Read: Numbers 21:1-22:20; Luke 1:26-56; Psalm 57:1-11; Proverbs 11:9-11
As the Israelites got closer and closer to their land, the inhabitants of the land were watching everything that was happening. The king of Arad was one of these people. They attacked the Israelites and took some of them prisoner. The Israelites vowed to completely destroy all their towns which was exactly what God wanted them to do, so he helped them do just that.
The Israelites continued their journey around the land of Edom, since the Edomites refused to let them go through their land. The children of Israel started complaining about everything - the lack of water, the manna, Moses, etc. So, God sent poisonous snakes which killed many of them. They got the message and repented. The Lord told Moses to have them make a replica of the snake and attach it to a pole. If they got bit by one of the snakes, they could look at the pole and be healed. The snake on the pole represented the cross that if we are dying of sin, we can look upon the one who was cursed for us and receive eternal life and be healed.
When the Israelites came to the land of the Amorites, Moses asked King Sihon if they could travel through their land peacefully. He refused to let them and mobilized his entire army to fight them. The Israelites won and captured all their cities with Heshbon being their capital. Heshbon means “reason”. Carnal reasoning is the enemy of seeing spiritually.
Their next challenge was King Og of Bashan. They killed them and kept going toward Jericho. Balak, the Moabite king had seen what they had done to the others and needed a better strategy than war. He hired a sorcerer by the name of Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. Balaam was the son of an Edomite king so he was an enemy of Israel also, but as a sorcerer, he knew spiritual authority and God was at the top of the structure. He told Balak that God would not let him come and do that. Balak appealed to Balaam’s pride and desire for fame and fortune. Balaam had gone to God three times about this till finally, God let him go but he had told him he could only say what God told him to say.
In Luke, Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist when the same angel came to Mary, her relative and told her she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and this baby would be named Jesus. He would be called the Son of the Most High and God would give him the throne of David. He would reign over Israel forever and his kingdom would never end. The angel told her that Elizabeth was pregnant too. His last words to her were: “the word of God will never fail.”
Mary ran to see Elizabeth and when she walked into her house, John leaped in her womb. They praised God and fellowshipped together until John was born. Then Mary went home. She was in her forth month of pregnancy by then.
Lord, thank you that your word will never fail. We stand on that.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Friday, March 13, 2020
Fri.’s Devo - God’s Pictures
Read: Numbers 19:1-20:29; Luke 1;1-25; Psalm 56:1-13; Proverbs 11:8
I love God’s not-so-subtle hints. When they offered the red heifer, it had to be perfect and one that had never been yoked to a plow. Its blood was to be sprinkled seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle. As the High Priest watched, the heifer was to be burned completely. Then the priest threw in a stick of cedar, a hyssop branch and some scarlet yarn just in case we didn’t get it.
The heifer was the exact picture of Christ’s death on the cross. All the props were there. The cedar - the cross, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn - the blood thread that started in the garden of Eden and continues to the end, the perfect lamb, and the fact that Jesus had never became part of the religious system - he had never been yoked to their laws.
There is so much in today’s reading, I’m going to have to pick what to explain. The third and the seventh days are mentioned a lot today. The third day represents our day of salvation - the fruit conforms to the seed (Gen. 1:10-13). The seventh day represents the day we will rest in heaven.
To touch a dead person represented sin. We have all sinned so we have all touched or been exposed to death. We have to be cleansed with the ashes or the remains of the cross. Fresh water has to be poured over the ashes to make the memory of the cross fresh and alive in our hearts at the time of salvation.
It was the time of Passover and Israel had come to the entrance of the promised land once again. The same rock that gave them water before was waiting for them. That rock was Jesus (1 Co. 10:4). Moses was to speak to it this time instead of striking it because Jesus was struck once for us on the cross and there is no more need for another sacrifice. Now we pray or speak our faith into existence which was what Moses was suppose to do. Instead, Moses struck the rock twice and it cost him the promise land. God was serious about his pictures and Moses messed this one up.
Miriam died at Kadesh, which became a city of refuge and Aaron died at Mt. Hor where the Edomites refused to let them have passage through their land. Before he died, Aaron passed his robe on to his son Eleazar who would be the new high priest.
