Moments With God

Exodus 15:26-17; Psalm 34:1-6

If we are true children of God we will show it in our lives. The Holy Spirit works in our lives to slowly conform us to become more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ. May we be submissive to that process, and may we daily be striving to reflect the Lord Jesus in our lives.

True children of God will increasingly be showing contentment and joy in their lives. True children of God will not be grumbling, complaining, and questioning God’s workings in their lives; as did God’s people of old, the Israelites. (Exodus 15-17) True children of God will seek to praise and honor the Lord at all times. Praise for God will always be on their lips. (Psalm 34:1b) Praise for the Lord will be evident in the lives of true children of God both in pleasant and difficult situations in their lives.

True children of God will seek to always obey God’s clear commands in His Holy Word, the Bible. They will trust the Lord enough to know that His way is always best. True children of God will reverence the Lord enough to "listen carefully to the voice of the Lord" and to "do what is right in His eyes." (Exodus 15:26a) True children of God will not deliberately disobey the Lord God, as God’s Old Testament people did in Exodus 16 in regards to the gathering of the manna that the Lord God had provided for them.

True children of God will increasingly trust in the Lord even in times of trial and testing in their lives. They will seek to not "put the Lord to the test" (Exodus 17:2b) by their lack of trust in the Lord and by their complaining attitudes. True children of God will strive to never question the Lord’s presence in their lives. God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites, questioned the Lord’s presence in their lives when facing a crisis of lack of water. They said, "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exodus 17:7b) The Israelites questioned God’s presence among them in spite of the fact that the Lord God had repeatedly shown His faithfulness to them in the past. True children of God can rest in the knowledge that the Lord is always with them. They know that the Lord will give them the grace and the mercy that they need to face each new challenge that life brings them. True children of God know Jesus Christ is their Rock and solid foundation. Moses struck the rock at the Lord’s command in Exodus 17:6, and water came out for the people to drink. So the Lord is our Rock who always provides for all of our needs.

True children of God also depend on prayer. In Exodus 17:8-16 we read about the Amalekites attacking God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites. While the Amalekites were attacking the Israelites Moses rose his hands in prayer. When Moses continued to keep his hands up in prayer the Israelites were winning in the battle against the Amalekites. Whenever Moses lowered his hands the Amalekities began to prevail in the battle. This illustrates the power and necessity of prayer in the lives of true children of God. Prayer relieves our fears as true children of God. (Psalm 34:4) Prayer adds joy to our lives. (Psalm 34:5) Further prayer is the answer to our deliverance from the challenges we face in this life. (Psalm 34:6) May we never neglect prayer in our lives. When the Israelites won a great victory in their battle against the Amalekites, "Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner." (Exodus 17:15) This was a testimony to the Lord God’s power and protection of His people. May we never lose sight of the fact that the Lord is our source of protection as His people today also. May we not forget that the Lord God always hears and welcomes our prayers. Praise His name!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exodus 15:27-17:7

Praise the Lord God that He is the One who promises to always be with us, as we walk through the wilderness of this life’s experiences. Praise the Lord that He stretches our faith and helps us to grow through the trials of this life. Praise the Lord God that He also, however, provides times of spiritual and physical refreshment in the wilderness of this life, so that we do not become too discouraged.

The Israelites, God’s Old Testament people, had gone through a number of trials and frightening experiences. (Exodus 1-14) God was stretching their faith, and He was helping their faith to grow through these experiences. God was now leading His people through the wilderness to the new land that the Lord had promised them, and God’s people of old would face even more difficult circumstances on their way to that promised land. In the midst of this wilderness experience, however, God provided for the Israelites a time of spiritual and physical refreshment at a place called Elim. When the Israelites came to Elim "there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water." (Exodus 15:27) The Lord God also provides spiritual and physical "Elims" for us, His people today; as we walk through the wilderness of this life towards our home in eternity. The Lord knows when we need times of spiritual revival and physical rejuvenation, and He provides these times for us. The Lord is our wonderful Shepherd who makes us "lie down in green pastures" and who leads us "besides quiet waters" (Psalm 23:2a), so that we can again go out and face life’s challenges in His strength.

