THIS LAND IS MY LAND; THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND—GOD

Posted on March 6, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Are we noticing what the book of Numbers is teaching us an even greater understand of who God is and how He provides for His people—perhaps with even more distinct clarity than the previous books of The Law? (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus).  And are we becoming more accustomed to realizing that God indeed knows each one of us and knows our name?  Look at all the list of all the names!  Everyone counts!

From Adam and Eve to Moses and now to us; God knows what we will need when we need it most!  God comes to our rescue with help to overcome the Enemy and our own selfishness.  God is faithful; supremely and forever faithful! God never forgets His promises and always makes the way clear to accomplishing His will and plan for our rescue and redemption.  Evil knows and names our sins; but God knows our names and calls out to His beloved with such a deep, relentless, abiding love for us that sometimes is beyond our ability to fully grasp in our thinking.  Almighty God stands ready to bless us all whose hearts are fully committed to Him with His precious, righteous guidance with victory over evil, all the enemies of God.

God promised and now God delivers on His promise given to Abraham generations earlier.  Do God’s people realize that God owns all the land on the earth that He created? (We wonder if we remember that God owns all we enjoy, too!)  God sets the boundaries and assigns leaders to divide the land into lots for each family of each tribe.  If you remember, (Numbers 32), two and half tribes chose to stay east of the Jordan, so only nine tribes are represented here.  In tomorrow’s passage, the Levite clan of priests will also be assigned land; but will never own it.  Their land will be used in holy service to God.

God invites His Chosen People to enter Canaan. There is only one condition. They must turn our backs on the wilderness.  Who will be ready to enter the promised land?

Numbers 34

Boundaries of Canaan

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance is to have these boundaries:

3 “‘Your southern sidewill include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea, 4 cross south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon, 5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.

7 “‘For your northern boundary, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor 8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad, 9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

10 “‘For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee. 12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea.

“‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”

13 Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot as an inheritance. The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes, 14 because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. 15 These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 18 And appoint one leader from each tribe to help assign the land. 19 These are their names:

Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah; 20 Shemuel son of Ammihud, from the tribe of Simeon; 21 Elidad son of Kislon, from the tribe of Benjamin; 22 Bukki son of Jogli, the leader from the tribe of Dan; 23 Hanniel son of Ephod, the leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph; 24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan,the leader from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph; 25 Elizaphan son of Parnak, the leader from the tribe of Zebulun; 26 Paltiel son of Azzan, the leader from the tribe of Issachar; 27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, the leader from the tribe of Asher; 28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, the leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”

29 These are the men the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

In ancient days, there were no survey crews with scientific instruments for determining property lines. People cited towns and geographical features when they wanted to define boundaries. God does the same for their understanding and clarity.

As we will read later in the books of Joshua and Judges; God gave His people a large land and a good land, but they didn’t defeat their enemies and claim it all by faith. Their western border didn’t reach to the Mediterranean, for the Philistines still held that territory, nor did they get as far as Hamath on the north. On the east side of the Jordan, as you traveled north from the border of Manasseh, we will discover pockets of resistance in cities that Israel didn’t conquer and destroy. Moses’ prediction came true: The Canaanites became irritants in their eyes and thorns in their sides and led some of the Israelites into sin (Numbers 33:55).

Whoa, before we pass judgment, however, on ancient Israel, what about the church today? Have we claimed by faith all that we have in Christ? Are there still pockets of resistance in our lives that draw us away from the Lord? “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience”.

The book of Hebrews will later teach us the importance of following God’s commands that build our faith, drawing us closer to Him.  The writer uses the examples of these very Israelites as they entered the promised land at his command, defeating the enemies of God with his timing and direction, and then entering into God’s rest by honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy.  But not all obeyed and paid the consequences of their sins. (Read all of Hebrews 4 for more understanding.)  Here is a portion:

“God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:7-13

Our obedience to God expresses our love for God!

TODAY THE PROMISE FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE IS NOW IN JESUS!

Jesus is our one and only Great High Priest—The Promised Messiah!

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16

Because of Jesus, we can ask God to meet all our needs as He sees them.  Because of Jesus’ teachings; we know the boundaries of behaviors set before us that enable us to grow in our faith and walk with God.  Jesus teaches us to keep an eye on the enemy.  We must resist the enemy who works hard to pull us away from the boundaries of God’s protection, provision, relentless love, abounding mercy, and unending grace.

Because of Jesus, believers and followers of Jesus can boldly come into the throne room of God Almighty and ask for His wisdom that is plentiful in supply and will never run out. 

Our inheritance is not land but the Son of Man and Son of God who came down from the throne of heaven, moved into the neighborhood of humanity, with the purpose to seek and to save the lost—setting us free from our sins by His once and for all sacrifice.  All because God “so loved” us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Life’s greatest calamity, from God’s perspective, is that people die in sin. Forget earthquakes, wild fires, politics, or economic depressions. Focus on the attacks from the enemy upon our very souls! The ultimate disaster is carrying our sins to our caskets. Heaven cannot fathom a worse tragedy. Heaven, in response, could not offer a greater gift than this one: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1Peter 3:18).

Lord,

Thank you for the encouragement to enter our own promised inheritance—YOU!  We enter this relationship with boldness and confidence all because of your love, mercy, and grace.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  You are God. We are not.  Guide and led us to truth all day long and into the night.  I love you, Lord, with all that is in me. I trust you with my life because you are Life!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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AGES, STAGES, AND PHASES

Posted on March 5, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Our life cycle on earth has a limited shelf life.  We expire when God says it is time and “we are no more” as inhabitants of earth.  In the meantime, our journey leads us through good times and challenging times through all the ages, stages, and phases of life here.  We can choose to take this journey with God or we can choose to do life our own way with no help from God for he will come only when we ask him. God is faithful, true, loving, overwhelmingly patient with us but He will only come when we ask in Jesus Name to come and be “our present help in times of trouble.”  (Psalm 46) When we ask God to lead, we must obey and follow His direction if not, it seems pointless to ask. 

