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Saturday, February 23, 2019

Wealth, Idols or God?


With each year passing this world is becoming more violent than ever before. The lies are being called the truth and the truth is being called a lie by the vast majority today. With the thoughts of the coming fulfillment of the End Times prophecies one should carefully re-examine their relationship with God today before it is too late. If it isn’t apparent to others that you are living for Christ than you are living for your own selfish desires and in danger of missing God’s plan for your eternal Salvation.

To distinguish between the truth of good and that which is evil there must be a guide in which we are instructed to best understand the differences of this truth. God has given us the Bible as a guide by which all nations and all people should be governed by that, that we may live a long and blessed life.
God’s WORD says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)? We are also warned in the Bible, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2).”

Using the Bible Pathway Ministries Daily Devotional Guides one can read through the Bible in one year with approximately fifteen minutes of reading per-day to learn the details of achieving this long and blessed life which God provides.


The following is the Bible Pathway Ministries Daily Devotional guide for February 23, 2018.

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Read Numbers 23 - 25

Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his (Numbers 23:10)!


Whatever his faults, we must acknowledge that Balaam was a prophet of God. And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak (23:5. Balaam was endowed with far more than ordinary knowledge of the one true God. He received marvelous prophetic revelations and inspiration directly from the LORD. In fact, it was from the mouth of Balaam that we received one of the earliest direct prophecies of the coming Messiah. I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth (24:17). Despite all of this, the wealth and prominence of King Balak enticed him to compromise what he knew was God’s Will. He knew he should have refused Balak outright, but he coveted the rewards that were offered him. Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15).

There are many today that fall into the same category as Balaam. They know the right doctrine, sing the right songs, and can even quote the perfect Scripture to fit any situation. They have no doubt in the sovereignty of God, but they deceive themselves into believing that they can fulfill their own worldly desires while simultaneously following the will of God. They too, like Balaam, expect to die the death of the righteous, but in life they also love the wages of unrighteousness. They want to belong to the LORD in death and for all eternity, but they withhold a portion of the present in order to indulge their own selfish desires.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's (Exodus 20:17). Covetousness comes in a variety of forms, but they can all be recognized by one key characteristic. A covetous person will have something other than Christ and His WORD as their first concern. Most covetous people do not appear to be evil, in fact they may be considered pleasant, successful people by many who know them. Upon closer inspection, however, they can be easily recognized. These people will always measure their worth against the worth of other people, and they will always find themselves lacking. Because of this, they will never pass up opportunities to gain popularity or wealth, even if it means that they have skirt around the edges of God’s law to do it.

Balaam served God because he understood the LORD’s power and he was afraid not to. However, he was constantly looking for the angle that would allow him to receive the greatest reward possible in this world. In order to be a true servant of God, we must let go of selfish ambition. When balanced against eternity with the LORD, the accumulation of wealth becomes meaningless. God must be first!

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth (Luke 12:15).


Thought for Today: Averting our eyes from God for even a single moment can lead to a lifetime of regret.


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Using the Bible Pathway Ministries Daily Devotional one can read through the Bible in one year’s time with an average of fifteen minutes of reading per-day. Click on Bible Pathway Ministries to order the monthly pamphlet and visit Christianity dot com for fun Bible games.