Today Numbers 10-11
Tomorrow Numbers 12-14
How Big Is Your God?
1. He is non-existent. We are just cosmic accidents.
2. He started the universe but then left us to figure things out
3. He barely has things under control. Still trying to figure out how to use his IPOD.
4. Controls every detail of the universe. He knows your middle name, how many hairs are on your head and exactly how many calories
were in that piece of cake you ate last night for desert.
In Numbers 10 the journey begins for the nation. They pack up and they head out for a long walk in the desert. Some interesting facts about taking this long walk in the desert.
1) How many people were on this walk?
Num 1:45, 46 600,000 fighting men
Plus 600,000 women
2,400,000 children Remember Ex 1:7-10
3,600,000 Total and I think this is on the low side of the estimate.
2) How long a column would that make?
Marching 50 abreast – 40 miles long
At 2 1/2 miles per hour – 16 hours to pass same point
3) Food just for people not animals 30 railroad box cars each day
4) Water 300 railroad tank cars
5) Clothes and footwear... they would need some good sneakers to make it 40 years. Hey, where do you buy a nice shirt in the desert?
The Bottom Line: they were well cared for by God each day.
If God can deliver them, is he big enough to deliver you in the current economic down turn?
There is no need to worry. God will take care of you. We are in good hands not because of an insurance company ... we are in good hands because God has everything under control.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the mighty deliverance for the nation of Israel. We pray for that same deliverance today of your people. Free our minds from worry and anxiety. We ask not for seek comfort and ease but we seek for you to lead us to the promised land of freedom. We believe that you are Almighty God; nothing is too difficult for you.
Make sure you catch up in the reading this weekend!!! Don't be tempted to spend too much time outdoors in the 50 degree temperatures.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
February 6
Today Read Numbers 3 and 4
Tomorrow Read Numbers 9-11
Our Purpose on Earth.
In our reading today the Levites are given their mission on earth. There are three clans and they are responsible for the care of the tabernacle and the outer courtyard. There are 22,000 Levites so the job they have must have been tremendously important and vital for the nation.
This position was not to be taken lightly. Numbers 4:17-20 gives a warning not to be peeking and snooping around the Tabernacle. If they do this they are facing a potential life threatening situation.
Thinking about your life in light of this truth:
What is the responsibility God has given you?
Do you know why God has placed you on this planet?
Only 3% of Americans have a written mission statement for their life. The truth is that most people have no idea why God has given them a new day of life.
Here are some tips on how to find your mission in life.
1. Ask God to show you. Start with prayer and a quiet heart.
2. Open your Bible and see the mandates that he has given to you. Write these down.
3. Write a time line of your life. God can use every event of our lives to future his kingdom.
Remember the story of Joseph... God can even use evil things for good.
4. What are your passions? What things are really important to you and set your heart on fire?
5. What do you do well? Remember God gave the skills to the artesian in Exodus 35? God has given you your skills. What are they?
This process of gathering all of this information will take you several weeks. But there is no more important task then knowing your mission.
I might surprise you one day and ask you, “What is your mission on earth?” I hope you have a solid answer for me. That is the only way to live a meaningful life.
There are three types of people in the world today:
1. Those who make things happen.
2. Those who watch things happen.
3. Those who say, “What happened?”
May God give us the strength to make things happen.
Tomorrow Read Numbers 9-11
Our Purpose on Earth.
In our reading today the Levites are given their mission on earth. There are three clans and they are responsible for the care of the tabernacle and the outer courtyard. There are 22,000 Levites so the job they have must have been tremendously important and vital for the nation.
This position was not to be taken lightly. Numbers 4:17-20 gives a warning not to be peeking and snooping around the Tabernacle. If they do this they are facing a potential life threatening situation.
Thinking about your life in light of this truth:
What is the responsibility God has given you?
Do you know why God has placed you on this planet?
Only 3% of Americans have a written mission statement for their life. The truth is that most people have no idea why God has given them a new day of life.
Here are some tips on how to find your mission in life.
1. Ask God to show you. Start with prayer and a quiet heart.
2. Open your Bible and see the mandates that he has given to you. Write these down.
3. Write a time line of your life. God can use every event of our lives to future his kingdom.
Remember the story of Joseph... God can even use evil things for good.
4. What are your passions? What things are really important to you and set your heart on fire?
5. What do you do well? Remember God gave the skills to the artesian in Exodus 35? God has given you your skills. What are they?
This process of gathering all of this information will take you several weeks. But there is no more important task then knowing your mission.
I might surprise you one day and ask you, “What is your mission on earth?” I hope you have a solid answer for me. That is the only way to live a meaningful life.
