Category Archives: Prayer

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Choose YHWH Instead of The World

When YHWH brought the people of Israel to the promised land, He did not instruct them to make friends with the wicked people there and accept them and all their sin in hopes that everyone would just get along together. YHWH was punishing these evil people and taking the land from them, while also delivering it to His chosen people.

Numbers 33:50-56

Law of Possessing the Land

     50Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 51“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; 53and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54‘You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 55‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. 56‘And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’”

YHWH instructed Moses to drive out the inhabitants and destroy all their worship places and idols for their pagan gods. He gave also a clear warning that if this was not done, there would be consequences…  including ultimately His taking the land away from Israel because they would be corrupted by blending with pagan beliefs and practices instead of following His ways.

While we are not faced with a situation where YHWH has instructed us to go take a specific land and drive out pagans, we can certainly take heed from the warning He provides in this situation.

If we choose to accept and blend with, or even normalize pagan and ungodly practices within our society, then we as His people will be corrupted and become more and more separated from Him. Ultimately, He will remove His hand of blessing and punish us as a nation, even using pagans to do so. This is what happened to Israel. Why do we not take heed it may happen to us as well if we, as a nation, reject our Father and Creator. He gave us the United States of America as a unique and powerful nation founded on freedom and founded firmly in the Christian faith.

We can already see the moral decay in our society. In particular, we can see the grossly out of control federal government taking away more and more freedom from the people and the states. Many people choose to rely on the government rather than YHWH. We see adultery and fornication abounding and normalized. The murder of the unborn is not just accepted but celebrated and funded by the government on a grand scale. Education systems and news media have been corrupted and are propaganda tools for rejecting God and all He tells us to do.

Pray for revival. Do not accept the world’s ways.  Pray for your church family around the world and for the Father to raise up community, state, and national leaders who will lead us boldly toward YHWH rather than away from Him. Then ask Him to show you what your role will be and help you to accomplish it.

If you want revival, pray for it and then act as if you are part of bringing it forward by how you live your life. Revival only comes when we actively challenge the accepted pagan practices. It comes with conflict from those who do not want to change. It requires courage and faith.

We can not create revival by our own efforts without YHWH. The battle is not one of flesh but spiritual and it is YHWH who must move in the hearts of those who do not yet know Him to bring about change.

Ephesians 6:12-13

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

John 6:44

44“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Don’t Overlook the Importance of Prayer

It is easy to overlook the importance of prayer in our daily lives. Most of my life, I did not fully understand the role of prayer properly. I would tell myself that I don’t want to “bother” God with the details and small decisions I could or should be able to handle myself. To the extreme, I made major life decisions without asking for His guidance or listening for His input. Even if we use the Bible as our guide, which is good, it is no replacement for a close, interactive relationship with the Lord focused through prayer.

The Lord has matured me quite a bit and I stand amazed to watch how interested He is in being actively involved in my life. We should look to Yeshua as our example for how to live our lives. He did not just ask the Father once what His mission was and then go do it… NO! He spent a lot of time in prayer talking and listening with the Father, especially before making key decisions, such as which disciples to choose as His core twelve. He did not simply pray for 5 minutes to mention to Jehovah what He wanted and then go get busy again doing other things. He prayed all night in a solitary location where He could be undisturbed.

Luke 6:12-19

Choosing the Twelve

     12It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: 14Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; 15and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; 16Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

      17Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, 18who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. 19And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

I have a tremendous amount of growth still to come in regards to maturing my prayer life. This is not an area of strength for me as it is for others who truly seem to be prayer warriors. I am asking Him, though, to grow me in my prayer life and I know He will… if I continue to humbly seek Him and lead my heart to have more time to spend with Him.

I invite you to join me in praying for yourself (and me) in this area.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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God’s Eternity and Man’s Brief Life Span

It is good for us to focus on the Lord, His eternal nature. He is far above even our ability to fully understand Him. We are transitory… each of us with a brief life in which even that which we create will fade in short time. Only in the Lord is there eternity and I choose to spend eternity with Him.

