March 10

Numbers 14:1-15:16, Mark 14:53-72, Psalm 53:1-6, Proverbs 11:4



Pray: Father, help me to understand that the size of my problem is not where I should focus. Help me to focus on the size of my God!

Read: The children of Israel had experienced the miracles of God in their deliverance from Egypt. Now they were faced with circumstances that challenged their belief system. Was Moses their true leader? Had God put them in this desolate wilderness? Were the obstacles that lay ahead too great? The children of Israel had started strong, but now they were collapsing as a people as they yielded themselves to doubt, murmuring, and rebellion.

Edify: Most of us remember very well coming to that point in our lives where sin had so enslaved us that we needed a deliverer. The same thing had happened to Israel. They had been enslaved in Egypt. God had raised up Moses to deliver His people. Likewise, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to deliver you and me.

The children of Israel started strong. They left Egypt with the wealth of Egypt. But shortly after they entered the wilderness their strong faith and willing obedience began to crumble. Many of us start strong in the faith but when life doesn’t go our way we find ourselves, like Israel, longing to go back to the way things once were. Many give into these longings and return to life as it was before.

The wilderness journey of Israel mirrors into our life journey. We have the opportunity to choose God’s way and God’s plan and act on both. Or, like Israel, we can walk in circles all our lives until our bones bleach in the wilderness. God has planned “the land” for us. But we have a choice. We can choose the wilderness and die walking in circles.

Practice: Practice praying what God says rather than what you might feel. Translate your prayers into actions based on what God has said rather than what you feel in any given moment. Know assuredly that there will be obstacles. Know that life won’t be a picnic. But also know that God will be right there with you.

March 9

Numbers 11:24-13:33, Mark 14:22-52, Psalm 52:1-9, Proverbs 11:1-3



Pray: Lord God, teach me, train me, direct me, and correct me. Help me to delight in what You say rather than to camp out around what the world about me is saying. Remind me that Your manna is the true bread from heaven and Your provision for me. Help me not to cry out after the meat of Egypt. Help me to understand that as good as the quails seemed to be… the result of Egyptian meat was a plague and much death.

Read: In Numbers 11:12 we read that Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses. They went on to say, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” Our leaders are not perfect men. They have faults and failings. And sometimes we fail to understand that God made them our leaders and as such we must honor them in spite of their shortcomings. God dealt severely with Aaron and Miriam by striking Miriam with leprosy. We need to be very careful how we speak about our leaders. God is well able to deal with those in authority. We are called to pray for and honor our leaders. When we do so the Lord will deal in a mighty way with those in authority.

Edify: Mark 14:38 finds Jesus saying to His disciples something very profound but often missed. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Jesus had been alone with His heavenly Father just before His betrayal. He had asked His followers to watch and pray with Him. Rather than doing so they had fallen asleep. The possibility of overcoming temptation is real when coupled to PRAYER. Jesus did overcome temptation that night. His followers did not. PRAYER is a huge weapon. SLEEP is an enemy of prayer.

Practice: Peter knew he was about to be tested. Yet he failed to prepare for the temptation that was just ahead. Peter went to sleep. Peter did not pray. Meanwhile, Jesus was not sleeping and Jesus was praying. Temptation rarely sneaks up on us. More often than not we see temptation coming. But choosing to do something about it…well, it is on us. Do we pray before we choose to watch a certain tv show? Do we pray before we decide what to order off the menu? Do we pray before putting ourselves in a one-on-one situation with the opposite sex? Watch and pray. It makes all the difference!

March 8

Numbers 10:1-11:23, Mark 14:1-21, Psalm 51:1-19, Proverbs 10:31-32



Pray: Lord, life is a journey. And my prayer is not that You would make my journey easy. Rather Lord, I pray that my journey would honor Your name. Help me not to complain when things don’t go my way. Help me to be thankful deep within and by faith to voice my thankfulness even when I feel anything but thankful.

