Author: Dwight Clough

The land we explored devours those living in it. — Numbers 13:32Where do you get the truth? A number of years ago, I wrote an article for a business magazine. One of my sources was an attorney who asked me repeatedly if I was planning to quote him out of context. By the time I was finished interviewing him, I was afraid to quote him at all. At the time, his concern seemed strange to me. Why would I quote anyone out of context? Why would I try to skew anybody’s words?However, since then, I’ve discovered that he probably had…

Send some men to explore the land … — Numbers 13:2This is an invitation from God to see our world through eyes of faith. God wasn’t looking for His people to just see the size of the mountain; He was inviting them to measure the miracle.Are we surrounded with problems? Maybe God is inviting us to laugh along with Abraham who laughed when he discovered he would father a child at age 100. Laugh because with God nothing is impossible. Maybe God is inviting us to worship along with Gideon who snuck down to the camp of the Midianites and…

This week I want to encourage you to get to know and support the Stendals. For over 40 years the Stendal family has faced constant danger they’ve brought the Lord’s healing, peace and reconciliation into a three-way civil war in Colombia. Any amount of money you send their way will be used wisely and will yield eternal fruit for God’s kingdom. Visit our support page for more information http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.htmlNow the man Moses was a quietly humble man, more so than anyone living on Earth. — Numbers 12:3 The MessageThis passage used to bug me, to tell you the truth. How…

Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? What have I done to displease You … ? — Numbers 11:11Okay, folks, it’s time to rerun plumbing story number 2.The kitchen drain started backing up right after I installed a dishwasher. This was a problem, but feeling a new wave of confidence, I dumped three bottles of drain opener down the sink. This did not solve the problem. Then I put on rubber gloves and took the trap apart under the sink. This did not solve the problem. I found a hand crank drain opener and snaked down the pipes. …

Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. — Numbers 9:21-22"Man shall not live by bread alone," Jesus answered the devil in the wilderness, "but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." All our human inclination drives us to live by bread alone — to make plans for our own survival and success, to engineer our lives, to…

Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings. — Numbers 7:2The 89 verses of Numbers chapter 7 are, to the Western reader, tedious and repetitive. Each of the twelve leaders brought the same hardware, livestock and miscellany. Yet each is mentioned by name together with a list of everything he brought. The same list of offerings is repeated twelve times. I find myself thinking — this should be a chart, a table or a spreadsheet. Throw in some photos and a Westerner could grab the…

The LORD turn His face toward youand give you peace.– Numbers 6:26What does peace mean to you?Peace is a simple word, but it evokes in each of us a different story, a different search. For me, peace means I can actually relax. That may sound hedonistic to some, but I’ll stand by that answer. For years I was tense day and night, waking and sleeping. Peace means I no longer shake when I’m sitting at a kitchen table. I’m no longer tense when I sit down to talk to someone. I don’t feel the need to drive fast, cut off…

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came … –1 Kings 17:7-8I want to focus on the word "Then."Brooks don’t dry up overnight. The water level fell, little by little, and Elijah is just like us — he could see that God’s plan for his provision wasn’t going to last much longer.What’s it like being a prophet, getting these great words from the Lord?Before the great Mount Carmel showdown, here’s Elijah, watching the brook slowly dry up. Water levels drop. What was clear sparkling water…

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. — Romans 12:21If the enemy can inspire us to hate our neighbor, then he has won. This is why we turn all the debts owed to us over to Jesus. Then we can bless and not curse.If, somehow, you owed me $100,000 and you couldn’t pay — it would wipe me out to cancel the debt. In the same way, the evil done to us is so great that the perpetrators cannot afford to make restitution and we cannot afford to forgive. Yet we must forgive. What do we…

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. — Genesis 3:4God steps aside, the evil one steps forward and lies to the innocent. We must understand that this is going to happen. It has happened to each of us. It happens to our children. I often see pain or behavior in my children (and in myself) that results from lies that slipped in. For example, for a while one of my children often got a stomach ache just before Wednesday night church. Why does this happen? Very simple. The enemy planted a lie. There was a belief…