“Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.” – Numbers 22:31

The prophet Balaam certainly knew a lot of things. However, like most of us in the “Information Age”, his knowledge didn’t help him see the invisible spiritual realities surrounding him. As he went where he wasn’t supposed to go, his donkey recognized spiritual danger while Balaam remained completely blind. In frustration, Balaam lashed out at his donkey who repeatedly saved his life. Then God gave Balaam a glimpse of the real world.

In our everyday lives we generally don’t see angels and demons. In our foolishness, that often convinces us they aren’t real or present but they are. There is a spiritual reality underlying “everyday life” that we simply can’t see most of the time. All around us are the efforts, effects, and even battles of angels and demons. Efforts to protect and guide us. Efforts to derail and destroy us. And we don’t even see or even believe it. We’re blinder than Balaam!

If we could see this spiritual reality, it would radically change our spiritual lives! We’d understand, much more clearly, the vital importance and power available to us in prayer and take it much more seriously. We’d understand that our greatest battles aren’t against difficult people or situations but against spiritual powers. We’d recognize the spiritual threats against us and the spiritual resources available to us. We’d more richly dwell in God’s Word, God’s righteousness, and God’s gospel. We would take seriously the command to put on the full armor of God because we’d understand that every day is a spiritual battle.

How seriously do you take the spiritual reality Balaam got to see? Do you believe angels and demons are real and active in the world and in your life? The Bible is quite clear on this point regardless of what you believe! Take the spiritual realities of the world seriously, pray without ceasing, put on God’s full armor each day, and #FollowJesus!

“So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” – Numbers 21:9

When the people of Israel once again complained against God, accusing Him of evil motives, God sent venomous snakes to attack them. The snakes were an outward representation of the toxic venom that was already in their hearts. However, God also provided the remedy for their suffering – this unusual bronze serpent Moses was to make and set on top of a pole. Anyone who looked at the serpent was healed of the poison.

The Apostle John helps us fully understand the point of this strange event because Jesus connected it with His own life and mission. Jesus knew that every person on this earth has been bitten by sin. We’re all filled with sin’s poison and God sent Jesus to be our remedy for sin. Jesus did that by being lifted up on a cross. On the cross, Jesus carried our sins on his innocent shoulders and paid the penalty for them in full.

Everyone who looks to Jesus for salvation is forgiven their sins. In Christ, we are healed of sin’s spiritual venom and deadly effects. His work on the cross is more than just a one-time cure. He is always interceding on our behalf. Whenever we’re bitten anew by sin, all we must do is look to Jesus, confessing our sins and asking His forgiveness. He is faithful to forgive. #FollowJesus

“Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
– Psalm 37:4

This is an amazing promise!!! But what does it mean? It doesn’t mean that if you act happy about God that He’ll automatically give you everything on your personal wishlist as if He were Santa Claus. This is much deeper and better than that!!!

What King David is saying is that when your love for God is so full that spending time with Him, talking to Him in prayer, worshiping Him publicly and privately, and serving Him is the great delight and joy of your heart, then God will reward you with a deeper relationship with Him. When God is your heart’s desire, He will reveal Himself to you and give you a greater experience of what you desire – Him. When we properly understand that our relationship with the infinite, almighty God of the Universe Who loves us with an unfailing, faithful, loyal love is the most precious thing we have, we will crave more of Him. When our identity is rooted in God’s love, our greatest hunger is to know Him more fully, and our joy in a turbulent and often dangerous world is in spending time in His presence, God loves and rewards that by bringing us closer to Him.

As we mature in Christ, loving Him more fully, and experiencing Him more deeply, we long for more of Him. Because He loves us so much that He died for us, He’ll answer that yearning in our hearts with a greater experience of Him. If all that sounds awfully mystical or out there, just give it an honest try! Scripture promises over and over again that if we sincerely seek God, we will find Him. Hebrews 11:6 declares, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Cultivate your relationship with the Lord. Read His Word, meditate, pray, worship, serve, and tell others about Him. Let yourself fall more deeply in love with Him and see if He doesn’t drawn you closer into Him. #FollowJesus

“Then the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.’” – Numbers 13:31

God had promised the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hundreds of years before this moment. God had rescued Israel from the strongest country in the region and miraculously destroyed its fearsome army. God now repeated His promise to Israel and commanded them to go, take the land, and enjoy blessing. But they refused.

Twelve spies went into the promised land and reported back about what they’d seen. They all agreed it was a truly good land. But the people who lived there were tough. Strong armies. Fortified cities. Giants!!! All that was certainly true. However, when the God Who devastated Egypt promises He’ll give you the land, you should go forward in faith. Only two of the spies felt that way. The other ten spies scared the people of Israel into refusing God’s command. And His blessing. All the adults of that generation, except for the two faithful spies, would live the rest of their lives in the desert because of their refusal.

God wasn’t going to make the giants disappear but He was certainly going to give Israel victory over them. They just needed to obey and move forward in faith. This is a timeless principle! When God commands you to do something, He’ll make it happen for His glory. It doesn’t have to make sense to your human calculations and estimations. You just need to believe and obey in faith.

Jesus commanded us, all of us, to make disciples as we’re going about our going, introducing people to Jesus and teaching them to obey Him. We often make excuses about why we can’t, don’t, or won’t. We hide behind family, work, money, stress, time, age, health, etc. Giants!!! Things we surely can’t figure out on our own. Of course we can’t! But God the Son has told us to do it anyway and promised He’ll be with us as we do. Our giants won’t go away but He’ll give us victory over them if we’ll believe and obey. When we do, we experience enormous blessing. When we don’t, we miss out on some blessings forever.

What giants keep you from obeying Jesus? Are you willing to move forward in faith? Trust that Jesus is with you and #FollowJesus

“We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” – Numbers 11:5-6

The people of Israel were so…human. What could be more like us than to be miraculously set free from slavery and then start complaining about the food?!? The people’s initial excitement about seeing God work countless incredible miracles on their behalf had faded. Their rush of joy from no longer being slaves had also faded. Israel had been living in the desert with God for quite some time. Rather than celebrate His daily miraculous provision of manna to eat, they complained about the lack of variety. Rather than celebrate being out of Egypt, they had forgotten their previous misery and only remembered the tasty food of their enslavement.

Sadly, this is simply human nature and we’re all tempted to be like the Israelites. Our gratitude toward God tends to fade quickly after He does something amazing for us. Our ingratitude can suddenly erupt when we decide we don’t like the particular way God has chosen to answer our prayers and provide for our needs. If we aren’t intentional about cultivating gratitude and aren’t regularly reminding ourselves of God’s miraculous work, we quickly take Him for granted or resent Him. We stop praising God and start grumbling about God.

Grumbling is dangerous!!! It was certainly dangerous for the Israelites. God soon answered their request for meat with so much meat it not only nauseated them, He sent a plague upon them. Satisfaction isn’t ever going to be found in our dinner menus. However, it’s freely available in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The question is whether we choose to intentionally cultivate that satisfaction through prayer, praise, meditation on Scripture, worship, fellowship, service, and sharing or do we choose to feed the dissatisfaction that comes naturally to most of us?

Are you grateful today or grumbling? #FollowJesus