There are three types of people in the world today:
1. Those who make things happen.
2. Those who watch things happen.
3. Those who say, “What happened?”
May God give us the strength to make things happen.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
February 5
Numbers 1-2
Numbers 2:1-2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family."
Suppose you were asked to design a planned community, complete with houses, shops, schools, churches and hospitals. Would you want there to be a grid with streets crisscrossing like tic-tac-toe or, perhaps, streets ringing the inner city in concentric circles like a target? And what would you put in the center of the community? A park? City hall? The business district? When God planned a community for the Israelites, he put the “church” smack-dab in the middle, with “houses” streaming out in every direction- north, south, east and west. Of course the tabernacle wasn’t exactly a “church” as we might think of a steepled church today. In fact, the earliest church wasn’t a church at all if what we have in mind id bricks and mortar. Unlike the temples of Solomon and later Herod, the first Christians did not have any building for the sole purpose of worship over two centuries. They just went from house to house. Nothing fancy, No pulpit. No pews. No steeples. Just a gathering group of believers sitting around tables enjoying fellowship with each other and God.
So where do you put the church in the community when there is no church building? How about in the families that comprise the community? That way the church is not just in the middle of the community, but on every block. And where is God’s dwelling place when it is set within families themselves? Smack dad in the middle, of course. In godly families worship is always at the center of everything a family does, whether work or play, mealtime or prayer time. When God is at the heart of a family, and family after family centers itself on God, an entire community can be wondrously transformed – as if God planned it that way.
Thoughts from F. LaGard Smith
What is the center of your life? Why do you get out of bed in the morning?
I have never met a person who has placed God at the center of their life and later said, “God ruined my life.” But I can fill Boyle Stadium with people who have put themselves at the center and made total messes of their lives.
Put God at the center of your life, you will never be disappointed.
Numbers 2:1-2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family."
Suppose you were asked to design a planned community, complete with houses, shops, schools, churches and hospitals. Would you want there to be a grid with streets crisscrossing like tic-tac-toe or, perhaps, streets ringing the inner city in concentric circles like a target? And what would you put in the center of the community? A park? City hall? The business district? When God planned a community for the Israelites, he put the “church” smack-dab in the middle, with “houses” streaming out in every direction- north, south, east and west. Of course the tabernacle wasn’t exactly a “church” as we might think of a steepled church today. In fact, the earliest church wasn’t a church at all if what we have in mind id bricks and mortar. Unlike the temples of Solomon and later Herod, the first Christians did not have any building for the sole purpose of worship over two centuries. They just went from house to house. Nothing fancy, No pulpit. No pews. No steeples. Just a gathering group of believers sitting around tables enjoying fellowship with each other and God.
So where do you put the church in the community when there is no church building? How about in the families that comprise the community? That way the church is not just in the middle of the community, but on every block. And where is God’s dwelling place when it is set within families themselves? Smack dad in the middle, of course. In godly families worship is always at the center of everything a family does, whether work or play, mealtime or prayer time. When God is at the heart of a family, and family after family centers itself on God, an entire community can be wondrously transformed – as if God planned it that way.
Thoughts from F. LaGard Smith
What is the center of your life? Why do you get out of bed in the morning?
I have never met a person who has placed God at the center of their life and later said, “God ruined my life.” But I can fill Boyle Stadium with people who have put themselves at the center and made total messes of their lives.
Put God at the center of your life, you will never be disappointed.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
February 4
Read Numbers 3, 7, 8.
This is where if you do not have the Daily Bible it will start to become confusing.
Dealing with discrepancies in the Bible, here is one that we need to handle.
Numbers 4:3 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work in the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 8:24 "This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
As we read through the Bible we will run into confusing issues like the age of those going into the priesthood. What is the age? Is it 25 or 30? These verses are only 4 chapters away from each other, either someone has made a tremendous mistake or there is another explanation. For those who are skeptics they quickly point out the difference and say the Bible cannot be trusted. But I think there is a good explanation of the age difference. In the Jamison commentary he suggests: “They entered their work in the 25th year as pupils and probationers, under the superintendence and direction of their senior brethren; and at 30 they were admitted to the full discharge of their official functions.”
In other words this was a 5 year apprenticeship that preceded the actual service of the Levites. Is that too great leap of faith? I don’t think so.
If the skeptics are right and this is just a man-mad book even an elementary school child would have been able to point out the error in the text and correct it.
What is going on here is reading the Bible with a concert literalness looking for things to be wrong and others reading it looking for reasonable explanations.
Another example ... Numbers 8:25 says that at the age of 50 the Levites must retire. That would mean I would be out of work today and I would be spending my days chasing a little white golf ball around a golf course. But the very next verse says “They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites."
