Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers chapter 13.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2013&version=NASB1995

I quote only the following verses.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel;  you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”  …

When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the Negev;  then go up into the hill country.  See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.  How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad?  And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications?  How is the land, is it fat or lean?  Are there trees in it or not?  Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.”  Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

…

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh;  and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.  Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us;  and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large;  and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.  Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”  But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”  So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants;  and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.”  Numbers 13:1-2 and 17-20 and 25-32.

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“The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me?  And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?  I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”  Numbers 14:11-12.

But, Moses interceded for the people.  “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”  Numbers 14:19.

“So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word;  but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD.  Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.  But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”  Numbers 14:20-24.

But, there is hope for us too, because like Caleb, we have “a different spirit”!

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”  2 Timothy 1:7.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you;  My peace I give to you;  not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  John 14:26-27. 

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9.

“but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 15:57-58.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers chapter 12.

“Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);  and they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses?  Has He not spoken through us as well?”  And the LORD heard it.  (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)  Suddenly the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.”  So the three of them came out.  Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam.  When they had both come forward, He said,

“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision.
I shall speak with him in a dream.
7 “Not so, with My servant Moses,
He is faithful in all My household;
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth,
Even openly, and not in dark sayings,
And he beholds the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant, against Moses?”

So the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed.  But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.  As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.  Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.  Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother’s womb!”  Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “O God, heal her, I pray!”  But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days?  Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again.”  So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

Afterward, however, the people moved out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.”  Numbers chapter 12.

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“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;  He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.  For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house.  For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.  Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;  but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”  Hebrews 3:1-6.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”  James 5:16. 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9. 

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 11:24-30.

“So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD.  Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent.  Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him;  and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders.  And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied.  But they did not do it again.

But two men had remained in the camp;  the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad.  And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp.  So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”  Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.”  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 upon them!”  Then Moses returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.”  Numbers 11:24-30.

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“Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.  For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God;  for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.  But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.  One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself;  but one who prophesies edifies the church.  Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy;  and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.”  1 Corinthians 14:1-5.

But, there is hope!

“‘17 AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says,
‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND;
AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY,
AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS,
AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;”
18 EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN,
I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT
AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY.” Acts 2:17-18.

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  …  

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”  Ephesians 4:7 and 11-13. 

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 11:10-15.

“Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent;  and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased.  So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant?  And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me?  Was it I who conceived all this people?  Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’?  Where am I to get meat to give to all this people?  For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’  I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me.  So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”   Numbers 11:10-15.

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The main point of this devotion is that when we are burdened and oppressed by what man does, as Moses was by the complaining of the people in today’s Scripture, we can pray to the LORD and pour out our heart to Him and trust Him to help us.  

As Reformed believers who are well aware of the “Total Depravity” of man, we should not expect man to be reasonable and trustworthy.  We should not reserve our happiness and peace in changing man;  we should focus on God and call upon Him as Moses did.

“He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’” Psalm 89:2.

The secondary point, but still part of the main point, is that trusting God often requires us to wait longer than we want for the answer and salvation.  But, as God gives us grace to pray and trust Him, God gives us grace to wait.

First, I will quote the main verse which is the summary for this devotion, and then I will follow it by quoting a larger part of Psalm chapter 62.  

“Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.” Psalm 62:8.

“5 My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.

9 Men of low degree are only vanity and men of rank are a lie;
In the balances they go up;
They are together lighter than breath.
10 Do not trust in oppression
And do not vainly hope in robbery;
If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

11 Once God has spoken;
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God;
12 And lovingkindness is Yours, O LORD,
For You recompense a man according to his work.” Psalm 62:5-12.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 11:4-9.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2011&version=NASB1995

I quote only the following verses.

“The rabble who were among them had greedy desires;  and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?  We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone.  There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”  Numbers 11:4-6.

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“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;  and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;  and all ate the same spiritual food;  and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them;  and the rock was Christ.  Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased;  for they were laid low in the wilderness.

Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.  Do not be idolaters, as some of them were;  as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.”  Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.  Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.  Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.  No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man;  and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  1 Corinthians 10:1-13.

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.  If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.  But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith;  take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  1 Timothy 6:7-12.  

But, there is hope!

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;  for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:  immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;  against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”  Galatians 5:16-24.

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 11:1-3.

“Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD;  and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.  The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out.  So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.”  Numbers 11:1-3.

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“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”  James 5:16. 

Today’s devotion comes from Numbers 10:11-36.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2010&version=NASB1995

I quote only the following verses.

“Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you’;  come with us and we will do you good, for the LORD has promised good concerning Israel.”  But he said to him, “I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”  Then he said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us.  So it will be, if you go with us, that whatever good the LORD does for us, we will do for you.”

Thus they set out from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD journeying in front of them for the three days, to seek out a resting place for them.  The cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said,

“Rise up, O LORD!
And let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate You flee before You.”

When it came to rest, he said,

“Return, O LORD,
To the myriad thousands of Israel.” Numbers 10:29-36. 

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The first paragraph of the verses that I quoted (summarized by the sentence highlighted above – So it will be, if you go with us, that whatever good the LORD does for us, we will do for you.) reminds us of the following Scripture.  “‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.  The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt;  I am the LORD your God.”  Leviticus 19:33-34.

“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God;  the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;  but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them;  He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.  Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.”  Deuteronomy 7:6-11.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”  Ephesians 1:3-6.