Giving Faithfully
Exodus 36
Building a Community centered on Love
This blog is where I do a Bible Reading. I read a passage from the Bible and then I write down my own thoughts on what I read. I would love to know your thoughts as well!
Showing posts with label Exodus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exodus. Show all posts
Sunday, 10 April 2016
Bible Reading #169 - Giving Faithfully
Monday, 15 February 2016
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #146
Looking Back
Exodus 39
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 32) "So all the work on the inner tent, the tent of meeting, was now done. The Israelites followed all the LORD's instructions to Moses." (v. 33a) "Then they brought everything to Moses..." (v. 42-43) "The Israelites had done all the work following the LORD's instructions to Moses. Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had followed the LORD's instructions. So Moses blessed them."
My Thoughts
Do you ever look back at or think back to anything? You finished a project that you have been on for a long time and you look back at it to make sure all is good. Or you think back to when you first started learning something new and you think about how much you've improved and progressed since then and all the things you have done so far, and will some day, achieve.
Looking back is necessary to improve further. You learn from your mistakes and you remind yourself of things you may have forgotten. Remember the mistakes and look for imperfections and ways that you can improve upon what you are doing now or have done for a long time. It's important in order to progress further.
In the case of work that you have finished, it is important to review it to make sure that it is up to the standard that you want. If you don't do it yourself, then having someone to do it for you is good as well. In fact, having someone else, or even multiple people, to review your work and give you feedback is good anyway because other people always have different ideas and viewpoints and perspectives that can help us to improve even more.
God gave Moses instructions as to what He wanted to be done and how. Moses gave those instructions to the Israelite workers and they did the work. When they were finished, Moses inspected all the work they had done and found that it was all in line with the instructions God had given.
With anything that you do, it is good to look for the critique and opinion of others. Other people tend to see what we miss with our work and can point those things out. In turn, we can then improve what we are doing and become more efficient and proficient and progress more and faster.
You can apply Exodus 39 directly to your life as well. The work is your life and the choices you make. We want our life; our choices to be exactly as God commanded and in line with what He wants so that when He looks back and we look back at our lives God will say, "It was exactly as I commanded."
Looking back is necessary to improve further. You learn from your mistakes and you remind yourself of things you may have forgotten. Remember the mistakes and look for imperfections and ways that you can improve upon what you are doing now or have done for a long time. It's important in order to progress further.
In the case of work that you have finished, it is important to review it to make sure that it is up to the standard that you want. If you don't do it yourself, then having someone to do it for you is good as well. In fact, having someone else, or even multiple people, to review your work and give you feedback is good anyway because other people always have different ideas and viewpoints and perspectives that can help us to improve even more.
God gave Moses instructions as to what He wanted to be done and how. Moses gave those instructions to the Israelite workers and they did the work. When they were finished, Moses inspected all the work they had done and found that it was all in line with the instructions God had given.
With anything that you do, it is good to look for the critique and opinion of others. Other people tend to see what we miss with our work and can point those things out. In turn, we can then improve what we are doing and become more efficient and proficient and progress more and faster.
You can apply Exodus 39 directly to your life as well. The work is your life and the choices you make. We want our life; our choices to be exactly as God commanded and in line with what He wants so that when He looks back and we look back at our lives God will say, "It was exactly as I commanded."
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #131
God's Presence
Exodus 40
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 34) "Then the column of smoke covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tent."
My Thoughts
Have you ever felt God's presence? How would you even know; what does God's presence feel like? I can't really answer that, but what I do know is that you will know when you feel Him. It would have been cool to be there when God, appearing physically as a cloud and fire, filled the tent of meeting that the Israelites had finished working on.
I have felt God's presence before in different ways, and I think how you feel and what you feel is different for everyone, and different depending on the situation. I mean, maybe what specifically happens is different, but the feeling may be the same? I don't really know. I know that when I have felt Him, what happened may have been different, but the feeling of God's presence is the same in each. It's weird and hard to explain.
I just think that it's pretty cool the Israelites got to physically see and feel God in the form of a cloud and also fire. Even though we may not experience God the same way, we can still experience Him greatly. Through worship, prayer and even the actions or words of another person.
Sometimes we experience God in things that we do, like singing or athletics. It's hard to really focus on God alone when you're doing those things because you have to focused on what you're doing. You can still keep God at the center and just not forget Him while you're doing whatever it is that you're doing. I also always ask God to keep me focused on Him in what I am doing.
