Mon.’s Devo - A New Season

Read: Numbers 21:1-22:20; Luke 1:26-56; Psalm 57:1-11; Proverbs 11:9-11 As the people of Israel got closer to their promised land, the warfare became more and more intense. It is obvious that Satan does not want to let them succeed and take over his territory. In the Negev, they were attacked by the king of Arad who took some of them prisoner. The Israelites vowed to God that if he would hand these people over to them they would completely destroy all their towns. God agreed and they took it. Because they had to go the long way, the people started complaining. God sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them. The people repented and came to Moses for help. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and anyone who was bitten by the snakes had only to look at it and be healed. They traveled through many names but two that I found interesting were Nahaleil and Bamoth. They meant from the valley of God to the heights of Baal. They saw it all. They sent ambassadors to the king of Sihon to ask if they could peaceably pass through their land. He refused and mobilized to attack them. God gave his people victory and they captured and settled into their cities. Heshbon was Sihon’s capital which means “devise and reason”. The Amorites had captured it from the Moabites and now the Israelites possessed it. Next they came to King Og of Bashan. God told them not to be afraid because he had handed them to them just like the king of Sihon. Bashan means “shame and the one in sleep”. They defeated King Og and killed him and all his sons and subjects and they occupied his land. Next, they came to the land across from Jericho. The Jordan stood between them and Jericho. Barak, the Moabite king had seen all they had done to the Amorites and knew that he couldn’t defeat them with military strength so he would have to defeat them with black magic. He hired Balaam a known sorcerer to curse the Israelites. God warned Balaam that he better not go with the king because He had not cursed Israel but blessed them. Balaam wisely told the king of Barak that all the gold in the world would not pay for him to go against the word of the Lord. Barak was not giving up. He sent more distinguished soldiers and appealed to Balaam’s ego. Balaam told them he would go ask God again. God told him he could go but he could only say what He told him to say. In Luke, Mary is visited by Gabriel and told that she would have a baby and he would be the Messiah. She was to name him Jesus and her aunt, Elizabeth was in her 6th month of pregnancy. People called her barren but the word of God will never fail. The Jewish people felt barren. They had waited for centuries for the promised Messiah as they were abused and oppressed by the Roman government. Now barren wombs were being opened because it was the birth of a new season. We are getting so close to the end of this madness in our land so the warfare is getting more intense. As we bring down the strongholds of reason and “science” and lies, we can expect great opposition. But, we can remember that the Word of the Lord never fails. Thank you Lord for your promises for our nation, our families and ourselves. We stand on the truth. Thank you that we are on the brink of a new season.

