A few years ago, my church—which had been meeting in a hotel ballroom—finally moved into our first permanent space. I remember the long days and nights of assembling furniture, hanging art, and setting up chairs. We held work nights with piles of pizza and children running everywhere, and people from every demographic in our church came to help. It will forever be one of my most cherished memories of our church family.
It was this laboring together, giving time and talent and energy to create a space where the Lord would be praised and people would come to worship, that made those nights so beautiful, so holy. We weren’t just doing any random project; we were building a place where, together, we could all come and be with God.
Numbers 7 records how the tribes of Israel responded to the completion of the tabernacle of the Lord. First, each tribe of Israel sent a representative to bring offerings. Verse 11 says, “Each day have one leader present his offering for the dedication of the altar.” Moses received each offering and then presented it to the priests and the Levites. Each tribe sent offerings, showing that the tabernacle wasn’t set aside for the most influential or the most wealthy but that all tribes were equal and welcome to worship.
Each tribe came with offerings of silver plates, silver basins, fine flour and oil, incense, bulls, rams, lambs, goats, and oxen. These offerings followed Levitical law, representing the elements of sacrifice the Lord required in His law. Leviticus 1 explains the burnt offerings of bulls, rams, lambs, goats, and oxen—the offerings for the forgiveness of sin. Leviticus 2 outlines the grain offering of fine flour and oil—the grain offering was divided between an offering to the Lord and provision for the priests who worked in the tabernacle, an offering to give a portion back to the Lord.
In the earliest iterations of a house of worship, we see the shadows of the Lord’s design for our worship today. We bring, like the Old Testament grain offering, the firstfruits of our portions before the Lord to sustain the work of our local clergy and church. We also receive, through communion, the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood on our behalf. The Lord’s good design for His house of worship extends all the way back to the tabernacle, all so we can remember as we worship Him each week.
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66 thoughts on "Offerings from the Leaders"
Amen.
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Good day Team. I still love the lay out of the page but missing link to scripture reading when I do want to read it or look up background to the text as well as the next reading link.
Thank you for all that you as a Team do let me participate in this community all the way from South Africa.
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Scripture links have not been working me since the new design… :(
Aware and working on it
I hope you all had a wonderful week! I’m on here a little late but I am asking for prayers as my son is sick with what my husband and I believe is croup cough and tonight he spiked a fever suddenly. Please pray that he begins to feel better and that the Lord watch over him as he overcomes this ❤️❤️ I am praying for all you women every day!
Praying❣️
Molly R – praying for your family and the other family! Everything sometimes unfortunately happens for a reason and hopefully you guys will get to see that in this situation.
Happy Friday ladies. Praying for you all
Just read your comment LindaK. Thank you!
Checking in today, I was able to read comments yesterday but cannot scroll to see posts prior to Cee Gee’s post at 5:22 pm. All suggestions are appreciated ❤️
I’ve had to go back out to the privious page abd come back in, then all comments seem to load
Having the same problem on phone via website. Backing out didi not help
I forgot to mention this earlier.
SRT STAFF – RYAN MYERS, The Scripture links at the top of the devo didn’t open for me today. The Scripture links within the body of the devo opened however. Using a Kindle Fire.
It seems that SRT has a new look or is it my imagination.
We are able to reply after a comment but you do get kicked out after you reply.
Sharon, JerseyGirl❤️
Julia C thank for your insights and continual prayers for all❤️
For me the reading reminded me of all the death and bloodshed just to dedicate the altar. It seems so counterintuitive as the place to worship the living God. For context we live on a little farm. We keep chickens are always expanding our garden. A couple weeks ago we lost a chicken unexpectedly and it hit me harder than I expected. In the morning the chicken was fine, and by the afternoon there was no life in its small body. The altar was dedicated with death and blood to go on to do countless transactions of the same in an attempt to keep the Israelites in accordance with the Law, and a way for God to be among them. So much death. I can’t imagine what it looked like with an almost constant flow of blood and burnt offerings.
We had a rough and very unfortunate day here on our little farm yesterday. Not with the chicken death, but trying to add another livestock guardian dog we have spent months preparing for. It went very poorly and we ended up not keeping the dog (he bit both my husband and I) and we made the tough decision based on having small kids and not set up to transition him any slower or differently. It was heartbreaking and very unfortunate for the people hoping to rehome this dog. My heart is so heavy and troubled today with all the “what ifs” and regret. Would you pray for the other family today? They were understandably upset. I feel awful about the whole situation.
It’s interesting how my the state of my heart and mind this morning is affecting what stood out to me today. But God is good, He knows and I’m so thankful to bring this heartache to Him personally.
I love reading everyone’s insights from what they read. It really spoke to me how God takes note of each individual and what they brought. He sees us and our sacrifices!
