Does God detest anything in your life?

Time Magazine cover - June 19, 1972.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 17-20; Psalm 59

TO CHEW ON: "For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out before you." Deuteronomy 18:12

What a strong word—abomination—Moses uses here to warn the Israelites against compromise and syncretism.

[The word abomination is translated from the Hebrew word towebah. It is also rendered detestable and loathsome.]

What are the things that God names an abomination (detestable, loathsome)? Deuteronomy 18:9-11 names:

• sacrificing children to idols.
• practicing witchcraft.
• acting as a soothsayer or one to interprets omens—a sorcerer.
• conjuring up spells.
• acting as a medium or spiritist.
• calling up the dead.

It's a list of not altogether unfamiliar activities because our society, despite how "advanced" and technological it is, yearns for spiritual connection. If we have rejected God, we will look somewhere else for it. The scary thing is that sometimes these practices make their way into the lives of Christians and so enter the life of the church. Tim Challies in his book The Disciplines of Spiritual Discernment says:

"It should come as no surprise that even though we are called to live within the culture, the culture itself hates God and seeks to destroy those who love him. And yet this culture has influenced the church, perhaps more than the church has influenced the culture. There are at least four cultural influences that have led to a decline in discernment among Christians."

He goes on to name (and elaborate on) 1] a secular worldview; 2] a low view of scripture; 3] a low view of theology; and 4] a low view of God, as reasons for the church's slump into compromise.

Let's ask God by His Spirit to point out any abominable practices and involvements in our lives. And then let's denounce and forsake them. For:

Can two walk together unless they are agreed?" - Amos 3:3

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” - John 8:12 NLT

Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them." - Ephesians 5:11 AMP

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me a discerning heart to recognize the practices and involvements that are loathsome to You. Then help me to be quick to denounce and forsake them. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 59

The Bible Project VIDEO: ME'OD: Strength (Shema Word series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Times and reasons to celebrate

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 15-16; Psalm 58


TO CHEW ON: "You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide." Deuteronomy 16:11.

Moses reminded the Israelites of three yearly feasts in Deuteronomy 16:

• the Feast of Passover.

• the Feast of Pentecost (here called Feast of Weeks, i.e. seven weeks = 7 x 7 = 49 days + the next [feast] day = 50 days).

• the Feast of Tabernacles.

As described here, the Feast of Pentecost was an annual harvest festival. It was also called Feast of Harvest - Exodus 23:16, the Day of Firstfruits - Numbers 28:26, and Pentecost in Leviticus 23:16. (Pentecost is based on the Greek translation of fifty days.)

Viewed as a whole, God instituted these feasts to help the Israelites remember their history with Him. Through them they recalled their time of slavery in Egypt, God's miraculous deliverance, their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness in tents, and the fact that God was the source of their blessing.

It's a good thing for us too, to regularly remind ourselves of these things and rejoice, like people did in the Old Testament. Matthew Henry says:

"Never should a believer forget his low estate of guilt and misery, his deliverance, and the price it cost the Redeemer; that gratitude and joy in the Lord may be mingled with sorrow for sin, and patience under the tribulations in his way to the kingdom of heaven. They must rejoice in their receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to him; our duty must be our delight, as well as our enjoyment. If those who were under the law must rejoice before God, much more we that are under the grace of the gospel; which makes it our duty to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always" - Matthew Henry, Commentary on Deuteronomy 16.

We can celebrate:

• Our unique story of freedom from 'slavery' and our salvation, whether it occurred when we were youngsters or later.

• How God has blessed us in the meantime with family, a home, the family of God.

• How God has seen us through wilderness experiences (death of loved ones, times of sickness like cancer or depression, financial straits, unemployment...).

• How God continues to provide for us through the produce of our own gardens, or the salary from our workplace, or our pensions if we are retired.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the Israelite example of regular, repeating celebrations that helped them review their history with You. Help me to remember in a similar way, and weave an attitude of rejoicing and thanksgiving into the fabric of my life. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 58

The Bible Project VIDEO: NEPHESH: Soul (Shema word study series)



Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Awaken the Dawn

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 13,14; Psalm 57

TO CHEW ON: “Awake my glory!
Awake lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.” Psalm 57:8


An introductory line in my Bible identifies the occasion for the writing of this psalm: “A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.”

I imagine David beginning to write this psalm in the evening. He’s bone-weary, discouraged, feeling surrounded and overwhelmed by the forces coming against him, and very scared:

“My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a  sharp sword…
They have prepared a net for my feet…
They have dug a pit before me” - Psalm 57: 4,6.

Then, at verse 7 the feeling changes:

“My heart is steadfast O God…
I will sing and give praise.”

Here’s my guess about why the change: I imagine David resuming the writing of the psalm in the morning, after a night of sleep. He’s made it through the night. The sun will soon rise on another day and he shifts his perspective from his troubles to God.

Since he’s hiding from Saul in a cave, you’d expect he’d be extra careful that no noises echoed through the cave’s chambers and to the outside. But no. He wants his praise to be so loud it will “awaken the dawn.”

There are several lessons for me—for us—in this passage.

1. It’s a good idea to sleep on our problems.
For example, it’s a good plan to  leave making difficult decisions to when we’re rested and have gained perspective by giving the situation a little time and distance and we’re in better physical shape.