Sun.’s Devo - The Red Heifer

Read: Numbers 19:1-20:29; Luke 1:1-25; Psalm 56:1-13; Proverbs 11:8 God told Moses to find a spotless red heifer and bring it outside of the camp and have it killed. Eleazar was to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle seven times toward the front of the Tabernacle. (Eleazar was Aaron’s son who would take his place as high priest in the Promised Land.) Then the red heifer was to be burned while he watched. Eleazar was to take a stick of cedar, a hyssop branch and some scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire where the heifer is burning. Then the priest and the one who killed the animal were to wash themselves and their clothes. This red heifer represented Jesus; the cedar - the cross, the hyssop branch was at the cross, and the scarlet yarn represented his blood that would flow on to all generations from then on. If anyone touched a dead person, they were unclean for 7 days and had to purify them selves on the third and seventh day. If the person died in the tent, all who entered the tent would be unclean for seven days. Any open container in the tent would be considered unclean. Anyone who touched a dead person on the field or in a grave was considered unclean. The tent and the person would be sanitized with the ashes of the heifer that had been dipped in fresh water. On the third and seventh days of their quarantine they were to be sprinkled with this water by a clean person to be clean. What does all this mean to us? When we are born, we begin our “week” which spans our lifetime. If we are saved that day becomes our third day where the plant conforms to the seed put in it. (See day three of creation in Genesis One.) Our seventh day is the end of our life where we are pronounced clean of all our sins forever. This was also for them a way of stopping infection from a person that might have died of some sickness. They were nearing the end of their 40 years and had come close to their land. They camped at Kadesh which means “set apart for purpose” and God had to end the lives of three important people because they would not be able to enter. Today we read about two: Miriam and Aaron. Miriam died first. The people were complaining because their was no water. Their parents had complained about the same thing right before they could have entered into the land. God told Moses to gather the people at the rock that had followed them through the wilderness. “ And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4) Aaron gathered the people to the rock and instead of speaking to the rock, he spoke to the people and said, “Listen you rebels! Must WE bring you water from this rock?” Then Moses struck the rock twice and the water gushed out of the rock. God was extremely upset at the two of them since they didn’t follow instructions at all. Jesus was the rock and he was struck once for our sins. They had demonstrated that at the first rock. He was to speak to the rock this time which is how we pray. So Aaron had to die and his mantle passed to his son, Eleazar. The king of Edom refused their passage through their land which would cost them dearly in the future. Luke was like an investigative reporter who had compiled stories of eye witnesses of Jesus life. He compiled it in order in his book. He gave this book to his mentee, Theophilus. Luke went to great detail to let us know that Zechariah was a descendant of Aaron and was a legitimate priest. He and his wife, Elizabeth was barren. It was Zechariah’s lot to burn incense on the Altar of Incense. While he was there, Gabriel appeared to him and told him that he and Elizabeth would have a son named John. He would be a Nazarite and would possess the spirit and power of Elijah. He would prepare the People for the coming of the Lord He would turn the hearts fo the fathers to their children and cause the rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly. Zechariah wavered in his faith so Gabriel told him he would not be able to speak until the cild was born. John came out gesturing to the people and they realized that he had seen something wonderful in there. Elizabeth became pregnant and went into seclusion for 5 months. Lord, it is easy to see your hand in what is going on in the nation. I pray for all the nations living in fear. I pray that they come to You for comfort and salvation. Watch over our hearts and let us rise with courage and confidence. If you are for us, who can be against us!

Sat.’s Devo - Separating the Called

Read: Numbers 16:41-18:32; Mark 16:1-20; Psalm 55:1-23; Proverbs 11:7 Yesterday, we read where over 250 people died because they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. The next day the people accused Moses and Aaron of killing all those people. God wanted to kill all of them but Moses told Aaron to grab the incense burner and place burning coals for the altar in it and carry it out among the people to cleanse them. The incense burner represents holy prayers so it was like saying, “Quick! Pray of the people!” The plague had already began and people were dropping like flies. Before he could stop it 14,700 people died. Then the Lord told each tribal leader to bring a staff with the name of their tribe forward and the one that budded would be the tribe God had chosen to serve him as priests. The next day Aaron’s staff had sprouted, budded and blossomed and produced ripe almonds. That was naturally impossible so God made it crystal clear who was to serve him as his priests. The people complained that they were doomed because anyone who came near the Tabernacle died. So God changed that. He made a law where only the Levites and the priests could come near the Tabernacle. God gave special instructions for Aaron and his sons - the priests. They were responsible for any violation connected to the priesthood. The Levites would be responsible for any violations regarding the sanctuary. The Levites were to assist the priests in anything that went on outside the Holy Place. Only the priests could enter the Holy Place and only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year. The Levites were a gift to the priests to help them. The sons of Aaron, the priests were paid with the holy offerings given by the people. Their families would eat them. They were also given the harvest gifts which were the best of the olive oil, new wine and grain. The firstborn of the people and their animals offered to the Lord were to be given to the priests. (Remember Samuel was Hannah’s first born son and was given to Eli). But, they had to pay a redemption price of 5 pieces of silver for their own firstborn sons. The Levites were paid by the offerings of the people but they were to give a tithe to the Lord. It was to be the best portions of all they received. It appeared that God was pushing his people further and further away from him but they were the ones who didn’t want to come near him. They didn’t want to do what it took to come near God. What God was really doing was separating the priests and Levites from the unholy and calling them out of the world like he does with us. Today’s reading looks so much like what it going on in our world right now as evil is being exposed and God is making distinctions between blacks and white, good and evil. When this is all over, the table is going to be flipped and we are going to see the Christians rise to the top to rule and be the head of all the mountains: education, religion, politics, entertainment, business, science and medicine. In Mark, Mary, Mary and Salome went to the tomb. They were surprised to find the stone rolled away and an angel sitting in the tomb. The angel told them Jesus had risen from the dead and they were to go tell the disciples to go to Galilee to meet Jesus. They did this but the disciples didn’t believe them. Jesus appeared to the two men on the way to Aemaus and they came back telling the disciples the same thing. Finally, Jesus appeared to the disciples and rebuked them for not believing the others. Jesus gave them the Great Commission to go out and preach the Gospel to all and when he had finished he was taken back up into heaven. The disciples went out and did what they had been commissioned to do. Lord, may we do what we are commissioned to do today. Thank you that you are arising and scattering your enemies.

