Numbers 6:24 – “The LORD Bless you and KEEP you…”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today and through the night, something I have taught many times filled my thoughts: the Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6.  One dimension of that captured my consciousness: being KEPT!

The covenant person who is walking in Covenant with God has an astounding promise. We live in an alien world as believers.   This world is not our home.   We are sojourners passing through on our way to our eternal home.   We live in a hostile world where darkness surrounds us.   Demonic forces are poised to attack, hinder, and do us harm.   In a sense, we are “Cocooned in hostility.”   But God has covenanted with us to keep us.    Psalms 23 and Psalm 91 are reminders of that promise.

Psalm 121:1-3 – “I look up toward the hills.  From whence does my help come?  2 My help comes from the LORD, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  3 May He not allow your foot to slip.  May your protector not sleep.”

Even when we are asleep, God watches over us and keeps us.  In the remaining portion of that Psalm, we see that we are KEPT in our “innermost person,” which extends to the “outermost extension” of who we are.

Remember, we are people of a Better Covenant.   In Zechariah 2:8, we read something interesting and powerful.  “He who touched you touches the apple of My (God’s) eye.”  Think about that in the natural for a powerful revelation.   If something touches the eye, it causes the rest of the body to focus on the eye.  If you scratch your arm, leg, face, back, or any area of the body, you keep going, BUT scratch the eye, and everything comes to a grinding halt.   Here, God is telling us that He is our protector and protection.

Too bad we don’t always live like we believe that!   Imagine knowing that if anyone or anything touches or attacks you as a child of Covenant, heaven responds!  That is Covenant.  That is being KEPT.

Psalm 23: The LORD is my shepherd.  The shepherd would position himself between the sheep and danger, and the predator or thief had to go through the shepherd to get to the sheep.  The LORD is our shepherd.  We are KEPT!  David, a shepherd, wrote that and said, “Because God is my shepherd, how can I even imagine being in want or lack?  I am KEPT!”

Today, we need to believe and embrace God’s promise and live fearless lives, knowing He is keeping us.  He is our protector, our provision, and our peace.

How do we have this?   We believe it is true!   We yield fully to God.  We are not spectators watching life from the stands; we are on the field, clothed in Him; KEPT!   Let’s believe it, receive it, and live in it!  No weapon or tongue can prevail, though all hell assail heaven’s grace will never fail.

May you always live with a sense of being kept by God!   In that Peace, live each day fully and victoriously!

Acts 16:25 – “About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I was reminded of a saying from years ago.  You are the only Bible some people read.  What is the Gospel according to you?

People watch believers, especially in times of difficulty.  In Acts 16, Paul and Silas had been beaten severely and imprisoned in Philippi.   Think about the situation.  They had been beaten with rods, wrongly imprisoned, and were praying and praising God at midnight “in jail.”  Too often, we lick our wounds and lament (woe is me).  Why me, Lord?  Why this?  Why now?  Why, why, why?

The verse continues, “AND the rest of the prisoners were listening to them.”   That is extremely important!   That is incredibly revelatory and places a weight of responsibility on believers.  We are to be Christ’s representatives and manifest His heart, nature, and character in this world.  We are to be like Him.

What was Jesus’ response on the Cross?   “Father, forgive them…” What about Stephen, as he was being stoned?  “Father, forgive them.”

How we live is important.   But also, how we face storms and even how we die.   I want my life, in both times of ease and times of trial, to glorify God.  If people are reading my life and that is their only encounter with the gospel, I want it to glorify God!

We do not know how our response to difficulties, trials, tribulations, and tests will impact others.    It is reported that one of Dave Roever’s boatmates cried out as he heard Dave praising God as he surfaced from the waters, severely wounded and apparently dying.   The man reportedly knelt and said, “If he can serve God dying, I can serve him living.”

You and I are being watched.  Let each of us be worth watching!  We have the provision of God’s Grace and the infilling of His Spirit to impact this world.  What is the gospel according to how you live?

Let the Gospel according to you be the same Gospel Jesus presented, and the early church preached!

Jeremiah 2:22 – “You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent (human effort). You can use as much soap as you want (perform as many acts as you want). BUT the stain of your guilt is still there for Me to see, says the Sovereign LORD.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a verse in Jeremiah 2 stopped me in my tracks. Isaiah 58-61 focuses on relationship, the call of God, anointing, and purpose. In the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Israel had drifted away from God and made themselves and false gods their Gods.

Jeremiah spoke to those trying to be acceptable through human effort. They were religious but unrighteous.  They thought they were okay because they attended synagogue meetings and performed rituals. They failed, as do some today, that it is not what we do but what He has done that saves us.

Jeremiah 2:22 (I have been awakened at 2:22 and 3:33 multiple times recently).    “You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent (human effort). You can use as much soap as you want (perform as many acts as you want). BUT the stain of your guilt is still there for Me to see, says the Sovereign LORD.”

Many people today try to convince themselves that their religious badges will gain them entrance into heaven.  It’s not the badge; it’s the heart!

Isaiah 58 speaks of using religion for selfish purposes. It speaks of an outward show of religion while inside being filled with hate, dissension, and unforgiveness. Isaiah was told to confront them and expose the truth.

The words of Jesus in John 13:34-35 reverberate in my heart and mind. “I give you a new commandment- to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”

Just going to church, quoting the Bible, looking religious, and wearing religious badges are meaningless UNLESS the heart belongs to God. We can never do enough to cleanse ourselves.   Only the Blood of Jesus can wipe away our sins. His Word washes us, and the Holy Spirit guides us into the light.

