Happy Leap Day!!!

February 29, 2012

 

As we have seen, Leap Day was not taken into consideration when putting the Bible in chronological order!!!  Ha!  Happy Leap Day everyone!  I've been thinking of how special today really is.  Think about it!  We are given an extra day this year!  We out so much value on our time and it is so precious to us.  Thank you Jesus for another day that You let us be apart of!  I pray we use it wisely. 

 

I had a very interesting morning.  I had a conversation with a good friend and learned of tragedies that they had gone through growing up.  It broke my heart.  We were able to pray together and I was able to share the hope I have in God.  This friend has started reading the Bible and shared how much it has helped. 

 

I wanted to take today and encourage you.   We are at the end of month #2 in our journey.  I have seen changes in my own life and I have heard great things from others.  I have always know how important the Word is and I have heard all my life about daily Bible reading and quiet times.  Life, time, and other things had always got in the way.  We have all committed to this yearlong adventure and God id revealing Himself!  Yay!  Pastor Scott shared a quotation with me from Martin Luther and I wanted to share it with you.  "For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year.  If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant." (Preface to the Prophets [1532], in What Luther Says: an anthology, v. I, Ewald Martin Plass, ed., Concordia Pub. House, 1959) 

 

We are so blessed to have the Bible in front of us, in any language we speak, or any volume.  I'm sure that many of us have multiple Bibles at home.  My friend.  Fall in love with God's word!  We have been through some tough reading the last few weeks, sacrifices, laws, numbers, places we can't pronounce.  Hot topics: April touched on slavery yesterday, sin, and much more to come.  But as Ruth shared on Monday, it is so important for us that have God's law: His Word, with us at all times.  Meditate on it.  Learn it, pray it, sing it, and like I said, fall in love with it! 

 

Our lives our quick.  Time flies….use it wisely.  I hope today you are able to catch up on a day you missed, or you can go back and reread. Or jump to a favorite psalm or passage.  But be encouraged and thankful for God and His provisions.

 

Psalms 119: 33-35, " Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statues, and I shall keep it to the end.  Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;  Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.  Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it."

February 28

Crimes Against the Person

 

I have something to confess: There are a lot of things in the Bible that I don't understand. There, I said it. I suspect that my confession is not too shocking since I'm sure all of you can understand how I feel!

 

When reading today's passage, I ran into something that confused me: the presence of slavery. There are laws recorded that describe the consequences for maiming or permanently injuring one's slave. I certainly can't help but wonder if this means that God condones the institution of slavery since there are laws referencing its existence. I know that many antireligious figures (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, etc.) have cited verses like these in order to discredit Christianity and the loving God that we worship. I'm sure that they wonder how a God who claims to love all people seems to allow such an appalling establishment as slavery to take place.

 

When I read something that confuses me, it's easy for me to begin doubting the truth in the Bible. One thing that helps me from going down that road is to focus on God's character. (1) I know that He is all knowing. Since I am far from all knowing, it's a given that there will be things in the Bible that are either difficult to understand or impossible to understand with my inferior human mind. (2) I know that God is loving. This means that He desires to give good and perfect gifts to all His people. (3) I know that God is holy. He cannot and will not overlook or allow any form of sin to take place without consequences. When I focus on some of the characteristics of God, then the answer becomes clear. Does the fact that slavery is mentioned in the Bible mean that God condones it? The answer must be without a doubt absolutely positively not!!!

 

I definitely don't have all the answers but there are somethings that I know without a doubt: God is loving and holy and wise. Even when I don't understand something I read, I trust that His ways are higher than mine. I also trust that He wants to reveal Himself to me so that I can know and understand Him better everyday. I encourage you to trust in His wisdom and goodness if you are confused or start to doubt.

 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

February 27th

Sorry for the lateness, my day got busy and I totally forgot to send this.  God is a good and gentle reminder!

As I read through today's reading I couldn't help but see how many of these laws were blatantly broken by many Godly people in stories we will see in future readings.  But there is one person I would like to take a look at today: Solomon!!!

At the beginning of our reading today we see laws set up for the future Kings of Israel. One of them is the following:

"He must not take many wives or his heart will be lead astray." Deut 17:17

We see the truth of this rule lived out in Solomon, who was the wisest King to ever live. 

