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

The Inspired Box - The Lord Is With Me

 

 

Deuteronomy 31:8

The LORD Himself goes before you;

He will be with you. He will never forsake you.

Do not be afraid or discouraged. 

    You are not alone in the annals of time, when you feel discouraged, a little on the edge or alone: you are in great company. Here Moses is speaking encouragement into Joshua's hearing and spirit in front of all the Israelites. For now Moses has entrusted the leadership he held for so long into Joshua's hands. A young leader taking the place of an elder is being blessed in his position by that elder. 

    Do not be afraid, young leader, nor allow discouragement to take hold of your thoughts and do let it rein in your actions. For THE LORD IS WITH YOU. He must lead you where He wants you to go. He must direct your steps and you must walk in the way He has planned and set before you. 

    The LORD has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us. He is ALWAYS with us when we obey His Word, His direction. We must not let distractions draw our attention away from the duties to hand. Distractions take up time which we do not have to spare, for these are the last minutes, even seconds perhaps, before Christ's return. 

    The disciples believed that they were living in the last days before Christ's return to come and gather them with Him. It's been nearly 2.000 years since then and still the church awaits the return of her King. But if 2,000 years was the last days and the last hours, surely we are nearer now. Do not doubt He is coming.

    For The Word says that "in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52) Jesus will come and get His church. "Like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2) He will appear: swiftly, silently, stealthily (for no one will see Him, no one will hear Him and no one will be aware of His approach when His Father sends Him to come and get us. 

    So, stand up young leaders; you who have been called to lead God's people into God's kingdom. Stand on The Word of God as you walk in it. Stand and hear what God is speaking to you today. Stand strong in your LORD and Savior (steadfast on The Rock of your Salvation) and see what The LORD can do. 

    Lead by Christ's example: 

Lead in the all-encompassing love of God

Lead in submission to The Word of God

Lead in surrender to The Word of God

Lead in tender mercies

Lead in lovingkindness

Lead where no one wants to go (to the least of these)

Lead in prisons and hospitals (setting captives free and healing the sick)

Lead in your homes, your schools and your towns 

Lead only where God tells you, directs you, to lead 

Lead in humility (admit failings and triumphs, take responsibility for your actions/words spoken)

Lead with integrity (be honorable and live honestly) 

    Many of the faithful churches which still stand are filled with elders. The young have grown up and moved out of the church and its steadfast doctrine of saving grace. The faint sound of children's voices and happy laughter are just a whisper of memory. But even now God is calling His wandering children to repent and return to Him. Fear not little churches, God will raise up leaders for Himself who will serve Him honorably and humbly. 

Dear Lord,

       We pray that The Holy Spirit would get ahold of each and every one of you who are not serving Him faithfully -- regardless of your age--, convicting you of sin and leading you back to Christ in God. We pray that God would pour out His Holy Spirit upon our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities, our towns and cities, our countries. We pray for a mighty outpouring of God to bring you into His kingdom, drawing you in with His Words of Love and Life. 

In Jesus' Beautiful Name,
Amen. 

FEAR NOT - Carman

LET IT RAIN = Michael W. Smith 

HOLY SPIRIT RAIN DOWN 

  

The Inspired Box - May 2

 

PSALM 27:1

The LORD is The Strength of my life:

of whom shall I be afraid? 

    We are to be bold as lions when we testify of God's amazing grace on our lives (Proverbs 28:1). Though we are like sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16), we are to be shrewd/wise/sensible/cunning (strategic thinking) as serpents and innocent/sincere/blameless/unsophisticated as doves. On a side note, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance describes sheep as "easily led, forward walking". 

    When we follow our Shepherd faithfully, it is entirely possible to be not only a sheep in His flock, His pasture, but also a lion following The LION OF JUDAH (Revelation 5:5). When Christ spoke to the crowds surrounding Him, He told them He could only speak what His Father was speaking. When we hear Him speak to us, we hear our Father speaking His Word over us and into us. This is our STRENGTH. What, indeed, do we have to fear from anyone? 

    Since we see that God's people are likened to sheep, we also see that the places we will go when we speak God's Word into the ears of those who hear us, will be the territories of they who will try to kill us, for that is what wolves do:they are predatory and viciously attack when least expected. Our weapon in overcoming these wolves are the same as David's: his faith in God to give him strength to defend his position and his flock.  Sometimes the wolves will be allowed to win and overcome the Christian, at other times The Word of God will cause the wolves to cower and slink away. Psalm 27:2. 

    Let us kneel before God in the privacy of our prayer closets/war rooms and find strength in His presence, seeking only to be with Him in His kingdom. And in these times of prayer with our God, let us also pray to be filled with His Light, His Word and His Spirit that we may truly walk as lions in a world filled with wolves. 

THIS IS THE AIR I BREATHE - Michael W. Smith 

CONSUMING FIRE - Hillsong    

 

The Inspired Box - Intro & May 1st

 

THE INSPIRED BOX - Their Legacy to me; My Inheritance from them. 

COVER

INSET

BACK

 

SCROLLS

 

Though the little box started with over one hundred daily Bread scrolls, as you can see there are some missing. Otherwise they would all stack nicely in an upright position. 

MAY 1 {No. 104 in the box}

 

Joel 2:25
I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.
This is but part of the promise of restoration in this verse. The whole verse reads:
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you.

Why would God send these destructions against HIs people? In judgement. Joel 2:1-11. But not until after the people repent and return to God will His restoration begin. Joel 2:12-17.

Let us repent (confess our sins to God and turn from doing them to obeying God's Word) and return to our God, Who loves us and gave Himself for us - Titus 2:14 - that He might redeem us from sin and make us His own people.

As He draws near us, let us draw ever nearer to Him; so close in His embrace that we can not only know His heart but hear His heartbeat. For God's heart beats for the lost souls who have neither repented, nor returned to Him. And He's calling each and every one of them to come home. 

SOFTLY AND TENDERLY - Vince Gill 

COME TO THE ALTAR - Elevation Worship