Emmanuel Okoro (aka MrLift)

Your reaction to criticism  "Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of GOD." (Num.20.6)  The story of how the children of Israel ganged up against Moses and Aaron and complained against God for not having grain, figs, grapevines, pomegranate and water teaches us an important lesson on how to respond to criticism, especially as leaders.  The Bible says they walked away from the toxic environment. This could be literally and figuratively. To literally walk away physically or mentally. Do not dwell on criticism. Some people let it fester to the point where it becomes their reality.  It is not just walking away from it but also what you walk to is just as important if not more important. The Bible says they walked to the Tent of Meeting. This was the presence of God. The Tent of Meeting was the place where God meets with Moses and Aaron. The Bible teaches that God i...

Your in-between place  "And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates--and now not even any water!" (Num.20.5)  God is not unmindful of your needs. God Who told David that he shall not want because He is David's shepherd, (see Ps. 23.1) knows your needs need meeting. But He let you gets into the in-between place just to see how you would react towards Him or His promises.  The children of Israel began to cry and complain against God and Moses saying - "No grain, no figs, no grapevine, no pomegranate - and now not even water." God told Moses what to do to meet the need of the people for water but in another sense ignored the cry for the other things. Because He knew that the need for water was a legitimate need. Not one of them could produce water. And the other things they cried out for requires a process of seed, time and then harvest and that, if they plant th...

God is my portion  "And the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in the land [of the Israelites], neither shall you have any part among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites." (Num.18.20 AMP) It is one thing for the Lord to see Himself as your portion but another ball game for you to see Him as your portion. If the Lord sees Himself as your portion and you do not see Him as your portion, He, seeing Himself as being your portion will do you no good. So the first thing we must settle is to get you to see the Lord as your portion.  It is in seeing as the Lord sees that what the Lord sees, that you can now see is of any good to you. Do you see as Jesus see. In fact, do you see yourself as the Lord sees you? Do you realize that the Lord is your portion and your inheritance? Because if you do, some of the things you fret about will die a natural death. Fear will take a backseat, anxiety will find the closest exit. Sickness will not raise its...

Delegated priesthood  "But only you and your sons may serve as priests, working around the Altar and inside the curtain. The work of the priesthood is my exclusive gift to you; it cannot be delegated--anyone else who invades the Sanctuary will be executed." (Num.18.7)  God spoke to Aaron and his sons and told them that the priesthood belonged to them ALONE. Not to the Levite, but to Aaron and his sons forever. And then He went on to warm that the responsibility cannot be delegated.  In the New Testament, the Bible says we have been made priests and kings to our God.  "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (KJV)(see Rev. 1.6; 5.10)  And that we are a royal priesthood "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 pet. 1.9). As believers who are priests, one of our primar...

What right do you have...?  "They went to Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the LORD?" (Num.16.3 NLT) I may not be better than you but I know I'm better than this. You may accept the situation but I choose to accept God's word as standard. It may not be reality yet but I see it becoming as such as my situation evolves to become what I believe God's word says it to be. If you choose to settle for less, that's your right but don't ask what right do I have to believe God. I would act as though I am greater because the Greater One lives in me. I believe it. It is important to believe God's word above and beyond what man say and by man I mean supposed the experts. Imagine the one who proclaim "He is with all of us" was the same one swallowed by the openi...

Get off your high horse "Getting on his high horse one day, Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, along with a few Reubenites--Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth" (Num.16.1)  This is one of the most dreaded passage of scripture as it relates to God dealing with rebellion and pride. The Bible says that the rebellious dwell in a dry land (see Ps. 68.8) and also that God resist the proud, (see Jas 4 6) so we can understand why. So let state this early and state it clear: "Get off your high horse and humble yourself." The passage told a story of Korah and his company and how they confronted Moses to say that he, Moses was not the only one that God uses. And I like the way The Message Bible captures our text, it says they got on their high horse - an expression that speaks to thinking too highly of oneself.  The bible enjoined us to not think too highly of ourselves and to also esteem others more highly than ourselves. "For I say...

Follow the beaten track  "But if you should get off the beaten track and not keep the commands which GOD spoke to Moses" (Num.15.22)  This verse is very instructive in destiny fulfillment. Because in it God spelled out for us that there is a beaten track, which, if the believer follows they will get to their destination.  David tells us in the Psalms that our days were written in God's book even before we were born.  "your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Ps.139.16 NIV) So we see that in God's book is the beaten track of our lives. To fulfill them we need to be familiar with the writ of the book. Joshua says it should not depart from out mouth (see Joshua. 1.8) The Psalmist say meditate on it daily (Ps. 1.2-3) Jesus made this clear when he declared in the volume of the book it is written concerning me. (see Heb. 10.7) Our text says if you get out of the beaten track, that means...