Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Numbers 6:22-8:26
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 ESV
As Aaron and his sons prayed this over the people of Israel, I want to pray this over my family and nation. Will you join me?
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would bless my husband, my children, my grandchildren, and my nation with Your wisdom and peace. Guide them in the way that they should go. Protect them from the deceitful schemes of the evil one. Give them discerning spirits to recognize what is good and what is evil and grant them wisdom to choose that which is good.
I pray that Your face would be turned toward them, and that their hearts would likewise be turned toward You. Be gracious to them, Father. Pour Your love upon them according to Your steadfast love and mercy. May Your goodness shine gloriously upon them and out of them, that the nations of the world would be drawn to faith in Your Son.
I pray that You would smile upon them, filling their hearts with joy, hope, peace, and purpose, that they would know that You have good plans for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them. May they follow You all the days of their lives, acknowledging You in all their ways. Please, Father, make their ways straight – not crooked or deceitful or false, not devious or evil. May they not be ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first but also to the Gentile.
Finally, Father, I pray that the peace which surpasses all comprehension would guard their hearts and their minds in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the only path to peace. He is the Only Way to You, Father. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His blood is the covering that we need to be reconciled to You, Lord. His blood is the way of redemption. May they have peace with God and peace with man, peace in their hearts and peace in their homes. And may this peace draw them to worship You and tell others about You.
In the Holy, Almighty Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Pray aloud with Me – FormerAtheist58
“The Lord Bless You and Keep You” Acappella Hymn – SE Samonte
“May the Lord Bless You” – Sing through the Bible
“The Lord Bless Thee” Scripture Song – Keep the Word
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Numbers 5:1-6:21
Growing up my dad and my grandfather were both lawyers, I participated in mock trial and debate, and I watched countless episodes of Judge Wapner presiding over “The People’s Court.” 😄 I saw the importance of having a good judge as well as good witnesses and good evidence. The judge could only rule so far as the witnesses and evidence proved the case. Without good witnesses and good evidence, you couldn’t win.
In reading the very strange passage in Numbers 5 about how a jealous husband was to prove his wife either innocent or guilty of adultery, I was reminded of how often men and women simply don’t know what is true. In the case of adultery, there will always be at least one witness – the man or woman who you are with – but there is also another witness: God. We may not know what someone else is up to behind closed doors or in the dark of night, but we can trust beyond a shadow of a doubt that God does.
God knows the secret thoughts of our hearts, and God knows the secret deeds of our bodies.
Is that scary to think about? Yes, frankly, it is. But it is also so very freeing. I don’t need to snoop through my husband’s online history or the pockets of his pants. I don’t need to dig through his trash or his wallet. I don’t need to track his driving history or figure out his whereabouts every minute of the day. Why? Because God always sees him, even when I don’t.
God is not only the perfect judge, He is also the perfect witness. He can judge perfectly, because He knows everyone’s heart and everyone’s motives, everyone’s thoughts and everyone’s actions. He can place blame with perfect righteousness and justice because He knows exactly what happened. He knows who said what. He knows the way of escape that He provided. He knows how your conscience was pricked. He knows it all.
If your life has been touched by the sins of fornication, lust, and adultery, then you know how far-reaching their tentacles can spread. As is often the case, the sins of others can lead you to into the snares of sin in your own life – the sins of bitterness, anger, jealousy, suspicion, manipulation, and the list goes on. Let me encourage you, sisters, with the words of Peter, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling with reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9) and the words of Paul, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)
I pray that we would take the higher road, the road of blessing and good, that we would live the more excellent way, the way of love. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not proud; it is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)
I pray that we would be like the model wife of Proverbs 31, that our husbands could truly trust us because we are faithful to do them good and not harm all the days of our life, that strength and dignity would be our clothing, that we would be able laugh at the times to come because we have such great faith in God. I pray that we would open our mouths with wisdom and that the teaching of kindness would always be on our tongues. (Proverbs 31:10-11, 25-26)
I pray that we would be like the godly wife of 1 Peter 3, bravely being subject to our own husbands, so that even if they do not obey the word, they might be won without a word by our respectful and pure conduct. I pray that our radiant beauty would come from the inside out, that the imperishable beauty of a gentle, quiet spirit would glow from within us. I pray that we would be holy women whose hope is in God, faithfully doing good and not fearing anything that is frightening.