2. Praise changes the atmosphere.
From Psalm 57:7 on, when David shifts his focus from his problems to God, there’s not another hint of gloom. It’s all about God’s greatness, attributes and abilities.

3. It’s a good thing to express praise aloud.
David’s praise is loud. It’s expressed with musical instruments and voice, into the open air and to people (Psalm 57:8, 9). I know I tend to praise silently, mentally. I need to do more praising aloud, with my voice, maybe even visit the piano or get out the keyboard.


PRAYER: Dear Father, it’s easy to let problems overwhelm me. Help me to make a habit of meeting with You each morning and to begin the day with intentional focus on and praise to You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 57

The Bible Project VIDEO: LEV: Heart (Shema word study series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Teach your children well

"A Family Prayer" after the painting
by George Agnew Reid (1860-1947).

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 10-12; Psalm 56

TO CHEW ON: "You shall teach them (these words of mine) to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 11:19


My parents must have taken this verse to heart, for early in our family life Daddy instituted something we called schluss (a German word that means "conclusion"). It was a time of family devotions when he gathered everyone around to read a story from the Egermeier Bible Story Book. Then we all got on our knees beside our chairs and prayed oldest to youngest, starting with Dad. No matter that we resisted this, as we did when we got older by claiming we hadn't heard him call, or had homework, or were too tired, or even pretending to be asleep. The family altar my parents set up laid a firm foundation for me and my siblings in the Bible and the things of God.

Here Moses suggests that teaching the things of God to our kids should intrude even more into daily life than a once-a-day time of Bible reading and prayer.

He tells parents to teach the things of God using various sense portals. They can write God's words on the walls (sight). They can bind them on their hands (touch). They can speak them (sound). Additionally this teaching can happen anywhere, everywhere: when they sit in their houses and when they go for walks, the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning.

For us to initiate that level of God-awareness and inclusion in our children implies a similar level of God-awareness and inclusion in our own lives.

In Moses' time God-awareness meant learning, meditating, memorizing and discussing God's character and essence as demonstrated in the laws God gave Moses. It also involved storytelling, reminding each other of the ways He had come through for them in signs, wonders and miracles.

We have a more complete picture of God than the Israelites did. For in addition to what the they had, we have the personal reaction to those laws in the Psalms, the heart of a loving Father grieving over His wayward kids demonstrated in the prophets, the fleshing out of God the Son in the Gospels, what it looks like for us to be subjects of the Kingdom He ushered in, in the Epistles, and our own stories.

And so I ask myself, do I acknowledge God's presence in my life to the extent of bringing Him into the decor of my home? Do thoughts of Him preoccupy me often, like first thing in the morning and as I go through my day sitting, working, walking? Does He tuck me in at night? Do I recognize the incidents of God showing Himself present and strong in the circumstances of my life? In order for me to be able to introduce Him as such an ever-present God to my kids and grandkids, I need to first practice His presence in this way myself.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be intentional about including You in my day. Then help me to pass on my God-awareness to the next generation whenever I have the opportunity. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 56


The Bible Project VIDEO: AHAVAH: Love (Shema word study series)

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What satisfies our hunger?

Gathering Manna - James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 7-9; Psalm 55

TO CHEW ON: "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Deuteronomy 8:3

There's much to see in this verse that connects one of our most basic needs—the need to eat—to our life with God.

"So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger…"

A quick re-read of Israel's travels through the wilderness reminds us of how often they were humbled by hunger. Humbled by hunger is also our stance when we fast (as in fast and pray). We may feel invincible but a day or two without food shows us how vulnerable and dependent we are on regular refueling.

"…and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know…"

Israel, during her manna years, came to know and depend on God in ways unlike anything their forefathers experienced. Are we open to God doing new things in, for, and through us? Are we receptive to whatever God has for us in the area of ministry, influence, service, provision, protection?

"…that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

What connections did manna have with God's words? God gave the Israelites explicit instructions for collecting and using it.

• They were to gather manna once a day before the day got hot and it melted (Exodus 16:4, 21).

• They were to gather enough for each person, no more (Exodus 16:16).

• They were not to save it to eat as leftovers the next day. Some of them tried, only to find it grew maggots and became smelly (Exodus 16:19-20).

• However, on the day before Sabbath, they were collect double the amount and save half for eating the next day (Exodus 16:5).

• On the morning of the Sabbath there was no manna to collect (Exodus 16:26-27).

Whether they ate or not depended on their obedience to God's words. In fact, one of the purposes of manna was to test their obedience (Exodus 16:4). It's significant that Jesus quoted words from this verse to overcome the devil's temptation to satisfy His hunger for food in a Satan-inspired way (Matthew 4:1-4).

We might ask, are we satisfying our deep hungers by trying to live by bread alone—focused on getting our needs met on the natural plane? Let's not forget that God is present in every aspect of life. Real satiation comes from obeying Him and seeking to live in God-acknowledging, God-honoring ways.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this object lesson of physical hunger that shows me the extent of my need for You and the importance of obedience. Help me to live "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 55

The Bible Project VIDEO: YHWH: LORD  (SHEMA word study series)

New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Seek your Lover

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 4-6; Psalm 54


TO CHEW ON: "But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your soul." Deuteronomy 4:29

The Bible is a love story describing the wooing and pursuing, the back-and-forth between lovers—God and us humans. In many places Bible writers remind us of how God is seeking us. Here Moses prods Israel to seek God.

