The SLC3 Movement – Part 1 -God Loves Numbers
At the end of this three part blog series, I BELIEVE that you will answer the call by joining the SLC3 Movement. What is SLC3? In part 3 of this blog series, you will find out. For now, let’s dive into the numbers!
Like many coaches, I love numbers, statistics, and analytics. There is a saying “numbers don’t lie.” Well, God definitely loves numbers. There is even a book in the Bible called Numbers. Seven is a favorite number of God’s. 12-12-12 is said to be God’s number and represents Heaven, while 6-6-6 is on the enemy’s jersey. 12 is said to represent authority, appointment, and completeness. It shows up all over the Bible such as Jairus’ daughter being 12 when Jesus resurrected her from the dead. On that same day, a woman who touched Jesus’ robe and was healed instantly from a bleeding disease that had plagued her for 12 years. Probably the most well know 12 was Jesus’ team of disciples. Let’s take a deeper look into God’s love for numbers.
I once felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to see if 6-6-6 was included in the New Testament, so either chapter 6:66 or 66:6. The only verse was John 6:66. What are the odds that this is the verse where all but 12 of the disciples chose to walk away from the Savior of the World? The verse says “many” chose to no longer follow Jesus. I have heard it was an estimated 500 followers who walked away that day. Do we have a better excuse to not follow Jesus today? We can’t see Him in person performing unbelievable miracles or hear him speaking the Truth face to face or on TV. We only have the Bible and the faith to believe it is true.
It is all perspective, as some would say that we are the ones with the actual advantage. The followers of Jesus in that day did not have the truth (the Bible) yet. In the United States, at least for now, you rarely end up martyred for Jesus. I would definitely say this is a definite advantage for us, plus we even know how the story ends. Still, for some reason so many choose not to seek a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. On a scale of 1-12, how would you rank your personal relationship with Jesus?
I am aware that the Bible was written as a story by scribes and that the numbers in chapter and verse form were added later to help with translation and reading. So if this is the case, does that make some of this numbers speculation just a play on numbers? I think most of the people reading this blog would agree that Bible is the inspired word of God, given to ordinary men. Surely, God would not play a numbers game with us, would He? Consider some of the following interesting numbers.
Let’s start in the beginning in Genesis! Jesus turned the lights on and named it day in Genesis 1:5. What are the odds that in the very last chapter of the Bible and in the very same verse, Revelation 22:5, God would then turn the lights off? Read it for yourself. How about this one? My favorite verse in the Bible is James 1:2. It focuses on considering adversity pure joy. Well let’s add Jesus, the 1 in the middle, giving us James 1:12, and what do we get? You find out that if you endure the adversity for Christ sake, then you win the prize of eternal life. Probably just a coincidence on that one.
Do you realize that there are more than one spirit? There are many evil spirts, but only one spirit has the first name Holy, and He is the only spirit we should listen too. I will mention one more verse that the Holy Spirit showed me. Everyone loves John 3:16, and rightfully so. The Holy Spirit told me to check out another book of the Bible that John wrote. John wrote this verse after He had endured much suffering and was the last of Jesus’ twelve disciples left. All the others disciples had been martyred. It is not recorded in the Bible, but numerous trustworthy historians claim that John miraculously survived being boiled alive. I believe that Jesus had a plan for the one disciple that stayed by His side all way to the cross. Jesus, while on the cross, even asked John to watch over His mother in John 19:26-27. If John was to watch over Mary, then how could Jesus let John die? He had assigned John the duty of being Mary’s bodyguard. How cool is it that shortly before Jesus died, Jesus proclaimed John to be the son of Mary. Let’s check out what John the Revelator had to say in Revelation 3:16. I find it interesting that John, who survived being boiled alive, would write about someone being spit out of God’s mouth if they are lukewarm and not on fire in their relationship and faith in Christ. I wonder why Revelation 3:16 isn’t everyone’s favorite verse.
I will ask you to consider one more time, on a scale 1-12, where you would rank your personal relationship with Jesus Christ? I hope I have captured your imagination, because I could go on and on about numbers and the Bible. In part 2 of this 3 Part Series, I will focus on my favorite number, the number 3.
Photo by Nick Hillier on Unsplash