Dear sisters, someday your boyfriend, your husband, your sons and daughters, will appear before the judgment seat of God. Someday their secret things will be judged. Someday what was hidden in the dark will be brought into the light.
But that isn’t only true for them; it’s also true for us. Our hearts and our lives will be laid bare before Him, too.
What will He find there? What will He unearth in our hearts? What will He witness in watching how we chose to live our lives?
Will He find bitterness, wrath, envy, and jealousy … or peace, faith, hope, and contentment?
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, You are the perfect judge, and You are the perfect witness. No one is hidden from your sight. Someday everything hidden will be brought into the light. I pray that my faith would be in You and not in me. I am so weak, Lord. I am so prone to wander, to leave the God I love. Help me, please. I need You. Give me Your strength. Help me to overcome evil with good because You are good and I am Your child. Help me to repay wrong with blessing because that is the example that You gave to me, that You loved me while I was yet a sinner. Help me to go and do likewise. Guide me step by steap in the way that I should go. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Brother, my Friend and Lord, I pray. Amen.
“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”
– Romans 2:15-16 ESV
“Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
– 1 Corinthians 4:5 ESV
“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 ESV
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””
– Revelation 21:6-8 ESV
“”Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Hebrews 12:7-29
I’ve been hobbling around in a walking boot on my right foot for a month now. And let me tell you what, I’m tired of it. I want to throw it straight in the trash. It feels like it’s hindering me and making me weak, when actually it’s there to help me heal properly.
It’s like the Lord’s discipline. The Lord is a good Father, a perfect Father. He wants for our good. He wants to teach us and train us. He wants to “raise us up right,” and that means that He is diligently working to conform us into the image of His Son.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:11-13 ESV
I don’t want to be left lame. I don’t want to be left weak. I don’t want to have to walk the crooked path. No. I don’t. I need the Lord’s discipline – and so do you.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for making me Your daughter. It’s so good to be Your daughter. Thank You that You are not punishing me as Your enemy, but disciplining me as Your daughter. You want for my good. You want to make me straight and strong, and You want to teach me to walk on the straight paths. Help me to give thanks in all circumstances and to trust that the path You have me on is Your will for me in Christ Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith and the Savior of my soul. For it is in His holy name that I pray. Amen
When I was little, I loved the Sesame Street book, Together, which features pairs of things that need to be together. A wagon needs wheels. A milkshake needs a straw. A sled needs a hill. And Grover needs Big Bird to push him on the swing.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
I love how these verses pair these two ideas together: hold fast to the confession of our hope and meet together with other believers.
We need to hold fast to our faith, and we hold fast to other believers.
We need to cling to the gospel, and we need to cling to our sisters and brothers.
We need to keep our hope in God, and we need to keep the encouragement of our faith family.
Sisters, I need you, and you need me, and we both need God and the gospel. Let me encourage you, and please come encourage me. We need each other.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the hope that is mine because of what Jesus did for me. And thank You for giving me sisters to encourage me when life is hard, for You knew that life would be hard. I pray for my sisters who aren’t active members of a local fellowship of believers. Please show them their need for encouragement and exhortation, and please direct them to a local Bible believing, Bible preaching community of Christ-followers. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12-13 ESV
At my physical this year my doctor told me that it was time for me to get my first colonoscopy. Friends, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to be on a liquid diet and tethered to the toilet for 24 hours. I didn’t want to be put under anesthesia and have my bottom examined by strangers. But, it was the right thing to do, so that what was hidden inside me could be exposed and inspected, and whatever stuff needed to be removed could be uncovered.
So, I did it, even though I didn’t want to. And now, looking back, I’m glad I did. Even though it was painful, it was for my good, and not for my harm
Sisters, do you believe that the Bible you are holding in your hands is the very Word of God, that the God who spoke the world into existence and who holds your life and eternity in His Almighty hands is the very God who breathed out the words of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, and Matthew, John, and Hebrews? Do you believe that God’s written Word is as powerful as His spoken Word?
