Day 49 - Numbers 14-15

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 49 -Numbers 14-15 (Are You Brave Enough to Stand Against the Crowd?)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/)

“But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: "The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, "a land which flows with milk and honey.'  Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them." And all the congregation said to stone them with stones...But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.”  (Numbers 14:6-10; 38)

The ten spies who did not believe God can give victory to the Israelites over the evil inhabitants of Canaan spread a bad report were able to dishearten the entire population so much so that they resolved to return to Egypt!  But Joshua and Caleb stood up and spoke to the all the congregation as we read in our text above.  The fact that they may have known that they were battling a lost cause did not prevent them from speaking up against evil and proclaimiing the truth.

Even though Joshua and Caleb failed to convince the people to repent and change their course of action, they won big time in the eyes of God and as a result only the two of them out of all the adults in the congregation remained alive to enter the promised land.  Herein lies a very important principle for believers: God may not always call us to win the battle against evil but He always expects us to stand up against evil.

We are living at an unprecedented time in history when there has never been such an intense hatred of man against God and against Christians who follow Christ.  There are more people who have died for their faith in this generation alone than in all generations combined!  We can now even see Christians being beheaded right before our eyes on the internet.  The time of the Great Tribulation that Christ and the prophets warned about is imminent.

This brings us to the sobering thought which is: Would I be brave enough to stand against the crowd when it is headed towards evil?  I pray these words of our Lord Jesus will give us all the encouragement to make a resolute commitment to stand up against evil and speak the truth boldly when we are called to do so:

"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”  (Matthew 5:11)

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, "A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.”  (John 15:18-21)

”And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

(Luke 14:27)

Day 48 - Numbers 11-13

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 48 -Numbers 11-13 (The Danger of Complaining)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/)

"Who will give us meat to eat?  We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"  (Numbers 11:4b-6)

It has been over a year that the Israelites have been eating the manna or bread from heaven when, in our text above, they started complaining about it and craved for the food that they ate in Egypt.  We read in the same chapter that “the anger of the LORD was greatly aroused…” (v10b)  The people’s complaint also affected Moses greatly so that he too complained to God about having to bear the responsibility for all the people himself (vv11-15).

Interestingly, our whole Scripture reading (chapters 11-13) for today records not just the complains of the people about the food and of Moses about his responsibilities, but also of Aaron and Miriam about their want to share authority with Moses and of the ten out of the twleve spies Moses sent out who discouraged the people to fight their enemies.

The consequences to those who complained to God were devastating.  Those who despised the manna from heaven got what they wanted when God sent quails that caused those who ate it to die.  God took Moses’ annointing and spread it among seventy of the elders.  Miriam became leprous.  God killed the ten spies who brought a bad report.  Except for the two spies, Joshua and Caleb, who believed that God will give them victory over their enemies, all the rest of the people died in the wilderness and their children whom they said will be victims were the ones who were able to enter the promised land.

The apostle Paul wrote about all these tragedy that has befallen the Israelites in the wilderness:  “And do not become idolaters as were some of them. nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:7-11)

Sadly, many who claim to be Christians, think that complaining is their right and that God is okay with it.  Some even think that God gave them their spouses so that they can have a live person whom they can unload all their complaints to.  That is a big mistake.  God says that we should be wise and learn from the deadly examples of the Israelites who perished in the wilderness; why?  Because they complained.

Day 46 - Numbers 7

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 46 -Numbers 7 (How Does God Speak to Us Today?)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/)

“Now when Moses went into the tabernacle of meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him.”  (Numbers 7:89)

The Ark of the Covenant of God that He instructed Moses to make out of acacia wood was simply a box with a scuplture of two angels facing opposite each other with their two wings spread out apart covering the top of the ark called the mercy seat where God dwelt.  It is from this mercy seat on the ark that the God of all creation spoke to Moses giving him all the detailed instructions regarding the service of the Tabernacle and their proper worship of Him.

Obviously, God does not speak to a man today as He spoke to Moses.  God must have decided that the order of worship by the Jews was too important to leave any detail to man.  No doubt, even the slightest diversion from God’s prescribed order or detail (which order and minutest detail represented an important attribute of God in relation to man) would have led to a corrupted worship of God.

