do and it was an important thing to do. In the Law of the Lord the children of Israel
were instructed on how they were to give to the work of the Lord, and now since
they had the temple rebuilt they needed to make sure that these laws were
followed so that the work of the Lord through the temple worship could
continue. As seen in verse 44 the people
were pleased with the work that the priest and the Levites were doing and so
that made it easier for them to give their tithes to support them in their work
for the Lord. Again we see both David
and Solomon’s names in the section that is being looked at, for they had set up
many things that contributed to the work of the Lord through the temple worship
and the people were eager to follow their instructions.
When one looks at verse 44 in the
context of the church today it also makes sense that people will give to the
work of the Lord when they are pleased with the leaders in their local
church. Paul says in 2 Cor. 9:7 that
believers are to give to the Lord “not
grudgingly or of necessity” but joyfully and with a happy heart. J. Hudson Taylor used to say, “When God’s work is done in
God’s way for God’s glory, it will not lack God’s support.” I have been in churches where there was not
any way that I could support what they were doing, for the services were weak,
and it was difficult to learn from what they offered.
As I have thought about giving to
the Lord, and I have done a lot of think about this subject, I have come to the
conclusion that it is really a great privilege for me to give to the work of
the Lord, and the reason that I think in this way is because God does not need
what I have to offer to Him, but God does accept my gift if given in a proper
way. The Bible teaches that God owns
everything, for after all He created everything, and believers are stewards of
what the Lord has entrusted them with and therefore I, as a believer am to give
to the cause of Christ out of what God has blessed me with, but realizing that
God owns it all. I once was talking to a
man at my place of work and he began to brag to me that he owned his house, for
after all he had bought and paid for it. The man was probably in his early
sixty’s and I said to him that I did not believe that he owned it, to which he
disagreed, so I told him that who would have possession of “his” house a
hundred years from now. I doubt that
this made much impression to him, but I felt that it was a small way of talking
to him about the Lord.
The celebration is now over for the
children of Israel, and one must wonder if it would last, and of course the
answer is, no it will not last, and we will see about this in chapter thirteen
of the book of Nehemiah.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
thankful for verse 44 for from this verse I have come to realize that my
actions were correct when I chose not to give to certain ministries. My very favorite places to give to the Lord
are to the missionaries that leave everything and go to places that they have
been called to go. One of those works is
in the country of Bangladesh where a former Pastor of mine used to go and teach
in a Bible School. I have gotten to know
the man who leads that Bible Study and have come to love and support the work
that he is doing there. He can do more
work with very little funds than anyone that I have ever met. One can build a small church building there
for about $12,000, and that would include the land. Christianity is really growing under the
ministry that God has given to this man and it is a great privilege to support
his ministry for this reason, for people are coming to know the Lord, and are
growing in their new found faith.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Trust that the Lord will guide me in my giving for
the cause of Christ.
2.
Continue to learn contentment.
3.
Trust the
Lord to see me through this illness that I am going through.
9/11/2011
8:37:54 AM
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