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.