"He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.  As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been." 1 King 11:3-4

What was his problem?  How could he, the wisest man to ever live, fail?  It's simple; he's human and he failed to follow one simple law that was given to help him to remember all others.

 "He is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priest, who are Levites.  It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left." Deut 17:18-20

He was to read the law, write it down, and reread it every single day of his life.  I am sure he probably started off strong.  He was excited at the beginning of his journey as King to be obedient.  But something happened as time went on.  He became comfortable, complacent, wise in his own eyes.  People sought him for wisdom; he didn't really need to read that little scroll every single day.  Some day's he became very busy with his work, family, politics, the list goes on and on.  Eventually he just came to rely on what he thought knew.  Unfortunately for him it caused him to loose sight of why God had given him these commands in the first place, to protect him.  To keep him focused on his calling.  To not be led astray!

Sometimes we look at laws, rules, commands – as barriers that prevent us from truly living.  Sometimes we look at them as just mere guidelines for us to use in determining how to best live our lives.  But God's word, all his instructions and teachings, have been given to us to protect us - to allow us to have a good and prosperous life.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Just like the kings of Israel we have been commanded to keep the word of God with us every day of our lives to guide and protect us – to keep us from being led astray.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deut 6: 6-9

My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding your kinsman.  Proverbs 7:1-4

By making the commitment to be a part of this one-year bible reading you have taken a great step of obedience in making God's word a part and priority of your life.  It is your way of  binding it on your forehead, making a symbol on your hands, and writing it on the tablet of your heart.  Like Solomon, when you feel your life getting busy or when you start to feel discouraged in your journey to read the bible this year just remember that it is an investment in your future and way to protect your heart from snares you don't even realize have been set for you.  It will guide you through whatever is going on in your life – through both the seen and unseen things. 

God has a plan for our lives.  If we don't stop and read the blueprint then how will we ever know how to build our life the way he designed us to be?

Don't be discouraged, don't loose heart. God has good things in store for us; let's keep his word as the apple of our eyes.

26 FEB 12 Reading

26 Feb 12 reading  

Numbers is the fourth book of the first five books, the Pentateuch. It links with Genesis on the subject of promises as well as Clines and curses. It follows Leviticus, and like Leviticus it contains cultic regulations given at Sinai. Numbers is a narrative covering forty years of Israel's journey from Sinai to Moab, to the threshold of the Promised Land. It is a "bridge" book to the book of Deuteronomy, which contains speeches by Moses given in the plains of Moab.

It is peek to give insight on issues of law and commands. So as I read these verses I came up with some questions along the way.

1) What was the name given to people who wanted to separate themselves to the Lord? (Numbers 6:1-2)

2) What were Nazirites told to abstain from? (Numbers 6:3)

3) What was the Nazirites told not to eat? (Numbers 6:4)

4) What were Nazirites commanded not to do? (Numbers 6:5)

5) When was a Nazirite forbidden to go near a dead body? (Numbers 6:6)

6) What was the symbol of a Nazirite's separation? (Numbers 6:7)

7) How long was a Nazirite consecrated to the God? (Numbers 6:8)

8) What defiled the hair on a Nazirite's head? (Numbers 6:9)

9) What was a Nazirite supposed to do on the eighth day? (Numbers 6:10)

10) What offerings did the Nazirite's offer for sin? (Numbers 6:11)

11) Under what circumstances did a Nazirite have to start his or her separation over? (Numbers 6:12)

12) Where did the Nazirite go when his or her period of separation was over? (Numbers 6:13)

13) What was the Nazirite told to offer to the God? (Numbers 6:14-15)

14) How was the priest role in presenting the Nazirite's offering? (Numbers 6:16-17)

15) What happened after the Nazirite shaved off his or her hair? (Numbers 6:18-20)

16) How were Aaron and his sons  told to bless the Israelites? (Numbers 6:22-27)

27:1-34

The remainder of this chapter is to note the detail an Israelite might consecrate to God, either persons, or of the animals of his possession, or his house, or any part of his land. On the other hand, the 'firstling among beasts' (26, 27) any 'devoted thing' (28, 29) and the tithe (30-33) might not be made the object of a special vow, for the simple reason that each of these already belonged to God as His rightful due. Under each of these special items a price is given according to which, if a man should wish, for any reason, to redeem again for his own use that which, either by prior divine claim or by a special vow, had been dedicated to the Lord, he might be permitted to do so. As to the dedication of land (16), it had to be redeemed before the jubilee by paying 20% more than the value of the price. Failure to redeem it before the jubilee was penalized by forfeiture.