God is pleased when He is invited into all the stages of our lives. God delights in every detail of every phase we go through as we grow our faith in Him.  Our “invite” is our realization that God is real and does what He says He will do.  Our faith and trust in God prompts His invitation to join Him in HIS work!  God has promised to always be with us from birth until our passing from the arms of our loved ones into the arms of Jesus in heaven. Each stage of life will have experiences with opportunities to enlarge our expectant hope in God because of what Jesus did for us—forgive and remove our sins.

The stages of our lives teach us to rely on God’s Word for wisdom—the skills for living.  We learn that “To obey is better than sacrifice,” for example with reasons why.  We learn from God’s Son, Jesus all the behaviors to acquire to demonstrate our love for God and others through our obedience to God.  We learn that our Father God uses our mistakes, misfortune, and failures at each stage in our brief journey on earth as ways to grow, deepen, and mature our faith. Sooner hopefully than later, we realize we must be still before God, let go of our pride and stop clinging to what is not ours to handle so that we may know God is with us and it is God who will supply all our needs. 

God has power above all and overall.  God reveals the limited power of our enemies who seek to dismantle our faith in every phase of life if we are attentive to Him.  God will forever lead us by the power of His Holy Spirit from birth through adolescence through adulthood to senior living in His Name for His glory.  We need only to call on His Name.  God is listening and knows what we need before we do.  God sees us.  He knows us by name.  He forgives.  God loved us before we knew what real love was.  Yes, there is no one like our God!

Moses has been told by God to write down all the adventures they have had together on their journey through the desert to the Promised Land.  We are not sure why, but maybe this exercise is to document all that God has brought them through, all the ways God provides, with all the ways they must obey to obtain the promises of God. This is more than the “baby book” notations of achievements of God’s children!  It’s all about God!

Numbers 33

Stages in Israel’s Journey

Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:

3 The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, 4 who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods.

5 The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Sukkoth. 6 They left Sukkoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert. 7 They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol. 8 They left Pi Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the desert, and when they had traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.

9 They left Marah and went to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin. 12 They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.13 They left Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

15 They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai. 16 They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah. 17 They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. 20 They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

21 They left Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

26 They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 They left Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 They left Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 They left Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan. 32 They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

33 They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. 36 They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.

37 They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom. 38 At the Lord’s command Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor, where he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. 39 Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming. 41 They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 They left Punon and camped at Oboth. 44 They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.

45 They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad. 46 They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim. 47 They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.

48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 49 There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.

50 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, 51 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.

55 “‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. 56 And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

What would it be like if we sat down, recalled, and documented our own journey with God?  Camp on that thought.  Take all the time you need.

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” –Paul to the church of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

With God, our lives are defined by grace, purified by God’s love, refined by challenge, and aligned with a heavenly call and purpose. In God’s plan, in God’s land of promise for us, we win more often than we lose, forgive as quickly as we are offended, and give as abundantly as we receive. We rely fully on Jesus’ act of sacrifice as our redemption from sin.  We serve out of our giftedness and delight in our assignments given by God with hearts’ motivations to please God, our Father, not others. We may stumble, but we do not collapse. We may struggle, but we defy despair. We boast only in Christ, trust only in God, lean wholly on his power. We enjoy abundant fruit and increasing faith as we continually grow in His Presence.  Our God is an awesome God indeed!  Living for God, in Jesus Name, at every age and stage of life will be worth it all when we see Jesus face to face in all His glory!

May these words be of great encouragement to all of us in whatever stage of life we are in today.  They have been written with the leading of God’s Holy Spirit and delivered with all the love of God in me to all who will read.  Pass it on, so all others my know!

Lord,

Thank you for your encouraging words that touched the depths of our hearts. “Deep calls to deeper still.” Thank you for being so attentive to each one of us, loving us, with compassions that fail not as you patiently guide us in through each phase of our lives here as we prepare for life eternal with you there.  Thank you for your love, mercy, and grace that fills our hearts, minds, and souls this morning.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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OUR PERSPECTIVE VERSUS GOD’S KNOWLEDGE

Posted on March 4, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“Lord, God, we have looked over all possibilities and have arrived at this place.”  It has all we need and want!  It will satisfy all our needs to flourish in this world.  If you love us like you say, I’m sure you will give this to us.  It just makes sense…to us.  I’m sure you will agree with our reasoning.

Our prayers can be less than admirable when we place our limited perspective above God’s all-knowing view of the world.  We are told through God’s Word that it is good to come to Him with a humbled, sincere heart as we “present all our requests to God” but we must listen to His response and comply with His detailed answers.  God’s view is from a higher, greater place that humans can only slightly imagine. We can only see what is in front of us.  God sees what lies ahead.  Listen to God.  He listens to us!

Three of the twelve tribes of Israel have come to Moses with what seems to them as a perfectly reasonable request.  They are asking to reside east rather than west of the Jordan to purposely secure their flocks in simple livestock pens. The pens’ four stone walls would be built tall enough to keep out predatory animals and thieves. Then the men of the tribes would be free to help the other nine tribes west of the Jordan.  Makes sense, right?

Moses, (who has experience in placing self before God and punished for it with God commanding that he and his generation would not enter the Promised Land) asked that the tribes that took land on the east side of the Jordan would help the other tribes on the western side to conquer their land. If they refused to do this, Moses said they would be sinning against the Lord and their sin would find them out. –A stern warning!

Let see how they will respond…

Numbers 32

The Transjordan Tribes

The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock. 2 So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and said, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon— 4 the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel—are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock. 5 If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

6 Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Should your fellow Israelites go to war while you sit here? 7 Why do you discourage the Israelites from crossing over into the land the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. 9 After they went up to the Valley of Eshkol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord’s anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 11 ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob— 12 not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’ 13 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.

14 “And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15 If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

16 Then they came up to him and said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. 17 But we will arm ourselves for battle and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has received their inheritance. 19 We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”

20 Then Moses said to them, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle 21 and if all of you who are armed cross over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him— 22 then when the land is subdued before the Lord, you may return and be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord.

23 “But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. 24 Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

25 The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “We your servants will do as our lord commands. 26 Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants, every man who is armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the Lord, just as our lord says.”

