Bible League: Living His Word And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."Symbolically, the arc of individual Christian experience runs from Egypt, through the Wilderness, and on to the Promised Land. The ancient Israelite's captivity in Egypt represents the captivity of individual people to sin and the devil and the escape from Egypt represents salvation. The Wilderness represents the journey of purification and training that individual Christians pass through in preparation for the Promised Land. And the Promised Land represents the fulfillment of God's plan for an individual Christian's life in a specific place and calling. Since the Wilderness is a place of purification and preparation, it has some unpleasant features. Here are a few of them: For one, it is a journey led by God through desolate and barren places one would avoid under normal circumstances; it is a journey of deprivation that tests one's faith and resolve to follow God to the end. Second, it is a journey in the Wilderness and, as a result, there is no sense of having found a stable position or place in life. Third, it is a place where you must learn how to depend on God for everything. And finally, it is a journey that pressures the buried sin in one's life to the surface so it can be dealt with before entering the Promised Land. The Promised Land comes after the Wilderness. Thus, it cannot be fully achieved unless one successfully makes it through the Wilderness, unless one passes the tests of purification and preparation. Individuals must have faith in God that He is leading them through this period of life in order to prepare them for what is required in the Promised Land. They must learn to follow God and cooperate with Him along the way. As our verse for today indicates, however, the Israelites had objections to the terms of their Wilderness journey. Although God had provided food and water for them, it was not the bounty of the Promised Land or even what they had in Egypt. They spoke against God and Moses and they had to be disciplined as a result (Numbers 21:6). In light of this, take stock today of where you are in God's plan for your life. If you are in a Wilderness, then don't complain about it. It won't help anyway. Instead, trust God to lead you out of it to your personal Promised Land when you are ready. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJoel Joel 1 -- The Word of the Lord to Joel: Locusts, Starvation and Drought; Call to Repentance NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Joel 2 -- An Army of Locusts; Turn to Me with All Your Heart; The Day of the Lord's Spirit NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Joel 3 -- The Nations Will Be Judged; Blessing upon Judah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 4 Revelation 4 -- The Thrones and Elders in Heaven: Worthy are you, our Lord and God NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.Insight What you say and what you don't say are both important. Proper speech is not only saying the right words at the right time, but it is also controlling your desire to say what you shouldn't. Examples of an untamed tongue include gossiping, putting others down, bragging, manipulating, false teaching, exaggerating, complaining, flattering, and lying. Challenge Before you speak, ask: “Is what I want to say true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Isaiah 54:12 I will make thy windows of agates.The church is most instructively symbolized by a building erected by heavenly power, and designed by divine skill. Such a spiritual house must not be dark, for the Israelites had light in their dwellings; there must therefore be windows to let the light in and to allow the inhabitants to gaze abroad. These windows are precious as agates: the ways in which the church beholds her Lord and heaven, and spiritual truth in general, are to be had in the highest esteem. Agates are not the most transparent of gems, they are but semi-pellucid at the best: "Our knowledge of that life is small, Our eye of faith is dim." Faith is one of these precious agate windows, but alas! it is often so misty and beclouded, that we see but darkly, and mistake much that we do see. Yet if we cannot gaze through windows of diamonds and know even as we are known, it is a glorious thing to behold the altogether lovely One, even though the glass be hazy as the agate. Experience is another of these dim but precious windows, yielding to us a subdued religious light, in which we see the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows, through our own afflictions. Our weak eyes could not endure windows of transparent glass to let in the Master's glory, but when they are dimmed with weeping, the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are tempered, and shine through the windows of agate with a soft radiance inexpressibly soothing to tempted souls. Sanctification, as it conforms us to our Lord, is another agate window. Only as we become heavenly can we comprehend heavenly things. The pure in heart see a pure God. Those who are like Jesus see him as he is. Because we are so little like him, the window is but agate; because we are somewhat like him, it is agate. We thank God for what we have, and long for more. When shall we see God and Jesus, and heaven and truth, face to face? Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 62:12 And lovingkindness is Yours, O Lord, For You recompense a man according to his work.1 Corinthians 3:11,14,15 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. • If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. • If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Matthew 6:3,4 "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, • so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 25:19 "Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, Isaiah 26:12 LORD, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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