Read: In Numbers 10 and 11 we read how Israel began its journey across the wilderness. All began well, there was the clear sound of trumpets to tell Israel what to do. And there was order. When it was time to march there was order in the marching. So many things start well. But somewhere into our journey what we think should happen and what is really happening seems very far apart. Discouragement sets in. There is great temptation to complain to your leaders and for your leaders to complain to God. God intervened for Israel. They got the meat they wanted. They got so much meat that they grew sick of it. Remember, getting what we want may not be the best thing for us. Ask God to give you what you need and not what you want.

Edify: Jesus shares with His followers in Mark 14:7, “You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me.” A woman had come to Jesus and poured out expensive perfume over His head. She was obeying a prompting in her spirit. Those about her felt she was wasteful and that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus knew that something far more important than feeding the poor was going on. And Jesus said that this deed would always be remembered throughout history. Sometimes acts of faith and obedience to a prompting from the Holy Spirit just don’t make sense. But never lose sight of the bigger picture. Jesus was telling His followers not to miss the eternal realm while living in the natural realm.

Practice: The Holy Spirit is sometimes called “the hound of heaven.” He will prod you repeatedly sometimes to do something that just seems to make no sense. We shouldn’t be foolish and chase the wind just because a crazy thought pops into our minds and needs to be taken captive. At the same time though, should we have a recurrent thought or prompting we shouldn’t summarily dismiss it. Take that prompting to the throne of grace. Examine it in the light of God’s word. And seek God for confirmation.

March 7

Numbers 8:1-9-23, Mark 13:14-37, Psalm 50:1-23, Proverbs 10:29-30



Pray: Father, forgive me for the many times I have tried to get You to go where I wanted You to go. Remind me that I’m to follow You, not the other way around. The children of Israel could watch the cloud of Your presence and know when to stay still or when to follow after. I have Your WORD and I have Your Holy Spirit living within me. Help me to focus and get to really know both. Then, when You move, I will move as well.

Read: Numbers 9:21 tells us concerning Israel , “So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses. The children of Israel saw that the place of God’s presence was overshadowed by a cloud by day and by fire at night. There was no doubt about where God was. And when the cloud or fire moved…the children of Israel moved. Oh, that following God were so easy today! Today, we have far more than commandments written on stone. We have 66 books written by men of God full of the Holy Spirit. And we have the Spirit of God indwelling us. But we must focus on both in order to follow. We must get to know God’s Word like Israel knew Moses’ words. And we must get to know the cloud by day and the fire by night which is the Holy Spirit in us.

Edify: Mark 13:35 tells us that we must keep watch for we don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. Don’t let Him find you sleeping when He arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone: watch for Him! My golden retriever, Scooter, lives a dog’s life. He is one happy dog. But the focus of his day is his human mommy and daddy---us. His eyes and ears are always towards us. Who is the focus of your day? Are you always waiting and watching for the promptings of the Holy Spirit?

Practice: Start everyday by putting God first. Don’t leave your home until you have looked for Him. Just utter a simple prayer, “God I’m here and I want to watch for You and follow You today.” Quiet yourself. Wait. He knows you are looking and He rewards those who seek His face.

March 6

Numbers 6:1-7:89, Mark 12:38-13:13, Psalm 49:1-20, Proverbs 10:27-28



PRAY: Father God, help me to listen. Help me to wait on Your presence and Your words when I pray rather than being in a hurry to pray out everything stirring around in me. Help me to slow down and wait.

READ: In Numbers 6:24-26 read: 

"The Lord told Moses to tell his brother, Aaron, to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:

May the Lord bless you

And protect you

May the Lord smile on you

May the Lord show you his favor

And give you peace."

Words matter! Aaron is given the power and authority to bless or curse as a representative of God.

What a difference we can make in the lives of others when we listen for God’s voice and then bless those He puts in our pathway each day.

EDIFY: In Mark 12:33 Jesus shares with His disciples that a giving heart is not measured by how much one gives but by how much of what one has that he or she gives. The poor widow as she is referred to in this passage gave all that she had. Wasn’t she actually “rich”? Our faith and our trust grow as we give. Giving is not about what I’m losing. If that were the case no one would willingly give. Giving is all about what my gift might do when it is given freely, joyfully, and dedicated to God’s work.

