Leviticus 1-4

January 31

Leviticus 1-4

 

God gives the Israelites specific instructions for worship. He tells them what to offer, when to offer, and how to make the offering. There are burnt offerings, sin offerings, offerings of meat and offerings of grain. We are told that the offerings placed on the fire on the altar created an aroma that was pleasing to the Lord.

 

A phrase that seems to stick out in these chapters is; "Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings." (Leviticus 2:13, NIV) Why does God instruct the Israelites to include salt with their offerings?

 

Salt is essential to life, it heals, preserves, and adds flavor to food. Salt was a valuable commodity. Romans soldiers used to be paid in part with a salt ration. Which is where we get our phrase that someone is not worth their salt. But why does God want his offerings to have salt in them?

 

Salt was used and is still used to seal a promise in the Middle East. Salt was used to seal a truce between enemies or a symbol of alliance between friends. Treaties were sealed by sharing salt. A salt covenant bound the participants to one another, not only for their lifetime, but for generations to come. The Arabic word for “salt” and “treaty” are the same word. Eating together, sharing salt together, bound two people to be loyal to and to protect one another.

 

As the Israelites brought their sacrifices before God, they included salt. The salt bound them to God and reminded them that God was bound to them. God is faithful and will protect them whatever they may face. When they sinned against God, they brought an offering with salt to heal the relationship.

 

The custom of sharing salt is not a part of our culture, but we still have a covenant with God. Jesus told us "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”" (Matthew 28:20, NIV) Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. He was the final sacrifice. What the blood of bulls and goats could not do, the sacrificial death of Jesus accomplished for all time. Through His life, death, and resurrection, we have a new covenant with God. Jesus said; "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28, NIV)

God sealed His promise with the blood of Jesus. He invites us to sign our portion by giving ourselves to Him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him. (Romans 12:1). Salt symbolized the sealing of a covenant and the healing of relationships. God invites us to enter into a covenant with Him and He forgives and heals our relationship with Him. This is the ultimate win/win situation.

Genesis 39-40

January 30

Genesis 39-40

Fastened to the turban worn by Aaron the high priest was a gold plate engraved with the inscription “Holy to the Lord.” Every time the high priest prepared to go into the tabernacle he was reminded that what he was doing was “holy to the Lord.”

 “Holy” means devoted to God or set aside for God. The entire tabernacle was built as a holy place wherever they traveled. When the Israelites settled in a land they set up the tabernacle as a place set aside for the Lord or devoted to the Lord. They built it by God’s blueprint.

The high priest wore the names of each tribe on his ephod as he made the daily sacrifices. God was central to the camp and central to the lives of the Israelites. When they got up in the morning they could look toward the tabernacle and see the cloud of God’s presence over the Holy of Holies. After the sun went down, they could look toward the tabernacle and see a pillar of fire. They knew God’s presence was with them. They were set aside for God to reveal His presence and character to the world. They were a holy people.

When we ask Jesus to be Lord of our lives, we become holy people. We are set aside for God. 1 Peter 1:15-16 and 1 Peter 2:4-10 describes the holiness of those who follow Jesus. Paul wrote; "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV)

Just as the temple and all its furnishings were holy to the Lord, we are holy to the Lord. God wants to use us to reveal His presence, His grace, His love, His character to a lost and broken world. Go shine your light in your world today and remember you are “holy to the Lord.”  Reflect Him well.

Exodus 36-38

January 29

Exodus 36-38

Thankful people cannot help but respond. God told Moses to take up a free will offering of all the material needed for the building of the Tabernacle, the place where sacrifices would be made and where the priest would intercede for the people as they came into the presence of God. Chapter 35 tells about Moses’ request to the people and their willing response to bring “freewill” offerings to the Lord.

In chapter 36 the work begins on the Tabernacle, but they have a problem. The people are still bringing offerings. Morning by morning they bring offerings to the worksite. Finally the workers ask Moses to ask the people to stop. They had too much. Moses had to restrain the people from bringing more.

Exodus 38:24-25 give us some weights of the gold and silver brought. The offering was a little over a ton of gold and around three and three quarter tons of silver along with around two and a half tons of bronze. The value of the gold alone in current prices would be around fifty-three and a half million dollars. But what matters is that the craftsmen were able to build everything God had commanded Moses to build.

The people gave and there was enough. The people were willing to give whatever it took because they were thankful. As much as they grumbled and complained, deep down they were thankful and were willing to give from what they had to complete the task God had given them.

God commanded the Israelites build a Tabernacle by exact specifications as a place of worship. Jesus calls us to build His church by making disciples. What are we willing to give up in order to draw more people to Jesus? What do we need to do to grow as disciples and to help others to grow? Sometimes it is not the material goods, though money is needed to continue ministries in our community. Sometimes God wants us to sacrifice our time. Are we willing to make a free will offering of our time in order to help us grow spiritually and to help others grow?

 

Exodus 33-35

January 28

Exodus 33-35

There are times when I get totally frustrated with my sons. I ask them to do something and expect it to get done. I come back later and they have not done what I asked. I can only imagine God’s frustration with the Israelites. He freed them from slavery in Egypt and all they wanted to do was complain. He meets with Moses on the top of Mt Sinai and the people begin to worship their gold shaped into a calf.

In verse 33:1-3, God told Moses to take the people and go ahead into the land God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God said He would send an angel ahead of them to give them victory, but God was not going with them. He was so fed up with them that He figured if He went, He would end up killing them all.

