February 6, 2018
The Lord commanded that three annual festivals be celebrated in His honor. These festivals were:
1) The Feast of Passover
2) The Feast of Pentecost
3) The Feast of Tabernacles
The Lord may have had other reasons for commanding these festivals, but several reasons seem apparent:
1) To perpetuate remembrance of what God had done.
2) To keep them faithful to the Lord
3) To put seasons of rest and celebration in the annual calendar
4) To offer instruction, as the appropriate Scripture was read at each festival.
5) To renew their corporate identity as they came from all over Israel to the Temple to celebrate together.
6) To pass on the spiritual legacy of God’s people to the next generation.
February 6, 2018
How many of us as teens explained to our parents, “But everyone was doing it”? If your parents were like mine, then that excuse didn’t go over too welll. And it doesn’t go over well with God either. The Bible is clear. We are not to just follow the crowd. Wrong is still wrong even if the majority view it as acceptable. Live for the approval of the Lord, not the crowd. Following Jesus almost always means going against the flow of the crowd.
February 4, 2018
Have you heard of the “Jesus Prayer?” It goes like this, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” When you don’t know how to pray, pray the Jesus Prayer. Call on Jesus to have mercy on you and He will answer your cry. This prayer hinges on the quality of Christ’s mercy, not our worthiness. For though our sins may be as scarlet, His mercy can wash them “white as snow” (Isa. 1:18).
February 3, 2018
The Pharisees expected a Messiah to be born in the lineage of David that would overthrow Rome and restore Israel as a nation. They did not understand the prophecies that foretold the Messiah’s divinity. This was the point that Jesus wanted to make with them, that the Messiah would not only be in the lineage of David, but also the Son of God. He was trying to open their eyes to see that He was in fact, the Messiah, the son of David and the Son of God.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus a question, their motivation was usually to entrap (Matt. 22:35) or otherwise show Him to be in error. However, when Jesus asked them this question about the Messiah, His motive seems to be not to stump them, although that was the apparent outcome, but to reveal His true identity to them.
February 2, 2018
THIS MANNA POINTS TO CHRIST
The Lord faithfully supplied the Israelites with manna every morning, except on the Sabbath, for forty years. It was always just enough for that day, except on the sixth day when the Lord gave them enough for two days to allow them to rest on the Sabbath. In this way, the Lord taught them to depend on Him for life.
We hear an echo of this in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). Jesus taught his disciples to pray for that day’s bread, just as the Israelites had learned. Not next week’s, nor next year’s bread, just pray for today’s bread. Learn to depend on the Lord for daily life.
We hear the fulfillment of this in Christ’s declaration, “I AM the Bread of Life” (John 6:35). For Christ is the true Bread of Heaven come down to give everlasting life to those who believe on Him.
February 1, 2018
NO SHORTCUTS WITH GOD
Why didn’t God lead the Israelites out of Egypt and straight to the Promised Land? The Lord answered this question in Exodus 13:17 saying, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” God knew they weren’t ready for battle. They weren’t an army. They were a rabble of slaves with no training nor confidence. They were free, but they didn’t know how to live in freedom. So, the Lord had to take them the long way, lasting 40 years, in order to prepare them to possess the Promised Land.
February 1, 2018
PRAY SPECIFIC PRAYERS
When Jesus hears, he stops. He makes time for those who cry out to Him. And even though He already knows what we need, He asks us to tell Him.
“What do you want me to do for you?” He asks.
Why does He ask this? I’m not sure, but I think it must be, so that in naming the thing, we are expressing our faith that He can do it. And we are showing our dependence on Him as a child with a parent. So, get specific with Him in your prayers. He wants to know exactly what you need from Him.
January 30, 2018
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
David wore his heart on his sleeve in this psalm. He prayed to the Lord with passion and very personal connection. David’s prayer life was one of intimacy with God. His psalms are helpful to those of us who desire a similar prayer life. Today, I pray along with David, “Lord, my Savior, lead and teach me today. I will put my hope in You all day (not just part of the day) long.!”
January 29, 2018
GOD’S PURPOSE FOR THE TEN PLAGUES
The Lord warned Pharaoh that He could have easily wiped them off the face of the earth for holding his chosen people in slavery. But instead he spared them, using the ten plagues to reveal His power and spread His fame in the earth. There were many ways the Lord could have chosen to free the Israelites, but the ten plagues were given to reveal His power over every aspect of life.
January 28, 2018
MOSES AT 80
The life of Moses can be divided into three 40-year phases. The first 40 he lived as a prince of Egypt, the second, as a shepherd in Midian, and the third, as the deliverer of Israel. It took 80 years to get Moses prepared to deliver God’s people. That’s a long education. Yet finally, he was both humble and obedient enough for God to use. The last 40 years of his life were devoted to being God’s man, leading Israel out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan.
What do plan to do with you life after 80?