Daily EM QT – Wednesday March 2, 2011
lchu...@integrity.com
QT Title: Camp of Blessing – marched forward with the tabernacle, and when the tabernacle stopped, and camped around the tabernacle.
QT Verses: Numbers 2:1-34
Schedule your regular meeting with God: Set aside a quiet time and place, early morning or late evening.
Begin with prayer: Before meditating on God’s word, 1) reflect on God Himself, 2) ask that He may open you eyes to understand His Word correctly (Ps 119:18), and 3) ask for wisdom and strength to apply this in your daily life.
Prayer for today: Help me to stand everyday under the banner of Christ and find rest beyond this wilderness and into heaven.
Reflect on the previous day’s content and then read the Bible verses for today’s QT. Numbers 2:1-34 - The bible verses are hyperlinked so you can click and pull up the verses on another website. You can right click on link and open in new window. It is important that you read the text yourself. Even if the passage is a familiar one, read it as if you were seeing it for the first time. Reading different translations may also help you in gaining new insight.
Summarize the day’s passage (bible verses) in two or three sentences. Then further summarize into two or three words that encapsulate the theme. Write them down.
Explore who God is like: Examine God’s characteristics as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and write down how He reigns over your life. As you read His Word, search for: 1) His work and ministry, 2) God’s personality and how it manifests in this world, 3) the confessions of the author or key figures in the text.
Consider how you can apply what you have discovered about God: First you need to accept these revelations as God speaking to you. Application of His Word is responding to what God has revealed to you. It is the way in which you may respond and show your willingness to apply God’s teachings to your life. However, be careful not to manipulate God’s Word to fit your own desires. Apply concretely: 1) Thankfulness and praise, 2) Faith and trust, 3) Confession, 4) Resolution and Commitment.
Consider who God is like in today’s bible verses: Numbers 2:17 – In the center of the camp there was the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) which was where God dwelled and the reason why it was in the middle was not so the Israelites could surround God and protect God but to proclaim that God was the commander and King of Israel. God has personally become the center and key point for the people. With God in the center of my life I will be victorious in my coming and going and I will have a blessed time of rest.
Consider what lesson God is teaching you: Allow God to teach you in specific ways. Record detailed instructions as you find them from the text so that you can obey them. Investigate: 1) Commands to obey (and warnings), 2) Actions to adopt (good examples set by biblical characters), 3) Sins to avoid (mistakes of the biblical characters), 4) Sins to discard, 5) Promises to hold onto, 6) Prayers to pray, 7) Thoughts to correct.
Consider how you can apply God’s teachings: Write down in detail in a notebook each day ways in which you will put into practice the teachings you have received, carefully avoiding vague or ambiguous applications that cannot be carried out. Plan out when, what and how you will put this into practice. Also think broadly, that His Word may be lived out not only in your life, but also in your family, church, neighborhoods, country and the world. And, where you can, take action to apply His teachings today!
Consider what lesson God is teaching me in today’s bible verses: Overall – When you see the placement of the camps we can see that they are placed according to blood ties. The camp of Judah consisted mainly of the descendents of Leah’s sons; Reuben’s camp consisted of the descendents of Leah’s slave Zilpah’s sons Simeon and Gad; the Ephraim camp consisted of the descendents of Rachel’s sons Joseph and Benjamin; and another camp such as Dan and Naphtali who were under their mother Bilhah. This shows us that it was set up in this way so that each camp will have harmony and will make a loving community. And when they moved they did so according to the prophecy in Genesis (Ge 49:8-12), with in the front leading the rest. God did this so that will have order and be an army that can move easily. How do the small groups within your community that are divided by age, gender or hobby cooperate with the greater group? God is not a God of disorder (1 Cor 14:33).
Pray especially for your application points.
Write down your reflections. You will find that writing down your thoughts each day in a notebook will help in your walk in faith. It is useful for reviewing and reflecting on the applications each day, and in sharing these with other people through email replies, text messaging or other means of communication. A written note is better than a brilliant memory any day!