There is an older chorus that says “I will offer up a sacrifice of praise, I will offer up a sacrifice of praise, I will lift my hands into the Lord and bless His name forevermore; and continually offer up a sacrifice of praise.” I tried to find all the lyrics for you but was having no luck. This song will come to mind when I’m struggling to praise God. Then I just tell myself, you will offer up praise to the Lord as a sacrifice! Gets me to it every time!
God is good! Praying for all of you!
This song came to mind as I read through this devotional. Offering by Third Day…
Verse 1
Magnificent Holy Father,
I stand in awe of all I see,
of all the things You have created,
but still You choose to think of me.
Verse 2
And who am I that You should suffer
Your very life to set me free?
The only thing that I can give You
is the life You gave to me.
Chorus
This is my offering, dear Lord.
This is my offering to You, God.
And I will give You my life,
for it’s all I have to give,
because You gave Your life for me.
Verse 3
I stand before You at this altar.
So many have given You more.
I may not have much I can offer,
yet what I have is truly Yours.
Father God, may my life be an offering to You. Help me to recognize the gifts you have given me and may I offer them to You as an act of worship.
This whole “living sacrifice” thing really gets me. I’ve been having a lot of trouble at work these days due to increased demands that seem very unfair to my workload. And I’m really struggling with accepting it. I read something earlier today where Jesus humbled Himself to be a servant (Phil 2). And now I’m reading about being a living sacrifice. I’m praying that I can have that attitude at work, and remember that I am working for God, not my boss. I pray God will change my heart and renew my mind to accept these new demands.
I love that we are all each to bring our own valuable offering to the Lord! He can use each of us in turn to serve Him and then others, using our gifts in specific ways to disciple those around us and also far from the Lord. Giving our time and resources to help in the house of the Lord is also so important and valuable! Than you all for your comments!
SEARCHING – Once I commented, I couldn’t get back to your comment to reply.
❤ Sending hugs and prayers!
How blessed we are that Jesus supplied the sacrifice for us! We don’t have to raise the animals, grain, etc. God provided the Lamb. ONCE for ALL. No more one tribe at a time kind of sacrifice. Praise the Lord!
OFFERING by Paul Baloche
“The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your Presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It’s only by Your blood
And it’s only through Your mercy
Lord, I come
I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus, may You receive the honor that You’re due
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You
The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your Presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It’s only by Your blood
And it’s only through Your mercy
Lord, I come
I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus, may You receive the honor that You’re due
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering of worship to my King (to my King)
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing (that I sing)
Jesus, may You receive the honor that You’re due
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
O Lord, I bring an offering to You (yeah)
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You
To You, my King, I bring an offering to You, Lord
Oh, my King, Jesus, my King
I bring an offering to You, to You, my King
Oh, it’s the least that I can do
Sacrifice of praise, offering, thanks and gratitude
To You, my King, to You
I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus, may You receive the honor that You’re due
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
O Lord, I bring an offering to You
Bless you Lord
Receive our praise and our thanks, our gratitude”
Upon getting started with the passage from Numbers… I was reading CATS not CARTS… Heeheehee! (I don’t have my contacts in yet! I was, like, I don’t remember reading about CATS anywhere in the Bible. I re-read, and was, like, duh! A little chuckle for your Friday (yay!) morning!
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I was also wondering where they got the grain from.
Egypt? This was only a year after leaving.
In Numbers 7, every man is named and every gift is recorderd. Even though all offerings are the same, every gift matters! This shows that at God’s alter, every tribe came as an equal. There is a unity of purpose and attention to individual devotion.
We are living sacrifices, each with her own gifts, but with the same purpose to glorify God! This passage that I read last night in the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren sums it up perfectly:
“God wants to use you to make a difference in His world. He wants to work through you. What matters it not the duration of your life, but the donation of it. Now how long you lived, but how you lived. If you’re not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using?
Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say at least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zaccheaus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timed.
That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in His service.”
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Dear Father,
You created us to serve. You saved us to serve. You called us to serve. You commanded us to serve.
Thank You for giving us purpose. Thank You for giving us unique gifts to fulfill that purpose.
May we remember we are living sacrifices, made to bring You glory through our service.
Help us to make a difference in this world, knowing that “through salvation our past has been forgiven, our present is given meaning and our future is secured”. (Rick Warren)
In Jesus’ name,
AMEN.
I am indeed a misfit too, but despite that… He has a purpose for me. Thank you for the reminder!
And on a side note… don’t you just LOVE that we can respond directly to posts now. Thanks, SRT!
So good, thank you!
After replying, it won’t refresh to get back to the newer comments.
Hi Rhonda,
Can you tell me more about this commenting issue? I want to make sure I understand so I can help. Thanks!
Hi, RYAN! It happened to me, too. When I posted on my Kindle, I hit the back arrow to get back to comments. It took me all the way out to the home page. I had to go back through all the prompts to get back to comments. I hope that helps! Thanks for all of your hard work!!!
