I am Yours, help Yourself to my life
Numbers 5-6 /James 3-5
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OT
6:22-27 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Instruct Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace. This is how Aaron and his sons will designate the Israelites as my people, and I myself will bless them.”
NT
3:1-6 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
4:1-3 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong–you want only what will give you pleasure.
5:9-11 Don’t grumble about each other, my brothers and sisters, or God will judge you. For look! The great Judge is coming. He is standing at the door! For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. Job is an example of a man who endured patiently. From his experience we see how the Lord’s plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy.
OT Flash Points
Purity in the camp
Suspicious husband
Monks and Nuns
Blessing
NT Flash Points
The tongue is a very powerful tool for good or evil
Conflicts are caused by greed and jealousy, the evil that is natural to the human heart
Draw close to God, He is all you need
He is your provision
Perspective
People are not to be motivated by a cause
We are to be identified with Jesus and His interest in every kind of person
See the difference?
To deliberately lay our life down, to put ourselves out for Him and His interests in people
To win them to Jesus
We can’t be what Jesus made us to be alone
We must have someone to pour out our life for