February 11, 2019
Numbers 6:22-27
The Lord said to Moses,  “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’
“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
New International Version (NIV)
                 Pastor Rick Warren used to say, “We count people because people count.”  We know for sure that people count to God.  The number of Israelites who survived to enter the promised land is written down tribe by tribe.  Along the way the book of Numbers interjects interesting stories.  God told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons how to bless the people.

                Unfortunately, speaking unkindly about people comes naturally.  Words are powerful.  If we speak a negative message over someone, it may actually come true.  “You will never amount to anything . . .  You always fail. . .  You are no good at that . . .”  Has anyone ever said something like that to you?  How did it feel?  No one had to teach us how to curse others.    

                In case we were wondering, God loves to bless people.  He blessed Abraham and made him a blessing to others.  Now in the wilderness, God teaches Aaron the High Priest how to bless the people.  True blessings come from the Lord so we call upon his name when we bless.  A blessing is a prayer we speak over someone else asking God to do good things for them.

                The Lord wants to keep you – you are a keeper.  Your life is not a waste of God’s or anybody else’s time.  Like the sun he made, the Lord’s face shines like a thousand suns, so that our faces become radiant when we look to him.  The Lord is gracious and he gives his grace to us. 

               The Lord’s face is turned toward us.  Calvin Miller told of a family that lost its mother.  That night the father heard his son sobbing.  He lay down beside him so he could sleep.  The son asked, “Is your face toward me in the darkness?”  God’s face is toward us.  He is actively giving us peace today.  Shalom is not just the absence of strife but the giving of all of God’s goodness to us.

                The effect of God’s blessing is to name us as his own.  When someone prays the Lord’s name over you, you know that you belong to someone.  You belong to God.  He bought you at the price of his own, only Son’s blood.  Glorify God with all that you are.  “Count your blessings, name them one by one.’  And . . . bless somebody today because you have been blessed.  
Let me pray over you:    
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.            
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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