Luke was written for the Greeks, yet he addressed it to Theophilus who was a Roman. Luke was written in chronological order so this helps up put things in the right timing. He begins his narrative with the birth of John the Baptist. The promise of John came through an angelic encounter that his father, Zechariah had at the altar of incense. After 200 years of silence, God spoke to the nation of Israel that their Messiah was coming.
Thank you, Lord for your voice in the wilderness. Thank you for always letting your people know what is coming and how to prepare. Thank you that we are being prepared to bring your kingdom down to earth in great power and demonstration.
I love God’s not-so-subtle hints. When they offered the red heifer, it had to be perfect and one that had never been yoked to a plow. Its blood was to be sprinkled seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle. As the High Priest watched, the heifer was to be burned completely. Then the priest threw in a stick of cedar, a hyssop branch and some scarlet yarn just in case we didn’t get it.
The heifer was the exact picture of Christ’s death on the cross. All the props were there. The cedar - the cross, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn - the blood thread that started in the garden of Eden and continues to the end, the perfect lamb, and the fact that Jesus had never became part of the religious system - he had never been yoked to their laws.
There is so much in today’s reading, I’m going to have to pick what to explain. The third and the seventh days are mentioned a lot today. The third day represents our day of salvation - the fruit conforms to the seed (Gen. 1:10-13). The seventh day represents the day we will rest in heaven.
To touch a dead person represented sin. We have all sinned so we have all touched or been exposed to death. We have to be cleansed with the ashes or the remains of the cross. Fresh water has to be poured over the ashes to make the memory of the cross fresh and alive in our hearts at the time of salvation.
It was the time of Passover and Israel had come to the entrance of the promised land once again. The same rock that gave them water before was waiting for them. That rock was Jesus (1 Co. 10:4). Moses was to speak to it this time instead of striking it because Jesus was struck once for us on the cross and there is no more need for another sacrifice. Now we pray or speak our faith into existence which was what Moses was suppose to do. Instead, Moses struck the rock twice and it cost him the promise land. God was serious about his pictures and Moses messed this one up.
Miriam died at Kadesh, which became a city of refuge and Aaron died at Mt. Hor where the Edomites refused to let them have passage through their land. Before he died, Aaron passed his robe on to his son Eleazar who would be the new high priest.
Luke was written for the Greeks, yet he addressed it to Theophilus who was a Roman. Luke was written in chronological order so this helps up put things in the right timing. He begins his narrative with the birth of John the Baptist. The promise of John came through an angelic encounter that his father, Zechariah had at the altar of incense. After 200 years of silence, God spoke to the nation of Israel that their Messiah was coming.
Thank you, Lord for your voice in the wilderness. Thank you for always letting your people know what is coming and how to prepare. Thank you that we are being prepared to bring your kingdom down to earth in great power and demonstration.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Thur.’s Devo - Promises for the Remnant
Read: Numbers 16:41-18:32; Mark 16:1-20; Psalm 55:1-23; Proverbs 11:7
God killed Korah and his family because they rebelled against the Lord and the people all rise up against Moses and Aaron. God came swiftly to their defense with a plague. He would have killed all of the people had not Moses and Aaron ran and burned incense between the dead and the living to offer an atonement.
God instructed the leader of each tribe to bring a staff with their name written on the staff and lay them inside the tabernacle. The next day, they went to get them and Aaron’s rod had budded, brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms and had produced almonds. It had completed every stage of maturity. This was God’s stamp of approval on the Levites as his people to minister before him.
God then told the people that since they complained about everything about God, only Aaron’s sons would do the ministry in the tabernacle. They would be his. It was a picture of the remnant getting smaller and smaller. First it was the first born who were set apart, then it was the Levites - a smaller group and now it was Aaron’s sons, an even smaller group.
The Levites were paid by the sacrifices the people brought, but they even had to give a tenth of that to the Lord.