“Ok, I get that,” you may say, “but how does God speak to us today then?”  Good question.  Today, we have the Word of God, the Bible which is how God primarily speaks to us.  During the time of Jesus, God’s Word consisted of the Old Testament composed of thirty-nine books.  In one sweeping statement, Jesus affirmed the entire Old Testament word for word as the Word of God: “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”  (Matthew 5:18)

“Alright, I see that Jesus affirmed the entire Old Testament as the God’s Word but what about the New Testament?”  Obviously, Jesus was no longer around to affirm the rest of the 27 books of the New Testament so God used the apostles who were with Jesus throughout His whole ministry before His crucifixion to affirm it as when the apostle Peter affirmed the writings of the apostle Paul:

“...and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”  (2 Peter 3:15-16)  

“So, the Old and New Testaments or the whole Bible is the Word of God, but how would I know what God has to say to my particular question or my specific need?”  Well, the Bible doesn’t answer all of man’s questions, if it did there would be no need to trust God for the unknown and to exercise faith in Him.  Jesus, however, assures the sincere seeker of truth that he will find the answer when He looks for it in God’s Word.

Today after our church worship service, my wife and I had the privilege to talk to a Hindu young lady who sought for prayer to know more about Christianity.  After reading the Words of Jesus in the gospel of John and asking her if she believed it, she said yes and then continued to pray to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior.  God clearly spoke to her through the Bible and now she knows Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  

You too can find the answers to your deepest need and question if you turn to God’s Word, the Bible.

DAy 47 - Numbers 8-10

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 47 -Numbers 8-10 (Would You Move If God Says Move?)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/)

“Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents.  At the command of the LORD the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped.” (Numbers 9:15-18)

I envy the Israelites who witnessed God’s presence day by day in the form of the cloud that covered the tabernacle day and night.  It must have been the most awesome sight to see the cloud as it moved towards the direction of their next campsite and the fire above it by night must have put even the best of our modern fireworks display to shame.  More important, though, than admiring the spectacular sights above the tabernacle was the obedience of God’s people to move along with the cloud of the Holy Spirit.

The greatest tragedy in the Church of Jesus Christ today, in my opinion, is that Christians are not in tune at all with the Holy Spirit and thus are not able to discern when He prompts them to move wherever He wants them to move.  Sin and disobedience will numb Christian’s spiritual senses to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  The only remedy is to confess and repent of one’s sins and to get into a right relationship with God.

The believer who walks with God and is filled with the Holy Spirit will discern whenever God wants him or her to move.  When I say move, I am referring to any action or decision that God wants a believer to do such as in changing a job, abandoning a relationship which the Lord may disapprove of, or even leaving the comfort of one’s home to become a missionary in another country.

A Christian may discern God’s leading for him to move but may not obey for a number of reasons including fear of the unknown or of leaving his comfort zone; or fear of what others may say, etc.  That would be just as tragic as not knowing when God is prompting a person to move.  Imagine if one family of the Israelites decided not to go along with the rest of the people when they started moving along with the cloud of God’s presence?  They would be left out in the cold unprotected and will like not survive in the wilderness for long.

Are you able to discern when the Holy Spirit is telling you to make a move?  If not, maybe it is because you have not receive Him yet in your heart.  The first step for you to be able to discern God’s leading for your life is to surrender to Him by repenting of your sins and asking for His forgiveness and inviting Christ to be your Savior and Lord.  You can do that through a simple prayer like this:

“Lord Jesus, please forgive me of all my sins.  I ask you to come into my heart as my Lord and Savior.  Fill me with your Holy Spirit and halp me to follow you at all cost.  Amen.”

Day 45 - Numbers 5-6

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 45 -Numbers 5-6 (The Lord Bless You)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/ )

"The LORD bless you and keep you;

       The LORD make His face shine upon you,

    And be gracious to you;

       The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,

    And give you peace."'   (Numbers 6:24-26)

The above is the benediction or blessing that the Jewish priests would pronounce upon the children of Israel at the close of every service in the Tabernacle and later in the synagogues.  It is comforting to know that God wants to bless His people.  

Often, we think that God wants to bless others but not us.  It is right that we should not expect blessing from God if we are disobedient to Him; but we are in Christ and are not living in sin or disobedience then we can and should expect God to bless us.

It is a grave mistake to think that the blessing of God is merely about happiness or comfort or wealth.  The true blessing from God is higher than all those.  To be kept by God, to have the Lord’s face shine upon us and be gracious to us, to have His eyes look upon us and give us peace - these are much deeper than happiness or material blessings.

