Thurs.’s Devo - Fishing For Men

Read: Numbers 32:1-33:39; Luke 4:31-5:11; Psalm 64:1-10; Proverbs 11:22 The tribes of Reuben and Gad saw that the land they had taken from the Ammonites was great pasture for animals and they had many. So they went to Moses and asked for that land for their possession instead of land in the promised land. *** At first, Moses was very upset with them but when they explained that they would send their fighting men to help all the other tribes secure their land, the Moses was okay with them living east of the Jordan. *** So, the tribes of Gad, Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh got the territory that had belonged to King Simon of the Amorites and the land of King Og of Bashan. They got all their cities and the surrounding lands. They had fortified cities already there with pens for their animals thus fulfilling Deuteronomy 6:10-11. They drove out any remaining descendants of the land and changed the names of their towns to reflect their names. *** Chapter 33 gives the route the Israelites traveled through the wilderness to Canaan. They left the city of Rameses on the fifteenth, the day after the Passover. They left defiantly, in full view of all the Egyptians. They were busy burying their firstborn. The Lord had defeated the gods of Egypt that night with great acts of judgment. *** Aaron died the 40th year of their wandering at the age of 123. *** Everywhere Jesus taught, the people were amazed at the authority he spoke with. One time he was preaching, a man possess by a demon spoke up and identified him as the Holy One of God. Jesus commanded him to be quiet and ordered the demon to come out of the man. This made the people even more amazed at his authority. *** He went home that day and found Simon’s mother-in-law sick. He rebuked the fever and she got up and prepared them a meal, *** This prompted other people to bring their sick to him that night,. He healed them and cast out demons. *** The next morning Jesus went to an isolated place and the crowds searched for him everywhere. They finally found him and begged him not to leave them. He told them he had to go to others that needed him also. *** Jesus even preached from boats to the crowds at the sea shore. When he had finished, he told Simon to go out and let his nets down deeper. Peter explained that they had fished all night and hadn’t caught any. They would surely not catch any during the day, But they did and their nets were so full it took two boats to bring in the catch. Peter was humbled to his knees and repented. Jesus told him not to be afraid of him, that he would be fishing for men. Peter then left his fishing and followed Jesus. *** Lord, thank you for the callings on our lives that make this world seem so empty compared to you.