His Encouragement #45

Good morning, and welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He, and He alone, is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

Today’s Thursday Encouragement comes from:

Psalm 54:6 (ESV)

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You: I will give thanks to Your Name, O Lord, for it is good.

The other day I read in Exodus 35 about the Israelites constructing the Tabernacle in the wilderness. What struck me during my reading was the repetition of the idea of giving to God freely. In Exodus 35, God tells Moses that he will need to gather very specific materials for the building of the meeting tent: gold, silver, bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet yarns; acacia wood; oils and incense; ram and goatskins; and various gemstones that would be set into the high priest’s breastplate.

God makes it explicit that these items were to be contributed as a freewill offering. God states to donate ONLY IF the giver had a “generous heart,” a “stirred heart,” a moved spirit, a “willing heart,” or a “moved heart.” God was not looking for a slave to construct His meeting tent, but rather a large team of partners. Why does God repeat Himself so many times in Exodus 35? Because He is trying to emphasize to His damaged children that He is not Pharaoh. He doesn’t want to enslave anyone. He wants His children to come to Him 100% willingly. And, the same is still true for all of us today. God wants us to come to Him of our own accord. He doesn’t want an automaton. He doesn’t want a slave!

Understanding this about Exodus 35 makes Psalm 54:6 all the more clear. God’s Name is good. God is good. That horrid stereotype that the “Old Testament” God is a big meanie is the falsest idea ever. God is Abba. He isn’t mean — He’s a dad. He wants our love freely. He doesn’t take, hurt, abuse, or abandon. He isn’t manipulative. And, He isn’t a murderer. God is good. God is love. Exodus 35 is a prime example of His good love.

Today, I offer a freewill thanks offering to my beautiful, perfect, compassionate, kind Abba. Thank You, Abba, for wanting a relationship with me. Thank You, Abba, for wanting to be side-by-side every day with me. You are a good, good Father for sure! Amen!

NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?

Check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective

Becca @ The Becca Files

Jenny @ Author Jenny Lynn

If you would like to join us: please contact Trisha or Nicole