The little word "but" that begins our focus verse signals a change of thought direction. We see Moses is warning Israel in a prophetic way, that they will stray from following God. When they settle in Canaan they will serve idols and images (Deuteronomy 4:28). God doesn't give them up to these. If and when they seek Him, Moses promises, God will be there for them.

Moses goes on to remind them of all the reasons it makes sense to seek God over idols (a recitation of ways God has pursued them):

• Because of His merciful and faithful nature (Deuteronomy 4:31).

• Because of His creativity and power (Deuteronomy 4:32,33).

• Because He showed them special favor in Egypt when He helped them escape slavery with power signs (Deuteronomy 4:34-35).

• Because He guided them with His voice through the wilderness (Deuteronomy 4:36).

• Because He helped them gain independence from Egypt and other nations (Deuteronomy 4:37-38).

We can find many parallels between God's wooing of Israel and how He pursues us:

1. We too turn to Him from idols. No, these are probably not images of stone or gold, but things we serve more than Him (like success, money, fame, pleasure etc.). That turning may come when we get into trouble, or find ourselves dissatisfied, or over our heads, or any number of reasons.

2. When we return to God, He faithfully meets us with mercy, creativity, and power.

3. Our histories remind us of His faithfulness.

• This could be recent history. Many of his have faith-filled family members who have prayed for us, and whose prayers are answered by our return to God.

• It could be distant history, where we look back at the long story of God's work in our family, community, or nation through immigrants who came to experience freedom of religion, or missionaries who first brought the gospel.

For Israel and for us, the result of being rightly related to God is a future of well-being: "...that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may prolong your days" (Deuteronomy 4:40).


Where are you and I in relation to our lover, God, today? Do we sense He is pursuing us? Are we seeking Him?


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this reminder of Your love and pursuit of Israel and me. Please help me to see where I am being lured away by idols and to serve You with renewed vigor. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 54

The Bible Project VIDEO: SHEMA: Listen (Shema Word Study Series)



Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Inherit the land!

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 1-3; Psalm 53

TO CHEW ON: “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain” - Deuteronomy 1:6

“You have skirted this mountain long enough” - Deuteronomy 2:3 NKJV
“You have roamed around this mountain country long enough” Deuteronomy 2:3 AMP

“… inherit the land…” Deuteronomy 3:28

In these first three chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses reviewed for the Israelites the chain of events that had brought them to this time and place (40 years out of Egypt, camped on the eastern border of Canaan). Three bullet points in his lecture stand out and may apply to us too.

“You have dwelt long enough at this mountain” - Deuteronomy 1:6.

The mountain Moses was referring to here was Mount Sinai. We recall what happened there—an intense experience with God: the law, the Tabernacle, worship, all accompanied by God’s electrifying presence.

But they weren’t to stay there. The day came that God said “You have lived here long enough.”

“You have roamed around this mountain country long enough” - Deuteronomy 2:3 AMP.

Moses continued reminding the Israelites of their history in the wilderness, their 38 years of additional wandering. It was a fate they brought on themselves by their fear and refusal (two years into their journey) to trust that God would give them victory over the fearful giants of Canaan.

Thankfully the day came when God again said, “Enough! it’s time to re-engage with faith and courage and claim the promise I gave you 40 years ago” (my paraphrase).

“… inherit the land” - Deuteronomy 3:28

This is part of the assignment God gave Moses for Joshua at the end of our reading: “But command Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.”

How do these things relate to us?

There are times we experience spiritual highs—times when God feels close and intimate. Like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, we’d like to camp there… and stay… forever! But that’s not what life is for. We need to re-engage with the world, life, and resume our pilgrimage to realize the purpose and destiny for which we were created.

We can also get stuck going in circles, as the Israelites did. Joyce Meyer has devoted a 10-chapter section of her classic Battlefield of the Mind to “Wilderness Mentalities”—attitudes which keep us from making spiritual progress. She says in the introduction to that section:

“We really shouldn’t look at the Israelites with such astonishment because most of us do the same thing they did. We keep going around and around the same mountains instead of making progress. The result is it takes us years to experience victory over something that could have and should have been dealt with quickly” - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 175.

If we’re n such a place, let’s stop trudging around in the desert and pray for insights into attitudes and actions that will bring breakthrough and take us into the land of all God has for us.

PRAYER: Dear Father, I need Your insights into the parts of my life that seem to be going nowhere. Please show me Your secrets of breakthrough. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 53

The Bible Project VIDEO: Deuteronomy (Read Scripture Series)



Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Write your way through feeling to faith

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 35-36; Psalm 52

TO CHEW ON: "But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God;

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

I will praise You forever,

Because You have done it;

And in the presence of Your saints

I will wait on Your name for it is good." Psalm 52:8-9

When I journal, I often find myself using David's method of writing the psalms. He starts with troubled thoughts, spilling them all onto the page—the distress, the anger, the outrage, the desire for revenge. (When he wrote these, I wonder if he had any idea that thousands of years later people would still be reading and finding comfort and enlightenment.) Then he writes his way back through his feelings to faith in God.

Psalm 52 is such a cathartic entry. According to an epigram in my Bible, it is a "Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul and said to him, 'David has gone to the house of Ahimelech." The story, (found in 1 Samuel 21 and 22) is of the time David was running from King Saul. Saul, jealous of David's popularity and fearful that the people would want him to be their king, was trying to kill him.