28 Then Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and to the family heads of the Israelite tribes. 29 He said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites, every man armed for battle, cross over the Jordan with you before the Lord, then when the land is subdued before you, you must give them the land of Gilead as their possession. 30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must accept their possession with you in Canaan.”

31 The Gadites and Reubenites answered, “Your servants will do what the Lord has said. 32 We will cross over before the Lord into Canaan armed, but the property we inherit will be on this side of the Jordan.”

33 Then Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the whole land with its cities and the territory around them.

34 The Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran as fortified cities, and built pens for their flocks. 37 And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh and Kiriathaim, 38 as well as Nebo and Baal Meon (these names were changed) and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

39 The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it and drove out the Amorites who were there. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to the Makirites, the descendants of Manasseh, and they settled there. 41 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, captured their settlements and called them Havvoth Jair. 42 And Nobah captured Kenath and its surrounding settlements and called it Nobah after himself.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Your sins will find you out.”  Have you found this to be true?  I have.  Most humans do for our hearts hunger for God but our sin stands in the way of our view of God. Until we reconcile with God, His Holy Spirit will disrupt our sleep of rest and removes our peace. Why? Because God wants to take away your sin. Can a mom or dad stand idly by while drugs invade their child? Can God sit idly as sin poisons His child? God’s desire is that “no one perish” but have eternal life with Him.  So, God will not rest until we do what David did: confess our fault. (2 Samuel 12)

Have you ever known people who thought that they were getting away with sin—and facing no consequences? And what about you and I? Ever thought that we’d fooled our Father God? Consider the words of warning from Moses to the leaders of these three tribes who wanted to stay east of the Jordan: Our sin will always find us out. Far better to talk to God about it, confess it, and have it removed “as far as the east is from the west.”

We trust and stand on the promises of God. Does God trust our promises made? God promised His people land.  Three tribes wanted to stay east of Jordan; but they had a reasonable plan and presented it to God.  They promised God to help all of the Israelite family fight for their inherited land promised by God on the other side of the Jordan if they could dwell on the east side. 

A successful community or nation depends not only on keeping our word and trusting God for victory; it also depends on the loyalty of people to each other. It would seem that the three tribes upheld their promise to God and to His people.  Consider Moses’ concern; it was a terrible sin for any of the tribes to retreat from conflict and fail to do their part in conquering the land. Just as the ten spies had discouraged the whole nation at Kadesh Barnea, and led the people into thirty-eight wasted years, so these two tribes could discourage Israel by quitting at the very borders of their inheritance. 

Moses repeats their promise with a passionate warning. If they didn’t keep their promise, they would be sinning against the Lord, and their sin would catch up with them!  Their sin would be failure to keep their vow and unwillingness to assist their brothers and sisters in the task God had called them to do. The land they requested was theirs, but they would lose it if they didn’t keep their promise.

The three and half tribes drove out the enemies, built pens for their herds, and places of safety for their families.  But we can’t help wondering if these Transjordanic tribes made a wise choice. They were outside the land of promise and separated from the rest of the nation. They made their choice only based on personal gain: The land was good for their flocks and herds. Like Lot, they were walking by sight and not by faith (Genesis 13:10, 11). The tribes did keep their promise, but in spite of that, their location across the Jordan created some problems that we will discover later. (Joshua 22).

According to Hebrews 4, claiming the inheritance in the Promised Land is an illustration of the different ways believers today relate to the will of God and the inheritance He has for us now in Jesus Christ.

Some people are like the older generation of Israelites that perished in their wandering and never entered the land. Others are like the ten spies who visited the land and saw its wealth but failed to enter in. The Transjordanic tribes entered the land but didn’t stay there. They preferred to live on the border and raise their cattle.

God wants His people to be like the new generation that trusted God, entered the land, claimed the victory, and enjoyed the blessings.

There’s more here in this passage than meets the eye—but there always is.

Lord,

Thank you for teaching us how to respond to you as fully committed servants with complete trust and faith in You. We might see limited options for fulfilling what you asked us to be and do; but you must have the final say.  You know all that lies ahead for us! May our hope, faith, and love be built on Jesus’ love and righteousness.  Help us to be more like the One who saved us and set us free—the Promised Messiah! Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Speak to our hearts…I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

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MOSES STANDS FIRM WITH GOD

Posted on March 3, 2025 by randscallawayffm

At what point will we take a stand when evil influences seep into our lives and descend on us, our family, friends, our work places, where we worship, and where we live in our nation? How deep is our love for the people with whom we live and cohabit this earth? What is our first thought in the morning and our last words before going to sleep at night? How bad does it have to get for us to stop giving in with attitudes of; “oh well, that’s just way it is” and declare this isn’t the way it has to be?  When will we speak of Jesus who we follow as Lord of our lives? Do people around us know who we believe  by what we do daily by God’s leading? 

As soon as we say, “Jesus, forgive me. I want you to be Lord of my life,” we enter a daily battle with our real Enemy who seeks to lure us away from what God has given to us—freedom from our sins, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus! The Enemy seeks to shame us and remind of our sins.  But to give in to the Enemy now after our sins are removed, as far as the east is from the west, to be remembered no more, seems like driving more nails into the Savior of our souls!

God so loved us He gave us His Son to save us.  Why turn our backs on this precious gift now?  The Enemy of God gives us nothing but grief with eventual death with very limited power.  He uses the same old tricks, since Adam and Eve, of manipulating our thoughts with deceit as the Father of lies.  The Enemy works through people and challenging circumstances to distract us from God while trying to dismantle our faith in God who created all and is in control of all. The Enemy controls nothing—unless we allow it.  But God has all the power and all the authority.  This same God who gave the world Jesus, a part of Himself, demonstrated his love AND power to resurrect Jesus from three days of death to forever Life in victory over the Enemy once and for all!  The war has been won but the Enemy will battle us to believe otherwise until Jesus comes back.  And He IS coming back…for those standing on the promises of God!

Choose this day whom you will believe and follow with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul!  Troubles will still come but they will seem trivial when our faith in God stands firm and unwavering.  God is faithful—even when we are not as faithful.  But as for me, my hope is built and being solidified on Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord.  I have no regrets.  I fail and fall, as I am not perfect, but I know I am perfectly forgiven.

