Worshipping the Lord

Numbers 6:1-27 Lord, You call us to "be filled with Your Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) - the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of love. You are the holy God, the loving God - our holy Father, our loving Father. May there be, in us, the family likeness. Help us to become more like You - more holy, more loving.

Numbers 7:1-47 Lord, You gave Your Son, Jesus - to be our Saviour. Help us to give ourselves to You - to be Your servants. Jesus died for us. Help us to live for Him. Help us never to forget His sacrifice - "Love so amazing, so divine." May we be challenged by His sacrifice - "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." Help us to respond to His sacrifice - "Love so amazing, so divine, shall have my soul, my life, my all."

Numbers 11:1-35 Lord, we have begun to follow Jesus. Help us to keep on following Him. Again and again, we are tempted to turn back, to return to the ways of this world. Help us to keep on saying, "I have decided to follow Jesus - No turning back. The world behind me, the Cross before me - No turning back. If no-one joins me, still I will follow - No turning back."

Numbers 10:1-36 We thank You, Lord, for Your Holy Spirit. He works in us to bring blessing to us. He works through us to bring blessing to others. Without the working of Your Spirit, there can be no blessing. May the "living waters" of Your Spirit flow in our hearts and out from our hearts to others to bring blessing to many (John 7:37-39).

Numbers 8:1-26 We thank You, Lord, for Your Word. It's " a lamp to our feet and a light to our path" (Psalm 119:105). As we read Your written Word, we hear the voice of Jesus, Your living Word. Jesus speaks to us. He calls us out of our darkness. He calls us into Your light. It's the light of Your salvation. It's the light that changes everything. It's the light of Your love.

Numbers 17:1-18:30 Moses, the priests, the people – All of them were to honour the Lord in everything. (i) “Moses did exactly what the Lord commanded him to do” (Numbers 17:11). (ii) The priests were “a gift, given by the Lord, to do whatever work is necessary at the tent of meeting” (Numbers 18:6). (iii) The people were to “contribute the best and holiest parts to the Lord” (“out of all the gifts they had received” (Numbers 18:29). Whoever we are, whatever our place in God’s work, we are to be dedicated to the Lord, committed to doing His will and being faithful in the work He has given to us to do for Him.

Numbers 15:1-41 God’s work among His people was directed toward the future – “Once you’re settled in the land I’m giving you” – and it was grounded in the past – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God” (Numbers 15:2,41). Our present obedience draws strength from our past redemption – “It is finished” – and our future hope – It is still to come.

Numbers 12:1-13:33  In his leadership of God’s people, Moses faced problems. It was not an easy pathway towards the promised land. There was opposition from Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12:1). There was an unbelieving report, brought back from the land of Canaan by most of the spies (Numbers 13:31). Alongside these problems, there was the encouragement, which came from Caleb’s words of faith: “Let’s go now and take possession of the land. We should be more than able to conquer it” (Numbers 13:30). By faith, we shall overcome the problems.

Numbers 9:1-10:36 The Israelites were travelling towards the promised land. As they travelled, they were to celebrate the Passover (Numbers 9:1-14). In their journey, they were being led by the Lord (Numbers 9:15-23). In the course of their journey, they faced opposition from their enemies, the enemies of the Lord. In this situation, they looked to the Lord for victory: “the Lord your God will remember you and rescue you from your enemies”, “Arise, O Lord! Scatter Your enemies! Make those who hate You, run away from You!” (Numbers 10:9,35). Our journey is from the past (for which we give thanks to God), through the present (in which we look to the Lord for victory), to the future (towards which we are being led by the Lord.) In every part of our journey, we are journeying with God.

Numbers 1:1-4:49 God spoke, Israel obeyed (Numbers 1:1,54). This is the constant pattern of the life of faith – hearing and obeying the Word of God. The names of God’s people differ from place to place. The pattern of their life remains the same. This pattern is also emphasized in Numbers 2, which begins with God speaking (Numbers 2:1) and ends with the people obeying (Numbers 2:34). This pattern is repeated in Numbers 3-4, which begin with God’s Word (Numbers 3:1; Numbers 4:1) and end with our obedience (Numbers 3:51; Numbers 4:49). In Numbers, we read so much that is unfamiliar to us. We must learn to look for the Word that comes to us, in our time, as a Word from the Lord who is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Hear and obey. Listen to what God is saying. Do what He has said.

