Grains of Sand

Pixabay Remember...what you have received. When I was a kid and Christmas morning rolled around, there was a tradition that had to be observed. Every present that was received and opened had to be documented. What it was and who gave it was recorded. Immediately after Christmas thank you notes were written to the gift-givers and put into the mail. To neglect to acknowledge a gift was almost an unpardonable sin. The apostle John, exiled to the Isle of Patmos, received some messages from the Lord that were to be delivered to some of the churches in the region. One of those letters was to go to the church at Sardis. Of course, the principles outlined in these letters to the seven churches are also meant as messages to the church today—nothing much has changed given that human nature doesn't change no matter what century we are looking at. Sardis appeared to be a vibrant church (Revelation 3:1). God knew better. In the message, John was to write: " ...but you are dead ....

Sani Emmanuel — Google Images Between Numbers 14 and 20, Moses and Aaron intercede for the people several times. I mentioned one of those incidents in yesterday’s post on Numbers 14. At the beginning of chapter 20, the two leaders once more “ stand in the gap ” between the people and God. Israel was prone to complain. That sounds unhappily familiar to most of us. But in Numbers 20, the stress of dealing with these miserable people finally gets the better of Moses. This time the people are complaining about the lack of water (a situation they would not have to deal with if they had not refused to listen to Caleb and Joshua’s reports and had entered the land of God’s promise. They are blaming God for something they could have avoided themselves!). Moses and Aaron gather the people together. God has instructed Moses to speak to the rock. Instead Moses strikes the rock twice. God delivers the water but He is not happy with either Moses or Aaron. I wish I had more of the detail of this ...