Numbers 24 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Delivering Happiness - January 26, 2022

Albert is a mail carrier in Waco, Texas. He makes daily deliveries to the furniture store where my daughter Sara used to work. Being a start-up, the business had a constant level of chaos. That’s why they all loved Albert. Sara remembers, “He’d ask how each of us was doing. He looked us in the eyes and said, ‘God bless you.’”

Albert delivers more than mail. He delivers happiness. I’d like to challenge you to do the same. Set out to alter the joy level of a hundred people over the next forty days. Pray for people, serve more, practice patience, and bring out the best in people. Keep a journal to describe the encounters and what you learned. At the end of forty days, would your world be different? Would you be different? I took the challenge, and I certainly am.

Numbers 24

By now Balaam realized that God wanted to bless Israel. So he didn’t work in any sorcery as he had done earlier. He turned and looked out over the wilderness. As Balaam looked, he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe. The Spirit of God came on him, and he spoke his oracle-message:

3-9
Decree of Balaam son of Beor,
    yes, decree of a man with 20/20 vision;
Decree of a man who hears God speak,
    who sees what The Strong God shows him,
Who falls on his face in worship,
    who sees what’s really going on.

What beautiful tents, Jacob,
    oh, your homes, Israel!
Like valleys stretching out in the distance,
    like gardens planted by rivers,
Like sweet herbs planted by the gardener God,
    like red cedars by pools and springs,
Their buckets will brim with water,
    their seed will spread life everywhere.
Their king will tower over Agag and his ilk,
    their kingdom surpassingly majestic.
God brought them out of Egypt,
    rampaging like a wild ox,
Gulping enemies like morsels of meat,
    crushing their bones, snapping their arrows.
Israel crouches like a lion and naps,
    king-of-the-beasts—who dares disturb him?
Whoever blesses you is blessed,
    whoever curses you is cursed.

10-11 Balak lost his temper with Balaam. He shook his fist. He said to Balaam: “I got you in here to curse my enemies and what have you done? Blessed them! Blessed them three times! Get out of here! Go home! I told you I would pay you well, but you’re getting nothing. You can blame God.”

12-15 Balaam said to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you up front when you sent your emissaries, ‘Even if Balak gave me his palace stuffed with silver and gold, I couldn’t do anything on my own, whether good or bad, that went against God’s command’? I’m leaving for home and my people, but I warn you of what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” Then he spoke his oracle-message:

15-19
Decree of Balaam son of Beor,
    decree of the man with 20/20 vision,
Decree of the man who hears godly speech,
    who knows what’s going on with the High God,
Who sees what The Strong God reveals,
    who bows in worship and sees what’s real.
I see him, but not right now,
    I perceive him, but not right here;
A star rises from Jacob
    a scepter from Israel,
Crushing the heads of Moab,
    the skulls of all the noisy windbags;
I see Edom sold off at auction,
    enemy Seir marked down at the flea market,
    while Israel walks off with the trophies.
A ruler is coming from Jacob
    who’ll destroy what’s left in the city.

* * *

20 Then Balaam spotted Amalek and delivered an oracle-message. He said,

Amalek, you’re in first place among nations right now,
    but you’re going to come in last, ruined.

* * *

21-22 He saw the Kenites and delivered his oracle-message to them:

Your home is in a nice secure place,
    like a nest high on the face of a cliff.
Still, you Kenites will look stupid
    when Asshur takes you prisoner.

* * *

23-24 Balaam spoke his final oracle-message:

Doom! Who stands a chance
    when God starts in?
Sea-Peoples, raiders from across the sea,
    will harass Asshur and Eber,
But they’ll also come to nothing,
    just like all the rest.

25 Balaam got up and went home. Balak also went on his way.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Today's Scripture
Ecclesiastes 3:9–14
(NIV)

What do workers gain from their toil?k 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.l 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.m He has also set eternity in the human heart; yeta no one can fathomn what God has done from beginning to end.o 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink,p and find satisfactionq in all their toil—this is the gift of God.r 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Insight

Ecclesiastes 3 emphasizes humanity’s inability to discern the ways in which God’s plan and purposes are at work, suggesting that this is often experienced by people as a “burden” (v. 10). For although God has “set eternity in the human heart . . . no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (v. 11). The word translated “eternity” (Hebrew ‘olam) can be translated in a variety of ways. Here, some scholars argue it means “the age to come,” some say it refers primarily to the future, and others believe it refers to how all of time is connected. Whatever the meaning, the teacher in Ecclesiastes suggests that trying too hard to understand life’s whys or the ways in which God’s purposes will be realized will make it impossible to find satisfaction in the ups and downs of daily life (v. 12). By: Monica La Rose

True Happiness

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Ecclesiastes 3:12

In the tenth century, Abd al-Rahman III was the ruler of Cordoba, Spain. After fifty years of successful reign (“beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies”), al-Rahman took a deeper look at his life. “Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call,” he said of his privileges. But when he counted how many days of genuine happiness he’d had during that time, they amounted to just fourteen. How sobering.

