Category Archives: Devotional Studies Through the Bible

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Responding to Judgment and Mercy

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When Pharoah does not listen to you,
then I will lay My hand on Egypt
and bring out My hosts,
My people the sons of Israel,
from the land of Egypt by great judgments. Exodus 7:4
We are now about to dive into the great judgments that God would use to bring deliverance to the children of Israel. Moses is now resolute. His face is set like flint. He has no more questions and no more complaints. Moses has submitted himself to God in complete trust. He knows that God is with him. He knows what he must do. In Exodus 7:6 we read “So Moses and Aaron did it; as the LORD commanded them, thus they did.”
As we go through the next few chapters of this amazing book we will look closely at each plague that God sent upon the land of Egypt. We will compare how these plagues affected the hearts of the people, especially the heart of Pharaoh. We will also compare these great judgments to the great judgment that is to come.
Friend, as we read, as we study, take inventory of your own heart. Examine yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to probe deep within your soul. Let him see if there is any wicked way in you. Allow him to expose it to you. For if it stays hidden, it cannot be destroyed. It only grows stronger in the dark and seeps deeper into the abyss of your being.
God’s judgment is for our good. “But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:32) God’s judgments may come, but His mercy comes with it. 

Let him give his cheek to the smiter
Let him be filled with reproach
For the Lord will not reject forever
For if He causes grief
Then He will have compassion
According to His lovingkindness.
For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
To crush them under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
To defraud a man in his lawsuit-
Of these things the Lord does not approve.
Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
Lamentations 3:30-40
God’s judgments are never for just punishments sake. He receives no pleasure from our pain. “The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9) Yes, His mercies are over all His works, even His judgments.
His judgments are meant to wake us up. To cause us to look within ourselves and see our sin against Him. They are meant to lead us back to Him. In Isaiah 26:9 the Word declares, “…For when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” When we fall under the judgment of God we are to cry out to Him for His mercy and when He gives us His mercy we are to never return to the wicked ways that brought His judgment upon us.
This, however, is not always the case. Sometimes God’s mercy hardens a heart. In Kay Arthur’s Precept Upon Precept on Exodus one of the statements she made was “judgement softens some and mercy hardens others.” How true this statement is. As we dig deeper into the heart of Pharaoh we will see this played out.
Oh precious one, as we continue our walk through Exodus, examine yourself and probe your ways. I implore you to take a close look at your own heart. Take a close look at your own responses to the judgments and mercies of God. Make sure my friend, that you are where you need to be in your relationship with God. Are you truly reconciled to Him?
Oh Father,
May Your Holy Spirit go before me as I read through these chapters. Let me not be afraid of my own flesh (Isaiah 58:7). Open my eyes so that I may see what You see. Help me to examine the deepest regions of my heart and mind and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Oh Father if there be any part of my heart that has been hardened by Your mercies, bring it to my attention that I may seek Your forgiveness. I never want to take Your mercy and Your grace for granted.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Not Who I Was

