Amazing God

Yesterday was rough.  I found myself caught in the midst of defeat and doubt, but praise the Lord, He is faithful, and when I took the time to get in His word, He rocked my world!  Thank you, Jesus, for overcoming the world!  Also, I have not been keeping up with the blog, but I have been keeping up with my reading.  Notice I just said reading, not praying.  I need to get back on track with my prayers for the world.  The first 11 days of January are all for the opening section labeled "The World" and I simply have not done it.  I also have not called a hospital yet to see about rocking babies.  I am, however, doing pretty well with being mindful of how I spend my money and giving it for a specific purpose.  More details to come...

Numbers 2-3
Yep, that's right!  I've made it into numbers.  Chapter One was all about the census that the Moses and 12 of the leaders took.  It is crazy to think that each man who was old enough for war had his name recorded.  There were hundreds of thousands of them.  That's a lot of detail.  But then, I thought of Psalm 139 which says, "In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."  So, not only had God written my name down for the count, but he has written every one of the days of my life.  They were formed for me.  That's nuts!  Talk about some detail!  Ok, ok, on to the reading for today...
This book is very aptly named- there are so many numbers!  But it's kinda cool.  God is arranging the camp of the Israelites around the tabernacle by tribes.  On the east side (the front side with the gate) are three tribes totaling 186,400.  On the south side are three tribes totaling 151,450.  On the west side are three tribes totaling 108,100.  And on the north side are three tribes totaling 157,600.  So picture if you will the shortest side opposite the longest side with two (basically) equal side opposite each other: a cross.  And the tabernacle- the dwelling place of God- was right in the center of it all.  I love it!  Then God separates the Levites for service to Him and gives them all their jobs of what parts of the tabernacle to carry.  He also says that He is taking the Levites instead of the firstborn in the nation.  So they do a count of the Levites and the firstborn and there is only a 273 difference.  Out of thousands.  That's pretty amazing.  God accepts five shekels for each of the extra firstborns.

Mark 11:27-12:17
The priests, scribes, and elders are trying to trap Jesus in His words.  They ask about His authority and about paying taxes, but obviously, He is far more clever than they are.  And He knows their hearts' intent.  So He answers them in such a way that causes them to marvel.  Even His enemies marveled at Him!  He also told the parable of the tenants who thought they could kill the heir and so inherit his share.

Psalm 47
"Shout to God with loud songs of joy!"
"Sing praises to God, sing praises!"

Proverbs 10:24-25
"the desire of the righteous will be granted...
the righteous is established forever"
Thank you for making me righteous.  It is only by your Son, and nothing I have done.