Exodus 35-36; Acts 10

“And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.” Exodus 36:3

Extraordinary things were happening through ordinary people. Willing hearts were stirred to do God’s work. They were inspired to do the work—if they had a skill, they wanted to use it for God’s glory. They were inspired because the people who were using their gifts were their ordinary family members, neighbors and friends doing extraordinary things. They were inspired by God’s blessing on this work. This inspiration came from God and what was happening was nothing short of a revival. These people were being revived by the stirring in their hearts and the testimony of what was happening before them. This stirring produced an overflow of provision for the work at hand. In fact, the ‘free will’ voluntary offerings were coming every morning to such proportion that they finally had to say, hey, please stop bringing your morning freewill offerings, we have more than we need. (Ex. 36:6-7) I recently noticed a regular attendee of women’s Bible Study was not at study. I called to see if she was okay. My friend told me that she really enjoyed the study, the fellowship, prayer and teachings but God had put it on her heart to spend that time doing a one on one Bible Study with a sister from the church that has been sick and can’t get out too much. I was so blessed God had stirred this woman to minister freely with her teaching gift. When God touches ordinary people, extraordinary things happen. When hearts are willing, God can stir them to do amazing things. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a bunch of people doing the work of the kingdom, blessing the kingdom with their voluntary gifting and gifts. “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8

Next reading: Exodus 37-38; Psalm 19; Acts 11