Saturday, January 28, 2017

Sat.’s Devo - The Great Shepherd

Read: Exodus 5:22-7:24; Matthew 18:23-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 5:22-23
Moses had to be discouraged. It wasn’t going like he thought God had said it would. Now the Israelites and the Egyptians were against him and God was telling him to go back and show the Pharaoh the signs God had given him. He did and when his staff became a snake, their sorcerers were able to counterfeit the same miracle only Aaron’s snake swallowed up their snakes. This should have been a sign to the Egyptians of what was in their future. All the plagues that God sent on Egypt were really against the gods that they had chosen to worship. God was showing them that he was above all their gods. He is the only Lord and the only God. They had gods of snakes and they worshipped the Nile. God swallowed their snakes and turned their Nile into blood for seven days.
Jesus told a parable explaining forgiveness. He was the righteous lord who the man owed the ten thousand talents to. He totally forgave him his huge debt saving the man and his family. But the man could not forgive the tiny debt of his fellow servant. God then judged him like he judged his servant. God has forgiven all our sin which was a huge debt and he asks that we forgive our neighbors their small debts. We must learn to forgive. I know that is easier said than done learning to forgive is necessary to our spiritual welfare.
Jesus addressed divorce and explained that they were causing their partners to commit adultery because they wouldn’t divorce them legally. God does hate divorce just like he hates sin but God hates injustice even more. Divorce is an individual matter and we need to learn to forgive and not judge.
Psalm 23 is one of the most quoted Psalm in the Bible for a good reason. It is comforting and empowering. We learn who God is and what he will do for us. We need never be afraid.
Lord, thank you for standing by your word even when we don’t understand what you are doing. You see the bigger picture. Thank your for being our shepherd.

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