Arise O Lord!

 Scripture:

 “And whenever the Ark set out, Moses would shout, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!””  ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭10‬:‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

When Israel was wandering in the wilderness, the Lord would lead them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Whenever they would move forward, Moses would shout, “Arise O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered!” He knew that if he called on the name of the Lord, his enemies would be dealt with by the Lord. 

Application:

When we move forward in whatever the Lord is leading us to do, we should have a similar cry, “Arise O Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered.” When I go on mission, I should be saying, Arise O Lord and let your enemies be scattered. This is a powerful statement. I want to see God arise in our generation. When we call on the name of the Lord, He hears and answers. We should lean on Him more.

Prayer:

Arise O Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered in my life, my family, my church, my region, and everywhere I go. My faith and trust is in You and You alone. Help me to walk by faith and not by sight. Help me to speak faith declarations. Lead me and let me hear Your voice clearly.

Your Son,

Jeff

Wait for God

 Scripture:

“Moses answered, “Wait here until I have received instructions for you from the Lord.”” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

When Moses didn’t know what to do, he would not proceed. He didn’t want to do anything out of God’s will or without God’s permission. This is a beautiful heart of humility and obedience to the Lord. Many people would just proceed as they plan, envision, etc., but Moses needed to hear from God.

Application:

In our lives and churches today, we pretty much do what we want, then ask God to bless it. We don’t wait for God to give the instructions, we simply proceed with what we think is best. We look to Scripture to know God’s overall will, then we build a strategy to accomplish God’s recorded will in Scripture. This is beautiful, but is it what God wants? Shouldn’t we go to Him first, then simply obey and do as He says?

Prayer:

Father God, I want to walk with You as Moses did. I want You to speak clearly to me. I love to hear Your voice and to follow Your path. I don’t want to build my church in my way, I want to build Your church in Your way. Help me to seek You for every step instead of simply doing the next thing everyone else is doing. 

Your Son,

Jeff

Vows

 Scripture:

““This is the ritual law of the Nazirites, who vow to bring these offerings to the Lord. They may also bring additional offerings if they can afford it. And they must be careful to do whatever they vowed when they set themselves apart as Nazirites.””  ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭6‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Those who wanted to make a Nazarite vow for a period of time were told here that whatever they vow before God they needed to fulfill. They would go through a time where they couldn’t cut their hair, they couldn’t eat or drink anything from the vine, etc. They were set apart for a season to seek the Lord. They had to do whatever they vowed before the Lord.

Application:

Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, that we shouldn’t make vows, but rather let our yes be yes and our no be no. The bottom line is that God doesn’t want us to make vows that we can’t fulfill. He takes very seriously any vow we make. Rather than make promises I can’t and probably won’t keep, it is better to simply do what I say I’m going to do.

Prayer:

God Almighty, give me the strength to do what I say I’m going to do. Let my life be an example of simple obedience to the Lord. Help me not to make promises I can’t keep. Help me to be a man of my word. I want to represent You well and I ask You to help me in this area. Help me to fulfill what I say and live what I preach in Jesus name.

Your Son,

Jeff

Wrong Fire

 Scripture:

“But Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord’s presence in the wilderness of Sinai when they burned before the Lord the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. Since they had no sons, this left only Eleazar and Ithamar to serve as priests with their father, Aaron.”  ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they burned the wrong kind of fire before the Lord. They offered it differently than the Lord had prescribed. The Bible doesn’t tell us here exactly what they did or didn’t do, just that the offered the wrong kind, or strange fire before the Lord. They didn’t give God what He asked for, but what they thought would work well apparently.

Application:

How much of what we do today in building the Church and the Kingdom of God, is being done in ways that are strange, or not what the Lord asked us to do? How often do I feel God want me to do something, then change it to fit how I see it working out best? I want to offer God what He wants, and not what I think He wants. I don’t want to build something that He is not part of the planning process.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to offer You what You desire and not what I think will work out best. Help me not to lean on the arm of the flesh instead of looking to You for everything. I don’t want to build something FOR You that You didn’t want. I want to build WITH You, exactly what You want. 

Your Son Forever,

Jeff

Serving God or Money?

 Scripture:

““No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jesus is speaking here concerning being enslaved to money. He says you cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. In other words, you can’t be controlled by God and controlled by money at the same time because they are oftentimes conflicted.

Application:

Money was meant to serve us, not for us to serve money. Money is a great servant, but a terrible master. When we serve God, He doesn’t want us in a position where we can’t obey Him because we are in financial problems. As believers, we are to live in such a way that obedience to God is primary, and we aren’t controlled by anything that could cause us to say no to God. 

Prayer:

Father, let me be financially free so I don’t have to think about provision for my family and can just focus on being obedient to You. Help me to live free from the control and slavery to money and debt. Show me how to walk in Your Spirit and not be controlled by money, or any other thing. I want to serve You well in my generation. 

Your Son,

Jeff

Bringing God Joy!

 Scripture:

“In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”  ‭‭Luke‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jesus told a couple stories about how excited people get when something lost gets found. He then tells the people that in heaven, there is more joy over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine righteous who haven’t strayed. Repentance and returning to God makes Him very happy. 

Application:

When we notice how happy the Lord is over one sinner who repents, we should make it our aim to bring as many lost people to Christ as possible. A good son in the house wants to bring joy to the owner of the house. When we bring people to Christ, He is honored and filled with joy. Therefore, we should live our lives bringing lost people back to Him. As for me, I want to reach more lost people this year than ever before.

Prayer:

Lord God Almighty, I want to be part of bringing back lost people to You. I want to give of my life to bringing lost people home to You and the family. I offer You my life. Opens doors, anoint me, and appoint me to places where people need Jesus. Let conviction and repentance fall in every meeting I preach. Let lost people come back to Christ every time I minister.

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Reading the Signs

 Scripture:

“You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.”  ‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭56‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jesus is speaking to His generation, especially the religious leaders, and He says to them that they know how to interpret the signs of the earth, sky and weather, but they don’t know how to interpret the present times. The sons of Issachar knew how to interpret the signs around them. God doesn’t want us unaware of what is going on, but we must learn to interpret the signs of the times.

Application:

There are signs all around us. Signs point to other things. Signs give direction and allow us to see what is coming. We must learn to interpret the signs of our times. There are wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in many places, families, pestilences and plagues globally. These are signs of the end of the age and we must be able to interpret them correctly. We can look at the signs of the last days in Paul’s letter to Timothy and observe that today our society is exactly what is described there. We must learn to be observers of the times and what it is pointing to.

Prayer:

Lord, open my eyes and let me see clearly the signs You are placing in the world today. I hear of outpourings of Your Spirit around the globe, as well as all these other signs and I realize You are up to something. Help me to discern what to do in these days. Show me how to interpret the signs that are so evident around me. Take me to school and teach me how to interpret correctly the signs of this present age.and what they point to.

Yours,

Jeff