Tues.’s Devo - God is With Us

Read: Exodus 4:1-5:21; Matthew 18:1-22; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21
God gave Moses two signs to show the Israelites so they would believe that God had sent him. The first was his rod becoming a snake and then a rod again, and the other was his hand becoming leprous then healed. If they didn’t believe the first two, then he was to take water from the river and pour it out as blood on the ground. All of these were pictures. God’s rod of authority had been given to the serpent, Pharaoh, but God was taking it back to himself. The sin of the people, represented by leprosy would be taken away as they hid in the garment of God’s wing. Their sin would cause the blood of Jesus to be shed upon the ground and only then would they be set free.
Moses begged God to send someone else because he felt so unqualified. God was angry that Moses wouldn’t trust him to help him but God relented and agreed to let Moses’ brother Aaron speak for him.
I wonder how many times we miss being used to do something wonderful for the Lord because we refuse to step out in faith. We think it has something to do with our abilities when it has nothing to do with our talents but everything to do with God’s great power. He is just looking for a vessel to use.
When Moses stepped out to obey him, he still had many trials to go through. He had to get some things straight. The first thing was his family. He hadn’t circumcised his youngest son. Once he got that done, he could continue.
Then there was convincing others to follow him. It was going well at first till opposition came. Then he lost his followers. When God asks us to do something, it doesn’t mean that the sea is going to part without having to fight the opposition first. Satan is not going to take defeat sitting down, so we have to know that there will be a battle to fight before the deliverance. God promises to be with us and fight for us.
In Matthew, the disciples asked Jesus who was greatest in the kingdom and he said the one keeps himself the most innocent, like a child. The one who receives the weak and untaught will also be great in the kingdom. Jesus cares greatly about the lost sheep and he wants us to care about them too. Ministry is messy and is all about dealing with hurting and hard to deal with people.
Jesus told them what to do if a person sins against you. You are to confront him yourself. If he refuses to listen, then you need to take a witness or two. If he still won’t listen and repent, then you need to treat him as a person who is not saved.
Then Jesus talked about binding and loosing. We can bind truth about our loins and loose our selves of sin. We can’t walk on this earth without getting dirt on us so we can loose it by a simple declaration of faith. We forgive people, but we loose sin.
Lord, we loose the sin that has gotten on our flesh and we choose to bind truth about our heart. We are the righteousness of Jesus and we choose to walk in truth.