Thursday, January 6, 2011

Thurs.'s Devo - A Consuming Fire

Read Pr. 20:22-26
I was reading in Numbers today about a man that gathered sticks on the Sabbath and since that was work God told Moses to bring the man outside the camp and stone him. In the very next chapter God severely judged Kohath and his family for challenging the authority of Moses. God caused the first earthquake and it swallowed them up with their homes and fire came out of the earth and burned up the 250 men that offered unholy incense. If that wasn't enough God had Moses call all the people together and told him to take a censor of fire and incense to stop the plague and make atonement for the people because he wanted to destroy all of them. That day 14,700 people died of the plague. So that brings some light to the scriptures today. God hates sin and knows how to deal with it. It is not our job to even the score or get revenge, God is really good at that. He knows when you are getting cheated and when you are being the one who is cheating and nothing gets by him. He also rewards those who give secretly and don't expect anything in return. Verse 26 says that a wise king will scatter the wicked and crush them. We are to scatter and crush our enemies but our enemies are not flesh and blood but principalities and powers. Our job is to pray and obey. God may have us tell someone a hard thing but it will be his words and God's words break yokes and set people free, they don't damage them.
Lord, thank you for reminding us that you are a holy God who hates sin. You defend us and cover us with the blood of Jesus that we can live righteously and escape your wrath. Help us in our dealings with people that we recognize who our real enemy is.

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