September 6, 2013 … Our Desert Experiences

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 249

Devotional Song: Go to this link -  Please take in this powerful song, written by Keith Getty and sung by his sister, Kristyn, … singing By Faith, reminding us that no matter what our lot as Christians, no matter what the desert experience might be, we must walk by faith and not by sight.

Highlight meditation passage – Exodus 2:15 [NLT]: …  
15 And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it [i.e., Moses killing an Egyptian soldier], he gave orders to have Moses arrested and killed. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and escaped to the land of Midian.
============
Highlight reading study of Exodus, Chapters 2: Go to this link … 

Reference Passage: 2nd Corinthians 5: 7 (with verses 6-8) [We must walk by faith and not by sight through the deserts of our life.] … [NKJV] …
6 So, we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 

My Journal for Today: This morning Os Hillman, using Moses being led by God into his experience in the deserts of Midian, I was reminded that often, because of the circumstances of our lives, we’re led into desert experiences which prepare us for God’s purpose and faith-driven service for God’s glory. But all too often, when we’re in the midst of our desert times, we have trouble seeing them as preparation for our future and calling us to service for/with God.

Perhaps you, as a reader today, are having trouble living out what Kristyn Getty sings about in the song I’ve linked you to today … and what Paul wrote about to the Corinthians in 2nd Cor. 5: 7 … that we must live by faith and not by sight, especially when we’re led into and through the deserts of life. For Moses it was 40 years as a shepherd, having to be broken into surrender and broken of all pride … so that God could use this man to shepherd His people out of bondage and toward the Promised Land.

 So, my dear one, if you’re in some desert time in your life now, trying to break free and desiring to serve God more effectively, we must do what the Apostle Paul wrote about above and what the Getty’s sing about in this morning’s song; and that is to walk by faith and not by sight … i.e., to let God shape or reshape our lives by our desert experiences and to be readied or prepared for service to Him down the road of life.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray we all walk by faith and not by sight, especially through the desert experiences of life. … Amen