Just as there might be other duties after the age of 50, so there might be duties under the age of 30. The point for us is to read the scriptures to get the full picture – looking first for the obvious, then looking again for the not so obvious.
This is where if you do not have the Daily Bible it will start to become confusing.
Dealing with discrepancies in the Bible, here is one that we need to handle.
Numbers 4:3 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work in the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 8:24 "This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
As we read through the Bible we will run into confusing issues like the age of those going into the priesthood. What is the age? Is it 25 or 30? These verses are only 4 chapters away from each other, either someone has made a tremendous mistake or there is another explanation. For those who are skeptics they quickly point out the difference and say the Bible cannot be trusted. But I think there is a good explanation of the age difference. In the Jamison commentary he suggests: “They entered their work in the 25th year as pupils and probationers, under the superintendence and direction of their senior brethren; and at 30 they were admitted to the full discharge of their official functions.”
In other words this was a 5 year apprenticeship that preceded the actual service of the Levites. Is that too great leap of faith? I don’t think so.
If the skeptics are right and this is just a man-mad book even an elementary school child would have been able to point out the error in the text and correct it.
What is going on here is reading the Bible with a concert literalness looking for things to be wrong and others reading it looking for reasonable explanations.
Another example ... Numbers 8:25 says that at the age of 50 the Levites must retire. That would mean I would be out of work today and I would be spending my days chasing a little white golf ball around a golf course. But the very next verse says “They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. This, then, is how you are to assign the responsibilities of the Levites."
Just as there might be other duties after the age of 50, so there might be duties under the age of 30. The point for us is to read the scriptures to get the full picture – looking first for the obvious, then looking again for the not so obvious.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
February 3
Here are my thoughts on todays reading:
The book of Leviticus is by far the longest book in the bible. Not because of its chapters or length, but because of how much it drags on about law, after law, after law, after law. That's not reason to quit !!!!! This book was placed in the bible for a reason. There is SOMETHING that you can learn from this book and take away with you. During these times please don't quit reading, but instead ask questions and find out why do these things happen.
Today's reading deal with the killing of a lot of animals (PETA and Green peace would not of been happy if this was happening currently). What always amazes me about these passages is how dedicated these people were. If i asked any of you to go out in your back yard and slaughter an animal, i doubt many would. If i told you to do it on a regular basis for your sins, you might, but some still wouldn't. These people did this religiously and faithfully because of their trust and faith they had towards God. Luckily, we don't have to slaughter anyone or anything because the perfect lamb (Jesus Christ) died already for our sins. His blood took care of all the work that needed to be done and now we can have a direct relationship with him, instead of having a chosen person speak to him for us.
This does not excuse the fact that there are things we must do in order to keep this relationship going. With any relationship there is work involved, this one is no different. It means taking time to read your bible (that includes the book of leviticus), praying, learning and walking and his ways in order to allow this relationship to grow. These people went the extra mile because that's what they were instructed to do. Unlike them, we don't have to do that, but we do have things to do and we tend to very easily put them off.
Let them (the levites) set an example of high standards for your daily walk w/ God. Hopefully my thoughts were clear and grammatically correct, they are just my thoughts and are there to allow you to see what other people think.
Monday, February 2, 2009
February 2
Today is accountability day!!!
Send me an email telling me the chapter you are on.
These are the difficult days when most people stop reading the Bible. Hang in there. Be disciplined and stay the course. Don’t get discouraged and quit. If you fall behind, read today’s passage and one that you skipped.
Today read Exodus 39-40
Exodus 39:32 So all the work on the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
God was very specific in what he wanted in worship. We can’t just wing it; we can’t make up the rules according to our feelings. When we come to God we better read the instructions. The same is true today.
It isn’t the rules of the tabernacle that we follow, those specific rules apply only to the Israelites, but God wants us to worship in spirit and in truth… truth implies right and wrong. There is a right way to worship God today. Did you realize that worshiping God today is your highest priority? It should be first on our “Do List” so take time right now and worship. Here is a short list of how to do it correctly.
1. Am I seeking God with all my heart? Matt 22:37 We can’t worship God with half of our heart.
2. Loving God with all my heart? Matt 22:38 Do you love God above everything else on earth?
3. Have I offered my body as a living sacrifice? Romans 12:1-2
4. Am I disconnected from anyone else? If so go and make it right. Matt 5:23-24
5. Am I a person of integrity? Matt 5:37 Acts 5
6. Am I discriminating or prejudice against anyone? James 2
7. Have I treated my wife with consideration? 1 Peter 2
Lord, help us to worship you in spirit and truth… not to make up the rules ourselves.