David went from his hideout to the town of Nob to get food for his men from Ahimelech the priest. Doeg, a servant of Saul's, saw him and reported to Saul that Ahimelech had helped David. Saul summoned Ahimelech and his sons, scolded them for helping his enemy and ordered them all killed. Doeg did the deed. He even went so far as to  kill the families of Ahimelech and his sons.

Is it any wonder David cries, "God shall likewise destroy you (probably referring to Doeg) forever. He shall take you away and pluck you out of your dwelling place and uproot you from the land of the living"?

But his focus doesn't stay on the villain. Instead, he writes his way back to mental and spiritual tranquility as he expresses his trust in God. He reminds himself of his position as God's responsibility: "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God," and the attributes of the God he worships:  "I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever…. I will wait on Your name, for it is good" (vs. 8-9).

Are you troubled and distressed about something that's going on in your life? Try David's way of talking yourself down from whatever ledge you're on by writing about it. Any ordinary scribbler will do as a journal. As you diarize your path from feeling to faith, you may be writing your very own psalms. They may someday encourage someone else. Even if they don't, looking back on the experience of finding your way back to faith in God will buoy you up

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the writings of David that show me it's normal to experience the gamut of emotions and okay to express them. As I do this, please help me, by Your Spirit, to find my way to truth and trust. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 52

MORE: Spiritual Journals

If journaling, or the thought of keeping a spiritual journal is new to you, here are a few links to give you ideas of how to go about it:

"How to Develop a Spiritual Journal"

"Journal for You" (page contains links to more resources)

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Discovering the truth about ourselves

"David and Nathan" - Matthias Scheits

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 33-34; Psalm 51

TO CHEW ON: "Behold You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom." Psalm 51:6


David prayed this prayer after the uncanny experience of having Nathan the prophet come to him and expose his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12).

Had Nathan caught him in the act?

No. It was God who revealed David's sin to Nathan—the God who:

• spotted Noah as righteous - Genesis 7:1.

• whispered the secrets of Saul to Samuel - 1 Samuel 9:19.

• alerted Elisha to Gehazi's sin of lying to Naaman - 2 Kings 5:26.

• kept Jesus in-the-know about the thoughts and attitudes of those around Him - Matthew 22:18; Mark 2:8; Luke 6:8; 11:17.

• gave the disciples confidence to offer the gospel to the Gentiles - Acts 15:8.

But David was a Spirit-filled man, wasn't he? Why did God need to send someone else to tell him how displeasing his sin was?

Perhaps because his involvement in that sin had opened him up to deception. Whenever his sin bothered him, which it no doubt did, he silenced the pangs of conscience or the voice of God with, 'It's no big deal' or, 'I had no other option,' or any number of other excuses we too give for committing sin. Then it took someone else, someone who heard God's voice clearly, to bring him to his senses. It was only after Nathan confronted him that he confessed to his sin (2 Samuel 12: 7,13).

God wants us to be just as scrupulously honest with ourselves—to live in truth at the deepest level. He can show us the state of our hearts. I love another David psalm where he prays: "Search me O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting" - Psalm 139:23,24.

But if we insist on living in deception, God can also send someone—our own Nathan—to tell us the truth about ourselves. The question is, will we be as receptive to such an exposé as David was? However it happens may we be as quick to acknowledge our sin and repent.

PRAYER: Dear God, please alert me to self deception. I want to have a life of truth and wisdom. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 51

MORE:  Repentance

"Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is a remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself.

The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man's respectable goodness; then the Holy God, who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, October 7 reading.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Beyond a buddy God

 "Psalm 50 - The Lord Summons the Earth" by Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 31-32; Psalm 50

TO CHEW ON: "You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother's son.
These things you have done, and I kept silent;
You thought that I was altogether like you;
but I will rebuke you,
And set them in order before your eyes" - 50:20,21

We put ourselves in danger of making some of the most serious errors about God when we think of Him as being just like us.

How could a God who is all-loving and all-powerful allow evil, we ask,  and manufacture a God who is either not all-powerful or not love.

How can a God who tells us to be humble, demand that we praise Him, we wonder, and manufacture a God who is all ego or so meek and mild as to be of no consequence.

In Psalm 50, Asaph challenges the misconception that God is altogether like us. He points out that:
- God is the creator (Psalm 50:1,2).
- God's presence is mysterious and awe-inspiring (Psalm 50:3).
- He is an altogether capable, righteous judge (Psalm 50:4-6).
- He doesn't need us or our possessions (Psalm 50:7-13).
- Rather, we need Him (Psalm 50:14-15).
- His silence and lack of reaction to our rebellion don't mean that He doesn't see or care (Psalm 50:16-21).

Our human minds and imaginations, limited as they are by time and space, find it hard to conceive of a God who encompasses all the descriptions of Him in the Bible. There comes a time when we need to throw up the hands of our human understanding and opt for a different response. It is a response of faith. It expresses itself in an attitude of praise,  thanksgiving, and compliance to the rules and principles-of-living given to us by this God who is beyond our understanding. It's how Asaph responds in verse Psalm 50:23:

"Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;

And to him who orders his conduct aright

I will show the salvation of God."