This prayer does well to remind us that our time is brief and all that we think is important to “accomplish” is not going to last. Our relationship with the Lord, and any we can help lead to Him… those things are eternal.

With that in mind, is the focus of your life on the right things? Are you placing your value in career and business? hobbies? or serving the Lord and leading and supporting others to submit to and serve  Him as Lord?

Psalm 90

BOOK 4

God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

     1Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

      2Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

      3You turn man back into dust
And say, “Return, O children of men.”

      4For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night.

      5You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

      6In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it fades and withers away.

      7For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.

      8You have placed our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

      9For all our days have declined in Your fury;
We have finished our years like a sigh.

      10As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.

      11Who understands the power of Your anger
And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

      12So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

      13Do return, O LORD; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Your servants.

      14O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

      15Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil.

      16Let Your work appear to Your servants
And Your majesty to their children.

      17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

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“I Would Never Act That Way”

Hollywood could not dream up a story as wild and exciting, with as many surprise turns, as that of the Lord delivering His people from Egypt to the promised land. A persecuted slave class of people being lifted up out of bondage through plagues and mighty miracles. Through moments of faith and moments where the faith utterly fails and they are disciplined by the Lord. A righteous man, Moses, interceding on their behalf each time they repent. There was no easy road. What irony that they were too afraid to take the promised land but then had to fight many other nations along their now extended journey. Don’t skip the details, read back through… the ground swallowed up some who rebelled, and not snakes through the camp causing mayhem and repentance. A bronze serpent as a symbol to save them… what a wild ride… and it’s all true, historical events.

We get the opportunity  to learn from the Lord through exciting and unexpected plot twists that His people actually experienced first hand.

As we read the historical events of Numbers 21, we once again see a roller coaster ride for the Israelites. They are attacked by Arad and beaten initially. They turn to the Lord and He gives them absolute victory. Then not long after, the people get impatient again and speak against the Lord. What a tiresome bunch for the Lord to tolerate… but let’s take care, as we still often act in much the same way. We forget His last blessing or victory so quickly once the next challenge or wait is in front of us. We are naturally impatient and selfish and often do not long remember the victories He has given us.

With rebellion in speaking out against the Lord, comes punishment… righteous punishment. All of us deserve correction from time to time, and a loving Father disciplines those He loves. Then comes the question of how we receive that rebuke… with humility leading to repentance or with resentment leading to further separation from the Lord. The Israelites at least turn toward the Lord for help again once they punishment of the snakes was upon them. Moses interceded for them with the Lord and the Lord forgave them.

At least for awhile, they remained more patient on their ongoing journey.

Numbers 21:1-20

Arad Conquered

     1When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. 2So Israel made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” 3The LORD heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

      4Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. 5The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

     6The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

      10Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. 11They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the east. 12From there they set out and camped in Wadi Zered. 13From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

14Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD,
“Waheb in Suphah,
And the wadis of the Arnon,

      15And the slope of the wadis
That extends to the site of Ar,
And leans to the border of Moab.”

      16From there they continued to Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

      17Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well! Sing to it!

      18“The well, which the leaders sank,
Which the nobles of the people dug,
With the scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah,

19and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah which overlooks the wasteland.

Don’t fool yourself that each of us is not able to act in similar fashion as the Israelites did in Numbers 21. It is all too easy to declare, “I would never act that way.” We are still vulnerable toward focusing on our selves rather than God, focusing on our current challenge rather than our past victories with Him, grumbling against Him when things are not going how we want them to go. Pray for the Spirit to help us remain faithful to the Lord through even the tough times, remain thankful for all the victories He has handed to us in the past, and trust in Him that He will be with us through to the end of our current and future challenges. He is a loving Father! Let us rejoice and praise Him and not speak against Him!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Walking In Obedience Does Not Mean Everything Is Easy

Do not think that walking in obedience to the Lord will mean that everything is easy and goes smoothly. Expect that others will come against you. Trust in the Lord during conflict to be your “north star” or “compass” to guide you through to the right and obedient path through adversity. Ask the Spirit to guide and support you. But do not think that you are wrong just because others oppose you. The Hebrews were following the Lord in the desert and still came up against opposition from Edom.

