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Day 47, or February the 16th. Balaam or his donkey?

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You choose. Our thoughts today are from Numbers

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chapter 24, verse 13. Even if Balak gave me all

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the silver and gold in his palace, I could not

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do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to

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go beyond the commands of the Lord, and I must

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say only what the Lord says. Now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Just imagine the scene.

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A whole nation turns up and lands on your doorstep.

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This is what happened to Balak, king of Moab.

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He is extremely worried because he knows just

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how powerful the god of these people has proved

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to be over recent years. He decides to fight

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fire with fire and recruit a prophet to curse

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them. He won't come cheap, but it will be worth

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it. Sadly, the prophet won't obey the king, as

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he is answerable to a higher authority, his donkey.

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Actually, God speaks through the donkey, and

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Balaam refuses to do the bidding of the Moabites,

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and the Israelites remain on the east side of

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the Jordan River, all ready to cross when the

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time is right. Now our action step for today.

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Money is not the root of all evil. Check 1 Timothy

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chapter 6 verse 10, and you will find that it

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says, For the love of money is the root of all

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kinds of evil, and some people, craving money,

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have wandered from the true faith, and pierced

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themselves with many sorrows. No, money is not

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evil, but making it the basis of your life is

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foolishness, because it can never deliver what

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you really need. Only God can do that. In the

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account of Balaam, he declares clearly that a

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palace full of silver and gold would not be enough

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to go against God. Having said that, Balaam really

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tried to avoid this conclusion, and it was only

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when God intervened with a speaking donkey that

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Balaam finally saw sense. Irrespective of how

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much wealth we have, we are merely stewards of

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it, and when we leave earth, it remains here

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for the next steward. The more we invest in God's

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kingdom, the more we may see the results. If

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we only leave it in our will, someone else gets

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the thrill of seeing how it's used.