Tag Archives: Sinners

Where’s That Christian?

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Blend in the crowd

Today’s Devotion: Numbers 31

This world is not our home. It’s our station; our station for Christ. We are here for a short time to do the work of the LORD. As believers, with lives that are completely surrendered to God, He has a purpose for our lives and we are here to fulfill that purpose. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone says to me, “You deserve to be happy.”

My response, “No, I don’t.” God deserves the glory and my happiness will never be fully attained on this side of heaven. It’s impossible; we’re greedy, selfish, prideful, gluttonous sinners. If we are truly happy, it’s from our ability to have fulfillment in this world and that, at best, is temporary. Ray Stedman says in his blog, Authentic Christianity, “Happiness is liking the present moment because it pleases us.”

Even King Solomon in all of his splendor was granted everything a human could ever possess and he declares it all meaningless. (Ecclesiates 1:2) His ask of God was for wisdom, something money can’t buy. Why? It was the best gift he could possess and gave him answers to some of life’s tough questions. As a result, through his wisdom realized this world is temporary, unfulfilling and exhausting.

Numbers 31:15-16 “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them.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.”

There was a great problem with the children of Israel. God had taken them out of Egypt in one night. But it took God forty years to get Egypt out of them. And even now, after they had been tricked into idolatry through the advice of Balaam to the Midianites, they still bring the Midianite women into their camp. That is the problem with worldliness. It is not wrong for us to be in the world—that is where God has placed us—the great issue is whether the world is in us, in our hearts and lives.

This is a call-out for us this morning. A chance to realize whether or not we are truly of God or of the world. Does the world see us differently or just “another one of the guys?” Do we stand out in a crowd? Do people look for us like “Where’s Waldo” because they know we’re there somewhere?

We are set apart to be God’s people and today is our day to look, act, and live like we are His own.

Sad Worship

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True WorshipTears

Today’s Devotion: Numbers 28-29

In my commentary, Dr. Vernon McGee describes the worship described in Numbers 28-29 best. “Now what does this mean to you and me? We hear a lot today about worship and worship services. But how much is true worship in our services? How much is just aimless activity? Real worship is when we think God’s thoughts after Him. This sweet savor offering which God speaks of as My offering, My bread, My sacrifice, represents what God thinks of Christ. God is satisfied with what Christ did for you and me on the cross. What about you? Are you satisfied with what Christ did for you on the cross? Are you resting in that today? His invitation is “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Have you brought your burden of sin to Him and received Him as your Savior? Are you satisfied with who He is? If He is not the Son of God, then what He did is absolutely meaningless. True worship is a recognition of who He is and an adoration of His Person. In other words, it is thinking God’s thoughts after Him.”

Have you ever thought of worship as being sad? When I think of worship I picture hands lifted, eyes closed, hearts connected and praises sung, but then I search my heart and remember that my most raw, heart-filled, genuine, God-centered worship has been on my knees, tears flowing, eyes puffy, nose running and auditory weeping.

Numbers 28-29 reminds me that sin is ugly and when we truly see ourselves has sinners, we become aware that sin robs us of our fellowship with God; sin is an occasion for mourning. When was the last time you wept over your sins? Have you been before God and wept over your sin, over the failure of your life, over your coldness and indifference? My, how we need to confess that to Him today. It is not because God is high and we are low, or because He is great and weare small, nor because He is infinite and we are finite that we are separated from Him. He says it is our sins that have separated us from Him. That is the occasion for weeping.

I realize it is really our lives that are an act of worship and we don’t want to be wandering depressed souls living aimless lives that is a constant beat down of our inadequacies, but an occasional pause to put things into perspective is not a bad thing. I think that is why much of the book of Leviticus and now a detailed reminder of God’s offerings are reiterated here in Numbers.