Monday, March 18, 2024

Immediate Intercession

"But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground, 'O God,' they pleaded'..." Numbers 16:22a

What's your initial reaction when you know discipline is about to be inflicted on people who genuinely deserve it? Are you secretly rejoicing inside to know they aren't escaping punishment? How do you feel for the one committing the crime? Do you lean towards judgement or mercy? There are definitely consequences for sin, but how does your heart immediately respond when you hear that chastening is about to be administered?

The descendants of Kohath were complaining against Moses and a spiritual showdown was ensuing. Korah and his followers were lashing out in defiance, and God, stepping in to vindicate both Moses and Aaron, was about to unleash His wrath and instantly destroy all the people.

We know too well that evil is very present in our world. It not only surrounds us but lives within us. Yet, we can become so callus to those walking in blatant disobedience around us that our hardened hearts take pleasure when they suffer.

I'll never forget a text I received during the middle of the Covid pandemic shut-down. It was a stressful, frightening, unknown time for many. With isolation restrictions ushered by government officials we were living in a time of great uncertainty. Huddled in homes with media reporting unprecedented numbers of hospitalizations, panic was rising throughout the world. As death totals continued to climb, globally people were questioning decisions being made by leaders. Opposition to those making mandates was evident. Resentment. Resistance. Refusal.

I opened my phone one day to find this message from a friend: "You might enjoy the 'prayer' for ______ (insert the name of your Province or Country leader): 'Let his days be few and let another take his office.' Psalm 109:8". I still feel the wave of heartache I experienced at that moment. I'm not saying I agreed with every decision being made by those in places of authority, but for a Christ-following friend to even share this in jest deeply hurt my heart. Where was compassion? Where was mercy? Where was prayer?

Moses and Aaron responded instantly by falling face down on the ground before the Lord. They pleaded with God not to put all the people to death in His anger. Even when they had been the target of the attack, they interceded for those who had rallied with their accusers. Without hesitation their reaction was to fall down in prayer before God and intercede for their persecutors. 

Father, soften our hearts. Remove our hunger for retribution. May we find no joy seeing enemies suffer. Your Word is so very clear concerning our response to those in places of rule over us. We are not to speak against the Lord's anointed, the ones whom You have divinely chosen and are using for Your purposes even if we don't understand Your plan. Guide our first impulse to be genuine care and intermediate prayer. In humility Lord, I ask that You will remind us of Your sovereignty and may our attitudes and actions reflect You to a world that desperately needs to see, know, meet, surrender and live for You and Your glory alone. Amen.

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Sunday, March 17, 2024

The God-Quotient

"Your road led through the sea, Your pathway through the mighty waters - a pathway no one knew was there!" Psalm 77:19

How do you go about making a decision? With any task before me I set out to list the options. I weigh the pros and cons and see which choice is best. But there is a problem with that method if we've neglected to consider God in our equation. We only see with human eyes the possibilities ahead. Our thoughts are not His thoughts. Although we can think we've exhausted every possible way a scenario may play out, we can't forget to add in the God-quotient. 

You see, too often our conclusions are based on facts and figures. I recall three years ago trying to make a medical decision. The doctor had presented me with three alternatives. I honestly didn't want to pursue any of them, but I set out to find as much information as I could regarding each one. Google and girlfriends were my sources. I then presented all my research to the Lord and asked Him to direct me to His choice. I had been given three months to determine my response. With a week now before my answer was needed, I was still at a loss, yet I firmly believed God would guide and I was determined to keep trusting, expecting Him to provide.

Within that week the Lord did speak very clearly through His Word, but it wasn't with option 1, 2 or 3. God had a different plan. The clarity with which He spoke direction, and then confirmed His word, gave me confidence to proceed, although I was anxious about how my doctor would react. Why? Why did I not believe that God had gone ahead of His divine decision and prepared the way? What wasted worry. My doctor not only accepted my reply without hesitation, but commended the idea!

We have a tendency to forget the pathway through mighty waters, the pathway no one knows is there...but God. Even those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers too often don't remember to consider all that the Lord can do. We run out of ways, and exhaust all possibilities, but God, as Creator, can design ways completely unknown to us. We see a circumstance, that, if not remedied according to the alternatives we calculate, is beyond hope. To us situations become unsolvable and unresolvable, but not to God.

