The inspired Box - Complete Joy

 

 

Deuteronomy 16:15

For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to

The LORD your God

in the place He will choose, because 

The LORD your God

will bless you in all your produce

and in the work of your hands,

so that your joy will be complete.

(Berean Study Bible)

    The seven day feast referred to here in this passage is The Feast of Tabernacles, which was to be celebrated with joy for God's providence in their harvests. The first cutting of the harvest was to be brought before The Lord and given to Him joyfully and with a willing heart. 

    This week-long celebration was a remembrance feast, as all such feasts were. A tabernacle is a temporary shelter, like a tent, in which they were to stay for the seven days, remembering a time when they wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt. It is a time for giving God thanks for His caring of them at that time. 

    How does this apply to us today? We who wandered in the darkness of this world also dwelt in temporary structures, but now we reside in Christ. Even when we didn't know God and God's blessings, still God called us out of that darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). For this reason we rejoice with holy (sacred) joy. As they were to rejoice daily even after the feast had ended, we, too are encouraged to rejoice every day (1 Thessalonians 5:16). 

    Is my joy complete? Absolutely. I rejoice in The God of my salvation, too (Habakkuk 3:18). I rejoice with words spoken to Him. I rejoice with songs I write about Him. I rejoice with songs I sing about Him and to Him. I rejoice because I can't help it: I Want To Rejoice. I want to please God with my worship. I want Him to receive my worship, so therefore, I must, with all my heart and mind and soul endeavor to do that which pleases Him: obey His Word and receive His Son into my heart, His Holy Spirit into my life. 

    And in so doing The Lord God will bless me and you. He will bless whatever work we put our hands to doing for His service. He will bless our increase. And again, we rejoice in our God. We rise up and bless His holy Name, for it is this Name which saves us. It is this Name which heals us. It is this Name which covers us. It is this Name which we rejoice in. The Name of Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. 

    No longer do we wander in the desert of this world, for Christ has become our Tabernacle. This Tabernacle is not temporary, but this body in which my soul and my spirit reside is. Someday I will leave it and be home with Christ evermore. This day when The Tabernacle of God is permanent is coming: Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, The Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God." For this cause also, I rejoice. 

    Soon and very soon Jesus will return for His people, His bride. And we will be gone in 'the twinkling of an eye' (1 Corinthians 15:52) and 'as a thief in the night' (2 Peter 3:10). Will you go with us? Or will you be left behind? It's your choice. Just hope you make the right choice. 

10,000 REASONS - Matt Redman 

BLESS GOD - Brooke Ligertwood

BLESS GOD - Cody Carnes

RUN TO THE FATHER - Cody Carnes

I'm Counting My Blessings

 

PSALM 39:4

“LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah."

BLEsSINg Number 1:

    I am thankful for my life, this life which God has given me. He gives me breath and keeps my heart beating. He fills me with His Peace that I may go through the storms of life -- the tragedies, the haters, the betrayers - - with dignity and integrity. He teaches me to fill my days with that which honors and glorifies Him, that when I look back on my life I may see how God delivered me and saved me even when I didn't even know Him yet. How He wooed me and drew me ever closer to Him. He's still drawing me closer and closer.

BLESSing NumBer 2:

    I am thankful for the life eternal which He has promised me. When this body of mine finally reaches its full potential, I will push through to the other side and receive a new body. Just like when a seed pushes through the ground and becomes a seedling reaching for sunlight and rain, I will see The Son and feel the breeze of heaven on my face. 

BleSsinG NuMber 3:

    I am thankful for a godly husband, a man who walks in integrity and wisdom. A man who came into this marriage with a ready made family and raised each of mine as his own, as raised his son as my own. Though our families were broken, God renewed us in His love and compassion and made us one family. 

BlesSiNg numBer 4:

    I am thankful for the ministry for which God is preparing us. I don't know where He is leading us, but I'm going with The Lord anyway. He knows what He's doing and I trust Him. He's not finished with us yet. Retirement is not the "golden years". The "golden years" are yet to come: when we're in heaven and walk on golden streets. 

BlessinG NumbEr 5:

    I am thankful I have blessings. I have so many wonderful gifts from God that I can only begin to count them, but I definitely cannot finish counting. For there are blessing from God which I am not even aware of at this time. It is only when He shows me who I am in Him that I will know why I went through the fire and the rain and the winds. 

COUNTING EVERY BLESSING - Rend Collective

    I love that there are four seasons in a year. Each season brings something new to the table that I might taste and see the goodness of The Lord. Weatherwise, Autumn is my favorite. I love the comfortable weather, the changing colors of the leaves, the smell of woodsmoke wafting through the air and the smell of apple pie coming from the oven. 

    Every season has its moments. Spring brings me all the beautiful flowers and songbirds. Summer fills my freezer and pantry with tasty garden harvests. Winter I am not a fan of so much, even though I like a little snow at Christmas ( but then it can go away). I love the gatherings with family and friends on special days, but the days someone just drops in are few and far between now. I must be in the season of winter in my life: the resting period, a kind of hibernation from the world that I was so active in to a quiet, almost lonely place (but not alone, for He is with me always). 

    I am blessed that God chose me to be His own. I am blessed that God allowed His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for my sins. I am blessed to have His precious Holy Spirit living in me, filling me with His Word and guiding me in His Will. These are my greatest blessings. And I adore Him for loving me so. 

    

Counting My Blessings ~ 30 Days of A Thankful Heart