God was willing to give them what they wanted, but without His presence. Moses interceded again and told God that if He did not go, then the Israelites did not want to go. The distinguishing feature of the Israelites was that God was with them. Moses realized that if God was not with them, they were just like everyone else. A blessing is not a blessing if God is not in it.

Often in our prayer life we ask. God said to ask. There is nothing wrong with asking God to provide or to intervene in our lives. But what do we want more, the thing we are asking for or the presence of God? God can give us the riches of the world, but what good are they if He is not with us. The only thing that separates us from the rest of the world is His presence. The only way we are able to live in obedience to Him is His presence in our lives.

Moses established a place outside the camp, outside the distractions and set up a tent as a place to meet with God. Whenever he went to the tent the people noticed. The people would stand outside their tents and worship  as God’s presence in a pillar of cloud settled over the tent as Moses met with God. After Moses’ meeting with God, he would leave the tent, but we are told that his young aide Joshua did not leave the tent.

Do you rest in the presence of God? Is His presence enough for you? If God offered to give you all you ever wanted, but without His presence, would you, like Moses, tell Him you did not want anything without His presence in your life? Seek God’s presence in your prayer today and ask Him to lead you wherever He may want you to go.

Exodus 30-32

January 27

Exodus 30-32

Our readings today begin with more instruction on worship and the articles of the tabernacle, instruct us on the proper understanding of the Sabbath and ends with the rebellion of the people and the making of a golden calf. It is not hard to see how rebellious people are at their heart. We want to worship something, and we like it when we can make God in the image we want Him to take instead of worshiping Him as He is.

Today though, instead of focusing on the temple or then rebellion, I want us to focus on chapter 31:1-11. When we think about God’s calling on our lives, we often think of pastors or missionaries, but God creates us and calls us to different ministries. God chose Bezalel to do the work in the tabernacle. In fact, God said He filled Bezalel “with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.” God also appointed Oholiab to help and gave skill to all the craftsmen to make everything God told them to make.

God gives us all different gifts. One gift is not more important than the other. Our responsibility is to figure out our gift and then to figure out how God wants us to use if for His glory. Every church has every person and every resource they need to do everything God calls them to do. If they do not have everyone and everything they need to do the ministries they are engaged in, either they are doing ministries God has not called them to do or those He has gifted are holding back.

God called the Israelites to build a tabernacle and He gifted various people to do the work. Through God’s gifts the task was accomplished. What is God calling you to do? How has He gifted you? (We all have gifts so don’t try to deny them.) How are you using your gifts to glorify God? What does God want to do through you to build His Kingdom?

 

Exodus 27-29

January 26

Exodus 27-29

The priest was the representative of God to the people and the representative of the people to God. Whenever he went into the Holy Place, he carried the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastplate. The priests were to be anointed and ordained by the people, set aside to serve as priests. But in order to come before the Lord the priests had to make sacrifices. They also made sacrifices on a daily basis for all the people. God promised them that if they obeyed Him and made the sacrifices, God would meet with them and speak to them and He would dwell with the Israelites.

Back in chapter 19 God said; "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”" (Exodus 19:5-6, NIV) The entire nation of Israel would be a kingdom of priests; they would represent God to the nations and would represent the nations to God. But Israel did not do a good job at either of those jobs.

 

Jesus was the ultimate High Priest. He accurately represented humanity to God and God to humanity. He was the perfect High Priest. But after His death and resurrection Paul writes; "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV) Instead of dwelling in the Holy of Holies in the Tent of Meeting, God now dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. The sacrifice has been made, Jesus shed His blood. We have been ordained. Not just pastors, but we are all ordained as priests representing God to our world and interceding for our world before God.

Peter took the words from Exodus directed to the Israelites and directed those words to the Church.   "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10, NIV)

May you be faithful in your role as priest today.

 

Exodus 24-26

January 25

Exodus 24-26

God gave strict instructions on how the Israelites were to worship. God revealed His holiness through His instructions on the construction of the Tabernacle and its contents, on the way the people were to live and in the way they were to worship. "Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”" (Exodus 24:7, NIV) The people meant well. There is an old saying that goes; “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Our good intentions are not really all that good. The Israelites had good intentions, they really wanted to obey, but sin was too embedded in their hearts. Moses didn’t even get off the mountain before they were rebelling against God.

Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons and seventy elders of Israel got a glimpse of God. Moses went up the mountain and was enveloped by God’s presence in the cloud on the top of the mountain. This would surely cause the Israelites to realize who God is and to worship Him. Surely after this encounter they would not turn away. God even promised to dwell among them if they built a sanctuary for him and gave of their best to Him. God gave a blueprint of the Tabernacle and its contents. But rebellion was still in their hearts. They could not approach God except through the priest and with sacrifices.

The writer of Hebrews tells followers of Jesus; “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV)

We are invited to approach God with confidence. We can come and present our cares, our concerns, our praises before God’s throne. Jesus shed his blood as the ultimate sacrifice. God wants to give us new hearts as we come to Him. He wants to make us into new creations. If we give Him our old sinful selves, He will give us new life with a new heart, a heart for Him. The blood of Jesus is more powerful than sin. Are you willing to give it all to Him?

