A Temple Built by Sacrifice

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. Exodus 25:2.
God Himself gave to Moses the plan of that structure [the sanctuary], with particular directions as to its size and form, the materials to be employed, and every article of furniture which it was to contain. The holy places made with hands were to be “figures of the true” (Hebrews 9:24), “patterns of things in the heavens” (Hebrews 9:23)—a miniature representation of the heavenly temple where Christ, our great high priest, after offering His life as a sacrifice, was to minister in the sinner’s behalf….
For the building of the sanctuary, great and expensive preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most precious and costly material was required; yet the Lord accepted only freewill offerings. “Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering,” was the divine command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were the first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High.
All the people responded with one accord. “They came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets … : and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.” Exodus 35:21, 22….
The people, old and young—men, women, and children—continued to bring their offerings, until those in charge of the work found that they had enough, and even more than could be used….
All who love the worship of God, and prize the blessing of His sacred presence, will manifest the same spirit of sacrifice in preparing a house where He may meet with them.
If there was ever a time when sacrifices should be made, it is now.
The Faith I Live By p. 193
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—Lou is back in the hospital in ICU. Please continue to pray for her. Eileen
—-Please pray for Viola, she will be having surgery in the morning for cancer! Sandra
—-Asking prayers for Julia a young mother in serious health condition. Imelda
—-We are in the process of moving. Please pray that the rest of this procedure goes better than the first part has. Buck
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
When I was eight, my mother took me to Nashville, Tennessee during the Christmas holidays. We rode there with Don, the man I wrote about yesterday. He was on his way to Florida to sing in a nightclub there. In Indiana, we stopped to pick up a friend of his who also was a nightclub singer. While at this man’s house, his mother gave us some gingerbread cookies to eat on the trip. She was very kind. I liked her instantly.
As we traveled along, we all munched on those cookies. They were very hard and crunchy and before long, Don and his friend began to sing, “Terrible Terry the termite, crunch, crunch, crunch!” It made me laugh. Before long, my mother and I were singing the little ditty.
Over the years, I remembered Don and his friend. Although I knew that they had ruined their lives by the wrong choices they had made, I remembered them for how nice they were to me.
Children are impressed by kindness. Children remember both kindness and unkindness done to them. How careful we must be in our dealing with children. What seems like a little thing to us, shapes the child’s life. Whatever happens in childhood lasts a lifetime.
Our Dear Saviour was always kind to children. In fact, He rebuked his disciples when they looked upon children as not worth His notice. “And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.” “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Luke 18:15-17,1-6
May we be careful in our dealings with the little lambs in the flock of the Good Shepherd. May we teach God’s Holy Word diligently unto the children “when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” Deut 6:6, 7 May we so live that we will lead them in the right way is my prayer.
Rose