Day 88 Bible Reading - Numbers 27

Numbers 26 and 27, Luke 7: 36-50, Psalm 47

Numbers 27: 18-21 (ESV)

“So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.””

Verses 18 through 21 from Numbers 27 remind us of the value of waiting. Joshua waited patiently as second in command to Moses. He did everything that was asked of him, and he was eventually rewarded by God to lead after Moses. The promotion of Joshua shows us that God does see everything that we do, and if we are patient and trusting in God, then eventually God will promote us to where we need to be. I think the hardest part is the waiting. The waiting plays with your mind and makes you distrust God and lose your faith. But if we can wait long enough, God always has a plan for us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses and will put us in a position that benefits us and his plan for humanity. But the waiting is hard, so very hard.

Day 87 Bible Reading – Happy Good Friday! Luke 7

Numbers 24 and 25, Luke 7: 15-35, Psalm 46

Luke 7: 34 (ESV)

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

I heard an interesting interpretation of verse 34 from Luke 7 by David Guzik, a pastor at the Calvary Chapel of Santa Barbara – see his commentary (https://enduringword.com/media/luke-7-witness-forgiven-woman/). Religious leaders at the time didn’t want to associate with sinful people because it was a badge of honor to do that. That’s why they made this comment about Jesus. But Guzik said that Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners because he loved them and wanted to meet them where they were at. He did not despise them. His heart and compassion went out to them because he wanted to help and rescue them from their sin, to transform their lives so they are no longer under the bondage of sin. Jesus loved sinners just the way they are, but he loved them too much to leave them where they were at and wanted to transform their lies. I love this interpretation. Jesus loves me enough just the way I am, but he loved me too much to leave me where I am. He wants to transform my life and free me from the bondage of sin. People get it so wrong. Yes, Jesus loves us as sinners and accepts us, but that acceptance doesn’t come without wanting us to transform our lives from sin. That’s the power of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins on the cross. He died for our sins on the cross, otherwise it would be us instead of him on the cross.

Day 86 Bible Reading - Luke 6: 37-38 (ESV)

Numbers 22: 21-41, Numbers 23, Luke 6: 37-49, Luke 7: 1-10, Psalm 45: 10-17

Luke 6: 37-38 (ESV)

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Verses 37-38 from Luke 6 is how I try to lead my life, although I do admit sometimes it’s hard to do that especially in the last five years. I’m still working on the “love your enemies” part. I try to take a pause on how my actions will affect someone, and sometimes when I am too emotionally involved it’s hard to take that pause. It’s so easy to let your emotions take over your actions, and you have to discipline yourself to not react. Someone wise person at one of my jobs said before you send an email response to someone, take a pause and if you can let it sit for a day so you can read it over in case you might have overreacted to something in the email. Letting the email sit for a day also lets you edit it out and keep yourself brief, concise, and professional. I’m trying to follow this advice when I want to complain about something. I’m trying to let any issues sit for two weeks if possible. After two weeks if the issue is still something I need to complain about, then I do it with the hope that all the emotion is gone and I can make a cogent definition. Does it make a difference with how people treat me? I don’t know and I don’t care if it does because that’s not my issue or my business. All I can control and care about controlling is how I react, and if I can react or treat someone the way Christ would me want to then all is right in my world.

Day 85 Bible Reading - Luke 6: 20 (ESV)

Numbers 21, Numbers 22: 1-20, Luke 6: 12-36, Psalm 45: 1-9

Luke 6: 20 (ESV)

“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”

I have read and listened to verse 20 from Luke 6 many times, but I did not know that it might mean that it would be a requirement of God’s kingdom to be poor in spirit or have a poverty in spirit. When a person has a poverty or is bankrupt in spirit, they know that they do not have the means within themselves for salvation and they can do nothing without God. This feeling also applies to wealth as well. If I take the meaning of this verse to be true, I can now understand why Jesus has always said wealth is an obstacle to the kingdom of God. When a person has wealth in money or spirit, they know that they can still care for themselves without God and will at times no need God. Only when one is utterly poor in money or spirit to the point where they need to beg, will I think one realize nothing can done in their life without God because they are so lacking in spirit or resources. I know that when I have felt an utter lack in spirit in myself, I will cry out for God. But I don’t have this feeling 24/7. I only feel this feeling when something devastating such as death has happened in my life. When I do cry out to God, he is always there. I wish I could feel this lack of spirit in myself all the time, but I know I still have too much ego for that. I still think most of the time I can do everything myself, and don’t need God 24/7. Now I know that this ego-driven confidence is wrong, and I do want to know what it is like to need God every second of my life.