Devotionals

“But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey; and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O LORD, have given me.”[Deuteronomy 26:6-9 NKJV]

Bros here lays a great example not to lose heart, to continue to pray no matter what, to wait on the Lord and look for Him to intervene when He hears your cry’s. He sees when you are mistreated, your afflictions and He knows when you are in bondage to unfairness, when you are being oppressed. If He can deliver the Egyptians why couldn’t He deliver you from whatever is chasing you, keeping you back, holding you down, whatever has a hold or grip on you.

Bros wherever you are at in your walk know that nothing is too hard for God. Cry out to Him, He hears from heaven, He will look upon your situation and bring deliverance; He will not withhold one good thing from you when you cry out and wait on Him, He truly loves you. The Egyptians were in great bondage and oppression and He brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. They waited a long time and saw Him working and in His perfect timing He brought them out of their situation, their bondage, their affliction. He was more than able to deliver them and then He goes over the top in blessing them. He brought them to a place flowing with milk and honey and gave the land to them.

As a form of worship and gratitude they gave back the first fruits of what He had given them and commanded them to do they did not forget gratitude was in their hearts they remembered their God.

Bros has God delivered you from something that was chasing you, something that had a hold on you? Or maybe you are still struggling with something don’t give up- you may be only three shovels from the gold. Cry out to the One true and Living God, He is faithful even when you are not! But don’t forget our God when He delivers you with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and brings you into the land of milk and honey He wants to give you. Be grateful; give Him your first fruits of what He has already given you-amen!

Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you [may] not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. [Numbers 15:38-40 NKJV]

Bros what a great reminder the Lord gave them, something that was attached to and part of their everyday clothes that they could wear. It was visible, different and so unique it would stand out as a subtle visual reminder.

It amazes me how God is always so gentle and merciful with His children. He created a clever way as a reminder to help the Israelites and us to remember to follow Him, to remember all the commandments and to do them. We are bombarded every few seconds of our life with thousands of visuals and temptations that can lead us astray. The reality is we can be tempted by so many things in this world.

And God knows that and wants to help protect the children of Israel so that they are reminded not to chase after their own lusts, the things their heart may clamor for or their eyes may lay hold of and desire. Wouldn’t it be great to have this kind of visual reminder a tassel with a blue thread on the corners of our clothes as prompt to point us back to Gods commandments- to do them so that we won’t follow our fleshly desires that can be stirred up when we take our eyes off the Lord.

Well I think for us believers and receivers of the New Covenant God gave us a great reminder too, The Scarlet Thread of Redemption. The blood of Christ that we have been washed and redeemed by, forgiven for our sins and delivered for eternity. When we receive Christ He lives in us and we are woven as one in our hearts. He is always with us and always we have the Holy Spirit- Gods truth to lead us and remind us, convict us, and point us away from sin and towards the Lord. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrew 13:5b Thank You Lord for the reminder that You are always with us and can deliver us in that time of temptation and provide a way out when we keep our eyes on You, amen!

And Moses said to them, “Stand still, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.”[Numbers 9:8 NKJV]

Bros what great instruction Moses shared with these certain men who had come to him to tell him that they had become unclean at the start of the Passover. They didn’t know what to do because they wanted to keep the Passover so they came to Moses to seek instruction and Moses reply is a great instruction to all of us every day in every situation. And Moses said to them, “Stand still, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.”

I think for most of us we forget this very simple reality that we have as believers in Jesus Christ that we have direct access to God our Father in heaven and can call on Him at any and all times. But the key point here is Moses is saying wait, stop don’t say or do anything that I may hear what God will say regarding you. I know for me and probably most of you too we tend to jump the gun and then seek the Lord to see if what we have already done before we have heard from Him lines up with what we think He might say to us.

The hardest thing we might have to do is wait on the Lord. But when we are continually moving forward with our preconceived idea or conclusion to a matter before going to the Lord and standing still and waiting to hear what He might instruct us to do we haven’t accomplished anything but our own will in a matter and that is where we suffer greatly. When we choose to operate in our own will all we can expect is the consequence of our flesh nature that cares only for itself and only promotes itself and caters to itself.

