Fri.’s Devo - Jesus’ Rejection

Read: Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21 When I read the laws about making vows I am so thankful for these laws because I think of the thoughtless vows I have made that I know the Lord opposed and kept me from having to keep them. Just think of things we say like, “I’d rather die than…”, or “Over my dead body…” We have so many euphemisms which are so detrimental to our health and spiritual well-being. It is a great thing that God as our Father can step in and annul it, or Jesus as our husband can also. *** God told Moses that he was to avenge the people of Israel by fighting the Midianties. They were to send one thousand warriors from each tribe to fight against them. Phinehas, the priest went with them to war with the vessels of the tabernacle and the trumpet to sound for the attack. *** God gave them total success and they killed Balaam who had been paid to curse them, only God wouldn’t let him. They took the women and children of Midian captive and all the spoil. When they brought them to Moses he was so angry with them because they let them live. These were the very ones who led Israel to worship Baal. He told them to kill every male child and every married woman. The virgins could be spared. Those who did this were to stay outside the camp for seven days to be purified. *** They made it a law that the only plunder they could take from an enemy was metal that could go through the fire to be purified and anything that could be washed in water. They were to wash their own clothes, then on the seventh day they would be clean. *** We go through battles and trials all through our lives. We try to be clean and pure through it all, but it is impossible since we are humans. On the seventh day when everyone is judged, everything we have done will go through the fire and the water and what survives will be what will stand as our good deeds before the Lord. *** When they counted all the plunder, it was split between the people who went to battle and the ones who stayed home. A small part of the half that went to the warriors was given to Eleazar as the Lord’s part. A larger part was taken from the people’s half and given to the Levites who guarded the tabernacle. The plunder was abundant as listed in verses 32-47. *** When the officers did a count of their soldiers they found that not one had died. They freely gave of their plunder to the Lord as a thanksgiving for saving them all. Their gifts stood as a memorial to the Lord of what he had done for them. *** In Luke, Jesus went from baptism to the fire of testing. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness just for this reason. He fasted the whole 40 days and nights and at the end of the time, the devil came to him to tempt him to turn a stone into bread. Jesus gave scripture saying that man doesn’t live by bread alone. *** Then the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a glimpse. The devil promised to him him authority and glory on earth if he would bow down and worship him. Jesus told him he would only worship the Lord and only serve him. Lastly, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and told him to jump because the scriptures say that he could command angels to catch him. Jesus rebuked him for testing God. The devil left him to fight another day. *** Jesus returned to Galilee filled with God’s Spirit. He taught in the synagogues and was becoming well-known. Then he went home to Nazareth and was not as well received. When he went into the synagogue that Sabbath, he stood up to read the scripture for the day. He took the scroll of Isaiah and found the place where it said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. When everyone was looking at him for an explanation, he told them that today that Scripture is being fulfilled in their ears. *** He knew they were questioning his authority because they knew he was just Mary and Joseph’s son, so Jesus reminded them that a prophet is never accepted in his hometown. Jesus told of two stories which all had to do with outsiders. God had chosen to save the widow in Sidon during the famine when there were many godly people dying in Israel. And God had healed the leper from Syria when there were many lepers in Israel that he didn’t heal. He was using these stories to tell why he couldn’t heal them of his own hometown, but could heal many people elsewhere. It had to do with their faith. This made the people so mad that he would insinuate that God would choose to help, especially the Gentiles over them, that they drove him out of town to a cliff. They had planned to throw him off, but Jesus just walked right through the crowd and left. *** May this be a lesson to us, that God is God and he can do whatever he wants for whoever he chooses. We don’t have the right to challenge his decisions. *** Lord, may we walk in gratefulness that you would move in anyone you choose. May we be joyful for those you choose to bless and not jealous or feel entitled. We choose to love and worship you because you are God and that is enough.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Offerings of the Feasts 3-19-26 Read: Numbers 28:16-29:40; Luke 3:23-38; Psalm 62:1-12; Proverbs 11:18-19 God went through the feasts and told them what was to be offered at each of them. Atonement was made at each feast. Passover was first followed by Feast of Unleavened Bread the next day. Then First Fruits and the Feast of Weeks. Those feast were the spring feasts. *** In the fall, on the first day of the seventh month was the Feast of Trumpets, then on the tenth day of that month was the Day of Atonement, the most holy day. On the fifteenth of that same month was the Feast of Tabernacles where the most interesting sacrifices were given. The Feast of Tabernacle lasted seven days. The sacrifices were the same each day except for the number of bulls. On the first day the number of bulls was 13, then every day it counted down one less bull ending with seven on the seventh day. Then on the eighth day it began over with only one bull. *** The feasts are God’s timetable of events. The Feast of Tabernacles, the last feast, is a picture of Christ’s reign on earth. On the eighth day, they do a celebration of the Torah which is called Simbat Torah. That is the day they begin reading the Torah again starting with Genesis One. This represents the day when everything will start over with a new heaven and a new earth. *** In Luke, Jesus begins his ministry at the age of 30 as Joseph’s son. We are given Joseph’s lineage which is taken all the way back to Adam who was the son of God. Joseph is from the line of Judah and a descendant of David. Many great people like Boaz, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and Methuselah were in his line. *** Even though Joseph was not Jesus’ blood father, he was chosen by God to father him on earth. His lineage was important because it determined that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. *** Lord, thank you that you wrote each of our stories. Our beginning and the end. We trust your plan for our lives even when we don’t understand it. We know Jesus had days where he didn’t understand the plan either. Help us to walk by faith and trust in the author of our book.

