Daily D – Numbers 32:10-12

by | Feb 24, 2023 | Daily D | 0 comments

David G Bowman Logo

Numbers 32:10-12  “Then the Lord was very angry with them, and he vowed, ‘Of all those I rescued from Egypt, no one who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they have not obeyed me wholeheartedly. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’” (NLT)

Mavericks who go their own way and play by their own rules are popular in all the stories. Truly exceptional individuals are not rebels but faithful followers of God who make the good life possible for everyone. They lead not from a sense of brokenness but from a place of trust in the God Who Does Not Fail. 

Truly Exceptional are two words that sound like a boutique shop in a trendy mall. What if these words were applied to you for all the right reasons? What if your boss, when speaking about you to others, called you Truly Exceptional?

What if your work products were deemed by others as Truly Exceptional?

What if your grades and insights in your continuing education were considered Truly Exceptional? 

What would it take for you to hear God say about you what he said about Caleb and Joshua, that you are what they were, Truly Exceptional?

Caleb and Joshua were the Positive Alternative to the other ten spies whose names you cannot recall. Those men saw all God promised was true but fell into a league of fear. Their negative orientation toward life turned them into critics who caused an entire generation to die short of inheriting all the goodness God had in store for them. 

You and I can live with a Negative Orientation like everyone else, or we can be the Positive Alternative.

We can fall in line with the Unfaithful Majority, or we can join the ranks of the Truly Exceptional. 

George Herbert said, “Living well is the best revenge.” Those who quote this quote and apply this application often do so in complete opposition to what George Herbert actually meant. 

Herbert was a poet and a priest. He was not referring to fine clothes, luxurious surroundings, and the fawning attention of servants and spectators. Instead, he referred to the kind of life Caleb and Joshua understood. He referred to the Positive Alternative. He talked about the Truly Exceptional.

Paul Harvey used to come on the radio on this particular day of the week and say, “Good morning, Americans. It’s Friday!” ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-DpKmgpwg]) This was no lament at the end of a worn-out workweek. This was the triumph of expectation for all that lay ahead. Paul Harvey was the Positive Alternative. Paul Harvey was Truly Exceptional. 

Live as the Positive Alternative.

Live a life God will describe as Truly Exceptional.

I will live as the Positive Alternative and Truly Exceptional as I stride confidently into a life directed by God’s heart.

Our Father, how could we not live with positivity when we know you, your will, and your ways? How could we not experience truly exceptional lives when you are in charge, and we are about your purposes? Give us the same spirit Caleb and Joshua had. Empower us with their kind of confidence. May we live well today and every day as we know you and experience you and help others do the same. Amen.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

CONNECT WITH ME!

Interested in learning more about Church Unique or Life Younique? Send a note through the Get In Touch box or Message me through the Facebook link above.

          Church Unique Logo          Auxano Logo

GET IN TOUCH!

READ MY BLOG!

Daily D – Mark 9:33-37

Mark 9:33-37 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”

Daily D – Psalm 97:11

Psalm 97:11 Light dawns for the righteous, gladness for the upright in heart.

Daily D – Mark 3:1-6

Mark 3:1-6 Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a shriveled hand. In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.

Daily D – Mark 2:1-5

Mark 2:1-5 When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them. They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Daily D – Matthew 27:54

Matthew 27:54 When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”