This week remember that your feelings are not always based on reality. So when you are feeling stressed or anxious, or even happy or excited, don’t make decisions based on these feelings. If necessary, wait until the emotions pass (and they will, eventually). Emotions are not reliable, and they rarely tell you the truth. Instead, as always, go to Father. “Daddy, what is YOUR Truth here? What do I need to do in this situation?” He will always give you wisdom.
Author Archives: Dianne
The Tithe Goes to the Levites (Numbers 18:19-28)
19″All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you.” 20Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
21″Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 22Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ” 25Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26″Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, a tenth of the tithe. 27And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress. 28Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the Lord from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the Lord’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest.'”
Israel was directed to tithe directly to the Levites, the tribe of Israel that was set aside as a tithe of the people to be holy unto the Lord. It was to be their inheritance, or payment, since they would be completely devoted to the administration and implementation of the tabernacle of the Lord and its ordinances, feasts, etc. They didn’t even have any “land” of their own, but were given several regions from the other tribes in which to live. They were to spend all of their time ministering to the Lord and to His people. The Levites, in turn, were to tithe what they received to the Lord, in the form of a heave offering (which meant it was held up to the Lord), which was in turn offered to Aaron and his family, or whomever was the High Priest. THE TITHE DESCRIBED HERE WAS SET ASIDE FOR THE LEVITES AND HIGH PRIEST.
Spiritually speaking, there are only two kinds of people on the earth today — dead and alive! God first created man after His own likeness: as like begets like, Spirit begets Spirit. The thing brought forth depends on the seed.
Human Spirit?
There is no specific mention of a “human spirit” in the scriptures. The idea is expressed in a variety of ways, from spirit to heart and kidney in the Old Testament, yet the same word, pneuma, is rendered evil spirit and the spirit of God in the New Testament (for instance, in the first chapter of Mark the word “spirit” is rendered as the Spirit of God, Jesus’s spirit, and unclean spirits). In this case, the scriptures shed surprisingly little light on this issue, except that one of the purposes of the Word is to divide between an individual’s spirit and soul. This is important, in that it clearly differentiates between the two, even if there is no clarification of the boundaries, purposes or destiny of each (there is no mention of an eternal soul, or eternal spirit, for that matter). It is the spirit that communicates with and relates to God. Since we were born dead in our spirit, it took an act of the spirit to enable us to even hear God’s knocking. Without our spirits functioning, we had to make do with what we had control over — our soul (mind, will and emotions) and our body to meet our God-given needs for love, acceptance and value.
Spirit of God
Generally speaking, when we speak of something in terms of its being “spiritual,” what we are really saying is that it has a spiritual source and spiritual attributes. What are these attributes, and where do they come from? If like begets like, and Spirit begets Spirit, what is true of the seed is true of what that seed grows into, even if it appears different. For example, Jesus was begotten of the Father, by the Holy Spirit. What attributes are we speaking of here? Holiness, Righteousness, Peace, Eternal Life, Joy, Omnipotence, Omniscience, et cetera. All of the characteristics or attributes of the Father are found in the Son through the Holy Spirit! So for something to be truly Spiritual, it would have to have those same characteristics. Likewise the spiritual realm would be described in those terms; in the true spiritual realm, there is no shadow of turning, no mistakes, no doubt, no flesh. There is only the Perfect Presence of Love.
The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas — a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.
Ronald Reagan
Our true identity, as spirit beings, does not enable us to opt-out of the affairs of either the supernatural or natural realm. Quite the contrary. When we talk about learning to rule and reign, it is over both the supernatural and natural realms. To do so we must be able to distinguish our own preconceptions from direction from God. Through this time of processing, God refines our judgment, within our soul, to be able to use wisdom and understanding, leadership and persuasion, compassion and encouragement as He directs. These are tools; we must learn how to use them if they are to be available for God’s use in and through us. It is inevitable that those who truly know their God, and depend on Him, will affect the state of mankind and the course of history (for reference, see “Jesus”).
What is your worldview, and what specifically are you doing now to rule and reign tomorrow?
There’s this television commercial out now, maybe you’ve seen it, for a pest control company: The lady of the house opens the front door and there’s a 6-ft roach holding a stack of pizzas, asking for entry to the home. Her mind tries to get a grasp on this critter as she responds “I don’t think we ordered any pizzas.” Then, of course, the exterminator shows up (whew!).