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that You are beyond my imagining. When I don't understand You, I choose faith. Help me to resist the temptation to keep You in the box of my human ability to figure You out. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 50

The Bible Project VIDEO: HOLINESS (Theme series)



MORE: More thoughts along the line of Psalm 50

"Beware of a mindset that belittles and insults God. God is an absolutely unstoppable, unfailing, constant, volcano of power and fire and joy and help. He never wearies in the slightest and is omnipotently enthusiastic about his gracious purposes in your life. Never let a weak or miserly or tightfisted or weary or boring God enter your mind. He owns all and loves to glorify his power and grace by delivering people who call on him. Keep God great in your eyes for the rest of this year.") By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org,  emphasis added.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The "sweet aroma" of sacrifice

Offering a sacrifice (Image: Pixabay)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Numbers 28-30; Psalm 49

TO CHEW ON: “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer Me at their appointed time.” Numbers 28:2

Do you have a favorite smell? Have you noticed how smells have the power to jog your memory and trigger your emotions? It’s interesting to note that apparently God too has a sense of smell, and that smells also cause Him pleasure or displeasure. At least ten times in Numbers 28 and 29 following the introduction of the idea in Numbers 28:2 (our focus verse), we read the expression “a sweet aroma to the LORD.”

This “sweet aroma” was not the scent of perfume, flowers, or the seaside, but the smell of burning. Every one of the “sweet aroma”s in our passage came as a result of a burnt sacrifice of an animal alone or offered with flour and oil.

The first time we read of God being moved by the aroma of a sacrifice is in Genesis 8:21, when Noah offered clean animals after leaving the ark. “The idea is that Noah’s sacrifice was a propitiation or satisfaction of God’s righteous requirement,” explains an article on GodQuestions.org.

The same is true of the sacrifices we read of in Leviticus and here in Numbers: “As in the case of Noah’s offering, what pleased the Lord was the commitment to offer worship in His name as He commanded” (above article).

God’s pleasure at the smell of a burning sacrifice was not an automatic reaction, however, but very much in tune with the attitude and actions of the worshiper. For when instituting this sacrifice system, God said to Moses: “And after all this, if you do not obey Me but walk contrary to Me … I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas” - Leviticus 26:27,31.

There are at least two references to that sacrificial aroma in the New Testament that help to connect us today to God’s olfactory reaction to offerings in the Old.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 Paul challenges Christians to be the aroma of Christ to all. We know that Christ was the final sacrifice, the one by which we have life. Since His was a sacrifice of both His death and our life, the aroma of our lives should affect all around us (“…those who are being saved… and those who are perishing”) with reminders of life or death.

I ask, are we so dead to self, alive to Christ that our lives actually remind those being saved of life, those unsaved of death?

In Ephesians 5:2 Christ’s sacrifice to God (“for a sweet-smelling aroma”) is connected with His love. Paul challenges readers of His day and us today to walk in Christ’s sacrificial love.

Do we live with such love?


PRAYER: Dear Father, Your reaction to the smell of sacrifice challenges me to be more complete in offering myself to You in the way Paul describes it, “… present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God …” (Romans 12:1). Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 49

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Zion dwellers

Jerusalem at night

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 25-27; Psalm 48


TO CHEW ON: "Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers; ....
For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death. Psalm 48:12, 14

Zion is the city of Jerusalem. This Bible dictionary description helps us see it in its natural setting:

"The city is set high in the hills of Judah, over 30 miles from the Mediterranean, and over 20 west of the north end of the Dead Sea. It rests on a none-too-level plateau, which slopes noticeably toward the southeast. To the east lies the ridge of Olivet. Access to the city on all sides except the north is hampered by three deep ravines" - New Bible Dictionary, p. 614.

The Sons of Korah here praise Zion for its beauty, its qualities as a refuge, the way its appearance instills fear in Israel's enemies, and its stability.

But it is more than a mere city. For in the Jewish mind of that day its grandeur and solidity seem to be equated in some way with God Himself. Jerusalem was the center of their worship and so its qualities become a reflection of Elohim, the God they worship:

"For this is God (Elohim)

Our God forever and ever

He will be our guide

Even to death" (vs. 14).

Metaphors for God abound in the Bible. He is compared to

• a bird covering us with its feathers (Psalm 91:4).

• a mother caring for her child (Isaiah 66:12,13)

• a father (Psalm 68:5; Matthew 6:9).

• a shepherd (Psalm 23:1-6).

• a fire (Hebrews 12:29).

... and many more.

I love this picture of God as the city of Jerusalem. The city's elements of beauty, safety, and solidity remind us of the security we have in Him.

The last line talks about God as a guide. It fits so well with the Numbers passage we read today where Moses asked God who would lead the people after he died, and God told him to anoint Joshua. Joshua, with Aaron's son Eleazar the priest, would guide the Israelites into the promised land (Numbers 27:11). For us too, God has people (parents, friends, pastors, teachers, authors) to act as His representative to guide us.

PRAYER: Dear God, this picture of You as Zion reminds me of the safety and hope I have in You. May my life as a Zion-dweller be a credit to You. Amen. 

 PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 48

MORE: A city on a hill

I wonder if Jesus was thinking of Jerusalem when He mentioned a city on a hill during the Sermon on the Mount. Reading the physical description of Jerusalem, above, made me think of this verse—something we can take into the day.

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ... Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14, 16. 