Godly wisdom comes from the Lord and can only be obtained from the Lord and this I believe is what Moses was saying to the certain unclean men. Wait lets seek the Lord first and see what He says in this matter. To observe the Passover was a very important matter to keep and by seeking the Lord they received a second chance to observe and be a part of remembering what God had delivered them from. A reminder of God passing over Israel and sparing judgement on the firstborn and delivering them.

And for us to stand still and seek the Lord to see what He would have us do in our daily walk with Him. And just as this is a reminder to us of what Jesus did on the cross for us and spared us judgment and delivered us from eternal damnation- thank You Lord!

Bros if we are caught up in all that is going on around us, going to and fro and can’t stop to seek instruction from the Lord then that is a sad indictment on us. So what a great encouragement and reminder this verse is for us to stand still and seek the Lord so we can hear what the Lord will command concerning us-amen!

I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary.[Numbers 8:18-19 NKJV]

Bros so thankful that God the Father gave us a Substitute to take our place for our punishment, for our sins. Where would we be except that our Savior jumped in our place to take that death sentence for our sins which was surely due to us? As I read these verses in Numbers I am reminded of Gods tender mercies which are new every day and oh how He loves us!

I see this example of how the Lord in His mercy for Israel gave the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plaque among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary. The Lord did this instead of taking the firstborn of the children of Israel. God made a way, a provision for them to come near the sanctuary.

I cannot help but be reminded that He made a way for us to come near Him, to become one with Him forever. He sent His Son to do the work for us-He paid the price and wages due for our sins, He made atonement for us, He heals us from the plaque of our sins, by whose stripes you were healed. God sent His only begotten Son to take our punishment and be the substitute for us as He made a way for Israel to come near in their time of need to worship Him our Creator. And so He makes a way for us too to come near our Creator; for our Salvation to worship our Creator and deliverance from our sins and this wretched body of death.

He provided and gave us what we needed-Jesus, for deliverance from our sins and wicked ways. Thank You Father God for Your Sacrifice, Your only Son for our atonement. Thank You Lord for taking our place, for being our Substitute that we might be saved and cleansed from our sins. You alone are worthy of all our praise and glory forever and forever-amen!

“Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I [am] the LORD your God. And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of your own free will.”[Leviticus 19:4-5 NKJV]

Bros it is hard to think or imagine that idolatry could as be rampant today as it was in this time period long ago…Even though we may not use or make molded idols and worship false idols in the same way. But today many might be considered like the molded gods…our culture is more into self-worship, financial and material worship. Many today can promote the flesh in a physical sense through enhancing it with every prop known to man i.e.,  surgical works; lifts, nips, tucks, augmentation, suctions, injections, manipulations, reassignment (which is impossible…) not to mention Mani’s and Pedi’s, exotic foods- that have some super ability, special man made foods because we are worth it dog gone it! The pampering and worship of the flesh is never ending… giving ourselves the best because we deserve it and it’s important that we look younger, more buffed and less wrinkled… And we won’t even get into money or material worship. Many might try to make themselves as idols but in reality the word idol means nothings and that is what we are-nothing… But still many revere and hold themselves in such high regard which is a form of idolatry. Putting themselves above God seemingly unknowingly like in some sort of a disguised method that blinds them from really what it is… who is the first person you look for in a group photo of you and your friends or family? All in the name of vanity but in reality we are appeasing or peacemaking our flesh before the Lord.