Wouldn’t it be great if all of the threats against us were that obvious?! And that easy to deal with?
Because the enemies we contend with daily are much subtler, it really helps to know and be reminded of our individual vulnerabilities. Take the time and energy to know your temperament, your physical limitations (sleep, nutrition, etc.), and how you deal with stress, and be willing to make changes accordingly to prevent the creepy crawlies from getting in the front door.
There are enough points of entry that are challenging; let’s make sure we don’t overlook the obvious.
“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, – as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live.’ (II Corinthians 6:4,8-9)
Because of the LIVING CHRIST within him, Paul found he could be approved as a minister of God, whether it be “by honour or dishonour, by evil report or by good report”. If they spoke evil of him, he just continued to live pleasing to the Lord. If they spoke well of him, he did not take an ego trip, for he knew it was the grace of God that enabled the good report. It is God all the way. And then he lists some interesting “as” with counterparts of “yet”.
“As deceivers, AND YET TRUE.” Many certainly viewed him as a deceiver, for his doctrine was certainly different from the organized religious systems. But the fact was, AND YET TRUE, for he had received by revelation from the Lord the wonderful gospel of reconciliation and total triumph.
“As unknown, and YET WELL KNOWN.” Surely many have experienced what it means to be stripped of everything, reputation, fame, etc., to become one of God’s unknown ones. In the circles of men counted as a nobody. Yet there is a sense in which we are well known, as we are joined to those of “like precious faith” in a bond of love and oneness in which it seems we never were strangers. And uniquely enough, when someone needs help, they know just where to find you, drawn to the Christ within you.
“As dying, and, behold, WE LIVE.” There is a dying, being reviled we cannot strike back; there is no power or right for personal defense. Our rights are laid aside, “turning the other cheek”; we are being crucified with Him. But also living with Him, because of the inflow of His power. “He that hath the Son hath life,” (I John 5:12). Nor is it an off again on again, now you have it, now you don’t. He ever liveth! This is coming into an age-abiding life, continuous and constant. Though the billows roll on, and the storms continue to blow, though there are still areas of self to which we must die, yet that life we have received shall not diminish, it only leads into that which is more abundant.
Question for the week, or longer 🙂
If we as spirit beings are in totally perfect communication with God 100% of the time, spiritually,
What is your definition of prayer?
[Reminder: Please avoid religious jargon and scriptural references.]THE CODIFIED LAW (The Written Law of Moses)
Tithing Instituted as Part of the Covenant (Leviticus 27:30-34)
30″ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. 32The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. 33He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’ ” 34These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Under the law, one tenth of everything from the land—plant or animal—was considered holy and belonged to God. This portion could be redeemed, but a fifth part of the value had to be added. There could be no substitutions or alterations (switch one cow for another, for instance; if you tried and someone found out, both would be considered part of the tithe). It wasn’t until Numbers 18 (following) that further instruction was given in regard to implementing the tithe; what to do with the cows, grain, etc.
Our Brother Samuel in Kenya has asked for financial help to buy food for his family, church and the homeless families and orphans they are caring for. Most of them survived the recent post-election civil war, and had hoped to begin rebuilding their homes and communites, but now the food shortages are so great that there are demonstrations and riots against the government.
Here’s the contact information to send money via Western Union:
Samuel Asonga Atema
Kenya
You will need to supply a “Test Question & Answer” for security purposes [example: name of dog / Spot].
Then email the MTCN number and “Test Question & Answer” to samuelasonga@yahoo.com. He will not be able to receive your gift unless he has all the information.
Any amount would be appreciated, suggest min. $25.
If you would rather not contact him directly you can send gift to me via paypal [you do not need to ‘join’ paypal in order to use their services–look for ‘Don’t have a PayPal account?’] and I will forward via Western Union. I have set up a separate paypal account for this purpose: wecanprepare@gmail.com. Here’s a link:
Thanks.
This week keep an eye out for little moments the Lord uses to get your attention, internally or circumstantially. He may stir old desires or ideas, spark new directions, and/or solve problems in unusual ways. These will be fleeting moments. Once noticed and engaged, these teaching moments may expand into complex projects. His desire is that we remain attentive even to the subtlest glimpses of His Presence within our peripheral vision.
Have a great week!