In Mark, Mary, Mary and Salome went to anoint Jesus’ body for burial. They wondered how they are going to roll the heavy stone away. That reminds me of Jacob when first met Rachael. Rachael was waiting till all the women shepherdesses arrived so they could together roll the heavy stone off the well. Jacob walked up and single-handedly took the stone off the well. Jesus is the well of salvation that was now available for all to drink of. The stone had been rolled away by the time the women reached the tomb and the angel explained that Jesus had risen …just like he had told them he would. They were to go to Galilee to see him. Jesus appeared to them many times and taught them. Then he sent them out to preach the Good News to everyone and told them that signs and wonders would be with them, they would speak in new languages, handle snakes without being harmed, and lay their hands on the sick and they would recover.
When Jesus was taken to heaven, they did all these things. These are the promises for the remnant too.
Lord, help us to walk in the authority and power you died to give us. Let us not be afraid or weary.
God killed Korah and his family because they rebelled against the Lord and the people all rise up against Moses and Aaron. God came swiftly to their defense with a plague. He would have killed all of the people had not Moses and Aaron ran and burned incense between the dead and the living to offer an atonement.
God instructed the leader of each tribe to bring a staff with their name written on the staff and lay them inside the tabernacle. The next day, they went to get them and Aaron’s rod had budded, brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms and had produced almonds. It had completed every stage of maturity. This was God’s stamp of approval on the Levites as his people to minister before him.
God then told the people that since they complained about everything about God, only Aaron’s sons would do the ministry in the tabernacle. They would be his. It was a picture of the remnant getting smaller and smaller. First it was the first born who were set apart, then it was the Levites - a smaller group and now it was Aaron’s sons, an even smaller group.
The Levites were paid by the sacrifices the people brought, but they even had to give a tenth of that to the Lord.
In Mark, Mary, Mary and Salome went to anoint Jesus’ body for burial. They wondered how they are going to roll the heavy stone away. That reminds me of Jacob when first met Rachael. Rachael was waiting till all the women shepherdesses arrived so they could together roll the heavy stone off the well. Jacob walked up and single-handedly took the stone off the well. Jesus is the well of salvation that was now available for all to drink of. The stone had been rolled away by the time the women reached the tomb and the angel explained that Jesus had risen …just like he had told them he would. They were to go to Galilee to see him. Jesus appeared to them many times and taught them. Then he sent them out to preach the Good News to everyone and told them that signs and wonders would be with them, they would speak in new languages, handle snakes without being harmed, and lay their hands on the sick and they would recover.
When Jesus was taken to heaven, they did all these things. These are the promises for the remnant too.
Lord, help us to walk in the authority and power you died to give us. Let us not be afraid or weary.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Wed.’s Devo - Hope Comes in the Morning
Read: Numbers 15:17-16:40; Mark 15:1-47; Psalm 54:1-7; Proverbs 11:5-6
Moral is extremely low in the camp. The people have been told they will never enter the promised land and are doomed to 40 years of wandering till they die.
Inspire of them, God keeps giving Moses instructions for their children who will enter in. They are to always give the first portion of their harvest of wheat to the Lord. If they unintentionally forget this law and realize it, they can make up for it by offering a female goat to remove their sin. If they willingly refuse to bring their first fruits to the Lord, they will be cut off from the community and suffer the punishment for their guilt.
When they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath, he was taken outside of the camp and stoned.
God told them to make tassels to wear at the bottom of their clothing. They were to be attached with a blue cord. They were to be a constant reminder to follow God’s commands. As the threads of the tassels brushed their feet when they walked they would remind them to walk uprightly. The Holy Spirit is our tassel that brushes against the thoughts of our mind and quicken us to walk uprightly.
“Korah” which means “ice or bald” was a Levite from the Kohath family that attended the most holy job of the tabernacle. We know by Korah’s name that his heart was cold and he had no covering over his head so he was exposed to all sorts of sin. Korah conspired with Dathan and Abiram who were Ruebenites. He was suppose to be a spiritual leader but he abandoned that because of his jealousy of Moses. Korah played the part of Satan who rebelled against God before creation. He like Korah had been jealous of God’s worship and led one third of the angels with him in the rebellion. They and their families were sent straight to hell just as Satan and the angels. The fear of God was reestablished in the camp.
These three families had been offering their own incense to the Lord, so their incense burners were taken and beaten flat and overlayed on the altar as a warning of anyone else who dared offer their own incense to the Lord.