What "sea" are you facing? Has every avenue been explored? Have you done everything you can and still it seems uncrossable and impassable? The unimaginable becomes an opportunity when surrendered to the Lord. God loves to redefine our impossible. He takes delight in defying what we view as illogical and irrational. 

I love the testimony of Abraham in Romans 4:18. "In hope he believed against hope." I want that to be the testimony of my life. Like Asaph recounting the miraculous in this Psalm, and Abraham of old, I want to remain strong in faith, giving glory to God, absolutely convinced that He is able to make a way where there seems to be no way. If not a pathway through the sea, His solutions are endless. Will you trust Him?

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Saturday, March 16, 2024

Tenacious Trust

"But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. 'Let's go at once to take the land,' he said. 'We can certainly conquer it.'" Numbers 13:30

Do you know a "Caleb"? Is there someone in your life who is annoyingly hopeful? I hesitate to ask that, as your answer might have my name on it. I'm not a "Pollyanna", nor do I wear rose-coloured glasses, but I was raised in a home where we focused on the positive. Which are you? Are you a half-empty or half-filled person? How do you view life? Do you respond and rebound like a "Tigger", filled with excitement and enthusiasm, always expecting God to show up in some miraculous way, or are you more an "Eeyore" with doom and gloom behind every disappointment? 

Just recently while speaking with a friend, very aware and cautious of my own unshakable hope, I asked her if my reply to continue trusting God through a difficult journey she had shared with me was hurtful to her. I love her so dearly and I really wasn't trying to be flippant towards the unexpected pain she was experiencing. All she had shared seemed beyond comprehensible, but I also believed that grief and hope could walk together at the same time. I wasn't denying the circumstance she was presently living. My initial reaction was one of deep sorrow and tears, but I knew, that should God choose, He could turn the situation around at any moment. I just feared my spoken hope might have been an added burden to her wounded heart.

Her gracious reply assured me that my hope was contagious and that my words of encouragement and ongoing prayers were strengthening her own walk of hope. She actually said it was one of the reasons she reached out to me. She needed someone to breathe a fresh reminder into her soul of all that God could still yet do. Her story wasn't over.

In Numbers 14:24 God Himself describes Caleb has having "a different attitude than the others". When the majority of the other spies entering the land of Canaan saw impossibilities, Caleb, along with Joshua, saw God. 

It's not easy standing on the minority side of faith with skeptics surrounding. It's not that Caleb and Joshua had tunnel vision. They saw the power and size of the people in the land and the large, fortified towns, but they never forgot God who had already declared multiple times that regardless of the opposition ahead, He was giving them the land. Giving them the land! This exploration excursion wasn't to discover whether a conquest was possible, but to give aid in planning out the mission. Instead, all the negatives the spies saw before them incited within them a God-forgetfulness.

Repeatedly throughout Scripture we are reminded to walk by faith and not by sight. Despite my bent to be hopeful, I hate that I can so often be a sight-walking-follower, hesitant and fearful to move forward when everything is pointing towards risk and the way is unclear. When circumstances appear disappointing or threatening, it takes a tenacious trust to walk in the truth that God is good, loving, faithful to His word, and to remain confident He will honour those who keep believing.

Maybe your "Canaan" doesn't look much like a "land of promise" today. Hopeless. Impossible. Finished. I'm praying, like Caleb and Joshua, you will remember that God is with you and you will stand, in faith, on the word He has already given.


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Friday, March 15, 2024

Timing is Everything!

"Next came the Kohathite division of the Levites, carrying the sacred objects from the tabernacle. Before they arrived at the next camp, the Tabernacle would already be set up at its new location." Numbers 9:21

How do you feel about your current placement in life? Are you happy with where the Lord has you or are you jockeying position wishing you were further ahead? Maybe you have no desire to be first in line, but you definitely didn't think you'd be this far back, not after all this time. Doesn't the Lord see all that you're doing? Shouldn't He be calling you further faster? Where's the advancement you thought would have happened by now? You're still striving with all your effort, being bumped and bruised, suffering set-back after set-back. 