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cursed by ourselves

Balak and Balaam - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 22-24; Psalm 47

TO CHEW ON: " ' He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
Blessed is he who blesses you,
And cursed is he who curses you.' " Numbers 24:9

Today we read the prophet Balaam's three pronouncements over Israel. Though Balak, king of Moab hired him to curse that nation, divine intervention kept him from delivering any kind of hex. Instead God put only blessings in his mouth. He saw Jacob as numerous as the dust of earth (Numbers 23:7-10), Israel as a mighty lion (Numbers 23:18-24), and he finally pronounced over Israel a blessing as fruitful and ascendant nation (Numbers 24:3-9). His final oracle spoken to Balak (Numbers 24:14-24) even contained a messianic element as he predicted a future leader appearing as a star in the sky (Numbers 24:17).

One Bible commenter says about the Balaam-Balak incident:

"There should be no problem in relating this unit to Numbers. For one thing, the prophecies of Balaam affirmed that God's unequivocal commitment to his people will continue well into the future. … Nothing or no one is able to hinder God from doing that. An omnipotent God and not a human manipulator is the determiner of history" - Asbury Bible Commentary (accessed through this passage's "Study This" link on biblegateway.com - emphasis added).

But we know the preceding and following instalments of Israel's story—how checkered it was. Previously we read the story of a mass rebellion where Moses and Aaron's leadership was challenged by Dathan, Abiram, Korah and 250 of Israel's leaders (Numbers 16). A challenge to Aaron's leadership resulted in his rod budding supernaturally (Numbers 17). The people's complaints and grumbling provoked Moses to strike the rock instead of speak to it as God had told him to (Numbers 20). Poisonous snakes came into the camp as a result of their grumbling (Numbers 21). The chapter following the Balaam-Balak incident is titled "Israel's harlotry in Moab" (Numbers 25).

Our Bible commenter makes a wise observation:

" … the (Balaam-Balak) narrative functions as a condemnation of God's people, at least indirectly. The donkey does God's will. Balaam, albeit unintentionally does God's will. But what of Israel? … Israel's real enemy is Israel. God can change a hireling's words of curse into blessing but he cannot change a community's words of backbiting, criticism, and faultfinding into doxology. God's people need not fear the hex of a religious magician or the threats and taunts of a Moabite king. But whenever they degenerate into a community ruled by a quarrelsome, self-serving and envious spirit, there is cause for grave concern. Unholiness, not magic, is Israel's undoing" - Asbury Bible Commentary (emphasis added).

Might this not be equally true of us in the church? We are right to be concerned about the threats to the church's existence from the outside. Our secular critics would love to shut us down because of our stand on issues like abortion, changes to the definition of marriage, sexual orientation and identity, and euthanasia. But I'm wondering if the biggest threat to the church is not these outer pressures at all but disunity and sin tolerated within. The biggest threat to the church might be the church.

Let's search our hearts, as individuals and as a body, and stamp out these embers of quarreling, selfishness, envy, immorality etc.—sparks that have the ability to ignite and destroy the church body from within.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to see myself and my sinful attitudes and tendencies through Your eyes. Help me to make choices for holiness so I will be an asset, not a liability to my local church and Your kingdom. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 47

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Discouraged

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 19-21; Psalm 46

TO CHEW ON:  "Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way." Numbers 21:4


Have you ever noticed how one little choice of bad attitude leads to the next and the next until you've worked yourself into a full-blown funk? That seems to be what happened to the Israelites in today's reading.

They have just conquered King Arad, destroying all the cities of his small kingdom south of Canaan. Perhaps the Israelites expected to enter Canaan from that point. Instead God led them on a detour away from the promised land. That understandable disappointment may have sparked their initial complaints.

They began with an attitude that is common — at least to me: discouragement — "discouraged" is also translated "impatient" (Amp, NIV, NLT), "depressed" (Amp), "irritable and cross" (Message).

Their complaints had typical characteristics:
- they were against leadership: "the people spoke against God and against Moses."
- they were against conditions: "There is no food and no water and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
- they had the typical faithless tone: "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?"

God's response—sending poisonous snakes among them—may have seemed harsh. But it certainly got their attention. The remedy—Moses erecting a bronze snake to which the bitten looked and were cured—foreshadowed God's final blow to sin through Jesus on the cross (John 3:14-15).

I ask myself, am I struggling with a typical though negative attitude today? Discouragement, impatience, irritability in my situation may seem like a harmless, even expected response to irritations, disappointments, and difficulties. But it is just such common attitude choices that got the Israelites into trouble way back in the wilderness and still easily trip us up today.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to guard my attitudes. I want to nip my faithless bent in the bud before it blooms its toxic flowers of complaining, unbelief and depression. Amen

PSALM TO PRAY:  Psalm 46

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Are you a loyal bride?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 17-18; Psalm 45

TO CHEW ON: "Listen, O daughter,

Consider and incline your ear;

Forget your own people also, and your father's house;

So the King will greatly desire your beauty;

Because He is your Lord, worship Him." Psalm 45:10-11

This psalm is subtitled "The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride" in my Bible. The picturesque images of a middle-eastern marriage ceremony with a king welcoming his new bride grow heavy with meaning as we think of them in terms of the spiritual wedding of Christ and His bride. Of course we recognize this as a theme that flows through the Bible.