Wed.’s Devo - In Need of a Saviour

Read: Numbers 26:52-28:15; Luke 3:1-22; Psalm 61:1-8 Proverbs 11:16-17 God told Moses what to do with the census he had taken. He was to divide the land and give the largest land to the tribes with the largest number of people. *** The Levites were listed according to their clans - the Gershonites, the Kohathites and the Merarites. Moses and Aaron were from the Kohathites. There were 23,000 Levites from the ages of a month old and upward. They were not given an inheritance in the land because the Lord was their inheritance. *** We are a kingdom of priest according to 2 Peter and our inheritance is not earthly but heavenly. Our inheritance is the Lord. *** This new census didn’t include any of the first census Moses had taken. They had all died in the wilderness because of their sin, except for Joshua and Caleb who brought back a good report about the land the Lord had given them. *** The daughters of Zelophehad who had no brothers came to present their case. They wanted to inherit their father’s land when he died. Moses sought the Lord’s counsel and he agreed with the women. It became a presidence that if a person died without a son, their land would go to their daughters. If he had no children, it would go to his brother, then if that was not possible it would go to his closest of kin. *** Moses was then taken on the mountain where he could see the land he had brought the people to, but he would die there and not get to enter. The land had never been about Moses, it had been about God’s promise to his people. *** Moses asked the Lord to appoint a leader for the people and God chose Joshua. He was to stand him before Eleazar, the priest and all the congregation and commission him so everyone would see who God had chosen to lead them. *** Then God gave Moses the details of the different offerings the people were to offer to him. They were to also bring offerings on the Sabbath and on their new moon at the beginning of their months. Everything was to begin with honoring him and being thankful. *** In Luke, Luke makes sure we understand that Judea was ruled by non-Jews. Iberius Caesar was in his 15th reign over them. Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea and Herod was the tetrarch over Galilee. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priest who were not chosen by God. They needed a Savior. *** God came to John who lived in the wilderness and told him to begin baptizing people who wanted to repent of their sins He was the voice in the wilderness telling the people to get their lives ready to receive the salvation of the Lord. *** John told them that being a child of Abraham was not enough to save their soul from sin. They need to change the way they lived. Stop extorting money from one another and begin honoring God in the way they treated others. *** People began saying that John could be the Messiah but he quickly put a stop to that. He told them that he only baptized with water, but the one coming was far greater than him and he would baptized them with the Holy Spirit and fire. *** John reproved Herod the tetrarch for taking his brother’s wife, Herodias from him, so Herod had John put in prison. *** Before this, John had baptized Jesus and when he did the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” *** Lord, may we remember to always be thankful every day for what you have given us. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins and save us from death.

