Day 12 Numbers 24-36

Numbers 30 

 ^1-2 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the People of Israel: "This is what God commands: When a man makes a vow to God or binds himself by an oath to do something, he must not break his word; he must do exactly what he has said.

It seems that today, more promises are broken than kept.  Why is that?  Why can't we commit ourselves to the things that we say we will?  Do we put to much stock in ourselves that we think we can, and then fail?  Why can't we be honest and say "I don't know if I can commit to that, but I'll try".

Why are there broken friendships homes divided, tears between family?

Don't even get me started on Business Ethics... no, let me rant for a moment.  If you're a "hand shake kinda guy", then stick to the promises that you make.  And then when you don't stick to those promises, don't be upset when someone walks away leaving you with nothing...

If you make a promise - KEEP IT!  If you don't think you can keep it - DON'T MAKE IT!

Day 11 Numbers 10-23

Numbers 11:18-23 

^18-20 "Tell the people, Consecrate yourselves. Get ready for tomorrow when you're going to eat meat. You've been whining to God, 'We want meat; give us meat. We had a better life in Egypt.' God has heard your whining and he's going to give you meat. You're going to eat meat. And it's not just for a day that you'll eat meat, and not two days, or five or ten or twenty, but for a whole month. You're going to eat meat until it's coming out your nostrils. You're going to be so sick of meat that you'll throw up at the mere mention of it. And here's why: Because you have rejected God who is right here among you, whining to his face, 'Oh, why did we ever have to leave Egypt?'" 

 ^21-22 Moses said, "I'm standing here surrounded by 600,000 men on foot and you say, 'I'll give them meat, meat every day for a month.' So where's it coming from? Even if all the flocks and herds were butchered, would that be enough? Even if all the fish in the sea were caught, would that be enough?" 

 ²³ God answered Moses, "So, do you think I can't take care of you? You'll see soon enough whether what I say happens for you or not."

I think something that we all struggle with is if God really is listening to our prayers, does He have our best interests in mind?  I can remember on several occasions, when things in our lives were dire, and we finally saw a glimmer of hope, that grew and grew until suddenly - GONE!  I can't tell you how devastating it all was.  My husband had applied for a job that would have moved us out of Ohio.  We were praying over it, and traveled several times over a 4 month period for interviews.  We began looking for an apartment, finding the best Christian school, looking for churches... and then it fell through.  We were devastated.  

We found out a few months later that there were budget cuts and a large number of lay offs.  It was a blessing in disguise, but it didn't feel like it at the time.

It's hard to trust in the things that we can't see.  I encourage you - look to Him for your daily courage.  The dreams you have may be what He has planned for you, it may not.  Trust in Him, he will provide it for you at a time that He sees fit.  Sometimes it will only last a short while, sometimes longer.  But His love for us is everlasting, and He will never let us down.

Day 10 Numbers 1-9

Numbers 5:5-10
^5-10 God spoke to Moses: "Tell the People of Israel, When a man or woman commits any sin, the person has broken trust with God, is guilty, and must confess the sin. Full compensation plus twenty percent must be made to whoever was wronged. If the wronged person has no close relative who can receive the compensation, the compensation belongs to God and must be given to the priest, along with the ram by which atonement is made. All the sacred offerings that the People of Israel bring to a priest belong to the priest. Each person's sacred offerings are his own, but what one gives to the priest stays with the priest."

I think something that is lost in society today is the concept of righting our wrongs.  We'd rather put extra effort into avoiding the people that we hurt, or who have hurt us, than addressing the issues.

What's more, we don't submit our sins to God.  I think that's an important piece to our walks, that most of us forget.

My daughters were in the same Sunday School class, and their teacher told them that when they say something hurtful to a friend, they need to apologize not only to their friend, but also to God.  Now, my kids are all very special, and I love them all very much.  But there is something amazing yet startling about how mature my daughter Samantha is, and how easily she understands certain concepts.  So when she was taught this lesson, she began enforcing it at home.  Every time her brother or sister upset her, or did something wrong, she'd remind them to apologize to (whoever) and also to Jesus.

I think it should be something that we do on a daily basis, wipe the slate clean of the sins we committed during the day (and yes, you did commit some, so did I).  Thank God for your blessings, and ask Him to forgive your sins.  Your relationships will be stronger for it.