watch

Numbers 9:17
“Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents.”

God established a pretty clear method of directing Israel through the wilderness. They were traveling roads they had never been on, through obstacles they had never faced before, to a destination none of them had ever seen. In order to ensure they arrived safely, God chose to use a cloud to direct their journey. In a sense, they had the first ever GPS system. When it was time to go, the cloud started moving and when it was time to camp, the cloud stopped. I am sure all of us wish we had a cloud that moved when it was time to move so we could always know the way the Lord wants us to walk.

I think it is important that while the cloud is no longer God’s method of guiding His people, He has not left us without a direction. His Word is designed to help us navigate our way through life. The more difficult the way, the more important it is that we look into the Word for direction. For the most part, it is not that we do not know what God wants us to do, but rather we struggle to obey. The Bible gives us clear direction, but we are resistant because of lack of faith or fear of losing our personal comforts. It is time for us to move when the cloud moves and live in obedience to the teachings of Scripture, no matter what obstacles we might be facing.

Pastor Jim

Job 18:8-9
“For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks into a snare. The net takes him by the heel, and a snare lays hold of him.”

Although the counsel of Bildad was misdirected when applied to Job’s situation, he still gives some valuable insight. He addresses one of the dangers we face as we walk with the Lord. He warns of a snare set to entangle the righteous. Psalm 91 refers to this as “the snare of the fowler”, or a trap set by the enemy to trip us up. It is important to keep in mind, walking with the Lord is serious business. We must be aware of the pitfalls along the way. Ephesians 5 is an important part of the road map to a successful Christian walk.

Ephesians 5:15-16 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

The word circumspect means to be aware of what is going on around us. Looking around, we realize people have fallen from the Lord for a variety of reasons. The enemy uses sin, pride, hurt feelings, disappointment, fear, false teaching, embarrassment, and a variety of other things to trip up the believer. If we are going to succeed, we need to be aware of his tactics, and walk carefully with the Lord. We need to be in His word, be in fellowship, be spending time in prayer, and be forgiving. These things strengthen our inner man and keep us closer to the Lord.

Pastor Jim