March 23

Numbers 36:1-13, Deuteronomy 1:1-46, Luke 5:29-6:11, Psalms 66:1-20, Proverbs 11:24-26

Pray: In 1982, the Today show in New York City scheduled an interview with Reverend Billy Graham. When he arrived at the studio, one of the program's producers informed Graham's assistant that a private room had been set aside for the reverend for prayer before the broadcast. The assistant thanked the producer for the thoughtful gesture, but told him that Mr. Graham would not need the room. The producer was a bit shocked that a world-famous Christian leader would not wish to pray before being interviewed on live national television. Graham's assistant responded, "Mr. Graham started praying when he got up this morning, he prayed while eating breakfast, he prayed on the way over in the car, and he'll probably be praying all the way through the interview."

May our prayers be ongoing and never cease. Pray for a never-ending prayer life… one where every moment of life is lived in a spirit of prayer and praise. 

Read: In Deuteronomy we read of Moses giving God’s instructions to leave Sinai and travel to “the wilderness east of the Jordan River” (1:1). So, Moses appointed leaders for the tribes because the numbers of Israelites had grown so much that moving and managing such a large group of people had become too difficult. We also read of the spies that were sent ahead of the Israelite nation to check out the Promised Land and bring a report of their findings. This report albeit positive also brought on rebellion from amongst those that have quickly forgotten that the Lord is with them.

Edify: As nations, businesses, and even churches grow, they become more and more complex. Conflicting needs and problems arise. It is no longer possible for one person to handle the burden alone; therefore it is necessary to share the leadership load. This is what Moses did.

Practice: Just like Moses shared the leadership load with others, it may be necessary, from time to time, for you to share the leadership burden with others. This not only helps you as a leader be more effective but it also allows others to share in the load and exercise their own God-given gifts and abilities. 

March 22

Numbers 33:40-35:34, Luke 5:12-28, Psalms 65:1-13, Proverbs 11:23



Pray: Today, lift to the Lord your praise and adoration for who He is. It's easy to ask God for things, but we rarely utilize our prayer time to give God the glory that He is worthy of. In our busy world, we live in a “get down to business” mindset, but God wants to hear that we appreciate Him and are thankful for the reality that He is a gracious and forgiving God. Today let your prayers be about glorifying Him first. This should be the beginning of all of our prayers. God first…us later.

Read: We read in Numbers today of the Israelites preparing to move in and take possession of the Promised Land. In doing so, the Israelites were instructed to wipe out the existing inhabitants completely. Here we see God being one who is set on ridding the land of those who had inhabited it for generations. God warns that to not completely rid the land of these wicked inhabitants would create a situation of great irritation in the future. We are called to do the same thing in our own lives… throwing the old way of life away and moving ahead into our new life of obedience. Like the Israelites, we must decide for ourselves whether to stamp out our former ways or allow them to claim residence beside the new way of life. To settle for the latter is to not truly embrace the new way of life… it is straddling the fence of life, with one foot in the past and one in the future. Where are you today?

Edify: Luke records two miracles of Jesus in today's reading… one where Jesus healed a man with leprosy and the other a paralyzed man. In both cases, the faith of the men played a major role in their healing, but in the case of the paralyzed man, it was not only the man who was faithful. The men who carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus and even went so far as to open a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was and lowered their friend down in front of Jesus also demonstrated great faith. I am always amazed in this verse at Jesus' response to the Pharisees during this exchange. Jesus never got upset or angry with the Pharisees challenging Him for forgiving the man’s sins, He simply asked them which would be easier… forgiving him or healing him. So Jesus being who He was… did both. 

Practice: Psalms 65 says, “What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion. We will fulfill our vows to you for you answer prayers, and to you all people will come. Though our hearts are filled with sins, you forgive them all.” Just as Christ forgave the sins of the paralyzed man, we can have our sins forgiven by the very same Christ. All we have to do is trust in Him and ask for the forgiveness. Ask for God’s forgiveness today and, like the Israelites, push out the wickedness within your heart so that you can begin a new life in Christ today.