Tues.’s Devo - The Father’s Business

Read: Numbers 26:1-51; Luke 2:36-52; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 11:15 Twenty-four thousand had just died in the plague God sent to punish Israel for their rebellion. God told Moses to count how many were left to go to war - 20 years of age and older. Here are some interesting facts from our list of tribes. In Reuben’s tribe Dathan and Abiram and their families had been swallowed up with Korah. But, Korah’s family, who were sons of Aaron were not killed. *** In the tribe of Manasseh, one of the clans had no sons but had five daughters. *** The tribe of Dan only had one clan which were the Shuhamites, yet they had the most people other than the tribe of Judah. Shuhamite means “their pit.” I always think of the tribe of Dan like Judas Iscarot, the tare in the field. The tribe of Dan was know throughout the years for their idolatry and wickedness. Dan means “to judge.” *** In Luke, Mary and Joseph had brought Jesus to the Temple to dedicate him to the Lord and a prophetess named Anna was there. When she saw him she gave thanks to the Lord because she knew he was the one who would bring redemption to Jerusalem. *** When Jesus was 12, he went with his parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. When it was over, his parents began their travel home, only to find out Jesus was not with the group. They had to return to Jerusalem and it took them 3 days to find him. When they did, he was in the Temple astonishing the teachers with his answers and understanding of God. Mary asked him how he could have done this to them, he replied, “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business.” *** Jesus had just turned 12 and it was customary for the son to then begin to work in his father’s business. Jesus’ father was God and his business was in the Temple, so it made perfect sense to Jesus to stay and work there. *** Jesus submitted to his parents and returned home to do the business of a carpenter like Joseph. Jesus increased in wisdom and favor with God and man. *** Lord, may we be about your business on the earth. May we increase in wisdom and favor with you and with man.

