July 19: Exodus 3:1-6
Key Verse: Exodus 3:3
So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’
Devotion:
After his escapade with killing the Egyptian and judging others, Moses went into hiding from Pharaoh and stayed there until after Pharaoh had died and things looked like they were calming down again. In the mean time he had to find work and was now looking after the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. Whilst looking after the sheep near Horeb, the mountain of God, an angel of the Lord appeared as a fire in the midst of a bush. The fire was burning but it was not burning the bush or consuming it as we would expect.
Moses, in his inquisitiveness, wanted to go up to the bush and see why the fire was nor burning it up… But God called out to him from within the bush! He called him by name so there was no doubt who God was calling. I’m not sure what I would have done in this instance other than wanting to go and touch the fire to see why it was not burning the bush!
God may not appear to you from within a burning bush or even in a great wind or earthquake, or whatever! God may be calling you by name but because you are not listening out for any call, you are not hearing it. That is one of our problems living in this noisy and crowded world we live in – there are far too many distractions for us to just sit still and listen to see if God is calling us by name…
I must say I do like the fact there is not a constant stream of planes flying overhead any more. It was something we got used to because it was there, virtually non-stop. But when it stops, you hear the difference and realise how much noise you have just accepted. Noise which is distracting and may be stopping you from hearing God. God called Moses when he was all alone, near Horeb and tending sheep. There was nobody else to take notes and guide Moses as to what to do next, he just had to put the world on pause and listen to God...
Points to Ponder:
How busy is your life?
Are you willing to pause your life and listen out for God?
July 18: Exodus 2:11-14
Key Verse: Exodus 2:14
The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
Devotion:
How many times have you ‘conveniently forgotten’ something you have done wrong? You knew it was wrong when you were doing it, but thought nobody would find out and it would be ok… God is watching us every step of the day and I’m sure does not like what He has to watch much of the day from people all around the world!
I would like us to think about the standards we have in our lives and how we apply them. Consider this… you see a friend of yours do something wrong. Do you report them for doing this? Do you point out their misgiving and ask them not to do it again? Do you forgive them and ignore what they have done? Or do you pretend you never saw anything in the first place?
We would probably answer this differently depending on who is doing wrong. We may well report someone who we don’t like or don’t even know because they have no relationship with us, but when it comes down to best friends, the answer goes the other way… Our overall standards differ according to where we are in life and who we are with. Moses was no different at this time. He did not think much of killing the Egyptian for doing wrong, but only warned his fellow Hebrews!
When Jesus came to tell us the most important commandment was to love one another, it was to make sure we change our ways and stop putting some people before others just because they are the same race or colour as us! God loves every one of us a His children and expects us to do our best to follow on in this same light. The historical records of the Western world have tended to be very biased toward those who are considered to be loyal or from the same part of the world as us. God wants this to change to be more in line with how Jesus showed love toward all mankind!
Points to Ponder:
Have you been given false history lessons because your government deemed is so?
Are you willing to follow Christ’s example and love all human beings?
July 17: Exodus 2:1-10
Key Verse: Exodus 2:8
“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.
Devotion:
One of the amazing things about God is He can enable things to be done which we think are impossible. I love the way God made sure Moses was nursed by his own mother because God knew that was the best thing. If it were you or I trying to circumvent the laws we would probably be found out immediately and everything would end up in a bit pile on the floor – not so when God was involved!
God knew the best place for Moses to be nursed and made it so. He also knew the best place for Moses to grow up and learn the ways of the world, and that was with the Pharaoh’s daughter where he would be able to learn how to take care of a whole country; something which was going to be required of him a few years down the line!
God continues to know what is best for us and if we are willing to trust Him with decisions which we feel are too much for us or we are out of our depth handling them, then we can expect a good outcome… better than if we had planned things! The problem is we don’t always listen to God in every part of our lives – we like to keep some things private, or at least we think we are keeping them private!
God knows exactly what we get up to and He does try to continually guide us through the ‘storm of life.’ We find ourselves out of our depth in many things in life, but even in those cases, God continue to be able to cater for everything. God is going to use the people around us to enable us to do more as well, not just the priests and prophets, but everyone around us. The sooner we begin to realise God has ultimate power over everything, the sooner we can move forward and trust Him with our whole lives and not just the parts we think He should have. God wants to care for us in our entirety!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you try to keep from God?
Will you allow Him to do more in your life today?
July 16: John 18:25-27
Key Verse: John 18:25
Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
Devotion:
What is your reaction when people ask you if you are a Christian? Or maybe they have asked if you are ‘one of those bible punchers’ or a ‘Jesus freak’ or some other derogatory slogan. Well, its only derogatory if you choose it to be so; you can make it a positive and praise God instead of bowing down to people who don’t believe in Him...
Jesus knew what people would be like and He faced up to them. He also told the disciples they would have to face people who would seek to harm them and even think they were doing this in God’s name. God does not choose to have us beaten, flogged or mocked. We open ourselves up to this because we dare to stand up for Christ and dare to sing praises to God. We do this because people do not get us, they do not believe in God and they don’t know what else to do!
The people had all been almost beaten into submission by the scribes and Pharisees. These were supposed to be the leaders of the church and yet they were the ones who were leading people away from God because they refused to believe Jesus was and is the Messiah. They did not want to accept the simple truth and continued to look for the difficult ways of living to show their devotion to God!
God does not want us to live a difficult life just to prove we believe in Him! Believe in Him first of all and many things in your life will fall in to place as you follow the will of God. Don’t be shy about saying you are a Christian and you believe in God. Don’t be worried about what others can do to you because what we have in Heaven is so much more and eternal!
Points to Ponder:
How many times have you rejected God in your words or actions?
Will you admit to believing in God?