Exodus 21-23

January 24

Exodus 21-23

God gave the Israelites three festivals each year when the people were to gather for worship. The Feast of Unleavened Bread also known as Passover was a time to celebrate God’s deliverance of the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. An unblemished lamb was slaughtered and eaten to remind the Israelites that the Angel of Death passed over them when the tenth plague came upon Egypt. All yeast, which represented sin, was to be removed from all the Jewish homes. The Feast of Harvest, also known as the Feast of Booths, celebrated the harvest of wheat and was held 50 days after Passover. It became known as Pentecost. The giving of the law on Mt. Sinai was celebrated on this day. The Feast of the Ingathering came in the fall of the year after the harvest. This became known as the Feast of Booths as they remembered their 40 years of wandering and God’s provision and protection.

Jesus sat with His disciples at the Passover meal and told them as they shared in the meal together; "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." (Mark 14:22-26, NIV) Jesus redefined the Passover. Through His blood we receive eternal life. The bread of the meal represented His body broken for us. The wine represented his blood, shed for us.

Pentecost was redefined when the Holy Spirit came upon those gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Harvest. The first harvest for the Kingdom of God occurred as the Holy Spirit came upon them, Peter defined the moment, and 3,000 people became followers of Christ and were saved. As we continue to read Exodus, we see that in Exodus 32:28 3,000 people died after the Golden Calf fiasco.

The Feast of the Ingathering or Booths used light and water imagery to remind the people of God’s leadership and provision as they wandered through the desert. Jesus went to the celebration of the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem; "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:37-39, NIV)

The Old Testament law and festivals were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit. This does not eliminate our need to worship. We should be worshiping with all of our hearts as we remember God’s faithfulness to us. No one was to appear before God with empty hands. He wants us to give Him ourselves. God wants the best, the first fruits of who we are. Are you sacrificing to God today?

 

Exodus 17-20

January 23

Exodus 17-20

You would think the Israelites would learn from their mistakes. They barely got out of Egypt and they began to complain. The first time they complained was when their backs were against the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army was quickly approaching. God opened the sea and allowed the Israelites to walk through while the Egyptian army drowned. Then they grumbled because they did not have anything to eat or drink. God gave them good water from the bad and provided bread and meat in the manna and quail. They set out again with God leading the way and came to another place with no water. They again grumbled against Moses. Once again God provided. He told Moses to strike a rock and water would come out, and it did. Before you know it, the Israelites were attacked by the Amalekites and God delivered them from their enemies. God had Moses write it down to remind the Israelites of God’s faithfulness.

God was faithful in providing food, water, and protection to the Israelites. It should have been obvious that they could trust Him no matter where He led them or what He asked of them. God told them "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession." (Exodus 19:5, NIV) “If” is a big little word. If they obey, God will bless. Then God gave them the Ten Commandments, rules to live by. God made a covenant with Israel. God was faithful to keep his part of the covenant, the Israelites not so much so.

God is still faithful, but God also still expects us to walk in obedience to Him’ which the Israelites failed miserably at doing. We are no different. The only way we can walk in obedience, is through God’s grace and strength.  "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:5-6, NIV)

God is faithful, are you?

Exodus 14-16

January 22

Exodus 14-16

Have you ever felt like you were trapped between a rock and a hard spot? How panic stricken do you think the Israelites were camped along the Red Sea and here come the Egyptians. In Exodus 14:8 the Israelites were “marching out boldly.” By verse 10, “they were terrified”. Moses said; “do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance The Lord will bring you today.” These words are a lot easier to read as we sit back reading our bibles than it is to live it when you have the impassable sea on one side and the most powerful army in the world on the other. It is easy to see why they were terrified. They were in a bad place and saw no way out.

The Israelites were about to get a lesson in God’s character. God does not lead us out into the desert only to abandon us. He does not lead us out of slavery just to watch us fail. If we walk with him, He will stay with us he will protect us, He will deliver us. The presence of God in the cloud by day and fire by night moved behind the Israelites and separated the two groups. God had Israel’s back.

Just as God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He will deliver us from the sin that holds us captive. Sometimes when we are right on the edge of deliverance, when we get to the edge of breaking free from whatever it is that holds us back, we get scared. We look around and we don’t see any way out. We panic and go right back to our old way of living. It may not be right, but we are comfortable there.

The only way out is perseverance in the direction God is leading us. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1, NIV) God goes with us, but we have to keep going. Just as He took the through the Red Sea, He often takes us through out problems instead of around them.

 

When you feel like you are backed up and have no way out, you can focus on your problem or you can focus on your God. He is able to do more than you can even imagine.

 

 

Exodus 11-13

January 21

Exodus 11-13

Pharaoh and the Egyptians had faced nine plagues. Each time Pharaoh hardened his heart and resisted God’s direction. The tenth plague was the worst. The firstborn sons throughout Egypt would die; from the richest to the poorest, from men to livestock. That seems pretty drastic, but Pharaoh had a choice. He could have obeyed God; he could have let the Israelites go as God instructed him through Moses. But Pharaoh decided he would do what he wanted instead of what God wanted and all of Egypt paid the consequences.

The Israelites obeyed God (this time) and performed the ritual instructed by God. The Passover lamb was slaughtered and eaten. The blood of the lamb was put on the doorpost of their homes, the people prepared to go. Then they waited. The Lord came at midnight and all the firstborn of those who did not have the blood on their doorways died.

