Day 52: Num 21:1 - 23:11

Here we see a very interesting paradox that I've never noticed regarding the Children of Israel. One would initially assume that if the Israelites were cursed and prevented from moving into the promised land, that the 40 years prior to them entering would be full of terrible losses and  curses, but we see in these passages that even in the dark times of living outside the initial will of God, these people were blessed! Now, of course, these blessings that they were enjoying were in no way comparable to the blessings that they would've seen had they just been obedient to God, but nonetheless, when God's blessing is on you, you can't escape it. I can only assume that at some point, I probably would've been OK with just living in the wilderness. I mean, according to these passages, the children of Israel were kicking tail and taking names! But we always need to remember that although God is a merciful God and He will allow us  to be blessed even after we've ignored His Word, there's no better place to be than right in the middle of His will.

Father, help me to stay put right in the middle of Your will. It's easy to get distracted and content with the smaller blessings that come with the simple favor that You've placed on our lives, but I don't want marginal blessing. I want to be blessed more than I can handle. I don't just want to be successful, I want to be blessed with a blessing that can't fade with the changing seasons. I don't want to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, I am going to be bold and have the Faith of God and do what You've called me to do!

Day 51: Num 18:1 - 20:29

It's so easy at times to feel that we have to take matters into our own hands and take care of things our own way. God told Moses to go down to a rock and simply speak to it to bring water forth, but Moses just had to do it his own way, and he payed dearly for it. I'd like to sit and say that Moses was such an idiot for doing that, but to be honest, I think I probably would've done the exact same thing. It's so difficult to just relax and ignore the pressures building up all around us, but God will give us the strength. In my opinion, Moses was totally justified in getting upset and throwing a mini temper tantrum by smacking the rock a few times to show the Israelites how mad he was. Unfortunately, for me and Moses, my opinions have absolutely no bearing on how God makes His decisions. So instead of putting our own spin on how we think things should be handled, we just need to have faith that God knows exactly what He's doing. 

- Lord, I want to do Your will exactly how You say it when You say it. I know I've definitely had the tendency to try to make things happen my own way, but I know that Your way is the only way to get things done. Thank you for showing us step by step what to do and Give me the strength to always follow Your Word. - 

Day 50: Num 15:20 - 17:13

Here we see a classic example of the dangers of rebellion. You know, there is definitely a time to confront a spiritual leader if they truly are operating outside of the anointing and doing things for their own benefit, but we must always understand that that's God's call, not ours. I've seen so many people in the body of Christ fall away because they weren't able to simply submit to a spiritual leader and let God take care of the rest. We must always understand that it's not our responsibility to make sure the pastor is in line. God is responsible for making sure that happens, and I've also seen plenty of examples where God took care of pastors who weren't following Him - and He didn't "take care of it" by getting a group of people to run the pastor out of town. My point is this, our hearts must always be aimed towards God and not towards what our emotions or our opinions tell us. If we will focus on God, He will tell us when to speak up and when to keep our mouths shut.

- Lord, help me to not allow rebellion to enter my heart. I've seen it happen in my own heart and I've seen it happen in others and it never ends well. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You and remind me that even if I'm not being treated right at the moment, Your Word says that vengeance belongs to You, not me. -

Day 49: Num 13:13 - 15:19

The moral to this story is pretty straight forward - When we turn our backs on what God has promised us, there's not much hope for success. Something my dad has always said is, "You should never put a question mark where God put a period." All the children of Israel had to do was go up and take the land that God had promised them, but instead they allowed doubt and fear into their hearts and they sealed their fate after God had already offered it to them. How many times have we simply ignored God's open hand because we though it was just impossible for us to accomplish what He called us to? That is why we must always stay vigilant and never back down and when God offers us something, we have to keep strong and hold onto the faith that we have in Him and He is obligated to bring s through to the other side.

- Lord, help me to never question Your Word. It so easy to get scared and think that maybe I'm not hearing you correctly, but help me to always hear and listen when You speak to  me. I know that regardless of what I think or how I feel, if You said that it will come to pass, then all I have to do is believe You and it will happen. - 

Day 48: Num 10:15 - 13:12

Isn't it funny how God always knows what's best for us? Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a a while for us to realize that. The ironic part of this story is that although God knew what was best for the Children of Israel, He was still willing to give them exactly what they asked for. Instead of being thankful to God for all of the amazing blessings that He gave them, they ended up sitting around whining about not having any meat. Well it turns out that God heard their complaints and gave them exactly what they wanted - piles and piles of meat. In fact, God gave them so much meat that they ended up gorging themselves on bad meat and some of them even died. The lesson here is pretty simple. Instead of complaining to God about the blessings that we haven't seen yet, maybe we should just learn to thank Him for what He has given us and there's no telling the extent of His blessings.

- Lord, help me to not take for granted the blessings that You've given me. It's easy to have the "grass is greener on the other side" mentality, but I know that the only place I want to be is right in the middle of Your blessings. Thank You for all of the blessings that You've given me and for all of the blessings You will give me if I'll just keep my eyes on You. -

Day 47: Num 7:68 - 10:14

You know, I've never really given much thought to the pillar of smoke/fire that lead the Israelites. Sometimes, it's easy to think that God only give us guidance and direction in small subtle ways that are almost indistinguishable unless you know exactly what you're looking for, but we see in this enormous part of Biblical history that God worked on enormous scales as well. Sadly enough, there are alot of people today who sit around wondering where they're supposed to go when God is  standing right above them holding the door open and waiting for them to walk through. How terrible would it have been if Moses had ignored the pillar that God provided him and he just sat around trying to figure it out on his own? God probably would've just gotten rid of him and started over fresh.

- Lord, help me to pay attention to the signs that You are showing me. I know one fault of the human race is that sometimes we try to over-complicate things when You're trying to make them plain and simple. Thank You for giving us signs and holding the door open for us so that we can march out into the destiny that You've planned for us! - 

Day 46: Num 6:1 - 7:67

In the first part of this passage, we learn about the Nazarene vow. God wants His people to be specifically consecrated to Himself and this is a great picture of that. God doesn't want us to just be like everyone else and just serve Him when things are going bad or when  it's Sunday. God wants us to separate our lives so that it's absolutely clear who we serve. There are alot of people out there who want God as some sort of "fire insurance," but they don't actually want to have to alter their lives in order to follow Him. God wants us to be willing to give up whatever He tells us not necessarily because those things are bad, but because He wants to make sure that He's number one in our lives no matter what.

- Lord, help me to consecrate myself to You. It's easy living in this world to end up becoming just like everyone else, but I know that You require more of me. Help me to keep Your Word in my heart and always be mindful of what You are telling me to do. And I pray that You help me to be willing to give up whatever You want me to give up regardless of whether or not it's a sin. Thank You for setting Your people apart and giving us what it takes to be a light in a dark world. -