Do you have the look of faith?
28 Feb 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
Numbers 21
Numbers 22
Numbers 23
Mark 7:14-37
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (John 3:14).
Do you have the look of faith?
The murmurings of the children of Israel become more intense. They complain that God erred in rescuing them from Egypt. Moreover, they bellyache about not having food and water. “So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6). God didn’t simply honor the cries of the people to take the snakes away but instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and affix it to a pole. Any bitten Israelites are then to look up by faith to the serpent and be made well. Similarly, we need to look to Jesus by faith for salvation “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:15).
Employment Point: Look up to Jesus, by faith, to meet all your spiritual needs
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Reflections
“they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 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.””Numbers 21:5-8 NIV
- The Israelites are looking like pharaoh when they were in Egypt , when God was showing them His great powers but the pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to believe.. however God being the gracious Lord kept loving his people, even though at times He got angry. We can see that God is like human as Jesus was full human and full God. Therefore He know our sufferings and our pain. But He is also merciful and hears the cries of His people when they confess of their sins and He delivered them away from danger. In another way, He was teaching them to focus back on God so that they won’t stray again
“When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff.”
Numbers 22:23, 25, 27 NIV
- Even a donkey recognise the Lord. Us who are supposed to be the firstfruits of God, did not recognise God. We only want to do things our ways, forgotten why things happen time and again preventing us to go somewhere or do something. Let us be mindful and hear the guidance from the Holy Spirit to stop when we are guided to turn back and not be like Balaam who only see when his eyes are open.
“He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.””Mark 7:20-23 NIV
- these verses are a reminder why the Lord has asked us to search our hearts. He wanted us to have not just clean hands but also pure hearts.
It is indeed important for us to look up to the Lord. He should be our source of peace, hope and love.
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Do You Now Believe?
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
February 28
Now we can see that you know all things … This makes us believe. — John 16:30-31
When the disciples finally told Jesus that they believed he was the Son of God, Jesus replied with skepticism: “Do you now believe? … You will leave me all alone” (John 16:31–32). Many Christians leave Jesus alone as they go about their work. They’re motivated by their conscience or a sense of duty, but their souls aren’t in intimate contact with their Lord; they’re leaning on their own understanding. It isn’t a sin to work for God in this way, and there’s no punishment attached to it, but when we catch ourselves acting like this, when we realize we’ve grown distant from Jesus and produced confusion and sadness for ourselves, we come back to him with shame and contrition.
We need to learn to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level, to get into the habit of steadily referring everything back to him. We make decisions based on common sense, then ask God to bless those decisions. He cannot. Common sense is not in God’s domain; it is severed from divine reality. Common sense tells us that duty and moral obligation should be our guides. “I must do this; conscience compels me,” we say, haughtily. A decision based on common sense can always be backed up by an argument like this. But when we do something purely out of obedience to the Lord, no commonsense argument is possible. That’s why obedience is so easy to ridicule.
If we don’t want to leave Jesus alone, we must be willing to be ridiculed for his sake. We aren’t told to walk in the light of conscience or of duty; we’re told to walk in the light as God is in the light (1 John 1:7).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word.
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Reflections
There are times when I say I believe and yet not act like I believe. Maybe you may have experienced this as well.
We say that we believe that our Lord is all powerful, we believe in His Sovereignty, we believe He is our Creator but yet, we act like He is one of us, having limits and unknowing to the future. We don’t think He has the ability to change a man or woman, we think of things like that’s it, it is mission impossible and we forgot that with men we cannot but in Him, we can.
Our focus needs to stay on Him and not on our own understanding. It is never and nothing about us but all about Him. Only He has the ability to soften one’s heart. Only He has the power to transform. Only He has the authority to save, heal or bring back to life. Only He can bring reconciliation, harmony and peace in an otherwise chaotic situation or family. Only if, we look up and keep our eyes on Him. If we have the faith and we believe, He can and if He wills, be able to show us who He truly is. But we do need to really see to believe? Let’s not be like doubtful Thomas but just learn to fully trust Him.