“I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.

Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.” Psalm 145:2-4, NLT

By God’s leading, Moses is to take a stand with the Midianites.  The Midianites tried to turn the Israelites away from God. Because of this, the two nomadic nations became enemies despite their common heritage, for the Midianites were descendants of Abraham and his second wife.  So, God’s purpose for destroying the Midianites was to keep the people of Israel free from sin and ungodly influences. God desired moral purity in his followers. Not only were sinful influences to be completely destroyed, but the spoils of war—blessings to the people—were to be purified as well.

Numbers 31

Vengeance on the Midianites

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. 10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. 11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, 12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

15 “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. 16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

19 “Anyone who has killed someone or touched someone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives. 20 Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses: 22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead 23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.”

Dividing the Spoils

25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. 27 Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. 28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. 29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. 30 From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.” 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys 35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep, 37 of which the tribute for the Lord was 675; 38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72; 39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61; 40 16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.

41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part, as the Lord commanded Moses.

42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men— 43 the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 people. 47 From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.

48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses 49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing. 50 So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. 52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels. 53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

How will we respond to Jesus, God’s Son? Pause to prayerfully and humbly consider our clear choice.

Who will we choose daily to love and worship with healthy fear because of our awe of God who knows our hearts?  How deep the love God has for us has been answered in the life of His Son who He sent to save us. Who do we choose?  Who will influence our lives daily?  Who teaches us?  Who do we listen to intently with respectful reverence? Who is leading us and who are we following?

“Jesus spoke to those who had turned their backs on history. He spoke to those who had blatantly ignored sign after sign, servant after servant. It wasn’t as if they had just skipped a paragraph or missed a punch line. It wasn’t as if they had misunderstood a chapter. They had missed the whole book. God had come into their city, walked down their street, knocked on their door, and they refused to let him in.

For that reason—because they had refused to believe—Jesus speaks the most sobering words in the Gospel of Matthew: “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (Matthew 21:43).

God is intolerant of the callused heart.

He is patient with our mistakes. He is longsuffering with our stumbles. He doesn’t get angry at our questions. He doesn’t turn away when we struggle. But when we repeatedly reject his message, when we are insensitive to his pleadings, when he changes history itself to get our attention and we still don’t listen, he honors our request.

Note it was not God who made the people unworthy. It was their refusal to listen that excluded them from grace.

God does not force his way into your life; he patiently knocks and waits to be invited in. Those who invite him in will find him working hard to make them like himself—pure and holy. Those who refuse to answer, who turn away, will seal their own eternity apart from him.” –Max Lucado, The Encouraging Word Bible

Lord,

Yes, I choose you. I love you because you first loved me.  I listen to you because you are wisdom and you are Life beyond my wildest imagination and dreams.  Come, fill my soul, purify my heart, renew my mind, transform my behaviors by your power, restore the joy of you in me and me in you.  I belong to you and I am listening, ready to obey.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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VOWS THAT BOND US TO GOD AND TO EACH OTHER

Posted on March 1, 2025 by randscallawayffm

In the marriage ceremony, we say vows, promises of how we will relate to each other.  Many couples who came to my pastor husband for counseling before the marriage ceremony desired to verbally make a vow to God and to each other in this holy act of matrimony.  He would show them various forms of vows with this purpose of honoring God and each other. 

Randy wanted each man and woman to realize what they were promising to each other and to God!  In counseling, he showed them that vows are not to be broken so they must not enter this union lightly.  Most couples knew this, seeking God’s blessings on their marriage.  But a few came for convenience only.  They merely wanted a pastor to say the words and send them on their merry way with the attitude of “if it doesn’t work out, no worries, we’ll just move on.”  These words were actually said by one of the couples in counseling.  It is this attitude that would cause Randy much sadness for he could not ask God’s blessing upon a couple for convenience only, thinking the vows were without meaning.  Vows are important to God because we are important to God.

Let us revisit typical vows made to each other:

  • “I, _____, take you _____, to be my (wedded) wife/husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.
  • I, _____, take you _____, to be my wife/husband; and I promise, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful husband/wife; in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.
  • I, _____, take you, _____, to be my wife/husband from this time onward, to join with you and to share all that is to come, to give and to receive, to speak and to listen, to inspire and to respond, and in all of our life together to be loyal to you with my whole life and with all my being.

As you can see a vow seals the relationship with each other and binds us as one with God.  When we choose God to be the head of our household, listen to His leading, trust that His way is best, our love for each other solidify and will last a lifetime as our relationship with God and each other grows sweeter each day.  When we vow to follow His direction and leading; our marriage vow will be kept throughout life no matter what circumstances challenge us.  God’s love in us goes deeper still when our faith in all circumstances is built on the foundation and source of our salvation—Jesus Christ as Lord.

How do I know?  We took a vow over 53 years ago to love God and each other as long as we both shall live. We continue keeping the vow with God and each other!  Through good times and challenging times; Keeping the vow is worth all the effort we put into it, God helping us! 

Numbers 30

Vows

Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the Lord commands: 2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.

3 “When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge 4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. 5 But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

6 “If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself 7 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. 8 But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.

9 “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

10 “If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath 11 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. 12 But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. 13 Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them. 15 If, however, he nullifies them some time after he hears about them, then he must bear the consequences of her wrongdoing.”

16 These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living at home.

WHAT DO WE KNOW—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We read in Leviticus 27 how Moses had touched on the subject of vows in terms of dedicating people and possessions to the Lord; but here he deals with personal vows and how they are affected by relationships. The chapter makes it clear that the home is basic to the nation, that there must be authority of God in the home, and that truth is what binds society together.  Being truthful builds a trusting relationship. Broken vows and hasty promises made without thinking do not build a home of trust and assurance.

There is a difference between “vows” and “oaths.” Both were to be considered binding. The vow was a promise to do a certain thing for the Lord, while the oath was a promise not to do a certain thing. People who made vows or took oaths had to keep their word, because what they said was to the Lord. When people forget that God hears what they say, then they’re tempted to deceive and manipulate. Lies cause the fabric of society to rip apart as trust is violated. Betrayal does not build trust in any relationship.

