Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Dec 3, 2023, 8:02 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 49 - Exodus 2
Meditation Verse: Exodus 2:14
Thought
God made Moses a prince and judge over the Israelites, but they didn't recognize it. It's interesting that it's not until Moses is gone from Egypt and the king dies that the Israelites cry out for help because of their bondage. When Moses was still in Egypt, things weren't bad enough for the Israelites to see their need. But Moses was a deliverer, even when he showed up in Midian, he delivered Jethro's daughters from the other shepherds who bullied them. Moses was built with a heart to help the weak, though not everyone could see and understand that.
Dec 4, 2022, 2:15 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 35-38
Meditation Verse: 36:2
Thought
Moses called every skilled person who was willing to help. God gives skill to many, but the willingness to help comes from us, with perhaps some prompting by the Spirit. God gives skill, but we need to train and practice to refine and improve what God has given. But we also need to be willing to help out, to serve the Lord. The Lord does not like anyone giving to Him under compulsion, but from a willing heart, whether that means money or time or anything else.
Dec 3, 2022, 2:16 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 31-34
Meditation Verse: 32:1
Thought
How easily they cast off the Lord and made a new god! They knew full well that their new god was nothing, because they had made it, yet they were willing to bow down and worship it! They had seen Moses and the Lord do incredible things; they had seen these things with their own eyes. They had been terrified when God spoke from the mountaintop, yet now they dared risk His wrath by violating the first and second commandments He'd just given them!
Dec 2, 2022, 2:17 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 27-30
Meditation Verses: 30:12,16
Thought
The Lord allowed for a census of the people from time to time, but whenever they were counted, they had to pay a half-shekel, to make atonement for themselves. If they didn't pay the ransom for their lives, they could be struck with a plague. When they were counted, they had to pay the Lord for their lives. Did David forget to have the people atone for their lives? Is that what angered the Lord when he counted the people?
Dec 1, 2022, 2:18 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 23-26
Meditation Verses: 23:1-3
Thought
God wants justice and righteousness. He does not condone mob justice, but only what is true. He does not condone a poor man's case no matter what, but wants justice. A poor man is not in the right just because he is poor; there is no assumption of mistreatment just because he is poor. God is only interested in justice and truth, which should be one and the same. No one should be denied justice just because popular opinion lines up against them.
Nov 29, 2022, 2:21 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 15-18
Meditation Verses: 16:3-4
Thought
The people grumble, then God acts. Does God not know their need for bread and water? Of course He does! But the people don't have the same patience, nor do they respect the Lord enough to fear criticizing Him. They go a few days without meat, their food stores start to run low, and they panic. They don't ask God to provide, they don't trust that God will. They aren't willing to endure a few days without food.
Nov 28, 2022, 2:22 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 11-14
Meditation Verse: 14:31
Thought
If only this would last. Panic, deprivation, discomfort, any number of things would erode this fear and awe of the Lord, and they would be complaining and grumbling against the Lord, as if they had never seen His mighty power on display. How quickly they went from awe to anger! How easily our unfulfilled wants and desires overcome our faith in and fear of the Lord.
Nov 27, 2022, 2:24 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 7-10
Meditation Verse: 10:1-2
Thought
The Lord could have called His people out of Egypt at any time, but instead, He acted as if Pharaoh actually had a say in their departure, as if he actually had authority over them. If He didn't want to encourage rebellion, He had to do it this way. Otherwise, they could use this as a pattern to justify rebelling against any leader they didn't like, including Him. But it also gave Him the opportunity to show His own people how powerful He was, and give them stories to tell their children and grandchildren, so that they too would believe the Lord and fear Him and give Him glory and obedience.
Nov 26, 2022, 2:25 PM
Passage Read: Exodus 3-6
Meditation Verse: 6:12
Thought
Moses was more concerned about his own speaking ability. He didn't realize all the Lord had planned, especially His mighty works that would compel Pharaoh to let Israel go. He thought it depended on him, but it actually depended on the Lord. Moses was supposed to give warning and make announcements, but God would make the people do as He desired. Pharaoh would release the Israelites, and he would do so exactly when God was ready for him to do so.