As Moses and the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai and begin to travel, the Kohathite division wasn't first, second or even third. Before them marched the tribes of Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, other Levite divisions, Reuben, Simeon and Gad. This actually represents over 337,850 men twenty years old or older who had been registered (see Numbers 1:20-46), not including the number of Levites who were responsible for the Tabernacle.

Maybe you read that and sigh. Yes, that's me. I'm back and buried deep in line. Forgotten. Unseen. Marching along unnoticed. Weary. Exhausted. No sign of breakthrough. Giving your all and doing your best but feeling surrounded and discouraged.

The Kohathite's had been assigned to carry the sacred objects from the tabernacle. I'm guessing it was only a few days prior that they were feeling pretty pleased with their role. After all, they weren't the Gershonite's in general service or the Merarite's only carrying loads. The Kohathite's duties related to the most sacred items. They had been chosen to handle the most valuable. Why had God set them so far back when they held what was most precious?

"Before they arrived at the next camp, the Tabernacle would already be set up at its new location." That's why. God was looking after them. By the time their troops reached their destination, the Levites who had gone before them would have everything prepared to receive the articles the Kohathite's were transporting. Their placement in line was so crucial and intentional. If they were further ahead nothing would be prepared for their arrival. They'd be left standing around carrying a burden that shouldn't be theirs. It was God's care for them, yet they could miss seeing it as they served behind thousands who seemed to be proceeding ahead of them. Timing is everything!

It's not easy being a Kohathite when you long to be up front with Judah. Even with all your efforts back in line, results seem minimal. Confused, you wonder what you're doing and why you should continue. You're walking one step forward and four back. You can't see what God is preparing for you up ahead. It's not you! God is still setting up the way for you to share and others receive all He has entrusted you to carry.

Don't lose heart! Don't compare yourself with those God has called into service around you. It's a constant battle not to allow the bait of Satan to lure our minds to thoughts that lead to insecurity and feelings of failure and worthlessness.

The Lord has created us uniquely. He has a role that only you can fill. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Walk securely in the position God has called you to and trust Him. Whatever your role, it is within His reach and He is using you for His glory!

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Thursday, March 14, 2024

Dedication Gifts

"The leaders also presented dedication gifts for the altar at the time it was anointed. They each placed their gifts before the altar." Numbers 7:10

There are certain passages of scripture we can be tempted to skip over quickly. I think Numbers 7 presents the perfect example of text that we might think we have ability to write better. It could be condensed, making the same point in a more succinct way. Instead, with twelve consecutive passages, we see identical offerings given again and again. Do you start to skim, assuming the similarity or do you continue to read with the same fresh curiosity as if discovering it for the first time?

All scripture is God-breathed. Every word has been recorded with intention. Repetition is for emphasis. If God thought it valuable to record the items the leaders presented as an offering multiple times there must be a reason. God doesn't waste His words. Although on the verge of monotonous to us, it is meaningful to Him.

This text highlights that God treasures each individual and the offering we bring to Him in obedience. God delighted in each observance of His word. Not only did each gift matter, but each giver was important to Him. He mentions each one by name. Although this presentation of dedication gifts could have been expressed in a few sentences, instead the Lord elaborated on every detail. He drew attention to individual devotion. In the dutiful repetition there is divine recognition.

God deeply cares for us and the gifts we dedicate to Him. What is God asking us to place before His altar? Too often I bring what is easy, but God desires me to bring what is needed. Needed in order to draw me closer to Him. Needed so I can be fully His. What is He impressing on my heart to place before His presence? What necessary is He waiting to see surrendered so that He can do further work in me? I encourage you to make time to ponder these questions personally.

A dedication gift is evidence of complete and wholehearted loyalty and faithfulness. The leaders were committing themselves to the Lord. In surrender, I too long to lay my all on the altar. More than the physical items that were part of the Israelites ceremonies of sacrifice, now God requires lives yielded for His use. The best treasure we can present as a dedication gift is ourselves. So, I join with the writer of a well-known chorus and pray, "Me, my gift is me. All I am and all I'll ever be. I'm not ashamed for the world to see, that it's me, my gift is me."