March 21

Numbers 32:1-33:39, Luke 4:31-5:11, Psalms 64:1-10, Proverbs 11:22



Pray: Pray today that Scripture would come alive in your heart and mind. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and unlock something new and meaningful for you and your life while you read and study today. Pray for your family… those close to God and those far from Him. Pray that God would, in His own way, create opportunities for sharing your story and your journey with God. 

Read: The Old Testament story today is one that, if not careful, you will miss a major point where many are guilty. Moses made an assumption that the tribes that wanted to live on the other side of the Jordan were doing so out of selfish reasons. Ever been there? It is crucial for us to find out all of the facts before we come to a conclusion on something. Just because something may sound suspicious doesn’t always mean that it is being done out of bad motives. We also read a remembrance of the journey that Israel has made thus far all the way back to the very beginning of the Israelite people.

We read some of this just yesterday in our New Testament reading where Jesus was rejected in His hometown because of who they saw Him as being and not who He was in God. Today, we see Jesus moving on and doing amazing things in Capernaum where He casts out a demon (did you notice that the demon knew WHO He was… what was it that kept those in Nazareth from seeing WHO Christ was?). Jesus also calls James and John as disciples after doing the impossible and showing some awesome fishing skills! 

Edify: In the story of Jesus calling James and John, Jesus teaches an important reality about who He is and how we are to follow Him. Jesus demonstrates that even though the instructions that we are to be faithful to in our lives may not make sense, we are to be faithful in fulfilling that which is expected. It didn’t make any sense to think that just by throwing the nets over the other side of the boat, that it would make any difference, but we see that in their following Jesus’ instructions, it yielded a great reward. And so it should be with our own lives… we must be faithful in our own following even when it may not make the most sense. We are to remain faithful.

Practice: Proverbs tells us that wicked talk leads to the tearing apart of cities. Covenant today to make your words uplifting rather than words of destruction. Who can you build up today with a simple, authentic compliment?

March 20

Numbers 30:1-31:54, Luke 4:1-30, Psalms 63:1-11, Proverbs 11:20-21



Pray: Pray today that God would open your heart and mind to the message that HE has to reveal through Scripture today. Lift up our leaders within our church as we seek to serve the church and God’s Kingdom to the best of our abilities. Pray for our families and our ministries as we do our very best to reach millions of people by developing thousands of fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Finally pray for revival… that people would turn from their wicked and selfish ways and turn to God. 

Read: Today we read in Numbers of the vengeance of God on the Midianites for leading the Israelites into idol worship. While the wrath of the Lord was swift and total, we see the warriors not follow the instructions of Moses, which had come from God when they brought the women, and children back as spoils of war. None of the men had survived. Moses further instructs the warriors to finish the task at hand with the destruction of the women, who had led the Israelites into idol worship. Next we see a beautiful scene of thanksgiving as the warriors, none of whom were hurt or killed in battle, gave an offering of gold from their plunder to God as thanks for their victory and safety during battle. What a beautiful example of thankfulness in the midst of chaotic times! 

In Luke’s Gospel we find ourselves at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee where He was rejected in His hometown. The people only saw Him as Joseph’s son and could not see that Scriptural prophecy was standing before them in the form of a man.

Edify: Today, we read in both the Old and New Testaments about gratitude. On one hand, the Israelite warriors had a sense of gratitude for their victory and well-being in battle. The Nazarenes did not have any form of gratitude towards Christ because they were blinded by Jesus being “Joseph’s son”. It is critical to our overall health and especially our spiritual well-being to have a sense of gratitude when it comes to the person and workings of Jesus Christ.

Practice: Let’s commit today to be people of gratitude and not people blinded by the culture by placing Christ in the second chair of life. Where in your life should you be more thankful than you are? Make it a priority today to demonstrate thanks in those areas in life where you should be more thankful than you show.

March 19

Numbers 28:16-29:40, Luke 3:23-38, Psalm 62:1-12, Proverbs 11:18-19 



Pray: Father, thank You for Your Holy Bible. It encourages and corrects, it guides and reminds me everyday of Your faithfulness and my need for Your perfect sacrifice for me. Your life was the ultimate sacrifice for my sin once and for all. Thank You for Your life, death, and resurrection today Jesus. Amen.