In Mark, we find Pilate, a known hater and killer of Jews ready to sentence Jesus. He took Jesus apart from the crowd for questioning but the only question Jesus would answer Pilate was whether he was king of the Jews. Pilate knew that the Jewish priests had arrested Jesus out of envy. He also knew that Jesus was innocent, so he was in a dilemma as to how to handle the mob. He brought the worse person out of jail and stood him beside Jesus for the crowd to choose. Much to his dismay, they chose Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be released. Pilate turned Jesus over to his guards to do the rest.
They took Jesus, dressed him as a king and made sport of him. They scourged him till he was unrecognizable. Then they nailed him to the cross, played dice for his clothes and mocked him as he hung between two thieves.
Jesus referred his disciples to Psalm 22 as he quoted the first verse, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.” The whole song describes what was going on at that moment. At Jesus’ last cry which was “It is finished,” (not given in this book), the veil to the temple was rent from top to bottom as a picture that now all can come before the throne of God.
Joseph of Arimathea went and begged for Jesus’ body and put him in his tomb. They rolled a stone in front of it so the disciples couldn’t steal his body and claim he had risen from the dead like he said he would do.
Just like the people in Moses’ day, the followers of Jesus went to bed hopeless.
Lord, let this remind us that in our lowest times, resurrection comes in the morning. Joy comes in the morning. Your loving-kindness is new every morning. Thank you for the morning.
Moral is extremely low in the camp. The people have been told they will never enter the promised land and are doomed to 40 years of wandering till they die.
Inspire of them, God keeps giving Moses instructions for their children who will enter in. They are to always give the first portion of their harvest of wheat to the Lord. If they unintentionally forget this law and realize it, they can make up for it by offering a female goat to remove their sin. If they willingly refuse to bring their first fruits to the Lord, they will be cut off from the community and suffer the punishment for their guilt.
When they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath, he was taken outside of the camp and stoned.
God told them to make tassels to wear at the bottom of their clothing. They were to be attached with a blue cord. They were to be a constant reminder to follow God’s commands. As the threads of the tassels brushed their feet when they walked they would remind them to walk uprightly. The Holy Spirit is our tassel that brushes against the thoughts of our mind and quicken us to walk uprightly.
“Korah” which means “ice or bald” was a Levite from the Kohath family that attended the most holy job of the tabernacle. We know by Korah’s name that his heart was cold and he had no covering over his head so he was exposed to all sorts of sin. Korah conspired with Dathan and Abiram who were Ruebenites. He was suppose to be a spiritual leader but he abandoned that because of his jealousy of Moses. Korah played the part of Satan who rebelled against God before creation. He like Korah had been jealous of God’s worship and led one third of the angels with him in the rebellion. They and their families were sent straight to hell just as Satan and the angels. The fear of God was reestablished in the camp.
These three families had been offering their own incense to the Lord, so their incense burners were taken and beaten flat and overlayed on the altar as a warning of anyone else who dared offer their own incense to the Lord.
In Mark, we find Pilate, a known hater and killer of Jews ready to sentence Jesus. He took Jesus apart from the crowd for questioning but the only question Jesus would answer Pilate was whether he was king of the Jews. Pilate knew that the Jewish priests had arrested Jesus out of envy. He also knew that Jesus was innocent, so he was in a dilemma as to how to handle the mob. He brought the worse person out of jail and stood him beside Jesus for the crowd to choose. Much to his dismay, they chose Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be released. Pilate turned Jesus over to his guards to do the rest.
They took Jesus, dressed him as a king and made sport of him. They scourged him till he was unrecognizable. Then they nailed him to the cross, played dice for his clothes and mocked him as he hung between two thieves.
Jesus referred his disciples to Psalm 22 as he quoted the first verse, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.” The whole song describes what was going on at that moment. At Jesus’ last cry which was “It is finished,” (not given in this book), the veil to the temple was rent from top to bottom as a picture that now all can come before the throne of God.
Joseph of Arimathea went and begged for Jesus’ body and put him in his tomb. They rolled a stone in front of it so the disciples couldn’t steal his body and claim he had risen from the dead like he said he would do.
