OT DAY 210 - God Is Merciful And Flexible (Please click here for English podcast)

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Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence

2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile

2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people

3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

        
           Your procession is seen, O God,
              the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25               the singers in front, the musicians last,
               between them virgins playing tambourines:
26           “Bless God in the great congregation,
                the Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain!”

                             Psalm 68:24-26

Confession and Repentance

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (Numbers 8:1-9:14)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers+7&version=ESV

And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. 6 And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the Lord's offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”

9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones;according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. 13 But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin. 14 And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do.You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”

                             Numbers 9:1-14

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

My Listening
     We know that God is always merciful and loving. But, do you know that God is also flexible? Numbers 9: 1-14 is a wonderful example of how flexible God can be. But, don't misunderstand God's flexibility and make use of that for your personal gain or selfishness. 

Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

    

     When someone died just before Passover and the family had to bury him, they had the taint of death on them and could not go straight into worshiping the living God. What are they to do?
     Moses asks God to guide his thinking, then makes a decision in the conviction that God is doing so.  One way or another  God says, "Don't worry, it's not a problem. I'm not legalistic.  They can celebrate Passover next month."
     "They do need to keep the rest of the rules," God adds. "Being flexible because of circumstances doesn't mean you can ignore them. They're there for a reason."… Thus on other occasions God comes down like a ton of bricks on someone who ignores the rules (Numbers 15 provides a scary example)…
     We'd like life and our relationship with God to be governed by totally clear rules. It isn't. That's a mercy, because life is messy. We need the kind of flexibility God is prepared to show.   

John Goldingay. Numbers & Deuteronomy for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.22-23.

      How can we learn from God that we also can be merciful and flexible? That's your lesson today to learn and to practice! 

Dear Lord Jesus, 
Lead us to learn from your model that we can be merciful and flexible as you always are that we won't bring hurt to other people.   In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:

1. What have you got from the message that God is merciful and flexible today? 

2. How can you be more merciful and flexible from now on? 

Praise and Thanksgiving

Let's give thanks for God with us. Let us praise Him:

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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Daily Devotion on Fire: http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/

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