Satan's Tools

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and, let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1).

There are weights which are not sins in themselves, but which become distractions and stumbling blocks in our Christian progress. One of the worst of these is despondency. The heavy heart is indeed a weight that will surely drag us down in our holiness and usefulness.

The failure of Israel to enter the land of promise began in murmuring, or, as the text in Numbers literally puts it, "as it were murmured." Just a faint desire to complain and be discontented. This led on until it blossomed and ripened into rebellion and ruin. Let us give ourselves no liberty ever to doubt God or His love and faithfulness to us in everything and forever.

We can set our will against doubt just as we do against any other sin; and as we stand firm and refuse to doubt, the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and give us the faith of God and crown us with victory.

God in the Winter

Written by Charles Spurgeon

“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.” Psalm 74:17

My friend, as we begin on this wintry month, begin it with God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind us that God keeps His covenant in day and night, and assures us that He will also keep the glorious covenant which He has made with us in the person of Christ Jesus. God, who remains true to His Word during the turning of the seasons in this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved sons and daughters.

Winter in the soul is often an uncomfortable season. If now you are facing uncomfortable circumstances or discouraging experiences, it will feel very painful to you. But there is comfort in the fact that the Lord makes both summer and winter. He knows your pain. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frost like ashes over the once lush meadows of our joy.

Aaron's Rod that Budded

Scripture Passage : Numbers 17:1-13

INTRODUCTION: The timing of this event is a glorious picture of God’s work in the history of mankind. This lesson occurs after a series of sinful events on the part of the people of God. The people are found complaining and lusting (Numbers 11), Miriam and Aaron get caught up in the murmuring (Numbers 12), the spies deliver an evil report (Numbers 13), they fail to enter the land (Numbers 14), and Korah rebels (Numbers 16).

So what does the Lord do to follow the failures of mankind? He follows with several glorious pictures of His Son, Jesus Christ. The rod of Aaron is one in a series of events that shows us that the only reconciliation for the sins of mankind is found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.