March 12th readings

~ Click on this link for today's readings ~
Numbers 16:41-18:32 ~ Mark 16:1-20
Psalm 55:1-23 ~ Proverbs 11:7

Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 17 verse 8 we read how God stopped the questioning of the Israelite community about Aaron and his houses' unique priestly authority - "When Moses went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron's staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, blossomed, and produced almonds!"

The 2nd sentence in Numbers chapter 18 verse 20 stood out to me today - "And the LORD said to Aaron, "You priests will receive no inheritance of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your inheritance and your share."  What a beautiful thing to hear from God!  I am your inheritance and your share.  In your life today, is God your inheritance and your share?  Do you want God to be your inheritance and share?  Does anything else at all compare to this glorious inheritance?

New Testament - Today we finish up the Gospel of Mark!  The Gospel of Luke starts tomorrow.  In Mark chapter 16 verse 6 is the key to our Christian faith - "The angel said, "Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead!" Do you believe this angel's proclamation?  Do you truly believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?

Psalms - Psalm 55 verse 22 is a beautiful reminder to all who believe in the risen Lord - "Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall."  Please do meditate on this verse a bit.  Do you make it a habit of giving your burdens to the Lord?  Or do you try to carry your burdens on your own strength?  Is there a burden you are carrying today that you can give to the Lord?  Will you?  And do you trust that he will take care of you and not permit you to slip & fall?

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 7 is a great reminder of why we should not only not carry our burdens on our own, but we should also not rely on our own strength.  Our strength is fleeting...  Will you instead rely on the Eternal Strength that will never fail you?

What verses or insights jumped out for you in today's readings?  Please post up in the Comments section below!

Grace,
Mike

Comments

[Jeff]

There is a widespread belief that the final verses of Mark (16:9-20) were not part of Mark's original gospel. For example, on this question my Study Bible says about these verses: "They are absent from important early manuscripts and display certain peculiarities of vocabulary, style and theological content that are unlike the rest of Mark."

Perhaps we should not be too quick to accept this theory. Personally, I find that the vocabulary and style are very similar. Do you?

But the question of "theological content" is the most interesting one--here I think they must be referring primarily to verses 17 and 18 wherein Jesus' final words before his ascension are: 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

I think it is possible that early scribes were confounded by the idea that "those who believe" would be able to do these miracles (especially "drink deadly poison" without hurting themselves). Thus isn't it also possible that they simply decided to delete these verses from their early manuscripts?

By "those who believe", was Jesus referring to all believers? or simply to "the Eleven" disciples (see verse 14)? I think the latter is more likely, in which case understanding verses 17 & 18 becomes much easier to accept.

[emberglow]

Yes, I do give my burdens to Lord and do believe that He is perfectly capable of taking care of them. But Im riven apart between the gospel of succcess and positivity as preached by the likes of Joel Osteen, Dr. Schuller and the one of repentence, wrath of God and suffering by others.

So, I wonder if I should be joyful and ambitious, not scared to make mistakes, experiment or I should sit in the corner, sulk and suffer for Christian ideals in this modern, material,'progressive' , liberal and free world...in the hope that Jesus is coming back and I am going to live in Heaven forever?

I got no idea. And that's what confuses me and makes me hopeless. Because I dont know what I can hope for.

[Nancy]

Mike,

God Bless You for giving of your time and talents to the people of the Gulf Coast. The people there are in need of much help and love. Also, thank you for this daily reading. Thank you and may God Richly Bless You.

[Peggy Williams]

In todays reading Psalm 55:22 I even copied it so it will be a constant reminder. "Turn your worries over to the Lord". Wow what a feeling, to know that that God will keep you going. I thank God that I walk with Him each day, without Him I would be nothing. Have a Blessed day. Peggy

[Ramona]

Numbers 16:41-18:32

God has passed judgment on His people for challenging the leadership of Moses. Refusing to acknowledge that Moses is the one who God has chosen to lead His people, the folk continue to murmur and complain against Moses. “He is the one who is knocking off God’s people,” they fail to take responsibility for their own actions so there is a continual game of “Blame Shifting.”

The foolishness of man subverts his way [ruins his affairs]; then his heart is resentful and frets against the Lord. (Proverbs 19:3 AMP)

Moses’ own sister and brother, Israel’s leadership and now Israel herself continues to challenge the leadership God has put in place and they now accuse Moses and his brother Aaron of “knocking off” the people. Can we find ourselves doing this today? We are a fickle bunch. Like Israel most believers have made a conscience choice to not hear from God, we want someone else to do it (Exodus 20:19) then tell us what God has said. Yet when that person tells us “Thus saith the Lord,” we want to stone him/her or ignore the Word we have authorized him/her to receive from God. We are a seditious and rebellious bunch.

This Blog encourages and motivates people to read the Word of God, something that many of us have not done even for those who claim leadership or want to be leaders. It is a dangerous business to try to lead people who don’t know the Word of God for themselves when leadership is ignorant. Yet it is even more dangerous to submit to leadership without finding out the path you are suppose to take by reading God’s Word. How do you know if you are on the right path if you don’t know the Word of God? No knowing God’s Word may land you in a jungle somewhere drinking Kool-Aid spiked with poison.