Just like the people in Moses’ day, the followers of Jesus went to bed hopeless.
Lord, let this remind us that in our lowest times, resurrection comes in the morning. Joy comes in the morning. Your loving-kindness is new every morning. Thank you for the morning.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Tue.’s Devo- Looking Ahead -
Read: Numbers 14:1-15:16; Mark 14:53-72; Psalm 53:1-6; Proverbs 11:4
The whole community was sick with remorse but refused to accept the responsibility. Instead, they blamied Moses and formed a conspiracy against him. Joshua and Caleb did all they could to try to convince the people that God was more than able to take them into the land and give it to them, but they wanted to return to Egypt.
God, their father, had to discipline them for their rebellion and lack of faith. Their punishment was 40 years in the wilderness till they all died out. Then their children would march in and possess the land (with Joshua and Caleb).
The ten spies died immediately of a plague and a group of rebels decided to go in to Canaan anyway… without God. They learned really quickly that we could do nothing apart from God. They were killed.
God gave Moses instructions for sacrifices when they got into the land. God was thinking ahead to their victory. He was preparing for future.
In Mark, Jesus was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a lamb is silent before its accusers, he spoke not a word. That is what Isaiah 53 prophesied about Jesus and that is exactly what he did. Jesus had already spoken his words of truth and lived the sinless life and that was his testimony. They could find nothing to accuse him of because there was nothing he had done but good.
When the high priest asked Jesus if he was the Messiah, he said the words, “I Am.” The same words God spoke to Moses when he asked him who he was. This made the high priest so mad he tore his clothes and pronounced him “guilty”. Jealousy killed Jesus.
Peter denied Jesus three times which just proved that without the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have no power against sin. Peter would turn into a bold and radical preacher once he received his gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts.
Lord, the theme of today is that we can do nothing apart from you and your Spirit. Thank you that you are always lookin ahead to what we are going to become instead of at our failures.
The whole community was sick with remorse but refused to accept the responsibility. Instead, they blamied Moses and formed a conspiracy against him. Joshua and Caleb did all they could to try to convince the people that God was more than able to take them into the land and give it to them, but they wanted to return to Egypt.
God, their father, had to discipline them for their rebellion and lack of faith. Their punishment was 40 years in the wilderness till they all died out. Then their children would march in and possess the land (with Joshua and Caleb).
The ten spies died immediately of a plague and a group of rebels decided to go in to Canaan anyway… without God. They learned really quickly that we could do nothing apart from God. They were killed.
God gave Moses instructions for sacrifices when they got into the land. God was thinking ahead to their victory. He was preparing for future.
In Mark, Jesus was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a lamb is silent before its accusers, he spoke not a word. That is what Isaiah 53 prophesied about Jesus and that is exactly what he did. Jesus had already spoken his words of truth and lived the sinless life and that was his testimony. They could find nothing to accuse him of because there was nothing he had done but good.
When the high priest asked Jesus if he was the Messiah, he said the words, “I Am.” The same words God spoke to Moses when he asked him who he was. This made the high priest so mad he tore his clothes and pronounced him “guilty”. Jealousy killed Jesus.
Peter denied Jesus three times which just proved that without the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have no power against sin. Peter would turn into a bold and radical preacher once he received his gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts.
Lord, the theme of today is that we can do nothing apart from you and your Spirit. Thank you that you are always lookin ahead to what we are going to become instead of at our failures.
Monday, March 9, 2020
Mon.’s Devo - From God’s Perspective
Read: Numbers 11:24-13:33; Mark 14:22-52; Psalm 52:1-9; Proverbs 11:1-3
There is a great take-away from reading verses 24-30. When the Holy Spirit is being poured out, he is no respecter of persons. He falls on anyone who will let it. When these new men started prophesying, Joshua tried to get Moses to make them stop. Moses refused to be jealous but rejoiced with them, instead.
That needs to be our response when we see God’s blessings fall on others. We are one body so when another Christian being blessed, we should sincerely rejoice with them.