203-943-0961
Chuck Goulart

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people attain uncommon results"  

Feb 25

February 25, 2012

 

Dusting off the Old Books

 

Leviticus 14   What we have in this passage is a glimpse of the first seminary training. Now if you think it is boring to read about everything that had to be done when someone had been cured of leprosy, just think about learning how to do all 18 steps of it. I am sure there was a class in seminary called Leprosy 101. Since no one ever got healed from leprosy, probably the most frequent question in that class was, "Why do we have to learn all this stuff?" 

 

Consider all the procedures they would have to go through... 

1. Take an hour walk and go outside the camp. The tabernacle was at the center of the community.

2. Give the person a physical.

3. Put in an order at Costco for 2 live birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn and some hyssop (a branch).

4. Kill one bird over a clay pot.

5. Take the remaining live bird and dip it in the blood with the wood, yarn and hyssop.

6. Sprinkle the leper 7 times and pronounce him clean.

7. Release the bird.

8. Have the leper go to the laundromat and clean his clothes.

9. Have the leper shave his head….  we are talking all the hair!!

10. Have the leper take a bath at the Desert Day Spa.

11. Have the leper camp outside for 7 days.

12. Bring two male lambs and a one-year old ewe lamb with some flour and oil.

13. Sacrifice one lamb as a guilt offering.

14. Wave the offering before God.

15. Offer the other lamb as a sin offering.

16. Put blood on the lobe of the right ear of the leper.

17. Then take the oil and sprinkle it 7 times.

18. Put oil on the right ear, the big toe of the right foot and on the head of the leper.

 

That is an elaborate ceremony!!!. As far as we know, there were only two people cured of leprosy in the 2000 years of Jewish history. One was Miriam and the other was General Naaman in 2 Kings 5. So these seminary guys learned this stuff and then they placed their notes aside of other useless materials like "Famous Egyptian Ballet Dancers or Egyptian Chariot Driving Techniques for Snowy Roads."  

One day, many centuries later, there is a knock on the temple door. The person on the other side says, "I have been healed of leprosy." All of a sudden the priests start scrambling around looking for the notes from that class. The next day 3 more appear. Then next week 10 guys show up. The priests start asking, "How were you healed?" The name Jesus comes up every time. I believe God put this in the law to give the priests in Jesus' time overwhelming evidence that He was the Messiah.

Matthew 8:4  Then Jesus said to a guy healed of leprosy, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Wow, what a plan to show the world that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

Even in Leviticus 14, God has drawn up a plan to show the world the uniqueness of his one and only son. Do you appreciate the signs given by God to point us to Jesus?  He is the Messiah.

 

February 24, 2012 - Leviticus 21, 22, 25

Friday, February 24, 2012
Leviticus 21, 22, 25

A large portion of today's reading focuses on the rules for
priests. God sets the bar very high for His priests because He wants
their example to be an imitation of His holiness. The priests were not
permitted to touch nor have relations with the unclean and blemished.
In the same way, God can't have any part with us unless we are seen as
clean and without a blemish. Our only means of achieving a place with
God is by being separated from our sin. As Steve mentioned yesterday,
Jesus is the only one that can separate us from our sin and make us
holy before God the Father. Even here in today's reading, God makes it
clear, "I am the LORD, who makes him holy." (Leviticus 21:15) God
never intended for us to achieve holiness on our own. God's plan has
always been to help us. He helps believers today through the Holy
Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 12:3, the apostle Paul said, "So I want you to
know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and
no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit." If Jesus is
Lord in your life, then the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart. If the
Holy Spirit dwells in your heart, then you are capable of living a
holy life, for the Spirit of God is your strength. When you allow God
to be in control, you will experience the fruit of the spirit. In
Galatians 5:22-23, Paul said, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law." What fruit is
better than that?

