Last night I was praying for inspiration for my group project in my studio. I knew we weren't meeting up until today and I had no real direction, but I didn't want to do nothing. I prayed, but all I could come up with was an organizational plan for the four presentation boards with categories and sub-categories. Sounds thrilling, huh? I wasn't all that thrilled. But, when I met up today to collaborate my partner had come up with so many details and examples for the project that she was overwhelmed and had no idea how to break it up. Now, that's God at work. He saw the giant looming and gave me the inspiration I needed to come up with the organization to fit my partner's research. God is good! What a blessing!
I found a great quote today by Max Lucado on the subject of doubt: "Doubt. He's a lousy neighbor. An unwanted visitor. An obnoxious guest. And he'll pester you. He'll irritate you. He'll criticize your judgment. His aim is not to convince you, but to confuse you. He doesn't offer solutions. Doubt only raises questions." When confusion arises we can know that it is the enemy bringing doubt into the equation. How do we know? Because we are told in 1 Corinthians 14:33 that "God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints."
A prime example of confusion in my prayer life (I'm saying all of this for my benefit, to remind myself of what I've learned and have to come to know. If it happens to benefit you, that's great.): Sometimes I struggle with finding a balance between my prayer requests and praying for God's Will. I want what I want, but I want what He wants more. So, somewhere in that prayer I have to die to self. But, does that mean that I stop praying for what I want if I am unsure of what He wants in a situation? No, I don't think so. Here's where I'm about to jump on a soap box about memorizing Scripture. This is directed at my audience: If you are not in the habit of memorizing Scripture, you need to be! Even if you think you're not capable of memorizing, try it. I fully believe God will help you memorize it and bless your effort. There are so many benefits! He commands it because He knows that the Word internalized will help us take a stand against temptation, will help conform our minds to the very mind of Christ, will help mold our desires to be in accordance with His, will soften the rough edges of our personality, and when we have the Word in our hearts the Spirit of God can help us recall a verse and so be an answer to prayer and a comfort in need. You won't have to go searching for a concordance to find a verse to comfort you because God can breathe that Word fresh into your mind. It's an awesome thing! So, I go back to the balance between my wants and His Will. I'll just say Psalm 40:8 "I desire to do Your Will, O my God. Your law is in my heart." He'll let me know if it is a "No" and until then, I'll be a squeaky wheel. Confusion bomb diffused, for now.
Today's Scripture: Numbers 15-Numbers 36
I finished Numbers today! Wow! I didn't expect to when I looked to see how many chapters of it I had left. But, wow! What a lesson today! I may get into a little trouble with this one, may step on some toes, but that's only because mine have been stepped on. So, today's theme in my reading seems to have been "Respect those God has put in spiritual authority over you." Let me say that once again, "Respect those God has put in spiritual authority over you." So, check it out. A group of men, about 250 in all (among 650,000 total Israelites this was a small percent) started grumbling (uh-oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) against Moses and Aaron and rose up against them. They questioned their authority and were getting ready to take them out of their positions. In short, you know what God did? He opened up the earth and swallowed the men and their households into the earth and buried them alive. Then He sent fire from heaven to consume (burn up) the others who were following in the rebellion. Church politics, huh? The moral of the story for me is "Respect those God has put in spiritual authority over you." There are checks and balances in place for ministers and deacons to hold each other accountable. God has placed them as spiritual authorities in my life and so I submit to and trust them. I don't want to be a marshmallow on a stick. Burnt is not one of my favorite perfumes. :) Not that I had any grumblings against anybody I know in authority, but if I ever did, that would have shut me up.
Next story that I loved today was about Balaam. Yes, I knew the general summary of his story. He beat the donkey, the donkey talked back. But, I didn't know why he was on the road, why the angel of the Lord was angry, and what followed. Really awesome story! So, apparently Balaam was known to be able to bless and curse with power. But, in this case, God was definitely going to give him something to say. The king of Moab's son, Balak, had seen God defeat Israel's enemies before and now Israel was at THEIR gate. Moab was terrified. Balak sent for Balaam to come and curse Israel. But, Balaam prays about it and God tells him that he is NOT to curse Israel because they are holy. Balaam refuses to go to Moab. But, Balaak insists and so Balaam agrees on the condition that he will only do what the Lord allows him to do. So, Balaam hops on the donkey and head out for Moab. Well, God's not happy that he's even considering cursing Israel. So, the angel of Lord appears in the middle of the road with a drawn sword. Scares the poor donkey! The donkey stops and turns off the road. Balaam beats the donkey. The angel follows that way and again frightens the donkey. The donkey runs into a wall crushing Balaam's ankle and so Balaam beats the donkey. The angel follows again, frightening the donkey who finally lays down and Balaam gets up and beats the donkey a third time. Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth and the donkey says, "Why are you beating me? Treating me this way after all the years I have carried you?" Then Balaam's eyes were opened and he saw the angel and begged forgiveness. He was allowed to continue to Moab on the condition that he would only do as the Lord said. So, he arrives in Moab and Balak asks him to go curse the Israelites. Balaam makes a sacrifice to the Lord and the Lord gives him a word for Balak. Balaam says, "How can I curse a people God has not cursed?" Balak isn't happy with that answer. So, he takes Balaam to another part of the city thinking maybe he'll curse them from a different angle. Again, Balaam offers a sacrifice and receives a word from the Lord. This is my verse for the day, I just love the Lord's response through Balaam: "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"--Numbers 23:19 Wow! Two more times Balak insists that Balaam curse the Israelites and God continues to give the same answer. "No." Makes me think of Romans 8:31-33 "If God is for us, who can be against us?...Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?"
Today's Memory Verse:
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"--Numbers 23:19
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