Yesterday, we read that the Egyptians stirred up the Israelites to crave meat and complain about the daily supply of manna. This is a great lesson to remember. Manna was food from heaven that had every nutrient they could need. The complainers remembered their past pleasures and lusted after them - food from the earth. God gave them so much of what they craved that they ate themselves to death. Their gluttony stirred up God’s anger to send a plague that killed many of them. Second Peter 2:20-22 explains this perfectly:
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
Miriam and Aaron probably felt neglected when Moses added the 70 leaders instead of giving them the responsibility. To get back at Moses, they criticized his marriage to Zipporah since she wasn’t an Israelite. God stepped in and took up for Moses.
Bottom line is we should never criticize our leaders. God is the only one who should do that and he knows just how to do it. God has a chain of command and we are to honor those in authority over us, knowing that God is the chief and he will take care of his officers.
The sending out of the spies is one of the saddest stories. They were on the outskirts of the promised land and about to go in and get the reward of all their slavery and oppression in Egypt. Instead of seeing with eyes of faith and remembering all God had done for them in the past, all they could see was the giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who saw the fruit and believed God could take care of the giants.
In Mark, we continue to see man’s failures. Peter will deny Jesus three times, the disciples weren’t able to stay awake to pray even for an hour, and one of Jesus’ own disciples betrayed him with a kiss. As depressing as this is, it is also encouraging because God was not surprised at any of these things and yet he chose these men to be Jesus’ disciples because he knew the story would not end in defeat. They would be empowered by his spirit and change the world…later.
We have no idea, who will end up changing the world for Jesus, but we can know this - it is not over till God says it is over, and we are not the judge. God loves to take the most unassuming person and change them into a man after his own heart.
Lord, let it be us who are after your heart and change our world for you. Help us to see people as what they can become and not what they are now. Give us Your perspective.
There is a great take-away from reading verses 24-30. When the Holy Spirit is being poured out, he is no respecter of persons. He falls on anyone who will let it. When these new men started prophesying, Joshua tried to get Moses to make them stop. Moses refused to be jealous but rejoiced with them, instead.
That needs to be our response when we see God’s blessings fall on others. We are one body so when another Christian being blessed, we should sincerely rejoice with them.
Yesterday, we read that the Egyptians stirred up the Israelites to crave meat and complain about the daily supply of manna. This is a great lesson to remember. Manna was food from heaven that had every nutrient they could need. The complainers remembered their past pleasures and lusted after them - food from the earth. God gave them so much of what they craved that they ate themselves to death. Their gluttony stirred up God’s anger to send a plague that killed many of them. Second Peter 2:20-22 explains this perfectly:
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
Miriam and Aaron probably felt neglected when Moses added the 70 leaders instead of giving them the responsibility. To get back at Moses, they criticized his marriage to Zipporah since she wasn’t an Israelite. God stepped in and took up for Moses.
Bottom line is we should never criticize our leaders. God is the only one who should do that and he knows just how to do it. God has a chain of command and we are to honor those in authority over us, knowing that God is the chief and he will take care of his officers.
The sending out of the spies is one of the saddest stories. They were on the outskirts of the promised land and about to go in and get the reward of all their slavery and oppression in Egypt. Instead of seeing with eyes of faith and remembering all God had done for them in the past, all they could see was the giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who saw the fruit and believed God could take care of the giants.
In Mark, we continue to see man’s failures. Peter will deny Jesus three times, the disciples weren’t able to stay awake to pray even for an hour, and one of Jesus’ own disciples betrayed him with a kiss. As depressing as this is, it is also encouraging because God was not surprised at any of these things and yet he chose these men to be Jesus’ disciples because he knew the story would not end in defeat. They would be empowered by his spirit and change the world…later.
We have no idea, who will end up changing the world for Jesus, but we can know this - it is not over till God says it is over, and we are not the judge. God loves to take the most unassuming person and change them into a man after his own heart.
Lord, let it be us who are after your heart and change our world for you. Help us to see people as what they can become and not what they are now. Give us Your perspective.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Sun.’s Devo - God’s Order
Read: Numbers 10:1-11:23; Mark 14:1-21; Psalm 51:1-19; Proverbs 10:31-32
God instructed Moses to have two trumpets made of hammered silver to use to call the people to assemble, call just the elders, signal them to begin moving, celebrate the feasts and holy days, and go to war.