PRACTICE: Great intentions become powerful decisions and life changing actions when we take the plunge into obedience. Decide to bless someone today with your words. Pray for them first. Listen for God’s leading concerning them. Then take the time to speak words of encouragement and thanksgiving to them.

Decide to be a crazy giver by giving extravagantly. Don’t just give until it hurts. Give until your joy replaces that “What have I done?” feeling!

March 5

Numbers 4:1-5:31, Mark 12:18-37, Psalm 48:1-14, Proverbs 10:26



Prayer: God gives specific duties to those serving the Levites and of the particular “clans” as it were. Each one has a specific duty in order to enable prayer and worship. The most important responsibility you and I have now is to prepare our hearts before we read scripture to hear the Words of God as they speak to us at this moment. So let’s pray, “Dear God, grant us wisdom now. Let us have ears to hear and open our eyes as You reveal Yourself to us.” In Jesus’ name.

Read: In viewing the text today we see the importance of purity in the camp. It appears to be unfair that God would send folks out of the camp but if there was a contagious disease spread by physical contact then it is paramount that young children, babies, and pregnant women not come into contact with skin disease which could infect and kill smaller children and frail adults. So, these purifying guidelines exist only to protect persons from harm from those who are sick and cannot help their illness. This does not mean the Hebrews are to forget those who are sick. But, they also are not to allow the sick to infect others.

Edify: The Marcan account of our reading states that some Sadducees came to pose a question to Jesus about whose wife will a particular woman be in heaven after she marries several brothers due to each of them dying. The irony, and Jesus fully knew this, was that the Sadducees didn’t even believe in any afterlife so the entire question was a moot point for them. But, not for Jesus, so He ran with the query only to turn it back on them by stating the obvious fact---they do not know the scriptures. They only know their own editorial portions which they bent to justify their own faith and judgmental attitudes. Jesus nailed them when He said, “God said to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. So He is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.” Now, have I made a serious error by not trusting the Word of God? Have you made a serious error by choosing to believe some of the Word of God but not all of it? 

Practice: Love your neighbor is in the Marcan account today. We are challenged to love our neighbor not just in words but in deeds. Do you have someone on your heart to invite to worship? Pray first, then do you love them enough to invite them to join you at church?

March 4

Numbers 2:1-3:51, Mark 11:27-12:17, Psalm 47:1-9,Proverbs 10:24-25



Pray: There are persons who wander off and get lost. There are some who deliberately just leave like the prodigal son in Luke 15. There are others who drift away 2% at a time and after six months or a year they find themselves farther away from God than they ever intended. Let's pray compassionately for those who have drifted and those who have deliberately wandered away. If you are that person, please know that in this devotion I have already prayed for you.

Read: Jesus’ authority is called into question when He calls into question their own sense of authority in asking Him trick questions. Jesus often follows up a question with a question. Perhaps we should come to the Bible with more questions than preconceived notions and presumptions. Perhaps we are truly beginners when it comes to understanding the God who created the universe.

Edify: In the Old Testament text we see that everyone is counted. Why? Because in God’s economy everyone counts. The Lord doesn’t operate off of the standard that if we have the majority then that is enough. God cares for every person. As we read let's remember how the Lord had the Hebrews count every person. 

Practice:  So Jesus instructs them to render to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God. It appears on the surface that there is a separation of church and state. A separation of things which belong to the government and things which belong to God. Yet, when one really ponders this reality we come to understand, WOW, what do you really mean? For everything belongs to the Lord. God has created heaven and earth. God has created our bodies and they don’t belong to us but are gifts for us to steward while we are in them. One day we will give up our bodies to death and our spirits will live with God forever. One day the United States of America will end, crumble into the ash heap of history. Yet, God and His Kingdom will endure. So, Jesus is saying again, render to Caesar those things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. I would add, do everything as if it is done unto the Lord for He owns all that exists. How will your life be different today because you embrace this reality? How will you live differently?