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Lent devotion Day 11/53
taken from YouVersion, Lent for Everyone
Lent for Everyone is a devotional created and written by N.T. (Tom) Wright. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by Wright. These readings have grown out of a project encouraging Lent reading in Northern England. This is the second in a three-volume series based on the Revised Common Lectionary of the Church of England.
Today’s reading:
Matthew 17:1-9
WEEK 1: SATURDAY
Imagine yourself as a fifth member of the party, going up the mountain with Jesus leading the way, Peter beside him, and James and John following too. The last days and weeks have been utterly bewildering. Nothing like this has happened to you before, or to any of the others. Within a short time, you've got to the point where you really do believe that Jesus is God's Messiah, his anointed one, the one who will make God's kingdom a reality on earth as in heaven. But how is this going to happen? What will it mean?
It's all so new . . . and one of the things some of your friends are saying, back home, is that Jesus can't really be the one God is sending to rescue Israel and transform the world. He seems so different from what they'd imagined. You know that in yourself. You'd had a vague idea of a warrior king on a white horse, or of a new, strict teacher of the ancient law, insisting on sterner obedience to God's commandments. And Jesus — well, Jesus did indeed make it clear that God's commands mattered deeply, but that was in the context of him healing people, celebrating God's kingdom with all kinds of unlikely people, so that somehow, when he was around, holiness seemed different: exciting, liberating, rather than constricting and gloomy. So it seems to you, along with Peter and the others, that though this isn't what you thought the Messiah would look like he can't really be anybody else.
It's long way up the mountain. Walking, walking, not much being said. Then suddenly a sense of something happening. Your eyes are deceiving you. It's a trick of the light. No, it's a new sort of light — and it's coming from Jesus himself! Jesus is shining, brighter and brighter! And then something else is happening. He's talking to two men, two timeless, ageless figures. You hear enough of what they're saying to know that these are Moses, the great lawgiver, and Elijah, the great prophet. This is overwhelming. Moses, in the old stories, went up the mountain to meet God. So did Elijah. Now we have come up with Jesus and we're meeting Moses and Elijah. All the stories are rushing together. But they're making something quite new, and we're part of it.
Then Peter is speaking. 'This is it! This is wonderful! Let's stay here for ever! We can make booths right here, for you, Jesus, for Moses and for Elijah!' Great idea, you think. This is heaven on earth — heaven and earth coming together at last. This is what we've always longed for. Jesus really is the Messiah. He isn't overthrowing the law and the prophets; he's fulfilling them.
And then it happens. The Voice. People said they heard a voice when Jesus was baptized by John, and now it comes again. 'This is my Son, my Beloved; I am delighted in him. You must listen to him.' Did you imagine it? No, you all heard it, and you all found your legs giving way underneath you with sheer terror. And then it was over. Just Jesus by himself. Don't tell anyone, he says, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.
This was all as bewildering and confusing in the first century as it is for us, reading it today. But what it meant at the time, and what it means now, is clear. Jesus was and is God's Messiah, his chosen one, fulfilling the ancient scriptures, bringing the age-old hope into reality. He was and is the ultimate place where heaven and earth meet. And if you stick with Jesus, it'll happen again. Not necessarily people shining like lights — though that has sometimes happened. But people, and places, full of a sense of God's presence and purpose. Usually, when this happens, it's the result of people taking Jesus very seriously. And usually, when it happens, it is in the middle of a time of great testing and trouble. So it was with Moses and Elijah. So it would be with Jesus. So it may well be with us.
TODAY
Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, show us your glory, and give us ears to listen to what you have to say to us.
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Let’s pray:
Father Lord, thank You for showing us who You really are. Thank You for reminding us to focus on the things above and not on the earthly things that we see or hear but to just trust in You and Your word and that whatever that is promised will come to pass.
We know the times will only get harder and more people will turn to evil. Even the believers are not true believers anymore but have indulged in the things that You Lord has forbid them to. Grant us all good hearing, so that we will not miss the reminders or messages that You tell us to follow and help us too, to follow through. Thank You Lord. In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen 🙏🏻
Amen
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