He Made Me This

Scripture: Exodus 19:5-6 "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

Observation: Clearly this is what Peter was referencing in his first epistle, chapter 2, verse 9. There he calls the believers four things: a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people.

The only one that really isn't found in these two verses is "a chosen generation". I'll have to be on watch to see from where that one is drawn.

Application:
First, as a believer, I am chosen by God; though some disagree, I believe that truth is very clearly taught in Scripture. In fact, I believe it is not possible to be the other way around.

Second, I am a priest in function; I have been given a ministry to my family and to the world (2 Corinthians 5:19, 20).

I have been made holy through Jesus. Not only that, but God has brought me into a nation of people whom He has made holy. Christianity is about being joined to God's people for God's glory.

As one of His "own special people" (here called God's "treasure"!) I am just plain blessed beyond deserving. Requite the blessing by making God my treasure!

Prayer: What love You have lavished on me! I pray that Your people would recognize the preciousness of 2 Corinthians 4:7 and of the verses in Exodus. Thank You for Your word! I love You. Amen.

That Greener Grass Is Full Of Pesticides

Scripture: Exodus 16:3 "and the people of Israel said to them, 'Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'"

Observation: The Israelites are making many fatal mistakes here.
1. They're looking back at their enslavement as though it was pleasant, but the truth its that God brought them out of Egypt because of their cries to Him for freedom.
2. The blessings of Egypt were full of the misery of Egypt, and they are longing for it. On the other hand, they are failing to see that the misery that accompanies following God is full of the blessings of God!
3. They're allowing their present circumstances to blind them to the truth of their enslavement.
4. They're blaming the place in which they find themselves on Moses rather than God.
5. They've forgotten the love that Moses showed them in the departure from Egypt and prefer instead to find faults.

Application: What conviction is this verse! How often I do these things!

I look back on my enslavement to sin and think, "How pleasant!" Ugh!

I'm tempted to long for old relationships when Canid and I fight or are distant and I falsely imagine their greatness.

When I face failures I think to myself, "Why couldn't I have taken that other path? It would have been full of God's blessings!", but I fail to recognize that it is God that brought me away from there and brought me to this current place. (Proverbs 16:9)

And I blame others for my circumstances, forgoing thanks to them for all that they've done for me in love and instead I rub their noses in (what I think are) their mistakes.

Oh, what a wretched man I am. Why would God save me? Bah! This calls me to serious humility. Thank God for rescuing me. Thank God for giving me a true life with true purpose. Bless others for what great benefits I have received from them. Take responsibility for my failures. Give God the praise for my successes. Bless God for where He has guided me and hope in His plans for my future.

Prayer: You are so patient with me. And good to me. And gracious and merciful. And You've blessed me so. You've saved me from a awesome past into a wonderful present and a glorious future. Please teach me humility and kindness! I am desperate. I love You. Amen.

Time To Throw Down!

Scripture: Exodus 14:4 "'Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.'" And they did so.

Observation: I find it incredible that someone can read the Exodus narrative and not see that God is the cause of Pharaoh's hard heart. If I believe that the OT is God's word, as Jesus said it is (Matthew 5:17-18, 22:29, 22:31-32; Mark 7:13; John 10:35) then God has
attributed Pharaoh's hard heart to Himself REPEATEDLY in the last 14 chapters... in some chapters, multiple times!

Again the real problem with this is not whether or not God can control us, but how He does it and how we simultaneously have a free will.

But that is not what caught my attention most here. God said that He will "gain honor" over Pharaoh. Honor before who? It seems the answer is the Egyptians (in the verse) but also before the Hebrews. But didn't God already do that with the plagues? Yes, but this will be different. How? With the plagues, the Egyptians learned that God has power over nature, false god's and over life and death. But here God will show Himself to be the Warrior of His people.

Application: God is the ultimate. In my life He has power over every enemy, every threat, every fear. Today this truth gets applied to my inability to lead my family how I desire, and to my fear about the Back-to-School run failing, and to my career's future. But I must remember that Godfights the  enemies that get between me and the future that He has planned for me - not the future that I have worked out.

Prayer: Father, oh, how You are trustworthy. Oh, how I am settled knowing You are my God! I will fall in behind my Warrior and trust You. Help me to remember to tell You about my worries and concerns. I don't want to miss how to fight for me! I love You. Amen.

Don't Be Blinded

Scripture: Exodus 10:16-17 "Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, 'I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.' "

Observation:
1. Pharaoh referred to God as "the LORD your God" twice.
2. Pharaoh demonstrated human sorrow verses godly sorrow here.
3. Pharaoh has abandoned his rejection that the signs are from God, but he has increased his intentional and direct rebellion against God. Or rather maybe his rebellion is just no longer veiled.

Application: I fall prey to the same deceitful sin that Pharaoh was ruled by (Hebrews 3:12, 13). Rebellion is in the heart of all people because of the sinful nature that has been passed to us by Adam. Humility is called for. Repent of pride. In prayer ask God for awareness of pride. Pharaoh couldn't see past his pride-based hate for God. It blinded him. It will blind me to my own sin, faults, and offenses toward others.

Prayer: Lord, please open my eyes to my pride. You knew the pride in Pharaoh was predictable. Mine is not different and yet You are changing me to mirror the likeness of Jesus thru the Holy Spirit living in me (2 Corinthians 3:18). Please continue to change me. I love Your patience with me. I love Your continued faithful toward me. I love You. Amen.

CHARACTER/SPIRITUAL LINK DISCOVERED || SERIOUSLY DADS

Another great post from Steve Maxwell. Pause for thought...