In God's holiness, we also find rest. In Leviticus 25, God gives
laws concerning rest in the "Sabbath" and "Jubilee" years. Sabbath
years occur every seven years and require the Israelites to rest and
worship. The Jubilee year occurs every fifty years and provides not
only a time focused on rest and worship, but also on redemption.
During the Jubilee year, slaves are set free and property is redeemed.
Under these provisions, God reminds us that no person or property can
be owned by people. Everything belongs to God and everything we have,
we are borrowing from God. With this fact in mind, the Holy Spirit can
also free our dependence on worldly possessions. In Matthew 6:19-21,
it says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do
not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Let's not allow our self-worth to be tied into the accumulating of
worldly possessions. Let's instead, desire God's holiness and perfect
will, which leads to treasures in heaven and the fruit of the Spirit
today.

God Bless,
Anthony

February 23: More Offerings

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012

More Offerings

Today’s reading continues the descriptions of the offerings required of the Israelites.  Importantly, we read that God had instituted a “guilt (or trespass) offering,” by which the guilty party might atone for the sins he had committed:  either of omission (passive failure or indifference to uphold the law) or commission (active rebellion).  In each of the three offerings described, we view the concept of restitution or restoring rightness through the offering.  In the case of omission or fraud or theft, the perpetrator must “make restitution in full, add a fifth of value to that and give it all” to either the priest or the damaged party.  In the Law, we see consistently the costliness of sin and the duty to repair what the perpetrator had broken.  These offerings serve as an antidote to our prideful tendency to diminish the severity of our transgressions or the need for holiness.

 

As we delve deeper into the Law over the coming week-plus, I would like to highlight three key takeaways from the Law, particularly as it relates to the entire Scriptural narrative.  Taken in isolation, the Law may appear relegated to the Old Testament and separated from the New Testament’s teachings about God’s mercy poured out through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Yet, the Law and indeed the entire testimony of the Bible point to Jesus Christ.

 

The Law points to the holy, yet merciful character of God.  We cannot escape the reality that God had designed clear and specific standards of obedience for His children, guiding them to holiness themselves.  While the Law does include practical considerations regarding the handling of food and hygiene, its core concentrates on the moral and ethical character of the individual and the nation.  With His concern for details, God indicates that the how – and not just the what – matters; God cares about both the means and the end.  The human impossibility of fulfilling the Law also highlights the unsearchable and wholly other nature of God and His worthiness to receive praise, honor, and glory.  In Hebrews 12:14, we read about the imperative for Christ-followers to testify to God’s character through their obedience:  “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

 

Yet, the Law definitively reveals our desperate need for a Savior.  In Romans 3:20, Paul explains that “therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”  The indelible law written on our consciences prompts anxiety in us when we stray from holiness.  We may seek to justify ourselves from our inherent and well-known guilt.  With any reflection, we recognize the truth that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

 

The chaos in our world – from the molecular to societal level – underscores that there is grave brokenness.  Indeed, all creation calls out for grace and redemption:  “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”  (Romans 8:20–22)

 

The Law demands perfect fulfillment so that each person might return to right standing before the Lord.  Hebrews 9:22 summarizes the Law’s dictates on offerings:  “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  The insufficiency of these frequent offerings foretells a complete and perfect Offering in the “Lamb of God,” the Answer for 800 Old Testament prophecies.  He would take a substitutionary place for us:  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  In response, we simply trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, recognizing that, like Abraham, God will credit our faith as righteousness in a “cosmic swap,” to borrow Pastor Scott’s phrase.  God then prepares us in this life for the complete restoration of the intended fellowship between God and man and among men portrayed in Genesis 2.

 

QUESTIONS

1. What cost have you seen as a result of your sin?  Others?
2. How may you praise God for His Son and His sacrifice on our behalf today?

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February 22, Leviticus 3-7

February 22, 2012

 

I want to start with a little story from my childhood (even though I know it was not long ago J)  My grandma has a small ranch in Sile, New Mexico, where my mom was raised.  It's about 45 minutes north of Albuquerque and the town sits between two Indian Reservations.  I grew up spending a lot of time there and it's still the most enchanting place on Earth (in my humble opinion.)  It was a great family tradition that once a year, during the winter, the whole family would gather at my grandma's house and we would have a matanza, or slaughter a pig.  I know…I know…. We did this for the meat, the tradition, and experience and I learned after the age of 10, or so, to stop naming the pigs because it just messed with my emotions.    The point of this lil' story is that it was a big event that took hours, planning, hard work, and involved everyone.  Killing (or sacrificing) any animal is something that is not easy.   As I was reading these sections from Leviticus and Numbers this morning I was thinking of these memories from the matanza: the smells, the sounds, the hard work, but the unity it took as a family.  One part that took the longest was taking all the fat off the animal.  We would cook it for hours and it was later the best part – the fruit of all the labor.  My mom shared with me that when she was growing up, the fat would also be rendered for cooking, or used in soap, so it was valued.  But our night would end with card playing and feasting on the fat (chicharones.)  I smiled and thought to myself, "God knew what He was doing…the fat is definitely the best part! What a pleasing aroma!"  As we have studied and talked about these past few weeks, God wants the best from us.  Sacrifices – hard work, giving the best, and doing it with a willing heart.  It would have been hard to sacrifice those chicharones that evening after all the labor we put into it.  But that is what we are called to do.        

