Category: Exodus

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 16 before reading the devotional below.

Isn’t it interesting that the past and the future always look brighter than the present? Moses has now come full circle, back to the area near Mount Sinai where he saw that burning bush. The Israelites are complaining about him (one of the major downsides of all leadership positions…). They wish they could go back to slavery (which has been glamorized quite a bit at this point), or zip on ahead to the Promised Land. Yet they are here in the desert, and God isn’t about to leave Moses hanging now. The people need food, and food they shall receive.

My dad always says that “manna” was marshmallows. Given the lack of nutritional value this doesn’t seem accurate, but he has said it for so long now I genuinely can’t picture manna being anything else. All we know is that it tasted like “honey wafers” and they had no idea what it was. So maybe my dad is right after all.

Here’s your freedom for today: it is okay not to understand God’s provision. God’s ways are weird sometimes, and he comes up with ideas that are literally out of this world. When he gives you something good, whether it is a material provision or a positive change in circumstance, it’s okay not to know exactly how it all worked out. We know from James that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father who does not change. If you receive a blessing, go with it. Eat those heaven-marshmallows if that’s what God decides you need. (And for the record, Marshmallow Fluff is made right here in my city of Lynn, Massachusetts… the Spirit is at work!)

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 17 before reading the devotional below.

Pay close attention to this story, because you will need to remember it later. Once again, the people are wandering the desert with no water and it’s making them more than cranky. Moses has had it as well, and he gives it right back to the people. Meanwhile, God seems to wait to act until Moses comes to him. As much as we can sit here and judge Moses for waiting so long to pray, we know we all do the same thing on a daily basis. God tells Moses to strike a rock with his staff and sure enough, water comes gushing out. But we will see later that paying attention to all the directions will matter down the road…

The land that the Israelites are passing through, and later on the land that they intend to occupy, is already taken by other people. The Amalekites are one such group, and they attack the Israelites while they are camped at Rephidim. This story is a weird one: as long as Moses keeps his arms raised, the Israelites are winning the battle. When he lowers his arms they start to lose. You might be wondering why God would work that way. (Me too). But what we do know is that Moses couldn’t keep his arms up for very long.

Here’s your freedom for today: you need help to accomplish God’s purposes for you. Moses could not hold his arms up, yet he needed to hold them  up in order for the Israelites to have victory. Was God teaching Moses a leadership lesson here? Maybe God wanted to protect Moses from pride by showing him that he was going to need to rely on others even after he was clearly a proven leader. Even if you are trying to do what God wants you to do — and even if what he wants makes absolutely no sense to you — you cannot do it alone. Who do you have in your life that can hold your arms up when you have nothing left to give?

 

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 18 before reading the devotional below.

I have no idea how they found each other in the desert with no cell phones (since I can’t find my husband in the Target without one…), but Moses and his father-in-law manage to reconnect in the wilderness. Moses fills him in on your basic report back to the family: plagues, parting of a sea, narrow escape, and food falling from the sky. (That would make for one fascinating Christmas letter…). His father-in-law is obviously convinced that Moses is following the right God after hearing all this and he offers a sacrifice to the Lord.

Then the father-in-law offers some advice after watching Moses in action: stop trying to do all this yourself! In yesterday’s post we saw that Moses needed help holding up his arms to win the battle against the Amalekites, and now we see that the problem is happening on a daily basis. Moses follows this wise advice (always a good idea) and assembles a team to help him lead the people and settle their disputes.

Here’s your freedom for today: you find freedom when you let go of what’s not working. Moses could have felt insecure hearing his father-in-law say he couldn’t handle the job himself. He could have dug his heels in and tried to prove himself. But he was on the road to burnout, and that’s not a good place for any leader. Moses found freedom when he was able to let go of his way of doing things and follow the wisdom of his father-in-law. He left the burden he was carrying behind and stepped into a system that worked better for everyone. What old systems do you need to let go of in order to step into freedom today?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 19 before reading the devotional below.

Two months is a long time in the desert. I can’t imagine what the Israelites might have thought and felt if they had known they still had 39 years and 10 months to go on their wilderness trek. Watching God’s plans unfold, and watching the impact of people’s choices in delaying God’s plans, is sometimes excruciating even when you know the ending. (And let’s not forget that it was here in this very wilderness that Moses spent about 40 years being a shepherd before God even told him about his real life purpose…)

Equally heartbreaking in this story is seeing the huge distance between God and his people. Moses has to act as an intermediary, and even as this chosen messenger he has to climb to the top of a mountain to meet with God. The people have to cleanse themselves before they can interact with the cloud that protects them from interacting with God’s actual presence. At that time in history, even God’s own people couldn’t get too close.

Here’s your freedom for today: you are free to dwell in the presence of God with no barriers. Jesus’ life on earth, death on the cross, resurrection, and return to heaven all paved the way for him to change history forever by sending his Holy Spirit. The divide between God and his people is gone. Every believer can speak directly with God — one spirit to the Spirit. When I remember that this type of intimacy with God was not always possible, it drives me to sit in God’s presence even more. Take a moment today to thank God for giving you the Holy Spirit. Sit with him and bask in the wonder of his presence (and if you feel like climbing a mountain to do it, go ahead, but it’s no longer a requirement…)

 

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 20 before reading the devotional below.

Quick, no peeking, what were God’s top 10 laws of all time?? Oh, sorry, too slow… Guess you’ll need to take time to read Exodus 20 to refresh your memory (or learn the answer for the first time). When we read the Bible, it is always helpful to ask, “What is God trying to tell us about himself?” So let’s ask that question as we take a look at his laws for his people.

The first thing I notice is that God wants to protect his people. He wants them to remember what is true and not be deceived by lies. He is the God who can save them. No one else can. He’s establishing laws to try to help them remember that. Lies and deception is what started this whole sin problem back in the Garden of Eden. He also wants to protect his people from harm. His laws reflect the way of living that will keep them safest. He ends with an extra reminder not to build any altars to any false gods. As we will see, they forget this one over and over again and it makes their journey into all that God has promised take so much longer.

Here’s your freedom for today: God desires a great life for you. Some people see the Bible as a bunch of outdated rules to follow. And I get it — if you are not trying to understand the heart of God then you do miss the whole point. God wants you to worship him because no one and nothing else will ever get you anywhere. He’s it. God is the only one who can get you out of this sin-mess of a world. When you follow God’s ways, your life will be more free from all the garbage getting thrown at you every day. None of us can fully escape just yet, but the closer we are to God’s presence the closer we are to our best possible life. What is God dreaming up for you that you need to stay close to him to see?