Read: In Numbers this morning we read about the prescribed offerings that the people of Israel were to make. Many of these offerings were made as a means of atonement for the sin of the people. If they were not meant for sin, they were dedicated to the Lord as an offering. Then they had Passover offerings as memorial, meant to be performed to remember the work of the Lord in the past. I think we could learn something from the people as they perform these sacrifices and offerings. These symbolic acts helped the people to be thankful for what God had done and also communally encourage the people to give unto the Lord from their own resources. It reminded the people, as we often need to be reminded, that everything we have is a gift from the Lord.

Edify: In our New Testament reading we see Luke providing Theophilus with an account of the genealogy of Jesus. This man did not just appear out of nowhere. He is from the lineage of David as prophesied by the prophets before. We have to remind ourselves sometimes as New Testament Christians entrenched in the Bible belt that Jesus was a real historical figure who we can trust. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for and the EVIDENCE of things unseen. We don’t have blind faith in Christ, we have evidence and substance to support our belief.

Practice: Proverbs reminds us this morning how important it is to be a person of integrity especially when it comes to what we earn and make for a living. The promise is sure, the one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

March 18

Numbers 26:52-28:15, Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17  



Pray: Father, “Here my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge and my strong tower.” Lord, may we trust in Your authority and strength in our lives today and may Your Holy Spirit be ever present with us. Amen.

Read: What a special passage of scripture in Numbers 27:12-23 as we read about the succession of leadership from Moses to Joshua. The qualification for leadership over the people was very simple. “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.” The only need we have to be spiritual leaders is whether the Spirit of God resides in your life. If you are shepherded by the Spirit of God then you will be faithful to shepherd God’s people. It is also encouraging to read how much Moses cared for his people and did not want for them to be without a Shepherd to lead them into the Promise Land.

Edify: John the Baptist was a man set apart to prepare the way for Jesus. His message was simple, “Repent for the forgiveness of sins.” The first step in the lives of any follower of Jesus is still the same, repent. Many of us forget that we must have faith to believe and we must have faith to repent. They are not mutually exclusive. Any person that believes in Jesus also repents and anyone who repents also believes. The distinguishable difference noted in the text is that John baptized with water, but Jesus will baptize people into the Holy Spirit.

Practice: We are reminded in Proverbs today that kindness and graciousness go a long way and are beneficial to us as well. On the contrary, violence and cruelty only hurt us and those around us. Let’s practice a gracious and kind spirit with those we interact with today.

March 17

Numbers 26:1-51, Luke 2:36-52, Psalm 60:1-12, Proverbs 11:15



Pray: Oh Father, “That your beloved ones may be delivered, give us salvation by your right hand and answer us!” Lord, You alone are our security and our defense. May we trust in Your unfailing love and faithfulness in our lives today. Amen.

Read: There were 601,730 people in Israel over 20 years of age not including teens and children. Amazing to think that this enormous group of people wandered around in the desert for 40 years. It’s no wonder the Lord had to set up the laws for living. I have to remind myself that these laws were for the good of the people. We have to remember today that the laws that God has established are not only a blessing to us but also for our good and for our well-being in living together as His Holy people.

Edify: We get a rare glimpse in Luke today of Jesus as a boy. There are a few things that we can gather about His childhood that are truly significant. The first is that even as a child, Jesus’ mind was on His heavenly Father. He wanted to be in His Father’s house. It is also powerful that even as a child He amazed the religious leaders with His understanding and answers to their questions. But what I believe is extremely encouraging is that this passage ends with saying “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Jesus being like us as a man had to grow in His relationship just like you and I. He had to read the law, He had to grow and love and care just like us. I am so thankful we have a Lord that we can relate to and learn from.

Practice: The reading in Proverbs this morning gives us a very practical practice “He who puts up security for a stranger will suffer harm, and he who hates striking hands in a pledge is secure." In other words, don’t be quick to make a deal. Especially if it is uncertain whom it is with or what it is about.