Numbers 20:14-22

      14From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us; 15that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16‘But when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17‘Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

      18Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” 19Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing else.” 20But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and with a strong hand. 21Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

      22Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Just to make broader the point, let us look at another example in which Jesus spoke about following Him and what to expect.

Matthew 10:34-39

   34“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35“For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.

      37“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Prayerfully pursue a closer relationship with the Lord. Spend time daily in studying the Bible.  Seek to follow and obey faithfully. Do not turn away from the path of obedience when things get tough. Rely heavily on the Lord as your “north star” and “compass” to guide you through, not necessarily around, adversity. Ask the Spirit to help you glorify the Lord as you experience difficulty on the way.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Trust God In The Desert; Faith and Obedience Bring Us To The Promised Land

Have you ever gone through a tough situation, one that was really emotionally and physically draining? It may have even lasted months or years. Let us remember to cling to God in these situations, trusting that if we are faithful He can turn all things to use for good.

Romans 8:28

  28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Let us take care not to complain and whine or worse… rebel against where God is leading us or bringing us through. Think back on the Israelites as the Lord led them out of Egypt and into the promised land. He performed many mighty miracles and yet as time passed, the people continued to stumble and make mistakes. They continued to complain and at times rebel against God. They saw only their immediate, short term struggles and kept focusing on those rather than focusing on and trusting the Lord who was leading them through the desert. They could not seem to focus and trust that the promised land was theirs at the end of the journey.

In fact, they even completely ignore their own accountability in making the journey take 40 years! God delivered them to the promised land and they disobeyed and did not take it because they were afraid of the people living there. They did not trust the Lord. Their journey got much longer. But as they complain in Numbers 20, they blame Moses and God rather than their own mistakes in disobeying the Lord.

Numbers 20:2-5

      2There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! 4“Why then have you brought the LORD’S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? 5“Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.”

How callously they chastise Moses and defame the Lord’s reputation and character, implicitly in their complaints about “It is not a place of grain or figs or vines …” in contrast to God’s promised land. They take no accountability for their actions being the cause of why they are in the desert still. Should not they be saying… “O’ Lord, forgive us and have mercy on us for our disobedience and lack of faith resulted in our remaining in the desert”?

Let each of us take care in our relationship with the Lord. Sometimes our actions create the bad situation we don’t like or make it much worse. The answer is not to get mad at God and complain. Turn to God and ask Him for forgiveness and help to get through the challenge. Ask Him for joy and encouragement. As Him for mercy and grace. These things He will give to a submitted and repentant heart.  God is indeed just, but He is also compassionate and kind.

Pray that He would use the difficult circumstances for good, for His glory through you. Pray He would bring good from the hard times. Then patiently and faithfully trust that He can and He will, even if it may not look like what we want in the situation. Let us cling to the Lord, knowing He may simply be bringing us through personal growth or to a place even better than where we started… as He was bringing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. Rather than complain and blame the Lord, we should pray for the Spirit to help us be patient along the journey.

Trust God in the desert. Faith and obedience bring us to the promised land.

P.S. Want to know how God responded to the unrighteous complaints of the people? Read on further in Numbers 20. Once a righteous man interceded and asked the Lord for help, He provided them water, despite their general lack of faith and active complaining. I believe He did so to try to continue showing the people His glory to help lead them to trust and follow Him. Only in trusting Him would their journey truly get any easier as they continued in the desert.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Do Not Choose To Complain When God Calls You To Repent

Korah lead a rebellion in the beginning of Numbers 16. The Lord punished him and his family and those who also led the rebellion. They were swallowed up by the earth in a sign that could only be of the Lord. It was public and visible. One would assume then that the rest of the people who had been spared would be humble and repent before the Lord for their rebellion against Him. They did not. Instead they grumbled and complained, again jealous and blaming Moses and Aaron and never looking inward to judge the hardness of their own hearts in a way that could lead to repentance.