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But Moses said before the LORD,
‘Behold, I am unskilled in speech;
how then will Pharaoh listen to me?  
Exodus 6:30
Moses has already made the complaint out to God that he was “slow of speech” (Exodus 4:10), and now he cries to God that he is “unskilled in speech.” The word unskilled in the original Hebrew text is arel which means exposed or uncircumcised. Moses is actually saying “Behold, I am uncircumcised of lips;…”
This is essentially the same cry that the Prophet Isaiah made in Isaiah 6:5 when he said “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips…” Moses is not crying out to God in doubt of his ability, he is crying out to God in realization of his unworthiness to be God’s messenger.
Moses is looking at himself. He is looking at the children of Israel. He is looking at Pharaoh and he is crying out to God. I can hear Moses saying “God, they know me. They have seen all that I have done. They know I murdered a man. They know all the sins of my youth. They have seen all the mistakes I have made and God I know all the mistakes I am still making. I am uncircumcised of lips. I am a man of unclean lips. God I have said things I should not have said. I have wounded with my words as well as my hands. The children of Israel will not listen to me why would Pharaoh. He knows even more about me than they do. He shall call me a hypocrite, a traitor. I am a fool in his eyes. God, he will not listen to me.”
Oh precious one, have you been there?
Moses is so real with God. He is so obviously just a man like you and I. He is not a superhuman. He is a man who was living a life apart from God but now has been brought near to God to accomplish a mighty mission for the kingdom of heaven. Part of that mission is to return to where he came and show them that he is not who he once was.
He now looks different, walks different, and talks different. Moses may look at himself and see a man of no worth, but once again God does not even acknowledge his cry of insecurity. God simply reminds him of his mission.
We can not allow who we were to hinder who we are now called to be. It doesn’t matter who we were. “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)
Yes, you may have to prove yourself, but if your salvation is real, the proof will be made evident. Even Paul had to prove himself. We read in Acts 9:26 that “When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.” Our past goes with us, but it does not control us, nor does it define us when we are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Moses would go and be obedient to God. He would not have to worry about whether Pharaoh would listen to him. Pharaoh’s response was between Pharaoh and God. We too must go and be obedient to God. He has a mission for us just as he did for Moses. A mighty mission to accomplish for the kingdom of heaven, for the glory of our God.
My friend, do not allow what lies behind you to slow you down or cause you to shrink back from what your God has commanded you to do. Forget what lies behind and press forward to what lies ahead. Remembering always who you are in Him.
Has the burning coal from the altar of our God touched your lips and taken your iniquity away? Have your sins been forgiven (Isaiah 6:6-7)? If so, precious one, then speak. Speak all that the Lord has commanded you to speak. Speak with authority and love and confidence and leave the results up to God.
Oh Father,
I look at who I once was and all that I have done and the enemy can so easily convince me that I have no right to speak on Your behalf. The truth, however, is that it gives me every right. I am a living testimony to Your Word. I am living proof that You are God. Comparing who I was to who I am now only strengthens my testimony and greater displays Your grace. Yes I may have to prove myself to some, but that is okay with me. Father I just pray that You would set a guard over my mouth and keep watch over the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3) so that my relationship with You would be made evident and obvious to all.
My Jesus, it’s in Your name I pray,

