Tag Archives: daily walk

Feb 3 – More

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Exodus 13-15

My nephew was a tease. That handsome face, those big brown eyes, that infectious smile. He had a quick wit, and laughter followed him wherever he went.

I thought about Geoff today as I read these chapters in Exodus. So I want to share a story I remember hearing about this crazy kid. It went something like this:

Geoff and his cousin went to Chipotle’s for lunch. Both young men ordered a salad. When they got back to the table, Geoff noticed that Brad had more meat on his plate than he did. So, with a twinkle in his eye, Geoff went back to the counter to “complain.”

“My cousin got more meat than me,” he pouted. The server giggled, and put another scoop on his plate.

“More,” he whispered. She added a bit more.

“More,” he said a little louder, and a little more intense. She obliged.

Now, according to what I remember of this story, the servers and customers were laughing at Geoff’s silliness. That’s all the encouragement he needed.

“More,” he said again, this time through clenched teeth like an addict demanding a fix. The server shook her head and finally said no.

So as I was reading in Exodus this morning, the word “more” came to mind (and I always think of Geoff when I hear that word)

God had just delivered Israel from Egypt in a dramatic way. I mean, come on. The Red Sea parted and they walked across on dry land. Then to top it off, the Egyptians drowned trying to do the same thing. God’s salvation was provided for believers only!

Then three short days later, the Israelites were complaining about not having water. “More miracles,” they seemed to demand.

God did provide water. But it certainly wasn’t because the Jews were growling. God provided water because that’s who He is!

And it makes me wonder, when is enough enough? I am blessed way beyond what I deserve. Yet are there times I fall into the trap of complaining, of pouting like a  child, if I don’t get exactly what I want or think I deserve. Do I accept what Jesus did for me on the cross, then turn around and demand God heal me, too? Do I pout about the struggle to pay bills, and ignore the fact that God has provided an eternal home for me way above my station in life?

Reading this today, I want to be thankful for everything the Lord has given me. I want to be satisfied with the way He has blessed me. I never want to seem ungrateful or be jealous of what someone else seems to have.

I have Jesus. And I trust Him to provide for me as only He can.

Lord, help me to be thankful. I don’t need more. I just need You. Help me to trust you with today, with the cares of this world. Move me to action when there are things I need to do. And may my life be an example of how good it can be when a life is placed in Your hands.

 

 

Jan 31 – Oh, Moses

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Exodus 4-6

Moses. Moses. Moses. (I am shaking my head) You really didn’t want to be Israel’s leader, did you?

Six times in the chapters we read today, Moses tried to talk God out of sending him. He said things like, ‘They won’t believe me.’ ‘I am slow of speech.’ ‘Please send someone else.’ ‘Why did you ever send me?’ ‘If the Jews won’t listen to me, what makes You think Pharaoh will?’ ‘Pharaoh won’t pay attention to me because of the way I talk.’

Sometimes Moses protested right after God promised to do great things through him. And sometimes God was a little angry at this reluctant leader.

Moses seems to be inhibited by his speech. Did he stutter? Did he have a deformity? If it was holding Moses back, why didn’t God just heal him? God does all things well. And in this case, Moses didn’t need to be healed.

Reading about Moses reminds me God can use the least of us to accomplish great things. We don’t have to be the best looking, most talented, most charismatic people in the church. What we need is to trust God, to obey Him even if our knees are shaking.

The Charlton Heston version of Moses shows a strong, confident, fierce leader who led the Israelites out of Egypt. But I’m not so sure Moses was really that person. From what I read today, Moses might have been a bit more of a wimp than that.

God delights in revealing Himself through those of us who depend solely upon Him. Nobody was going to look at Moses and say, “He was born to be a great leader.” But they will look at Moses and say, “Wow. Moses has a great God.”

I want them to say that about me, too.

