I couldn't narrow it to one passage so I wrote briefly on five that caught my eye. I hope you will leave a comment on one or more. Thanks. I hope you enjoy today's post.
#1 Title: God Bless The Liars / Topic: God's Ways
#1 Scripture: Exodus 1:15-21
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
#1 Observation/Application: The Hebrew midwives did not kill the babies as Pharoah had commanded them. Then, when called before Pharoah, they lied about it. But God blessed them anyway. In fact, the way it is written makes is sound as though God blessed them because they lied! This is just a reminder that God does not think the way we do. He has a much deeper basis of judgment than you and me. This should help to keep us humble before him. As the scripture says, "now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror" 1 Cor. 13 PMS Version*
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#2 Title: Duh! / Topic: No Secrets
#2 Scripture: Exodus 2:11-14
11 ... [Moses] saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"
14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known." Duh! ("Duh!" is not in the original)
#2 Observation/Application: Moses kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew. And, brilliant guy that he is, he thinks that it will be a secret. (Sarcasm alert.) Of course, this is stupid because there was a witness to the murder, the Hebrew guy who was being beaten. How many people do you know who could keep their mouths shut after being saved from a beating by a prince who killed your attacker? Exactly ZERO. So is the word going to get out? Duh! The lesson here is that if you don't want people to know a secret, keep it to yourself. If your "secret" is shared by even one other person, it will get out. So put a sock in it!
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#3 Title: The Pit Of Despair / Topic: Depression
#3 Scripture: Psalm 88:6-9
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
Selah
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, O LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
#3 Observation/Application: Psalm 88 is a real downer. The writer is clearly not having a good day. He is in a real pit as it says in verse 6. And he blames God as the above verses clearly show. But what I liked about this is, even though he is down, and even though he blames God, he still continues to seek God: "I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you." This is an awesome lesson for us all: Keep seeking God -- never stop no matter what.
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#4 Title: God's Economy (Clueless Disciples) / Topic: God's Ways
#4 Scripture: Luke 21:1-5
1 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." 5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God...
#4 Observation/Application: Jesus sees the poor widow putting a few pennies into the offering. He says, this is more than anyone else put in. But that is far from what we think. Because we look at the amount of the gift. God looks at the heart of the giver. I want to be able to see things like God does. "Lord, help me to have your vision and heart." (I also noticed in verse 5 that the disciples missed the point altogether as they quickly change the subject to the beautiful material things. These clueless disciples demonstrate how our thoughts are far from God's thoughts.)
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#5 Title: Vigilance Required / Topic: Living Wisely
#5 Scripture: Luke 21:34 36
34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
#5 Observation/Application: Jesus starts this instruction with the words "be careful." This speaks to me that I must never get casual or lazy or complacent or relaxed about my daily walk. Jesus spoke elsewhere about the narrow path that we are to walk. Here he says that troubles are coming to everyone on the planet. So "be always of the watch..." These days, many Christians seem to be quite unaware of this principle, treating their spiritual lives as an afterthought. My life in God, my relationship with Jesus must remain on the front burner, at the top of my priority list, and I must be very intentional about it if I am to become all that God wants me to be.
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Prayer: Lord, thank you for the wonderful things that we learn from your word. Help us to be intentional about implementing your ways and character into our daily living.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
(*PMS = Pastor Mike Stipech Version)
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