Remembering Past Faithfulness - Day 62 Through The Bible

An antique, hand-stitched quilt by the mother of one of our church members.  This heritage craft of the Appalachian Mountains is now a dying art as most quilts are either all or partially machine-stitched. 

My Lessons and Applications from Today's Readings

God chooses the Levitical priesthood - (Numbers 3:1 - 4:49) God calls the tribe of Levi to be priests to Him.  This is the tribe of Moses, who has led them out of Egypt, who stood in the gap for the idolatrous Israelites, whose greatest desire (which was granted) was to see the glory of God.  It was also the tribe of Aaron, who was often the mouthpiece for Moses to the Pharaoh, who was High Priest to God.  But...it was not lineage or heritage that moved God to choose the Levitical priesthood - a people sanctified to Him now even above the firstborn He had sanctified to Himself at the Passover.  The reason for their choice was back in Exodus 32: 25-29 when the Levites stood with Moses, crossed the line to stand by him and for God - against the idolatrous Israelites with the fashioning of the golden calf.  The Levites carried out God's judgment on the guilty 3000.  (An interesting aside:  both John the Baptist and Barnabas in the New Testament are of the tribe of Levi.)

Lessons - God remembers and rewards faithfulness.  We see this carried over into the New Covenant - God rewarding faithful acts on His behalf.  Rev. 20:12 "The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."  And this from Union Gospel Press Bible Expositor and Illuminator for today's Sunday School Lesson (March 3, 2013, pg. 7) "To be sure, our works cannot save us. )Rom 3:20, Gal 2:16, Eph. 2:9, II Tim. 1:9); they only serve to condemn us, for "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,: (Is 64:6)  As Christians, however, our works validate our faith and are necessary to Christian service (Gal 5:6, Eph 2:10, Jas. 2: 14-26.)  The judgment of believers will determine eternal rewards (1 Cor. 3:10-15), to eternal destiny."

God Disciplines and Restores His Repentant People "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30: 5  

Lesson - Charles Stanley reminds us in the Life Principles Daily Bible (pg. 264) that while God may not remove a difficult situation, He will show us His powerful Hand in it.  Am I remaining faithful to God - even when obedience seems to bring punishment from the world?  Do I stand with the courage and steadfastness of the Levites, who were later called to be priests?  Do I live out my call as a priest to Christ under the New Covenant?  (The Doctrine of Sacerdotalism: Ex. 19:6; Hos. 14:2; Ps. 50:23; Ps. 51:17-19; Ps. 141:2; 1 Pet. 2:5-9; Heb. 13:10-16) The Priesthood of All Believers

Trust and Obey Him - REMEMBER His Promises and Past Faithfulness - The disciples caused Jesus to sigh deeply more than once.  After all He had done and taught them, they still did not remember, trust and obey in the next situation.  They witnessed the miracles of the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000, but the 3rd time the same situation presented itself, they had the temerity to ask Jesus, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" (Mark 8:4)

Lesson - Am I in His Word daily, under the Ministry of the Word, in communion, prayer and fellowship with God, being led by His Holy Spirit continually?  Am I hearing His voice and following Him only?  Am I allowing Him to "grow me up" in the faith.

Please listen to today's Ministry of the Word that speaks to these very topics.

The Reverend Bill Ages:  Leaving, Losing, Longing for - The Promised Land.  

The audio message is accessed by clicking on the audio symbol of this message within the sermon.net archive listings.