As we read these passages it seems pretty drastic. Paul wrote; "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV) This passage is revealed way back in Exodus. Those who disobeyed faced death, those who put the blood on their doorpost were given the gift of life. The blood of the sacrificial lamb saved the Israelites. The blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world saves us.

God told the Israelites to share their testimony with their children. Pass on the good news that God loves them and delivered them from slavery. Remind the generations to come of the power of God and His provision for the people.

Tell someone today about what God has done in your life. If you don’t have anything to tell, spend time in prayer and ask God to move in your life. Ask God to reveal himself in your life. Ask God to give you a new heart and to make all things new. Then go and tell what He does in your life.

Exodus 8-10

January 20

Exodus 8-10

Pharaoh is a classic example of trying to bargain with God. The more he resisted the hand of God the worse things got for him and his nation. It is funny that Aaron caused the frogs to overtake the land, and Pharaoh’s magicians copied his act so they got a double dose of frogs. The frogs drove Pharaoh to ask Moses to pray for the Lord to remove the frogs. Once Pharaoh got relief from the frogs he turned back to his old ways and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.

Then came the gnats, then flies. Pharaoh again agreed to let the people go, after some attempts at bargaining the stipulations. But after the burden of the flies was gone, he changed his mind. Time after time, God sent plagues over Egypt. Time after time Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go if Moses would pray and ask God to remove the plague.

It is easy to make Pharaoh the bad guy in these passages. It is easy to say how stupid could he be to try to fight God. How hard headed as well as hard hearted could Pharaoh be to continue to renege on his promise to let the Israelites go only to face a worse plague? But then we look at ourselves.

God if you will get me out of this problem, I will serve you. I will go to church. I will work at a soup kitchen. I will do this. I will do that. God if you get me through this issue, I will stop _________. Have you ever bargained with God? When we are in the midst of the problem, we are willing to do whatever it takes to remove the problem. Then relief comes.

After the burden is lifted, we forget about our promises. Or maybe we don’t forget about them, we just decide we were being a little extreme and we have no intention of following through. Sometimes God brings us burdens to bring us closer to Him. Sometimes He uses them to help us let go of the things we need to let go of. Sometimes he brings them so we will change our focus in life. How often are we like Pharaoh?

Exodus 5-7

January 19

Exodus 5-7

The end of chapter four tells us that Moses and Aaron delivered the news to the Israelites that God had heard their cries and was going to deliver them from slavery. "and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped." (Exodus 4:31, NIV)

You would expect that everything was good after that. But instead of life getting better, life got worse for the Israelites. They were instructed to make the same number of bricks, but they had to get their own straw. They could not keep up and the task masters punished them. Sometimes life gets worse before it gets better.

Tiger Woods, though he has moral issues, is a great golfer. Each time he attempts to improve, but changing his swing or some other technique in his game, his game suffers for a period of time while he is adjusting to the new technique. But after a period of time, his game improves to the point no one can touch him again.

Life for the Israelites got worse, but God was preparing them for their deliverance. Life got hard for them, but it was getting even more difficult for their captors. They were seeing the power of God displayed before their eyes and they were going to need the assurance of His power to make it through the next 40 years in the wilderness.

Sometimes God’s deliverance does not look like we expect it to look. We expect everything to be roses once we give our life to Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. But that is not what Jesus promised.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:18-20, NIV)

The group Building 429 has a song called “Where I Belong”

"So when the walls come falling down on me, and when I’m lost in the current of a raging sea, I have this blessed assurance holding me.

All I know is I’m not home yet, this is not where I belong, Take this world and give me Jesus, This is not where I belong."

We are going to face challenges in life even as followers of God, but we are not home yet. Hang on and you will see God do amazing things with his mighty had.

Exodus 1-4

January 18

Exodus 1-4

Sometimes we go through our daily lives and it is easy to think that God has forgotten about us. We feel like we are stuck. We may not like our job, our community, or just the situations of life. There are many circumstances that make us feel stuck. Some occur because of our choices and others because of no fault of our own. But when we feel stuck, frustration rises.

The Israelites were stuck. They moved to the land as God led them in the time when Joseph was second in command to Pharaoh. The family of Jacob moved to Goshen and all was good. But as the years passed, the Egyptians forgot about Joseph and how he saved Egypt from disaster in the midst of famine. The Israelites multiplied. They went from being a family to being a nation. The Egyptians got nervous, so in order to control the Israelites they enslaved them. Around four hundred years later, God’s plan begins to unfold.

As the Egyptians get more scared, they get harsher. Pharaoh instructs all the baby boys to be killed, but God preserves and protects one boy to be a part of His plan. The boy was born to a Hebrew woman, who put him in a basked in the Nile River instead of drowning him there. Pharaoh’s own daughter found him and raised him as her son after paying his mother to nurse him, though she did not know it was his mother.

After he was raised and fled to the desert in fear where Moses lived for forty years, God showed up and revealed His plan to Moses. God needed someone willing to speak for Him to Pharaoh. Moses argued, and resisted, but God can be pretty persuasive. So Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt to fulfill God’s plan for their lives. When Moses and Aaron told the Israelite leaders what God had revealed to him, we are told; "And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped." (Exodus 4:31, NIV)

No matter what we may be going through or how stuck we feel, the Lord is concerned about you. He has a plan for you. He may not move as quickly as you would like Him to, but He hears our prayers and responds to our prayers. He may not do things the way we want him to do them, or in the time we want Him to move, but we can be assured that God is concerned for us. He is the great Deliverer. He can deliver us from the things that hold us back or seem to enslave us, but He needs willing servants to join Him in the task. Are you willing to face the resistance in order to receive the deliverance?