The Israelites could not stay at Elim forever, however. They had to move on from Elim through the wilderness towards the new land God had promised them, and along the way they would face new challenges. As believers today we must also walk through this life’s wilderness on our way to eternity. The wilderness of this life may be difficult, but the Lord will be with us. Hence, we can be content in the wilderness of this life and filled with the Lord’s joy.

In the wilderness the Israelites had to leave behind what they had been comfortable with and familiar with in Egypt. God wanted them to not crave the things of Egypt but to crave only Himself, the Lord God. They further had to learn dependence on the Lord, as they faced new and unfamiliar experiences. God also wants to teach us, His children today, dependence on Him. In addition to this the Lord wants us to love and crave Him above anything or anyone on this temporal earth. The Lord wants us to make Him first in our lives, and He wants us to have an eternal perspective.

God always provided for His Old Testament people even when they "put the Lord to the test" (Exodus 17:2b) by their complaining and lack of faith. The Lord daily provided manna (bread from heaven) for the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness. (Exodus 16) The Lord also provided water for them. (Exodus 15:22-27 and Exodus 17:1-7) So the Lord God also provides for our physical and spiritual needs. Hence, as we travel through the wilderness of this life; let us do it with joy having our eyes focused on the Lord. Let us also have our spiritual eyes open so that we can see the blessings that the Lord provides for us along the way. Let us further avail ourselves of the spiritual manna and the spiritual water of His Holy Word, the Bible.

When the Lord God provided manna in the wilderness for the Israelites God commanded them to take some of the manna "and keep it for the generations to come," (Exodus16:32) so that they could always remember what God had done for them in the wilderness. May we also never forget all the past blessings of the Lord’s protection and provision for us. This will encourage us on our future spiritual walk through this life and to eternity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exodus 15:22-27

As a child I remember with fondness the Bible stories my mother used to read to my siblings and me about the Old Testament and New Testament saints. I often was taken aback by the constant complaining that the Israelites, God’s Old Testament people, did while traveling though the wilderness. God showed His faithfulness to them again and again. In spite of this the Israelites repeatedly reacted with panic and a grumbling attitude whenever they faced a new crisis. Are we as believers today any different than the Israelites of old? Do we react with panic or praise when a new crisis occurs in our lives? Do we trust our Lord during these times of trial, or do we test the Lord God’s patience by grumbling and complaining.

The Israelites had just seen God miraculously free them from slavery in Egypt. They also had just witnessed an awesome display of God’s deliverance, protection, and faithfulness at the Red Sea, and as a result they had sung songs of praise to the Lord for this victory and deliverance in their lives. (Exodus 14-15) Now God led them into the desert where for three days they traveled without finding water. Finally they came to a place called Marah where they found water. They were not able to drink this water, however, because it was bitter. So the Israelites began to grumble to Moses, their leader, saying, "What are we to drink?" (Exodus 15:24) The Israelites were not calling on the Lord God and asking for His help, as they should have done. Instead they were complaining to Moses. The Israelites were forgetting how faithful God had been to them in the very recent past. They were forgetting all about the Lord’s miraculous protection of them in just the last few weeks. Further they were not applying to their daily lives the trust for the Lord God that they had just affirmed and sung about in their worship of God in Exodus 15:1-21. What about you and I as believers today? Does our day to day trust in the Lord match our testimony of trust in our times of worship? When we face a new trial in our lives do we trust the Lord and rest our anxieties with the Lord, or do we resort to panic and complaining about the difficult situation in which we find ourselves?

