Appreciate God’s Values of Contentment and Community and Gain a Sense of Completion by Relating with Him through the Lord’s Feast of Tabernacles

TRUTH AND PURPOSE

How do you measure your contentment? God appointed Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, as a time to mark the end of the annual cycle of seasons. On the one hand, God appointed it as a time to rest from one’s hard work and express gratefulness to God for His continued provision. In addition, it serves to reflect on His goodness and relate with others. Furthermore, it provides a valuable opportunity to look ahead to the next season.

Believers in Messiah Yeshua-Jesus, however, have an even greater opportunity to express gratefulness to God. That’s because we celebrate the incredible love and awesome works of God in a special meaningful way. We enter into His rest and anticipate His future glory!

RELEVANCE

See the big picture. The Lord redeemed you from vain works and lifted your burdens.  He invited you to be joined with Him, and receive His peace.

Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  (Matthew11:28-30 JNT)

The Lord’s peace is truly precious.  It is the true antidote to fear and anxiety. It brings you to a real state of contentment. To some, real inner peace and God’s shalom may be hard to comprehend.  But, it is real. It is available to experience.

How to find it? Don’t live in worry; but focus your thoughts on what is “true, noble and righteous” communicating with gratefulness to God, and “the peace of God which surpasses understanding” will keep you secure in God’s love.   (Philippians 4:6-8 )

Paul learned how to have contentment in the Lord. He confessed that “I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances. I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. I can do all things through him who gives me power” (Philippians 4:11-12 JNT).

Paul also understood “follow-ship.”  He, like other Old Testament characters, followed after God. In a world that finds it hard to find satisfaction with the simple things of life, contentment in the Lord is to be greatly valued. He knew that the Lord is our source of sufficiency and peace.

The early community of faith also greatly valued the peace and presence of the Holy Spirit. They followed after the Lord. They received the revelation of God’s Word and maintained a rich kind of fellowship.

Such dynamic follow-ship and fellowship enabled them to truly experience the fullness of God. These believers were convicted in their hearts that they needed one another. They needed to support one another through the trials and toil of life.  They, therefore, valued the different gifts, skills, and resources that God had given to them. As a result, they actively engaged in the practice of sharing and caring for one another. They expressed real community.

So their sense of community was real because the presence of the Holy Spirit and love of God was real to them. As a result, that presence gave them a sense of confidence and peace. Although external trials abounded, they were exhorted to rest internally in His rest. “For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. And it is in union with him that you have been made full — he is the head of every rule and authority” (Colossians 2:8-10 JNT).

God, therefore, brings us to the place where we are confident that prayer and patience work together to see God’s will and purposes accomplished. So we experience His love and active presence. The more we do, the more we know He is in control and rest settled in His purposes.

As we anticipate a time of entering a complete state of rest and wholeness in God, we realize we will never be totally complete this side of heaven. However, you can know you are eternally found in Messiah Yeshua-Jesus! As a result, you experience a greater sense of peace and contentment that truly does surpass understanding.

REFLECT AND RELATE

How do you experience God’s peace and contentment?

What blockages and constraints could be preventing you from experiencing God’s presence and peace?

How might you be able to experience fellowship centered in the life of God and engage with God through the Holy Spirit in a real way?

REFERENCES

Matthew 11:28-30; Philippians 4:6-7; Hebrews 13:4-6; 2 Corinthians 4:7-18; Acts 2:42-47; Colossians 2:8-10; James 1:3-8

NEXT STEPS

The Feast of Tabernacles helps you see the big picture of the values of true fellowship with God and a true community of God. The more you come to value the things that God values, the more you truly value an intimate relationship with the One who said, I Am the True Vine, Messiah’s deepest message of life in Him.

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