“Moses brought their case before the Lord.”

                    “Daddy, Daniel hit me!”

                    “Mom, Gabriel took my toy!”

            In this, and many other ways, our children cry unto us.  They demand justice; they scream for revenge; they are hungry for discipline (except for them, of course).  It is very strange indeed to hear no complaints or cries for more than an hour.

            Do you have problems that you can’t solve? If you do, you are not alone because most of us face the same situation at one time or another.  There may be problems we can solve with effort, diligence and patience, but most other problems require God’s assistance.

            Zelophehad’s daughters found themselves in a terrible bind.  Their father had died, and they were not married, nor had any brothers.  Consequently, they had no inheritance in Canaan.

            Undaunted by their hopeless situation they did what every child of God must do:  They brought their complaints and desires before the Lord.

            To cry (or pray) unto the Lord should be as natural as drinking water or breathing.  The psalmists emphasized the need to cry, praise and wait upon the Lord daily.  This is something that every Christian would do well to emulate.

            Do not wait until the crisis comes, to elevate your cries to God.  Cry unto the Lord regardless of the size of your storm, and even when there is calm.  There is no problem too big for God, and there is no reason to stop praying to him.

            A. G.

            “…every tribe shall be given its inheritance”

            What great joy invades our soul when we listen to good news! Hope is reborn and we look forward to another day of life.  Good news are like oasis in the midst of a hot desert.

            The Israelites were in the desert or wilderness.  For the last forty years they had been “swimming” in a sea of sand, and most of the original members of the Exodus, “drowned” and died in it.  Their children remained, and to them, God reiterated the promise of receiving an inheritance in the Promise Land.

            They were counted by Moses, and perhaps some of them thought that they were going to die like their fathers.  The purpose of this census was to know how to distribute the land among the people.  This was a great relief for the weary tribes.  They rejoiced in the good news, for this represented the end of their wanderings, and the beginning of a new life in Canaan filled with blessings and joy.

            What is the relevance of this story for us Christians? Well, the wilderness symbolizes our journey through this world.  The census, reminds us of the Lamb’s Book of Life where our names are written forever, allowing us to inherit the kingdom of heaven; and Canaan (the new and improved one), is a type of our heavenly home.

            Isn’t this great news? If you are a Christian, you have a place already reserved in glory. Today it may seem to us that we are now wandering in the middle of a desert, but one day soon all that will change, as we enter in the “Eternal Oasis” of God.

            Aren’t you glad that you are counted among the children of God!

            A. G.

            “…because he was zealous for his God,”

            I heard the following story from pastor Domingo Fernandez:  There once was an extremely jealous husband in the city of Miami. He was in fact, so jealous that he did not allowed his wife to go out of the house under any circumstances, unless he was accompanying her.

            One day a new family moved next door, which included a very handsome young man.  The jealous husband intensified his vigilance and increased the criticism of his faithful wife.  He told her repeatedly not to look to the young man because she was going to fall in love with him.  Finally the criticism and jealousy became reality as the wife left the angry husband for the attractive neighbor.

            Many marriages have ended up in irreversible separations because of unproved and false accusations.  Thousands of couples have “killed” the love and trust they had for each other in their relationship with their off base jealousy.  Countless women have been beaten by jealous partners and many men feel like prisoners of their jealous wives or girlfriends.

            The children of God must be zealous (not jealous) for God.  Our zeal or passion should move us to glorify God, just as Phinehas did.  His zeal led him to execute sinners, while ours motivates us to rescue them from hell

            Do not practice jealousy, but be zealous for the cause of Christ.  Read his Word; Reach out to the world with the Good News; and always make sure that you Respond positively whenever and for whatever he calls you.

            A. G.

             “A star shall come out of Jacob…”

            Almost every loving couple has enjoyed a slow walk together under a starry night. There is nothing more romantic and idyllic than walking on the ocean shore under the stars.  The bright stars provide a touch of romanticism and radiance to our otherwise dark nights.

            This world was “dressed” or engulfed in darkness when Balaam predicted the future arrival of Jesus.  A very special STAR would come out of Jacob (Israel).  This star is Jesus, the Light of the world.

            In our time we too have our “stars” and “superstars.”  These are men and women that are outstanding in their field, especially actors, athletes and singers.  In spite of all the hype surrounding these “celebrities,” we can truly say that their combined output of light is equivalent to that of a broken light bulb, compared with the eternal brightness of Jesus, the real Star.

            When Jesus is your Star, there is no need to follow any other star, human or other-wise.  Those who look upon the stars to predict the future are living in a fantasy world, and need a strong dose of reality. It is sad to see how many supposedly believers in Christ read the horoscope and follow the stars of astrology.

            The reality is that they need to look at Jesus instead of the other stars.  He is Creator of all the stars. Scientists tell us that some of the lights we see in the sky at night come from dead stars, but Jesus is the only star which has eternal light; and he is the only star that knows our future, for Jesus died so that we can have a bright future with him beyond the stars!

            A. G.

            “I will take you to another place…”

            Allow me to share with you a very important piece of information.  There is a real person named the devil or Satan.  He is the enemy of the entire human race and especially of God’s children.  He wants to destroy you and your family.

            The devil knows your weaknesses and he is very powerful.  Besides, he is invisible to the human eye and he has an ample arsenal of strategies and tricks with which to make us stumble and fall.  The devil never sleeps and works tirelessly to accomplish his evil plans.  If it wasn’t for the fact that our God is Omnipotent, we would be utterly obliterated by Satan.              

             One of his favorite tactics is to tempt us in many different ways.  King Balak used this strategy with Balaam, by moving him around three different locations to induce him to curse Israel.

            The devil operates in a strikingly similar fashion with the children of the Almighty God.  Some fall quickly bringing an immense elation to Satan.  Others take more work and temptation and the infernal host will not stop, until they create the most favorable atmosphere for sin in our lives.

            If you have conquered sin in one or more fronts, do not sing a victory song yet, for attacks and temptations will intensify in every direction.  Do no deceive yourself into thinking that your eternal adversary will ever leave you alone on this earth.  The battle will endure until the day when we enter through the gates of splendor.  On that glorious day we will sing our song of eternal triumph.

            A. G.