All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.[Proverbs 15:15]
The Bible promises a cheerful heart to the follower of Jesus Christ. Proverbs 15:15 says that "a merry heart has a continual feast," and Psalm 16:11 tells us that "in [His] presence is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Yet some believers walk around and act as though they've been baptized in lemon juice. They are always down about something. Yet the apostle Paul, in the worst circumstances imaginable, said, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). He was effectively saying, "Look, if I can rejoice where I am, then you definitely can rejoice where you are."
Anyone can rejoice when things are going reasonably well. But when you are facing adversity or hardship or sickness, and you still rejoice, then you are obeying God.
Consider the words of Habakkuk 3:17–18: "Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Habakkuk didn't say he would rejoice in his circumstances; he said he would rejoice in the Lord.
That is like saying, "Even when the car has been repossessed, there are unpaid bills piled up on the kitchen counter, and everyone in the family is sick, I'm still going to rejoice in the Lord."
God is still on the throne. God still loves us. And God has promised that He can work all things together for good to those who love Him. He has also promised that He will never leave or forsake us. So we can rejoice.
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Today's Bible Reading
Numbers 30:1 (29:40) Moshe told the people of Isra’el everything, just as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
2 (1) Then Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Isra’el. He said, “Here is what Adonai has ordered: 3 (2) when a man makes a vow to Adonai or formally obligates himself by swearing an oath, he is not to break his word but is to do everything he said he would do.
4 (3) “When a woman makes a vow to Adonai, formally obligating herself, while she is a minor living in her father’s house; 5 (4) then, if her father has heard what she vowed or obligated herself to do and holds his peace, then all her vows remain binding — every obligation she has bound herself to will stand. 6 (5) But if on the day her father hears it, he expresses his disapproval, then none of her vows or obligations she has bound herself to will stand; and Adonai will forgive her, because her father expressed his disapproval.
7 (6) “If, having made vows or rashly committed herself to an obligation, she gets married; 8 (7) and her husband hears but holds his peace with her on the day he learns of it, then her vows and obligations she has bound herself to will stand. 9 (8) But if her husband expresses his disapproval on the day he hears it, he will void the vow which is on her and the obligation to which she has bound herself; and Adonai will forgive her.
10 (9) “The vow of a widow, however, or of a divorcee, including everything to which she has obligated herself, will stand against her.
11 (10) “If a woman vowed in her husband’s house or obligated herself with an oath; 12 (11) and her husband heard it but held his peace with her and did not express disapproval, then all her vows and obligations will stand. 13 (12) But if her husband makes them null and void on the day he hears them, then whatever she said, vows or binding obligation, will not stand; her husband has voided them; and Adonai will forgive her. 14 (13) Her husband may let every vow and every binding obligation stand, or he may void it. 15 (14) But if her husband entirely holds his peace with her day after day, then he confirms all her vows and obligations; he must let them stand, because he held his peace with her on the day he heard them. 16 (15) If he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he will bear the consequent guilt.”
17 (16) These are the laws which Adonai ordered Moshe between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, if she is a minor living in her father’s house.
31;1 (LY: ii) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “On behalf of the people of Isra’el, take vengeance on the Midyanim. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”
3 Moshe said to the people, “Equip men from among yourselves for war. They are to go and fight Midyan, in order to carry out Adonai’s vengeance on Midyan. 4 You are to send to the war a thousand men from every one of Isra’el’s tribes.” 5 So out of the thousands of people in Isra’el, a thousand armed men from each tribe, 12,000 altogether, were mustered for war. 6 Moshe sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war; he sent them and Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen to the war, with the holy utensils and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his care.
7 They fought against Midyan, as Adonai had ordered Moshe, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midyan along with the others who were slain — Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva, the five kings of Midyan. They also killed Bil‘am the son of B‘or with the sword. 9 The people of Isra’el took captive the women of Midyan and their little ones, and they took as booty all their cattle, flocks and other goods. 10 They set fire to all their cities in the areas where they lived and all their camps. 11 They took all the booty, all the people and animals they had captured, 12 and brought the captives, booty and spoil to Moshe, El‘azar the cohen and the community of Isra’el in the camp on the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden across from Yericho.
(RY: ii, LY: iii) 13 Moshe, El‘azar the cohen and all the community leaders went to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moshe was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds coming in from the battlefield. 15 Moshe asked them, “You let the women live? 16 Why, these are the ones who — because of Bil‘am’s advice — caused the people of Isra’el to rebel, breaking faith with Adonai in the P‘or incident, so that the plague broke out among Adonai’s community! 17 Now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has ever slept with a man. 18 But the young girls who have never slept with a man, keep alive for yourselves. 19 Pitch your tents outside the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a person or touched the corpse of someone slain, purify yourselves on the third and seventh days, you and your captives. 20 Also purify every garment, whether of skin or goat’s hair, and everything made of wood.”
21 El‘azar the cohen said to the soldiers who had gone to the front, “This is the regulation from the Torah which Adonai has ordered Moshe. 22 Even though gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead 23 can all withstand fire, so that you are indeed to purify everything made of these materials by having them pass through fire; nevertheless they must also be purified with the water for purification. Everything that can’t withstand fire you are to have go through the water. 24 On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean; after that you may enter the camp.”
(LY: iv) 25 Adonai said to Moshe, 26 “Take all the booty, both people and animals, you, El‘azar the cohen and the leaders of clans in the community; 27 and divide the booty into two parts: half for the experienced soldiers who went out to battle, and half for the rest of the community. 28 From the portion of the soldiers who went out to battle, levy a tax for Adonai consisting of one-five-hundredth of the persons, cattle, donkeys and sheep; 29 take it from their half and give it to El‘azar the cohen as a portion set apart for Adonai. 30 From the half that goes to the people of Isra’el, you are to take one-fiftieth of the persons, and of the cattle, donkeys and sheep, that is, of all the livestock; and give them to the L’vi’im taking care of the tabernacle of Adonai.” 31 Moshe and El‘azar the cohen did as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
32 The booty, over and above the portion which the soldiers took, came to 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, consisting of the women who had never slept with a man.
