Moments With God

 (Next time we will return to our study in Exodus.)

Luke 2:21-40

Eight days after Jesus Christ's birth his parents circumcised Him. At that time they named Him Jesus which means Savior. Jesus is indeed our Savior. He is our Savior from sin and our hope for time and for eternity. Then after 40 days Jesus' parents went to the temple in Jerusalem to consecrate him as prescribed by Old Testament law. They also offered a sacrifice in the temple.

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem "called Simeon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." (Luke 2:25) Simeon had been patiently waiting for many years for the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesy that Jesus Christ, the God-man, would come to this earth as our Savior and Lord. Perhaps Simeon was well aquatinted with the Old Testament prophesy about the coming Messiah in Zechariah 2:10, " 'Shout and be glad, O daughter of Zion. For I am coming and I will live among you,' declares the Lord." Simeon believed every word and promise from God's Holy Word, and he rested his life on the promises of God's Word. Simeon knew that the Lord God would keep his promises to send the Savior in His perfect timing On this particular day when Jesus' parents took Jesus to the temple, the Holy Spirit moved Simeon to go to the temple. When Simeon saw Jesus he praised God and said, "My eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared in the sight of all people." (Luke 2:30-31) Do we have that same absolute confidence in the promises of God's Word, as Simeon exhibited in his life? Do we believe the Lord when He promises to always be with us even in difficult times? Do we believe God's Word, when it promises that Jesus will return again some day on the clouds of glory to bring us to be with Him? Do we believe God's Word, when it tells us that our trials in this life are part of His wise plan and a necessary part of our path to Glory?

There was also a prophetess that day at the temple named Anna. Anna never left the temple; but she continually worshipped, fasted, and prayed at the temple. Anna also recognized Jesus as being the God-man and Savior of His people. She also gave thanks to God for His glorious fulfillment of prophesy, and she spoke to the people around her of the Redeemer who had come. Do our lives resemble Simeon and Anna's lives? Are we passionately sold out to the Lord like Simeon and Anna? Is our every life activity motivated by a desire to bring praise and glory to our Lord? Are we continually in an attitude of prayer and aware of our Lord's presence in our lives behind, beside, and before us?

Praise God for His redemptive grace in our lives. Our salvation is of Him alone. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) Our redemption in Christ is for a purpose, however. That purpose is to bring glory to God and for God to use us as instruments in accomplishing His will on this earth. "For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10) Let us not lose sight of that purpose. Let us also not lose sight of God's glorious promises to always be with us and of the hope and eternal blessings that are stored up for us in heaven. (Colossians 1:5) May our lives be filled with excited anticipation and expectation of God's fulfillment of His promises and the working out of His perfect plan in our lives!

Exodus 23:20-33

The Lord God prepares the way for us through this life as His children, if we are obedient and submissive to His will. As the Lord God leads us and paves the way for us through the wilderness of this life, we must strive to make Him Lord of every area of our lives. Our lives must be lives that are sacrifices of repentance, praise, gratitude, and service to our faithful Lord.

In Exodus 23 God’s Old Testament people were still in the wilderness heading towards the new land that God had promised them. What a beautiful picture this is of our journey through this life on our way to an eternity with our Lord and Savior! In Exodus 23:20-22 God said to His people of old, "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you."

The "angel" spoken about in Exodus 23:20 may have been a preincarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the very least he was a representative of the Lord God and spoke for God. His teaching to God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites, was God’s teaching; and the Israelites needed to obey it. So we also as God’s people today must pay attention to God’s clear commands in His Holy Word, the Bible. We must obey the Lord God and not rebel and go our own ways. If we obey the Lord God, He will go ahead of us and pave the way for us through the wilderness of this life. The Lord God will oppose the "enemies" of our lives. He will be with us in deep trials, and He will remove every obstacle out of our way in His perfect timing.

Exodus 23 goes on tell God’s Old Testament people to not bow down to the false gods of the peoples of the land that they would some day inherit and inhabit. God’s people of old needed to worship the Lord God alone, and then the Lord God would bless them. (Exodus 23:25a) So we also must make the Lord God our only God. We must make sure that the Lord is first in our lives. We must not make idols of our possessions or even of our relationships with other people. We also must not depend on ourselves or on our own perceived resources but on the Lord alone.

The Lord God promised to be with His Old Testament people and to help them subdue their enemies, but the Lord God told them that He would not do this all at once and at the snap of His fingers. God said, "Little by little I will drive them out before you." (Exodus 23:30a) God had a purpose for doing this. (Check out Exodus 23:29) So also the Lord will remove the obstacles from the paths of our lives. The Lord will do this, however, in His perfect timing and wisdom. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why we must stay in a particular trial in our lives for such a long period of time, and sometimes it is difficult to understand why we must pray for something so long with no evident results. We must trust that the Lord God’s wisdom is infinitely wiser than any perceived wisdom we think we possess. The Lord God is in control of our lives, and He wants us to submit to His leadership. Yes, the Lord will pave the way for us through this life and to eternity. We must, however, rest in dependence on Him; as we travel the path of this life. Praise God for His presence and control throughout our lives!