Amen

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Waiting on Deliverance

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So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage. Exodus 6:9
Moses cried out to God and God answered him. God declared, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh…” God then reminds Moses who it is that he is speaking to as He says, “I am the LORD;”
God expounds to Moses that when He appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He appeared as God Almighty, El Shaddia, but to Moses He has appeared as LORD. As far as we know Moses is the first Israelite to know this memorial name of God.
God is giving Moses a pep talk. God is building the confidence of Moses. In other words, God is saying ‘Moses, you can do this! You know Me now as no other in the flesh does. I have allowed you and you alone this privilege. You will have victory!’
In the first eight verses of Exodus chapter six, God tells Moses four times “I am the LORD”, at least nine times God tells Moses “I will”, and twice God speaks of the Abrahamic Covenant.
I can just see God taking Moses by the shoulders and looking him deep in the eyes baring directly into his heart and soul and speaking these words as a coach would his boxer in the corner awaiting the second round.
Moses is pumped and he returns to his brethren to share God’s words of deliverance with them, but they would not hear. The Scripture tells us that they would not listen because their “despondency and cruel bondage.”
The word despondency is qotser in Hebrew and it means shortness of spirit or impatience. God sent word by Moses that He would redeem them with an outstretched arm and with great judgments (Exodus 6:6). Israel did not want to wait for “great judgments” they wanted their freedom now.
Sometimes we have to wait for our deliverance.
In Acts 1:6-7, after the resurrection of Christ, we read “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;'”
Then also in Revelation 6:9-10, we read “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Waiting is not easy for us, but with God waiting is required. Waiting is a lesson in trust. It is a lesson in faith. It is a lesson in endurance. The Israelites were in despondency, but they were also under cruel bondage. I believe it was because of this cruel bondage that God looked over their impatience.
God never condemns the children of Israel for their lack of faith while they are slaves in Egypt. He looks over it as though it was never said. He doesn’t even address it with Moses when Moses brings it up to Him. God just reiterates what it is that Moses has been called to do and sends him to do it.
Our God knows the depravity of our situation. He is a compassionate God and just in all His ways. God sees the weight of our chains. He knows we are blind, deaf, and naked. He knows we are poor, wretched, and despised. He knows we are bitter, confused, and fickle. Yet He comes to us anyway, with “outstretched arms and great judgments”.
Oh precious one, do you see the foreshadowing of the cross in this word from God to Moses. Yes, He is speaking of deliverance from the Egyptians, but also He is pointing to the greater redemption. Our redemption from slavery to sin and the prince of this world who holds our chains. Great judgments fell on the shoulders of our Savior as He, with outstretched arms, hung on that cross. Yet, it was by these outstretched arms and through these great judgments that our freedom was found.
My friend, I would almost bet that you too once would not hear the Word of your God, because of your despondency and cruel bondage. Possibly you did not even believe that God was there because you had not been immediately delivered out of your bondage. Perhaps you are struggling with listening as you read this now.
Maybe you are one who, like Moses, have friends and family who will not hear. Believe me, I understand, but more importantly God understands. Trust Him. Keep doing what you know you are to be doing, and trust Him. He will deliver those who cry out to Him. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19)
Oh Father,
I love You. Waiting is not easy. Afflictions and struggles are not fun, but they come with the territory of a fallen world. Yet, I can still rejoice because I am no longer a slave. There was a time when my cruel bondage kept me from hearing Your words of deliverance, but You were so patient with me. Even now I can catch myself in despondency. I find myself impatient with You, expecting You to deliver me immediately, but as I grow in faith and in my walk with You, I learn that I have much to learn. Mostly I learn that I need to be as patient with others as You have been with me.   
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Rescue Is Coming

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Then Moses returned to the LORD and said,
‘O Lord, why have You brought harm
to this people?
Why did You ever send me?
Exodus 5:22
Have you ever finally gotten the nerve to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit and share the freedom and joy of knowing Christ with someone and then watch their lives get worse? Have you ever prayed with someone who prayed to receive salvation in Christ and then the moment their life didn’t turn into a bed of roses they denounced Christ and walked away from Hm? Have you ever turned to God and said these words that Moses poured out to his LORD?
Moses went to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh and said what God had told him to say.
To Israel: God had promised that He would set them free and they bowed low and worshiped Him.
To Pharaoh: God had asked him to let Israel go free to come and worship Him.
I suppose Israel assumed that Pharaoh would readily set them free, but this was not the case. Pharaoh turned up the heat. He made their work harder for them. This response of Pharaoh takes me to the book of Job.
In Job 1 we read of an encounter between God and Satan. God points Job out to Satan and tells him how Job is a servant of God, blameless and upright in his ways. Then Satan responds with “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?…But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” (Job 1:9-11)
Oh precious one, do you see the spirit of Satan working in and through Pharaoh? Satan knows our human nature. He knows how easy it is for man to worship something when it seems like he is gaining an advantage for doing so.
Once again this goes all the way back to the garden when Eve thought her advantage in life would come through her own wisdom and knowledge and through the pleasure of her flesh and not though submission to her Creator.
God has pointed Israel out to Satan through Moses and said they are My people, My servants and they will worship Me. Satan responds through Pharaoh and says, well, we’ll see about that! When the work load increases on Israel, Satan gets the response he expected and very much wanted. The people turn their backs on Moses and on God.
When Job’s persecution began he did not turn his back on God. He ran to God. Job “fell to the ground and worshiped.” (Job 1:20) It is written that through all Job went through he “did not sin nor did he blame God.” (Job 1:22) Job declared “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) My friend we must love and obey our God not because He makes us feel good, not because He gives us what we want, but simply because He is God.
Jesus teaches a parable about a sower in Matthew 13:18-23. In this parable He speaks of a person “who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21) We see this parable played out perfectly in the children of Israel and we have seen it played out in many ways and through and many others since, even to this very day. Perhaps it is even being played out in your very own heart.
My friend if you are experiencing persecution and affliction don’t run from God, run to Him.
He can handle your hurt. He can handle your confusion. Moses did not understand why God had allowed this persecution, so Moses came before God and asked why. Moses is crying out for immediate deliverance, but God is not going to give immediate deliverance in this situation. God is going to give a mighty and awesome and glory-filled deliverance that is going to spread the name of the people of Israel and the name of her God throughout all the world.
Oh precious one if you are suffering for the Word of God that you have received know that God has not abandoned you. Hold fast, stand firm, and worship Him for greater glory is coming!
Oh Father,
You are good even when I am in the midst of affliction. I trust You my God. I know that as Your child my life is filtered through Your holy fingers. You will not allow anything in my life that I can not get through in Your strength (1 Corinthians 10:13). With this promise in my heart and this knowledge in my mind, I will praise You no matter how great the storm. Though the waves may crash hard and though the wind may slam my world, I will stand firm on You my solid rock (Matthew 7:24-25). I will not allow the enemy to turn my heart from You. My mouth may cry out why, my soul may be in anguish, but my heart is Yours no matter the circumstance.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen 