Jan 30 – Raising Moses

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Exodus 1-3

Moses was raised by an Egyptian woman. So how did he come to believe in the God of Israel? His adoptive mother must have told Moses about his birth family. Did she also tell him about the God they worshiped? How else would Moses recognize God’s voice, and obey Him?

Moses was raised in a pagan society. Yet he rejected the false gods and followed the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Bible isn’t clear about those years Moses spent in Pharaoh’s house. But I think we can conclude that somehow, he was introduced to the One True God while growing up there. I’d like to believe his Egyptian mom had been touched by the influence of his Jewish mom who tended to Moses until he was weaned. Maybe she was the one who taught Moses to honor God. Just a thought.

I can’t help but pray for parents and grandparents today. Our world is every bit as pagan as was that in Moses’ day. Do your children know the God of Creation? Can they recognize His voice amid all the other voices vying for their attention? Are you raising children who know the Truth according to Scripture plus nothing?

Dear God, May You raise up an army of people like Moses because their parents lived and taught them according to Your Holy Word. May our children reject the influences of a society that rejects You. May they recognize Your voice. And may You give our children courage to follow You only.

Jan 29 – Why Jacob?

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Genesis 48-50

Did you read about Jacob’s funeral today? Jacob, the father of Pharaoh’s trusted servant Joseph, received quite a burial. Even the Egyptians wept for him for seventy days. I can only imagine the funeral procession, with Jacob’s large family, plus all Pharaoh’s servants, all the elders, all Joseph’s household, Pharaoh’s chariots and horsemen who traveled to Canaan for the graveside service. This was a man who was given the ultimate honor.

But why? What was Jacob to Pharaoh except the father of Joseph?

Then it hit me. As a Christian, people look at me as the child of my Heavenly Father. Do they honor God because of how I live my life? They should.

My mom, especially when the cancer slowed her down, was so appreciative if one of us girls would visit someone who was ill, did something for someone in need, because she felt that, by extension, she was a part of that act of kindness. I loved being Moms’ arms and legs when she couldn’t get out and do those things herself.

Even today, twenty years after her death, I love it when someone says my Mom would be proud of me, or when I think something I do reflects positively on her.

How much more so my Heavenly parent?

Dear Father, I want to be the kind of daughter who reflects positively on You. I want people to honor You because of what I do, what I say, how I treat people. Make me ever aware that my life, by extension, represents You to people who still need to know of Your saving grace. 

Jan 26 – I Bow Down

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Genesis 41-42

It was a famine that brought Joseph’s brothers to him. They were desperate for food, and went to Egypt to buy grain from Pharaoh’s right-hand man. And, just like in Joseph’s dreams, he was that man to whom his brothers bowed.

Sometimes it takes a famine to force us to our knees, too. Sometimes God uses heartache, disease, loneliness, guilt, helplessness, to give us a chance to realize our need, and recognize He is the only One who can fill us.

Jesus said He is the Bread of Life, the Living Water. When we bow down to Him, when we empty ourselves of pride, and dreams, and relationships, and popularity, and self – He gives us exactly what we need.

In fact, He gives us more than we can ask or think. He gives Himself.

I bow down.

Jan 25 – Oops, I Forgot

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Genesis 38-40

How could the cupbearer “forget” about Joseph, when Joseph interpreted his dream to the letter? I doubt that kind of thing happened every day. Wouldn’t someone be inclined to remember a miracle?

But isn’t it kind of the same thing for me to accept the miracle of my salvation from Jesus, then put it on a shelf and go about my merry old way? Is it the same when I forget what it cost Him to pay for the lie I tell, or the gossip I spread, the hate I harbor, or when I neglect time in God’s Word?

I want to live my life with the ever-present knowledge that Jesus went to the cross, that He forgave my sins, and that His grace has set me free from sin’s control.

Lord, help me to remember.

Jan 19 – What About Isaac?