We are the offering the Lord longs to see as the dedication gift before His altar today. Won't you come and give yourself completely to Him for His use forever.

"My Gift is Me", words and music by Kathie Hill, copyright 1988, Birdwing Music

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Wednesday, March 13, 2024

"Almost"

"But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone." Psalm 73:2

Is your faith fighting in a place of "almost"? Struggling to go on, the path before you has ushered in some rough terrain. Navigating the road before you has become challenging. You are uncertain and the way is unknown. Facing doubts, escalating emotions and sleepless nights you have come very close to surrendering to "lost" and "gone", but for now at least, you're still holding on. Your grip is weak, but it's there.

The word "almost" can be a word of hope and victory. The battle "almost" took you down, but it didn't. You haven't lost. You maybe came frighteningly close. You just about gave up. You nearly drifted away, but you didn't. You remained. You held on. You did what was needed. You sought help. You fought for footing, and although slipping you were able to stand again. 

Psalm 73 is such an encouragement for anyone battling an "almost". The writer, Asaph, is filled with questions. As he watches those around him prospering, he is disturbed by what appears to be a great injustice. Disillusionment and bitterness are directing his thoughts, responses and feelings. The wicked seem to be rewarded while the godly are waiting, not seeing their blessings. Specifically and personally, where are his blessings?

There are a couple of things we must come to understand. One, our story isn't over yet. The second, justice will be paid.

Whatever has currently placed your faith on shaky ground, it's a detour, not a dead end. The enemy may be tripping you up at your greatest point of weakness but unless you allow him, he can't make you fall or keep you down. Asaph knew what to do. He entered the sanctuary of God. He brought his concerns and heartaches to the Lord. Coming into God's presence brought understanding.

The Psalmist spoke truth to himself even while stumbling. He reminded himself: "Yet I still belong to You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but You? I desire You more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever." (Psalm 73:23-26)

What incredible words of power and faith! Resting in God's presence and looking for His perspective, Asaph expected the Lord to guide. Although he was treading tentatively in weakness he wasn't standing still. He was falling forward into the strength of the Lord.

Today, if this is you, rejoice in your "almost". God's hand is on you. He will not let you go. You are "almost" home again and your Father is not finished with you yet.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Family Banners

"Each clan and family set up camp and marched under their banners exactly as the LORD had instructed them." Numbers 2:34b

Do you remember having to design a family coat of arms in school? Maybe I'm dating myself. I don't know if students still have this activity as part of their lessons. This was a visual representation of familial values. The symbols chosen highlighted the things that were most important to your family. It helped define your identity. Someone looking at it would know immediately what was held in top priority as each item reflected the core character and conduct of your heritage. 

Just like golden arches identify a specific chain of restaurants, each object on the banners was a marker that helped with quick and easy association. Similar to other trademarks and logos we see today that allow us to instantly connect our minds to precise brands, they were customized and recognized by others. Slogans can also provide a method of grouping similar items. Virtually everyone becomes familiar with a catchy phrase or advertising jingle that immediately links our thoughts to a product, place or service.

Usually, some unique artistry appeared on the front of these standards or shields. All those carrying the same crests were from the same clan. They were a symbol of unity. Not only were they identification, they provided protection. I love this connection to protection within the family.

As we read about the LORD's instructions through Moses and Aaron to the Israelites, we repeatedly see how the tribal divisions were to camp under their family banners. These distinguishable markers bore emblems that united particular tribal divisions. It seems no one knows with certainty what colours and figures they depicted but they were peculiar to their tribe and individual to each of the four Israelite troops that positioned themselves around the Tabernacle.

If you were creating a family banner today, what would you include? What images or words would give testimony to what your tribe treasures? What picture would best personify the core of your heart?

In Exodus 17:15 we read that God's name is Yahweh-Nissi, The Lord is my Banner. As believers, He is the One under whom we unite. We are rescued by Him and identified in Him. For those who abide in His presence, beneath His banner, He provides protection. When others see us may they know immediately whose banner we live under and may we be faithful ambassadors as Christians who carry Christ's name.

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