Author: Brian Burdett

“Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” – Number 14:3

As humans, most of us have a tendency to romanticize the past and fear the future. During times of transition, upheaval, or rapid change our faith, trust, and confidence are often challenged. Most people experience seasons where we want to turn back the clock and return to the past rather than march into the future. It happened to the ancient Israelites as they stood on the brink of the Promised Land. They became overwhelmed and afraid of the future even though God’s visible presence was leading them! They feared the unknown dangers of the glorious future that was promised to them so much that they preferred to go back to the horrors of slavery in Egypt.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy for us to judge them. However, the truth is that we can easily be like them. We tend to dislike and fear change. We often imagine the past to be better, more glorious, more pleasant, and more pure than it really was. Dread of the unknown and the future easily build in our minds, even though we have the clear promise that God is with us.

As followers of Jesus, we must not be yearning to go back to Egypt! We must not long to go back to the past, imagining it to be a refuge from the constant changes and overwhelming brokenness of the present and the deep uncertainty of the future. God always moves His people forward! We are marching to Zion in the future, not the past. We must trust the promise of Jesus that He is with us always to the end of the age. We must not dread the future, but pray and work for the advance of God’s Kingdom in the future. Don’t keep looking backward wistfully. Pray and look forward optimistically. Jesus IS Lord! #FollowJesus

“But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!’” – Numbers 11:29

What seems like a casual statement by Moses some 3400 years ago actually describes our present-day situation! Not that we’re all prophets, of course, but God’s Spirit is indeed upon all His people. This is what took place at Pentecost after Jesus ascended to heaven. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon all who believe in Him. The Spirit seals us, guarantees our eternal future, lives within us, and empowers us to grow, change, become like Jesus, and serve the Lord.

If you’ve trusted in Jesus as your Lord, believing that God raised Him from the dead, then the Holy Spirit is upon you. Truly! He desires to bring forth fruit in your life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He gifts you to serve in a local church and build up the body of Christ there. He’ll give you the words and the power to do what Christ has commanded you to do – make disciples who believe in Him and obey Him.

The question for you, if you’re a Christian, isn’t whether you have the Holy Spirit. You do. The question is whether you’re quenching the Holy Spirit (preventing Him from doing much in your life) or allowing yourself to be filled with Him and walking in step with His leading. Quenching the Spirit is easy – it just requires ignoring Him, neglecting to read and think on God’s Word, skipping prayer and fellowship with God, minimizing worship, avoiding meaningful relationships with other Christians, sitting on the sidelines rather than serving God, keeping the good news of Jesus Christ tightly within yourself rather than sharing it, and failing to act when the Spirit calls you to do something. Most Christians seem to live lives that have effectively quenched the Holy Spirit.

Don’t quench the Holy Spirit! God has given you the Spirit, just as Moses wished for you. Fan the Spirit into flame. Live a life of worship, devotion, prayer, meditation, community, godly service, and sharing Christ. Work hard to obey all of Christ’s commands (not just the ones you like or agree with). Love God, listen to the leading of the Spirit and take the leap of faith to do what He says. #FollowJesus

“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.” – Numbers 9:15

Long ago, God made His presence visible in a dramatic way. During the day, the cloud of His presence would settle on the great tent He’d commissioned to be set up in the midst of the people of Israel. At night, His presence looked like burning fire. In this way, the people of Israel knew that God was real, that He was with them, and He could guide them. It was easy for all Israel to see and trust in God’s presence and protection. Today, we might wish we had such visible signs of God’s presence!

Alas, we seldom see God’s presence in such a visible way. That doesn’t mean that He’s less present or less powerful. In fact, God is more closely present today! God is present in and with every believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible makes clear that when we trust in Jesus as our Lord, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live within us. Every individual Christian has become like that tent. God is present with us every moment of every day! We may not see it with our eyes, but it’s absolutely true.

The drama in the desert so long ago pointed toward this greater reality we all enjoy in Christ. The Creator of the Universe dwells in you! God is present every moment of every day. He watches over and cares about everything that happens in your life! In these verses, God’s presence first settled upon the tent after a LONG process to make it holy and ready to host God’s holy presence. That’s something we must take seriously about ourselves. We are the new tabernacle of God and He’s made us holy in Jesus Christ through His sacrificial work on the cross. However, we must also live in a way that is holy and pleasing to God as He dwells in us. We must take seriously what the Bible teaches us about how to live, speak, and think, so that we may be a genuinely holy tabernacle hosting God’s Holy Spirit and presence. #FollowJesus

“And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” – Acts 8:38

There are many wonderful lessons about the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch that ends with this roadside baptism. Their encounter was completely arranged by the Holy Spirit but it wouldn’t have happened if Philip hadn’t obeyed the Spirit, left behind a successful ministry, and gone to the middle of nowhere. As a follower of Jesus, learn to be sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit Who lives in you. Learn to hear His voice speaking in your heart and obey Him in faith.

The eunuch was a man who clearly desired to know the Lord, but he didn’t know how. God rewarded that desire by introducing him to Philip. As a follower of Jesus, Philip had taken his faith seriously enough to be prepared to explain Scripture to the eunuch. Philip knew what Scripture the eunuch was reading and knew how to use it to point him to Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, invest time in studying the Bible for yourself every day and in small groups so that you too can explain the truths of the Gospel from the Word of God. Have a way to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those you encounter in your daily life. You are literally surrounded by people who need to know Jesus!

The eunuch believed and wanted to take the next step of obedience for a new believer, which is baptism. The eunuch was also uncertain whether he was permitted to take that step because his status as a eunuch excluded him from full participation in Judaism. Fortunately, Philip knew that the good news of Jesus Christ is good news for everyone! Rather than put obstacles in his path to obedience, Philip welcomed the eunuch into the faith. Philip knew the next step for him to take and performed that next step himself. As a follower of Jesus, make sure you know how a new believer can begin growing in Christ and make sure you aren’t putting stumbling blocks in their path which the Bible doesn’t require.

Every follower of Jesus should be ready to help someone else become a follower of Jesus and to help other followers grow in Christ. Are you ready? If not, seek intentional training and study to become ready to welcome people into God’s Kingdom. #FollowJesus

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.” – Acts 7:51

While Stephen is addressing the religious leadership of his day in Jerusalem, we must be careful that he isn’t also speaking to us!

An uncircumcised heart isn’t completely yielded to, and reshaped by, God’s grace, mercy, and love in Jesus Christ. An uncircumcised heart is hard, proud, and unyielding. It may like God and Jesus, it may go to church regularly, but it doesn’t look like God’s. An uncircumcised heart likes its own way more than God’s way. An uncircumcised heart places greater priority on personal opinion, preference, comfort, self-identity, and politics than on the things of God. Often an uncircumcised heart is completely unaware of that fact that it’s uncircumcised.

Uncircumcised ears hear only what they want to hear – they do not listen with the ears of Christ nor listen for Christ. Uncircumcised ears are not quick to listen, are not sensitive to the cries and concerns of the most vulnerable among us, and are not seeking to hear Christ’s voice among the cacophony of voices that surround us.

Far too many Christians today are walking around with uncircumcised hearts of harshness, defensiveness, and anger. Far too many Christians today have uncircumcised ears that are deaf to anything that doesn’t fit their narrative of the world. Take time to examine your own actions, attitudes, thoughts, and words. Are they those of Christ Himself or are they those of a cultural caricature of Him? Don’t resist the Holy Spirit: yield to Him, listen for and to Him, let Him reshape your heart, mind, and ears to be like those of Jesus Himself!

#FOLLOWJESUS

NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on June 11, 2020.