 

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:1-2, "Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." We have seen through these chapters that God called for many sacrifices.  Today we read about peace/fellowship offerings, offerings of thanksgiving, and sin offerings: offerings of atonement.   Just as God always has done, there are specific methods, ritual, and ways of doing this.  They had to be done right in front of Him (to keep the people away from sacrifices to idols) and it involved the priests.  April said it great yesterday, and I will just echo her thoughts.  Thank you Lord that we no longer have to live like this!  Reading these chapters continues to point out the obvious: we need Jesus!!!  He is our atonement.  He came to bridge the gap of sin in our lives and our Holy Lord.  We don't have to go to a priest, or a tent, with goats, sheep & bulls.  We don't need a priest to sprinkle blood seven times (a perfect complete number) because Christ sprinkled His blood for us instead on the cross.  Never loose sight of the cross.  Christ was the ultimate sweet-smelling aroma that was offered to God.

 

Romans 12:1 – 2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, to god, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

 

Thinking back on those days growing up, I remember that I was not so sweet -smelling after a matanza.  But I do treasure those days, and I appreciate the fact that God does do require animal sacrifices from us.  But He does require our own bodies.  I pray that I would be a sweet-smelling aroma to Him.  I have the blood of Jesus and pray that we would not be conformed to this world.  If you want to dig a little deeper, I encourage you to read Hebrews  9 – 10.  Be blessed.  Be sweet-smelling J

      

February 21: Burnt and Cereal Offerings

Burnt and Cereal Offerings

I struggle with reading this part of the Bible because I can tend to wrongly think that there is no value in it. It's a list of instructions for rituals that don't apply to us now. What does this mean to us today? Why is it important to know about these offerings when they are not practiced anymore?

Yesterday Ruth asked us to seriously think about what God has done in our lives. When I read today's passage with that in mind, it becomes so much more than a list of instructions on ancient rituals. It becomes a passage about a holy God who loves sinful people and is working on a plan to bring them back to Him.

Because God is holy and perfect, He cannot be in the presence of sin. All humans are sinful and fall incredibly short of God's holiness. Trying to live a perfect life without sin would be like trying to jump over the Grand Canyon. It's just not possible. We will literally fall short every single time. But thankfully God is also loving and merciful. Despite our sinfulness, He loves us more than we could ever imagine. Since the moment sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, God has been working to bring His people back into fellowship with Him. These burnt offerings were a means by which the people's sin could be covered by the blood of a lamb. Today, the reason we don't have to sacrifice burnt offerings to God is because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice who died once and for all the sins of the world (past, present, and future). Jesus is our lamb without defect. His blood permanently covers our sin so that we can be with God. God knew He was going to send His Son to die for our sins long before it actually happened. He showed the Israelites a glimpse of what was to come when He instructed them on burnt offering. 

The next couple weeks will be difficult, but I encourage you to stay faithful as we continue reading the law. Ask God to help you and ask Him to speak to you through these passages. You'll be amazed at how He reveals Himself when you ask Him to!

On a personal note, I ask that we all say a prayer for Heidi Gropp. Pray that her recovery from her surgery will go well and that she will be aware that God is right beside her every step of the way.

February 20th

What has God done for you in your life?  Don't be so quick to shrug off the question. Stop for a moment (seriously), get a piece of paper and a pen and write down some of the things that God has done for you in your life.  I'll wait while you do this….

Some of you may be struggling in your lives right now and for some you have been struggling for years.  You may find this to be a difficult task.  I will assure you that God has done things in your life no matter how difficult your life seems.

