Devotional Song: Go to this link – Please take your time to see a video of Sara Groves singing … It’s Going To Be Alright, reminding us that even when things look bleak, God’s promise is that He will be with us, going ahead of us to pave the way to Him.
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Highlight Passage #1 – NKJV: Exodus 6: 6-7 … [God through Moses.] …
6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
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Highlight Context - NKJV: Exodus, Chapters 5-6… GO TO THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1: Deuteronomy 31: 7-8 … Go to this link [NKJV] … [Really?!! … Easy for you to say!] …
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Reference Passage #2: Romans 8: 28 … Go to this link [NKJV] … [We read it; but do we believe it?] …
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Reference Passage #3: 1st Peter 5: 6-7 … Go to this link [NKJV] … [Can we have such faith when things are going bad? ] …
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
My Journal for Today: Do you remember in the epic 1956 movie, The Ten Commandments, when Yul Brynner, as Pharaoh, came down hard on Charlton Heston, as Moses, by commanding that the Hebrew slaves would have the same quota of bricks, but no straw to make their quota? I was 13 when that block buster movie came out; but I remember vividly how impressive it was that Moses would stand up – in faith – to Pharaoh in the face of the power of Egypt against Israel.
And now, we Christians, are faced with much the same dilemma in our world today as there are forces who would try to shape the way we think and extract God from the picture of life today. And so we are faced with much the same faith challenges which the Israelite slaves faced when Moses was trying to free God’s people from Egypt or when Joshua had to lead the people into God’s promised land later in the Old Covenant times; … or even later after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, when God’s people were challenged to see and receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.
It’s always a faith question, isn’t it? And even today, whatever the circumstances of our lives present, it’s our faith that becomes the heart issue when things get tough and we’re challenged to believe that God truly is our deliverer or our redeemer. Do we believe what God prophesied to Israel in Deuteronomy 31 (see above)? … Or fast forward to the NT, … do we believe the truths espoused in Romans 8: 28 or 1st Peter 5: 6-7? … Really; …do we??!!
Because if we do, then we will be asking fewer “WHY” questions of God as we move into 2014 but more “WHAT” questions? We won’t be focusing on the pain from the circumstances. No, rather; we’ll be seeking what we can learn or glean from what the circumstances are teaching us. We’ll be freed from the slavery of our selves and determined to know that God is leading us in His direction for His glory.
My Prayer for Today … Lord, show us the way to make more bricks even with less straw. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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