Numbers 22:18 … I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
What a great life verse!
As I was reading my Bible passages for the day, the Lord captured my thoughts on this one verse. I had to wonder if I really live this one out?
In order to further drive home this thought, the Lord had me read about Balaam. Balak was a king of Moab and he had heard of the Israelites and the power of their God. They were conquering people and land. He was worried about his fate and wanted to protect his territory. In order to accomplish this, he wanted the Israelites cursed. Balak sent servants to a man, Balaam, that he knew believed in God and asked him to curse these people.
Balaam had a great answer to this request:
Numbers 22:18 And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.
Unfortunately, Balaam did not heed these words of wisdom that flowed from his own mouth. (I can relate!)
Numbers 22:20-21 And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
God said, “If the men come to call thee…,” then Balaam could go with the men. But in the passage, Balaam just rose up in the morning and went! He did not wait to see if the men would come to call him. Balaam did what was right in his own eyes; he did not heed God’s boundary. He went and went beyond what the Lord had commanded with the expectation that God would bless. If you read the story in Numbers 22, Balaam did not get away with this breech of boundary. An angel of the Lord had to use a sword and a talking donkey to get Balaam’s attention!
After reading this passage, I knew the Lord was asking me the following questions:
Has the Lord told me to stop and I have decided to go on? Has He set limits in my life and I have decided to go beyond, just a little? Or are there areas in my life where the Lord has opened a door and I just can’t quite go through?
As I thought on these questions, I had to sadly answer “yes” to each one.
The Lord pointed out to me that, in some instances, I have the right words and the right Christian philosophies, but sometimes I have a difficult time displaying them in my own life. This was not an easy conversation to have with my Lord, but needful. There are some areas of my life that I need to get aligned with what I know is right.
Have a face to face conversation with your Lord!
Related Bible Passages
Numbers 22
Psalms 68:16-35
Proverbs 16
John 13
If you are interested in having a collection of these devotional conversations with your Lord, Consider purchasing the devotional book, Conversations: Face to Face with Your Lord Book 1 or Conversations: Face to Face with Your Lord Book 2. They are available from Amazon by clicking on the titles above.
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