Ask God To Remove Pride...Before It Weakens Your Faith

Numbers 16:4-5 - When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. 

Three Levite men decided to rise up against Moses. We are not told what their exact problem was with Moses…but they managed to get 250 other men to follow in their thinking. Moses reaction was to fall face downward… letting God decide how to handle it with the censers they used to burn holy incense before God.

The short story is that these men all perished…God letting them know quickly that Moses was his chosen and that they had let pride interfere with the simple jobs he had given them to do. God allowed a plague to start among the people…meant to wipe out even more of these prideful Israelites that came and grumbled about the men who had died….but Moses had Aaron offer atonement for them so quickly that only 14,700 died from the incident.

It is a great reminder to me of the weakness pride can create in one’s faith. Isaiah 2:17 says… “The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” When pride is given control…it blossoms into full blown arrogance and never glorifies God.  It twists our feelings of accomplishment into crazy thoughts that we are better than we really are...worthy of ore than we have.

We have to be very careful that the pride we feel is the same as written in 2 Corinthians 7:1-4… "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God. Open your hearts to us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you." This is a genuine feeling of accomplishment…a feeling that glorifies God because of our obedience to his calling on our life.

Father…thank you for the reminder that pride is a dangerous emotion…needing constant humility to keep it in a form that glorifies you. Forgive me for the many times that I have let pride become a stumbling block to the path you have needed me to be on. Help me to recognize very quickly any time pride is trying to weaken my faith…so I can call on you to remove it before it causes any harm.  Amen.

Confess Unintentional Sin To God For A Complete Cleaning

Numbers 15:27-28 - But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.  The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven. 

God gave Moses some very important directions for how to receive forgiveness for unintentional sin. Whether it be an individual …or the whole community…they had to take a specific sacrifice to the priest…so he could make atonement for them to God.

We don’t have to take a goat to a priest to be sacrificed for our sins anymore…the blood Jesus shed on the cross was enough to make atonement for all sins …past or present.  But we do have to admit them to ourselves and God…and ask his forgiveness.  1 John 1:9 says… “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I needed the reminder that sometimes I sin without realizing it…but as I spend time in prayer…fellowship with other Christians…and Bible study…God brings to my conscious thought that something I have done is sin.  It is at the very instant that I realize….or am convicted of this sin…that I need to drop to my knees and admit to it to myself and God…so he can use that precious blood he shed to cleanse me of it.

My sweet father always puts a phrase in his verbal prayers…no doubt it is a part of every prayer he prays. He always includes the phrase … “forgive us for the many times we fail  you.”  A sweet reminder that we no doubt have some hidden sin…we haven’t even realized is sin yet.

Father…thank you for the reminder that sin in my life can hide from my awareness. Forgive me for the times that I have failed you. Reveal each time to my heart and mind so I can let you cleanse it form my life.  Amen.

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Keep Your Glass Half Full ...Of Faith In God

Numbers 14:5-9 - Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.  Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

It must have been the Israelites ‘go to answer’ for anything that went wrong in their lives.  After all that God had done for them…after the 10 miraculous things he had given them as signs of his protection and love...they wanted to abandon him…pick new leaders...and start back to Egypt. They had no faith….they had no vision of what God could possibly do for them to win a battle against the giants that lived in the land God had promised to give them.

We all have giants to face from time to time. They are probably not literal giants…but health issues…or financial problems…..or the loss of a loved one. If we choose the same mentality of the Israelites…we see our problem…our giant as a glass half empty…not enough resources to conquer it.

Caleb and Joshua…they saw the glass half full.  It was half full of faith in a God who had conquered 10 other ‘giants’ since they had started their journey.  They saw the good land spread out before them and were ready and even excited to see how God was going to take of this new problem too. They saw how they had grown each time a new problem in their life had been taken care of by God.

I needed the reminder to never see my glass of life as half empty.  A widow is always tempted to sink into a self-declared pity party when it gets too difficult. But that never allows any growth.  Only when we step out of the darkness that grief and other difficulties shines on our hearts…and let God shine his love full of light…do we start to see the glass is filling up once again with another lesson to build our faith in Hm.

Father…thank you for the reminder to remember that I gain strength by allowing you to help me with the problems I face.  Forgive me for the times that I have wanted to give up…and let the problem I face stop me from believing that you can conquer anything. Help me to keep Philippians 4:13 ready to recite to ole satan when he comes trying to get me to give up…so I can say…For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Amen.

Let God Power Your Thoughts Of The Future

Numbers 13:30-31 - 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.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”

They had traveled so close…close enough to send out 12 spies to search out the land. Under God’s direction…Moses picked one man from each of the twelve tribes and they set out toward the land God had promised t Abraham.

They found it exactly the way God had promised….complete with a culture of people so enormous…and so numerous their confidence shrunk in proportion to them. Only Caleb remembered the mighty acts of God that had brought them this far and confidently reported that they should proceed to take over the land.

It is a reminder to me to never use earthly wisdom and my human standards to make a decision about my future.  God is able to do so much more than my human brain can imagine. His plans for me are to prosper me...not to harm me. I f I can keep my eyes fixed on him…like Caleb did….my future will be hopeful .

I admit that this is hard sometimes…especially when life seems to serve up one problem after another. Job’s battle to stay connected to the one source that could bring him through his mess was not easy or short. He lost so much…his body was spent…physically… and emotionally. But he stayed the whole course of whatever satan dished out to turn his heart against God.  He found a double blessing on the other side of all that God helped him to endure.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are all we ever need to accomplish anything you call us to do. Forgive me for the times that I have failed you…and given up like all the other spies…before the battle even begins.  Help me to stay focused like Caleb…so I can always see a future vision of what you can do…instead of what my limited human mind conceives.  Amen. 