While it seems quite amazing, if you think about it in the lives of people around you every day, even those who say they believe and follow Jesus, you will see it is quite common. People have a tendency to excuse or overlook their sin and rebellion to God and blame others when things do not work out how they like. They do not internalize this issue of rebellion as originating with them… as their fault.

What an amazing response by Moses and Aaron… rather than just stand there and let God wipe out the rebellious people, they spring to action and make an intercessory offering and prayer on behalf of the sinful people. Though the people did not repent, the intercessory prayers of the righteous were enough for God to spare the people further destruction. What a great example of how we as God’s people should respond to those who struggle in their relationship with the Lord. Let us not be vengeful, but rather gracious in seeking to pray on their behalf before the Lord.

Numbers 16:41-50

Murmuring and Plague

     41But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’S people.” 42It came about, however, when the congregation had assembled against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. 46Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!” 47Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. 49But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah. 50Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.

When God calls you to repent, do not choose to complain instead. Take care not to be like those who sin and then grumble, always blaming the righteous for what goes wrong and never internalizing your own sin and relationship with the Lord.

Look also for the opportunity to pray for others, even those who would do you harm or say bad things to and about you. What a way to be a light to the world!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Jehovah Is Not A Fluffy Marshmallow Man Who Accepts Everyone As They Are

One of the lies that Satan has convinced people to be true is that somehow Jehovah will accept anyone with loving arms and no consequences no matter how much they rebel against Him. The lie is attractive because it basically feeds the narrative that none of us really need to change to please God. We just “know” He loves us as we are. Suddenly this lie enables us to be complacent and not even strive to know or trust God more. We just do whatever we want and expect Him to love us as we are. The lie is most destructive in that it hinders us from turning toward God and repenting. Sin separates us from the Lord.

It should be fairly obvious that God would not just accept everyone the way they are in the midst of rebellion and sin. This would not make sense in any way. None of us could point to a meaningful example where a loving Father really did not care at all about how His children behaved or if they respected and obeyed Him. But if that is not obvious to some, let us just explore a well known example of the Lord interacting with His chosen people.

In Numbers 14, God has just led His people out of bondage in Egypt with many signs and wonders including plagues on Egypt, parting of the Red Sea, feeding the people with Manna and quail from heaven and leading them as a pillar of fire at night and pillar of smoke during the day. Incredible, right?

The people complained when the felt trapped at the Red Sea. They rebelled by worshipping a golden calf and He did not destroy them. The people complained about wanting meat and He gave it to them… along with a plague for discipline. Here we go again as the Lord delivers His people to the promised land and they still trust Him not because there is some adversity in front of them. They rebel. Ultimately, God cares… He is angered. He considers destroying them and just starting over. Moses intercedes and convinces the Lord not to destroy them. The Lord still disciplines them with a stern hand. They end up sentenced to die in the desert as they wander for 40 years before their children will get a second chance at the promised land. God is no marshmallow man just accepting everyone as they are. He is indeed slow to anger, but people must repent and submit to Him first (through Jesus Christ)… and then He accepts them with open arms, no matter what they have done before.

Numbers 14:1-19

The People Rebel

     1Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3“Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

      5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8“If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9“Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Moses Pleads for the People

     11The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? 12“I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

      13But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, 14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15“Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16‘Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17“But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19“Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

The LORD Pardons and Rebukes

     20So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; 21but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22“Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24“But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. 25“Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”

      26The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. 28“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; 29your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30‘Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31‘Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 32‘But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33‘Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. 34‘According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. 35‘I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.’”