To make a promise is to obligate oneself to the Lord, whether people realize this or not. The foundations of society today are eroding because of unkept promises, whether they be official contracts, marriage vows, political pledges, or words spoken on the witness stand. We expect the Lord to keep His promises, and He expects us to keep ours. Truth is the cement that holds society together.  Truth is the way to eternal life!  Jesus is the Way! 

Relationships bring responsibilities, so to rush into unwise commitments is to incur penalties and consequences that are costly.

“Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost.” Proverbs 20:25

Lord,

Thank you for Your Word and the lessons you teach us for living life here in preparation for there with you for eternity.  Thank you for making the vow to forgive us, removing our sins forever. Thank you for your vow to never leave us but to always be with us.  Thank you for your faithfulness to us even when we were less than faithful to you. Thank you for loving us relentlessly and unconditionally.  Thank you for Life!  Thank you for help in troubles and peace in the storms that secure our trust in you.  Thank for being our strong foundation to stand on always. I trust you, dear Jesus.  I love you with all my heart, mind, and soul.  I’m yours and I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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TIME OUT FOR REDEMPTION, RELATIONSHIP AND TRUE WORSHIP

Posted on February 28, 2025 by randscallawayffm

The appointed festivals outlined by God for the Israelites included a certain day of atonement as commanded by God. Do you, like me, wonder why God gave all these days with specific ways to celebrate them as it seems a bit excessive?  However, when  we look at church calendars today, we will soon realize that there are might be even more days fill with all kinds of activities meant to bring focus to God and repentance for sins in Jesus Name.  So, we must not get bogged down in all the details that God commanded the Israelites to do; but instead take time to evaluate all the activities on any given church calendar to ask ourselves as church leaders:

Why do we do what we do?

What is the purpose of each gathering—from large group to small groups? 

Does everything we do helpful to bring others to salvation in Jesus and bring absolute glory to God?

What is the motivation of our hearts?

Do we ask God to bless our plans or ask God for the plan?  Do we ask God want He wants?

Do we pause to listen for His leading to fulfill His will as a “sacred assembly” in His Name?

Are we truly a “pleasing aroma” in our daily activity of giving ourselves to God as an offering? 

In this act of obedience do we seek His agenda and follow His perfect and pleasing will for us? (Romans 12:1-2)

Our hearts must be right with God before doing anything for God.  God sees our hearts and knows our minds.  He sees the motivation behind everything we do because He knows who we are.  Do we?

Numbers 29

The Festival of Trumpets

“‘On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. 2 As an aroma pleasing to the Lord, offer a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 3 With the bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; with the ram, two-tenths; 4 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. 5 Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 6 These are in addition to the monthly and daily burnt offerings with their grain offerings and drink offerings as specified. They are food offerings presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma.

The Day of Atonement

7 “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work. 8 Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 9 With the bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; 10 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. 11 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

The Festival of Tabernacles

12 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days. 13 Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 14 With each of the thirteen bulls offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with each of the two rams, two-tenths; 15 and with each of the fourteen lambs, one-tenth. 16 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

17 “‘On the second day offer twelve young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 18 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 19 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

20 “‘On the third day offer eleven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 21 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 22 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

23 “‘On the fourth day offer ten bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 24 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 25 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

26 “‘On the fifth day offer nine bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 27 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 28 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

29 “‘On the sixth day offer eight bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 30 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 31 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

32 “‘On the seventh day offer seven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 33 With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 34 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

35 “‘On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly and do no regular work. 36 Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 37 With the bull, the ram and the lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 38 Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

39 “‘In addition to what you vow and your freewill offerings, offer these to the Lord at your appointed festivals: your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings and fellowship offerings.’”

40 Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord commanded him.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God commanded the Israelites to remember him. To do this, he assigned daily, weekly, and monthly offerings, as well as five annual events: Passover, the Festival of Weeks, the Festival of Trumpets, the Festival of Tabernacles, and the Day of Atonement.  God wants his people to be thankful to him. We can honor him by giving regular offerings of all we are as well as all He has so graciously given to us to manage. This reminds us to keep God as the first priority in our lives.

The Priority of our Holy Relationship with God is Reflected in our daily Response to God!

May our first thought in the morning be the love of God.  May the first thing that flows from our hearts and over our lips be grateful praise. When we focus on God and count our blessings before falling asleep at night; it is more likely we will wake up to God’s calling, “Come be with Me.”  Be still before God doing anything of significance.  Jesus demonstrated this “how to” regularly.

It takes time and effort to grow in our relationship with God but worth every minute we spend into building this holy and healthy relationship. We must remember that our relationship begins and continues with repenting in Jesus Name. It is Jesus who removed our sins and tore down all barriers between God and humanity.  Jesus is the Way to God.  There is no other way.  That is why God wants to remember the sacrifice of His Son who saved us and brought us into relationship with Him.  Never forget all that Jesus willingly did to save us!  Always remember and live redeemed!

In what ways do we make God our daily priority? Think about the joy we have received from our growing friendship with the Lord. We must pause to surrender and decide how our daily worship needs to change to encourage a deeper and more joyful relationship with Him. I know from personal experience that this “work” is monumental, beneficial and foundation to real love and true faith in our Lord who loved us so much He died in our place to have this relationship with us!

Lord,

I offer my life to you as an offering. Cleanse my heart. Remove all that is impure.  Renew my mind. Remove all that is unholy thinking.  Refresh my soul with your new mercies fresh each morning.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within me.  May Your Holy Spirit guide me all day long and into the night.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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THE PROVIDER TEACHES HOW TO GIVE

Posted on February 27, 2025 by randscallawayffm

We sing the old hymn, “Give of your best to the Master,” but how deep is our understanding of the words and of God’s love for us?  Must we be reminded to give back to the Giver of all that sustains us and gives us life eternal?  The answer is yes, we must be reminded by the Holy Spirit daily of all that God has provided, all the ways He has protected us, with grateful praise for rescuing us from the bondage of our sins that would have brought eventual death.  Instead of death, God loved us enough to offer Life now and forever!  But first our sin problem must be remedied by the sacrifice of one who knew no sin—one without sin’s defects and deformities that twist God’s created into knots of hate, envy, jealousy, greed, and arrogance against God.  God had a plan and it was delivered in two parts.

