Numbers 11:26-29; NASB
26 But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. 27 So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” Can I confess something to you? Nothing juicy, don’t worry (and don’t get your hopes up). I am a doer. I see a task to be done and I do it. I just jump in. It doesn’t matter how busy I am. It doesn’t matter if other people are around. I just “get ‘er done!” Getting things done isn’t the problem. I believe God has given all of us work to be done. The problem is that I am a “lone wolf” doer. I don’t involve other people. I just do it all myself and then sometimes maybe grumble that nobody helps (all the while I never invited anyone to help in the first place so why would they come to help and why am I getting frustrated and grumbling?). When I come across passages like this I am always reminded of God’s message to us: we are better together. Moses wasn’t a perfect leader. He didn’t always do everything right. He wasn’t always happy and positive as he lead Israel. But I love the leadership and the vision Moses has in this passage. “Moses some people who aren’t part of our leadership our doing your role in the camp. They need to be stopped!” Moses’ response, “Are you crazy! This is awesome! God is working! I wish everyone would be doing this, I don’t want this role just to myself!” I have a lot of growing to do. I love the heart of Moses. “If only all the Lord’s people were prophets.” Not only do I have a lot of growing to do, I think the church at large has a lot of growing to do. Sometimes I think people wait for the church to do something, so that maybe they can join in. “I want to help the homeless, but our church doesn’t have a ministry for that so I’m not doing anything right now.” “I want to help out single moms in our area and create a network of support and Bible study for them, but there’s nothing like that for me to join in on.” I would rejoice as a pastor to hear about the “problems” of people stepping up and stepping out and doing ministry. How great is that! “Uhhh, pastor Brian…..Stephanie started serving at the boys and girls club to help kids there and she invited some of her small group. What should we do?” Rejoice! Celebrate! People are being moved by the Spirit and doing the work of God! A couple months ago on Sunday morning, I was getting ready to help serve coffee to people. Someone who shall remain nameless (Sylvia Romero) asked if I wanted some help. In my head I was thinking, “nah…I got this covered…it’s easy and I’ll take care of it.” Thankfully I was in tune with what God was trying to do that morning and I said, “You know what Sylvia, that would be great. Let me give you a quick run down of how this all works.” And poof! One of God’s people found a way to serve the rest of God’s people and all I had to do was get out of the way so the work of God could go unhindered. Don’t get me wrong, as leaders we are here to help everyone find a way they can connect to serving others. We’ve learned a few things that we don’t mind passing on and sharing. But don’t wait for the church to start something so you can serve. If God has been pushing you to serve in a certain area, open yourself up to His leading. Go for it! Invite some friends to come along with you. After all, serving together is so much richer than just getting a job done by your lonesome. So where is God moving you? What’s an area where you wanted to serve but have been hesitant to take that step? What can we do to help encourage and equip you to go and be God’s light to others? -Pastor Brian
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Numbers 11:4-6, NASB
4 Now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna!” I’ve been told I am one of the worst people to buy a present for at Christmas. Why? I look around and can’t think of anything I need. So when my family asks, “What do you want for Christmas?”, I usually don’t have an answer for them. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t mean I don’t want things. There are certain things that would be a dream to have, but they are pretty expensive. So I won’t ask for those as a gift. As far as physical things go, God has blessed us and I am content with what we have. On the other hand, my appetite is not content. I can be satisfyingly full from a meal, and not need another bite to eat. And then they offer dessert, and my brain says, “Ooooh….I need that”, while my stomach says, “You put one more morsel of food in me and I will make this the worst night of your life.” My brain usually wins. It’s really easy to want for more, and overlook the great things God has given you. Even if what you have seems small, it is still a great gift and blessing from God. Israel complained. Well, the rabble was greedy, and Israel joined them. So you know, a “rabble” is a mixed crowd. Looking this up, it is assumed that not all the people in the wilderness were Israelites. Since the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, there were other slaves that weren’t Israelites. They may have escaped with Israel during the last plague. Others contend that this describes a “spiritual” situation in Israel - that not all had a genuine, real relationship with God. Either way, there was a mixed crowd that brought the whole of Israel down with them. You know what they say, “A bad apple spoils the whole bunch” (so does any fruit and potatoes too….blech, rotten potatoes smell terrible). It’s easy to want more when all you have is very little. It’s easy to want more when you are having the same thing day in and day out. It’s easy to be greedy. Sometimes we might think, “Oh I would love to have a house on the beach and enjoy walking out my doors onto the sand.” Well, you’re in luck. I found just the home for you. Just click on this link to take a look at this beautiful, almost 8,000 square foot home in Dana Point (https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/31-Strand-Beach-Dr-Dana-Point-CA-92629/69250140_zpid/). If you didn’t follow the link, you didn’t see all the great pictures. It is an amazing home. But as you scroll through you will see the cost of this amazing home. It is being offered for the incredibly low price of $22,500,000 (yes, you read that right…22 million). What is the price of greed and wanting more….a mere monthly payment of $115,369. Yes, that is the mortgage payment. No, that does not include utilities. So the monthly