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March 20

Reading 1 - Numbers 1

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Notice that this was quite early in their wilderness journey (v.1) and that the reason God gives for doing it is to count those (v.3) that are of age to go to war, numbering them by their armies. He didn't wait until they were nearly in the promised land to make these preparations. In a similar way we are expected to prepare ourselves for the battle now, rather than waiting to see if it is needed. Our watchfulness is now - ready for the end when God chooses to declare it. Mr.13:33-35, Luke 12:41-46.
Peter Cresswell
v.17 - What an amazing honour it would be for these men to be called by the Lord God himself. We are reminded in this that God knows us all by name and has the power to write our names in the book of life by His grace, and also to give us a new name. 2Tim.2:19, Rev.2:13,17
Peter Cresswell
Historically, NUMBERS takes up the story where EXODUS left it, and is the book of the wilderness wanderings of the redeemed people consequent upon their failure to enter the land at Kadesh-Barnea. The wilderness journey is used again and again in Scripture, but we probably remember 1 Corinthians 10 as a prime example of the wilderness journey being used as an example. However there are many more. Psalm 95 Psalm 105 Psalm 106 Nehemiah 9 Ezekiel 20 - 22 Jude etc.:
NUMBERS is in five chief divisions:
1] The Order of the Host, 1 - 10
2] From Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, 10. 11 - 12 16
3] Israel at Kadesh-Barnea, 13.1 - 22
4] The Wilderness Wanderings, 20:1 - 33 49
5] Closing Instructions, 33:50 - 36:13
The events covered in NUMBERS cover a period of 39 years.
Peter Forbes
The numbering of the people marks the beginning of the wilderness journey as such - it is an ominous start which will end with another numbering in which no one numbered in this numbering, save Joshua and Caleb, will be numbered. A whole generation fell in the wilderness - not because of the sins of making the calf, complaining about the lack of water or any of those things. They will fall because they did not believe that God would keep His word.
Peter Forbes
SKILL FOR THE JOB

God has given us all individual and special abilities that are different to the people we associate with. Some people seem to have more skills than we do, but they probably are just skills that are more visible to the people around them. God has a plan for your life and he has given you skills and opportunities to develop those skills so that you will be able to use them in his service.

When God asked Moses to take a census of the Israelites, he told Moses to enlist the help of twelve men, one from each tribe, to count and register the people in their tribes. The twelve men God wanted were specifically named by him to do this work. They were obviously men who had the skills and aptitude to do the job. There were many other people in Israel - there were the skilled workers who made the Tabernacle, there were Priests, there were the men chosen as spies, there were other heads of families - but these men were chosen for this job because they had the skills to be able to do it and to do it well.

We all have special abilities given to us by God. Let's tune them so that when the time comes and we are called to work, we can do it well for the LORD our God.
Robert Prins

Reading 2 - Psalms 143 & 144

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143 v.2 - The psalmist finds it useful to remind himself that no living man can be justified in God's sight by his own efforts. It is an important humbling theme of scripture and one which heightens our awareness of God's mercy and grace, and gives us more reason to praise his name. Ps.103:3, Job 14:3,17, 9:2,3, 15:14, 25:4, Ecc.7:20, Rom.3:20. Justification is available through Jesus. Let us be grateful and thankful for this beyond all else. Gal.2:16, 1John 1:10
Peter Cresswell
144:8,11 - Here we see a contrast with the contents of God's right hand (Psa.16:11).
Peter Cresswell

Psalm 143 :2 In asking God not to enter into judgement with him David realises that he cannot justify himself before God, no matter what he does. If we realise this we will not think that given a little more time we will have improved our lives enough to earn salvation. Rather will we develop a deeper understanding that we are saved by grace. This does not stop us trying to change the way we think and live. However we will realise that the change will still leave us falling short of the glory of God So we will come to rely more and more on the mercy of God and in so doing will please Him more.

Psalm 144 vs 2-3 contrast mot powerfully with Psalm 8:4. Of course Psalm 8 speaks of Jesus - Hebrews 2:6. Psalm 144 shows us what we would be like if Jesus had not come and died for us.
Peter Forbes

143:10 In asking God to 'teach me to do thy will' David realises that 'it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps' (Jeremiah 10:23)

144:1 It might seem incongruous to see a servant blessing God for the ability to fight. However David fought the Lord's battles and so his praise of God is most appropriate.
Peter Forbes

Psalm 143 - PRAYER FOR MERCY
There are times in the lives of every one of us when we need to cry to God for mercy. We find ourselves surrounded by either physical or spiritual enemies that try to take our lives or cause us to sin by tempting us. So let us take a look at one of David's prayers for mercy and see what we can learn from it.
1. He lifts God up and asks him to hear his cry for mercy.
2. He explains his position and why he needs the mercy of God.
3. He says how much he loves and needs God.
4. He pleads for and answer to his prayer by explaining that he needs God to answer, that, as far as he is able, he trusts, loves, and hides himself with God and he wants to do God's will.
5. He pleads that God, for his own sake, his righteousness, his reputation and his love would save him from his foes.
We are surrounded by temptations every day so let us pray to God as David did. We know that he saved David and he will save you too. Pray for mercy today.
Robert Prins

Reading 3 - Luke 11

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v. 8 - God requires us to keep asking - to put our petitions before him regularly. Asking once and then sitting back and doing nothing more about it is unacceptable with God. We need to make our requests known to him. We need to allocate God specific time every day for this communion, just as we allocate time in contact with his words, which is often where we get our answers. Luke 18:1-8, Gen.32:26, Matt.15:22-28, Rom.15:30, 2Cor.12:8, Col.4:12.
Peter Cresswell
v. 16 The request for a 'sign' from Jesus was a repeated feature of those who opposed Jesus. As if they were not willing to accept that the healings that Jesus did were real proof of his claims. Matthew 12:38 16:1 Mark 8:11 Here John 2:18 6:30
v. 20 by using the phrase 'the finger of God' Jesus is reminding his critics that even the Egyptian magicians recognised the power of Yahweh manifest in Moses' miracles. [Exodus 8:19]
Peter Forbes
This unique section of Luke's gospel shows Jesus teaching his disciples, showing them how they should grow so that they would be effective ministers of the gospel after his death. To this end Jesus repeatedly reminds the disciples of his teaching in the sermon on the mount.
11:2-4 Matthew 6:9-13
11:9-11,13 Matthew 7:7-11
11:33 Matthew 5:15
11:34 Matthew 6:22-23

In re-presenting the language from the Sermon On The Mount Jesus is showing the disciples how the different parts of the sermon relate to their daily living.
Peter Forbes

:28 There are many who are willing to listen to Jesus' words but not all of them will keep those words. Jesus, in quoting Proverbs 8:32 is linking hearing and doing his words with wisdom. The wise man not only hears but does.
Peter Forbes