CHARACTER/SPIRITUAL LINK DISCOVERED ||SERIOUSLY DADS

In1869 Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA. DNA is God’s unique “blueprint” for each of us. It determines what we will look like – what color eyes and hair we have, our height, our skin tone. Did you know that we have a “character and spiritual DNA,” too? You can get a pretty good picture of a person’s character and spiritual “DNA” simply by studying his choices. Those who are near us and can observe our decisions get a good idea of our true character and spiritual makeup.
A few examples:

• Choosing to spend time with the Lord every day in His Word because we delight in Jesus
• Choosing to lead family Bible time every day because we want to give the family a love for God’s Word
• Choosing to invest time in things that have eternal value because our time on earth is short
• Choosing to team up with our wives to put the children to bed because she works hard all day
• Choosing to get her something she needs to show her our love
• Choosing to make the bed sometimes because she is usually the one to do it
• Choosing to actively disciple our children because we have the spiritual responsibility for them

or

• Choosing to cater to our own wants and needs because we love ourselves more than we love our wives, our children, or others.

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:17-18).

Steve Maxwell
Titus2 ministries

David Copperfield They Are Not.

Scripture: Exodus 7:14 to 8:19

Observation: The magicians copied several of the miraculous plagues. What are the details of those mimicked wonders?

1. Waters Become Blood - the water in the river, in all the bowls, ponds, and buckets turned to blood. It's possible that it was not actual blood that God made but instead some sort of organic pollution that resembled blood. In that case, it would still be a wonder that God produced to show His great power because (1) God made it happen and (2) Moses foretold that it would happen. Either way, it was disgusting - undrinkable and odorous. Then I read that the magicians "did so with their enchantments." Obviously all they do is something that Moses had already done. So the assumption here is that they had a small bit of water that they also made turn or appear to turn to blood.

2. Frogs Covering the Land - frogs came up out of the river - so many that they were in houses, cabinets, bedrooms, markets, and anywhere else I can think of. Chapter 8, verse 7 says, "And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt." Again the magicians were "bringing forth" something that God had already produced so I don't know what was so amazing about what the magicians did. I think Pharaoh was grasping for a reason to ignore Moses and God.

3. Lice - Moses struck the dust and "it turned into lice." This one definitely didn't need to actually be dust physically morphing into lice. It could have been, but the reading doesn't necessitate it. Of course, I can't know for sure either way. Regardless, the magicians could not duplicate the work of the Holy Spirit here.

They were finally ready to tell Pharaoh that this thing was the work of God. It had taken four events (including the rod/snake deal) but they finally were prepared and willing to confess their inferiority to God. Interestingly, because there is no mention of it, I highly doubt they also divulged that all their previous acts were fraudulent as well.

The other reaction to note here is Pharaoh's. Up until this point Pharaoh had used the magicians as a shield to cover his motivation. "The plagues weren't convincing enough," he feigned. Now his true heart is revealed - at the core Pharaoh was in rebellion against God. He knew God to be the only true God and simply didn't want to submit. That is identical to the majority of people today who claim atheism or agnosticism. They don't want to be morally subjected to God so they create ways to intellectually reject Him (despite how illogical, inconsistent and unintellectual those excuses are).

Application: Faith! Believe what God has said to me and follow. Act in faith. That is what proves there is faith present at all.

Prayer: Father, thank You for always meeting me here and speaking to me! I am not great. I see Your Holy Spirit guiding me thru these stories and ever revealing Your glory in them. It all points to Your greatness! It's funny that the content of the Old Testament is so often used as support for rejecting You and yet I've found it to be the most encouraging to my faith!  I love You. Amen.

DIRTY DIAPERS AND HARD WORK || SERIOUSLY DADS

DIRTY DIAPERS AND HARD WORK

This was posted on March 20, 2014 by Steve Maxwell.

On average a mom will change 2,500 diapers for her newborn baby in just the first year. Do any of us truly believe that Moms’ “why” in changing diapers is that she loves to change diapers? We can be sure she is looking down the road and investing her life in the children because she is raising them to love and serve the Lord.

How seriously do we Dads take our responsibility of discipling our children? Providing a paycheck is the easy part. That is necessary, but the hard part is raising sons and daughters who love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Raising children who love the Lord is a LOT OF HARD WORK. The more we invest, though, the greater the return. I can assure you that the investment is worth it. Was it tough at times? Absolutely! But I delight in my children. People groan when mentioning teenagers. I can’t imagine that. The teen years are when the real “pay-off” is beginning!

One very senior citizen recently told me that she issued an ultimatum to her daughter – at 18 either the daughter would move out or the mom would. Sadly, that attitude is so common today.

It’s very easy to “father” a child. The hard part is to be a father to that child.

What’s our “why?” What sort of fathers are we? What level of effort are we willing to invest?

Steve

More at http://dads.titus2.com.

Calloused and Happy About It

Scripture: Exodus 4:21 "And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go."

Observation: The first two times that I read of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, God is the mover. God tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart before Moses even gets to Egypt! The point of the whole historical account in Genesis and Exodus (and beyond) is that God is revealing His story to us. He is not just an actor in the play; He is also the director and narrator in a production that He has already planned out.

The hard part about God's complete sovereignty is not accepting that God is capable of it, but rather the struggle comes with understanding how He has created us to be both under His control and yet also completely responsible for our real decisions (both of which are what the Bible truly teaches throughout its 66 inspired books).

Application:
Praise God for who He has revealed Himself to be.
Exercise my will to draw closer to God and to understand Him as much as I can.

Prayer: Father, please continue to show me Your glory and teach me Your way. I cannot but love You! Your goodness is beyond understanding and is utterly underserved. Amen.