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Charmed

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But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the LORD
that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?
I do not know the LORD,
and besides,
I will not let Israel go. 
Exodus 5:2
I read this verse of Scripture, these words of Pharaoh, and I wince. The sad thing is these words are still coming out of the mouths of “pharaohs” today. The pharaohs of Egypt believed themselves to be a god, and they were worshiped by the people as a god.
Once again we see the spirit of Satan himself. The one who said he would set himself up like the Most High God. The one who deceived Eve and still deceives today with the same lie, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” (Genesis 3:5)
Satan convinces us that we need to be our own god. We need to run our own life and make our own decisions. We don’t need God telling us what to do or how to live. The sad thing is, he says this, while all along he holds us enslaved with the cords of sin. Oh how blind we are to our chains.
In 2010 I went to an Allman Brothers concert with my husband. As we sat there listening to the music I spent the majority of the evening watching the other concert attenders. The majority appeared to be intoxicated on alcohol and illegal drugs, their minds now fuzzy, and their emotions completely given over to be controlled and manipulated.
They possibly have no clue that their souls are open wide to the enemy. It broke my heart to see all these people lifting there hands up in a worshipful manner to this band. They had their hands up in praise, and their heads back and lifted up, drinking in the music of this band. Precious one, look. Let your eyes be opened to what is really going on.
This was the first non-christian concert I can recall ever attending sober. I too had been one intoxicated and completely clueless to the danger I had put myself in. I looked around at the crowd and I saw how I too once worshiped “pharaohs”. I too once lifted my hands and heart and mind in praise of some performer on a stage. I made my emotional connection with them. I let the lyrics of their song help to form my own identity and my view of others.
These lyrics usually encouraged my flesh and encouraged me to be my own god. These lyrics kept my eyes focused on myself and my own selfish desires. I ask you, my friend, who do you think is the originator of these songs?
If the tongue has the power of life and death in it (Proverbs 18:21). 
If God hates a perverse and evil tongue “You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin…” Psalm 52:3-5. Then don’t you think we should pay attention to what we sing as much as what we speak?
How blind I was to my chains. Now that I see, I know that there is only One who is worthy of my hands being lifted up to in praise. There is only One who sings with lyrics I should emotionally connect with and that, my friend, would be the beautiful song of the Holy Spirit bringing my heart to worship before the One True Living God.
In these songs my eyes are not focused on myself or the desires of my flesh. They are focused on my Christ, for He opened my eyes to my chains and when I called on Him, He set me free. Oh precious one, have your eyes been opened? 
Pharaoh’s eyes were not open. They were tightly shut up in his rebellion. He was soaking in his moment of being a god to his people. He would not submit to the authority of the One who would not allow him to remain in this “god” position.
God had already warned Moses that Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. God knew well the condition of Pharaoh’s heart and now God will use this hard heart that has refused Him and will continue to refuse Him to save millions. Pharaoh is about to get a better understanding of this God he claims that he does not know and whose voice he has refused to obey.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am that You set me free. How manipulated and controlled I once was. I was as someone who stared lost and amazed at a charmer working his magic with a cobra while all along the basket of captivity was being wound around my feet. I was a fool who thought I was free and being entertained but all along I was the one being charmed and deceived. Oh Father how I pray for a great awakening! Open the eyes of Your people and set them free.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,
Amen 
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>God’s Not Playing