Fri.’s Devo - On the Cross

Read: Numbers 15:17-16:40; Mark 15:1-47; Psalm 54:1-7; Proverbs 11:5-6 When they got to the land God was giving them, every year they were to give the first fruit of their ground flour from their wheat harvest to the Lord as an offering. It was their thanks for the bountiful crop just like we give a tithe from our paychecks. If for some reason the whole community unintentionally disobeyed something one of God’s commands, they could offer an offering to make it right with the Lord. If an individual unintentionally sinned then realized their sin, they could bring an offering to the priest and they would receive forgiveness. Those who brazenly disobeyed the Lord’s commands were considered blasphemers and were to be completely cut off and suffer the punishment for their guilt. A man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath and had to be taken outside the camp and stoned. God told the people to attach blue tassels to the hem of their clothing with blue thread. These tassels were to remind them of all God’s commands. One day a delegation of over 250 of the elites of the tribes came with their five leaders to challenge Moses and Aaron’s leadership. They complained that they were all set apart by the Lord and what right did Moses and Aaron have to act as though they were greater than the rest of the people. Two of these men were Levites who had part in the ministry of the Lord already. Moses brought this out and asked them if they were going for the priesthood also. Moses was ticked but he told them all to go home and bring back an incense burner and they would all go before the Lord and see what He had to say. They all met back at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The community had been stirred up against Moses and Aaron so they all gathered to watch. God told Moses and Aaron to get away from these people. They knew what God was going to do and fell on their faces in intercession for them. They pled with God to save the community and not kill them along with the guilty. God told them to tell the people to get away from the tents of the guilty. Then Moses said that these men continued to live and died naturally, then the Lord had not sent him. But, if the Lord did something entirely new and the ground opened up and swallowed them and all their tents and they went to the grave alive, then the Lord had judged them as guilty. No sooner than Moses had gotten the words out of his mouth, the ground opened and swallowed them alive. Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up their 250 followers. God told Moses to take the incense burners of these men and beat them down to sheets of metal and overlay them on the altar to serve as a warning to the people that no unauthorized person should ever inter the Lord’s presence to burn incense. In Mark, Jesus was brought before Pilate, the Roman governor. The priests needed the Romans to declare him guilty and crucify him since their law did not allow crucifixion. The priests accused Jesus of many crimes but when Pilate asked Jesus if these were true, Jesus refused to answer. In hopes of freeing Jesus, Pilate chose to offer Jesus as the scapegoat on Passover. The crowd had been told to ask for Barabbas and then ask for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate knew that the priests were jealous of Jesus and that Jesus was innocent but to stop a riot, he gave the people what they wanted. He released Barabbas and had Jesus flogged and taken off to be crucified. They dressed Jesus in a robe and crown of thorns and mocked him as the king of the Jews. Then they led him to be crucified. The two being crucified with him mocked him. The crowd of Jews mocked him. And, the leading priests and teachers of the law mocked him. At noon, the sky went dark for three hours. A court was held in heaven and sin was judged. When the light came back on Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 to his disciples so they would know he was fulfilling that Psalm. When Jesus breathed his last breath, the veil in the Temple was rent from top to bottom. Even the Roman soldiers could discern that this man was the Son of God. All of the Mary’s were watching from afar. They observed Joseph of Arimathea taking down his body and wrapping it in linen. They followed as Joseph took Jesus’ body to his own tomb and laid him in it. It was the day of preparation for Shabbot so everyone had to be home by six to prepare. It is amazing how planned out everything that happened to Jesus and how perfect the timing was. Our lives are orchestrated also and if our eyes are open, we will see the opportunities we are given and take them. Our purpose on earth is to live out the kingdom so that others can see and want to join. Lord, may our light so shine before men that they will see our good works and glorify You. Thank you for what you did for us on the cross. You are our Salvation and our Light.

