Scripture:

Exodus 36:2

2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work

"What Has God Put In Your Heart?"

When I read Exodus, I am reminded that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord (James 1:17), but what blows me away are these words, "everyone whose heart was stirred to come do the work."   Incredible revelation, this means that God gives us amazing gifts, but we must choose, be stirred up, and be willing to use them.    Are there things in your life that you are holding back, things that God has gifted you with, that you are not using for His glory?

The application here is to examine your life, and see if there are giftings that you have been given by God that you are not using to bring Him glory, to do His work, and reevaluate your position.   It is time to stir yourself up, stir your heart to serve God, to do His good work, to use the gifts He has given you to bring Him Glory, to extend His Kingdom.

Lord, I pray that we would not squander the gifts you have given us, that we would be fully stirred to use them for your glory, to expand and enlarge them, to fully put them to the work of the Lord, that others may see them and glorify your name, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Exodus 33:14-15

14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

"With Him"

What a great portion of scripture, Exodus 33, so many treasures.   But this being one of my favorites, see Moses asking the Lord: "Who will go with us?"  The Lord responds with "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."  My presence, let that sink in for a moment, the Lord wants to be with us, to go with us, to be our God, to be our Lord, to be our Strength, to be our Peace, our Assurance...  Notice that Moses quickly shifts with the most important response: "If your presence does not go with us."   Then we do not want to go, don't send us. It should be our desire to never do anything without the Lord, you can see why the Lord was upset with His people in Samuel when they asked for a King, because He was their King... let that simmer.

To desire the presence of the Lord, to always include the Lord in your plans.   In doing so you bring everything the Lord brings into them: strength, power, peace, provision, purpose, wisdom, and direction, and nothing can compare to that.   May you and I decide to never go without the Lord, to plan without Him, to do without Him, may we always decide that His presence is the most important factor in anything we do.

Lord, how we long for your presence, in our day-to-day, in our plans, in our present, in our future, don't send us without you, don't let us make decisions without you, let our hearts be fully given over to you, let your grace, mercy and peace be over us as we sit in your presence, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Exodus 30:12

12 “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a[a] ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them.

"Bought With a Price"

You and I have been bought with a price. When you read the Old Testament, you discover how seriously God takes censuses.   Your first thought is probably what is the big deal about counting, I know that had been mine, but when you get the perspective that everything, including us, belongs to God:

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Psalm 24:1

The idea that we are His, we have been redeemed by Him, this is why censuses are Holy to the Lord, because we were bought at a price and this is demonstrated in Exodus 30:12, and it foreshadows Jesus' sacrifice, where He paid the price, the ransom with His life, His sacrifice was better, no, it was perfect.

Exodus 30:12: The ransom was a "half-shekel of silver," a contribution to the Lord to acknowledge Him as owner.

Jesus’ Parallel: We were not redeemed with "perishable things such as silver or gold," but with the "precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). 

To remember that we were bought at a price, we are not our own, but belong to the Lord, we are His people, all that we are, all that we will be, all that we have, will have, our future is because of Him, and the price He was willing to pay for us.

Lord, let us not lose sight of your great Love for us, that you redeemed us, paid a price for us, purchased us, set us free from the slavery of sin, from the debt of our past, for freedom you have redeemed us, and we should praise you for it every day, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Exodus 28:3-4

3 So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.

"The Work of Our Hands" 

I love this portion as it reminds us of two very important things: First is that our Giftings come from the LORD, the things we are "gifted" at, come from Him.  The second is that what the LORD has put us to task with is for His Glory, it is good, here in Exodus, we are reminded that it is Holy to the Lord.   I think we miss that our work that is given over to the Lord, not only does He give us the ability, the skill, the giftedness in that area, but He consecrates it, because it is in His service, it is Holy to Him.   

Our application here is that we would recognize the giftings in our life come from Him and that this would produce gratitude, that all that we have He has provided, this should cause us to pause and be grateful.  The second is the things that He has sent us to do for Him, these are Holy to Him, it is set apart work, not like our job, and it should be treated with more respect than anything we do, even though we are instructed to do all work as unto Him, I believe the things we do for God, we must do them with reverence, that they are set apart.

Father, I thank you today for the giftings in my life, that when there is a need, a skill, you can give it to me.   I thank for the things you have entrusted me with, the Kingdom work that you have sent me to do, thank you for the reminder that this is "set apart" for you, that it is special, holy and it should be treated that way, in Jesus name, Amen!

Scripture:

Exodus 25:1-3

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze;

When you read chapters 25-27, you get construction details for the tabernacle that the Lord told the people to build. There are two major things about that, the first being that it says that He gave each of the craftsmen their skill, and the second is that He provided the material they gave. You might miss that if you didn't remember it if you didn't remember Exodus 12:25-25.

So, that being said, when God was asking them to give as their heart prompted them, cheerful giving, willing givers, people who give out of their love for God, not out of obligation.   The amazing bit, is something that you miss probably daily is that God is "Jireh" our provider, so it is He who provided your skill, in this case God provided the plunder that He instructed Moses to ask the people who were willing to give for some of it, to do what?  To build a place in which He could "DWELL" among them.

So, today our application here is to recognize that all that we have, all the is provided is from Him, He is our source, when we give we are only giving back what He already provided.  Second thing is that we should give out of our love for Him, not out of our obligation, He is the provider, He doesn't want our money, but rather our hearts.

Lord, I pray that we would consider today where we are in our giving, what is our heart position, that we would consider all that you have provided and give according to that, that we would be generous because we love you, because you deserve our devotion, our hearts, may we consider all that you do, the wonder of who you are and may our serving, our giving, our doing for you increase, in the name of Jesus, Amen!