Prayer – Lord, You are amazing. You have a strategy for blessing Your chosen people and you used individuals throughout the Old Testament like Balaam to help You execute Your plan. What lies ahead for Your chosen ones…the Israelites and the Christians? You’ve laid out Your design in the New Testament—especially in the Book of Revelation. Help me to understand it and to be ready to serve You in Heaven and on Earth. Thank you for this spiritual dimension that You’ve conceived for mankind—especially for the gift of Your Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The way I see the blessing of Your plan playing out is victory for You. You win! Hurrah!
By now Balaam realized that the LORD was determined
to bless Israel, so he did not resort to divination as before. Instead, he
turned and looked out toward the wilderness, where he saw the people of Israel
camped, tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, and this is the
message he delivered: "This is the message of Balaam son of Beor, the
message of the man whose eyes see clearly, the message of one who hears the
words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who bows down with eyes wide
open: How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob; how lovely are your homes, O
Israel! Numbers 24:1-5
Meditate on blessings.
Have you ever been in a contest where you hoped God was on
your side? The Spirit of God came upon Balaam. He’s a weird character—practicing
divination, which is totally of Satan, and then turning to the Lord. God really
has a plan for him and uses him to bless the Israelites. He was on God’s team. Balak,
king of the Moab, requested Balaam to put a curse on God’s people, but Balaam
told Balak that he just couldn’t curse the Israelites. When he is on his way to
see Balek, God speaks to Balaam through his donkey. That is another totally unusual
incident. How many donkeys have you had a conversation with or even heard
speak? Zero! Read for yourself about Balaam and Balek in Numbers 22-24.
This time when the
donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat
the animal again with his staff. Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to
speak. "What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three
times?" it asked Balaam. "You have made me look like a fool!"
Balaam shouted. "If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!"
"But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life," the donkey
answered. "Have I ever done anything like this before?"
"No," Balaam admitted. Numbers 22:27-30 
Can you speak to me...silly donkey?
Wild donkey in Arizona.
It is really amazing the people that God blesses and uses individuals
throughout the Old Testament, just as He did when he filled Balaam with the
Holy Spirit and directed him to bless the Israelites and curse the Moabites. The
tables were turned on the Moabite king Balek. God wins! Hurrah!
Verse of Salvation ~ But you belong to God, my dear
children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit
who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those
people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the
world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to
us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know
if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. 1 John 4:4-6
Birthday Blessing, Dear Amelia!
© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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