March 21st Bible in a Year Readings

Numbers 32:1-33:39 + Luke 4:31-5:11 + Psalm 64:1-10 + Proverbs 11:22
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Old Testament - Today in Numbers chapter 32 verse 23 we read this strong warning from Moses to the Reubenites & Gadites about their promise to fight with Israel and their desire to settle in the land east of the Jordan river: "But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the LORD, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out."  I think this is powerful for us to keep in mind in our lives today as well!  It's important for us to keep our word!  If we're not sure we can keep our word, we shouldn't give it.  But if we do give our word, and we fail to keep it, we have sinned.  And I do believe the sin will still find us out today.  How are you at keeping your word these days?  Is there an area of your life where you gave your word and you now are wavering?  Can you keep your word in that area?  Will you pray to God to give you strength to do so?  Let us not be people who fail to keep our word or who stretch the truth!

Chapter 33 is a great re-cap of Israel's journey!

New Testament - In Luke chapter 5 verses 10 & 11 we read - "From now on you'll be fishing for people!" And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus."  Can you imagine being called by Jesus like this?  If you were called by Jesus to stop your "work" that you are doing now and instead work to bring people closer to God, would you do so?  Can you imagine yourself today being like these disciples and leaving everything and following Jesus?

Bible.org's commentary on Luke chapter 4's readings today titled "Deity Confronts the Demons" is at this link and commentary on chapter 5's readings today entitled "How to Hook a Fisherman" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 64 verse 10 is beautiful - "The godly will rejoice in the LORD and find shelter in him."  Do you consider God a shelter for your life?  When storms come into your life, do you find shelter in God?  How about the Bible?  Is the Bible a sort of shelter in your life?  Do you find refuge in the Bible?

Proverbs - Proverbs 11:22 today teaches us - "A woman who is beautiful but lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout."  Well, I looked at the TNIV to see if "woman" might be changed to "person", but it wasn't.  I think this Proverb can apply to men too.  I think we are all beautiful, as sons & daughters of God!  We are made in the image of God.  And when we lack discretion in our God-given lives, then we indeed are like this image below!  :)

Worship God: Luke chapter 5 reminds me of Steven Curtis Chapman's great song "For the Sake of the Call:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sb4RrF9VxI

Will you abandon it all for the sake of the call? Click here for the Call!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on two verses of Scripture today: "Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him." Luke 5:10-11 NIV

Prayer Point: Pray that you will follow Jesus. Pray that you will leave everything else in this life that does not line up with Jesus call for your life and for God's glory.

Comments from You & Questions of the Day: Based on our readings in Luke today, do you believe that Jesus still calls his followers to be fishers of people today?  Are you a fisher of people?  How are you fishing for people for the Lord in your life today?  What are some ways that Jesus might be calling you to fish for people today?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

Love, Trust and Obey Jesus,
Mike

p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.

p.s. #2 - Download a schedule of our Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.

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Comments

[Ramona]

Numbers 32:1-33:39

This makes me sad, 1 …So when they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideally suited for their flocks and herds, 2 they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the other leaders of the people. They said, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—4 the LORD has conquered this whole area for the people of Israel. It is ideally suited for all our flocks and herds. 5 If we have found favor with you, please let us have this land as our property instead of giving us land across the Jordan River."

God, who knows everything, gives the children of Israel land that is best suited for them, yet two and one-half tribes think that they can appraise the land better than God. Hmmm, have I negotiated down and taken what God has permitted me to take instead of waiting for God’s perfect Will for my life? Were the people from the tribe of Gad the ancestors of those living in the Gadarenes, that place where Jesus cast the legend of demons out of a man and sent them into a heard of pigs? I’m not sure if they are but if there were they wound up taking care of unclean animals. That was not a job for nice Jewish boys.

How could they say that the land was ideally suited for them without fully exploring the land of Promise? What does this say when we want things done in our timing and not God’s timing?

Mike reading your comments about keeping our words reminds me of how important it is to be faithful to the words that flow from our mouths. One of the consequences of not keeping our word is that we don’t think anyone else will be true to their word either, even God so we don’t trust Him. If you can’t believe your own words, you will never believe anyone else’s. That is the real destruction of having a lying tongue, we destroy ourselves first.

Luke 4:31-5:11

I think it’s funny pathetic that demon spirits knew who Jesus was, yet those who were his own didn’t recognize, or maybe I should say wouldn’t recognize that He fulfilled all the Prophecies uttered in the Old Testament, the Book. Something is very wrong with that picture.

Jesus’ power to heal, his power to tell fish where to go to be caught could only happened because He was “ In the beginning …All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being (John 1:1; 3). The only way that anyone can have legitimate power over anything is to be the one who created it. Jesus could get rid of fevers because he created man.
As His creation at His Word every cell must perform they way it was made to perform “In the Beginning …(Genesis 1:1)

Psalm 64:1-10
Do not let my enemies' threats overwhelm me.

This is the first time that I’ve read this and picked up its meaning. Don’t let my enemies’ threats overwhelm me. This is saying that there is no way that I can withstand the onslaught of all the negative, destructive things of life that come my way unless God holds back them back. How often do I think I need to take a stand, build myself up and play the part of the Lone Ranger riding on my trusty steed? Surly pride will be my downfall and the only safety is being sheltered under the might wings of God.

Proverbs 11:22

Mike I liked the picture of the pig’s snout although it took me awhile to figure out what I was looking at. What I see here in the Proverb is that this gold ring that has been placed in the snout doesn’t loose its value. What happens to it is that it gets stuck in the mud, stuck in the troth and encrusted with food and dirt. Unless one captures the pig and gives him a bath, the beauty of the ring will be obscured. Yet even when bathed, perfumed and dressed in a tux, the pig being a pig will go back to his ole stomping grounds, the mud.

Although you looked to see if this wasn’t gender specific, don’t try to make it gender neutral, accept what the Word of God is saying. Remember the church is called the bride of Christ. So that means all you Christian men need to go out and find a nice bridal veil.

You might even extrapolate this out and say this could be a warning for the church, Christ’s Bride! Stay out of the mud and don’t be attaching yourselves to pigs.

Grace and peace,
Ramona