Being religious may make you easier to get along with, but being His is the only pathway to peace and eternal salvation.

Lord, I ask that You help us surrender all to You today!   Help us not to be deceived into thinking our religiosity will cleanse us.  Help us to love just as You love us. Set us free from self.

May God’s Grace, Peace, and Power guard and guide you today!

John 4:46-50 – “Now he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had made the water wine.  In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick.  ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and begged him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.  ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe!” ⁴⁹ “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus told him, “Go home; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and set off for home.”

As I read, prayed, and considered the Word of God today, the simplicity of faith staggered me.   Staggered me?  Yes, because of the extent we complicate it in contrast to biblical examples of exercised faith.

In John 4, we have the account of the synagogue official who had a sick child and came to Jesus for help.  Interestingly, after his request, Jesus said in verse 48, “…Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe!”    The official was undeterred and said, “Sir, the official said to Him, come down before my child dies.” He believed that healing and help were within Jesus’s person and power.

Jesus responded to his persistence and expectation in verse 50 – “Go home; your son will live.  The man believed the word (Rhema) that Jesus spoke to him and set off for home.”

He had come to bring Jesus to his problem.  He believed that if Jesus came to his problem, healing would result.   Jesus chided him and them for seeking signs.  The man persisted, showing his confidence was not in the external but in Jesus.  Jesus spoke the word (Rhema), and he received it.

There is a simple pattern that reveals the simplicity of faith.   

• He believed Jesus could. 
• He came to Jesus with his request. 
• He presented his petition and persisted.
• He heard the Word (Rhema) Jesus spoke.
• He believed the word (Rhema).
• He acted upon that word (Rhema).

At that moment, nothing had changed in the natural.  But because he heard, believed, and responded, God’s power went before him and performed the miracle.  Because he heard, believed, and acted upon the Word (Rhema) of Jesus, he received.

He did not see any visible change but trusted Jesus. He came to bring Jesus to his problem.  Instead, he left his problem with Jesus and acted as if what Jesus said was a realized reality he received.

We tend to be led by what we see and feel.  We trust what we see more than what Jesus says.  We insert our understanding, our definition, and our evaluation.  This man heard, believed, obeyed, and received.

This is not a formula but a pattern.  We have a problem or need.   It is unfixable by human ability.  We bring it to Jesus and petition.  He speaks by the Spirit or the Word.  It is at that juncture that there are two roads before us.

We continue to petition, convinced we have to get Him to our problem, road one.  We take Him at His Word and act like He is telling the truth, road two.

Let’s first come to Him and make our request known to Him.   Let’s hear Him.   Once we’ve heard Him, let’s believe His Word and act upon it.  Obey Him.  The biblical promise is the fulfillment of His promise.

Remove the confidence in or confusion of human sight or emotions from the equation.  Decide to believe and obey explicitly, and faith that came as a seed from God will produce the fruit desired.  Faith received and released to God is expressed in simple obedience.

I pray that the LORD will help each of us embrace the simplicity of Faith and put our total trust in God and His Word!

Isaiah 40:28-31 – “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth.  He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom.  ²⁹ He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. ³⁰ Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble.  ³¹ But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.”

As I read from Isaiah and John, my head was exploding with the incredibility of God and the devastating power of deception on humans.

Isaiah 40:28-31 is one of my go-to passages when I need encouragement and a reminder of God’s promise and my hope.   He is the eternal creator who never gets tired.   We do, but the promise is a renewal of energy when we are spent (a divine Red Bull energy drink).

Young and old alike stumble, but those who focus on God and His kingdom and purposes get a divine infusion of energy as if their aging had been reversed.   They become a Caleb or a Timex watch.   They took their licking and kept on ticking.

Isaiah 41:10 – “Don’t be afraid (easier said than done), for I am with you!  (Source of our renewal and courage).  Don’t be frightened (emphasis in repeating the directive), for I am your God!  (Who He is and the reality we are His empowers us).  I strengthen you – yes, I help you – yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand!”

Isaiah 43:2-3 is another of my favorites!  No fear because God has promised protection.  He declares we are His!   The waters (trials or people) won’t overcome us.   The fire (tests, trials, persecutions) will be like a toothless dog unable to touch us.

A danger lurks in the shadows that we must guard against – deception.  We can become so confident that we hear God, that God has our backs, that our desires are His promises, and that we open the door to deception.  Isaiah 44:20 describes an ever-present potential danger if we are not rooted firmly in Him and use all our cognitive and spiritual ability to discern what is available.  “He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him.  He cannot rescue himself…”

God’s incredible promise to keep, sustain, guard, and guide us can be held at bay if we allow incomprehensible fantasies to become our realities.  Deception often renders a person undeliverable until their world completely falls apart, and then the danger is that they lose faith and turn away.  They thought they wanted and longed for what was not truly promised to them.   God needs no outside source to supply all we need.  Beware of feeding on ashes!

The NET translation is interesting in its rendering of John 1:5: “And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.”

The light is never understood by or through darkness.   Darkness can be represented by individuals, humanity as a whole, or the malevolent environment surrounding us.  It is the forces of evil, and those forces are continuously seeking to conquer light and truth or master it.  We must keep our focus on God and surrender EVERYTHING to Him, including our deepest hopes, to prevent darkness from darkening our light and deceiving us.   If we find ourselves feeding on ashes, we must run to the Cross in repentance and receive renewal.

Victory is God’s desire; bondage is the devil’s.   Which one we have is rooted in our choices.

May your day be prosperous and filled with the Strength of God!