Genesis 49-50

January 17

Genesis 49-50

Forgiveness. Forgiveness is hard to give at times. We like to hold on to grudges because it seems to give us power over a situation or over a person. Forgiveness seems to release someone from the wrong they have done to us. Forgiveness can seem unfair. But forgiveness in reality releases us. It unshackles us from burdens we do not need to carry.

Joseph forgave his brothers. They had thrown him in a pit, sold him into slavery, and lied to his father telling him Joseph was dead. He had every reason to hold a grudge. Instead of blaming his brothers, Joseph saw God’s hand at work in the midst of their evil. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20, NIV)

After Jacob died, the brothers were afraid that Joseph would seek revenge. They knew he had the power to squash them and were afraid he would use it. But Joseph had forgiven them. They did not need to try to convince Joseph, it was done. His brothers were carrying around their guilt. They had a hard time accepting forgiveness or forgiving themselves.

Receiving forgiveness can be difficult. We feel like we need to do something to earn it. We feel like we should pay back in order to get forgiveness. We struggle with God’s forgiveness. We try to bargain with God. We try to earn His favor. We try to do things to get Him to forgive us, when He has already forgiven us. All he wants us to do is ask, to turn away from our sin and to turn toward Him. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NIV)

When we realize how much we have been forgiven, it is easier to give forgiveness to those who wrong us. What does the giving and receiving of forgiveness look like in your life?

Genesis 46-48

January 16

Genesis 46-48

Israel was living in the land where his father Isaac had lived, the land where his grand-father Abraham had lived. More than that he was living in the land God had promised to give to him and his descendents. He was living in the land that Abraham traveled to because God told him to go there. But the famine had gotten so severe they could not stay in the land. Joseph was in charge in Egypt and had sent for Israel and his sons and their families to move to Egypt until the famine was over. Joseph was preparing for them to move into the best land of Egypt. But what did God say?

            During an earlier famine God; “The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.” (Genesis 26:2, NIV84) He then appeared to him at Beersheba and reassured him; “That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”” (Genesis 26:24, NIV84)

So when Israel set out from the land of promise and headed toward Egypt, he had to be wondering whether or not God would have him leave the land. He had to be wondering what Abraham or Isaac would say to him. So when he reached Beersheba he made sacrifices to God. He sought wisdom from God. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5, NIV84)

God appeared to Israel in a visit just as He had appeared to his father Isaac. “And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”” (Genesis 46:2–4, NIV84)

There are a lot of decisions we have to make in our lifetime. Some are major life changing decisions, like moving to a new community or even to a new house. Others seem smaller. But if we want to walk in obedience to God, we should seek wisdom from God. Israel was ready to go, but he checked with God before moving out of the land God had given him.

When we have decisions to make, large or small, God wants to be involved. If we will lift up our concerns, our desires, our worries to God, He will guide us in wisdom.  From the outside, it looked like Jacob was moving away from God’s promise. He was abandoning the land God had given them. But after seeking God’s wisdom, Jacob knew that God would bring his people back to the land. God was going with them to Egypt and would bring them out.

Sometimes when we follow God it seems like we are moving away from our dreams. Sometimes it seems like we are moving away from the dreams God has given us. But sometimes God needs to move us in order to bring our dreams to fruition. Are you willing to allow God to lead you wherever He may want to take you today? Do you need wisdom in a decision, large or small? Seek God and He will show you.

Genesis 43-45

January 15

Genesis 43-45

The truth is revealed. His brothers had not recognized him and Joseph had made his brothers jump through the hoops to see if they had changed since the day they threw him into the pit, then sold him into slavery. When Joseph threatened to keep his only full brother, Benjamin, as his slave for stealing his cup, Judah stepped up. Judah offered to take the punishment for Benjamin. He offered to stay as Joseph’s slave instead of Benjamin. Judah, who had the idea of selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites, was now willing to defend his youngest brother.

Joseph had every right in our minds to be bitter. He had every right to want revenge. He had the opportunity to do whatever he wanted to his brothers who hated him and sold him as a slave. Joseph could have returned evil for evil and most people would not blame him for his actions. But Joseph looked at things different. Joseph did not see that his brothers abandoned him and sold him as a slave. Joseph saw God orchestrating a means to save Joseph and his family. Joseph believed God had sent him ahead of his family in order to save them in the midst of the famine.  Joseph told them; “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." (Genesis 45:8A, NIV)

Joseph was an optimist. What do we do when someone does us wrong? Do we look to see if God is working out something better for us or for others or do we get bitter and look for ways to get revenge?

It would have been easy for Joseph to get bitter. He went from being Jacob’s favored so to being a slave in Potiphar’s house. Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of attempted rape so he went to prison. He was forgotten by the cupbearer after sharing the meaning of his dream. Up to the point when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph looked like a total failure. He could have cursed God and blamed God and all the people for his situation. Joseph had not done anything wrong to deserve the treatment he got. (Other than being a bratty teenager)

Paul wrote to the church in Rome; “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, NIV) Not everything is good, but God works in all things for the good of those who love Him. Joseph understood this principal. If we can begin to grasp the fact that God loves us more than we can imagine and that He work for out good, we can begin to look for the good in any situation instead of looking for revenge.

