Think about Job, how he'd offer sacrifices for his children, worried they might have sinned. He wanted to make things right with God. It's a powerful image, isn't it?
But here's the amazing thing: you don't have to do that anymore. Jesus' sacrifice covers everything. His blood has cleansed you, forgiven you. That's a gift worth more than anything, right?
So what can you do now? How can you show your gratitude? It's not about burnt offerings anymore. It's about living a life that honors God. It's about waking up each day and choosing to walk in His will, showing love and obedience in everything you do.
That's the kind of "offering" that truly matters. A genuine heart, filled with thankfulness, radiating His love – that's what God desires most. It's like a beautiful fragrance rising up to Him.
You've already been forgiven. You've confessed Jesus as your savior. Now, turn away from anything that pulls you from Him. Embrace the good, and live each day as a testament to His grace. Live a life worthy of the One who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. That’s the best gift you can give.
Each day sacrifice a young bull as an offering to make peace with the Lord. Sacrifice this offering for sin on the altar in order to pay for its sins. Then anoint it ⌞with olive oil⌟ in order to dedicate it.
Live in love as Christ also loved us. He gave his life for us as an offering and sacrifice, a soothing aroma to God.
Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your failures.”
“If the anointed priest does something wrong and brings guilt on the people, he must bring a bull that has no defects as an offering for sin to the Lord.
When the wrong they have done becomes known, the congregation must sacrifice a bull as an offering for sin. They must bring it in front of the tent of meeting.
He will remove all the fat and burn it on the altar.“Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong—even one thing that is forbidden by any of the Lord’s commands—this is what he must do.He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven.
Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.He poured out his kindness by giving us every kind of wisdom and insight
He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the Lord for the people, and they will be forgiven.
“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and remember there that another believer has something against you,leave your gift at the altar. First go away and make peace with that person. Then come back and offer your gift.
“Tell the Israelites to choose something to give me as a special contribution. You must accept whatever contribution each person freely gives.
So we have brought as gifts to the Lord the gold jewelry that each of us found—arm bands, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants. We offer them to make peace with the Lord.”
“Can a person cheat God? Yet, you are cheating me! “But you ask, ‘How are we cheating you?’ “When ⌞you don’t bring⌟ a tenth of your income and other contributions.
“Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Each of you should give whatever you have decided. You shouldn’t be sorry that you gave or feel forced to give, since God loves a cheerful giver.
So take seven young bulls and seven rams. Go to my servant Job, and make a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you. Then I will accept his prayer not to treat you as godless fools. After all, you didn’t speak what is right about me as my servant Job has done.”
“So, brothers, I’m telling you that through Jesus your sins can be forgiven. Sins kept you from receiving God’s approval through Moses’ Teachings.
“If someone brings a lamb as his offering for sin, he must bring a female that has no defects.
A generous person will be made rich, and whoever satisfies others will himself be satisfied.
“Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you.Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.Give us our daily bread today.Forgive us as we forgive others.Don’t allow us to be tempted. Instead, rescue us from the evil one. “If you forgive the failures of others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failures.“When you fast, stop looking sad like hypocrites. They put on sad faces to make it obvious that they’re fasting. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward.When you fast, wash your face and comb your hair.Then your fasting won’t be obvious. Instead, it will be obvious to your Father who is with you in private. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.“Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward.Instead, store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust don’t destroy and thieves don’t break in and steal.Your heart will be where your treasure is.“The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is unclouded, your whole body will be full of light.But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light in you is darkness, how dark it will be!“No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.“So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothes?“Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?“Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying?“And why worry about clothes? Notice how the flowers grow in the field. They never work or spin yarn for clothes.But I say that not even Solomon in all his majesty was dressed like one of these flowers.When you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.That’s the way God clothes the grass in the field. Today it’s alive, and tomorrow it’s thrown into an incinerator. So how much more will he clothe you people who have so little faith?“Don’t ever worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’Everyone is concerned about these things, and your heavenly Father certainly knows you need all of them.But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.“So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.
“One-tenth of what comes from the land, whether grain or fruit, is holy and belongs to the Lord.
Give to the Lord the glory his name deserves. Bring an offering, and come to him. Worship the Lord in ⌞his⌟ holy splendor.
Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God. Bring a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.
“When you bring a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it ⌞properly⌟ so that you will be accepted.
Each man must bring a gift in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given him.
Make sure you do what you said you would do ⌞in your vow⌟. You freely chose to make your vow to the Lord your God.
Never bring any animal with a physical defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.A person may bring the Lord a fellowship offering to fulfill a vow or for a freewill offering. Whether it is from the cattle, sheep, or goats, it must be an animal that has no defects in order to be accepted. It must never be an animal that has defects.
All who ⌞choose to⌟ remain behind, wherever they may be living, should provide the people who are leaving with silver, gold, supplies, livestock, and freewill offerings to be used in God’s temple in Jerusalem.
The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. O God, you do not despise a broken and sorrowful heart.
Kore, son of Imnah the Levite, was the gatekeeper at East Gate and had to take care of the freewill offerings made to God. His responsibility was to distribute the offerings made to the Lord and the holy gifts dedicated to God.
You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ.
So you, too, will contribute one-tenth of your income to the Lord out of all that you receive from the Israelites’ income. You will give the Lord’s contribution to the priest Aaron.
Give, and you will receive. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your pocket. The standards you use for others will be applied to you.”
The sacrifice of wicked people is disgusting, especially if they bring it with evil intent.
But who am I and who are my people that you enable us to give so generously? Everything comes from you. We give you only what has come from your hands.
Don’t forget to do good things for others and to share what you have with them. These are the kinds of sacrifices that please God.
“Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward.Instead, store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust don’t destroy and thieves don’t break in and steal.Your heart will be where your treasure is.
Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.
Later Cain brought some crops from the land as an offering to the Lord.Abel also brought some choice parts of the firstborn animals from his flock. The Lord approved of Abel and his offering,
Tell those who have the riches of this world not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, they should place their confidence in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.Tell them to do good, to do a lot of good things, to be generous, and to share.By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves which is a good foundation for the future. In this way they take hold of what life really is.
I will make a sacrifice to you along with a freewill offering. I will give thanks to your good name, O Lord.
“Make a tree good, and then its fruit will be good. Or make a tree rotten, and then its fruit will be rotten. A person can recognize a tree by its fruit.You poisonous snakes! How can you evil people say anything good? Your mouth says what comes from inside you.Good people do the good things that are in them. But evil people do the evil things that are in them.
they faithfully brought in the contributions, the offerings of one-tenth of the crops, and the gifts dedicated to God. The Levite Conaniah was in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was his assistant.
Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you.
“If you forgive the failures of others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failures.
The Lord asks, “What do your many animal sacrifices mean to me? I’ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams and enough fat from your fattened calves. I’m not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.When you appear in my presence, who asked you to trample on my courtyards?Don’t bring any more worthless grain offerings. Your incense is disgusting to me, so are your New Moon Festivals, your days of rest—holy days, and the assemblies you call. I can’t stand your evil assemblies.I hate your New Moon Festivals and your appointed festivals. They’ve become a burden to me, and I’m tired of putting up with them.So when you stretch out your hands ⌞in prayer⌟, I will turn my eyes away from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.
Put up with each other, and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.