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Now it came about
at the lodging place on the way
that the LORD met him
and sought to put him to death. 
Exodus 4:24
God has just given Moses this great commission to return to Egypt and bring out the children of Israel. God has been patient with his fear and insecurities. God has reminded him over and over that He would be with him. God has allowed Aaron to help him. Yet now we read that God seeks him to put him to death. What has happened?
Disobedience and disregard for the Word of God is what has happened. Now first of all we can not read this like a movie script. It is not like God is sneaking up behind Moses with a dagger and is about to slit his throat. That picture, my friend, does not line up with the character of our God.
Most likely God has allowed Moses to become sick and weak, and he is becoming sicker and weaker. This sickness and weakness comes from Moses’ blatant disregard to the covenant of God. This way of God has not changed.    
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner,
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But a man must examine himself,
and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks,
eats and drinks judgment to himself
if he does not judge the body rightly.
For this reason many among you are weak and sick,
and a number sleep.
But if we judged ourselves rightly,
we would not be judged.
But when we are judged,
we are disciplined by the Lord
so that we will not be condemned along with the world
1 Corinthians 11:27-32    
In Genesis 17:11 God gave Abraham circumcision as a sign of the covenant that was between God and Abraham and Abraham’s descendants. This sign was to be performed on every male at eight days old. Those not circumcised where not in the covenant.
Moses had been hidden by his mother for three months and when the daughter of Pharoah drew him out of the water she knew immediately that he was a Hebrew. How did she know? Circumcision.
Moses was well aware of the importance of this ritual. Yet he had neglected to circumcise his own son. Possibly because he had not stood his ground against his Midianite wife.
As we look through the Scripture we see time and time again how a man of God has stumbled and fallen over putting the desires of a woman over the Word of God. This, precious one, goes all the way back to the beginning and it will continue until the end of the age.
We read in Revelation 3:20 of how Jesus is rebuking the church of Thyatira because they have tolerated “the woman Jezebel” and God warns that He is going to throw those who tolerate her onto a bed of sickness.
Ladies we must be very careful to not let our emotions lead above our devotion to the Word of God. Men you must be very careful to not allow your desires to lead over your calling to be the spiritual head of your household. We must stand firm on the Word of God and live in obedience to it. Our hearts will deceive us, but the Word of God is solid and true.
We read that Zipporah, the wife of Moses, circumcises their son in haste right before the LORD puts Moses to death. Zipporah throws the foreskin of her son at the feet of Moses and she declares “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” (Exodus 4:25)
I believe Zipporah did this for two reasons. One, I believe Moses was too weak to do it. Two, I believe she was demonstrating her willingness to submit to the God of Abraham and the God of her husband.
Oh precious one, our God is serious about His covenants. He is serious about His Word. He is not playing with us. He does not care what position you hold in this world. He does not hold one person above or under another. His standard never changes and His standard is obedience to His every Word.
God is not legalistic. Legalism comes from man adding traditions and philosophies and extra rules to God’s Word. God’s commands are not too hard for us, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,” (1 John 5:3) and He will help us to walk in obedience when obedience is our desire.
Oh Father,
Thank You for Your Word. Thank You that I have this solid ground to stand on. The ways of man and the ways of religion change, but Your Word stays the same. Traditions and rituals of man can enslave me, but obedience to Your Word sets me free. Oh Father help me to constantly examine myself and judge myself, so that You do not have to. May I walk in Your ordinances and commands with a willing heart and a worthy manner. For You are worthy of my obedience.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Mouthpeace