If you do indeed believe that, then take a moment to ponder how that should affect your life.
If God’s spoken word can cause seas and lands to appear, and birds to fly across the sky, then we should trust that God’s written word can cause the dead to be born again. If God’s spoken word can cause soldiers to fall to the ground (John 18:6), then we should trust that God’s written word can convict even the hardest heart and bring them to repentance. If God’s spoken word can change the world, then we should trust that God’s written word can change your heart and life.
Sometimes we’re afraid to go to the doctor because we don’t want to hear the bad news.
Sometimes we refuse to be put under the knife, because we know it’s going to hurt afterwards.
Oh, but friends, just like I’d tell you to go to the dermatologist for that suspicious spot on your nose, I’m telling you to get your nose into the Word. You need it. I need it. We need the double-edged sword of the Word.
Like a scalpel in the hands of an expert surgeon, God’s Word can root out the cancerous diseases of pride and selfishness and sin. God’s Word has pierced my heart time after time. Each time it hurts, but each time it’s good.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word. It is indeed living and active. It is life-giving and powerful. It reveals truth to me and it pierces my soul. I pray for my sisters who are afraid, who don’t want to read it, who know that they need heart surgery, but are running away in fear. Please remind them of Your goodness and mercy, that You are the perfect physician and judge who wants for their good and not for their harm. Help us to hunger for You and to find You in Your written Word. May we not perish for lack of knowledge while Your Word sits unopened on the shelf. In the name of Jesus, the Living Word we pray, Amen.
Dear sisters, Hebrews 3:13 tells us to exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of us would be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. This English word “exhort” is the Greek word “parakaleo,” a verb that literally means to call near or to call to one’s side.
I love this idea of exhortation literally meaning to call near or to call to one’s side. Exhortation is not standing behind you, pushing you forward, commanding you to get going. Rather, exhortation is calling you up to walk with me.
“Come on, sister. Come on, daughter. Come with me. Walk this journey with me. Hold my hand. Let’s walk together. God is with us. He will give us the strength that we need. Jesus has walked this road before and given us an example. We can persevere by His grace and His Spirit at work in us.”
This is your call to persevere.
Sisters, it is easy to drift downstream, but it takes effort to fight against the current. If we want to go upstream, we have to put our paddles in the water and do the work.
But we are not called to row alone. Let’s get in the boat together. When we both put our hands to the oars and pull together side by side, we can go farther and accomplish more than we ever could on our own.
Who in your life needs some encouragement?
Who can you parakaleo – call to your side – today?
In what area of your life is God calling you to persevere?
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the gift of encouragement we have in Your Holy Spirit. He is our paraclete, our helper and advocate. We are not alone. You are always with us. I pray for each of my sisters who are feeling lonely, who feel like they are rowing all by themselves in the middle of a vast ocean. Lord, help them to remember that You are with them and that there is a vast army of believers surrounding them, rowing alongside them. Please place that lonesome sister into a body of believers who can parakaleo her, who can row with her and encourage her to keep going until the final finish line, until the moment she hears Your voice saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the name of Jesus Christ, our advocate, we pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Leviticus 19:19-20:27
The Israelites were to be a set apart people in Egypt and now they are to be a set apart people in Canaan. God pulled them out of a nation of idol-worshippers, and now He’s sending them into a new nation of idol-worshippers.
God has always been – and will always be – holy. It is His very nature. To be holy, by definition, means to be set apart.
From the beginning of creation God separated. He separated the light from the dark, the water above from the water below, the land from the sea, the day from the night. He made animals of different kinds and He designed the animals to reproduce after their own kinds.
From the beginning of the nation of Israel, God desires His people to be separated from the nations. And when God gave Moses instructions for building the tabernacle, He told Moses to hang a veil to separate the Most Holy Place where the priest would meet with Him. (Exodus 26:33)
Yet, mankind doesn’t like to be separate. We like to mix and mingle. We like to be part of the crowd. We like to fit in.
