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Christian Devotional – December 15, 2013
VERSE: Number 29:12–On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days. TRUTH: The festival was a celebration, a party, and yet most of what was done was giving offerings to the Lord. Do we consider the opportunity to give to God as a time of celebration? This was a chance for the people to celebrate what God had provided for those by giving back to God joyfully and with thankfulness. RESPONSE: Father, I will trust You with all I have and will celebrate You by joyfully giving back to You. You are all…
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Christian Devotional – December 14, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 28:23–Offer these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. TRUTH: As God is describing the festivals and the special sacrifices and offerings the people are to present, it becomes obvious that the special holidays were to be done in addition to the regular daily offerings. No matter whether it was a holiday or a regular day, the people were to bring the regular offerings to the Lord consistently. Do we make it a habit to come to God every single day, not just on holidays or special occasions? He is there for us every day and desires to meet with us. RESPONSE: Father, thank You for being consistent to…
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Christian Devotional – December 13, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 27:18–So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership and lay your hand on him.” TRUTH: The Lord showed Moses who was to take his place as leader after he was gone. Joshua is described as having a spirit of leadership, yet later in the book of Joshua it is clear that he was afraid and nervous. God sees things in ourselves that we cannot see. God knew that Joshua would be exactly the right leader for the people even if Joshua didn’t see it. Joshua just had to be obedient to what God had called him…
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Christian Devotional – December 12, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 26:64–Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. TRUTH: Forty years had passed as the Israelites wandered in the desert. The people who were counted in the previous census had all died out in the desert except Caleb and Joshua because of their sin and disobedience to God. Everything that God had told them would happen, has happened. God was allowing them a second chance. This was the opportunity for the Israelites to start over. God was fulfilling His promises to the people and wanted to remind them that He will do…
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Christian Devotional – December 11, 2013
VERSE: Number 25:17–“Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them.” TRUTH: The Midianites were actively plotting to lead the Israelites away from God. They were tempting and enticing them to follow their gods instead. God told the Israelites that they needed to treat them as enemies and get rid of them. Do we get rid of temptations in our life? While we are not to kill people, we are to recognize when people are trying to lead us down the wrong path. Do we get away from those people and situations? We need to realize that those who are trying to turn us away from God are not our friends.…
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Christian Devotional – December 10, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 24:11–“Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.” TRUTH: Balak had promised Balaam lots of treasure if he would come and curse the Israelites, however, Balaam said he would only say what God allowed him to say. God then had Balaam bless the Israelites three times. Balak was furious and refused to give Balaam any money stating that the Lord had caused Balaam to forfeit the money. Sometimes when we follow God, people don’t like what we say or do. hey get angry and withhold things from us. We must remember that our…
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Christian Devotional – December 9, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 23:19–God is not human that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? TRUTH: Because we are around people so much, we get used to being skeptical about what they say and what they promise. However, God is not like that. If He says it, He’ll do it. We can count on Him to fulfill everything that He has promised that He would do. Do we trust in God and His promises? RESPONSE: Father, I praise You for being trustworthy. You always fulfill Your promises and I will never doubt…
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Christian Devotional – December 8, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 22:29–Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” TRUTH: Ok, so Balaam is traveling and his donkey moves off the path to avoid an angel intent upon killing his rider three times. Balaam gets angry and beats the donkey. Then the Lord opens the donkey’s mouth and the donkey asks why Balaam did that. Now Balaam must have been very angry because even a talking donkey didn’t shock him out of his anger. He didn’t even bother asking, “You can talk?” His anger that his pride had been wounded eclipsed…
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Christian Devotional – December 7, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 21:8–The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” TRUTH: The people grumbled and complained again, so the Lord allowed poisonous snakes to come into their camp. The people were dying as a result. They came to Moses and repented. Then the Lord told Moses to make a snake and put it up on a pole. Anyone who was bitten could look up to the pole and live. That would take such faith to do, because it makes no logical sense. It’s easy to look back and say that of course we…
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Christian Devotional – December 6, 2013
VERSE: Numbers 20:12–But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” TRUTH: God told Moses and Aaron to speak to a rock to bring fresh water, but they struck the rock with a staff instead. It doesn’t seem like a big difference, but to God, it was the difference between obedience and disobedience, between trusting in Him and not trusting in Him. Do we obey God’s commands completely? Or are we lazy with the details? God is concerned with the…