GROW UP - WEEK Four - Day FOUR
Thursday - Honor Brings Protection
Hello and welcome to your Daily Devos, following our Grow Up series at 29:11!
Take some time today to read through the provided scriptures, meditate on the lessons we’ve learned this week, and journal your prayers. Have an amazing week, 29:11 Church!
THEME SCRIPTURE:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
- Romans 13:1-2
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Then Balak said to Balaam, “Fine, but if you won’t curse them, at least don’t bless them!” But Balaam replied to Balak, “Didn’t I tell you that I can do only what the Lord tells me?”
- Numbers 23:25-26
REFLECTION:
Balak had hired Balaam to curse God’s people, or at least tried to. The problem was that God’s people were protected by following God. Each time Balaam tried to curse God’s people, he couldn’t. Soon after this though in Chapter 25, God’s people stopped following God’s ways. They stepped out from underneath the shadow of His protection– living for their own pursuits and passions. They weren’t living in the blessing of God anymore, but instead were cursed with a plague. That plague brought the death of 24,000 people. It wasn’t because God just randomly decided to curse his people, it was because his people decided to stop living in the shadow of God’s protection! They had stopped following and stopped honoring God’s design for their lives. There were people actively trying to destroy God’s people, so when they stepped out from under God’s protection, they opened themselves up for attack.
THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
God didn’t move away from his people, what changed between Numbers 23 and 25 is that God’s people stopped honoring and stopped following God’s ways. We’re all so prone to wander from God’s ways if we’re not careful. What are some areas of your life that you need to hand back over to God– to start living in obedience to Him, honoring His ways? Take some time to ask for His forgiveness and for His strength to follow Him.