Ryan Myers…when you “reply” to someone and press enter, rather than staying in your place where you have been reading through the comments it takes you out of comments and to the home page, but then you have to push refresh to get back to the newer comments. I hope that makes sense. And the underlined scripture does not link, I have to copy and paste and enter in new tab. (not a big deal, but being underlined I’m sure they are meant to link!)
With that said…..I am SO thrilled we are finally able to reply to individual comments. I’m hoping you may add a way to let people know when people have left them a reply! Which would come in handy during the “busy” studies with higher number of comments! Thank you Ryan!! I have been here most morning for 10 years and SRT is SO important to my spiritual life! We have made many frindships through this site!!
Agree
So…after leaving that last comment, yes, it still went back to homepage and I went to comments and it only showed from Adrienne (10 this morning) and none after that. BUT…the links work for the Bible passages now!! yay
Testing this experience here…
Rhonda,
We’re definitely working on setting up consistent user accounts that will allow better interactions and notifications within the community! Thanks for the affirming feedback!
Ryan
Julia, thank you for reminding us of these not so perfect people, given unbelievable jobs by our Lord. I love your daily prayers.
Thank you Julia for your insightful posts. I always gather so much from them. I’m very thankful.
The leaders brought the offerings … what a different world we would have today if past and present leaders brought offerings to the Lord and served Him.
Moses (Numbers 7:89) heard the voice of One speaking to him. Am I listening?
From Deuteronomy it talks about where the LORD your God chooses to put His name for His dwelling place and Romans reminds us that after Christ gave His life for us that He dwells in us – thank you Lord!
For yesterday’s comments I can only see the last posting on my iPad as I can’t scroll to earlier ones. God knows the requests and needs, praying for wisdom and guidance for all.
Thankful that scrolling on today is working.
❤
Let me be a living sacrifice always to You, God; let my life be Yours in all I say and do!
Lord let me always have zeal for Your house and worship with abandon. In Jesus name, Amen
For a hot minute, Israel was in unity, fulfilling all the requirements for purity and holiness.
Random observations:
When David brought the Ark back from the Philistines, he first put it on a cart. This passage explains why that was improper.
Israel was not in a place where they could farm…how did they provide grain offerings when in the wilderness? Did they grind the manna?
SUSAN RICHARDSON – continued prayers for your daughter
KAREN ELIZABETH – rejoicing with you and your family about Kai’s progress
CASSIE – agreeing with you in prayer for your husband’s work situation and your marriage
C – welcome back. Praying your application leads to a position for you
Yes, KELLY (NEO), for a hot minute. Countless times I have told the Israelites “Don’t do it!!” while reading through the Bible.
I was also wondering where they got the grain from.
Kelly (Neo), I found a clip on YouTube saying that they either grew it, if they were in an area for a long time, or they bought it from those passing by.
I was just reading back through yesterday‘s comments since I was studying so early. Welcome back C!
Julia C thank you for sharing yesterday. Thank you all for the wonderful insight that you bring each day.
If I could ask for prayer. I am taking my paramedic written exam tomorrow. Once I pass it, I’ll be able to volunteer with our local EMS organization. Please pray for the Lord to direct me during the test and also pray that I pass. If the Lord wants me to do this, he knows I’ve been studying, then I will pass.
Thank you for your prayers. I am keeping each one of you and your request in prayer in Jesus name.
Have a blessed Friday and wonderful weekend Sisters!❤️
Will be praying
Praying!
Praying TRICIA for your mind to recall the information needed ❤️
And thank you for the song reminder, another good one!
Praying for you now, Tricia C!
Praying for calm and remembrance of all you will need to pass the exam!
Dear Tricia, may the Lord guide you and direct your steps :heart
@Kelly Neo -praying God will bring to remembrance all that you have studied and prepared for and that you will ace this test!
You got this Tricia C!!! That will be an amazing to help serve your community through EMS! It definitely takes a certain person for that job!! My husband was a fireman for 32 years!
Praying for your exam!!
Tricia, prayers for doing well and thank you for wanting to serve in this way.
Praying you will pass your paramedics exam!
Good morning Sisters! This is the song that came to mind after I read today’s scripture passages.
Take My Life and Let It Be
Frances R. Havergal, 1874
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.
I love this hymn. Thank you so much for bringing it to mind. I’ll be humming it to myself as a great reminder of what I’m called to do all day.
One of my favorites! Thanks for the reminder! My favorite lines have always been ‘at the impulse of Thy love’ and ‘swift and beautiful for Thee’.
One of my faves, too! Thanks for reminding me and getting it stuck in my head!
Blessings and peace as you test today. I know you’ll keep us posted!
Praying for you Tricia C as you take your paramedics exam❤️