“Speak only the Word that I tell you” (Numbers 22:35). If we are to bring the Word of God to others, we must pray that He will speak to us. We must pray that He will give to us His Word – “the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth” (Numbers 23:5). At the heart of our ministry of God’s Word, there must be this firm conviction: “God is not a man, that He should lie or change His mind” (Numbers 23:19). Who are we to call in question the Word of the Lord? When God speaks to us, He calls us to believe His Word. We are to trust Him. If we question the Word of the Lord, and, then, attempt to speak His Word to others, we’re asking for big trouble – “If the trumpet doesn’t sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8). We do not help the people of God to triumph over Satan, if we do not speak to them the Word of the Lord.

Numbers 11:1-35 There were problems among God’s people. The spirit of complaint had spread among them. This brought the “fire” of judgment (Numbers 11:1). The spirit spirit of complaint comes when people don’t like what God is doing among His people.We see this in Numbers 11:26-28. The words of prophecy are described as the result of the working of “the Spirit” (Numbers 11:26), yet Joshua said, “Stop them, sir!” (Numbers 11:28). Note Moses’ response – “I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them” (Numbers 11:29).What we need is not the quenching of the Spirit, but the release of God’s Spirit among God’s people.

Numbers 7:1-8:26  From each tribe, the gifts came. The Levites had a special ministry. For this ministry, they needed to be made “clean” (Numbers 8:5). Through cleansing, they were made “ready to do the Lord’s work” (Numbers 8:11). In a very special sense, God said of them, “the Levites will be Mine” (Numbers 8:14). Between the gifts from the tribes (Numbers 7) and the preparation of the Levites (Numbers 8:5-26), there are the seven lamps on the lampstand, giving “light in front of the lampstand” (Numbers 8:1-4). The lamp stand was made of “gold.”  This is the precious light of God’s Word, shining like gold, which is greater than all the other metals. God’s Word is the light which inspires the giving of the tribes and the ministry of the Levites. Without God’s Word at the centre, everything else means nothing.

“All that the Lord speaks, I must do” (Numbers 23:26). There needs to be obedience to God’s Word. This is not only speaking God’s Word. It’s doing what God’s Word says.

"In the wilderness (or the wild country)" (Numbers 1:1). "Stage by stage" (Numbers 33:2) - Moses kept a record of Israel's journey. "In the wilderness", "stage by stage" - When we read these two phrases, and think about our own journey through life, we are invited to think about where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.    Have we been in the wild country for far too long? Will we leave the wild country in the past? There's more to life than being in the wild county. This is the message of Numbers for us today. When we're in the wilderness, what we must remember is this - There's a way out of the wilderness. Where will we find the way out of the wilderness? The book of Numbers gives us God's answer. When we read about life "in the wilderness", we must remember this - We are not alone in the wilderness. God is there with us. He's with us all of the time - not just some of the ...

Miriam and Aaron complained (Numbers 12:1-2). Caleb and Joshua encouraged (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9). Thank God for encouragers!

Miriam and Aaron complained (Numbers 12:1-2). Caleb and Joshua encouraged (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9). Thank God for encouragers!

Numbers 6:22-27 There’s nothing better than God’s blessing. It’s nice to have friends. People like you. It feels good. God’s blessing – That’s so much better. Friends come and go. God’s blessing remains. You can be surrounded by friends – and still feel very lonely. Sometimes, they’re great friends. Sometimes, they disappoint us. When you’re surrounded by God’s blessing, everything’s very different. God will never disappoint us. He’s our “always and forever” Friend. His blessing is an “every day” blessing. It’s not just a “now and again” thing. It’s an “all the days of our life” thing. Everywhere we look, we see God. We look to the hills. We see our Creator. We look to the cross. We see our Saviour. We are blessed by our Creator. We are blessed by our Saviour. How do we enjoy God’s blessing? Trust Him. Walk in His way. Wherever life’s journey takes us, He’s there. He’s our faithful Friend. He’s the Friend who’ll never let us down. In our happy times, He gives us...

The book of Numbers tells the story of God's people, travelling through the wilderness. They had been delivered from their bondage in Egypt. They were going to be brought to the Promised Land. For a long while they were in the wilderness. For forty years, the wilderness was their “now moment”. We look back. we remember what the Lord has done for us. He died on the cross for us. We look forward to His Return. What a great day that will be! In our many “now moments”, we are in the wilderness. It’s a place of danger. It’s a place of promise. We are involved in a constant battle for faith and obedience – “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (Galatians 5:17). Often, we fail our Lord. We need to hear the challenging words of Paul: “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal...

Numbers 33:1-49 Help us, Lord, to put the past behind us. Help us to press on into Your future. We learn from the past. Help us not live in the past. Help us, Lord, to let the past be the past. Help us to make a new beginning with You. Help us to move forward with You and for You (Philippians 3:13-14).