1 Comment

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Moreover,
he shall speak for you to the people;
and he will be as a mouth for you
and you will be as God to him.
Exodus 4:16
God was angry with Moses. God’s anger burned against Moses because he doubted Him. Yet even in God’s anger He did not forsake Moses, nor did He revoke His calling on Moses. Moses would accomplish what God had purposed for him to accomplish. He would go to Egypt and he would do all that God had commanded him to do.
Moses would not do this on his own, or in his own strength. Even though God was angry about it, He met Moses where he was and gave him help. God’s anger is not like our anger. God is not controlled by emotions as we can be and God never acts unjustly. He is righteous at all times, even in His anger and wrath.
God unites Moses with Aaron, his natural brother. Aaron would be the speaker for Moses. Aaron would be his mouth, his ambassador, and God would be with them both. However, Aaron would not speak with God Himself. Moses alone was allowed to speak directly with God. In this God showed that He had set Moses above all others in Israel and Egypt. Moses became the mediator between the children of Israel and their God. God tells Moses that he would “be as God” to Aaron.
Oh precious one, do you know that this is true in your life as well. Do you have children? Do you have nieces, nephews, grandchildren, brothers, sisters? Do you know that if you are in Christ, you too have been called to be an ambassador, a mediator, an intercessor?
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God were making an appeal through us;
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God. 
2 Corinthians 5:20  
Do you understand that until someone comes to know Christ and even as they are maturing in their relationship with Christ, you are “as God” to them? A sobering thought isn’t it.
How are you representing Christ today?
Is God with your mouth?
Are you saying what He has commanded you to say?
Are you willing and able to be used by God to be a mouth that brings the way of peace (Luke 1:79)?
These are serious questions that we need to be asking ourselves. We need to frequently “examine ourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5) and make sure that we are indeed in the kingdom of heaven. We must look at our life and see if our words and actions represent the kingdom of this world or the kingdom of our God. 
Oh Father,
How I desire to represent You well. There are eyes and ears all around me. They see what I do, how I act, and they hear what I say and how I say it. Oh Father, be with my mouth. May the words of my mouth be Your words. May I always be open to You, allowing You to teach me what I am to say. May I present an accurate picture of Your character, so that when I speak as an ambassador of Christ, people will listen. May You be able to make an appeal to them through me. May I represent Your kingdom well.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

