DEVOTION: Numbers 32:1-31 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." And they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan." But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the LORD had given them. And the LORD's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.' And the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel! For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people." Then they came near to him and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east." So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised." And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, "Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders." So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. And Moses said to them, "If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan." And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, "What the LORD has said to your servants, we will do. My momma always told me, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Unfortunately too many times I haven't listened to her advice. Too many times I have had that dreaded foot in mouth disease. It is a terrible and awful thing that has done nothing but ruin relationships and cause problems. I know this is a long reading about a rather obscure Bible story, but it is very interesting. Did you notice the misunderstanding here in this reading? The leaders of the tribes of Reuben and Gad wanted to give their women and children a safe place to live and a place for their flocks and herds to graze and grow, so they decided that it would be best if they took the land east of the Jordan, the land that wasn't considered the Promised Land but was still very good. Moses thought they were just doing this so they wouldn't have to go over and fight all the people in the Promised Land. He thought they were chicken and didn't want to fight anymore, which wasn't the case at all. They really wanted that land and wanted to keep their families safe from the fighting. Even good people like Moses have misunderstandings. Even good people fail to observe the part of the explanation of the 8th commandment that says that we should "explain everything in the kindest way" or as the old version goes, "put the best construction on everything". Boy, do we need to observe this more often as Christians in our own world still today!! Even as Christians, we tend to expect the worst of people. We tend to put the worst construction on everything. We tend to be the first to criticize and judge when someone does something we think they shouldn't do. Then we get upset when someone does the same thing to us. All of us need to keep from bearing false or unnecessary bad witness against our neighbor. We need to stop saying bad things about people! We need to emphasize the good and diminish the bad. We need to quit looking for the wrong things in each other or eventually the world isn't going to listen to us Christians at all anymore. . ALL OF US NEED TO DEFEND OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST, SPEAK WELL OF THEM, AND EXPLAIN EVERYTHING IN THE KINDEST WAY! Let us pray: Lord God, when I don't know all of the facts, help me from speaking out of turn. When I have opportunity to say something bad about someone, help me to keep my mouth shut. And when I don't have anything nice to say, help me not to say anything at all. Amen. ____________________________________________________________________________________ WEDNESDAY'S QUIZ: Who were the two guys who got to enter the Promised Land from the old generation of the Israelites? The Lord told Moses to send some men to explore the land of Canaan. Moses sent 12 men. Ten men told lies about the new land but Caleb and Joshua told the truth. That is why they were the only two men of the older generation to see the Promised Land. Here we go with the 40 years again. Israelites were forced to wonder the desert for 40 years. The children of the older generation , Caleb and Joshua were allowed to see the Promised Land. All the others died in the desert. Good job Dianne! Doug was close, but only got one right! _____________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY' S QUIZ: What was the misunderstanding that Moses had with the leaders of the tribes of Reuben and Gad when they requested the land of Jazer and Gilead instead of the land in the Promised Land? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CALENDAR: Sat- worship 5pm Sun- worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; worship 11am; voter's meeting at 9:45 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NEWS: A WONDERFUL SUPPER AND WORSHIP LAST NIGHT WAS HAD BY A WONDXERFUL BIG GROUP OF FOLKS! KEEP COMING EVERY WEDNESDAY!! Supper starts at 5:30 and WORSHIP STARTS AT 6:30. Tell your friends, neighbors, relatives and everyone else you know about this wonderful opportunity for food,fellowship and worship! __________________________________________________________________________________ VOTER'S MEETING THIS SUNDAY at 9:45!! Agendas are in the office. ____________________________________________________________________________ RURAL KING is donating 5% of net total of receipts to our congregation for purchases made this week, Feb 10-16. Get your fertilizer, dog food, seeds, etc. Bring your receipts, no photocopies, to the church office by the end of Feb. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BRING YOUR BABY BOTTLES BACK TO CHURCH FILLED WITH MONEY!!! We need to get the money in asap so that we can get it to Lutherans for Life!!!! __________________________________________________________________________________ SUNDAY SCHOOL HAS STARTED A NEW, EXCITING, AND FUN CURRICULUM CALLED "CROSS EXPLORATIONS". There is a fun opening, a short study of the lesson for the day and then a fun time of science experiments and other activities!! Come to Sunday school at 9:45am every Sunday to check it out!!! You won't be disappointed!!! _______________________________________ A NEW ADULT BIBLE CLASS HAS STARTED!!! A video based Bible study by Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, will begin this coming Sunday. It begins with a study on the "Relevance of Genesis". Each study is about a half hour of video followed by a half hour of discussion. If you have been neglecting Bible study for a while, because of the subject matter, or for whatever reason, please consider coming back and joining us! You won't be disappointed! ______________________________________________________________________________________________ TRAVELING FELLOWSHIP GROUP (TFG) IS GOING TO THE CREATION MUSEUM IN CINCINNATI!!! A great time is planned for August 23-25 as we head to the Creation Museum just south of Cincinnati, Ohio. We will be making a stop at the Abraham Lincoln National Historic Site in Kentucky on the way. Along with the creation museum on Saturday, we will also enjoy a comedy on the Showboat majestic in the evening. On Sunday we will tour the national museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. As usual, cost will depend on the number of people going. As of now it should run about $350 per person, plus meals, or $506 a couple. If you are interested in this trip, please sign the sheet on the counter in the narthex. Again you may invite your friends and family to join us. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PRAYERS: For CAL TAMELER who is recovering from eye surgery. For CAROL KOHRS who is recovering from gall bladder surgery. For LIL WINTER who is having back surgery next Tuesday. For JOSIAH TULEY, a son of friends of the Hances who is going through chemotherapy treatments for cancer. For SAM HARGROVE, who is still awaiting his commissioning. It was cancelled this past weekend due to the northeastern snowstorm. For JEANETTE KOEHLER who at The CEDARS nursing home in Chesterfield. For ANITA ALTHEIDE, a friend of the Klaustermeiers from Hannibal, MO, who has been put on hospice care. For MIKE WADE, a missionary St. Johns has sponsored for at least 12 years, as he has had to take leave because of severe migraine headaches. For KIM, a friend of the Robines who undergoing a very difficult pregnancy. |
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