Please read Exodus 22:16-31, Exodus 23 and Exodus 24. Fight the urge to “skim”.  🙂 Confession: I’m trying to take something from each day’s reading – and sometimes I have to read it more than once!  Hang in there – we have lots more law to go before we finish!

The laws can be tedious – but its still good advice, even for life today! Just hitting a few highlights, look at these:

 ²¹ “Don’t abuse or take advantage of strangers”

²² “Don’t mistreat widows or orphans”

²⁸ “Don’t curse God; and don’t damn your leaders”

²⁹“Don’t be stingy as your wine vats fill up”

³¹ “Be holy for my sake”

That’s good!

Jesus did come to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13) – from legalism, and trusting in works rather than faith, and many other things that time won’t allow right now.  However, don’t fall into the misconception that the Old Testament doesn’t apply to us or isn’t helpful to us today.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” – even the OT laws! Hang in there!  We’re going to get through this together, and the Holy Spirit will be our Guide!

Please read Exodus 20, 21, 22:1-15 this morning. Head on back – do you have any thoughts to share also?  We’ve got the 10 Commandments today!

Life was hard before Grace came in – I’m so thankful to Jesus for His sacrifice and so thankful to God the Father for His perfect plan to redeem us.  Even in the time of Moses, all of these laws were meant to train people and keep them in right relationship – it’s difficult for us to understand today (it seems harsh to us), but God ALWAYS loved His people and ALWAYS desired the best or them.  He loves us still today!

Please read Exodus chapters 16, 17, 18, and 19. Here’s what I am thinking about this morning:

When the children of Israel complained that they didn’t have enough food, and even compared their current situation in the wilderness to the life they had in Egypt (“Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat?” 16:3 MSG). There they go, looking backwards again.  Don’t they remember – they were in slavery in Egypt!  In response, God sent daily bread, manna, for them to eat:

They gathered it every morning, each person according to need (16:21 MSG)

God was giving them exactly what they needed for the day, every day.  It is the same for us – we can’t save it up (no “let’s read 3 days in our Bible now so we can take the weekend off” going on here!).  We need to meet God every day so He can fill us afresh.

Exodus 16:28 says “Don’t you see that God has given you the Sabbath?” The Sabbath is a gift to us – we ought to take advantage and purposefully make time in our schedules for the Lord!

Good morning! Please read Exodus chapters 13, 14, and 15, and come on back!  If you want, leave a comment about what you are thinking and let’s have a visit!

Moses and the children of Israel will finally escape from Egypt today!As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw them—Egyptians! Coming at them!

They were totally afraid. They cried out in terror to God. They told Moses, “Weren’t the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Back in Egypt didn’t we tell you this would happen? Didn’t we tell you, ‘Leave us alone here in Egypt—we’re better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness.’” (14:10-12 MSG)

Are they kidding?  Were the actually better off in Egypt?  Nothing will make you look more fondly at yesterday than a crisis today.

Moses spoke to the people: “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you’re never going to see them again. God will fight the battle for you. (14:13-14a MSG)

Amen, Moses!  Confess the victory!  His next words don’t sound very kind, but they are powerful:

Please read Exodus chapters 10, 11 and 12, and then let’s visit!

“Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. He said to them, ‘Go ahead then. Go worship your God. But just who exactly is going with you?’ Moses said, ‘We’re taking young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds—this is our worship-celebration of God.’ ” (Exodus 10:9 MSG). 

It stands out to me today that Moses included everyone in worship – children and all.  We are to share the blessings of God, share worship, share God’s truth – and make sure that all generations come alongside.  Of course, this is not the moment that Pharaoh releases God’s people, but this example is not to be overlooked!  

Just who exactly is going with you? Make sure that, like Moses, you are sharing the goodness of the Lord with everyone within your sphere of influence!

Please read Exodus 7:14-25, Exodus 8, and Exodus 9. There’s so much to talk about every day – it’s hard to pick out one brief item!  Here’s what I am thinking about this morning:

“Pharaoh called in Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Pray to God to rid us of these frogs. I’ll release the people so that they can make their sacrifices and worship God.’ 

Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Certainly. Set the time. When do you want the frogs out of here, away from your servants and people and out of your houses? You’ll be rid of frogs except for those in the Nile.’

Pharaoh replied, ‘Make it tomorrow.’ ” (Exodus 8:8-10 MSG)

I find it interesting that when Moses offered to pray for relief from the frogs, Pharaoh answers “tomorrow”. Why did he want one more night with the frogs? Why not now?  it’s not a surprise to see Pharaoh delay, I guess – he delays letting the children of Israel go time after time….. but tomorrow?  I’d want those frogs gone now!

We delay sometimes – God offers everything we need to be successful in Him, but still we wait.  Let’s not be like Pharaoh here – let’s go after God now!

Please Exodus 4:18-31, Exodus 5-6, and Exodus 7:1-13.  Moses is my favorite – even though the text is probably familiar, fight the urge to “skim” – take in every word!

God said to Moses in Midian: “Go. Return to Egypt. All the men who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey for the return trip to Egypt. He had a firm grip on the staff of God. (Exodus 4:19-20 MSG)

And so it begins – we’ll see a pattern develop throughout Moses’ life: God gives direction, and Moses obeys (mostly).  I love this phrase: “he had a firm grip on the staff of God”. A shepherd’s staff lengthens the shepherd’s reach, and can offer guidance/direction when needed.  Moses will need both of these functions as he leads the people out of Egypt.  We need God’s direction in our lives today as well.

Even when things don’t look like they were going in Moses’ favor, he still obeyed the Lord. His ways are higher than ours – we must trust Him!

We have completed an entire month – wow!  I read a quote, can’t remember where: “Daily Bible reading keeps you within range of God’s voice”.  Amen!  Praying that is happening for you! Please read  Exodus 1-2, 1 Chronicles 6:1-3, Exodus 3, Exodus 4:1-17.  

“A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8 MSG).  Now Jacob, Joseph, and their generations have died, but their descendants are still in Egypt. Even though the new king does not know their history (and what a blessing Joseph was to them in difficult times), God sees us and knows when it is time to act on our behalf. He never forgets His promises!

Thankfully God knows what we need before we need it.  The children of Israel are going to have to be led out of Egyptian slavery, and they’ll need a leader. To this end, Moses is born. We’re going to spend a great deal of time with this guy!  

Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

“I’ll be with you,” God said. (Exodus 3:11-12 MSG)