Part One.  God’s plan in the days of Moses was for His people to pause their work, focus on God in community with others with the giving of their best from their flocks—all provided by God.  They were taught to give only unblemished lambs, goats, bulls and others animals. They must be without defect if it is to be an offering to our Holy, Perfect God. God commanded His rescued people from slavery to Egypt to stop and give a portion of their best to the One who gave His best daily to them.  Did God need these offerings, the God who owns everything on earth and in heaven?  No, but His people, created in the image of God, needed to learn to give like their Creator.  The greater purpose in giving was to pause in sacred assemblies to recognize their sins with God’s way to atone (cover over) their sins in these acts of offerings, sacrifice, and restitution for their sins.  The Giver wants His people to be grateful for the Gift of redemption by responding with giving generously themselves.  Only God knows what is best for us!

Part Two.  Atonement through sacrifice of lambs without blemish worked for centuries but history proves that it became corrupted in practice by humans given charge over God’s people.  They all but forgot God has the worked for God to line their own pockets.  Omnipotent God knew. God still loved His created. God’s Plan to save humanity (all the world, not just the Chosen ones) once and for all was already with God’s perfect timing to be deployed. 

God so loved the world that He gave us His One and Only Son to pay for our sins in full. Jesus who was with God from the Genesis of creation, was willing to come down from heaven and humbly be born of a virgin, moving into the neighborhood of humanity.  Jesus demonstrated the love of God to the unloved, sick, sinful, lonely, outcasts of society who desperately needed a Savior.  Jesus taught like no one else among the scribes and teachers of The Law of Moses.  All people were drawn to Jesus, even the ones who rebuked him for fear their power of over the oppressed would come to an end. But all who said yes to Jesus, followed Jesus, were rescued, and forgiven by Jesus could not take their focused eyes off Him who loved like no other.  But the payment for the sins of the world, once and for all, was due.  Jesus paid it all in full.

Today, everyone who believes that Jesus surrendered his life for ours in this sacrificial act of grace are now joint heirs with the Giver of this Gift of redeeming love.  Believing, trusting, repenting, and loving God back becomes a way of life to the committed to Jesus, His Son.  We know we will live forever in eternity with Him. 

God is still at work in each one of our lives.  That precious moment we realize He is working on our behalf with each breath we take should bring us to our knees with humbled gratefulness to God.  Do we need reminding?  Why yes, we do!  Thank you, Lord, for humbling my heart today.

Numbers 28

Daily Offerings

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Make sure that you present to me at the appointed time my food offerings, as an aroma pleasing to me.’ 3 Say to them: ‘This is the food offering you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day. 4 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, 5 together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives. 6 This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. 7 The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of fermented drink with each lamb. Pour out the drink offering to the Lord at the sanctuary. 8 Offer the second lamb at twilight, along with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering that you offer in the morning. This is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

Sabbath Offerings

9 “‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. 10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

Monthly Offerings

11 “‘On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 12 With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; 13 and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil. This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. 14 With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year. 15 Besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering, one male goat is to be presented to the Lord as a sin offering.

The Passover

16 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord’s Passover is to be held. 17 On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. 18 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 19 Present to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 20 With each bull offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; 21 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. 22 Include one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 23 Offer these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering. 24 In this way present the food offering every day for seven days as an aroma pleasing to the Lord; it is to be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. 25 On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

The Festival of Weeks

26 “‘On the day of firstfruits, when you present to the Lord an offering of new grain during the Festival of Weeks, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 27 Present a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old as an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 28 With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, two-tenths; 29 and with each of the seven lambs, one-tenth. 30 Include one male goat to make atonement for you. 31 Offer these together with their drink offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering. Be sure the animals are without defect.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Throughout God’s Word we learn that God loves a cheerful, gracious giver without conditions or strings.  God looks over the earth to see who is full committed to Him and He helps them grow in their giving.  Gifts acceptable and pleasing to God are those given without expecting anything in return as way of bargaining with God. God does not accept gifts from those who make a show of their giving to feel important.  So, we give from a grateful heart and generous mind.

In the world of Gentile believers in Jesus (anyone not a Jew) we worship God in many ways on our Sabbath day each week by singing songs of grateful praise, acknowledging who God is and all that He does for us.  We give of our tithes and our offerings.  We worship God by listening and learning from His servant who teaches us.  We worship God by leaning into the guidance of His Holy Spirit.  But, included with these obedient acts of worship; we soon learn that our new life in Christ includes giving daily.  We develop a desire to daily give our whole being to God as a way of Life! 

The Apostle Paul describes this beautiful response to God as the ultimate offering;

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” Romans 12:1-3, MSG

THIS daily discipline is a pleasing aroma to God!  “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. 2 Corinthians 2:15-17, NLT

Lord,

Thank you for Your Holy Spirit who lives in us to be our daily reminder of who you are and all you do for us.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your mercy. Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  It’s all about you, dear Jesus. Lord, you are God and we are not.  To you be the glory!  I’m yours.  I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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NEW SHEPERD FOR THE SHEEP

Posted on February 26, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:35-36

God knows His people need a new leader.  God also knows that Moses is coming to the end of his reign as the leader of the Israelites.  God has His eye on Joshua and has been grooming him to succeed Moses. This was not a decision made quickly or out of convenience because Moses is aging; God has been working on this succession of leadership all along.  God knows his sheep will need a new shepherd to lead them into the promised land.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, “declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

It occurs to me that we must work harder to grasp the incredible omnipotence of God!  God’s thinking and His ways are higher than ours.  As we read His Word, we must seek to understand who God is and what He is doing from more than one perspective because God is multifaceted; He knows what lies ahead, and knows how we will respond in any given circumstance.  Does that change or altar God’s plan?  It hasn’t yet.  God’s plan to save us, protect us, provide for us, and love us for eternity has and will succeed in us as we choose to love Him back! His will be done in Jesus, His Son, has been done!  We might think that our failure and others’ missteps with thwart God’s plan; but I’ve got news for us; we don’t have that kind of power.  God finishes what He starts—even in us!  

