KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, March 05, 2018
Chapters: Numbers 23-25
Message: Our Advocate, Jesus Christ
Hello My Friend,
Years ago there was a group of so called Christians, similar to so called Muslims of today who terrorize cities proclaiming they are advocates for God in an attempt to rid the world of reprobates. If you recall in the Bible, before Paul got saved and became the greatest evangelist of all time, well, next to Jesus, he was of the Jews and his group of people terrorized anyone proclaiming Christ. You know, judgment comes in many ways, God is not opposed to capital punishment, but He is opposed to anyone or group who kills in His name when they are clearly doing it for themselves. Paul was an exception, as I imagine is the case of some who found out the truth about Christ, got saved, and are now living their lives as true advocates for Christ. In fact, we have a missionary in our church who was a Muslim that turned his life around and is now an advocate for Christ. In this world, especially now, we are going to run into a lot of religious groups proclaiming God and even Christ, and Jesus warns us of this, the only way we can tell if they are true is if they are preaching the true Gospel.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” – Matthew 24:6-13.
“And because iniquity shall abound,” Here is the key right there, iniquity or sin, people love living in the lusts of their flesh and it will and is taking over. Oracle; The communications, revelations or messages delivered by God to prophets. Since God created the earth there has been a war between good and evil spirits, we can ask why God allowed the evil to begin with since He is God and could have not even brought it all to begin with, but that is not how God is, He wants all beings, whether human or angel to have a choice and come to Him willingly. It is actually sin that brings the evil, all the suffering in the world is a result of sin, and we cannot blame God for that. Okay, so Balak, king of Moab, still intent on seeing Israel cursed, continues to use Balaam to put a curse on Israel in an attempt to rid the world of them. The more he tried the curse them the more God blessed them.
“And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven oxen and seven rams. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram. And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” – Numbers 23:1,4,8,13,18-21.
“whom God hath not cursed?” Cursed: To utter a wish of evil against one; to imprecate evil upon; to call for mischief or injury to fall upon; to execrate. Does God really wish evil upon anyone? No, He does not. However, since He is God and will not have any other gods before Him He is going to allow it. When Adam and Eve sinned and brought the curse of sin upon all of us they did it because they wanted to be like God, to be all knowing, and they got that influence from the devil who wanted that above all. Let me tell you, the more I learn the less I want to know, I cannot imagine wanting to know everything that God knows because it would be even more overwhelming, which is why He does not want us to know everything. He reveals things to us when we are ready for them, including how to reverse that curse. Incidentally, we all must come to a point in our lives when we realize God is the one in control, and if He has given us the means to break that curse nothing or no one can reverse that. After three attempts to get God to curse Israel, Balaam finally heard the truth.
“And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour. And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.” – Numbers 24:1-2,8-11,15-17.
“to seek for enchantments,” There are so many evil spirits out there that mimic God that it is easy for a lost person to fall into the trap of believing it to be of God. It is not until God opens the eyes of that lost soul that it will see Him. Do you see how Balak tried to tell Balaam that it was God who kept him from receiving the greater things, promotions, honor? That is the devil, and he will do anything to convince people that they are missing out on something if they choose God. “there shall come a Star out of Jacob,” And this is the one, who broke the curse, Jesus Himself, and He will save us from the curse as long as we believe in His perfect, sinless death on the cross, in His being buried in a tomb, and three days later rising from the dead. Once we accept Christ as our Saviour He becomes our advocate, and there is nothing or no one who can curse us ever again. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” – I John 2:1-2,24-25.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.” – Numbers 24:17.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving us the power to break the curse of death. When we call on Your Son, He instantly breaks the curse, but we can still be held in bondage if we remain living in sin. Lord, give us Your power to break the bondage of any sin in our lives. Help us to keep our eyes on Jesus so that we do not fall into the temptations of the devil, give us the strength we need to walk away from evil, and even know when we are getting near it. Lead us and guide us in Your will, and Your ways, and continue to bless us with Your mercy and grace so that we can break free from any bondage we may be under. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: http://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2018 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.