The Reading Plan Daily Devotions

When God has a work to do, He prepares the necessary men and women. When He planned to build the tabernacle in the wilderness—a place which had never been built with such beauty—He prepared skillful men to do the task on a level that could not have happened otherwise. Notice the words He used to describe what He placed inside a group of workers in Exodus 31:   "See I have CALLED by name Bezalel” (verse 2) “I have FILLED him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship” (verse 3) “And behold, I Myself have APPOINTED with him Oholiah” (verse 6) “and in the hearts of all who are skillful, I have PUT skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you.” (verse 7)   Of course, to utilize this gifting you must cooperate with him. You must not fear but move forward in faith believing that you will have what is needed at the appointed time. And, you must not respond in rebellion, insisting that this is not the work you want to do....

One of the great mysteries of God is that He meets with us. This has happened since the beginning of time as God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day in the Garden He had created for them. Until they chose to go their own way, they enjoyed unhindered, intimate communion with Him.   THROUGHOUT HISTORY Fast forward to Moses as he led God’s people out of Egypt into the Promised Land. God designed a place where He would communicate with His people, a “tent of meeting.”   Exodus 2 9 42 “It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 “I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. 44 “I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. 45 “I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 “They shall know that I am the Lo...

Many people live with the idea that there is no God. Others think God exists, but He is distant and unconcerned. Some believe He is concerned about our lives, but only regarding the bigger issues. A PHYSICAL LESSON   When God led His people from Egypt back to the Promised Land, He told Moses to build a movable tabernacle. This would be the visible place where God would meet with His people. It was to be overseen by a series of appointed priests who were given very specific directions for every day.   The building of this temple was precise. We have recorded for us in the Scripture the immaculate details of every single piece of the temple, even down to the furnishings, the types of materials to be used, and what each element is designed to do.   THE PICTURE   The tabernacle was designed to be an interim measure until the temple was built during the reign of Solomon. But this tabernacle (and the coming temple) was a picture in every detail. The temple represented the ...

“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark and in the ark, you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you ; and from above the mercy seat, from between the cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.” ( Exodus 25:21-22 , emphasis mine)   When God led His people out of Egypt’s bondage, He initiated the building of a moveable tabernacle so that there would be a recognizable place where He would meet and speak to them. Every single thing about this tabernacle was by His design and each part had perfect meaning and purpose.   In the holiest, inner portion of this tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant, the most sacred piece of furniture built. And on the top was what God designated as the "mercy seat." Literally, the word means the "propitiary or atonement seat." Big word. massive meaning.   GRACIOUS MERCY   "Atonement" mea...

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ( Exodus 19:4 )   When we read of what God did for the Israelites and where He was headed, we would think that the whole purpose was to get them out of trouble and slavery and into the promised land. But that would miss the point.   We are often that way. We believe that the intention of anything God does is just for our deliverance and well being. But there is more.   "I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself," the Deliverer proclaims. It was not merely about being delivered from something so they could head to a new place. But it was redeeming them to a Person.  After this deliverance from Egypt had been accomplished, He now shows them the path for continual relationship with him.   "If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you s...

God has so designed our bodies that we need to eat every day. He could have made us differently, but He made us to need fuel and there is more than a physical reason for this. FUEL AND FAITH   In the earliest days of Israelite history, Moses was leading over a million Jews from the bondage of Egypt into the Promised Land. Along the way, God used every issue to teach them. He was preparing a people who would walk in a new way … a way of continual dependency upon Him. (He has this same teaching program for us, by the way, every day).   Soon on their journey, they ran out of food and complained. God told Moses that He would provide daily bread and, in the process, test the people to see if they would trust Him every single day for their needs.   Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction ( Exodus 16:4 ). ...

God knows what He’s doing. Our great problem is that we often don’t believe this. When He gives a command or direction through His Word or by His Spirit, we often object because it doesn’t “make sense” to us.   Just a few examples of God’s counter-intuitive commands: Give and it shall be given unto you. Bring all the first fruits of all you have(the tithe, 10%) to Him in the storehouse (the church) Take up your cross and die Do not lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge God and he will direct your path If you lose your life, you will find it Stand still (when your enemies are about you) and see the salvation of God Forgive everyone who hurts you Love your enemies and pray for them Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God Pray without ceasing … and on and on. A CROOKED PATH AND A MASSIVE SEA Moses was leading over a million Israelites out of Egypt’s slavery. But when he left, God did not lead them in a straight path to their destination, but in a windin...

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ( Exodus 12:13 )   Moses recorded for us, in Exodus, Chapter 12, one of the most amazing moments in human history. Pharaoh had refused to let Israel go after 430 years in bondage. But God came with a series of judgments to show Pharaoh and the whole nation and the Israelites that there was only one true God. A God who should be bowed down to and served.   A final judgment came in one night as God took every firstborn son from the Egyptian households in death. But among the 1 million+ Israelites, not a single child died.   WHY?   THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB God had told them to kill an unblemished lamb and place its blood on the doorposts of their homes. When the death angel came, if there was blood he “passed over” this house.   This sober moment was to be memorialized and remembe...

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ( Exodus 10:3 ) God is God and there is no other. He is the Creator of everything and the Sustainer of the whole world. Every “good and perfect gift” we have comes from Him. When we fell into sin with no hope of return, we discovered that He was a Deliverer, the Savior, and the Friend of Sinners. He is all that and a million times more.   So what is the proper response to God? There can be only one: humility. It should be humility that acknowledges Him, that trusts Him, that surrenders to Him, that worships and serves Him.   OUR PRIDE But we are relentless in our humanistic pride. Left to our own way, we think we can handle life. We ignore God most of the time, vainly thinking we’re capable. We do not pray, nor look to Him. We do not read His Word and listen to His instructions for His li...

"May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God." Exodus 8:10 Everyone knows the story of Moses and his deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh multiple times, warning that if would not let the people go, God would send judgment on the Egyptians. Each time, Pharaoh would mock God. Each time, the judgment would come but Pharaoh would still not relent.   Egypt was the most godless nation on earth, worshiping and serving creatures instead of the One who had made them. The most important thing they needed to see was the reality of the one true God and to bring their lives into alignment with Him. Over and over again God said, “I am going to do this, so the people may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. This understanding and the willingness to surrender to God would have redeemed them and changed everything. Their lives and eternity were at stake. But they continually refused.   GOD WA...