NUMBERS

Thursday morning and I'm in Numbers.  Numbers is God's inventory.  The children of Israel are numbered twice in this book.  They were numbered as they came out of Egypt, and later they are numbered again after a generation has died in the wilderness.  So forty years later they are numbered again!  Here are a few thoughts: 1) NOT OF MINE OWN MIND- Moses is speaking in Numbers 16:28, and here is what he says:  "And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind."   God leads a man of God and he is not self directed, or he gets in trouble.  God leads, paves the way, and provides along the way!  Praise be to His name! 2) DISQUALIFIED- After sharing the good words of Moses in Numbers 16:28 (above), we now see that in Numbers 20:12, Moses was disqualified for doing things of his own mind.  He was told by God to speak to the rock in verse 8, but he smote the rock instead.  Water still came out, and the people were still satisfied.... but God wasn't.  God not only wants His work done, but done His way.  No one spoke "face to face" with God like Moses, and yet, he still had to obey.  He broke simple instructions and became disqualified.  As a results the Bible says:  "... therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."   He could not go over the river Jordan into the promised land.   Don't ever think we get too big for God and must not abide by His rules. 3) LOOK & LIVE- Really, it was just that simple.  Because of disobedience, the children of Israel had deadly fiery serpents among them.  They were dying right and left.  Here was God's solution.  Moses was to make a serpent of brass on a pole, lift it up and run through the congregation and (Numbers 21:9) "... if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."  Look and Live was the simple solution.  Now in John 3, Jesus said that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so also must the Son of Man be lifted up.  The ideas is that all who look to the crucified Savior in faith.... will live!  Believe and Live!  Just as  simple, and yet so effective. I hope you have a blessed day today.  I rejoice in God my Savior today and exalt Him as the great and mighty God that He is.  Yesterday He answered several key prayers of mine and blew me away with how He answered.  I was speechless and wept at the answer of a great prayer in a moment of time.  I could not put into words how I felt.  We were short in funds to run our Christian School, and desperately needed God to intervene.   A couple asked to talk with me last night after our yearly business meeting and told how they wanted to give some of the inheritance of their mother to the school..... $17,000.00!!   I could not believe it!  How Great is our God!  Praise His Name!   Have a blessed day.   Pastor Mike Mutchler