Genesis 41-42

January 14

Genesis 41-42

Joseph went from prisoner to second in command in all of Egypt because he walked in obedience to God. Joseph went through a lot of hard times, but God was faithful to protect him and lifted him up out of the pit literally and placed him in a place of authority. He gave God the credit for his gifts. “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Genesis 41:16, NIV)  His life reflected God to those around him; "So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”" (Genesis 41:38, NIV) Because of God’s grace, Joseph became a man with authority. His dream was fulfilled after he listened to God and interpreted Pharaoh’s dream.

Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him. Joseph did not reveal himself to his brothers immediately. He examined their character. He let them wonder what God was doing to them. He let them think God was paying them for selling him into slavery.

Sometimes God allows us to suffer the consequences for our decisions. Sometimes He allows us to examine our lives and to come to the realization that we have sinned and need a Savior. But God has a plan for us. If we will turn to Him, He will forgive us our sins and purify us of all unrighteousness. He had a plan for Jacob and his family. God brought them to Egypt to form them as a nation instead of just a family.

God wants to work in our lives to form us into the people of God. Sometimes he has to take us from a pit to slavery to a prison to authority like He did with Joseph. Sometimes he forces us into a situation where we can look back and realize that there are consequences for our sin and we need to be re-formed as he did with Joseph’s brothers. But we can know that God is constantly shaping us into the image of His Son. Are you pliable?

Genesis 38-40

January 13

Genesis 38-40

“The Lord was with Joseph.”  When I look at Joseph’s life those words scare me. Joseph, betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, was bought by Potiphar, an Egyptian government official.  Joseph did everything expected of him and God blessed him and made him successful in everything he did. But Potiphar’s wife took a liking to Joseph, but he resisted. He knew to give in to temptation would be a sin against God and against Potiphar. Joseph resisted temptation and ended up running from the house to avoid seduction by Potiphar’s wife.

She accused him of trying to rape her. She was high society and he was a slave. Joseph ended up in jail. “The Lord was with Joseph.” God even goes into the jails. God blessed Joseph in jail and Joseph ended up overseeing the jail. He was successful in whatever he did.

Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker ended up in the jail for making Pharaoh mad. They had dreams that Joseph interpreted with insight from God. Joseph’s interpretation of their dreams came true. The cupbearer was restored to his job and the baker was executed. Joseph asked the cupbearer to tell Pharaoh that he was innocent and to help him get out, but the cupbearer forgot Joseph.

There are times when we try to do everything right and everything seems to go wrong. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to just give in to temptation than it is to resist. Joseph did everything right and ended up in jail, then was forgotten by a man he helped while in prison. Life is not fair. There are times when we feel like God has forgotten us. There are times when we face more trouble resisting temptation than we do giving in to it. In the struggles of each day, we wonder; where is God? But if we could see the big picture, if we could see what God sees, we would gain the strength to persevere serving Him. The Lord was with Joseph in Potiphar’s house, God was with Joseph in the prison, God is with you in whatever you are facing today. Do you trust Him? Are you persevering? He does not take us around our problems, but He will pull us through.

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”" (Hebrews 13:5-6, NIV)

Genesis 36-37

January 12

Genesis 36-37

Jacob’s son Joseph, his first son by Rachel, was a spoiled brat at seventeen. His father loved him more than all his brothers and was not afraid to show his favoritism. Joseph on the other hand was not wise enough to play it down. Because of his father’s favoritism, Joseph’s brothers hated him. Then Joseph had a dream. In the dream his brothers were bowing down to him. So Joseph told his brothers about the dream and they hated him even more. The he had another dream and in this dream his brothers were bowing down to him again. Again he told his brothers about his dream and if it was possible they hated him even more.

Joseph’s brothers finally had the opportunity to get rid of this bratty brother who their father loved so much. Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers. They saw him coming and plotted to kill him. You know their hat had to be pretty intense in order for them to plot to kill their own brother. Reuben saw the evil in their plan and talked them into throwing Joseph in to an empty cistern and let him die there instead of killing him. Reuben planned on coming back to rescue his brother, but before he could get back, the other brothers sold him to Ishmaelites headed for Egypt.

Judah came up with the idea. Instead of killing Joseph sell him as a slave for thirty pieces of silver. This is a sad story. Brother against brother. Jealousy, hatred, favoritism, family discord all leads to Joseph being sold as a slave. His brothers thought selling him off would relieve them of his dreams of ruling over them. Little did they know they were enabling his dreams to come true. God had a plan. The day Joseph was sold into slavery looked like the worst day of his live, but it led to the best.

Around 1500 years later another brother would be sold for thirty pieces of silver. But he would die at the hands of his brothers. Jesus was betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. Humanity could not stand his sinless life and killed an innocent man. What looked like the worst day in history, fulfilled God’s prophecies and led to Easter, our greatest day of hope. God had a plan.

If you are having a bad day, remember God can use even the worst of circumstances for good. Hang on and lean on God’s grace today. God has a plan.

Genesis 33-35

January 11

Genesis 33-35

Jacob and his family continued on their journey toward Jacob;s borhter Esau. Though Esau was coming with four hundred men, Jacob continued with the promise that God would go with him. But something changed after his encounter with God. Jacob the heel grabber had a change of heart. Israel put the maidservants and their children first, then Leah and her children, and finally Rachel and Joseph. But instead of hiding in the back, Israel went to the front. He put himself in danger. He was willing to sacrifice himself for his family.

