Should Christians make offerings?

I am going to address this question in a different way, instead of money or things along the same line.  Do we not have the Holy Spirit living in us and does it not make us the Temple of the Holy Spirit.    Does not Paul tell us that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and we were bought at a price, therefore we are to honor God with our bodies. 

What is an offering and our worship, but making a sacrifice to our God.  Paul tells us to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.  Are we not told that to show love towards God is to obey His commands.  We are told to love God with everything we have and to love our fellow mankind.  How by serving others. 

Paul tells us to serve one another in love and Peter tells us to serve others by the gift that we receive from the Holy Spirit.  Jesus tells us to let our light shine so our good deeds may be seen.  All this comes down faith needs to be accompanied by action and is justified by what we do.  Blessing

Stephen

(1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV)  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

(Rom 12:1 NIV)  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

(Mat 5:16 NIV)  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

(James 2:17 NIV)  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

(James 2:24 NIV)  You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

(Gal 5:13 NIV)  You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.

(1 Pet 4:10 NIV)  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

Describe how the people reacted as the Northern Kingdom moved toward the worship of Pagan gods.

The Nation of Israel, which is the Northern Kingdom, did move with their feet because those who wanted to follow God of their fathers moved to Jerusalem.  Jeroboam did not want Israel to go back to Jerusalem, so he did some things.  He made his own priests and drove out the Levites, set up goat and calf idols, and change the Feast of Tabernacles to a month later.  He changed the Sabbaths of the Lord so individuals would not go the Jerusalem anymore.  Blessing

Stephen

(2 Chr 11:13-15 NIV)  The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. {14} The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD. {15} And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made.

(2 Chr 11:16 NIV)  Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

(2 Chr 13:9 NIV)  But didn't you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

(1 Ki 12:26-30 NIV)  Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. {27} If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." {28} After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." {29} One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. {30} And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.

(1 Ki 12:31-33 NIV)  Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. {32} He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. {33} On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

What blessings has obedience brought to my life?

The Holy Spirit is living and directing in our lives, there are many blessings that we will receive.  The first and foremost is the blessings of the Spirit or another word, Fruit of the Spirit.  By being obedience to Jesus Our Lord, it shows that we love Him by following His Way of Life, both in following what He says and following His example and teachings and obeying His commands.  With the Holy Spirit in my life, the Apostle Paul told us from Gal 5 that we would have love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  If we do not have the righteousness and truth in our lives, Paul in Eph 5 calls us foolish.  We are to understand what the Lord’s will is by studying the scriptures, and then we will understand what the Lord’s will it.  Blessing

Stephen

(Gal 5:22-23 NIV)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Eph 5:9 KJV)  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

(Eph 5:17 NIV)  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

In what ways do we grieve the Holy Spirit?

When I look at how do we grieve the Holy Spirit, Eph 4 comes to mind.  It says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul tells us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit by having certain things in our lives, for example, bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, conceited, provoking and envying each other, and every form of malice in our lives.  The Greek word for grieve is lupeo and Strong’s says it means to distress; reflex. or pass. to be sad:--cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.  Paul then tells us in 1 Thes 5 to not quench the Spirit meaning we can quench the Spirit?  Do that mean then if we rejoice evermore, continue praying without ceasing, always give thanks to God for all things and learn to like prophesying.  Then if we do these things, by proving all things, holding fast that which is good and always again, abstain from all appearance of evil.  Yes, this can only be done with the Holy Spirit living in us and it is not us, Jesus directing our lives.  Blessing

Stephen

(Eph 4:30-31 NIV)  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. {31} Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

3076. lupeo, loo-peh'-o; from G3077; to distress; reflex. or pass. to be sad:--cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow (-ful), be (make) sorry.

(1 Th 5:16-22 KJV)  Rejoice evermore. {17} Pray without ceasing. {18} In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. {19} Quench not the Spirit. {20} Despise not prophesyings. {21} Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. {22} Abstain from all appearance of evil.

(Gal 5:26 NIV)  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
 

What does it mean to me to “come God’s way with boldness?”

What it means to me is what the scriptures say about to go to God’s way with boldness.  Paul tells us in Heb 10 to have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.  Boldness here means assurance or confidence to do it, not my confidence, but Jesus confidence through me by the Holy Spirit.  Living with the Holy Spirit living in and through us, we are to speak the Word of God with Boldness and with boldness we can enter into the present of our Father through our Elder Brother and High Priest, Jesus.    Paul tells us that “we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” from Eph 3.  Yes, as the Apostle Paul tells us in heb 10, to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus with boldness.  Yes, the blood of Jesus and what He did for each of us.  Blessing

Stephen

(Heb 10:19 KJV)  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

Boldness:  3954. parrhesia, par-rhay-see'-ah; from G3956 and a der. of G4483; all out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, publicity; by impl. assurance:--bold (X -ly, -ness, -ness of speech), confidence, X freely, X openly, X plainly (-ness).

(Eph 3:12 KJV)  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

(Acts 4:31 KJV)  And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Ephraim vs Laodicea

Ephraim vs Laodicea

I found this comparison very interesting that about the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) and the seventh church, Laodicea.  I had not thought about this and it sure does bring some thought.  According to God’s Word in Hosea, Ephraim says, I am very rich; have become wealthy, and will find no sin in me.  I think of the United States and that is the attitude of the leadership.  Then right behind that is God saying through the Apostle John in Rev 3, the Laodicea church say they are rich and do not need a thing but do not realize they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  This statement is very scary for our Nation.  Blessing

Stephen

(Hosea 12:8 NIV)  Ephraim boasts, "I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin."

(Rev 3:17 NIV)  You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Why was incense used in sacrificial offerings?

The scriptures point out that incense is like prayers in sacrificial offerings.  We know from Psa 141 that our prayers are like incense, which our hands are like the evening sacrifice.  Paul makes a startling statement from 1 Cor 19 that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore we are to honor God with our bodies.  John tells us that much incense to offer before the altar with the prayers of all the saints (all who have the Holy Spirit living in them).  I think Paul then sums it all up from Rom 12, that we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God because this is our spiritual act of worship before the Father through our High Priest and Lord, Jesus. We really need to learn the Way of Life that Jesus commands us to live and to learn from His teaching.  This is the only way we can show we love the Lord, by obeying, Jesus according to the Apostle John in 1 John 5.  Jesus said in John 14 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”  Let’s live our life as a living sacrifice.  Blessing

Stephen

(Rom 12:1 NIV)  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

(Psa 141:2 NIV)  May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

(Rev 8:3-4 NIV)  Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. {4} The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand.

(1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV)  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

(1 John 5:3 NIV)  This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

(John 14:15 NIV)  "If you love me, you will obey what I command.