Devotion News

Beloved, just wanted to let you know that due to illness I will not be writing and sending a devotion Thursday and Friday. We will get back on track Monday.

Thank you for understanding.

 

God bless you

Pleading With God

Devotion

4-14-10

Pleading With God

Deuteronomy 3:23-29

I also pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, “O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness and Thy strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Thine?  Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.”

 

 But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me: and the Lord said to me, “Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.  Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.  But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.”  So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

 

Has there ever been a time in your life when someone was so angry at you that the discipline they gave you seemed too hard in your mind yet they were not willing to relent of the discipline? 

 

As parents, we are often faced with this in our children.  They disobey and we set a punishment for it and then they begin to beg or plead with us not to carry through with that discipline.  The more they beg / plead their case the more upset we get.  We love them and hate having to discipline, however, we know that not carrying through would only build in their minds the thoughts of distrust.  They have to trust our words wheater they are words of praise or of discipline.  They must believe we mean what we say!

 

Do you believe it is important to carry through with the discipline you set into motion for your children?

 

If you are not a parent but deal with other people, do you believe it is important for those who break the law to pay the price for doing so?

 

God is setting the example, in the verses above, with Moses.  Not obeying God when He told him to speak to the rock led him down a long path of dread because he so much wanted to enter the promise land, but God had already told him he would not.  True Moses did many good things and obeyed God in most of his life, but the discipline for his actions still had to be carried out.  After all God is good but He is also very just! He is faithful to His word, all of it, judgment and reward. Are you pleading with God about something? Stop begging and start praising Him, it will please Him and give you peace.

 

God's Holiness Provides

Devotion

4-13-10

God’s Holiness Provides

Numbers 27:12-23

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel.  And when you have seen it, you too shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was; for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

 

Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,  “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.”

 

So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight.  And you shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him.  Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord.  At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”

 

And Moses did just as the Lord commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation.  Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

 

Take a closer look at these scriptures and see what is taking place here. Do you see what is happening?

 

What does the Lord say to Moses? ___________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

What is Moses’ reply? _____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

God let Moses look at the land but not enter it.  Do you think there are times in your life when God tells you to do something and you don’t, that you lose out on a blessing because of it?

 

Give an example of a time you know you suffered the discipline of the Lord after disobeying Him. __________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another point to look at is that after the Lord removed Moses from the congregation He also appointed a new shepherd.  He did not leave His people without leadership. 

 

If the Lord were standing in front of you right now, face to face, what would you say to Him if He questioned your faithfulness to believe in His holiness during a difficult situation in your life?  Do you believe He is holy enough to fix your situation without your help?  Write to Him and honestly express your heart about his now.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Moses struggled with the people and in so doing he allowed his frustration to dictate how he responded to God.  Let this be a lesson to us.  We must keep our eyes on Jesus, He is in control, He is holy, He is just, He is faithful to handle our situations and to see us through them all.  He always provides for His church and you are part of His church.

So don’t give in to frustration, believe Him and you will receive countless blessings.

 

Waters of Meribah

Devotion

4-12-10

Waters of Meribah

 

Numbers 20:1-13

 

Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh.  Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

 

And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron.  The people thus contended with Moses and spoke saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!  Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here?  And 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.”

 

Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces.  Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them; and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water.  You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”

 

So Moses took the rod from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock.  And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.  But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

 

Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

 

There are two words in bold print, what do you think is so important about those two words?  _________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How do those two actions relate to you? _______________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why did Moses strike the rock instead of speaking to it? _________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you ever do something different than God wants of you out of spite and frustration towards the people God has given to you to minister to because they don’t seem to respond the way you think they should? _______________________________________

Give an example:_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did the Lord say was the reason for Moses not being able to take the assembly into the land which He game them? ______________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So when we do not believe what the Lord tells us and we do things our way instead of His way, no matter the reason, what are our actions revealing to God? ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Write a letter to God and honestly talk to Him about your concerns of doing His will when you really want to quit.  Ask Him to help you and to fill your heart with His mercy and grace which is loaded with abundant forgiveness and love.