Looking up, Jesus saw people, especially the rich, dropping their gifts into the temple offering box.Then Jesus continued, “Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom.There will be terrible earthquakes, famines, and dreadful diseases in various places. Terrifying sights and miraculous signs will come from the sky.“Before all these things happen, people will arrest and persecute you. They will hand you over to their synagogues and put you into their prisons. They will drag you in front of kings and governors because of my name.It will be your opportunity to testify to them.So make up your minds not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.I will give you words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to oppose or prove wrong.“Even parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will betray you and kill some of you.Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me.But not a hair on your head will be lost.By your endurance you will save your life.He noticed a poor widow drop in two small coins.“When you see armies camped around Jerusalem, realize that the time is near for it to be destroyed.Then those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. Those of you in Jerusalem should leave it. Those of you in the fields shouldn’t go back into them.This will be a time of vengeance. Everything that is written about it will come true.“How horrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days. Indeed, the land will suffer very hard times, and its people will be punished.Swords will cut them down, and they will be carried off into all nations as prisoners. Nations will trample Jerusalem until the times allowed for the nations ⌞to do this⌟ are over.“Miraculous signs will occur in the sun, moon, and stars. The nations of the earth will be deeply troubled and confused because of the roaring and tossing of the sea.People will faint as they fearfully wait for what will happen to the world. Indeed, the powers of the universe will be shaken.“Then people will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.“When these things begin to happen, stand with confidence! The time when you will be set free is near.”Then Jesus used this story as an illustration. “Look at the fig tree or any other tree.He said, “I can guarantee this truth: This poor widow has given more than all the others.As soon as leaves grow on them, you know without being told that summer is near.In the same way, when you see these things happen, you know that God’s kingdom is near.“I can guarantee this truth: This generation will not disappear until all this takes place.The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.“Make sure that you don’t become drunk, hung over, and worried about life. Then that day could suddenly catch you by surpriselike a trap that catches a bird. That day will surprise all people who live on the earth.Be alert at all times. Pray so that you have the power to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand in front of the Son of Man.”During the day Jesus would teach in the temple courtyard. But at night he would go to the Mount of Olives (as it was called) and spend the night there.All of the people would get up early to hear him speak in the temple courtyard.All of these people have given what they could spare. But she, in her poverty, has given everything she had to live on.”
So watch yourselves! “If a believer sins, correct him. If he changes the way he thinks and acts, forgive him.The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.“On that day those who are on the roof shouldn’t come down to get their belongings out of their houses. Those who are in the field shouldn’t turn back.Remember Lot’s wife!Those who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them.“I can guarantee that on that night if two people are in one bed, one will be taken and the other one will be left.Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other one will be left.” They asked him, “Where, Lord?” Jesus told them, “Vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.”Even if he wrongs you seven times in one day and comes back to you seven times and says that he is sorry, forgive him.”
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, how often do I have to forgive a believer who wrongs me? Seven times?”Jesus answered him, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy times seven.
“Bring one-tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,” says the Lord of Armies. “See if I won’t open the windows of heaven for you and flood you with blessings.
He has not treated us as we deserve for our sins or paid us back for our wrongs.As high as the heavens are above the earth— that is how vast his mercy is toward those who fear him.As far as the east is from the west— that is how far he has removed our rebellious acts from himself.
If you build an altar for me made out of stones, never make it with cut stone blocks. If you use a chisel on it, you will make it unacceptable to me.
One person spends freely and yet grows richer, while another holds back what he owes and yet grows poorer.A generous person will be made rich, and whoever satisfies others will himself be satisfied.
“Come on now, let’s discuss this!” says the Lord. “Though your sins are bright red, they will become as white as snow. Though they are dark red, they will become as white as wool.
A wicked person borrows, but he does not repay. A righteous person is generous and giving.
God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong.
O Lord, who would be able to stand if you kept a record of sins?But with you there is forgiveness so that you can be feared.
Everything you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
with whatever contributions you have. Since you are willing to do this, ⌞remember⌟ that people are accepted if they give what they are able to give. God doesn’t ask for what they don’t have.
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” Meanwhile, the soldiers divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.
You have paid me in full, and I have more than enough. Now that Epaphroditus has brought me your gifts, you have filled my needs. Your gifts are a soothing aroma, a sacrifice that God accepts and with which he is pleased.
All goes well for the person who is generous and lends willingly. He earns an honest living.
“Always do for other people everything you want them to do for you. That is ⌞the meaning of⌟ Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets.
Because the believers in Macedonia and Greece owe a debt to the Christians in Jerusalem, they have decided to take up a collection for the poor among the Christians in Jerusalem.These Macedonians and Greeks have shared the spiritual wealth of the Christians in Jerusalem. So they are obligated to use their earthly wealth to help them.
Every Sunday each of you should set aside some of your money and save it. Then money won’t have to be collected when I come.
I have given you an example that by working hard like this we should help the weak. We should remember the words that the Lord Jesus said, ‘Giving gifts is more satisfying than receiving them.’ ”
Through Jesus we should always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, words that acknowledge him.Don’t forget to do good things for others and to share what you have with them. These are the kinds of sacrifices that please God.