36 The half which was the portion of the soldiers who went out to fight, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 of which Adonai’s tribute was 675; 38 36,000 cattle, of which Adonai’s tribute was seventy-two; 39 30,500 donkeys, of which Adonai’s tribute was sixty-one; 40 and 16,000 persons, of whom Adonai’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 Moshe gave the tribute set apart for Adonai to El‘azar the cohen, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
(LY: v) 42 From the half that went to people of Isra’el, which Moshe separated from that of the men who had gone to fight — 43 now the community’s half consisted of 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys 46 and 16,000 persons — 47 from the people of Isra’el’s half, Moshe took one-fiftieth of the persons and animals and gave them to the L’vi’im taking care of the tabernacle of Adonai, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
48 The officers in charge of the thousands who fought, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, approached Moshe 49 and said to him, “Your servants have counted all the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing. 50 We have brought an offering for Adonai, what every man has obtained in the way of gold jewelry — armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and belts — to make atonement for ourselves before Adonai.”
51 Moshe and El‘azar the cohen accepted their gold, all the jewelry. 52 All the gold in this gift which the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds set apart for Adonai weighed 420 pounds. 53 For the soldiers had taken booty, every man for himself. 54 Moshe and El‘azar the cohen took the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a reminder for the people of Isra’el before Adonai.
Mark 9:1 Yes!” he went on, “I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Kingdom of God come in a powerful way!”
2 Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya‘akov and Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, he began to change form, 3 and his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than anyone in the world could possibly bleach them. 4 Then they saw Eliyahu and Moshe speaking with Yeshua. 5 Kefa said to Yeshua, “It’s good that we’re here, Rabbi! Let’s put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” 6 (He didn’t know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud enveloped them; and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Yeshua.
9 As they came down the mountain, he warned them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves; but they continued asking each other, “What is this ‘rising from the dead’?” 11 They also asked him, “Why do the Torah-teachers say that Eliyahu has to come first?” 12 “Eliyahu will indeed come first,” he answered, “and he will restore everything. Nevertheless, why is it written in the Tanakh that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 There’s more to it: I tell you that Eliyahu has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as the Tanakh says about him.”
14 When they got back to the talmidim, they saw a large crowd around them and some Torah-teachers arguing with them. 15 As soon as the crowd saw him, they were surprised and ran out to greet him. 16 He asked them, “What’s the discussion about?” 17 One of the crowd gave him the answer: “Rabbi, I brought my son to you because he has an evil spirit in him that makes him unable to talk. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground — he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked your talmidim to drive the spirit out, but they couldn’t do it.” 19 “People without any trust!” he responded. “How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!” 20 They brought the boy to him; and as soon as the spirit saw him, it threw the boy into a convulsion. 21 Yeshua asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?” “Ever since childhood,” he said; 22 “and it often tries to kill him by throwing him into the fire or into the water. But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us!” 23 Yeshua said to him, “What do you mean, ‘if you can’? Everything is possible to someone who has trust!” 24 Instantly the father of the child exclaimed, “I do trust — help my lack of trust!” 25 When Yeshua saw that the crowd was closing in on them, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and dumb spirit! I command you: come out of him, and never go back into him again!” 26 Shrieking and throwing the boy into a violent fit, it came out. The boy lay there like a corpse, so that most of the people said he was dead. 27 But Yeshua took him by the hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Yeshua had gone indoors, his talmidim asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 29 He said to them “This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer.”
30 After leaving that place, they went on through the Galil. Yeshua didn’t want anyone to know, 31 because he was teaching his talmidim. He told them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men who will put him to death; but after he has been killed, three days later he will rise.” 32 But they didn’t understand what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
33 They arrived at K’far-Nachum. When Yeshua was inside the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing as we were traveling?” 34 But they kept quiet; because on the way, they had been arguing with each other about who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, summoned the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.” 36 He took a child and stood him among them. Then he put his arms around him and said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the One who sent me.”
38 Yochanan said to him, “Rabbi, we saw a man expelling demons in your name; and because he wasn’t one of us, we told him to stop.” 39 But Yeshua said, “Don’t stop him, because no one who works a miracle in my name will soon after be able to say something bad about me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Indeed, whoever gives you even a cup of water to drink because you come in the name of the Messiah — yes! I tell you that he will certainly not lose his reward.
42 “Whoever ensnares one of these little ones who trust me — it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be thrown in the sea. 43 If your hand makes you sin, cut it off! Better that you should be maimed but obtain eternal life, rather than keep both hands and go to Gei-Hinnom, to unquenchable fire! 44 [a] 45 And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off! Better that you should be lame but obtain eternal life, rather than keep both feet and be thrown into Gei-Hinnom! 46 [b] 47 And if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out! Better that you should be one-eyed but enter the Kingdom of God, rather than keep both eyes and be thrown into Gei-Hinnom,
48 where their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.[c]
49 Indeed, everyone is going to be salted with fire. 50 Salt is excellent, but if it loses its saltiness, how will you season it? So have salt in yourselves — that is, be at peace with each other.”
Footnotes:
Mark 9:44 Some manuscripts include identical verses 9:44, 46: where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. (Isaiah 66:24)
Mark 9:46 Some manuscripts include identical verses 9:44, 46: where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. (Isaiah 66:24)
Mark 9:48 Isaiah 66:24]
Harvest Ministries with Greg LaurieP.O. Box 4000
Riverside, California 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1-800-821-3300
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