As Esau approached Israel bowed down to him. He submitted to his brother. Esau approached and hugged Jacob. He had forgiven him for stealing his blessing and birthright. He seemed genuinely glad to see Jacob and his family after all those years. Just as God forgives and invites us into the family, Esau forgave Jacob and welcomed him home.

Esau offered to accompany Jacob back home, but Jacob refused. Jacob gave Esau excuses for not needing anyone to walk with them, but he promised to meet him in Seir. But the old Jacob popped up somewhere  in there. Jacob went to Succoth instead of to Seir.

God called a meeting with Jacob. God told him to meet Him in Bethel, the place where Jacob saw the angels ascending and descending from heaven when he first left home and headed to his uncle’s. When Jacob got to Bethel, God appeared to him and blessed him. Then God reminded Jacob; “you will no longer be called Jacob, your name will be Israel.”

Sometimes we need to be reminded of who we are. We have an encounter with God and He adobts us as His children. He calls us by name. He changes who we are. Sometimes out of habit, or out of fear, or out of tradition, we slip back to our old way of living and thinking. When we do that, God wants to call a meeting with us. He wants to remind us that we are no longer that old person, we have been made new.

If we can begin to fathom what it means to be a child of God, the things of this world will no longer attract us. As the song says; “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” May Jesus be your focus today as you live as His child.

Genesis 31-32

January 10

Genesis 31-32

We do not know Jacob’s motives, though based on his past we can assume he was looking out for himself. God told him to go back to his homeland and God would go with him. When Jacob heard that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men, Jacob had to be concerned. Esau had promised to kill him, perhaps this was the time.

Jacob took his four women and his eleven sons and strategically placed them across the river along with all his possessions. Jacob went back and stayed on the other side of the river. If Esau attacked, Jacob had the river between him and Esau. He protected himself by putting his family between Esau and himself.

A man showed up and wrestled with Jacob all night long. It ended up the “man” was God. As daylight was coming, the man told Jacob to let him go. Jacob in return asked for a blessing. God renamed Jacob and gave him the name Israel telling him he had wrestled with man and with God and had overcome.

How often do we wrestle with God? We know what he wants us to do, but we resist. We know how he wants us to live, but it makes us uncomfortable. We know how He wants to use us, but we want to lead our own lives. If we wrestle with God long enough we will come away with a new name, a new description of who we are, and possibly a limp. Jacob is no longer Jacob the heel grabber; he is now Israel the wrestler who overcomes.

Through our relationship with Jesus we are all overcomers. We have the power to overcome the obstacles that we struggle within our lives. When God goes with us we can’t help but be changed.

Genesis 29-30

January 9

Genesis 29-30

Dysfunction was the foundation of Jacob’s family. He fled his own family because his brother was ready to kill him. He goes to stay with his mother’s brother and his family. He fell in love with Rachel his uncle’s daughter.

 Jacob is not the only deceiver in the family. His uncle Laban was slick. He was always looking out for himself. He did not care who got stepped on, even if it was his own daughter. Rachel the bible tells us was “lovely in form and beautiful,” while Leah “had weak eyes.” Jacob agreed to work for his Uncle Laban for seven years in exchange for Rachael’s hand in marriage. Laban agreed.
Jacob worked for seven years in anticipation of the day he would get to marry his love. When seven years were up he asked for Rachel and Laban through a feast and gave his daughter to Jacob. Only he switched daughters and gave him Leah instead of Rachel. The deceiver had been deceived, the tripper had been tripped. He complained to Laban who gave him Rachel in exchange for another seven years of labor.

There was constant competition between Rachel and Leah, each vying for Jacob’s attention. Jacob loved Rachel, but Leah was having sons for him. Rachel ended up giving her maidservant to Jacob to have children for her since she was barren. Then Leah gave her maidservant. Jacob had twelve sons and a daughter by four different women. Sister brides are not God’s plan nor does it bring peace within the family.

Laban and Jacob continued to try to get one up on the other. Jacob ended up getting rich through Laban’s flocks and tension grew between them. Eventually Jacob will leave his father in law and go back to the land of his own family. But when we look at his life we see a man who is self absorbed, a family that is dysfunctional, wives that compete against one another, a recipe for disaster, but God chooses to use Jacob and his family.

Do you think you have problems? Have you made bad decisions or has your family been dysfunctional for generations? God can still use you. In fact those who we look at and think God can never use that person; those are the people God tends to use. God builds beauty from ashes. He restores that which is broken. No matter where you have come from or what your family is like, God wants to use you to reflect His light. Will you let Him?

 

Genesis 26-28

January 8

Genesis 26-28

If nothing else, Esau knew his brother’s character. After realizing his brother had deceived him and his father;"Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” (Genesis 27:36, NIV)  Jacob means heel holder or to overthrow by tripping up. He tripped up his brother twice and now was on his brother’s hit list.