I still pray when I am busy, but not the same way. Just like we can talk to each other without words, we can do the same with God. He made us, so He understands everything about us, better than we even do. Even if you're not thinking about it at the time, but maybe before or after or both, try to see where God is in what you do.
I have felt God's presence before in different ways, and I think how you feel and what you feel is different for everyone, and different depending on the situation. I mean, maybe what specifically happens is different, but the feeling may be the same? I don't really know. I know that when I have felt Him, what happened may have been different, but the feeling of God's presence is the same in each. It's weird and hard to explain.
I just think that it's pretty cool the Israelites got to physically see and feel God in the form of a cloud and also fire. Even though we may not experience God the same way, we can still experience Him greatly. Through worship, prayer and even the actions or words of another person.
Sometimes we experience God in things that we do, like singing or athletics. It's hard to really focus on God alone when you're doing those things because you have to focused on what you're doing. You can still keep God at the center and just not forget Him while you're doing whatever it is that you're doing. I also always ask God to keep me focused on Him in what I am doing.
I still pray when I am busy, but not the same way. Just like we can talk to each other without words, we can do the same with God. He made us, so He understands everything about us, better than we even do. Even if you're not thinking about it at the time, but maybe before or after or both, try to see where God is in what you do.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
Friday, 15 January 2016
Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #115
Advice
Exodus 18
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| I pray blessings on you as you read. |
(v. 17) "Moses' father-in-law replied, 'What you are doing is not good." (v. 19) "Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him." (v. 24) "Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said."
My Thoughts
It can be hard to accept advice from others sometimes. You don't think that you're doing anything wrong, or maybe you like how you're doing it already. Maybe it's the person giving you advice, and you see that they really aren't any better, so who are they to talk, right? No matter the reason, at least let the person say what they want to say before you write them or their advice off.
Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, gave him some advice on how he was running things, dealing with the people's disputes. He started out quite harsh too, saying "What you are doing is not good." Straight and to the point. He could've started a little nicer instead of being so harsh, but the main thing is that his attitude and intentions were not rude or harsh or arrogant. That is something that, unfortunately, is not so true for a lot of people today.
I'm sure that Moses knew Jethro was trying to help. Sometimes it's hard to know that though, so at the very least, listen to the advice someone gives you, maybe try it, and then if you really don't agree with it, you don't have to keep it. Also, if you're going to ask someone for advice, then you definitely should listen, unless you know or find that it was bad advice. I've had people ask me what my advice is on things, and then completely ignore it. Don't be that person, unless it was bad advice.
Moses listened and did everything that his father-in-law said because it was good advice, and definitely was better than what Moses was doing previously. We should have his attitude about receiving advice from others because we may think that what we're doing is good or best, but maybe it actually isn't. That's why we should listen to what someone says before we write them off.
Be more willing to accept advice from people this week, even if you don't like the person or the manner with which they give you advice, just be more willing to listen to them, then make a decision afterward. Maybe even ask someone for advice for something that you know you struggle a bit with.
Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, gave him some advice on how he was running things, dealing with the people's disputes. He started out quite harsh too, saying "What you are doing is not good." Straight and to the point. He could've started a little nicer instead of being so harsh, but the main thing is that his attitude and intentions were not rude or harsh or arrogant. That is something that, unfortunately, is not so true for a lot of people today.
I'm sure that Moses knew Jethro was trying to help. Sometimes it's hard to know that though, so at the very least, listen to the advice someone gives you, maybe try it, and then if you really don't agree with it, you don't have to keep it. Also, if you're going to ask someone for advice, then you definitely should listen, unless you know or find that it was bad advice. I've had people ask me what my advice is on things, and then completely ignore it. Don't be that person, unless it was bad advice.
Moses listened and did everything that his father-in-law said because it was good advice, and definitely was better than what Moses was doing previously. We should have his attitude about receiving advice from others because we may think that what we're doing is good or best, but maybe it actually isn't. That's why we should listen to what someone says before we write them off.
Be more willing to accept advice from people this week, even if you don't like the person or the manner with which they give you advice, just be more willing to listen to them, then make a decision afterward. Maybe even ask someone for advice for something that you know you struggle a bit with.
Prayer Time
Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.
Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!