One aspect of this theme is the couple leaving their childhood homes and establishing a new home together. It's a principle as old as creation: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh" - Genesis 2:24.

Of all the expressions in the Bible, Ruth's declaration of loyalty to her mother-in-law (even after her husband was dead) is the most poignant. Not surprisingly it is often used in wedding ceremonies:  

“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God - Ruth 1:16,17.

My Bible's commenter explains how the instructions for a bride to leave her old home apply to Christians in the church age: "The bride of a king was often from another nation, and so she had to break with her own culture to marry, just as Christians now must forsake marriage to worldly things in order to be part of the bride of Christ" - Dick Iverson, notes on Psalms, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 723 (emphasis added).

And so we do well to ask ourselves, are we living totally and unreservedly in the home of our husband the Lord Jesus? Or do we still hang on to bits and pieces of our worldly homes from the past?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I am so honored to be part of Your Bride. Help me to be faithful bride who incites Your desire because my loyalty is all to You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 45

MORE: Spiritual adultery

We recall how many of the prophets speak of Israel's backsliding and worshiping idols in terms of marital unfaithfulness--adultery. The prophet Hosea was even commanded to marry a harlot (Gomer) and when she left to go after other men, he had to repeatedly bring her back home. This was a picture to Israel of how God pursued them.

Andrew Peterson's powerful song "Hosea" pictures Gomer's waywardness and her final response to Hosea persistently coming after her (just as God pursues us).

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 Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A Caleb spirit

Image: Pixabay

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 14-16; Psalm 44

TO CHEW ON: "But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went and his descendants shall inherit it."  Numbers 14:24

We all have friends who could be characterized as positive, who can be counted on to have a can-do attitude, who see life's glass half-full. They are Caleb kind of people.

I love how Caleb and Joshua stand up to the crowd with their faith in God and Moses intact, even after seeing Canaan's giants. Instead of focusing on the size of their obstacles they report the richness of the land and claim the power of God over those giants: "...for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them." Don't you just love his attitude!

Even God took note and said to Moses, "...My servant Caleb...because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully I will bring him into the land where he went..."

His exploits continue. For he indeed survives the forty more years of wilderness wandering and drives out the giants from his Canaan territory (Joshua  14:10-14; 15:14).

What an example to us. What challenges—giants if you like—have we faced so far in 2018? Whatever they are, let's face them with Caleb-like faith as we:

1. Envision the future we desire - Numbers 14:8.

2. Focus on how big and powerful God is - Numbers 14:9,10.

3. Speak words of hope and faith, not despair and unbelief. Earlier Caleb spoke words of faith (Numbers 13:30). Again in our reading he speaks of the delight of the land not the terrors of its citizens, while the other spies discourage the people by filling them with fear. God pronounces His verdict on all these words: "'Say to them, "As I live, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you"'" Numbers 14:28 (emphasis added).

By the outlook we choose and the words we speak we cement our attitudes more firmly into our psyches and put our future and the future of our descendants on one course or another.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the example of Caleb. Please help me cultivate a Caleb spirit as I enter the new year. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 44

MORE: Are we our own problem?

"Where there is no vision, the people perish" - Proverbs 29:18

"The Israelites had no positive vision for their lives—no dreams. They knew where they came from but they did not know where they were going. Everything was based on what they had seen and could see. They did not know how to see with 'the eye of faith.'

".... (Referring to Numbers 14:2-3) I encourage you to look over this passage carefully. Notice how negative these people were—complaining, ready to give up easily, preferring to go back to bondage rather than press through the wilderness into the Promised Land.

"Actually, they did not have a problem, they were the problem" - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, pp. 181, 183.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Help for the Frustrated Leader

Moses helped by Aaron and Hur - Exodus 17:12

Illustration from Treasures of the Bible



TODAY’S SPECIAL: Numbers 11-13; Psalm 43

TO CHEW ON: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Has the LORD’s arm been shortened?’” Numbers 11:23

Here we see Moses so discouraged and frustrated with the complaints and grumbling of the people, he wants to die.

His cry out to God was not ignored. Here is a short list of how God came to his aid and the aid of other frustrated and discouraged leaders in the Bible.

1. He gave Moses helpers, putting His Spirit—the Holy Spirit that was on Moses—onto 70 leaders of the people so they could help him - Numbers 11:24,25.

2. Before David became king and was on-the-run from Saul, on one occasion his camp was raided by Amalekite bandits. All their stuff and wives were taken. David’s response to his own outrage and the anger of his men: He “strengthened himself in God” - 1 Samuel 30:6.

3. For Solomon, his request for wisdom and God’s reply happened in a dream. The next day he went about his work as usual, perhaps not knowing if anything had changed. However, it was soon evident, by the wisdom with which he judged the people, that God had indeed answered his prayer - 1 Kings 3:28.

4. Elijah, after fleeing for more than a day from Queen Jezebel, fell asleep, awoke to an angel-prepared meal, slept some more, ate again, and carried on “in the strength of that food” for 40 days and nights - 1 Kings 19:5-8.

5. In our reading additionally, God’s way of solving the meat problem was, in effect, to do a miracle. When God promised meat and Moses objected: “Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered to provide enough for them…?”  God replied: “‘Has God’s arm been shortened?’” - Numbers 11:23. (“‘Has the Lord’s hand [His ability and power] become short [thwarted and inadequate]?’” - Numbers 11:23 AMP.) In other words, When was I ever limited by anything, to keep My promises?

