This piece of scripture teaches us some very important things about God.
1. God is with us always, if we are His people. He guides and protects us.
God guided the *Israelites by means of a cloud (Numbers 9:15-23). They carried the *Ark with them wherever they went. The *Ark showed them that God was with them always. He protected them from their enemies (Numbers 10:33-36).
2. God wants us to trust him. God had chosen Moses as the *Israelites’ leader. But they opposed Moses many times. They complained about the food in the *desert (Numbers 11:4-6). They refused to enter the *Promised Land. They believed that the people there were stronger than them. They did not trust God to help them (Numbers chapters 13 and 14). God loved them. But he had to discipline them (to teach or to control, sometimes by means of a punishment) (Numbers 14:26-35). God disciplines those people whom he loves (Hebrews 12:6).
3. There is only one real God. We must *worship him only. God never allowed the *Israelites to *worship false gods (Numbers chapter 25).
4. God always *keeps his promises. God had promised to give to the *Israelites their own land. He rescued them from the *Egyptians. He guided them through the *desert. They arrived at the *Promised Land. But they were afraid to enter it. However, God did not take back his promise. Instead, he gave the *Promised Land to their children.
5. God is *holy. God is different from people, whom he made. He is good completely. But all people are *sinful. *Sin is like dirt because it spoils our lives. *Sin makes us dirty inside, in our hearts and minds. In other words, it ruins our thoughts, our attitudes and our behaviour.
The *Israelites washed themselves in special ways before they *worshipped God. They made their bodies clean. They offered *sacrifices. They believed that the blood from these *sacrifices washed their *sins away. So they felt *clean inside their hearts. There were many special rules about how to *worship God. All these rules showed that God is *holy.
But we do not need to follow these special rules still. We do not need to kill animals as *sacrifices. God has given us a new way to come to him. That way is by means of his son, that is, Jesus *Christ. When Jesus was crusified on a *cross, he became the *sacrifice for our *sins. This *sacrifice was for all people, for all time. Jesus’ blood washes our *sins away. When we believe in Jesus, God forgives our *sins. Jesus suffered the punishment for our *sins.
Jesus is *holy. When we believe in Jesus, God considers us *holy, too. We can come to God at any time, in any place. God is our friend because of what Jesus did.
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It is essential that we know that building healthy relationships is essential and vital and what our Church is here on earth is all about. First, developing and encouraging a personal relationship with Christ as Savior and Lord, teaching His precepts in an uncompromised Way and leading others to Him by our word and example through His Word, Example and Spirit.
The key to the success of finding and building quality relationships in life and in a church is simple: obedience, the willingness to know and serve God over our needs, and even before we know what the call may be, taking this mindset into our personal and public life and to family and to others! God's will for our lives is for us to totally surrender and trust in His power and authority. Abide in Him. He will shape our destiny if we allow Him. He will teach us His ways if we will walk in His ways. Trust yourself and your church to our LORD and receive His call to build yourself and your church up because you are building others up too!
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1) God's will for us is to fully give ourselves to Him and to trust in His power and authority.
2) I draw a number of lessons from this rather complex, and often overlooked, account (Numbers). We learn from the mistakes of others...There is a message connected to every lesson in the Bible. God promised to give the Israelites their own land, He rescued them from the Egyptians and guided them through the desert to their promised land. But the Israelites opposed Moses (their appointed leader). They were afraid and lacking in faith and did not trust that God would continue to help them (Numbers 13 & 14). When they arrived at the promised land, they could not bring themselves to enter it and they retreated. God, however, did not back down on His promise -- He gave the promised land to their children. Lesson: God is with us always, He wants us to trust Him and if we do he will guide and protect us.
Our churches today, and we as lay leaders, are complelled to develope and encourage personal relationships with Christ as Savior and Lord, teaching His precepts in an uncompromised way and leading others to Him by our word and example through His word, example and spirit. We must receive God's call to build ourselves up and in the process build others up too. We build up our churches, one person at a time. It is essential that we know that building healthy relationships is essential and vital...That is what our churches today should be all about, building trust and advocating obedience to God's word.
Quite honestly, one cannot do justice to this subject in a few brief paragraphs. Readers are invited to view some of my sermons as a lay minister by clicking on the "pages" displayed to the right, just under the above blog masthead.
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