The Israelites didn't think they had a lot to write down on their list.  They were salves in a foreign land for over 400 years and that last year was a really tough one with having to make bricks and provide their own straw for them as well.  Having to listen to the Egyptians blame them for months because of the plagues.  A person can only take so much ridicule.  They had to walk in a desert to reach the Promised Land.  Why couldn't God just have waved His hand and placed them there, after all they had just suffered for 400 years, it's the least He could have done. Rather then build a bridge for them to cross over the Red Sea they had to walk through the parted waters.  It was horrible; those walls of water could have fallen on them at any moment. So they got a little nervous because Moses, their leader, was a long time in returning to them from the mountain and they tried to take control and build that idol.  I mean come on it did just pop out of the fire like Aaron said, right?  God expected them to go into a strange land and tell the people there, who where bigger and stronger then they were, to leave because God said so.  Come on now, some hurdles ARE just too big to jump over.  Because of this they had to wander in the dessert for 40 years without sun block.  There was no Shoprite at the bottom of Mt. Sinai and they had to eat the same thing day after day, dry flakes of bread and quail.  A person can only take so much quail before they are ready to become a vegetarian.   They had to deal with sickness and death on an unimaginable scale.  They had to deal with snakes, snakes people.  They didn't know when those pesky serpents would show up in their beds.  More death from those snakes.  People, countries, wouldn't help them and let them cross through their land.  These poor, poor people just couldn't cut a break no matter which way they turned.

Now, you and I know the whole story.  But, I am pretty sure that this is how the Israelites could have looked at their lives.  It's what they would have put on their lists. What in the paragraph above is there anything to be joyful about in which they would want to celebrate their lives???  Nothing.  But, there is a lot missing isn't there?

What's missing? Seeing God's provisions!!!

God heard their cry from slavery and sent someone to free them.  He spared them from several of the plagues but most importantly from the plague of death.  They had to walk through walls of water to escape. This was scary but God used that to destroy their enemies.  When they made an idol in their lives at the bottom of that mountain God spared them rather then destroy them.  When they lacked trust in God to take care of the giants in their lives, again, God spared them.  He caused them to wander for a little bit so that they could learn more about Him and learn about the trust they needed to have in Him.  They may not have had the rich flavorful abundance of food that they had in Egypt but God provided for their needs every single day.  They didn't even have to do anything but gather His blessings.  Sickness and death is a sad part of life that they had to deal with on a constant basis.  God still spared many and at times, with the bronze snake, He offered a way out, a way to be healed but they had to believe that when God says something they needed to trust in what He was saying to be true.

God knows that our tendency is to see the negative in our situations.  To plan elaborate pity parties in our honor so that we can be affirmed that we live in such dire circumstance.  So God said I want you to hold feasts.  Not just one but several.  I want you to have a different kind of party.  I want you to bring your lists of things I HAVE done FOR you (not what you think He is doing to you) and I want you to remember them and to celebrate the life I have given to you.  These feasts were all reminders of what God had done for them.  They weren't to be quick little get togethers but lengthy, praiseworthy, celebrations of a Mighty God who loves us beyond our faults and shortcomings.  He doesn't want us focusing on the giants in our lives but the Giant God who can do all things through you if you just learn to trust Him and His ways.  After all His ways are higher then ours, just read Jeremiah. 

We don't need to give animal sacrifices or wave a loaf of bread to the Lord.  What God does want is for us to remember what He has done and to trust Him with our lives by giving him our hearts and waving our hands in praise of who He is – He is a God who loves you very much.  We aren't to do this mindlessly or quickly.  We are to do this constantly with thought and thanksgiving according to what we have stored up in our hearts.

"Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you." Deut 16:17. 

You are to praise Him according to what He has done for you, how he has blessed you.  Your reward for doing this?  It's not a problem free life (sorry to disappoint) but joy completed.

"For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of you hands, and your joy will be complete." Deut 16:15

Our joy comes from remembering what an awesome God we have.  He is our joy, our portion and our strength.  Don't forget that.  Don't be blinded by circumstances.

How does your list look now?  Do you think you may have to tweak it a bit?
Perhaps you need to spend a little more time remembering what God has done for you?
How often do you spend feasting on the memories of what God has done for you?
What do you have stored up in your hearts? Are you going to bring a portion of that to the LORD?  If it's fear or anger you might need to do some heart surgery first.
How are you going to move forward in making sure you celebrate the LORD's provisions in your life and on a more consistent basis?