Numbers 6:24-26

Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord cause His face to shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His face to you,
And give you peace.

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God, we're so grateful
that when we pray this prayer found in Numbers:
“The Lord bless us and keep us” –
that when pastors pray this for us,
when friends pray this for us,
when we pray this ourselves,
we believe that you are indeed going to bless us
and that you're going to keep us,
and that you keep us day in and day out.

We know that your face shines upon us, God,
the face of radiant glory and light.
That whatever is going on within us,
the light of your glory
will take away the shadows within our spirit.
And we thank you for your light.
We thank you that you are more gracious to us
than we could ever be to ourselves.

We thank you for brand new mercies every day.
We thank you that you turn your face from heaven
and that you turn toward us, no matter where we are.
No matter if we're hiding from you,
or if we're hiding from the world.

God, you turn your face and you find us.
And you let your glory shine in our hearts
and in our spirits, and even on our faces,
and that you give us peace.

So come, Lord Jesus.
Make your face shine upon us.
Be gracious to us all ways, every day, everywhere.
And let us always turn our faces up,
that we might meet your face in the glory of your presence.
And we give you thanks, because you are so good to us,
and we thank you.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

Numbers 13: 17- 24

Numbers 13: 17- 24
When Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into the arid southern plain and into the mountains. You must inspect the land. What is it like? Are the people who live it strong or weak, few or many? Is the land in which they live good or bad? Are the towns in which they live camps or fortresses? Is the land rich or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Be courageous and bring back the land’s fruit.” It was the season of the first ripe grapes.

They went up and explored the land from the Zen desert to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the arid, southern plain and entered Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,  the descendants of the Anakites lived.  (Hebron was built seven years before Tanis in Egypt.)  Then they entered the Cluster ravine, cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and carried it on a pole between them. They also took pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Cluster ravine because of the cluster of grapes that the Israelites cut down from there.

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Please send us out, O Lord!

Let us explore new surroundings,
new opportunities
and new people!

Give us new adventures
so we can come back
and tell of the bounty of your blessings!

You have given us
clusters of family and friends,
clusters of abundance and richness,
clusters of joy and laughter.

Thank you for going before us and preparing our way.
There is absolutely no place we can go from your Presence!
Hallelujah!

No matter what land and opportunities
lie before us,
you are already there.

Grant us 40 days of exploration:
of reading, studying,
meditating, praying,
and being of service
to our sisters and brothers.

Help us to be cluster people —
always bringing back
the bounty of your generosity in our lives.

Thank you for your amazing love.
Amen.