March 8th One Year Bible Readings

Numbers 10:1-11:23 ~ Mark 14:1-21 ~ Psalm 51:1-19 ~ Proverbs 10:31-32
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Old Testament - Today we begin to read about the Israelites discontent with God’s provision and care in Numbers chapter 11, and this discontent & disobedience we will read about through chapter 25. As we read through these chapters, I do think we would do well to not point fingers at the Israelites and say that we would have behaved differently back then. I’m not so sure that I would have. . . I think these chapters will very likely speak into our lives today and we might find that we are often not so different from the Israelites. In Numbers chapter 11 verse 1 today we read: “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused.” How does this verse speak to you today? I don’t know about you, but for me this verse is convicting. Simply because I know that I often complain more to God than I actually thank God for the blessings he has poured out into my life. It really is incredible to stop and think about how good God is to us. In fact, one of our One Year Bible participants in the past had a blog called “God is Good All the Time.” And this is so true. And yet, what is our percentage of thanksgiving to God versus our complaining to God? I’m afraid my percentage is way skewed toward complaining or worrying (worrying is really similar to complaining I think). I pray that as I go forward in my walk with God that I will do a lot more thanking and a lot less complaining & worrying. It is an amazing thing – this gift of life. Even in the midst of all of our daily challenges and storms, let us know that God is the anchor and harbor in our life. And he continues to pour out blessings upon blessings upon our life – oftentimes without us consciously being aware of the blessings. And oftentimes without us thanking God for the blessings. How about you? How is your thanksgiving of God’s blessings in your life going these days?

New Testament - In Mark chapter 14 today we read the beautiful story of Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anoints Jesus, and as he tells us in verse 8 - "She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.""  A new insight I learned on this today is from Zondervan's commentary - In Jesus' day it was a normal Jewish custom to anoint a dead body with aromatic oils in preparing for burial.  Jesus seems to be anticipating suffering a "criminal's" death, for only in that circumstance was there no anointing of the dead body.

Psalms - Today we read one of my favorite Psalms!  Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is David’s humble prayer for forgiveness and cleansing after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed in battle. I believe that this Psalm can continue to be a humble prayer for forgiveness and cleansing for each of us today. This Psalm is read by many liturgical churches during the season of Lent as a penitential Psalm. A brief quote about Psalm 51 from this Bible.org is this – “The application of the psalm to believers today should be obvious. We, like David, can and must have complete cleansing before we can fully and freely serve God in any capacity. Our eternal destiny may not be in doubt when we sin as believers, and neither was David’s because he appealed to that covenant relationship, but our fellowship and service will be. God will not tolerate unconfessed sin, and so will hold us accountable if we do not confess.” I’ve been trying to figure out my favorite portion or two of this Psalm to share with you. . . but I can’t just pick one portion. It is all so powerful! Tell you what – I’m going to copy the full Psalm below in the NIV translation (my favorite for this Psalm). Please take a few moments to meditate upon this Psalm. My questions for reflection are these – Do you confess your sins to God? Do you confess your sins to others? And ask them to hold you accountable? When was the last time you confessed your sins to God? Do you have sins to confess to God today? Will you do so now? I pray this Psalm opens up your heart to the amazing burden that is lifted when we confess our sins to God. . .

Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 10 verses 31 & 32 are great reminders of how very important the words that come out of our mouths are!  They reflect the condition of our hearts...  What are the types of words that are coming out of your mouth these days?  Are they helpful to others?  Do they give wise advice?

Worship God: Psalm 51 reminded me of the fantastic song "Create in me a Clean Heart" performed here by Donnie McClurkin and a choir:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILRjmPGvVB8

Do you want a clean heart?  Click here to be made clean!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray for a pure heart. Pray that God will purify your heart. Pray for renewal of a steadfast spirit within.

Comments from You & Questions of the Day:  How does Psalm 51 speak to you?  Can you imagine yourself praying any of these lines to God?  Have you ever prayed Psalm 51 to God?  Or have you prayed other Psalms to God?  Do you confess your sins to God? Do you confess your sins to others? And ask them to hold you accountable?  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

[Ramona]

Numbers 10-11:23
1 Corinthians 14:10 says, in the King James Translation, “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.” That is the first thing I thought about when I began reading about the “silver” trumpets. Its good that we hear the notes being sounded, but hearing them does us no good if we don’t know what they mean. Here Moses is instructed by God on what to sound for differing situations. If the call to break camp is sounded but no one understand the signal or there is differing interpretations then you have chaos and movement with no momentum.

The wisdom of the trumpet sounds and each sounds’ meaning is demonstrated in the way the Israelis break camp and how they Tabernacle is already set up by the time the last tribe breaks camp and gets to the place were the camp is set up.