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Then Moses said to the LORD,
“Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past,
nor since You have spoken to Your servant;
for I am slow of speech
and slow of tongue.” 
Exodus 4:10
Moses is making one excuse after another. He is trying his best to get out of going back to Egypt. Fear and insecurities have this grown man shaking in his bare feet. He doesn’t even have an accurate picture of himself. Moses, at this point, has no clue who he is or who God has created him to be.
In Acts 7:22 we learn that “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.” God had been preparing Moses for this moment since the day he was brought forth from his mother’s womb, but Moses is so gripped by his insecurities that he cannot see it. 
God has continued to be patient with Moses, for He “knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” (Psalm 103:14). However, I imagine that when God heard these excuses come out of Moses’ mouth He placed His hand on His brow and slowly shook His head as if to say “Come on, son. Have you been paying attention at all? Did I not just do these signs, wonders, and miracles before you? Did I not just tell you that ‘certainly I will be with you’ (Exodus 3:12)?”
God reminds Moses that He is the one who makes all mouths speak and He is the one who makes mute, deaf, seeing, or blind. God reminds Moses once again that He would be with him, that God Himself would teach him what he was to say. Yet, Moses still is paralyzed by his fear. Moses pleads with God to send someone else. At this God grows angry.
Can we blame God for getting a little upset at this point? I don’t think so. God has called Moses out and spoke to him from a burning bush. He has given Moses His memorial name. He has performed signs and wonders in front of him. He has promised more than once that He would be with him, and yet still Moses doubts. Still Moses wants to shrink back from his call. Oh precious one, are you shrinking back from God’s call on your life?
Do you know my friend that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29)? Do you know that God’s choice will stand not because of our works but simply because it is He who calls (Romans 9:11)? Do you have an accurate picture of yourself?
Are you looking through the rear view mirror, and being held back by your past? Are you looking through the worldview mirror, trying to decide who you should be and what you should do with your life according to the news headlines and latest articles? Or are you looking through the God’s view mirror?
“But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
My friend if you want an accurate picture of yourself, then discover who you are in and through God’s Word. You will first discover that you do not know God at all. You will then discover that you do not know Him because you are a sinner and your sins have separated you from Him. You will discover that although you are separated, God has sought you and He desires for you to be reconciled to Him. You will also discover that Jesus Christ is the only way to be reconciled to God (Romans 5:11).
You will discover that it is by faith that you die with Christ and then you are raised into a new life. A life that can take hold of every promise of God. A life that now is being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), and this image my friend, is the accurate picture of yourself.
This new life is sealed, filled, and willed by the Holy Spirit. It is clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49) and this power, His power, works mightily within you (Colossians 1:29).
Oh Father,
Help me to have an accurate picture of myself. Help me to understand who I am in You. I do not want to be one who shrinks back from Your calling on my life. I do not want to be paralyzed by my fears and insecurities. I desire to walk in obedience to Your call in confidence, clothed with power from on high with Your Holy Spirit. Oh Father, may the words of others not discourage me. Even if they mock me and doubt You, may I still stand firm and persevere. Do a mighty work in and through me, my God and my Lord.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,
Amen
Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Nobody’s Listening!

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Then Moses said,
“What if they will not believe me
or listen to what I say?
For they may say,
‘The LORD has not appeared to you.'”  
Exodus 4:1
How many times have you made this argument before God? “God, what if they laugh in my face? What if they think I’m crazy? What if they get angry? God, what is the point nobody is going to listen?”
Moses asks this question before God and this question comes right after God has told him in Exodus 3:18, “They will pay heed to what you say.” This word “heed” is shama in Hebrew, and it means to hear intelligently with attention and obedience. God had already told Moses that they would listen. Oh precious one, our God is patient with us and he has an answer for our what if’s.
God responds to Moses and asks “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2). God did not ask Moses to acquire some new resource. God used what Moses had in his hand when He called him. God meets us where we are and then He does His wonders.
God took the staff in Moses hand and turned it into a serpent before his eyes and then restored it to the staff. God took the hand of Moses and turned it leprous before his eyes and then restored it. These where two signs that God gave to Moses. They were simple yet powerful. God then gave Moses a third sign that He was to use if the children of Israel still did not believe. Moses took water from the Nile and poured it on the dry ground and God turned the water into blood.
As we read through the Scriptures we see over and over again how God does the most amazing things with very ordinary things. David slew a giant with a stone and slingshot (1 Samuel 17:50). Samson killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:15). Elisha split the waters of the Jordan with a cloak (2 King 2:14). God tells us in Zechariah 4:6 that it is not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit that mountains are changed into plains.
My friend, God loves taking the simple and the foolish and using it to confound those who think they are so strong and wise. Our victory in God’s call on our life is not according to our own natural ability. It is according to our faith in the supernatural ability of our God. 
It’s interesting to me that God gives Moses three signs. In Hebrews 2:4 we read that God testifies with those who are his “by signs and wonders and by various miracles.” God gave Moses a sign, a miracle, and a wonder to show to the Israelites that He did indeed come with a message from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
I also find God’s words to Moses in Exodus 4:8 very interesting. God tells Moses “If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign.” Oh precious one, did you catch that, “they may believe”. God never guarantees us that everyone that He sends us to will believe. Their belief has nothing to do with our obedience.
So don’t let a handful of anger be held in your chest or keep stress in your head… because whatever pain you feel in your heart from the lack of listening from those you are trying to reach will not be in vain. You do have something to gain… you have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to fear. You have an example to follow, His name is Jesus.
Jesus came to this world and He performed signs and wonders and various miracles and yet so many still refused to believe. Romans 3:3 asks us “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” Jesus did not turn away from His call or His mission simply because there were those who would not believe or listen to what He had to say. Our faithfulness to God should never be determined by the actions of others.
Oh Father,
How thankful I am that the unbelief of others did not stop the one who shared Your truth with me. I know that on this earth there will always be those who mock Your Word and refuse to believe, but they shall not stop my obedience to what I know You have called me to do. Your faithfulness is not nullified by unbelief and so neither shall mine be. Even if they will not believe. Even if they will not listen, I will stand firm. Father, help me to stand firm. Help me to be strong in my faith and steady in my walk, with my face set like flint and my eyes set on Christ.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>What’s Your Name