But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. (Matthew 11:16-17 KJV)

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Oriane]

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;he will never let the righteous fall"...I found great comfort in this verse in Psalm today, knowing that I am not alone and that the Lord will sustain me during this walk. The background on my desktop says "Casting the whole of your cares-all your anxities,all your worries,all your concerns, once and for all-on Him; for He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully" 1 Peter 5:7 (Amp). Today's verse in Psalm stood out to me as it is very similar to this verse in 1 Peter. We have an amazing friend in Jesus and He helps us walk this Christian walk in this world filled with 'crevasses' and 'steep hills'. How comforting it is to know that He will look after our burdens! God Bless.

[Betty]

Emberglow,
I, too, often feel that the preaching of "success" and "postive thinking" does a disservice to most of us who have day to day tests of faith and struggles. The reality is that this world is full of trouble. But the truth is that in Christ, we have the upperhand and He is our eternal Hope. Yes, life is not easy but I believe God calls upon us to trust Him so He can increase our faith. We cannot dwell on the negative as if He is not worthy of our trust. Instead, we are to believe that victory in whatever form is possible through the power of God. So how does that translate on a day to day reality? Well, like Paul, we make the best of every situation we find ourselves in and find contentment and joy within that circumstance. Even in prison, Paul could sing, because he did not look at his circumstance, but look to God for his inner joy. Joy and happiness are not the result of our outside circumstances, but of our inner peace with God knowing He is always in control, always on our side, and there to carry every burden. Besides, in this world there will be tribulation, and we ought not love the world or what is in it. It is in our eternal hope of heaven that we need to look to in every circumstance. Thank God for His Holy Spirit who comforts us and the power He grants us to live victoriously!

[John]

emberglow,

"But Im driven apart between the gospel of succcess and positivity as preached by the likes of Joel Osteen, Dr. Schuller and the one of repentence, wrath of God and suffering by others."

I am not sure who the latter preachers are that you refer to in your post.

After being saved and really "reading" the Bible, I found myself drawn to men who preached from the Bible, and on the "cross", salvation, and the growth in Christian maturity. That growth has plenty of joy, happiness, peace, and love that comes from the Trinity. It also has testing, tough times, and pain in dealing with the journey to sanctification that will only be completed in heaven.

We are imperfect, and while we have a regeneration of the spirit, we still battle the flesh. Without the tough times we would never grow in spiritual maturity.

On the Christian radio networks, I like to listen to Erwin Lutzer, David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll, and the ministry of J. Vernon McGee (now deceased but they still broadcast his messages).

I read a lot of Ravi Zacharias (apologetic ministry), and John MacArthur.

If you are disappointed on what you have been "fed" - perhaps you might try listening to or reading some of these ministers.

All of these men (in my opinion) are scripturally based in their teachings. None of them seem to fall into the two categories of Biblical outlooks that you refer to in your post.

Whatever you do, stay in prayer, stay in the "Word", and seek the guidance of God.

[Andrew B]

Re gospel of success:

A while ago Mike referred us to Principles of Priesthood (Leviticus 8-10) By: Bob Deffinbaugh , Th.M.
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=270

I learned some things about church and priesthood from that piece. It includes the following:

"When all human hope is lost, men still have the promises of God, backed by His power and by His character.

Here is the critical difference between the “hope” which the world offers me and the true hope which God offers. The world’s hope is a counterfeit hope, it is only a delusion. God’s hope is certain. Hebrews chapter 11 focuses on the biblical hope which sustained the men and women of faith in the Old Testament times, especially when all human hope was lost.

The world’s “hope” differs from God’s hope in the way it is spelled. God’s hope is spelled H O P E. The world’s “hope” is spelled H Y P E. Hype is furthered and fueled by success, while hope is promoted by failure. HYPE is confident of what men can do. Hope is confident in God, not men.

The sad reality, in my personal opinion, is that the church has all too often exchanged its hope for hype. We think that “success stories” build the hope of Christians, but the Bible suggests otherwise. It is those who are sick who turn to someone else for healing, as the afflicted turned to our Lord in the gospels. It is those who are sinners, who look for salvation in someone outside of themselves.

You see, when we as Christians view our hope as being synonymous and signaled by our successes, we have switched to hype, not hope. And the tragedy is that those who are afflicted and suffering are told (or it is at least strongly implied) that they must have too little faith, when it is these very trials which God has given us to strengthen our faith, just as He gave to those who are listed in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews chapter 11.

The failures of the Aaronic Priesthood caused men and women of faith to look to God for a better High Priest, and a better priesthood. It instructed the saints of old not to put their trust in men, but in God. Every failure which is to be found in the Pentateuch (and in all the Bible, for that matter) is recorded to cause us to distrust ourselves, and to place our trust more fully in God, who is worthy of our trust.

May God grant that we, like the Israelites of old, might learn from the failures of the old institutions that God always has a better way. May God grant us to see, and to believe that the better way has been finished by our Lord Jesus Christ, who is all sufficient, and who is worthy of all of our hope and trust."