Thurs.’s Devo - Great is the Lord!

Read: Numbers 14:1-15:16; Mark 14:53-72; Psalm 53:1-6; Proverbs 11:4 After receiving the bad news about the giants in their land, the people were totally discouraged and angry. They blamed Moses and God for bringing them all this way just to be killed and their children taken as slaves. Joshua and Caleb tried to encourage them that God would help them take the land but their hearts were hardened against them. God showed up at the Tabernacle to talk to Moses. God wanted to kill all the people and make Moses into a great nation. Moses begged the Lord not to do that since the nations of the world were all watching. They had all heard about how the Lord had delivered them from the Egyptians and what would it look like if God killed them all in the wilderness? For his name sake, God needed to take them into the land. God promised not to kill them all, but the adults would all die in the wilderness. Their children would be taken into the land. They would enjoy what their parents despised. The ten spies that brought back a bad report died of a plague. God promised that Caleb and Joshua would live to enter into the land. In fact, when they did enter the land, Caleb asked for the land where they had seen the giants. He was not afraid of anything standing in God’s way. We are standing at the same place the Israelites stood and God is wanting to know if we are willing to take our land back. If we cower in fear of the Deep State or Cabal or whatever you call them, we will lose our land. God has given us America to make his name great and we must not be afraid. Greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world. When the people heard what the Lord had said they were filled with grief. Some of them decided to enter anyway and were defeated because God was not with them. God gave them instructions for the sacrifices they should offer when they got to the land. In Mark, Jesus had been led to the high priest’s house where a mock trial was being held. The leading priests and the Sanhedrin were trying to find evidence against Jesus so they could have a reason to put him to death. Jesus was innocent but they were trying to prove him guilty. Jesus refused to testify for himself. When they asked him if he was the Messiah, Jesus said “I am and you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his robe and cried, “Blasphemy.” He declared Jesus guilty. They spit on him and attacked him with their words and their fists. Peter was sitting by the fire in the courtyard below when three times he was asked if he associated with Jesus and three times he denied it. When the rooster crowed the last time, Peter remembered what Jesus had said and broke down and cried. Lord, may we not cower in fear but stand strong knowing that you are with us to do great things and to win.

