To be glad for every opportunity to worship God. What does that look like?

Where is the “house of the Lord”? In the psalmist’s time, it was the temple in Jerusalem. While the Israelites were moving around in the desert, it was the ark that they carried along with them. We know now that the house of the Lord is wherever God’s Spirit is present. It can be at a common place of worship, at a small group / bible study meeting, it could be were two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name. It can be anywhere a child of God is, as we know that God has given us His Spirit to be in us and with us. Therefore, in anything and everything that we do, we have an opportunity to worship our God.

I pray I develop that “gladness”, regardless of circumstance or “energy levels”.

Ah, the Love and Respect chapter. We’ve come to this.

I have been referring to this passage a couple of times since the start of the year, but a different point of view caught my attention today. The part after “as Christ loves the church and gave Himself up for her”.

Usually I would stop there, emphasizing the extent of love I should have for my wife. That if I am willing to give my life for her, then all the other – smaller – things, things that do not cost me my life, should be very easy.

But the part after that verse is equally important because it gives the “why”. The purpose of my giving up of myself, is for my wife to be sanctified, that she will be made holy.

And so the bar is raised. We are not just talking about providing, listening, cherishing, doing the dishes or taking out the trash. We are talking about the giving up of my SELF, so that I can help my wife in her spiritual growth.

These past weeks I have made adjustments to my lifestyle and put effort for my own spiritual growth. Which is very important. Today God is saying, it’s time to make some new adjustments and effort for the spiritual growth of my family.

The laws of human physiology and biology, the laws of time and physics do not apply. God can command life to come and to go. He can make time. He can move a whole universe the opposite direction without causing chaos. All for one man – one of Israel’s better kings, Hezekiah.

Is anything too difficult for God?

The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness. (Isaiah 38:19 ESV)

As I do this day.
And I will make your faithfulness known.

The Lord will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the Lord. (Isaiah 38:20 ESV)

Numbers… here we go.

We could take a lesson here on Organization setup. Moses had the task of mobilizing an army from the ground up. By the end of their consensus there were more than 600 thousand men! Did Moses have experience in group dynamics or in organizing large groups of people before this? Probably not. Most of his organizing experience probably were with sheep rather than people. So for this assignment, just like Moses’ previous assignments, God gives the instructions (according to Moses’ ability) and Moses’ part was to obey in faith. This setup works really well.

The names listed here were not chosen by man, but were given by God personally to Moses. This shows that God knows us by name. He knows our background – our ancestry – as well as our capability.

12 leaders from each of the 12 tribes (except Levi). Even Jesus picked 12 disciples. There must be wisdom here with regards to the optimal group size.

The tribe of Levi were not included in the consensus. Why? Because they were set apart by God, designated for a particular purpose, and therefore could not be part of the army headcount. That doesn’t mean they won’t go to battle, quite the opposite. The Levites were usually in the forefront – in the direct line of fire.

I have to admit, I was not expecting Numbers to be this interesting. Thank you Lord. Your Word is amazing in the way that even something like a list of names and numbers and rules, can be a source of wonderful insight.

Who does God help? Only those who deserve it? No, what amazing grace it is that He helps even those who don’t deserve it! Sometimes we truly are victims, but there are times when we are just reaping the consequences of our own bad decisions (or indecisions). The Bible is filled with stories of both. God helps those who truly sets their heart, mind and body to Him.

And how great is our Shield and Protector! All powerful, all knowing. He cares for us 24/7.