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“…Now they may say to me,
‘What is His name?’
What shall I say to them?”
Exodus 3:13
For four generations the Israelites had been in Egypt. Egypt was a polytheistic nation. They worshipped many gods, all who had a name. In all honesty if Moses had announced to the Israelites that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and appeared to him, most all of Israel would have been satisfied with this name. I believe Moses was still searching for more strength to be obedient. He was trying to cover all the angles and answer all the possible questions.Which can be a good thing when it comes with the attitude of obedience.
God answers Moses with “…I AM WHO I AM…” (Exodus 3:14). I heard a pastor preach on this glorious name of God and he shared that God could not look around at anything or anyone and say “I am like that” or “I am like him.” God is incomparable.
I AM WHO I AM translates in Hebrew to YHWH and appears in Scripture as LORD. When God gives Moses this name He does not remove the part of His name that designates Him in this time of the sons of Israel. Exodus 3:15 declares, “God, furthermore, said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”
Why did God continue to include Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
He included them because of covenant. God is in covenant with Abraham and his descendants and this covenant still holds. This covenant is what distinguishes Him for us from all other gods. Many claim that they serve the same God as Jews and Christians. Many say it is the same God just a different name. The Word of God, however, is very clear, any god is not God. The One True Living God is the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In John 4:22 Jesus is speaking with a Samaritan woman and He tells her, “You worship what you do not know: we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”
Now as we take this memorial-name of God and we remember that there was no one to whom God could compare Himself, we go through the time of man, through the generations, through the covenants, and we stop at the birth of Christ. “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” (Matthew 1:23) Finally God would look down from heaven and say I AM like HIM. Jesus, God in the flesh, God with us.
Jesus first appeared to His own, to those who should know His name. He said “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
Jesus went on to say to them in John 8:58, “…Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” The Jews knew that Jesus was declaring Himself the I AM because they picked up stones to throw at Him.
He used God’s memorial-name to all generations and attached it to Himself. He could because He was and is God.
And He is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power.
When He had made purification for sins,
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:3
Oh Father,
I bless Your name. I bless Your holy name. I thank You my LORD, for You have revealed yourself to me. You have revealed Yourself to the world. You have revealed Yourself through Your creation, Your Law, Your Word, Your covenants, Your prophets, and finally through Jesus Christ. You have left us without excuse to claim ignorance. My Jesus You are the I AM. I believe that You are God with us and I believe that You made purification for my sins by Your blood. I believe that You rose again and that You now sit at the right hand of the Majesty on high, interceding on my behalf. I believe and therefore I know that I will not die in my sins, but I too will rise again and join You for all eternity. Oh Father, in this I rejoice and in this I praise Your name, for You are forever my LORD.
My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,
Amen