So God says,
You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine.
Leviticus 20:26 ESV
Heavenly Father, please give us the strength to be separate, to stand out from the crowd. Help us to remember that even when we feel alone, You are with us. Please place like-minded believers into our lives who can encourage us and hold up our arms when we feel weak. We especially pray for our children and other young people who have to learn to swim upstream in a current that wants to pull them down. Make us holy for You, our Creator and Father, are holy. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Genesis 1:4 ESV — And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:6 ESV — And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Genesis 1:14 ESV — And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,”
Exodus 26:33 ESV — And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Leviticus 17:1-19:18
Reading through chapter after chapter of unlawful practices and their consequences can feel irrelevant or confusing, but tucked square in the middle these chapters of Leviticus is this gem:
Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:18b ESV
What if we read all of Scripture through the lens Leviticus 19:18 – love your neighbor as yourself?
Make disciples of every nation. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Don’t steal. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Speak encouraging words. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Don’t lie. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Help the poor. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Don’t commit adultery. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Do you love God ? Is He your Lord?
Then you will love the people that He made, the people He created in His image.
Heavenly Father, help me to love others the way that You have loved me. Help me to love others as much as I love myself. Help me to do good to others even when they hurt my feelings – because that’s how I want to be treated. Help me to speak the truth and speak it with love. I can’t do it on my own, Lord. Please do it through me. In the name of Jesus, my Lord, Amen.
The Hebrew word “kaphar” (atonement) is used over a dozen times in Leviticus 16. According to Strong’s concordance, kâphar is “a primitive root (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel:—appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation).”
Kaphar means “to cover” like covered with pitch or covered with hair … Hence to cover one’s sins.
The first time it appears in the Bible is in Genesis 6:14, “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.”
The Lord is going to appear in the Most Holy Place in a cloud over the Mercy Seat (verse 2) so Aaron and the priests who will follow after him must be covered – with a cloud of incense and with the blood of animals. The people, too, need to have a covering – an atonement – year after year “because of all their sins”. (Leviticus 16:34)
I was reminded of these New Testament passages about covering.
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;”
Romans 4:7 ESV
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8 ESV
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, We all need the blood of Jesus to cover our sins. I pray that when You look at me You see Jesus. I pray that You will see His life shining out of mine. My own good deeds are merely filthy rags, unable to cover my own sin. In my own flesh, I can never approach You, yet by the death of your son I have been made holy. I pray that You would use me to share this good news with others. I pray that I would love others earnestly – remembering that love covers a multitude of sins. In the name of Jesus, my atoning sacrifice, I pray. Amen
Yesterday I wrote about the Levitical laws about leprosy and Jesus healing the leper… Now we come to Leviticus 15, the Levitical laws about bodily discharges and menstruation and other discharges of blood. Ugh.
I’ve never been a leper, but I’ve had plenty of times of menstruation over the past thirty-plus years!
First I was reminded of Genesis 31:34-35 which takes on a whole new depth of meaning in light of these laws – which hadn’t yet been given, in writing at least. “Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.”
But then I was reminded of the woman who had suffered with a discharge of blood for twelve years. You can read her story in Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
Luke 8:43-47 ESV
How lonely she must have been. How desperate for healing. Twelve years is a long, long time. And how terrified she must’ve been that she might get in big trouble for touching the rabbi.
Yet, Jesus was not angry with her for touching Him. Rather He spoke these tender words to her,
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Luke 8:47
Are we tender like that with those who need healing – or do we join in ostracizing them and putting them outside the camp?
Do we go to Jesus and grab hold of the fringe of His garment when we need healing ourselves?
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, there are men and women in our midst who need healing. Help us to see their need and respond tenderly to them. Help us to introduce them to Jesus, the only one who can heal them. Father, we all need healing in various areas of our life – healing from bitterness, healing from emotional pain, healing from physical ailments. We come to You, the Great Physician, and lay all of our needs at Your feet. Help us to reach out to You and cling tightly to You. It is in the Almighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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