God knows best what blessing to give us but often we cheat ourselves out when we tell God how He should bless us.  I don’t mean that we should not ask for specific requests from God such as healing or financial provision but we need to leave room for God to bless us how He sees fit and not how we see fit “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”  (Matthew 6:8)

Father, thank you that You want to bless me and that You keep me in the palm of your hand.  May your face continue to shine on me and be gracious to me.  May You continue to look upon me and give me your peace.  In Jesus name, amen.

Day 44 - Numbers 3-4

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 44 -Numbers 3-4 (What is Your Purpose in Life?)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/ )

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: "Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the children of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' house, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting.”  (Numbers 4:1-3)

After God told Moses to organize all the men of Israel who were able to go to war, He tells Moses to organize the Levites (who were exempt from the war draft because they were to serve in the Tabernacle) for the service of the Tabernacle.  There is an important principle here that can apply to us today; that is, that every person has been created by God for a specific purpose in life.

That every person was created by God for a purpose is confirmed by the Lord Jesus when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  (John 10:10b)  Jesus said that the purpose for His coming to earth was that we may have life eternal and more than that, to have an abundant life here on earth.

So what exactly is the abundant life that Jesus talks about and how can a person have it?  As Jesus stated, it first begins with receiving life eternal from Him.  Jesus taught that He came to die for the sins of the whole world - that includes every single person who ever lived and will live.  The Bible is very clear that “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36)

After one becomes a Christian and receives eternal life, then the abundant life that Jesus talks about becomes the purpose for his existence.  Throughout the Scriptures, God teaches that man is miserable apart from fulfilling the purpose for which God created him.  Just as the Levites had very specific jobs to do even within the service of the Tabernacle, Christians also have specific jobs within the Church that Christ, who is the Head of the Church, has assigned each one to do.

I believe that the Bible gives each of us a general purpose as well as a specific purpose as followers of Christ.  All believers are called to become disciples and disciple-makers - that is everybody’s commission from the Lord Jesus Christ: “Go … and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19)  How we go about making disciples is the specific call that each believer has to discover through prayer and Bible study and also through the counsel of other believers.

Once you understand your purpose to make disciples and start living out that purpose in your life by ordering your priorities and values in alignment to that purpose, you will begin to know and experience a passion and excitement for life that exceeds even that of the great men and women in history who have changed the world but yet lost their souls because they did not have the Son of God in their hearts and thus did not have life eternal.

Day 43 - Numbers 1 - 2

“ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 43 -Numbers 1-2 (Are You Prepared for Spiritual Battle?)

(To View Past Posts Click: http://tonyvicreyes1-yearbible.blogspot.com/ )

“Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above--all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.”  (Numbers 1:1-3)

The Israelites had just escaped from their long bondage in Egypt and have spent in the wilderness by the time God spoke to Moses in our text to number all the men of Israel from twenty years old who are able to go to war.  Now, God needed to bring them from the wilderness to the promised land.  He needed to transform them from a slave people to a promised land people and this is basically the theme of the book of Numbers.

To accomplish God’s purpose of transformation for Israel will be a battle and the people had to be prepared for war.  This is the reason behind the census in chapter 1 of the book of Numbers.  

“The order to count the potential soldiers was not meant to imply that Israel would take the land because of superior forces or merely the bravery of these men - they would receive the Promised Land by the hand of God. Nevertheless, they still had to fight and know what they had available to them going into battle.”  (Guzik)

Those of us who have been saved have escaped from the bondage of sin and God seeks to transform us from a slave (of sin) people to a promised land (heaven) people.  Just as God ordered the Israelites to take inventory of their strengths before they face their enemies, God also orders Christians to take inventory of our strengths which are the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to each one of us at the time of salvation.

This is what the apostle Paul was telling his son in the faith Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”  (2 Timothy 2:3,4)

As a soldier of Jesus Christ, you and I must prepare battle and at the core of our preparation is discipline; particularly, discipline in how we order our daily living priorities.

It would be foolish in my opinion for a soldier to be carrying a backpack full of rocks as he goes into the battlefield.  And so for some time now, in seeking to be a good soldier of my Commander-in-Chief Jesus, my wife and I have been steadily trying to simplify our lives in order to be as mobile as we can be to move as the Lord directs us to move in our battle.  That includes giving away a lot of stuff that we have accumulated over the years that tend to bog us down and steal our time and energy from serving God.  I resolve to only keep the stuff that will help me and my family in serving as a good soldier of Jesus.