In spite of the Israelite people’s complaining the Lord God provided for their needs. When Moses cried out to God in prayer the Lord provided water. The Lord told Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, and the water became sweet and good for drinking. At this point the Lord told the Israelites that if they trusted and obeyed Him He would bless them. (Exodus 15:26) Repeatedly the Israelites would fail this test, however. They would later complain and show lack of trust in the Lord when there was no apparent food in the desert. (Exodus 16) In a still later incident the Israelites would complain and show lack of trust in the Lord when once again there was a scarcity of water. (Exodus 17) In every situation the Lord provided for their needs in spite of their complaining and weakness of faith.

We also can trust that the Lord will provide for all of our needs. Even when our faith is weak, the Lord is faithful. Let us be very diligent to rest our trust in the Lord, as we face each new struggle and crisis. Let us not grumble and complain at such times. Grumbling and complaining about our situations is really grumbling against the Lord. (Exodus 16:8b ) Grumbling and complaining is really us questioning the wisdom of the Lord God of the universe and the Lord God of our lives. Who are we to question the Lord? In Job 38:2 the Lord God says, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?" Instead of grumbling and complaining against the Lord in difficult situations, let us instead trust and obey Him. Instead of grumbling and complaining and asking, "Why, Lord?;" let us embrace the Lord and His comfort in the difficult situations we face in life. Let us use these difficult times as opportunities to praise and bring honor to the Lord’s name. May this be our deepest desire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exodus 15:1-21 May our hearts always be thankful and full of praise for all the Lord had done for us. In Exodus 15:1-21 we read about Moses and the Israelites singing a song of praise to God for the Lord's great deliverance and protection of them. The Lord God had freed His Old Testament people, the Israelites, from slavery. The Lord God had also miraculously provided a way for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea on dry ground. The Lord had further drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea when they tried to pursue God's people to harm them. As a consequence the Israelite people's hearts were full of praise for the Lord. In the next several paragraphs this devotional writer is going to take great liberty in paraphrasing and applying to her own life Exodus 15, the Israelite people's song of praise for their deliverance. I will sing praise to the Lord with my whole heart and soul for His love for me is great. I will sing praise to Him for the Lord is highly exalted and worthy of praise. He is glorious in His might. As the Lord protected God's Old Testament people, so the Lord protects me today. The Lord is my strength, my song, my joy, and my salvation. Therefore I will trust Him in all things, and I will not let fear overcome me. I will cast my fears and anxieties on the Lord, and let Him deal with them. The Lord is my God, my Lord, and my Savior; and I will praise and exalt Him. The Lord God is also a warrior who is always protecting me and fighting for me. He alone is the One who goes ahead of me along life's path and brings victory to my life. In the Lord I "go from strength to strength," as I face the obstacles and trials of life and until I appear before my God in Glory some day. (Psalm 84:7) As the Lord protected the Israelites of old, He also protects and strengthens me. The Lord's hand is majestic and awesome in its power. His right hand protects me and removes the obstacles from my path through life. God is soverign, and His purposes will stand. The arrogant who reject God are "on slippery ground" and will come to ruin someday. (Psalm 73:18) God will always protect me and all of His children, however, in spite of the trials we face in this life. There is no other god than the Lord God Almighty. The Lord is majestic in His faithfulness and righteousness. He is awesome in His glory, because of His wonderous work in the world and in my life. The Lord has brought me through months of cancer treatment, and He gives me strength daily as I deal with my husband's medically incurable neurological condition. The Lord forgives me when I fail and become impatient, and He has answered many of my prayers. In His unfailing love the Lord will continue to lead me and all His people whom He loves and has redeemed. In the Lord's strength alone I will be able to persevere in this life, and He will guide me step by step through this life to His holy dwelling and my inheritance through Jesus Christ in heaven. The Holy Spirit in my heart is a deposit guaranteeing this glorious future inheritance that I have in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians1:13b-14) Praise God that the Lord reigns forever, and praise Him that I am His child forever. May I always praise God because of what He Has done for me. May I always praise Him for His glory, majesty, and for all He is in His being.