March 9th One Year Bible Readings

~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~
Numbers 11:24-13:33 ~ Mark 14:22-52 ~ Psalm 52:1-9 ~ Proverbs 11:1-3
~ Click here to listen to today's Scripture on BibleOnRadio.com ~

Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 11 we read about God's Spirit resting upon 70 leaders!  I found verse 29 awesome when Moses responded to Joshua's protesting of Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp - ""Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them all!"" This is great humility on Moses part!  He was not threatened by others using gifts of the Spirit in public.  "I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets."  These words of Moses remind me of a more modern day quote I read somewhere that went something like - "We are all called to be saints."  I like that...  Do you believe that you are called to be a saint?

In Numbers chapter 13 we read about twelve scouts exploring the Promised Land, and Moses sending them out in verse 17 & 18 - "Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go northward through the Negev into the hill country.  See what the land is like and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many."

New Testament - This week we will be reading about Jesus' passion in the Gospel of Mark. Today In Mark chapter 14 verses 35 & 36 we read this about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – “Going a little farther, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” What a powerful prayer here from Jesus! Jesus knows what is coming. He knows what the road to Calvary will bring. He knows that God has the power to take this suffering away from him – BUT, here’s the amazingly important piece of this prayer, which I think each of us would do well in praying in our prayers – “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” This is such a powerful prayer from Jesus to God. We get a glimpse here of a prayer from the Messiah to the Father – and again, I think we would do well to pray this in our prayers as well. This of course is very similar to the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus taught in Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, when we pray – “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done.” Not our will, but Thy Will be done. In your prayer life, do you model Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and in the Lord’s Prayer? Do you pray that not your will – but God’s perfect will – be done?

In today's readings in Mark we also read about Jesus' betrayal and arrest.  This image below from Ambrogio Bondone Giotto from around 1300 A.D. called "The Kiss of Judas" captures the unfortunate scene -

Commentary from bible.org on Mark chapter 14's is at this link. 

Psalms - Verse 9 in Psalm 52 stood out to me today - ""I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will wait for your mercies in the presence of your people."  Are you looking forward to praising God forever?  Are you willing to wait for God?  If things don't seem to be moving as quickly as you would like them to in your spiritual life, will you still wait for God?  And will you do so in the presence of God's people?  Do you believe that being part of a church community can help you during a time of waiting for the Lord?  And do you believe that you can help others in your church to wait as well?  Then, together you can look forward to praising God forever for what he has done and will do.

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 11 verse 2 is so true and is something I personally need to be reminded of constantly - "Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."  Let us pray for humility... 

Worship God: Psalm 52:9 reminded me of the song "I will lift my eyes" by Bebo Norman.  Here's a great video of images set to this song:

Have you lifted your eyes to your maker?  Click here and be lifted up!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  Have you ever struggled with pride issues?  How did you overcome those issues?  Do you agree with the Proverb today that pride can lead to disgrace?  Do you think it's true that wisdom comes with humility?  Do you ever pray to God to keep you humble?  Do you think this might be a good prayer to pray on occasion?  Or maybe even very often?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Love, Trust and Obey Jesus,
Mike

Comments

[Art]

Re. pride vs. humility: it's one of those things that's absolutely insidious for me. At the very moment when I begin to imagine that I've gotten beyond pride/ego, the very act of thinking it brings it back in force!

I find a remarkable parallel between Proverbs 11:2b ("...with humility comes wisdom.") and what we read today in Numbers 12:3 explaining why Moses had such an extraordinary, intimate relationship with God:

"(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)"

One can look skeptically on such a rhetorical superlative from an historical perspective, but if we believe that scripture is truly God-breathed, then it's not such a stretch at all. Only God *could* know that Moses was the most humble man on earth! And this makes clear that He values humility very highly indeed. For how else can His will be done through us?

I think of it as similar to electrical resistance and conductivity. If we have a lot of resistance (i.e., pride) we will not conduct God's 'electricity' and power and accomplish the work he wants to effect in the world through His people.

The Proverbs and Numbers passages are an amazing backdrop for the Mark passages today in which the Son of Man humbles himself in the most fundamental way -- allowing himself to be captured and led away to what he knows will be a most painful and humiliating death. It's hard to imagine anything more humble than that! Praise God that he drank of that cup for us!