Numbers 27

Zelophehad’s Daughters

27 The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. They came forward 2 and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the Lord, but he died for his own sin and left no sons. 4 Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

5 So Moses brought their case before the Lord, 6 and the Lord said to him, 7 “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them.

8 “Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to have the force of law for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Joshua to Succeed Moses

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. 21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Since the land belonged to the Lord (See Leviticus 25:23–28), the Israelites couldn’t divide it or dispose of it as they pleased. Maintaining the inheritance from generation to generation was important to each family and to the tribes to which the families belonged.

God is compassionate to all—even to the women, who in that time were not counted in the census, but God knew played very important roles in living lives of nomads on the way to the promised land.  God heard them and made provision for all women whose fathers had died and left no sons to be the head of the family who cared for every member.  It was a bold move for the daughters to appear before Moses.  I love how God responded. God noticed, understood, and made provision for them immediately. Then God made this provision Law for the Israelites!  God’s compassions they fail not!

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Do we have the boldness to come to the throne of God and ask?  We have that available to us!  “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Jesus told his disciples before departing to heaven; “Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”  He also taught his disciples (and all believers in Jesus to come) how to ask with a humbled heart in prayer—“May your (God’s) will be done”.  When we pray asking for help from God; we must believe that God will respond with all that will be good for us and will give Him glory so others will know Him, too. 

Right motivation is the key to the hearing from God. Our surrender to God fills us with His message of salvation. Our offering of our whole being, from struggles to victories, given to God completely—all proclaim God’s glory!

“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

Moses was a leader who had the right motivation.  Moses had proved himself a true leader by being more concerned for the people than for himself. Twice God had offered to destroy the Israelites and start a new nation with Moses, but Moses had refused. (See Exodus) Moses often had interceded for the people when God’s judgment was about to fall. Moses had been misunderstood, criticized, and nearly stoned, but he remained a faithful shepherd to his people.  Perhaps this is why Moses was the one honored to come down to have a conversation with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration that day.  Mm.

Though he was about to die, Moses didn’t think about himself but about the future of the nation. His great concern was that God provide a spiritual leader for the people, for they were sheep and sheep must have a shepherd.  (See also 2 Sam. 24:7; Ps. 74:1; 79:13; 95:7; 100:3), and sheep must have a shepherd (1 Kin. 22:17; Zech. 10:2; Matt. 9:36; Mark 6:34). 

Jesus is our Shepherd!  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”  John 10:11-15

As we continue through Numbers, we will see the glory of God displayed in Joshua who will step forward with boldness to lead the Israelites.  Joshua believes God, trusts, and obeys what God tells him to be and do.  That is a shepherd who will lead God’s sheep effectively and successfully in declaring who God is to all other nations.  Stay tuned!  We will learn much from what a Godly leader looks like as Joshua replaces Moses.

Pause to pray, reflect, then respond to God.  Take a heart motivation inventory.

Do I serve others for the praise I receive or for the pleasure of serving Christ?

When I have an opportunity to serve, do I ask God to help and lead me so I will have the right motives?

Help me, Lord, to consistently ask: Why am I doing this?

Lord,

With you, Lord, the “why” is more important that what you have given us to do.  May we be quick to respond with gladness and thanksgiving for the opportunities you provide for serving You above all. Lord, I’m yours.  And I’m listening. Guide each thought and each step I take today. May all I think, say, and do give you glory.  May I give you a rapid response of thanksgiving each time I see your glory at work around and in me!  You are God. I am not.  You are my Shepherd; I lack for nothing.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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COUNT

Posted on February 25, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.” Psalm 119:90

God likes to count. He tells Moses to count the number of men who are old enough to battle against the enemies of Israel. God wants all people groups to be counted and their names registered.  God counts and names each head of each family along with mention of those who will were examples of obedience and those who were not.  God also points out those who will make a difference in His Kingdom work later. So, that is the reason we read the number of names with their bylines.  Everyone counts!

Throughout God’s word, we are also taught to count. “Count the costs before building,” “count the cost” of following Jesus before committing our lives to Him, “count your blessings” and name them to God with thanksgiving!  Count who stands with you on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ for there is strength in numbers! 

What God no longer counts are sins repented to Him in Jesus Name.  Our sins, not in part but the whole, are no longer counted against us.  In fact, God forgets our sins repented altogether— “as far as the east is from the west”!  (Psalm 103:12)

We count to God!  All His created matter to Him from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes, we count to our Father as His beloved children. 

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”—Jesus, Luke 12:6-7

Numbers 26

The Second Census

After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, 2 “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families—all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel.” 3 So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said, 4 “Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

5 The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were: through Hanok, the Hanokite clan; through Pallu, the Palluite clan; 6 through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Karmi, the Karmite clan. 7 These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.

8 The son of Pallu was Eliab, 9 and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah’s followers when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign. 11 The line of Korah, however, did not die out.

12 The descendants of Simeon by their clans were: through Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; through Jamin, the Jaminite clan; through Jakin, the Jakinite clan; 13 through Zerah, the Zerahite clan; through Shaul, the Shaulite clan. 14 These were the clans of Simeon; those numbered were 22,200.

15 The descendants of Gad by their clans were: through Zephon, the Zephonite clan; through Haggi, the Haggite clan; through Shuni, the Shunite clan; 16 through Ozni, the Oznite clan; through Eri, the Erite clan; 17 through Arodi, the Arodite clan; through Areli, the Arelite clan. 18 These were the clans of Gad; those numbered were 40,500.

19 Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan.

20 The descendants of Judah by their clans were: through Shelah, the Shelanite clan; through Perez, the Perezite clan; through Zerah, the Zerahite clan. 21 The descendants of Perez were: through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Hamul, the Hamulite clan. 22 These were the clans of Judah; those numbered were 76,500.

23 The descendants of Issachar by their clans were: through Tola, the Tolaite clan; through Puah, the Puite clan; 24 through Jashub, the Jashubite clan; through Shimron, the Shimronite clan. 25 These were the clans of Issachar; those numbered were 64,300.