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Genesis 22-24

We are well aware of Abraham’s faith that allowed him to stand over his son Isaac, knife raised, ready to sacrifice his son on an altar, because God told him to. But what of Isaac’s faith? The Bible doesn’t say anything about that.

It’s kind of a picture of Christ, isn’t it? The father’s son, who carried the wood for the sacrifice, like Jesus carried the wooden cross.

I wonder if Isaac went willingly. That must not really matter because the Bible isn’t clear concerning it. But Abraham had said something to Isaac I choose to believe the boy believed:

The Lord will provide a lamb.

And I believe Isaac’s own faith allowed him to crawl up on that altar in obedience.

Makes me wonder how far my faith would take me. Am I really ready to lay it all on the altar? My health? My family? My finances? My future? What about my pride, my thought-life, my self?

God, give me faith like Isaac’s.

Jan 18 -For Ten Righteous

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Genesis 19-21

The Old Testament draws vivid pictures, examples of God’s power, love, holiness, and more. Here in the chapters we read today we can see exactly what God’s attitude is toward sin. It’s the account of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The cities were completely destroyed. Every sinful person young and old faced God’s fiery judgement.

But they didn’t have to. God had promised Abraham if He could find just ten people who obeyed Him, the entire population would be spared. Ten.

This should be a wake-up call for us Christians. What if God said the same about our families? Our churches? Our nation? Would He be able to count you as one of the righteous?

May it be so in me. In you.

Jan 17 -Knowing God’s Will

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I wonder what life would be like today if Abraham hadn’t tried to lend God a hand? Abraham and Sarah, well past child-bearing years, decided on their own to have Hagar give Abraham a son. After all, God promised Abraham he’d be a father. God hadn’t said anything about Sarah.

Enter Ishmael, the father of Muslims.

Someone has said it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. That may be so, but “sorry” doesn’t change the outcome. And consequences can be far reaching.

If you think God is telling you to do something, you had better be praying and reading His Word where you will find direction. God won’t tell you to do something that contradicts what He inspired men to write there.

Whatever you do, don’t go on how you are feeling, or what you think makes sense. Don’t make Abraham’s mistake and go on your own. Ask someone to pray with you.

God is able to do what He says. Let Him open doors or close them. But don’t take that step of faith without knowing His heart through prayer and reading the Bible.

And if you feel a tug at your heart, pay attention. It just might be God holding you back until He is ready. Our Father wants you to know His will. Let Him show you.

Jan 15 -Let God Be God

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Job 49-42

We know that Job was a good man who feared God. We know he had been careful to follow God’s law even before the Law was given to Moses. Job offered sacrifices for sins his children might have committed. He was rich, he was healthy, and he was respected and honored by the people who knew him.

Then he lost it all. Throughout the book of Job we hear him defend himself over and over. I’m not guilty, he said. I don’t deserve this. God isn’t being fair, he cried.

But at just the right time God spoke to Job. And Job listened. Job learned that acting like a believer isn’t enough. Being a good person doesn’t make God your debtor. It wasn’t until Job saw God in all His holiness and power did Job “retract” and “repent.”

Yes, even this very good man needed to fall on his knees and ask God to forgive him. The lesson I take away from reading Job is to let God be God.

Stop trying to manipulate Him or demand anything from Him. God doesn’t owe us a thing. And we certainly aren’t God’s equals. He made that point pretty clear.

When Job repented, God blessed him with health, wealth, and family. If the book of Job were the only book in the Bible I might be tempted to think we could expect the same. But remember, Paul was never healed. Stephen was murdered for his faith. Moses never stepped foot in the Promised Land. There are others who stayed true to The Lord even when their circumstances didn’t change.

I want to, with Job, give up control and let God be God. I want to turn over every detail of my life and enjoy the fellowship I have in Him. I take back any words of self-satisfaction, of any pride. And I lay my questions aside.

Because this God wants to bless me beyond what I ask or even think. I’d be foolish not to want that, too.