Let God Remove your Critical Spirit

Numbers 12:1-4 -   Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.  “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out.

Miriam and Aaron let a spirit of criticism invade their hearts toward Moses. Their murmurs started with the judgment of who Moses married…but the real issue was that they felt Moses had a bit too much of a monopoly on God’s favor and time. Miriam’s criticism and deep jealously must have been a bit deeper than Aaron’s …for after God’s close up ‘ meeting’… with all three…Miriam was immediately struck with leprosy.

God healed her after 7 days in the leper colony outside the camp…but I bet the lesson she learned about letting a critical spirit overtake your mind stayed with her forever. Part jealousy… a bit pride...and a deficit of humility can become a dangerous combination when it come to our relationship with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Try as I might to be a positive person …I have to admit that I struggle with the same problem Miriam and Aaron did. Most of my critical statements are veiled in humor…but their negative content can’t be hidden after it is spoken. I always realize too late how mean spirited it sounded…and spend many hours feeling bad…or reflecting on how wrong it was for me to say it in the first place.

I also admit that there is a time and place for straight up rebuke.  2 Timothy 3 says.   “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. But we must be careful that our rebuke is God led…and we are not judging. Matthew 7:12 is clear… “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

Father….thank you for the reminder that a critical spirit is not of you. Forgive me for the many times I have let my mouth have control of the judgmental words in my heart…and let them materialize into hurtful situations…or times of tearing down ones nature. Help me to learn to control the negative things satan tries to get me to say…to rebuke these negative thoughts before they become hurtful words. remove the log from my own eyes so I can see you more clearly  Amen.

God Provides Victory Over Our Lusts

Numbers 11:4-6  -  The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.  But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

They had been eating the sweet manna God rained from heaven each morning for a little over a year… but that wasn’t enough to satisfy their cravings for the fresh veggies and meat they had had in Egypt. The past that had once been so appalling to them…became a temptation.  They let it sink so deep down in their heart that it took over their emotions…and they wept over it.

It got to Moses too.  He cried out to God how to handle it…their emotions weighing him down …creating  a deep burden for these people God had given him charge of.  He told God to just kill him now if he was going to bear this alone….but if he had found favor to create a support group for him to ease the pain he felt from these deep emotions.

God answered Moses right away…asking him to call together 70 elders together ….so God could fill them with part of Moses burden. And while they met and prayed together…God came up with his way of dealing with the people’s lust of meat.  He was going to give it to them…in such abundance that they could eat of it for a whole month.

It wasn’t just a simple fix for their prayer…It was a way for God to weed out the ones that had let lust so consume them that they mistrusted the God they had promised to serve.  He provided the meat they craved…but all that ate it immediately became sick and died…a costly price for the dinner they so wished for.

It is a great reminder to me that just because we want something…doesn’t mean it will be good for us. Lust isn’t just a term for sexual desires…we can lust after money…power…drugs…alcohol…or anything else that is forbidden to us. If God allows the temptation to manifest it will produce strife….conflict… assassinate our character… produce selfishness… and bring sin and perversity that will separate our soul from the only one that can remove the desires that started our troubles.

God can give us victory over these desires that will consume and destroy us in the end. Just as he gave Moses a strong group of men to share his burden…he can give his power that will conquer even death. One of the keys is to constantly walk in His spirit….as  Galatians 5:16 says… “ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  A good dose of prayer and meditation on specific scriptures that we can use to speak the temptations away…just as Jesus did….will go a long way too.

Father...thank you for the reminder that I need to be careful what I ask for.  Forgive me for the times that I complained about my lot in life…and did not trust you to fully provide for what you know I need. Help me to throw off any desires that might lead to sin in my life…and give me your strength to trust you only for what I need.  Amen.

When God Says Go....Go....When God says wait...Wait...When God says Stop...Stop

Numbers 10:11-13 -  On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law.  Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the Lord’s command through Moses.

God had Moses make 2 silver trumpets…hammered by hand to use as signals for gathering… moving… and war calls. And after a full year of activities …giving Moses the commands to live by… preparations for worship….training the priests to offer sacrifices …counting the men and  organizing them or future wars….and build up and break down the tabernacle for travel…they began the next leg of their experience with God.

It was a short trip…a mere three days to the wilderness of Paran….but they followed God’s directions for moving his tabernacle and ark.  They had arrived safely from the first three days of travel. Perhaps it was just a practice session…to see how well they would follow directions. But God moved in their lives…taking them that much closer to the promises he had made to their patriarch Abraham. 

It is a reminder of two things for me.  First…when God says go….go with every ounce of energy and wisdom he has given you to go with.  Second…when he says stop…stop and see what he needs before moving again. Perhaps it would be easier for us to follow him sometimes if we too had a cloud that settled where we are supposed to end up… and we were able to lay out fleeces like Gideon for answers to our deepest questions. But cloud or not…fleeces or not…God still directs our path…and answers our prayers in his time.

The answers are clear when we stay in his will….pray….meditate on his word….and seek wisdom from others that do the same. The epiphany of wisdom comes for me when I least expect it...in the middle of some simple task he has given me to do….sometimes even in a wakeful moment during the early hours of the morning.

Father….thank you for the reminder to be ready to move when you have a task for me to do.  Forgive me for the times that I did not listen when you needed me to move…or moved too fast because I got nervous waiting on your answer. Help me to be so in tune with you that I can’t help but know exactly what you are thinking… so I can see clearly those plans you have for me…that are good…that will give me hope for my future.  Amen.