Scripture Readings: Psalm 71:1-13, Deuteronomy 21-22, Romans 7:7-25 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 21:18-19 Reflection: The text tells of a son, who is so stubborn and rebellious that he is not only a harm to himself, but to his parents, to his family and to his community. This young man has no respect or honor for his…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 70, Deuteronomy 18-20, Romans 6:15-7:6 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 20:3-4 Reflection: It was the will of God for the people of God to not be afraid when they faced their enemies along their journey, because God went before them to fight for them. Beloved, I think it is natural to be somewhat fearful…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 69:30-36, Deuteronomy 15:12-17, Romans 6:1-14 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 16:16-17 Reflection: Three times a year, the people of God were to celebrate with a feast for what God had done in their lives. God had blessed them, so they had to come to these three feasts with gifts to show their gratitude and…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 69:19-29, Deuteronomy 13-15:11, Romans 5:12-21 Reflection Verse: Deuteronomy 15:10 Reflection: God said that the poor and needy will always be with us. Because of this, we, as the people of God, are to freely and willingly help them and not give to them grudgingly. That is the command of God. And as…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 69:1-18, Deuteronomy 11:16-12, Romans 5:1-11 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 12:8-9 Reflection: The text today teaches us that God has a way for His people to function, behave and worship. At that time the people were doing whatever they felt was right. However, once they entered and took possession of the land that God…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 68:20-35, Deuteronomy 9:7-11:15, Romans 4 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 11:11-12 Reflection: The reflection verses speak to how God cares for and watches over the land that the Israelites was about to enter into and possess. It says that God’s eyes are always on this land, every season of the year. God promised them…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 68:1-7, Deuteronomy 5-6, Romans 2 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 6:4-7 Reflection: God taught His people who God is and commanded them to love Him with everything in them. Their entire being was to be focused on loving God. And not only were they to do this, but they were to teach their children…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 67, Deuteronomy 3:21-4, Romans 1:18-32 Reflection Verse: Deuteronomy 3:28 Reflection: God allowed Moses to see the promised land, but not to lead the people into it. God commissioned Joshua to lead the people into it and take possession of it. Beloved, leaders have different functions, assignments and seasons. However, it is God…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 66:8-20, Deuteronomy 2-3:20, Romans 1:1-17 Reflection Verses: Deuteronomy 2:1-3 Reflection: When the people of God refused to go into their promised land, God sent them back into the wilderness where they skirted Mt. Seir for a period of time. God finally told them to move on from there and started them back…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 65, Numbers 34:16-35, Acts 27:27-28:10 Reflection Verse: Numbers 35:12 Reflection: God provided and set up 6 cities of refuge to protect a person who accidentally killed someone. This was not a haven for murderers, but a place for a person guilty of killing another person, accidentally, to flee to before the family…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 64, Numbers 33:14-34:15, Acts 27:1-26 Reflection Verses: Numbers 33:51-52 Reflection: God instructed the of Israel people to destroy and demolish all representations of idolatry in the Promised Land. Anything that would shift their focus from God had to be removed. Beloved, God alone is God, and no other god is to be…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 63, Numbers 32-33:13, Acts 26:12-32 Reflection Verses: Numbers 33:1-2 Reflection: Moses recorded the journey of the people of God from Egypt to the Plains of Moab. At each place along the way, Moses made a record. Beloved, it is good for us to remember the journey we have been on with God….