The writer of Ecclesiastes was also a man of riches and honor (Ecclesiastes 2:7–9), power and pleasure (1:12; 2:1–3). And his own life evaluation was equally sobering. Riches, he realized, just led to a desire for more (5:10–11), while pleasures accomplished little (2:1–2), and success could be due to chance as much as ability (9:11). But his assessment didn’t end as bleakly as al-Rahman’s. Believing God was his ultimate source of happiness, he saw that eating, working, and doing good could all be enjoyed when done with Him (2:25; 3:12–13).

“O man!” al-Rahman concluded his reflections, “place not thy confidence in this present world!” The writer of Ecclesiastes would agree. Since we’ve been made for eternity (3:11), earthly pleasures and achievements won’t satisfy by themselves. But with Him in our lives, genuine happiness is possible in our eating, working, and living. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What do you turn to most to find happiness? How can you eat, work, and do good with God today?

Heavenly Father, today I will do all things with You by my side.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Look Again and Consecrate

If God so clothes the grass of the field…, will He not much more clothe you…? —Matthew 6:30

A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field…” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.

“Look at the birds of the air…” (Matthew 6:26). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them. Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His Spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.

“Consider the lilies of the field…” (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Only a Reflection - #9143

You know, some of God's most impressive artwork is under the water or under the ground. I was reminded of God's extravagant beauty when our family toured some caverns. You know, there were a few touches from man there; walkways, lights. But all that did was help us see this rare beauty of soaring stalagmites and underground canyons and rock formations of every conceivable texture and shape.

For me the highlight was this little pond called Mirror Lake. It was only about six inches deep the guide said. That really fooled us because it looks like it's really deep. And as you look into the glass-like pond, you see a vast assortment of rock formations; big, small. And they appear to be under the water. Notice I said they appear to be. They're all, actually, on the ceiling of the cave above the lake. And that's hard to believe, because it sure looks like they're in the lake. Well, the beauty in that lake is really just a reflection of the beauty above it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Only a Reflection."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18. By the way, it's about reflected beauty. "And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord's glory; are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Now, this refers back, if you read the rest of this chapter, to the time when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after being in the personal presence of the Lord. And the Bible says, "His face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord." That's from Exodus 34. The glow was on Moses. It wasn't from Moses, but it sure was on him. He'd spent time with the Lord, and as a result he began to reflect the Lord's glory and he didn't even realize it.

Mirror Lake, in that little cavern, has little beauty of its own. It's just an underground puddle, really. But it reflects the beauty of what's above it, and that's what makes it come to life. That could be you if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and if you're spending time with Him; time where you let Him, as this passage says, "transform you," making you more like Him.

It's possible for an ordinary human being like you or me to have an extraordinary impact on someone's life because you do a good job displaying Jesus to them. Here are some important reminders if you want to be one of God's mirrors. First of all, you've got to be with Jesus daily. And when you're with Him, you make the purpose of that time with Him to let Him change you. To say, "Lord, how can You make me a little more like You today?"

Secondly, be confident because of who you represent. You don't have to focus on your appearance, or your ability, your limitations, what kind of impression you're making if you focus on the incredible Savior you're trying to display. It's about Him. It's not about you.

Thirdly, be committed to leaving people focused on Jesus, not yourself. You want them thinking about you? Or do you want them thinking about your Jesus? You want them thinking about the puddle or the beauty that the puddle reflects?

And then, finally, be tough on any self-glorifying thoughts. If you find yourself saying, "Aren't I something" after something good happens, you're on the way down. You need to say, "Lord, aren't You something!" You're nothing, see. Neither am I. But He makes you and He makes me something as we reflect Him.

There's an old hymn that says, "May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win. And may they forget the channel, seeing only Him." So, Mirror Lake person, don't be too impressed with yourself. Don't promote yourself. Don't be too impressed with other people, or you'll be intimidated right out of showing them Jesus.

Just be impressed with the glory of Jesus above you and that He wants to show it to everyone else through you.