payment of luxury could be around $117,000. Per month. I know families that don’t make that in a year. All that to say, greed has a way of ruining us, and those around us. Lao-tzu said it well, “There is no calamity greater than lavish desires, there is no greater guilt than discontentment, and there is no greater disaster than greed.” Back to our passage, what was the rabble greedy about? All the food they left behind in Egypt (mind you, they seemed to forget to thank God for rescuing them from horrific slavery, but hey….we all make mistakes). The fish, melons, garlic…all for free (again, except for the slavery part). Just a few verses later we are told the manna, which miraculously appeared every morning (except the Sabbath), tasted like cake baked with oil. All our diet fads nowadays seem to tell us to stay away from carbs. Limit carbs! Avoid carbs! What is God’s diet plan for Israel as they wander through the wilderness…CARBS!! Not just any carbs, cake! Mmmmmm….caaaake. The danger of greed is that it lurks around every corner, waiting for any opportunity to pounce on our hearts and minds, challenging the idea that what God gives is enough. And the moment we give in to greed, we open ourselves to a flood of selfish wants that can sweep away the good things we have while pushing us off the solid ground God has paved for our feet to walk on. So how do we turn our greed into contentment? How can we find ourselves satisfied with what God has given us? Even if others may have more, how can we be content with where God has us now? First: realign your desires. Pray that you would see all the great things God has given you. Jesus taught us to “seek first God’s kingdom” (Matthew 6:33). David the man after God’s own heart, writes, “One thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4). David talks quite a bit about being satisfied in God, having his desires met by God and God alone. Second: be thankful. Gratitude has an amazing way of keeping greed at bay. Psalm 136 starts out the first three verses like this: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good…give thanks to the God of gods…Give thanks to the Lord of lords.” Immediately following each statement the psalmist reminds us of this: His steadfast love endures forever. Third: remember. Remember what God has done, how He has provided and how He has always been there. In 1 Chronicles 16:12 David writes, “Remember the wondrous works that He has done, His miracles and the judgments He uttered.” When greed tries to creep in, push it back by remembering all of who God is, and all that He has done in the past. Be reminded if He provided like this in the past, He will surely continue to do so in the present and in the future. Now, excuse me while I go try to apply this to my appetite and remind it that enough is more than enough and it doesn’t need any more. Romans 1:21, NASB
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. I’m not very good with thank you cards. Whenever I receive a gift or something nice, I try to say thank you in person. Sometimes I forget. But mostly I try to say thank you. I have a friend who is perfectly perfect at telling people thank you. She will send out thank you cards and go above and beyond to say thank you. In fact, she will have her mom and dad over for dinner. When the night is done and her parents are on their way home, she sits down to write a thank you card to her parents for coming to dinner and mails it the next day. A thank you card. To her parents. Not an email. Not a text. Not a Facebook post. Like I said, she is perfectly perfect at telling people thank you. And I….I am not so good at things like that. What’s worse is I am not so good at saying thank you to God either. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful. But am I diligently, intentionally, stopping to tell God thank you? The answer is painfully, woefully, “no.” In Romans 1 Paul is writing about the downward spiral humanity can take. God reveals Himself to everyone and everything about Him is clearly seen (verses 19-20). The problem, the people know God, but they don’t honor Him nor do they give Him thanks. And what is the result of not honoring God or giving Him thanks? People become futile in their reasoning, and their hearts, which were already senseless, become more darkened. If I’m being honest with you (which I always am in these devotions) some of my more darkest, difficult days of being a Christian is where I am more focused on myself than I am on God, honoring Him and giving Him thanks. Yes, I know God, but sometimes I don’t do enough to intentionally recognize Him, honor Him, nor thank Him. And then my mind and thoughts seem to wander down a darker path. Paul actually has a lot to say about our minds when it comes to our faith. In fact, later on in Romans he will write, “be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (Romans 12:2). So how do we guard our minds, and our hearts? How do we keep ourselves from becoming futile in our reasoning? The first step is simple: recognize God and give Him thanks. (I want to be careful here to not undermine the value of good counseling. I am thankful for those that have dedicated their lives to become counselors/psychologists to help those in need. I think it is a great help for many who work with a counselor. I would do your best to find one that can help you with things you struggle with. Although I will also encourage you to find one who has a Biblical worldview) The apostle Paul, who wrote Romans, also wrote many of the other letters/books in the New Testament. In writing to the church in Thessalonica, Paul writes, “give thanks in all circumstances.” In all circumstances? Yes, in all circumstances. Years ago I remember someone making this statement, “All means all, that’s all ‘all’ means.” Give thanks when my car dies and I don’t have the funds to fix it? Yes. Give thanks when my little ones are going absolutely bonkers and drawing with permanent markers on the wall? Yes. Give thanks when I am not even making it financially and not sure how I will survive the next week, let alone the next few days? Yes. Give thanks when a loved one is sick or has passed away? Yes, even then too. Paul doesn’t say, give thanks “for” all circumstances. No, he says give thanks “in” all circumstances. Then Paul says, “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (for all those wondering what is God’s will for my life, this is one). How do we focus on God and giving Him thanks, not blaming Him, when times are tough or dark? It’s not thanking Him for these tough circumstances. It is honoring Him and giving Him thanks while “in” these circumstances. Thank God for His presence. Thank God that not only is He right there with you, He is holding you in His hand (Deuteronomy 33:26-27; Isaiah 41:10, 49:16; John 10:28-29). Thank God that no matter the circumstances, or the outcomes, nothing can separate you from God (Romans 8:37-39). Staying on the right path with God will require us to recognize, honor, and thank Him. Maybe, Paul is challenging us to thank God for each moment in life, good or bad, as we recognize His presence and provision. Maybe, just maybe, we should go out to the store, buy a package of thank you cards, and start intentionally writing God thank you cards for all He is doing. -Pastor Brian Romans 4:17-21; NASB
