“Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God.” – Charles Spurgeon
KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Saturday, March 09, 2019
Chapters: Numbers 33-34
Message: A Tale Told
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading these chapters for today, this Psalm came to my mind. “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” – Psalm 90:8-12,15-17.
“and establish thou the work of our hands upon us;” We truly are a tale that is told, the older we get, and the wiser we get, the more we really do want to make each day count, and the affliction we face, well, that only establishes us in the beauty of God, and forms us into the image of His Son. Now, Israel is finally coming to the end of their journey to the promised land, it had been forty years since they left Egypt. An overview of their journey from Egypt to the Jordan is given. This was to give an account for where they had traveled in that time.
“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments. And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth. And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.” – Numbers 33:1-6,38,40.
“And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys” You know, we have a book written about our journeys on this earth from the time we are born until the day we reach the promised land. If we are saved, it will tell about the day we were saved, and all the amazing journeys we have taken after, but it will also give an account for the opportunities we missed, perhaps when we could have talked to someone about Jesus, or something we missed out on because we chose another path. What will not be written in our book is all the sin, and the pain we suffered as a result of it, all of that has been erased the second we received Christ as our Saviour. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” – Matthew 16:27-28.
“till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” We will all stand before Jesus, and many will stand before Him, with proud looks upon their faces, proclaiming all they have done in His name, and that is when He will tell them that they did none of it in His name because they never knew Him. While we do not do anything to get or keep our salvation, everything that we do after we are saved is part of our being faithful and obedient to the one who gave His life for us in our place. In our own flesh, we could never do enough good to earn or keep our salvation, and that is why salvation is, and always has been by the grace of God through our faith in Him. And when we pass the Jordan, and go into the promised land, we will receive our inheritance. Now, God reminds Israel that He is giving them Canaan as their inheritance, each tribe will receive a portion of land according to their number, there was just one issue that they had to address, the people that are already on it.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” – Numbers 33:51-56.
“But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you;” Do you remember when Adam and Eve sinned? They were cursed to work for their provisions? And the ten spies that were on Canaan, and returned with an evil report? They were cursed to live in the desert for forty years. Whenever we go against God’s commands we are going to have to work that much harder to receive the things He promises us. Oh, if we go against His will He does not take it away from us, but it will be harder and longer for us to receive them. We, who have received Jesus Christ as our Saviour have His Kingdom awaiting us, God is giving it to us without merit, but we need to keep the world out of our space. Otherwise, it will be pricks in our eyes, and thorns in our sides, and vex us wherever we dwell. And we get judgment from God as well. However, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, He will give us the grace we need to overcome it. “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” – II Corinthians 12:8-10.
“for when I am weak, then am I strong.” It really does take our weakness to find our strength in Christ. I can give you countless testimonies on my endless fails in trying to get through this journey on my own, without Christ, and how He turned everything around when I gave it all over to Him. We cannot avoid trials on this journey because we are, but sinners saved by grace, we can get through Christ who gives us strength. Praise God! Now, God commands Israel to stay within the borders of the land that He is giving them, and so they do not fight over who gets what, Eleazar and Joshua will be the ones who decide what portion of the land they get.
“Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe: For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance: These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.” – Numbers 34:2,12-14,17-18.
“And the border shall go down to Jordan,” There is only one path to the Kingdom of God, and that is Jesus Christ, He is at that border wall, and only lets those who believe in and receive Him as their Saviour into the promised land. I always compare Israel to America because it mimics it so much. It really does us a disservice to go against God on any level, and this is the reason all of the once nations under God are now being vexed, worldly Christians have been slothful, Jews are in denial of Christ, raising their kids without God’s Word guiding them. God wants to give us more than salvation on this earth, and in His Kingdom, all He asks is that we not be slothful, and do what He has commanded us to do. “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” – Hebrews 6:9-12.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” – Numbers 33:4.
Today’s Prayer: God, I know that Your hand is in everything that I go through on this journey You have me on. I am, but a tale that is told, penned down in a book that is all about me, and my journey with You. Thank You for Your mercies and grace, and for the infirmities that You refuse to remove from me in which Your grace uses to establish and keep me faithful to You. Lord, Lead me and guide me, teach me to number my days, that I may apply my heart to Your wisdom, make me glad through my affliction, and in the years that I have seen evil. Let Your work appear through me, and be the glory of those You have entrusted me with. And let the beauty of Your Son be upon me, as You establish Your work with my hands. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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