How can we have peace and fellowship with God when we are constantly putting ourselves in a place above God and maybe some might say unwittily we don’t do these things… sure not all of us do or undergo these exact things. But when we take inventory of ourselves with the Lord and use the standard of measure provided to us by the Lord God and His Holy Word the Bible. How do we stack up, are there things or areas in our lives and hearts we have made idols and places where we fall short? Get rid of anything that puts you first or glorifies you, you might not recognize it but God does. "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God [am] holy.” [Leviticus 19:2 NKJV]

The way we worship God should be free of idols not coerced by others instructing and choreographing us, forcing us, pushing us through or by idolatry or to such a degree that we elevate ourselves to a place of prominence through self-worship as to make ourselves haughty but in verse five it says “And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it of your own free will.” And that can be likened to when we come to the Lord to worship Him we don’t need anything but our hearts and God doesn’t want anything but our heart either. We don’t want to allow anything to come in between Him and us or use anything to lure us to that place or allow anything that has to be used to bring us to that place- but we want to come of our own free will not pomp but worship in spirit and truth. "God [is] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." [John 4:24 NKJV]

“And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted [themselves]." They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This [is] your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'" And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it [is] a stiff-necked people!” [Exodus 32:7-9 NKJV] 

Bros how quickly after lifesaving deliverance from slavery and bondage did Israel corrupt themselves. The Lord is now telling Moses “For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.” Notice God said “your people” to Moses, it sure seems like God is really upset with Israel in light of showing them many unbelievable miracles to get them out of slavery and bondage and they pull this stunt. The ultimate slap in the face; even after raining down Manna and quail, feeding them to their hearts content, putting on one of the most incredible deliverance in all history from the wicked hand of pharaoh, letting them see all of the plaques that were told about in advance of happening, getting blessed beyond belief with jewelry of gold and silver as a going away present, leaving their bondage, watching God bring down the most powerful army of the time to save them and protect them. All real life happening right before their eyes and bam they walk away from God- more like ran full speed, can you believe this could happen? How could they turn their back on God and sin against their Deliverer like that, so easily?

Sin is powerful and destructive how quickly we let it overtake us right after a major deliverance or miracle.  Imagine if you had witnessed all they had seen and been delivered from and all they had been in bondage to? Would that have gave you such strength and encouragement in your walk, would it of made you an unwavering believer of epic proportions never to fall or fail? Of course you would say I would never fall or turn away from God if I got to see all of that and witness these great miracles.

Think again cowboy of what God delivered you from, where He found you, what He brought you out of and ask yourself if you have ever slipped up and sinned after seeing the mighty hand of God do a supernatural miracle right in your own life… Have you allowed any idols to creep into your life and slowly suck the air right out of your walk with God like the Israelites did…?

That’s why God told Moses to “go, get down!” He knew they needed accountability-help to turn back from their sin which was not without consequences. But nonetheless God sent Moses to snatch them back from the fire. “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” [James 5:19-20 NKJV] We serve a merciful God- so thankful, amen!

“So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.”[Exodus 14:30-31 NKJV]

“So when they measured [it] by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need.  And Moses said, "Let no one leave any of it till morning." Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.”[EXODUS 16:18-20 NKJV]

Bros when you do it Gods way it always works out the absolute best! We find Gods way to be perfect, just right, and never lacking in the capacity of wisdom and discernment. Gods knows each of our needs, whether boundless or slight, even though as Israel finds herself, so to we can find ourselves, so if we are all in the same circumstance at the same time, we can each have very different needs and God fulfills them each and every one according to His wisdom for all.  Yet we go and try and outsmart Him trying to think past His wisdom…but that is just an impossibility to think of something and think why didn’t God think of that, but He did already and that’s why His didn’t do it, because He's all knowing. He doesn’t have to think of that He already knows that outcome. We have to think things through. But I can only imagine God never has to do that because He knows everything therefore nothing can evade his knowledge or wisdom like He forgot to try something that might work.

The Children of Israel must have thought this way when they tried to keep the Manna overnight. God gave specific instructions only to gather enough for that day and don’t save any, except on the sixth day He told them to gather twice as much because the next day was the Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.

God’s way is perfection that we can never master only come alongside, follow and obey His ways and experience His perfection in our situation or need. When we try to add human wisdom onto Gods perfection we try to shortcut or jump ahead of Gods way for us and get outside His will for us in any given particular situation things start to stink…And the worms start to show up. This was the price for disobedience worms and stink, bros it never works out when we go against Gods Word either. God always means what He says and does what He says and He always provides the best- fresh Manna every day and always the proper amount and the perfect timing. Disobedience and sin always leaves an awful stench in its path, but there is nothing quite like the sweet aroma of true worship of our Lord through obedience unto Him-amen!

