Mar 14 - The Canaanites and Amorites Go Down

Let the whooooping begin! The Canaanite king of Arad attacked the Israelites and took some of them as prisoner. So the people of Israel made this vow to the Lord: "If you will hand these people over to us, we will completely destroy all their towns." God gives them victory and they destroyed all theri towns. Here we go again....the Israelites set out for Mount Hor and grew impatient with the journey so the began to speak against God and Moses. Why not...Aarons gone so let's just put God in his place. It's not like He's done a zillion miracles and shown his anger on them in the past. So the Lord sends out poisonous snakes to bite them. The people came to Moses and cried out "We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes." So he did and the Lord tells moses, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" I would be walking about 3 feet from that freaking pole! There thousands of people I wouldn't want to be the guy waaaaaaaaaaay in the back that gets bitten at midnight!

The Israelites ask to travel through the Amorites land and the King refuses to let them cross his territory. Instead he assembles his entire army and attacks Israel in the wilderness....bad move the Israelites slaughtered them and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. So with the help of the Lord they start migrating and conquering just as God had promised. Taking the land promised to them for they were blessed by God.....Nice little trinket to have in your pocket the blessing of God:)

In Luke today we are six months into Elizabeth's pregnancy with John and Gabriel goes to Galilee and appears to a virgin named Mary (You've probably heard of her) and says "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" "You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever, his Kingdom will never end!"
He explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of God will overshadow her. The baby to be born will be holy and called the Son of God. He also tells her about her friend Elizabeth pregnant with John. A few days later Mary heads to Judea, greets Elizabeth and when Elizabeth's baby hears Mary's voice he leaps within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Mary stays with Elizabeth for about three months then goes back home. Two of the greatest people to ever walk the earth are baking in the same tent. All babies are God's children but seriously Mary had God's child! It's an amazing experience to have a child with your wife and raising them is just as big of a blessing. Us men get to play more of a part raising them then the 5 seconds...uh I mean 4 hours we played in the conceiving part. Be a HUGE part of your childrens worlds......I couldn't imagine missing the experience of raising my children with my incredible wife.