Exodus 20

Our salvation is by grace and faith alone. We can do nothing to earn or even contribute to our salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." At the same time if we are a true child of God, we will show it in our lives. The Lord God will slowly transform us to become more and more like Himself. We are after all "God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 3:10)

God gave the Israelites, His Old Testament people, the Ten Commandments. The Lord God also gave them social and governmental rules and ceremonial rules. The ceremonial rules were pictures or foreshadowings of what would be completed in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ lived a perfect life for us and died to pay for our sins once and for all, there is no longer a need for observing the Old Testament ceremonial laws. The social and governmental rules were basically for their society at that time also. God’s Ten Commandments given first to His Old Testament people are very applicable to us today also, however. The Ten Commandments are not our guide for earning our salvation; because as we said before, our salvation comes to us by grace and faith alone. The Ten Commandments, however, are a wonderful guide for us as believers in helping us to live obedient, holy, and grateful lives. This devotional writer is now going to take great liberty in paraphrasing and applying to our lives today the Ten Commandments which we find in Exodus 20.

God speaks these words to us: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the slavery of sin. In gratitude for what I have done for you I expect your repentance from sin, your obedience, your faith, and your life of gratitude. The salvation that I gave you through the blood of My Son, Jesus Christ, is by My grace alone; but if it is not your desire to obey Me, your faith is dead.

I, the Lord God, must be first and central in your life. You must worship Me alone. Your love for Me, your God, must be more important to you than anyone or anything else in your life. The person or thing you choose to love more than me is your idol. My command to you is that you shall not make for yourself an idol! Also you must reverence and honor My name and never misuse My name, for I am the Lord God.

You must work six days. You must also set aside one day of the week as the Sabbath for the worship of Me, the Lord God. This one day is not a day to carry on your regular day to day activities, but it is a time to revitalize and refresh your body and soul. It is also a time to concentrate on worshipping Me, your Lord God, in a special way.

You must not only reverence and honor Me, your God, you must also show love and respect to your fellow human beings. You must especially honor and respect your mother and father and also all those who are in authority over you. You must not murder. In addition to this you must not hate your fellow human beings or seek revenge on them. You must be devoted and faithful to the marriage partner that I, the Lord God, have given you until the day death separates you from one another. Intimate sexual relationships are for marriage alone. You must not steal or take what belongs to another human being. You must guard your lips from lies.

Finally, you shall not covet or desire your neighbor’s possessions. You must be satisfied and content with the life that I, the Lord God, have ordained for you. I, the Lord God, have given you many wonderful blessings, the most important of which is your salvation. Live in contented and joyful gratitude; and make me, the Lord God, first in your life!"

Exodus 19

It is wonderful to know that the Lord’s presence is with us at all times. The Lord walks beside us, before us, and behind us; as we tread through the wilderness of this life. In times of difficulty the Lord also carries us in His protective love. God said to His Old Testament people, "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself." (Exodus 19:4) We certainly can take comfort from knowing that the Lord also carries us, His children today, "on eagles’ wings."

In Exodus 19:5-6a the Lord God went on to give a wonderful promise to His Old Testament people. God said, "Now if you obey Me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." If we as believers today are submissive and obedient to the Lord God, we also are His treasured possession. What an exciting thought!

I Peter 2:9 reassures us that as believers today we also are the Lord God’s "chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God." God has chosen us for these special roles, so that we can bring honor and praise to His glorious name. We were chosen to live holy and pure lives so that in this way we would bring glory to our Lord God. As the Lord God’s holy priests and holy nation we must strive to reflect His holiness in every aspect of our lives. I Peter 1:15-16 tells us, "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’" To be God’s holy priests and His holy nation means we are set apart from the world, set apart from habitual and deliberate sin, and set apart to live for God’s glory. Because of sin still present in our lives even as believers, we will not do this perfectly. It must be our passion, however, to always strive to live holy and God honoring lives in the Lord’s strength.

As our Lord God’s holy priests we must further offer the Lord God the sacrifice of our reverence and humility because of His perfect holiness and awesome power. We must recognize that our loving and faithful God is also a holy and pure God. As the Israelites, God’s people of old, recognized the holiness and power of God in Exodus 19:10-25; so we also must stand in awe and reverence before our God because of His perfect holiness, because of His power, and because of all that He is in His character.

Finally, as His holy priests we also must offer sacrifices of praise, worship, and service to our Lord God. Romans 12:1b commands us to offer our "bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God" as our "spiritual act of worship" to our Lord. This means that as His holy priests our Lord God deserves the sacrifice of our undivided love and devotion. Our love for our Lord must involve the entirety of our hearts, minds, and wills. In this way we will indeed be showing by our lives that we are "a people belonging to God." May it be our passion to offer the Lord God sacrifices of holy lives, lives of undivided love for the Lord, and lives of praise and gratitude for all that the Lord has done for us.