Mon.’s Devo - Infiltrating Israel

Read: Numbers 24:1-25:18; Luke 2:1-35; Psalm 59:1-17; Proverbs 11:14 Balaam realized that God enjoyed blessing Israel so this time he didn’t do all his rituals to get God to talk. God’s Spirit came upon him and he spoke. He described the dwellings of the Israelites as beautiful gardens beside a river. God himself would water them and cause them to prosper and multiply. God brought them out of Egypt to destroy other nations. Blessed are those who bless them and cursed are those who curse them. *** Needless to say, Balak was not pleased with this prophecy especially since he was the one wanting to curse them. He told Balaam to flee from his presence and he would receive no honor from him. Balaam reminded him that he had told his servants from the start that he could only say what the Lord allowed him to say. Then he added that he would tell him what the Israelites would do to Balak’s people in the latter days. *** A star and a scepter (a king) would come out of Jacob and he would crush Moab, Edom, Seir, Amalek, and Kittim (Greece and Italy). *** Balaam and Balak departed but not before he gave Balak some advise in how to take Israel down. Revelation 2:14 tells us that Balaam taught Balak how to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel - how to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. So the next thing we read is that the daughters of Moab were the stumbling block. They taught the people of Israel to worship Baal. *** God was so upset he told Moses to take all the leaders of this rebellion and hang them in the sun. Before they could act on this a man brought a Midianite woman to his family and into his tent. This was so flagrant that when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar saw it, he took a spear and went into the man’s tent and drove it through both of them. This stopped the plague that had begun. Twenty-four thousand died in the plague. *** Moses was so proud of what Phinehas did he blessed him with the covenant peace and the covenant of a perpetual priesthood to him and his descendants. The man killed was a chief in the tribe of Simeon. The woman’s name was Cozbi which means “my lie” from Zur which mean “to besiege.” So that means that she was sent to bring them down through deceit. Isn’t that what a stumbling block is supposed to do? *** In Luke, Caesar Agustus made a decree that all the world had to go register themselves at their birthplace. Joseph had to go to Nazareth to Bethlehem where he was born to register. He took Mary his fiancé with him. She was about to deliver and barely made it to Bethlehem. Jesus was born in the stable and placed in the manger because the inns were full because of the census. *** Shepherds outside of Bethlehem were visited by an angel of the Lord. He told them that he had great news. A child had just been born as a gift to them who is Christ the Lord, their Savior. They would find him in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then the sky was filled with angels who sang glory and honor to the Lord and peace to the earth. *** When the angels left, the shepherds wanted to go to Bethlehem and find this baby. They did find him and told many people what they had heard from the Lord. Mary treasured these words in her heart. They left praising the Lord for what he was doing. *** Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and given the name, Jesus. Then Mary and Joseph brought him to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice. *** A old man named Simeon was there who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die till he beheld the Lord’s Christ. He took Jesus in his arms and blessed him as a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Simeon also blessed Mary and Joseph and told Mary that many in Israel would fall and many rise because of Jesus. She would feel the sword in her own soul, but Jesus would reveal the heart of many. Boy, did that ever come true and is still true today. *** Lord, we are so thankful you sent your son, Jesus to reveal hearts, to be a light of revelation to us, and to see Israel be glorified. We trust what you are doing right now in Israel and know that you are causing the rise and fall of many. May your name be great in the earth!

Sun.’s Devo - From Curse to Blessing

Read: Numbers 22:21-23:30; Luke 1:57-80; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 11:12-13 God had told Balaam to go with the men of Moab, but he wanted to make it clear who was in control, and that he was not pleased that he was following this king who wanted to put a curse on Israel. The angel of the Lord went and tried to stop Balaam from going three times, but Balaam was spiritually blind and couldn’t see the angel posed with a sword. But his donkey could and tried to avoid the angel. Each time Balaam struck his donkey. The third time, his donkey spoke! Surely, that was not a common occurrence. But, instead of being shocked his donkey was talking, Balaam carried on a conversation with it. Balaam was probably used to strange phenomenon since he was a sorcerer. *** God finally opened Balaam’s eyes so he could see the angel with the sword. He bowed down in reverence and fear. God told him he could continue, but this was a warning to only speak what he said. *** Balak met Balaam and Balak was incensed that he had waited so long to meet with him and get his reward. Balaam told him he didn’t have the power to speak just anything he wanted. He could only speak what God put in his mouth. His ability to curse on demand had been denied him by the Lord. *** Balak took Balaam to a place where he could see a small portion of the children of Israel. Balaam went through his rituals with his seven altars and sacrifices, then he spoke what the Lord told him to say. Instead of cursing Israel, he blessed them as upright who would multiply and have a good ending. *** Balak was very upset that Balaam had blessed them and not cursed them. He took Balaam to another place where he could view a different tribe of Israel. Once again, Balaam did his seven altars and consulted the Lord. He gave Balak the message. God wasn’t a god who changes his mind. He brought Israel out of Egypt and their is no enchantment that can be used against them. They will rise up like a lion and devour its prey. (I wonder if he wasn’t looking at the tribe of Judah.) *** Balak was not happy with Balaam, even though he kept telling him he could only say what the Lord said. Balak was not giving up. He took Balaam to a third place hoping he could curse them from that viewpoint. Once again, Balaam prepared his seven altars and his sacrifices. (You would think that Balak would give up by now, but his life depended on Balaam’s curse.) *** The amazing thing about this story is that Israel had no idea this was going on. They were grumbling over food and water and their discomforts of the moment and didn’t realize God was protecting them from being cursed by their enemies. I wonder how many times this happens in our lives and we don’t even know the warfare is going on. God is a great defender and protector. He is our loving Father. *** In Luke, Elizabeth had her son, John, and just like the angel had said, many rejoiced with her at his birth. When the baby was brought on the eighth day to be circumcised, they assumed his name would be Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth said the boys name was John. Zechariah still couldn’t talk so he wrote John’s name on a tablet and immediately his mouth was opened. The first thing he did was to bless the Lord. The people who saw this were amazed and the word of this miracle spread. They wondered what God had in store for this child. *** Zechariah prophesied that God had visited his people to redeem them. John would be a prophet of God who would go before the Lord to prepare his way. He would tell the people of God’s salvation and forgiveness of sins. He would give light to those who were spiritually blind and lead them to the path of life and peace. *** John grew up in the wilderness until it was time for him to appear publicly to Israel. *** Lord, thank you that no curse can touch us when we walk with you. You guard over us and make sure we are blessed. Thank you for your great love.