      36As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, 37even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD. 38But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Do not fall prey to Satan’s lies. God calls us to repent from sin and turn to Him. We are called to turn away from our selfish and worldly ways and seek after and obey His instructions, which will put us at odds with those who love the flesh. We do indeed have to pick whom we will serve… Jehovah or the flesh. There is no compromise. He does care and will not accept or tolerate rebellion.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Contentment, Discerning / Judging, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Humility, Idols / False Gods, Praise / Worship / Glorify God, Prayer, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

He Gives Us Over To The Stubbornness Of Our Hearts

Psalm 81 was written about God’s goodness and Israel’s waywardness… or behavior of going astray from God and pursuing ungodly things. God established Israel and provided for them through many mighty deeds and yet they continued to stray from Him to chase false gods and selfish pursuits. A Psalm like this one could very easily be written about the USA with a few minor changes to the historical references such as “coming out of Egypt”. Jehovah blessed our Christian nation at its birth and yet we as a nation continue to stray from God.

As a result of our rejection of Him as a nation, He gives us over to the stubbornness of our hearts and we now walk in our own devices… an immoral society overrun by sin which is normalized throughout the land. Many gods are worshipped… money, sex, power, sports, status, and perhaps most of all self. Coveting is the national pastime for many, always lusting after what others have rather than finding contentment with what God has provided.

Psalm 81

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.

     1Sing for joy to God our strength;
Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.

      2Raise a song, strike the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.

      3Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast day.

      4For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.

      5He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a language that I did not know:

      6“I relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the basket.

      7“You called in trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I proved you at the waters of Meribah.

Selah.

      8“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

      9“Let there be no strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.

      10“I, the LORD, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

      11“But My people did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not obey Me.

      12“So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices.

      13“Oh that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!

      14“I would quickly subdue their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries.

      15“Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.

      16“But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Pray for revival personally, in your family, in your local church, in your state, in the nation and across the world. Live out the revival in your daily life. Pray, study, spend time with our Lord. Ask for His guidance in your life and be prepared to give up your desires and your plans in favor of His. You may well find that what you desire was never really yours to begin with but only that which our culture indoctrinated you to pursue. What He wants for us is much better.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Help / Serve Others, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Interceding for Others, Obeying God, Offering Sacrifices, Purposeful / Intentional, Repenting from Sin

Cleanse and Purify The Chosen; Let Them Be Separate

There is tremendous depth in the symbolism of scripture. We can read it and gain value at a surface level and also dig deeper and deeper and find more and more treasure of insight waiting to be found. Numbers 8 is no exception. At the very surface level we can appreciate that Jehovah calls some of us to be set aside for His purposes. To do so effectively, we must be cleansed and separated from the world. We can not be set aside to be holy and serve Him and yet still blend in with the world around us.

Do not limit your thinking only to pastors and missionaries as the “chosen”. These roles may be chosen, but so too let us consider all of us chosen to follow Christ. We must cleanse ourselves of sin and the ways of the world. We must be different if we are to honor and glorify God and lead others to Him.

Of course, you can study and find much deeper significance as well in Numbers 8. Why using a razor over their whole body? What is the significance of the offering? Why present the Levites in front of the whole congregation? We see also the coming together of the whole congregation to pray over the Levites as they enter the service of the Lord. What is the significance and tie back to the first born and the exodus from Egypt? Finally, don’t miss verse 22, in which the Bible records that the people obeyed the instructions of God. They did not debate them with God or pick the ones they liked and disregard the reset. They obeyed all He told them to do.

Numbers 8:5-22

Cleansing the Levites

     5Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. 7“Thus you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be clean. 8“Then let them take a bull with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull you shall take for a sin offering. 9“So you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting. You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10and present the Levites before the LORD; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11“Aaron then shall present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may qualify to perform the service of the LORD. 12“Now the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. 13“You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the LORD.

      14“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. 15“Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering; 16for they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17“For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18“But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19“I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel by their coming near to the sanctuary.”

      20Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the sons of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons; just as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

Take some time to pray for the Spirit to help enlighten your mind to the truth and depth of scripture including its applicability for your life today. Then spend time digging through scripture and studying routinely. It should not be a one time or infrequent activity.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.