17 (as it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Belief. Belief is a funny word. What do you believe in? What do the American people believe in? According to our constitution and other important documents, these are some of the core beliefs set forth for all Americans:
I know, I know. Thanks for the history/American Government lesson pastor. I get it. But as I read through that list, how are we doing as Americans? We can say we believe in these things, but are these beliefs being lived out? Are these beliefs being held in regard by all Americans as, “this is the only way this is going to work and none of us can stray from it”? Shift with me, because I’m not here to write about the state of American society. That is an important topic. But I also believe the only way society can change is through the humility of the people to submit themselves to God and invite Him to lead. I know, how naive of me. Abraham wasn’t a perfect person. He deceived Abimelech about the true nature of his relationship with his wife Sarah. While waiting for God to fulfill his promise of a son, he followed his wife’s counsel and slept with her maidservant. Like you and I, he had his failures (but how great is it that when the writers talk about Abraham, they don’t focus on his failures but rather on his faith….God’s grace is an amazing thing!). I love the picture we see of Abraham here: he believed God. He believed God’s promise. He believed in God’s power to fulfill that promise. He believed on his own he was woefully unable to fulfill the promise. He needed God to intervene. And he trusted God to intervene, because God said He would. There are some critical statements about belief we should pay attention to: “He believed God who gives life to the dead and calls things into being that do not exist.” Wow! The belief Abraham has says a lot! God gives life to the dead and calls things into being that don’t exist! In other words, Abraham believed that God is a God of the impossible, the unthinkable, and the unimaginable! There is nothing that God cannot do. “He did not waver in unbelief but was fully assured that what God had promised, He was able to perform.” Faithful. Trustworthy. Promise keeper. These are the thoughts and beliefs of Abraham. And Abraham didn’t just believe these things in his mind. He didn’t just think, “It would be really cool if God did all He said He would do.” He believed it. And in believing it, he lived it out. Did you know it took twenty years for God to fulfill this promise of a son/heir. 20 years. 20 long, agonizing, waiting, when is it going to happen, years. 240 months. 1042 weeks. 7300 days. 175,000 hours. 10,512,000 minutes. That is a long time to wait. And Abraham waited. And believed. And waited. And believed. And each passing minute/moment/day Abraham didn’t weaken in his faith, but he grew stronger in it. I think the key thing about Abraham is that while he waited for God to fulfill His promise, he walked in his faith. He lived his faith. He waited, but he didn’t sit there doing nothing. He kept moving forward and he trusted God. Recently I asked people to share some of their troubles and struggles in life. The list was overwhelming (and heartbreaking). Over and over I read words like this: doubts of self worth/value, anxiety, depression, worry, regrets, discontentment, and an aching heart. These are some pretty big and heavy things. Sometimes they can completely immobilize a person and render them overwhelmed, sinking them deeper and deeper into despair. Can I share something with you? God gives life to the dead and calls things into being that do not exist. Yeah, well that’s all and good, but what does that have to do with you and the things you struggle with. God gives life to the dead and calls things into being that do not exist. I know. I hear that and read that, but how does it help me? God gives life to the dead and calls things into being that do not exist. How many times are you going to keep writing that sentence pastor?!? Well, until we get it. Until we understand it. Until, like Abraham, we believe it. It might take days, months, weeks, or years to overcome our burdens and struggles. Maybe, like the apostle Paul, it will be a thorn in our side, daily reminding us that God’s grace is enough for us. Time and time again God’s Word reminds us to cast our cares and burdens on Him. Our challenge today, like Abraham, is do we believe that? Do we believe that God gives life to the dead and calls things into being that do not exist? Believe on God. Not just “in” God, but “on” God. He is bigger than all you are dealing with. He is the God of the impossible. Whether it is through prayer, reading God’s Word, friendships, working with a counselor, or even medication…God has an innumerable amount of ways that He works in our lives. Trust Him to lead you. My hope and prayer….this helps you to believe in God. Believe He is real. Believe He is with you right now. Believe He is bigger and stronger than the burdens and struggles in your life. Believe that He will never leave you or forsake you. Believe He loves you. Believe that He has overcome the world. Believe that He is holding you, right now, in the palm of His hands. Maybe belief isn’t such a funny word after all. Maybe it is a word that, every time I read or hear it, I am reminded of the God I believe in…the God who routinely does the impossible. -Pastor Brian |
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