Numbers 21:5-10 If you look to Jesus Christ you will live. If you look to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross you will make it. Moses made a bronze serpent. Serpents represent wisdom. The Bible informs us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16 The bronze serpent Moses made was symbolic of Jesus being sacrificed on the cross. Moses made the bronze serpent and put it on a pole, he did so according to God's instruction. The serpent was made from bronze because bronze is symbolic of that which is hard and difficult, it refers to the hardship Jesus would face for our sake and the excruciating pain He would endure for our sakes. As the children of Israel received healing in the wilderness from fiery snake bites when they looked to the bronze serpent on the pole that Moses made, we also receive healing by looking to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Hebrews 12:2 The bronze serpent on a pole was God's medicinal remedy for the condition the children of Israel we...

 2 kings 2:8-24 The forty two youths mocking Prophet Elisha in our text passage represent forty two different ways, problems, or odds the enemy can use to try and stop us. It is God's will that you go forward in life (make progress) despite the odds stacked against you. Each challenge, problem, setback, or odd from the enemy to stop you from moving forward is due for a curse. Just like Daniel of old who purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the delicacies from King Nebuchadenezzer's table, purpose in your heart that nothing will stop you from moving forward in God and with God. Daniel 1:8 There are things, issues, circumstances, and people the enemy will raise up to try and stop you. Make up your mind that you will not be stopped, make up your mind that you will not give up. Make up your mind to go all the way with God. Elisha the prophet had just received a double portion of the spirit of his mentor and spiritual father- the prophet Elijah. His miracle an...

 John 5:1-9 The man by the pool of Bethesda was found by God's mercy. Jesus Christ is the mercy of our heavenly Father personified. He was full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Grace + Truth = Mercy Grace is the God factor in a human life. Truth is the person of God and the revelation of God. John 14:6 When a person benefits from God's grace and experiences God's truth, it can be said that Mercy found that person. If you are saved, if you have Jesus, mercy has found you. Everyone who received miracles from Jesus was a beneficiary of God's mercy. Mercy causes miracles. Mercy makes miracles happen. Miracles brings a new joy. Acts 8:7,8 A new joy causes a new song. Psalm 33:3 The mercy of God preserves lives and destinies. The mercy of God can also bring people into their destinies. David would have remained a shepherd boy in his fathers' service , perhaps all his life if not for God's mercy. David was a great beneficiary of God's mercy. Isaiah 55:3 God's merc...

  Hebrews 4:10,11 Divine rest is evidence of faith and belief at work in a persons life. Living in a state of divine rest means worry, anxiety, hastiness, impatience and fear do not control you. God gives rest. Divine rest is God's will and you need the rest that God gives. Nature is evidence living things need rest and refreshing, it is the way life is designed. Your human nature shows you need rest. Mark 6:31 God also showed us a pattern of rest after He was done with creation by resting on the seventh day. Genesis 2:2 God's seventh day rest is a pattern for us and the plan of God, it's where the Sabbath day idea came from. Our bodies are designed to rest after each day's physical and mental activity.  This is physical rest. Failure to give our minds and bodies the rest it needs can lead to illness or a breakdown. Just as we need rest physically and it also refreshes us mentally, we need spiritual/divine rest too. Divine rest is the rest God gives. Divine rest is a st...

 Mark 4:26-33 Plants are products of seeds. Plants are the best example we can use to describe what it means to flourish. Seeds defy odds, they grow, evolve, and flourish into useful plants that benefit humanity. The uniqueness of seeds is that they do not look the same when they germinate or become fully grown. They "die" and germinate and grow into what is the opposite of the seed that was put into the soil. Seeds have tremendous potential. Seeds bring about continuity and sustainability. We are likened to spiritual plants in scripture. Our lives are very much like seeds in this imperfect world, we are conceived in the womb through fertilization from the seed of our fathers, we defy odds to be born, we grow and evolve in every area of life to become adults who are useful to our families, our community and the world. As seeds flourish to become beneficial to the world, God wants us to flourish too and be beneficial to Him and humanity. This is how God is glorified in our liv...