Wed.’s Devo - God’s Promises are True No Matter What it Looks Like

Read: Numbers 11:24-13:33; Mark 14:22-52; Psalm 52:1-9; Proverbs 11:1-3 God had put his Spirit on 70 elders to help Moses rule the people. When the Holy Spirit fell on them, they all prophesied, even two of them that didn’t come to the Tabernacle. Joshua didn’t understand how this could happen outside Moses’ eye but Moses had no problem with God manifesting wherever he wanted to. God sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fly all around the camp making them easy for the people to catch. The people who had craved meat gorged themselves on these quail. God’s anger brought a plague that killed those that had craved meat and complained. They died and the place was called “Graves of Gluttony”. They left there and moved to Hazeroth where they stayed for a time. Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman - Zipporah. Moses had been married to her for a while so I’m thinking that when he brought in the 70 elders, they felt their power was lessened and they were just looking for something to criticize Moses about. God had the last say in that. He stood up for Moses and Miriam was left leprous and was removed from the camp for seven days. Then the traveled to Paran. God told Moses to send out men to explore the land of Canaan. Moses sent out the twelve tribal leaders. They were to find out about the people, their cities and the land and its richness. It was the time of the grape harvest making it in the fall. They brought back a cluster of grapes that was so large it took two men to carry it. They also brought back other fruit like pomegranates and figs. But they reported that the sons of Anak lived in the valley who were giants that lived in fortified cities. Caleb wanted to go at once and take it because God had given them a wonderful land. The other spies, except Joshua, could only see the giants. They spread fear throughout the camp that there was no way they could take the land. All of God’s treasures on their earth are hidden in the midst of hard situations and trials. We have to have Caleb’s eyes to see the promise instead of the obstacles surrounding it. In Mark, Jesus and his disciples were enjoying their Passover meal when Jesus picked up the bread, broke it and passed it out to his disciples, telling them that it represented his body. Then he took the wine and gave thanks to God. He passed it out telling them that this was his blood which confirmed the covenant between God and his people. It would be poured out as a sacrifice for many. They sang a hymn and went to the Mount of Olives. Jesus told them that all of them would desert him but after he was raised from the red he would meet them in Galilee. I wonder what was going on in their heads. Peter let us know what he was thinking. He spoke up and said he would never desert him. Jesus told him he would deny him three times before the night was over. Peter couldn’t believe it. They went to Gethsemane where the disciples slept and Jesus anguished in prayer. He knew what was coming and prayed that it would pass him but he wanted God’s will over his suffering. Every time Jesus checked on his men, they were asleep. After the third time, he told them to wake up, his betrayer was here. Judas arrived with a crowd of armed men sent by the priests. Judas kissed Jesus and they grabbed him. Peter took out his sword and cut off the ear of the high pries’t slave. Jesus asked them why they were coming in the middle of the night to arrest him when they could have done it in daylight anytime they wanted. The disciples ran, along with a man in a linen shirt. The men who took Jesus caught him by his shirt and he ran off naked. There are many mentions throughout the Bible of men dressed in linen who came from heaven. I believe that this man was one of them - a watcher. I think they are priests in God’s Temple in heaven that come down to watch and report. Lord, help us to stand on the promises you have given us no matter what it looks like in the natural. Give us eyes to see.

Tues.’s Devo - God is Faithful

Read: Numbers 10:1-11:23; Mark 14:1-21; Psalm 51:1-19; Provers 10:31-32 God told Moses to make two trumpets of hammered silver to call the community together and for signaling them to break camp. When both were blown they were to assemble but when only one was blown they were to break camp and leave. There were different signals for each group to march starting with the tribes to the east. They were Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. Next the Gershonites and the Merarites would go with all the poles and equipment to set up the Tabernacle. Reuben, Simeon and Gad traveled next followed by the Gershonites who were carrying the Tabernacle furniture on their shoulders. By the time they reached the destination the Gershonites and Merarites had the Tabernacle all set up so they could just march in with the furniture. The rest of the tribes followed them. Moses tried to talk his brother-in-law into traveling with them since he knew the wilderness and though it isn’t clear, it seems he didn’t choose to go with Moses. Whenever they would break camp and start moving Moses would shout,”Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!” That is a good declaration for the beginning of our day. It didn’t take long for the people to complain. They were given manna from heaven which tasted like a pastry when cooked and yet they craved meat. They craved what they did not have and began to think of Egypt and all the food they had there, forgetting all the oppression that came along with it. Moses was exasperated and went to God to complain. God gave Moses people to help him and told him that he would send them so much meat that they wouldn’t be able to eat it all. Moses doubted how God could do this and his answer was, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” What a great reminder to us in our problems. God is still the same God he was then and his power is still strong. He is the one who fights our battles for us. In Mark, it was two days before Jesus would die. Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon when a lady came in and anointed Jesus’ head with costly perfume. She was scolded for her extravagance when she would have sold the perfume and given the money for the poor. Jesus rebuked them she was anointing his body for burial and she would be remembered for years to come for what she did. Judas left and went to the priests to negotiate his betrayal of Jesus to them. On the next day it was the first day of Unleavened bread. Jesus sent his disciples into Jerusalem to find a man carrying a pitcher of water. They were to follow him and he would take them upstairs to a large room that was prepared for them. At the Passover meal, Jesus exposed that one of them would betray him and said that it would be better if that person had never been born. Lord, we believe that your arm has not lost its power and that you have come to rescue us and our nation. We put all of our trust in you. May You arise and let your enemies be scattered and flee before you.