Scripture Readings: Psalm 62, Numbers 31, Acts 25:23-26:11 Reflection Verses: Number 31:1-2 Reflection: The Lord gave Moses one of his last assignments as the set leader of the Nation of Israel and Moses did just as the Lord commanded. Moses was very careful that every detail of Moses’ assignment was completed in a way that…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 61, Numbers 29-30, Acts 25:1-22 Reflection Verse: Numbers 30:2 Reflection: Beloved, if we make a vow to do something, as we sometimes must, then we are to be faithful to keep that vow, just as we said. We must not to break our word. If we do not keep what we have…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 60, Numbers 27-28, Acts 24 Reflection Verses: Numbers 27:6-7 Reflection: The daughters of Zelophehad appealed to Moses concerning their inheritance. Their father had passed away, and they had no brother to receive the inheritance. The language of the Law did not provide for daughters to receive the inheritance, which meant that their…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 59, Numbers 26:35-65, Acts 23:12-35 Reflection Verse: Numbers 26:64-65 Reflection: A census had been taken of the people of God by Moses and Eleazar, the High Priest. Every tribe had been counted and they were preparing to receive their inheritance in the promised land. But it should be noted, that an entire…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 58, Numbers 26:1-34, Acts 22:22-23:11 Reflection Verses: Numbers 26:9-10 Reflection: These verse serve as a reminder and a warning to the tribe of Reuben, the other tribes, and to us today as to what happens when people set themselves up against God and God’s leaders. This family heritance has a blight on…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 57, Numbers 23:13-25, Acts 22:1-21 Reflection Verses: Numbers 25:12-13 Reflection: In the text, the people of God had once again sinned against God. But notice that the man Phinehas showed his love for God and for God’s people by doing what was necessary to stop the plague. His actions pleased God, for…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 56, Numbers 22-23:12, Acts 21:17-40 Reflection Verse: Numbers 23:8 Reflection: Balaam was a prophet for hire. He earned his living using his Divine gift to benefit kings and people of wealth in their efforts to have things their own way. In this case, Balaam was unable to pronounce a curse on Israel…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 55:12-23, Numbers 20:14-21, Acts 21:1-16 Reflection Verses: Numbers 20:28-29 Reflection: Notice, in the text, that at God’s instructions Moses took off Aaron’s high priest garments and placed them on Eleazar, Aaron’s son – thereby transferring the office of the High Priest to Eleazar. Aaron complied, then died there at Mt. Hor and…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 55:1-11, Numbers 18:8-20:13, Acts 20:13-38 Reflection Verse: Numbers 18:21 Reflection: Notice in the text, that God gave the tithes that the people brought to the Levites, in return for their work in the tabernacle. This was their inheritance from God. In like manner, our tithes support those who do the work and…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 53, Numbers 15:22-16:35, Acts 19:23-41 Reflection Verse: Numbers 16:3 Reflection: Korah along with 250 other leaders came against Moses and Aaron, taking issue with them as to the way they were leading. Korah and his tribe were already in charge of part of the work of the tabernacle, but evidently, they wanted…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 52, Numbers 14:13-15:21, Acts 18:18-19:22 Reflection Verse: Numbers 14:24 Reflection: What I love about Caleb in this narrative is that Caleb’s spirit was different from the 10 spies who gave the negative report about the Promised Land. Caleb trusted God and believed that God was able to accomplish for them what God…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 51, Numbers 12-14:12, Acts 18:1-17 Reflection Verses: Numbers 14:1-4 Reflection: Notice the reaction when 10 of the spies sent to investigate the promised land returned with a negative report regarding it. In doing so, they discouraged the people and turned their fears into unbelief, rebellion, and ultimately judgment as they refused to…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 50:16-23, Numbers 10:11-11, Acts 17:16-34 Reflection Verses: Numbers 11:4-6 Reflection: In today’s reading, there were “rabble rousers” among God’s people who stirred them up to speak against God and God’s provision. They wanted meat to eat, not the manna that God provided for them. Beloved, in the same manner, our food cravings…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 50:15, Numbers 8-10:10, Acts 17:1-15 Reflection Verse: Numbers 9:8 Reflection: In the text today, Moses was confronted with the problem of whether or not one could keep the Passover, or more specifically, whether one could present the Passover offering to God, when that person was unclean. Evidently their point was valid. Moses…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 49:12-20, Numbers 7:30-89, Acts 16:16-40 Reflection Verses: Numbers 7:78-83 Reflection: Ahira’s offering was very generous and very important to God, as was every other offering made by the princes of Israel. His offering was exactly the same as the leaders of the other 11 tribes. But notice that each offering was presented,…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 49:1-11, Numbers 6-7:29, Acts 15:36-16:15 Reflection Verse: Numbers 7:5 Reflection: The heads of each tribe of Israel presented a joint offering to God and God instructed Moses to accept their offering which would be used in the work of the Tabernacle and to compensate those who were to do the work. Much…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 47, Numbers 3:21-4:28, Acts 15:1-21 Reflection Verses: Numbers 4:27-28 Reflection: Beloved, leadership and authority is given by God. It may not be recognized in the world, but it should always be acknowledged in the House of God. Leadership and the authority that comes with leadership is given by God. Aaron and his…
Scripture Readings: Psalm 46, Numbers 2-3:20, Acts 14 Reflection Verse: Numbers 3:12 Reflection: The text teaches that instead of taking the first born from every family in every tribe, God chose the Levites. The Levites were set apart to serve God by serving Aaron, the priesthood and the Tabernacle. God declared them as HIS and…