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; [but] God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”[Genesis 50:20 NKJV]

Bros has somebody done you wrong, treated you poorly, shamed you, thrown you in a hole, stole your clothes, sold you into slavery, reported you as dead? Well Joseph had all of these things done to him and more, but he did not repay evil for evil as his brothers supposed him to do even after Joseph showed great kindness and saved their lives and their whole families’ lives. Amazing that God’s grace shined brightly through Joseph in how he dealt with his brothers, when reading this story you would expect that Joseph would set out to get revenge… not so he dealt with them ever so kindly even rewarding them with everything at his disposal as Pharaoh’s right hand man.

I believe that is why it is so important to wait on the Lord when things like this might happen to us. If God has allowed it He will bring you out of it. In our human self-righteousness we want justice right now and our way of justice is to be carried out immediately with no care or concern that just maybe God allowed this and is doing a work… Something to think about and ponder next time somebody does us wrong.

 Have you ever thought about repaying evil for evil? Don’t do it, but wait on the Lord, look what His Word says “not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”[1Peter 3:9 NKJV]

God allowed Joseph to go through even greater trials than being sold into slavery, getting thrown into prison, accused of attempted rape to name a few. But yet God raised him up to save the people from the famine, made him a powerful man second only to Pharaoh. And Joseph repaid the evil that was done to him with kindness blessing his brothers even to point that they thought he was only being kind until their father passed away. But not so Joseph continued to bless them, Gods way is so much better than ours! We plot, plan and scheme for payback and God uses Joseph to pour hot coals on his brothers head. “For [so] you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the LORD will reward you.”[Proverbs 25:22 NKJV]

Showing great kindness, love, affection mercy, forgiveness, restoration and grace. Hey you know what that is exactly what God shows us sinners. His unbelievable acts of kindness, love, affection mercy, forgiveness, restoration and grace where we don’t deserve it and certainly didn’t earn it. Lord teach us Your ways and help us not to walk in the power of our corrupt flesh, but let us learn to give everything to You and wait on You-amen!

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” [REVELATION 3:20 NKJV]

Bros years ago when I was a masonry contractor and built block and brick buildings. We had quite a bit of work always going on and I would try to stop by to check each job at least once a week. I would always let my foreman’s know the day I was coming and they would always tell the guys the boss is coming out today…  My foreman’s on each job would always say the same thing, I wish you would come out every day and I would say why? They said the work crews are very productive; they get a lot more done, wanting to always look good so they don’t stop working for a second because they know you could show up any minute. Needless to say the foreman’s loved when I came out because it would help them keep production rolling and keep all the crew hustling. The workers kept watch and were ready when I came out to see the job and I was always blessed to see everyone working in a productive orderly fashion… not wasting time or standing around.

I think it’s a good thing if all of us examine our relationship with Jesus, our walk, our witness; am I abiding in Him, am I ready if He comes back right now this second am I ready will He be blessed, will He want to dine with me?

You know the question begs an answer- why was Jesus outside the door knocking? Did the Laodicea’s lock Him out? In the previous verse it says:  "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” [Revelation 3:19 NKJV]. Seems they had fallen into a state of being neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. In the ancient Greek the same word is used to describe zealous and hot. The Lord is telling them to be hot and repent! Don’t be idle standing around, fooling around in the devils playground I don’t believe He means hot in the same way it is used today, but more in the line of on fire for Jesus- having a zeal and running with endurance to obtain the prize looking unto Jesus our Author and Finisher of our faith! You can invite Christ back into your heart and the center of your life- if you have left your first love. He needs to be on the inside not on the outside. It’s easy to look like a Christian but be real bro are you waiting and watching for Your Master?

"and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.”Blessed [are] those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down [to eat], and will come and serve them.”[Luke 12:36-37 NKJV] Yes the Lord wants to come in and sup with us (become one) He can’t do that from the outside-amen!