Send me an email telling me the chapter you are on.
These are the difficult days when most people stop reading the Bible. Hang in there. Be disciplined and stay the course. Don’t get discouraged and quit. If you fall behind, read today’s passage and one that you skipped.
Today read Exodus 39-40
Exodus 39:32 So all the work on the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses.
God was very specific in what he wanted in worship. We can’t just wing it; we can’t make up the rules according to our feelings. When we come to God we better read the instructions. The same is true today.
It isn’t the rules of the tabernacle that we follow, those specific rules apply only to the Israelites, but God wants us to worship in spirit and in truth… truth implies right and wrong. There is a right way to worship God today. Did you realize that worshiping God today is your highest priority? It should be first on our “Do List” so take time right now and worship. Here is a short list of how to do it correctly.
1. Am I seeking God with all my heart? Matt 22:37 We can’t worship God with half of our heart.
2. Loving God with all my heart? Matt 22:38 Do you love God above everything else on earth?
3. Have I offered my body as a living sacrifice? Romans 12:1-2
4. Am I disconnected from anyone else? If so go and make it right. Matt 5:23-24
5. Am I a person of integrity? Matt 5:37 Acts 5
6. Am I discriminating or prejudice against anyone? James 2
7. Have I treated my wife with consideration? 1 Peter 2
Lord, help us to worship you in spirit and truth… not to make up the rules ourselves.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
February 1: Exodus 35:4-39:1
Today's passage describes the careful construction of the Tabernacle, a "tent of meeting," that would serve as the site of the Israelites' communal worship. This Tabernacle replaces Moses's first tent of meeting and foreshadows the Temple in Jerusalem and, ultimately, heaven.
Although the specific terms for measurements and weights may sound foreign to us, it is clear that the people were careful to follow all that God had commanded them through Moses. The Israelites eagerly offer their gold, silver, yarn, and fine linen and their time and talents as well. It is fascinating to see how a people, who had given their gold jewelry only a few chapters earlier to the production of the golden calf, have now turned their focus to honoring the Lord through this Tabernacle, where He will meet with them. We also note how the craftsmen constructed these items for portability, placing poles in many items so that the Israelites might reconstruct the Tabernacle after God has led them elsewhere.
The Tabernacle is truly a celebration of God's presence. The people go forth with the building project with joy because they have seen God's presence. As Scott wrote yesterday, we should seek nothing greater than His presence. (On this Super Bowl Sunday, we are challenged by the reminder of the many idols in American life: sports, celebrity, sensual pleasure, food, and material possessions. How many of these idols will appear in a single half-hour of the game's broadcast today?)
We also witness a helpful picture of the ingredients for serving the Lord faithfully: the Lord equips the craftsmen for His work through sending the Holy Spirit, and they dedicate themselves to serving with diligence and excellence. This interaction of God's work and man's work results in a beautiful place for celebrating His presence. We must not rely only on ourselves to serve the Lord, but we can't stand idly by either.
Questions:
1. How can you offer your "craftsmanship" in excellence to the Lord this week? How can you honor Him with the talents He has given you?
2. How can you better celebrate God's presence?
Although the specific terms for measurements and weights may sound foreign to us, it is clear that the people were careful to follow all that God had commanded them through Moses. The Israelites eagerly offer their gold, silver, yarn, and fine linen and their time and talents as well. It is fascinating to see how a people, who had given their gold jewelry only a few chapters earlier to the production of the golden calf, have now turned their focus to honoring the Lord through this Tabernacle, where He will meet with them. We also note how the craftsmen constructed these items for portability, placing poles in many items so that the Israelites might reconstruct the Tabernacle after God has led them elsewhere.
The Tabernacle is truly a celebration of God's presence. The people go forth with the building project with joy because they have seen God's presence. As Scott wrote yesterday, we should seek nothing greater than His presence. (On this Super Bowl Sunday, we are challenged by the reminder of the many idols in American life: sports, celebrity, sensual pleasure, food, and material possessions. How many of these idols will appear in a single half-hour of the game's broadcast today?)
We also witness a helpful picture of the ingredients for serving the Lord faithfully: the Lord equips the craftsmen for His work through sending the Holy Spirit, and they dedicate themselves to serving with diligence and excellence. This interaction of God's work and man's work results in a beautiful place for celebrating His presence. We must not rely only on ourselves to serve the Lord, but we can't stand idly by either.
Questions:
1. How can you offer your "craftsmanship" in excellence to the Lord this week? How can you honor Him with the talents He has given you?
2. How can you better celebrate God's presence?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)