There is a verse in Isaiah, 1:18, where God invites the prophet to dialogue with Him about the true condition of their sin, so I’m not so sure that the peoples’ complaining is about just complaining or that the people are complaining about God taking them out of Egypt which they have false memories of the good times and food they had. They, like us, complain about God’s provisions devaluing the gifts and blessings of God.

The greatest gift God has given us is our deliverance from sin and freedom from eternal death, yet we find ourselves walling in the sin we have been delivered from giving that sin greater value then the freedom from it. We fear death that walks hand-in-hand with sin, but as long as we romance sin death comes along. We, like the children of Israel, make poor value judgments.

Mark 14:1-21
A woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus, unbeknownst to her she is preparing the one she loves for his death that he will die for her sins. She has given to Jesus more value than the cost of the perfume and the jar she carries it in. Yet those at the table who dine with Him value the perfume and the jar more than they value the man they have followed for three and a half years. Value it’s all about what we value. Jesus said, 7 “You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer.”

What we do for Christ is the only thing that will last, words to a song but true words. Christ is more precious than silver; more costly than gold and more beautiful than diamonds, He is priceless.

Psalm 51:1-21
7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer.

Something so hard for me to remember that my sins against others is not really against them, it is against God because He created them in His image, the same image that he created me after.

Proverbs 10:31-32
I’m reminded of an old saying, “You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.” If you only get words of comfort, words of wisdom, words that build you up from the godly, then looking to the wicked for anything other than corruption is a waste of time. A false witness breathes out lies, all the time.

Grace and peace,
Ramona

[Raeann]

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. I pray Psalm 1 as part of my Bible reading quiet time. "GOD Be merciful to me a sinner" as part of my nightly prayer.

[Dee]

Numbers 10-11:23, the verse(s) that stood out to me was at the end of our lesson in Numbers 11. Here Moses is complaining or offering up a plea to God, Please Help Me, Their acting like babies, like children. I didn't give birth to them! Am I suppose to carry them in my arms to and through the Promise Land? Will they ever get weaned?!! lol, its funny but its ever too real, because I know we feel like that sometimes when we are in a leadership role and our followers are "not getting it, or not catching on quick enough" I am sure God gets frustrated with us likewise for our slow involvement or murmuring when we should be praising Him. And then comes God's remarks which are amusing to me today..Tell the people this: Make yourselves holy. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you cry, "We want meat! We were better off in Egypt!" So now the Lord will give you meat to eat. You will not eat it for just 1,2,5,10 or even 20 days. You will eat meat for a whole month. You will eat it until it comes out of your nose. This is hilarious! Did anyone else have to laugh and smirk a little at the Lords comebacks today? Sometimes we have to be careful what we ask for, cause you just may get it and a heap of it at that !! And then the Lords last comments to Moses in verse 23 after Moses is wandering, how are you going to provide in the natural all that food for 600,000 + people Lord? He is questioning God's ability to meet a need? God replies, "Do you think I'm weak? You will see if I can do what I say." Again, that is so us! so typical of us, Help me Lord, help me, help me. I believe Lord, but help my unbelief.

I believe the verse that penetrates the most in Mark is the last verses in Mark 14:21. The Son of Man must go and die. The Scriptures say this will happen. But how terrible it will be for the person who gives the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for that person if he had never been born. How pitiful to know that all your life and all the 3 1/2 years of mentorship with the Saviour was for nought/nothing, forgettable. To be written down in history as being an enemy of Christ. It makes me think about 'religions' today and how many so called preachers are imitators of the Word, and leading people astray with laws and regulations instead of grace and mercy and redeeming Love that Christ has for us! It would be betterfor those just like Judas if they never were born. That is what Christ is saying right there. I pray that each one that goes to this blog and that goes to church or is in a bible based community group of some sort is hearing the true unaltered, never changing, beautiful Words of the Living God and being taught correctly and guarding your hearts with all diligence because out of it flows the wellsprings of life. Proverbs 4:23.

Psalm 51, if noting with Mikes commentary, I was out on my back porch this morning, praying to God and asking for forgiveness and I try to make it a weekly thing to ask if there is any unresolved forgiveness or hidden things I had forgotten or need to come to a surface to please reveal them to me. I try to always renew my mind daily with the Word of God and to stay true to my Prov 4:23 because that is one of my favorite verses. However, I do feel what David is saying in the Psalms today. So heartfelt and pure. It truly is the very purest acts of confession and forgiveness. We could all learn a little from this Psalm. What I got out of the Psalm is closer to the end of the Psalm, David was admitting to God that, He (God) is not pleased by sacrifices, no burnt offerings either. What God wants is a willing spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for its sin! Amen, Amen, Amen!!