Salt - March 31 ,2014

Scripture: Leviticus 1-3
13 Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God’s eternal covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings. - Leviticus 2
17 “You must never eat any fat or blood. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation, wherever you live.”
- Leviticus 3

Message:
Your life is an offering to GOD.

Observation/Promise:
Why is salt so important in the Bible? Salt is found in scriptures both in the Old and New Testament, emphasizing it's essential value in food and in offering. Salt represents the taste of food, without salt, we would not enjoy our food. But Salt also preserves the a certain deteriorating thing. It is used to make soaps, plastic, paper, glass and even more than we thought. In His word, when we offer up offerings to GOD, we need to use salt to remind us of GOD's eternal covenant. When we offer or sacrifice, or give up something to GOD, we need to offer it with gladness and not with sadness because what earthly pleasures we give up now is will be repaid back 100 times more when GOD fulfills His promise to us. Our Salt of Gladness will remind us that we are giving up temporary things for the best rewards GOD will soon give us in our lifetime and for eternal rewards in Heaven. For the priests and people of GOD, they are required to give up eating fat or blood and for some people whose local food delicacies include such like this may be hard to do. But when the LORD tells you, do what you have to do.

Application/Command:
Offer your first waking time with GOD everyday and do it with the salt of gladness.
Offer your money or tithe to GOD and give cheerfully.
Give your best skill or talent to GOD and resound in joy!
When you have to sacrifice eating, fast with glad expectation that the LORD is about to do something great and big.
When you have to give up eating certain food, rejoice for you know that GOD is protecting your health and only wants the best for you.

Calling = Purpose March 18, 2014

Scripture: Esther 1-5
10 Ester did not disclose her people or family ties, because Mordekhai had instructed her not to tell anyone. 11 Every day Mordekhai would walk around in front of the courtyard of the harem’s house in order to know how Ester was doing and what was happening to her.
20 Ester had not yet revealed her family ties or her people, as Mordekhai had ordered her; for Ester continued obeying what Mordekhai told her to do, as she had when he was raising her. - Esther 1
15 Ester had them return this answer to Mordekhai: 16 “Go, assemble all the Jews to be found in Shushan, and have them fast for me, neither eating nor drinking for three days, night and day; also I and the girls attending me will fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” - Esther 4
Message:
Sacrificing to do the right thing will lead to greater Honor.

Observation/Promise:

We all have a responsibility on earth. God has called us for such specific purpose to live and act on earth, are we following that calling? Most of the time, our calling will cost us something, and in one way or another we have to sacrifice to the point of our lives just as Yeshua sacrificed His life for mankind for He was called to be the Savior of the world. We still a have choice, whether to sacrifice and live out that calling or not. But somehow there is no greater meaning and significance in life when we live our callings and able to do everything, even sacrifice for what is right. We have to obey what GOD has set for us to do and sometimes obedience is already a sacrifice because we may not want to do what GOD wants us to do but when we do it, there is no regretting.

Command/Application:
Live out your calling and do what is right. Stay faithful and be willing to sacrifice even to the point of death. If you are not living out your calling, there is no meaning to life. When you are bored, you are definitely not living out your calling. Find out what GOD wants you to do and you can only know your purpose through Him because He created you.

Sacrifices

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

- Genesis 8:20-22

An altar is a place where sacrifices are offered for worship. In the olden days people build an altar and sacrifice burned offerings to the LORD for worship. But it is not the same today, we don't have to build an altar to worship GOD or sacrifice the blood of animals because Yeshua was already the last ultimate sacrifice. We have our church or sanctuary, but we can chose a place in our homes, or wherever we are, and that can be an altar where we can worship GOD with our hearts giving a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Why is it a sacrifice? Why is praise and thanksgiving a sacrifice? It becomes a sacrifice when it is difficult to do. In difficult and hard times, we would rather wallow in our sadness and cry than lift up our praise and thanksgiving to the LORD our GOD.

But when we give a sacrifice to GOD, when we do something for HIM that is difficult to do but we give our praise to HIM anyway even when it hurts until it hurts, it is becomes a pleasing aroma to GOD, just like how it was when they sacrificed animals for GOD. Our sacrifices when it pleases GOD brings us new promises from GOD. And so if you are going through hardship and difficult times, give GOD your sacrifice of praise, worship and thanksgiving because then you might please HIM with that sweet aroma of sacrifice causing HIM to bring new promises in your life. As long as you live, the Lord's faithful love will endure and His promise will stand for you as long you remain with Him on earth. Make the most of opportunity in suffering, in difficulty, to offer your sacrifices to GOD today.