26 The descendants of Zebulun by their clans were: through Sered, the Seredite clan; through Elon, the Elonite clan; through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan. 27 These were the clans of Zebulun; those numbered were 60,500.

28 The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were: 29 The descendants of Manasseh: through Makir, the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead); through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.30 These were the descendants of Gilead: through Iezer, the Iezerite clan; through Helek, the Helekite clan; 31 through Asriel, the Asrielite clan; through Shechem, the Shechemite clan; 32 through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan;through Hepher, the Hepherite clan. 33 (Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah.) 34 These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.

35 These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; through Beker, the Bekerite clan; through Tahan, the Tahanite clan. 36 These were the descendants of Shuthelah: through Eran, the Eranite clan.37 These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.

38 The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were: through Bela, the Belaite clan; through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan; 39 through Shupham, the Shuphamite clan; through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.40 The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were: through Ard, the Ardite clan; through Naaman, the Naamite clan. 41 These were the clans of Benjamin; those numbered were 45,600.

42 These were the descendants of Dan by their clans: through Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These were the clans of Dan: 43 All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.

44 The descendants of Asher by their clans were: through Imnah, the Imnite clan; through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan; through Beriah, the Beriite clan; 45 and through the descendants of Beriah: through Heber, the Heberite clan; through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.46 (Asher had a daughter named Serah.) 47 These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53,400.

48 The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were: through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; through Guni, the Gunite clan; 49 through Jezer, the Jezerite clan; through Shillem, the Shillemite clan. 50 These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400.

51 The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 “The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names. 54 To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed. 55 Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe. 56 Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

57 These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan; through Kohath, the Kohathite clan; through Merari, the Merarite clan. 58 These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram; 59 the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam. 60 Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire.)

62 All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.

63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Israel needed a new census because everyone over age twenty at the previous census had died. Census taking demonstrated that God was keeping his people united and organized.

God still counts.  “Let your salvation reflect God’s glory. “You also were includedin Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14).

What are we counting?  Pause to reflect and prayerfully respond to God.

  • Are we counting our pennies or counting our blessings?
  • Are we counting how many days until an event will bring us happiness or counting it all joy in the here and now, no matter our current condition and circumstances?  (James 1)
  • Are we counting on people or relying fully on God?
  • Are we counting the faults of others to make us feel better about ourselves or counting on God’s grace for our own weakness which is sufficient for each day? (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
  • Are we counting on ourselves to problem solve or counting on God, in Jesus Name to deliver us from evil; God’s Holy Spirit to guide us to truth; and God’s ever-present help in times of troubles? Psalm 46; Proverbs 3:5-6; John 16:13)

What we count counts to God.

Lord,

Thank you for using a census to bring us to our senses concerning living Life to the full by your power working in and through us!  Lead me to count what counts to you all day long and into the night.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS

Posted on February 24, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Matthew 4:1-10

God has given the Israelites all they need.  God has protected them from harm with a way of life that is best for them.  God gave them a simple list of commands so all will go well with them.  Now God is leading them to possess the land flowing with milk and honey He promised them generations earlier.  All they need to do is trust God and do what He says. 

However, there are people groups already residing in the promised land that do not believe or follow God. They know only enough about God to hate Him and His interference in their lives.  They have their own established culture of demeaning behaviors that dishonor mankind—all that is opposite God’s Law. They murder their own children by sacrificing them to various gods.  They perform demeaning sexual acts that harm all who participate in the orgies of evil.  They manipulate to maintain their way of life.  Because they fear that an end is coming to their nation because of the Israelite subsequent invasion; they create a plan to seduce the men of Israel.

The men fell for the deceit and turned from God to worship the gods of evil.  These Israelite men all God had to offer to willingly be bonded and yoked with evil.  God is not pleased and knows this disease of sinning dishonorably against Him and other Israelites must be halted before the rest of the Israelite nation is infected and succumb to it.

Numbers 25

Moab Seduces Israel

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”

6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God is a covenant-keeping God.  What He says; He will do.

God makes promises; Then He delivers on His promises.

“The LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors” (Joshua 21:43). Specifically, God gave Abraham a promise. “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’”(Genesis 12:7). That was six hundred years earlier! Who believed it would happen?

When Abraham died, the only land he owned was Sarah’s cemetery plot. His descendants were sharecroppers at best, slaves at worst, in Egypt for four centuries. Moses led them near but never into Canaan.

God promised to bless Abraham and, through Abraham’s seed, all the nations of the earth. “I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2–3). This was the promise partially fulfilled in Joshua. And this is the promise completely fulfilled in Jesus.

In Jesus ALL the nations are blessed. In Jesus every person has hope and the possibility of redemption. The apostle Paul wrote, “The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ” (2Corinthians 1:20 NCV).

Yes! Our God is a promise-keeping God. Others may make a promise and forget it. But if God makes a promise, he keeps it. “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

Knowing God is faithful and believing in His promises matters to our ultimate response to God.  We panic in times of trouble and wonder; does God’s integrity as a promise keeper and faithful provider and redeemer really make a difference?  When a loved one is in ER and we pace the floor in the hall of not knowing, it matters.  In those times we all must choose.  Faith or fear?  Do we choose God’s purpose or a random life of experiences without God?  Do we choose God who knows and cares or a god who isn’t there?  We all must choose.  Our response will reflect our real belief.

We all choose.

It stands to reason that to trust God who knows all and is in all with all the details of our lives is the best and most fulfilling response.  The best way to begin is to dive into His Word.  Choose a few promises from the Bible and trust in them for your life, your family, your finances, and your body.

Consistently thank God for always fulfilling His promises to us and for being reliable regarding all He says in His word.  Great IS His faithfulness!  There is no turning back.

Lord,

Thank you for warning us of impending trouble. Thank you for providing all we need in Jesus to be delivered from evil who distracts us while deceiving us with attempts to dismantle our faith in God.  There is power in the Name of you, dear Jesus!  Thank you for your power, even in our doubts, to stand on your promises. Thank you for always being with us.  Thank you for loving us forever and always.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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