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Author
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Topic: Murmuring in Their Tents
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HisGrace
unregistered
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posted
God despises murmuring. It shows Him that we aren't trusting His wisdom. When the Israelites murmured and complained, He sent snakes to punish them.
The Bronze Snake
Numbers 21:4-9 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way, and they began to murmur against God and Moses. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. "There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!"
So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people.
Then the LORD told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Whenever those who were bitten looked at the bronze snake, they recovered!
- This sort of thing happened time after time in the wilderness, but God always rescued them with his unconditional love. Just before the above incident they had won a major victory over the Canaanites and completely destroyed them. With the murmuring attitude, no wonder He kept them wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years.
Numbers 21:3 The LORD heard their request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah ever since.
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HisGrace
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posted
I Thess.5:1818
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ![[Cross]](graemlins/cross.gif)
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HisGrace
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posted
WgeorgeW asked of me -
do you have a mind?
Is it yours?
I have the mind of Christ
can you think? can you walk?
can you communicate?
are you responsible?
Yes,with the help of the Holy Spirit
are you STATIC or DYNAMIC?
Either/or - whatever HE decides
what are you allowed to be?
what do you want to be?
what can you do?
what do you want to do?
Only what God wants for my life
what are you WAITING for.
I'm waiting for GOD!!!
In the words of Paul -
2 Cor. 12:8-10 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness."
So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.
Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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Caretaker
Advanced Member
Member # 36
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posted
Contrast
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced, nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade;
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
"Invictus" by Wm. E. Henley
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Out of the light that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance
I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under the rule which men call chance
My head with joy, is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears,
That life with Him! and His the aid,
That spite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me unafraid.
I have no fear though strait the gate;
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate;
Christ is the Captain of my soul.
"My Captain" by Dorothea Day
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A Servant of Christ,
Drew
1 Tim. 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..
Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002
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WhiteEagle
Advanced Member
Member # 3728
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posted
That reminds me that this morning I was thinking that the Lord often says two things to us in His Word.
1.Do not be afraid.
2.Only believe.
These themes are over and over again in the Bible.
I'm striving to focus on them at this time.
God Bless.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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HisGrace
unregistered
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posted
Deut 1:26-40 "But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to go in. You murmured and complained in your tents and said, `The LORD must hate us, bringing us here from Egypt to be slaughtered by these Amorites. How can we go on? Our scouts have demoralized us with their report. They say that the people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and that the walls of their towns rise high into the sky! They have even seen giants there--the descendants of Anak!'
"But I said to you, `Don't be afraid! The LORD your God is going before you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you again and again here in the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.' But even after all he did, you refused to trust the LORD your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day.
"When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, `Not one of you from this entire wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the land he walked over during his scouting mission.'
"And the LORD was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, `You will never enter the Promised Land! Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him as he prepares to enter it. I will give the land to your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
Because of their whining and complaining and constantly saying "We would be better off back in Eqypt" they wandered around in the wilderness for another 40 years, after they refused the pleas of Joshua and Caleb to help conquer the land flowing with milk and honey, and with grapes that were too big to be carried by one man. They said they felt like grasshoppers and were afraid of the giants. The didn't trust the power of God.
God has been really dealing with me lately about how not to feel sorry for myself over disappointments in life. I have to let go and let God. How can I argue with His master plan, even if it involves difficulties along the way, which always bring me up higher and into a more intimate walk with Him. He is still in control no matter what. I have to stop murmuring and complaining with "Why?" and just say "Yes, Dear Lord you know best."
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