Re: Verse reading–Exodus 12:1-14, 24-27, 13:8-9 (day four) Verse 12 says, “…and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord.” Egypt had many false gods. In the midst of delivering His own people from bondage, God was delivering a message to Egypt as well. Each of the plagues they faced dealt with one of their false gods. For Israel, they were being introduced to God and learning who He was. Through the plagues, they learned that God was a jealous God. Later, in Exodus and Deuteronomy, the Israelites will know God even better. Exodus 20:5 – “for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,” Deuteronomy 4:24 – “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 5:9 – “for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,” Deuteronomy 6:15 – “for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God,” It is a characteristic of our holy God…He will not share His glory with a false god. Guard against the false gods in our culture…Our God is a jealous God!
Author: Larry Soape
Larry Soape is the Associate Pastor for Median & Senior Adults, and Missions at FBCSA.
Thus Says the Lord
Re: Verse reading–Exodus 5:1-2; 6:1-8; 7:1-5, 14-18; 8:1-3, 16, 20-21; 9:1-4, 8-9, 13-18, 25-26; 10:3-11, 21-22, 28-29; 11:1-5 (day four) There was a common element in each of the plagues…each was introduced with “Thus says the Lord!” God wanted Pharoah to know who he was dealing with. Moses was a spokesman for the Lord. God did not have to have Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, but He chose to use him. God is able to accomplish His work by himself, yet He chooses to use us as well. What is our response to God when He calls? Do we argue with God like Moses did or do we just ignore what God says, as if we didn’t hear Him? Pharoah ignored God…he claimed he didn’t know Him so why should he obey Him? Pharoah learned the hard way. Moses was slow, but he came to trust God in faith. (He made the Hall of Faith lineup in Hebrews 11!) Trust God when He speaks…”Thus says the Lord!”
Walking By Faith
Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14 (day four)
God had known Moses all of his life. He had been working in his life, preparing Moses for his assignment. Now, after 40 years or so, Moses is going to meet God. He has known of Him, but now Moses will not only be introduced to Him, but also asked to respond in faith. It was not such an easy task to walk by faith. Moses had all kinds of questions…excuses why he should not obey God. Moses was dangerously close to rejecting God completely. God had a task for him though…Moses was to not only lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he was to introduce them to I AM. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (I AM) and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” By walking by faith, Moses gave an example to the children of Israel. Who is following your example?
Fear God
Re: Verse reading–Exodus 1:8-22, 2:1-10 (day four)
Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? Shiphrah and Puah were in a bad predicament. Pharoah had ordered them as Hebrew midwives to kill all of the Hebrew boys in birth. The penalty for disobeying Pharoah would certainly be death, but scripture says in verse 1:17 that “the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them… “ Their plan was to tell Pharoah that because the Hebrew women were vigorous, they delivered before the midwives could get there. God was good to them. Verse 21 says, “because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.” These ladies feared God more than man. Do we? How many times have we failed to share a witness with someone because we were afraid of what they might think of us? We fear the persecution, scorn, or ridicule of man more than we fear God and His command to share the Gospel. May we overcome our fear and be bold in our witness…I love it when a plan comes together!
Obey God
Re: Verse reading–John 21:1-25 (day four)
“Do you love me?” Jesus asked Peter three times and each time He asked, He gave Peter a command. These were a test of his love. Look back to John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Obedience was always a fruit of love. In John 14:21, Jesus gives the benefits of obedience…I mean love…no, I mean obedience…”He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” You cannot love God and not obey Him. It is impossible. Love for God and obedience to Him are the same thing. It was time for Peter to stop hiding behind closed doors and going fishing, and be about the work of the Savior. Do you want to be loved by God, loved by Jesus, and to have Jesus disclose Himself to you? Then, obey God…I mean love God…no, I mean obey God!
That You May Believe
Re: Verse reading–John 20:10-31 (day four)
It was the ultimate goal of John when he wrote his gospel…verse 31, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” It should be the goal of every believer to give this same witness to everyone we have contact with. Why should this be our goal? Just to have numbers to boast of? No…it is like one beggar telling another beggar, where to find bread. When Jesus breathed on the disciples so they received the Holy Spirit, they were a new creature. They had a new perspective of life…they had new goals…they had a new love for others. The same gift is ours! John was bold in his witness and we should be the same. Fear of man, lack of love, or disobedience may hinder our witness to others. Ask God to remove any barriers in your life and to use you to lead others to Christ.
Truth
Re: Verse reading–John 19:28-42 (day four) Verse 36 says, “For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture…” God’s Word is truth. There is no promise, no principle, no prophecy in God’s Word that is not true or will not come about. Isaiah 55:11 says, “ So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Everything about Jesus and His life had been prophesied and planned…His bones weren’t broken, His side was pierced, His body was laid in a new, borrowed tomb. We can trust God’s Word! Can you think of any promises in Scripture that could apply to you? Can you identify any principle that you need to live by? Are you living your life in the truth of God’s Word? It applies to our lives, today, in 2015…just as true as when it was written. Live in His truth!
Abide in Me
Re: Verse reading—John 15:1-17 (day four) Verse 4 – “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” If you separate the branch from the vine, it will die. The same is true for the believer. Once you enter into a saving relationship with Jesus, you must remain in Him. How do we do that? We spend time in God’s Word regularly…we pray and communicate with God…we obey…we share fellowship with other believers. Many try to live the Christian life based on a relationship that they had years ago. They have allowed their relationship to God to grow stale and have attempted to access the power of God in their lives without the character, love, and wisdom of Jesus having sanctified their lives. Native knowledge cannot sustain the relationship…the branch severed from the vine dies up…the life that has lost the relationship with Christ will shipwreck on the rocks of life. “Abide in Me!”
Relationships
Re: Verse reading–John 14:1-14 (day four) For several chapters, Jesus has been talking about relationships…relationships between man and man, between man and God, between Jesus and God. Relationships that are characterized by love, service, and unity. In chapter 14, He says that He is the only way to a relationship with God. To know Christ is to know God, to know God is to know Christ. The focus of His teaching has been these relationships. Move forward to chapter 17…Jesus is praying His high priestly prayer. What is He praying about? The disciples relationship to the Father…hold them in Your name, that they may be as You and I are…One. The understanding and living in these relationships was important to the Savior. It is important to you and me! Search these scriptures and evaluate your relationships…do they match up with the teaching of the Savior? The rewards are unprecedented…look at verses 13-14.
More Like Christ
Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17; 31-38 (day four)
Jesus called himself a Teacher (v. 13-14) and so He was. He was continually teaching. He taught by example. In this passage, Jesus taught that in order to lead, we need to serve. It is an act of love. Jesus knew that His time had come to return to the Father and He continued to teach His disciples. We can enter into a saving relationship with Christ, but there is always more to learn about that relationship and how we are to live it out daily. We continue to seek to be more like Christ. He led by example. Here He was at the end of His time on earth and He was giving the disciples a new command…”that you love one another even as I have loved you.” (v. 34) This command was so significant that it would be the defining badge that would identify His followers. The disciples did not understand it all then…they continued to grow in their understanding. Have you arrived or are you still growing?