These are still some of the ways God uses to bring us out of discouragement and provide help (some He does for us; some we do ourselves).


We defeat discouragement by:

• Accepting help.

• Changing our focus from the situation to God.

• Going about our tasks with faith, confident that God has answered our prayer.

• Attending to our physical needs for rest and food.

• Trusting that God can, and sometimes does, respond with miracles.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to use the means available to me to dispel discouragement. You and Your plans are never thwarted! Help me to believe this at a life level through up and down times. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 43

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Prayer practices from the Psalms

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 8-10; Psalm 42

TO CHEW ON: "Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance - Psalm 42:5

In these two Psalms (42 & 43) we see a person who is praying from a place of deep distress. I love it that Bible writings like this show us that people who lived back in Bible times were a lot like us. They felt discouraged, intimidated, depressed, overwhelmed, and very needy. But this Son of Korah wasn't content to stay in that dark place. These psalms are his prayers and they illustrate some excellent prayer practices.

• He tells God how much he needs Him and why - Psalm 42:1,2. His need seems to be based in part on the scorn of people around him. Those mockers point out that God hasn't come to his rescue so maybe He doesn't even exist. Our Son of Korah tells God about this - Psalm 42:3,10.

• He remembers the good times of going to 'church' with the multitudes (Psalm 42:4) and the nation's history with God (Psalm 42:6) and in this way bolsters his faith.

• He talks to his discouraged self. Three times he repeats self-talk that begins with "Why are you cast down, O my soul…(Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5). A sidebar article about these verses says:

"…he refocuses himself on the promises of God, confronts the fears and contradictions deep in his soul, and challenges himself about every semblance of unbelief in his heart …. Faith comes alive by hearing the truth so the psalmist seems to be preaching to himself being renewed in hope as he reviews who God really is" - David Bryant, "Preparing Yourself to Pray," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 720.

• He puts into words what he wants—exactly what he envisions God will do for him:

- Show him lovingkindness - Psalm 42:8.
- Replace his anxious nighttime thoughts with songs and prayers - Psalm 42:8.
- Set him free from the schemes of deceitful, unjust men - Psalm 43:1.
- Send His truth and light as direction for living - Psalm 43:3.
- Bring him back to church with songs of praise - Psalm 43:4,5.

Maybe we should embrace some of these practices in our own lives. We could:

- Talk to God with brutal honesty—telling Him about our troubles and how much we need him.
- Talk to ourselves, repudiating our feelings with the truth of who God is and His promises to us.
- Recall how God has helped us in the past.
- Express in detail what we'd like God to do for us.

PRAYER: Dear God, sometimes I feel a lot like the Sons of Korah. Please help me to remember these prayer practices and use them. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 42

MORE: Who is God? What are His promises?

"…Faith comes alive by hearing the truth so the psalmist seems to be preaching to himself being renewed in hope as he reviews who God really is," says our Bible commenter. What is the truth about God? What are His promises?

One of the best ways I've found to remind myself of who God is and what His promises are is to recall / recite Bible verses I have memorized. Verses like:

Exodus 14:14
Isaiah 54:10
Hosea 6:3
Matthew 7:7,8
Philippians 4:5,7

What verses would you suggest?

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Be blessed

Jacob blessing Joseph's sons
- Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 5-7; Psalm 41

TO CHEW ON: "The Lord bless you and keep you." Numbers 6:24

Doesn't your heart just take a deep breath and settle down as you read the verses of blessing in today's scripture? There is something in this Aaronic blessing that feels like a warm blanket when you're shivering, or a cool breeze on a hot day, or a table loaded with food when you're hungry.

This blessing of only three lines (actually one, partitioned by semicolons) contains six actions. Let's look closely at them in order to soak up every bit of this blessing's goodness.

"The Lord bless..."
To bless someone means to consecrate, make holy, honour, exalt, glorify, bestow happiness and prosperity on. It's a powerful enough interaction between people—how much more when the blessing bestowed is the blessing of the Lord. How rich we are!

"..and keep you"
Keep (shamar) means to guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save the life of. When we keep something we retain the possession of it; we don't give it away. God holds onto us in that way. How safe we are!

"The Lord make His face shine upon you..."
The word "shine" ('owr) alludes to the shine of the sun, to illumine, to become lighted up, to make shine as of the face. Watch a mother's face light up when she sees her child. That's how God's face lights up when He looks at you and me. How loved we are!

"...and be gracious to you"
Gracious (chanan[a]) means to show favour, be gracious toward, have mercy on. It is characterized by showing kindness, affability. To be gracious means to be full of compassion and mercy. God is disposed that way toward us. How favored we are!

"The Lord lift up His countenance upon you..."
The picture here is similar to God making His face shine on us. I see, in addition, a focused attention, like a parent looking straight into a child's eyes. God looks straight at and into us. How known we are!

"...and give you peace."
Give (suwm) means to extend, establish, bring to pass peace - a state of mental or physical quiet or tranquility, calm, repose, reconciliation, freedom from mental agitation or anxiety. When God pours His peace over  and into us, how settled we are!

May we realize every part of this blessing as we head into 2015.

PRAYER: Dear God, Your blessing is what we need and want more than anything else, as we enter the new year. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 41

The Bible Project VIDEO: Numbers (Torah Series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.