Spiritual Training

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February 26 - Morning

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
- Deuteronomy 8:3

Humbled


The Israelites had been taken to the border of Canaan forty years before, but they did not trust God. Instead they trusted in themselves and concluded that they could not take the land. Because of their lack of faith they trusted in themselves and not in God. The Lord sent the people into the wilderness for forty years to teach them these two things:
1. Do not trust in yourself
2. Trust in the Lord
The wilderness did not have provisions for Israel to support themselves, but instead they were forced to rely on God.
Moses tells the second generation that had grown up in the wilderness that the Lord “humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna.” After having been assigned to a life in the wilderness with no food, and often, no water, the people learned their frailness and their human weakness. But, because God provided manna and the many other provisions for them during this forty-year period the people also learned to trust the Lord.
Moses was speaking to a generation of Israelites who had learned to rely on God and not on their own ability.  They would demonstrate this as a nation when they crossed the Jordan and conquered the Promised Land.
Lack of faith often means confidence in self, instead of confidence in the Lord. Likewise, great faith also means realizing your limitations as a human.
Jesus subjected himself to forty-days of fasting in the wilderness to learn this same principle – that we do not live on our natural ability or our natural provisions alone, but we live by God’s power that defends and accomplishes his every Word.
Lamad (Hb) – Teach (Eng) – lamad is the Hebrew word meaning both “to teach” and “to learn.” Lamad refers to both cause of learning and the learning process itself. In Deuteronomy 4:1 it means “teach” and “learning” in 5:1.
Do I consider things too hard or too improbable because I trust in myself instead of the Lord?
I will work diligently and face reality, but I will also trust God's help, guidance and power.



Bible Reading Descriptions Here

Narrative

Complete Text

General Text




Personal

Finances

Church

Love and selflessness
University students
Austria



The dome of the Rotunda over the tomb of Christ. This is the inside of the larger grey dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Constantine’s spectacular rotunda with its large dome covering the tomb of Christ was intended to declare Christ’s victory and reign. Eusebius, the church historian from the days of Constantine, quoted Constantine as ordering a rotunda built for Christ that was “of a magnificence worthy of his wealth and of his crown. (details)
This is a map detailing the sons of Abraham through his second wife Keturah.




Someone to Quote

"Satan knows that if allowed to grow to fruition the Word of God will produce a hundred fold in the believer's life." - Galyn Wiemers

Something to Ponder

The Ascension of Christ is recorded in Acts s1:9-11. The word ascension refers to “going up” or “rising.” Jesus’ “ascension” is unique because Jesus rose into the clouds (likely clouds of God’s glory, not atmospheric clouds) to enter heaven and be seated as the head of cosmic authority in the heavenlies. Jesus is seated at God’s right hand as King, but also as the great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary where the King/Priest also intercedes for us as our High Priest who speaks to God on our behalf. Jesus’ ascension is a critical point in the ministry of Jesus and in the history of our redemption. (Luke 24:50-53; Romans 8:34; Rom. 14:9-10; Ephesians 4:7-8; Hebrews 9:23-28)

Here’s a Fact

In 2 Timothy 4:14-15, Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus to warn him of Alexander the Coppersmith who had opposed Paul’s teaching and did a great deal of harm to him in Ephesus. An inscription from Ephesus refers to the workplace of “Diogenes the Coppersmith (charkomatas).” (Details here and here.)

Proverb

"A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!"
- Proverbs 26:3

Coach’s Corner

You can avoid stress by lowering your unnecessary expectations and turning away from things and people that do not matter.

Luke 24:50-53
New International Version (NIV)
The Ascension of Jesus
50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Romans 8:34
New International Version (NIV)
34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Romans 8:34
New International Version (NIV)
34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Ephesians 4:7-8
New International Version (NIV)
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,     he took many captives     and gave gifts to his people.”
Hebrews 9:23-28
New International Version (NIV)
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
2 Timothy 4:14-15
New International Version (NIV)
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
Deuteronomy 4:1
New International Version (NIV)
Obedience Commanded
Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.
Deuteronomy 5:1
New International Version (NIV)
The Ten Commandments
Moses summoned all Israel and said:
Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
Exodus 12
New International Version (NIV)
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
The Exodus
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”
33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.
Passover Restrictions
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:
“No foreigner may eat it.
44 Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, 45 but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.
46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.
48 “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. 49 The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.”
50 All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.
Numbers 23
New International Version (NIV)
Balaam’s First Message
23 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you.” Then he went off to a barren height.
God met with him, and Balaam said, “I have prepared seven altars, and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the Moabite officials. Then Balaam spoke his message:
“Balak brought me from Aram,     the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘curse Jacob for me;     come, denounce Israel.’

How can I curse     those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce     those whom the Lord has not denounced?

From the rocky peaks I see them,     from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart     and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
10 
Who can count the dust of Jacob     or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous,     and may my final end be like theirs!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!”
12 He answered, “Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Message
13 Then Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place where you can see them; you will not see them all but only the outskirts of their camp. And from there, curse them for me.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim on the top of Pisgah, and there he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your offering while I meet with him over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Go back to Balak and give him this word.”
17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the Moabite officials. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Then he spoke his message:
“Arise, Balak, and listen;     hear me, son of Zippor.
19 
God is not human, that he should lie,     not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act?     Does he promise and not fulfill?
20 
I have received a command to bless;     he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
21 
“No misfortune is seen in Jacob,     no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them;     the shout of the King is among them.
22 
God brought them out of Egypt;     they have the strength of a wild ox.
23 
There is no divination against Jacob,     no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob     and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’
24 
The people rise like a lioness;     they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till it devours its prey     and drinks the blood of its victims.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 Balaam answered, “Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?”
Balaam’s Third Message
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there.” 28 And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, overlooking the wasteland.
29 Balaam said, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 7:1-47
New International Version (NIV)
Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle
When Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings. He also anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils. Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings. They brought as their gifts before the Lord six covered carts and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two. These they presented before the tabernacle.
The Lord said to Moses, “Accept these from them, that they may be used in the work at the tent of meeting. Give them to the Levites as each man’s work requires.”
So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. He gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonites, as their work required, and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites, as their work required. They were all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites, because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for which they were responsible.
10 When the altar was anointed, the leaders brought their offerings for its dedication and presented them before the altar. 11 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Each day one leader is to bring his offering for the dedication of the altar.”
12 The one who brought his offering on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah.
13 His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; 14 one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; 15 one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 16 one male goat for a sin offering; 17 and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering. This was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.
18 On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar, the leader of Issachar, brought his offering.
19 The offering he brought was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; 20 one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; 21 one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 22 one male goat for a sin offering; 23 and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering. This was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.
24 On the third day, Eliab son of Helon, the leader of the people of Zebulun, brought his offering.
25 His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; 26 one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; 27 one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 28 one male goat for a sin offering; 29 and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.
30 On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, the leader of the people of Reuben, brought his offering.
31 His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; 32 one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; 33 one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 34 one male goat for a sin offering; 35 and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering. This was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.
36 On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, the leader of the people of Simeon, brought his offering.
37 His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; 38 one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; 39 one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 40 one male goat for a sin offering; 41 and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering. This was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
42 On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, the leader of the people of Gad, brought his offering.
43 His offering was one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with the finest flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering; 44 one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; 45 one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old for a burnt offering; 46 one male goat for a sin offering; 47 and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering. This was the offering of Eliasaph son of Deuel.


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