Numbers 10-19

Numbers

Numbers 10-19

Numbers 13:30

³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

The way we think about ourselves usually has to do with the way others see us…

If they see us as weak, we think we are weak…
If people see us as cool, we think we are cool…

Proverbs 18:21 says our tongue has the power of life or death…
The problem with this is that we are not who others say we are.  We are who God says we are!  We are His image, His workmanship, His child…

I believe in self fulfilling prophecies.  Words are so powerful.  Caleb was not about to let negatively spoken words turn him away from the land God had promised him.  He knew God was with them and that nothing could stop God.  He had see God part the Red Sea, send the plagues on the Egyptians, provide manna from heaven…  What were a few giants to keep them from a land flowing with milk and honey! 

I can remember another story about a giant.  In 1^st Samuel 17:45-46, “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. day the ThisLord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in IsraelDavid’s words were positive when He faced a giant in his life.  Just like Caleb, David was not going to listen to negativity from his critics.  They both spoke positive bold words because they knew God was on their side…


Not only do we need to guard our hearts from toxic words that are spoken to us by our critics, we must also bridal our tongues to make sure we are not the source of toxin for someone else.

Numbers 1-9

Numbers

Numbers 1-9

Numbers 6:24-27

²⁴ God bless you and keep you,
²⁵ God smile on you and gift you,
²⁶ God look you full in the face
      and make you prosper.
²⁷ In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel—
   I will confirm it by blessing them."

It’s very easy for us to look at other churches as competition…  In a sense we are competing, but not against each other. We are competing with each other, NOT against!  Ultimately competing with each other means we are the same team.  Denominational differences aside, we can accomplish more if we quit bashing the efforts of our fellow Christians of other churches and look for ways to partner with our different ministries to make a greater impact for the Kingdom! 

Instead we let pride, envy, and jealousy invade and divide the body of Christ to the point that we stand in our pulpits and denounce what others are doing for God.  Which takes me back to when I was a child momma always told me, “if you did not have anything nice to say, don’t say anything!”
Part of knowing God is being able to see where He is working and join Him.  It's not your ministry!  It’s HIS ministry…  It’s not your church it’s HIS church…  So why do we act like we are above working alongside another believer if they have a worship band and you sing hymns…? 

Here is a bold statement!  Let’s stop discrediting what God is doing in other churches and start blessing what they are doing if it is helping grow the kingdom of God…   Here is a bolder statement…  SHUT UP and GET INVOLVED if you see God working!  Do more partnering and less pioneering!  Above all let’s speak blessings instead of curses.  Why? It shows a unified body and by doing this we are making His name great among non believers!  Isn’t that what our goal should be to do in the first place!  Let’s not try to throw water on what God is doing unless it’s in the baptismal!

Leviticus 21-30

Leviticus

Leviticus 21-30

Leviticus 26:3-13

I love logic…  It makes sense to me!  If (a) is true, then (b) must also be true…  Postulates, theorems, are if/then statements are all conditional…

Why do I love logic?  It’s predictable!!!  There is no guess work involved.  I don’t have to recalculate or double check it to make sure- It’s a done deal!

Our God is a very logical and practical God.  I’m not saying God is not mysterious or you can figure Him out.  What I am saying is that God sometimes works through If/Then statements…

Checkout Leviticus 26:3-13
"If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments…  THEN…….."
     * You’ll have more than enough to eat and will live safe and secure in your land
     * I will make your country safe
     * Eliminate war
     * I’ll give you my full attention
     * I’ll make you prosper and grow in numbers
     * I will live amongst you
     * You will never be slaves

Those kind of statements are scattered all over God’s word!  I’m not a prosperity gospel preacher, but I do trust God will do what he says He will do…

So what happens if I choose not live by His decrees and be obedient and keep the commandments?  I’m glad you asked because just like If/Then statements they work both ways…

Checkout Leviticus 26:
14-17 "But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant     *I will let your enemies rule over you
     *I will make your labor fruitless
     *You will eat but not be satisfied
     *I will turn your cities to ruins
     *I will scatter your people

The great thing about God is HE knew we would not be able to keep all His decrees, so included verses 40-42.

But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors —their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Leviticus 11-20

Leviticus

Leviticus 11-20

Leviticus 19:18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Throughout the Old Testament cannon it was the law that brought people closer to God.  If you did not follow the law there was a sacrifice that had to be made to bring you back into fellowship with God.

In the New Testament Jesus came to fulfill the law by being the ultimate sacrifice for our sin…  Throughout His life, very few times did Jesus refer to the Mosaic Law…  When Jesus referred to the 2 greatest commandments in Mathew 22:37-39, Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus was referring to the Mosaic Laws of the Old Testament. 

Of all the 610 laws of the Old Testament Jesus was able to sum them up with just 2 laws!  I think its obvious Jesus believed in simplicity.  The church should operate under that same umbrella! 

Businesses, classrooms, and churches could learn a lot from the simplicity of Jesus.  At my church my pastor operates under 2 simple rules…  (1) Listen to God (2) Do what He says… 

Next time you feel bogged down by religion just remember this: Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light