Sat.’s Devo - Victory After Victory

Read: Numbers 21:1-22:20; Luke 1:26-56; Psalm 57:1-11; Proverbs 11:9-11 The Edomite king had refused to let Israel pass through their land so they had to go around their land the long way to Canaan. When they got to Arad, land owned by a Canaanite king, he came out to fight them. Moses vowed if the Lord would give them victory over him, they would devote their cities to destruction. God gave them victory and they destroyed their cities. *** The people began to grumble again about their conditions. The Lord sent fiery serpents to bite the people and many died. They repented for complaining, and begged Moses to ask the Lord to take away the serpents. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. When the people looked at it they would live. We see that symbol today on medical buildings. *** They came to a well and the Lord told Moses to have the people sing to the well and it brought forth water for them. They soon came to the land belonging to Sihon king of the Amorites. They asked them to let them pass through their land and promised not to touch or take anything. He rallied his troops to fight Israel and Israel took all his cities and villages. They camped in their land and their next stop was the land of Bashan. Og was the king. They fought him in Edrei and defeated him and possessed his land. *** They set out from there to the land of the Moabites. The king of Moab was Balak. He had heard of all Israel did to the Amorites and decided to take a different strategy. Since he couldn’t win fighting them physically, he decided to defeat them spiritually. He wanted to hire Balaam, a prophet to curse them. He sent ambassadors with fees to pay him to curse Israel. They found Balaam and told him what they wanted him to do. When Balaam sought the Lord, He told Balaam that he was not to go with him to do this. He would not curse these people because they were blessed. *** Balak sent princes to convince him to come and curse Israel. Balak explained that even if they gave him a house full of silver and gold, he could not do anything or say anything the Lord didn’t allow him. But, he told them to let him ask the Lord again. God told Balaam that he could go with the men, but only say what he told him to say. *** In Luke, it was the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary in Nazareth. She was a virgin who was engaged to marriage a man named Joseph. Gabriel told Mary that she was honored by God and would bear his Son and name him Jesus. He would reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom would be everlasting. *** When Mary asked how this could happen since she was a virgin, Gabriel said the Holy Spirit would come upon her and overshadow her. The child would be holy and be the son of God. Then he told her that her aunt Elizabeth was also pregnant and in her sixth month. She who was barren was now pregnant because nothing is impossible with God. Mary submitted to the angel’s words and he left her. *** Mary got up and went immediately to see Elizabeth. When she entered into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth began prophesying that the baby in Mary’s womb would be the Lord. She blessed Mary for believing God would fulfill his word through her. *** Mary praised the Lord, honored to be used by the Lord for so great a task. Mary stayed with Elizabeth the next three months then went home. *** We have all been called to carry his son in our belly. Scripture says that out of our bellies will flow rivers of living water. *** Lord, may our answer to your call be like Mary’s. What a blessing it is to steward your spirit in us. May we praise and honor you with our lives.