Solemn Assembly #2

Deep Creek Jamin Java

  (Serving Over ? Cups)

"God's Truth.......

Always Fresh,

Always Aromatic"

A Jolt of Spiritual Caffeine to keep you going!

March 22, 2013

"Solemn Assembly Day #2"

Scripture Reading:
Romans 12:1 (HCSB) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

Devotional Reading:

Have you experienced or observed a disaster or catastrophe that caused you to weep, mourn, wail, grieve, or despair—one so great that you will describe it to your children and grandchildren? Circle any you have experienced or observed up close or write another:

CRIME, DROUGHT, EARTHQUAKE, EPIDEMIC, FINANCIAL

COLLAPSE, FLOOD, HAILSTORM, HURRICANE, OIL SPILL,

PLAGUE, RIOTS, SHATTERED RELATIONSHIPS, TERRORIST

ATTACK, TORNADO, TSUNAMI, VOLCANO, WAR, WILDFIRE

Crises are appropriate times to gather with God’s people for sacred assemblies, just as they did in Joel’s day. But actually, God wants us to celebrate sacred assemblies in such a way that we never stray far away from Him. These assemblies can be times of renewal, worship, festival, and rejoicing. Any time we gather to meet with God is a sacred assembly. If we do the ongoing spiritual work required by the Lord, we will not need an emergency sacred assembly as the people did in Joel’s day.

God wanted the people to prepare themselves to meet with Him in Joel’s day, so He commanded, “Consecrate the assembly”. We see a similar command in Exodus 19 when God explained to Moses that He was coming down on Mount Sinai to give the Ten Commandments: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them’”. Consecrating God’s people is an important action for a spiritual leader to undertake when preparing them to meet with God or to renew their covenant relationship with Him.

In both Joel and Exodus, the Hebrew word for consecrate means to make clean; to purify; to sanctify or to set apart from the common, profane, or unholy.

Keep the Son in your eyes,
Pastor Ben J Lahay

Galatians 2:20