Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 3-4
Deuteronomy 4:26-29 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. 28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
It was not 'if' Israel would break their covenant with God and disobey him, it was 'when'. God had revealed to Moses that they would not honor his law and they would be driven from the land that Joshua would lead them in to possess.
How sad to hear these words immediately before entering into the land of Canaan. Israel would rebel against God. They would not be faithful to him. They would be destroyed and scattered among the nations. This is what happened.
However, even in the midst of this stern warning, God showed them mercy and grace. When you are scattered and in a nation that serves a false god, if you will seek the Lord, you shall find him! There were two stipulations for them.
1. Seek the Lord.
2. Seek him with all your heart and all your soul.
What about you? Was there a time when you were closer to the Lord than you are right now? Was there a time when you joyfully gathered with God's people in the name of Jesus? Was there a time when you devoured God's Word and sought him daily in prayer? Have you drifted? Are you straying?
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
James 4:8-9 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
God always invites you back into his loving arms. The prodigal can come home and find an excited and welcoming Father running to meet him.
Come home, come home.
Ye who are weary, come home.
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling
Calling oh, sinner come home!
In Christ,
Rody
In Christ,
Rody
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
They gathered themselves together against Moses
Bible Reading: Numbers 16-17
Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
Korah, Dathan and Abiram gathered two hundred and fifty men to rise up in rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They were ambitious for a leadership position. They said that they were just as holy as Moses and could lead just fine without him.
This is such a common thing in life. It seems that there is always someone who thinks they can lead better than the leader. A person who could run things better than their boss or a parent who could coach better than the coach.
In this situation, God had chosen Moses for leadership. This was not something he took upon himself. So in going against God's man, these rebels were going against God. The New Testament warns that men like these will be a part of the New Testament church:
Jude 1:10-11 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
They are gainsayers like Korah. They argue and contend with the elders. They try to gather a following after them. This is dangerous business because we know what happened to Korah and the others. The earth swallowed them whole! God then provided a miracle to show that he had chosen Aaron and his sons for the priesthood.
The leadership of Israel was not man's idea, it was God's. He chose Moses and Aaron. As we follow Jesus, we need to respect those who are in authority and remember that Satan was a rebel. We don't want to be like him.
In Christ,
Rody
Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?
Korah, Dathan and Abiram gathered two hundred and fifty men to rise up in rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They were ambitious for a leadership position. They said that they were just as holy as Moses and could lead just fine without him.
This is such a common thing in life. It seems that there is always someone who thinks they can lead better than the leader. A person who could run things better than their boss or a parent who could coach better than the coach.
In this situation, God had chosen Moses for leadership. This was not something he took upon himself. So in going against God's man, these rebels were going against God. The New Testament warns that men like these will be a part of the New Testament church:
Jude 1:10-11 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
They are gainsayers like Korah. They argue and contend with the elders. They try to gather a following after them. This is dangerous business because we know what happened to Korah and the others. The earth swallowed them whole! God then provided a miracle to show that he had chosen Aaron and his sons for the priesthood.
The leadership of Israel was not man's idea, it was God's. He chose Moses and Aaron. As we follow Jesus, we need to respect those who are in authority and remember that Satan was a rebel. We don't want to be like him.
In Christ,
Rody
Thursday, March 1, 2012
They are bread for us
Bible Reading: Numbers 14-15; Psalm 90
Numbers 14:8-9 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
Challenges are nourishment for your spirit. Most people don't think about this, but throughout the Word of God, we see that challenges do us good.
This is what Joshua and Caleb meant when they said the Canaanites were
bread for them'. Facing the challenge of the people in the land would feed their faith in God.
When the twelve spies brought back the report of the land that they spied out they also told the people how there were giants in the land and they would be facing walled cities. This caused the people to murmur and doubt that they could occupy the land. Only two of them had a godly understanding of what was going on. Joshua and Caleb knew it was not about them fighting on their own. They knew that God would bring them in and give them the land.
It is no different for us. If we face the challenges of life with faith and trust that God is at work, we can handle the situations. The Lord is with us. We need to trust him.
Start looking at challenges as bread. Bread brings nourishment to your body. Challenges we face are opportunities to trust in God. He has promised us that trials grow our faith and make us mature.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
In Christ,
Rody
Numbers 14:8-9 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
Challenges are nourishment for your spirit. Most people don't think about this, but throughout the Word of God, we see that challenges do us good.
This is what Joshua and Caleb meant when they said the Canaanites were
bread for them'. Facing the challenge of the people in the land would feed their faith in God.
When the twelve spies brought back the report of the land that they spied out they also told the people how there were giants in the land and they would be facing walled cities. This caused the people to murmur and doubt that they could occupy the land. Only two of them had a godly understanding of what was going on. Joshua and Caleb knew it was not about them fighting on their own. They knew that God would bring them in and give them the land.
It is no different for us. If we face the challenges of life with faith and trust that God is at work, we can handle the situations. The Lord is with us. We need to trust him.
Start looking at challenges as bread. Bread brings nourishment to your body. Challenges we face are opportunities to trust in God. He has promised us that trials grow our faith and make us mature.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
In Christ,
Rody
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