When they traveled they were to go in this order:
1 Judah
2 Issachar
3 Zebulun
Gershonites and Mererites who carried the building materials for the tabernacle
4 Rueben
5 Simeon
6 Gad
Kohathites who carried the holy furniture for the Tabernacle
7 Ephraim
8 Manasseh
9 Benjamin
10 Dan
11 Asher
12 Naptali
By the time the Kohathites reached the camp, the Gershonites and the Mererites had finished setting up the Tabernacle so they could just bring the holy furniture and accessories in and put them in place.
Each tribe had a banner with their symbol on it.
The people began to complain about their hard life and God heard every word. He got so mad at the ones who camped in the outskirts that he sent a fire to consume them. The the non-Jews from Egypt complained that there was no meat. They stirred up the Jews and they complained with them. God was sending them manna from heaven that tasted like pastry but that wasn’t enough.
So Moses carried there complaints to the Lord. He was tired of carrying all the weight of these obstinate people. God told Moses to choose 70 men to help him with complaints and leadership.
God responded to their desire for meat and sent them meat for a month. He told them they would eat it till they were gagging. Moses doubted how God was going to do that for so many people. Moses was in God’s school of faith.
In Mark, it was Jesus last two days on earth. Jesus was in the home of Simon who had been healed of leprosy and a woman came in and anointed Jesus’ head. He was now anointed for sacrifice. Then he went to have his last meal with his disciples - the Passover meal. God had arranged everything for this meal and the place where it would be celebrated. At the meal, Jesus explained that one of them that dipped from his bowl would be his betrayer.
Each of the disciples asked if he would be the one. The disciples sat in order of birth so the youngest sat on his right and the oldest sat on his left. Peter was probably the oldest and John was probably the youngest so Judas could have sat across from him. Who knows, but he was close enough to dip from the same bowl.
Lord, may we carry your presence in the midst of everything we do. May You, O Lord, arise and let your enemies be scattered!
God instructed Moses to have two trumpets made of hammered silver to use to call the people to assemble, call just the elders, signal them to begin moving, celebrate the feasts and holy days, and go to war.
When they traveled they were to go in this order:
1 Judah
2 Issachar
3 Zebulun
Gershonites and Mererites who carried the building materials for the tabernacle
4 Rueben
5 Simeon
6 Gad
Kohathites who carried the holy furniture for the Tabernacle
7 Ephraim
8 Manasseh
9 Benjamin
10 Dan
11 Asher
12 Naptali
By the time the Kohathites reached the camp, the Gershonites and the Mererites had finished setting up the Tabernacle so they could just bring the holy furniture and accessories in and put them in place.
Each tribe had a banner with their symbol on it.
The people began to complain about their hard life and God heard every word. He got so mad at the ones who camped in the outskirts that he sent a fire to consume them. The the non-Jews from Egypt complained that there was no meat. They stirred up the Jews and they complained with them. God was sending them manna from heaven that tasted like pastry but that wasn’t enough.
So Moses carried there complaints to the Lord. He was tired of carrying all the weight of these obstinate people. God told Moses to choose 70 men to help him with complaints and leadership.
God responded to their desire for meat and sent them meat for a month. He told them they would eat it till they were gagging. Moses doubted how God was going to do that for so many people. Moses was in God’s school of faith.
In Mark, it was Jesus last two days on earth. Jesus was in the home of Simon who had been healed of leprosy and a woman came in and anointed Jesus’ head. He was now anointed for sacrifice. Then he went to have his last meal with his disciples - the Passover meal. God had arranged everything for this meal and the place where it would be celebrated. At the meal, Jesus explained that one of them that dipped from his bowl would be his betrayer.
Each of the disciples asked if he would be the one. The disciples sat in order of birth so the youngest sat on his right and the oldest sat on his left. Peter was probably the oldest and John was probably the youngest so Judas could have sat across from him. Who knows, but he was close enough to dip from the same bowl.
Lord, may we carry your presence in the midst of everything we do. May You, O Lord, arise and let your enemies be scattered!
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