Sanctuary

Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. ²³ Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. (Deuteronomy 14:22–23)

The tithe is a God-instituted, God-directed way of stewarding all that God has provided. The Israelites recognized that all they owned had been given by God Himself. The Israelites learned to recognize that they were not owners or possessors of their material blessings; rather, they were stewards of what God had provided. The tithe, “a tenth,” was one way God taught His people to steward His blessings. The presentation of the tithe was also a process of deepening trust and dependency on God and revering or “standing in awe” of Him always.

Ask God for increased faith to trust Him with all you have been given and to courageously steward His resources for His glory and your good. Entrust Him with a tithe of all He has provided.

Prayer Focus: Youth Small Group Sowers

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Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:7–10)

Paul is writing to the Galatians to call Christians to faith and freedom. This challenge and encouragement stand for us today, just as it did to the church of Galatia.

A. W. Tozer once stated, “We can be in our day what the heroes of faith were in their day—but remember, at the time they didn’t know they were heroes.”

It’s natural that when you plant physical seeds, you will harvest what you planted. If you plant to please your own desires, there will be a harvest of sorrow and evil. It’s easy to grow weary of doing good; it can feel discouraging to sow to the Spirit and not see the harvest.

There is freedom, however, in trusting God with the harvest. When you sow from a posture of dependency on God, you are freeing yourself from the responsibility for the outcome, which is His.

How is God inviting you to sow? Into whom?

Pray today for discernment, for ears to hear Him, for faith to respond in obedience to Him. Ask God for a deeper dependency on Him. Trust that your day is ordered and that nothing will happen in vain; therefore, every moment—from grocery runs to corporate meetings to training children—is an opportunity to sow and then to trust and believe in the building of His harvest. Sow to the Spirit today, and trust your God with the harvest that is bountiful.

Prayer Focus: Read to Lead at Hayes

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Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:22–23)

Peter explains to the Church that we have been purified by love and for the purpose of love. Because of our purification, we are now to do everything in love for the sake of others. Apparently, the Church had a tendency to try to love others with a lack of sincerity. One of the magnetizing characteristics of Jesus was His compassion, His natural ability to express genuine love through genuine action. The first Church, too, had this kind of vibrancy.

It is important to note the call to obedience. We cannot love each other sincerely or deeply from the heart without first being obedient to the call, command, and character of Christ. His inherent and enduring Word grows and even glows through our obedience to His will and His ways. Thank God for His sincere and extravagant love for you in the midst of your disobedience. Allow His love to abide in you and through you in your interactions today.

Prayer Focus: Meals Team

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Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. ² With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. ³ Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: ⁴ three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, ⁵ for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”  ⁶ Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.⁷ They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. ⁸ Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly. (1 Chronicles 29:1–9)

David introduced Solomon to the assembly for the task of the building the temple. He assured the people that the building of the temple was not for themselves; it was a building for God Himself. David set the example as to how to give generously, and he encouraged his fellow brethren to follow his lead. David made it his business to serve God with all his strength and to then set an example for others to follow as they endeavored to lovingly serve our most high God.

Praise God for the opportunity to be a participant in His story, for His glory. Ask God to order your steps today and to purify your heart so that your response to living is a holy response. Pray that you would seek God with all your heart, strength, mind, and soul today. This is God’s day. It’s a good day! Make today about His business—the building up of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer Focus: Life Group Participants

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