Rebekah, who was the co-conspirator, got Isaac to send Jacob to her family to find a wife and to get him out of the danger zone known as Esau. Jacob stopped for the night and had a close encounter with God while he was sleeping. God promised to fulfill His promise to Abraham and Isaac through Jacob. God takes the younger brother, a deceiver who was on the run, and promises to bless him and use him.
After hearing God’s promises, Jacob decided that he would serve a God that would bless him. "Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God" (Genesis 28:20-21, NIV) Jacob was still looking out for himself. He is still of questionable character, but he promises to give God ten percent (tithe) of everything God gives him.
Jacob realized that God was his provider. Though he was a scoundrel, he believed God, and was willing to give back to God a portion of what God gave him. Do we credit God with providing us with food and clothes and safety? Do we trust Him to continue to provide enough that we are willing to give Him a tenth? God is working on Jacob’s character. Are you allowing Him to work on you?

Genesis 24-25

January 7

Genesis 24-25

Abraham made his servant promise that he would go and attempt to find a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s native country, not from the Canaanites. The servant prayed that God would give him success in his task. He prayed that the girl God had chosen for Isaac would come out and when the servant asked the girl for a drink she would give him a drink and water his camels.

Rebekah came out to the well, the servant asked for a drink and Rebekah give him a drink and watered his camels. The servant knew this was the girl God had chosen as Isaac’s wife. Then the servant bowed down and worshiped the Lord.

Sometimes we not have because we do not ask God according to James 4:2. We pray after all our efforts have failed. We can learn something from Abraham’s servant. He asked God to reveal his plan. God wants what is best for us. He does not want second best or leftovers for us. He wants the best for us.

He also wants us to ask. He wants us to invite Him into the process. God wants to be in the midst of our decisions when we are still seeking the answers. He is not there to bless whatever we want, but to help us find what we really need. He is not our get out of jail card, but our guide and counselor.

After Rebekah met the criteria he had laid out for the wife of Isaac, the servant bowed down and worshiped God. He did not walk away and say, look what I did. He did not go off self satisfied because he had been successful. He gave credit where is was due. He thanked God for making his mission successful.

God wants to be a part of the process, he wants to bless us better than we imagine. He wants to give us what we really need instead of what we think we need. Then God wants us to thank Him. To give Him credit for working in our lives. Praise Him today.

Genesis 21-23

January 6

Genesis 21-23

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” That was God’s question to Abraham after Sarah laughed when she overheard God telling Abraham that she would have a child the next year in chapter 18. A year later, Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90 when Isaac was born. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Sometime later, many believe it was when Isaac was in his late teens or even early twenties, God spoke to Abraham. God told Abraham to do the unthinkable, to sacrifice his son. Abraham did not argue; he did not try to change God’s mind like he did when God said he was going to destroy Sodom. Abraham got up early in the morning saddled his donkey and took Isaac and a couple servants and headed toward the mountain.

As he approached the mountain he told his servants to wait while he and Isaac continued up the mountain. He told them; “we will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham trusted that God would protect Isaac even as he asked Abraham to sacrifice him. Abraham knew God’s promise that many nations would come from Isaac. He also knew that nothing was too hard for the Lord.

Abraham and Isaac continued toward the mountain top when Isaac asked his father, we have the wood and the fire where is the sacrifice? Abraham responded; “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.”

When they got to the mountain top Abraham bound Isaac and laid him on the wood for the sacrifice when God interceded and told Abraham to stop. Then God provided a ram as a substitute sacrifice for Isaac.

God does not call us to sacrifice out children. He gave us a substitute. Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. But God does want us to give our children to him, to give our spouses, to give our loved ones, to give our hobbies, to give our jobs. God wants us to give everything we have and hold dear to him. He will then give us back what we need. He will sanctify what we give him and give it back.

When we give God the things that matter to us most, those things take their proper place; under God. When we open our hands to give to God, our hands are also open to receive a blessing. Abraham was able to trust God enough that he gave the most important thing in his life, his son. God gave Isaac back to Abraham along with a new blessing.

Genesis 18-20

January 5

Genesis 18-20

God had determined to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness of the city. There has been much conversation over the three visitors. Was it the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Was it God and a couple angels? There are good arguments for either side, but what matters is that God came and visited Abraham. He renewed His promise that Abraham and Sarah would have a son through whom the world would be blessed. This time he set a time; within the year.

 God came with good news and bad news. He decided to let Abraham know what was about to happen in Sodom and Gomorrah. But Abraham knew the people in Sodom including his nephew Lot, so Abraham began to intercede for the cities, or more accurately for the people of the cities.

He began by appealing to God’s character in doing right (v 25). He asked God if He would spare the city for fifty righteous people living in the city. Surely God would not wipe out the righteous along with the evil. God agreed not to wipe out the city if there were fifty righteous people. Think about that fity righteous people could save a city from destruction.

But there were not fifty righteous people in the entire city. Abraham continued to intercede how about forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, then ten. Ten righteous people could save the entire city. But there were not ten righteous people in the city. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah giving Abraham’s nephew, Lot, his wife and two daughters the opportunity to escape.

 Do we intercede the way Abraham interceded? Do we beg God not to bring judgment on those who may deserve judgment? Do we ask God to save those who deserve destruction?

If God looked at our lives, would He say; “I will spare that school because of the righteous people who reflect my light in that school.” Would He say; “I will spare that neighborhood because there are righteous people making a difference there.” Would He say; “I will spare that workplace because there are righteous people bringing salvation to that place.”

We are the interceders like Abraham. We are the righteous who prevent God’s wrath from wiping out our environment. We are the salt and light to a lost and dying world.