Wed.’s Devo - Your Kingdom Come!

Read: Exodus 4:1-5:21; Matthew 18:1-20; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21 God had just given Moses his commission to go back to Egypt and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses had to remember his last confrontation with his people. They had thrown him under the bus and they were the reason he had to flee. If they didn’t respect him as the second in command of Egypt, why would they listen to him now that he was a nobody? He gave God all kinds of excuses and God gave him all kinds of powerful tools. God gave Moses a staff that could turn into a snake when it hit the ground. He gave him the power to produce and heal leprosy on his hand, then he gave him the power to turn the water of the Nile into blood on the ground. Moses still complained about his speech impairments. God told him He would give him his words. When Moses still wanted God to send someone else, God became angry and gave him Aaron to speak for him. God finally won the argument. Moses returned to his father-in-laws and told him he wanted to return to his relatives in Egypt. Jethro gave him his blessing so Moses and his sons headed back to Egypt on a donkey. God spoke to him and told him that when he got home, he would do all the miracles that he had given him to do but the Pharaoh would refuse to let him go. Then God would kill his first born son. That is interesting because, God then confronted Moses and was about to kill Moses. Zipporah his wife, quickly circumcised their firstborn son. She made the statement, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” The Lord left Moses alone. So what was that all about? I can only guess that the circumcism of their son had been a bone of contention between them and God let them know that it was serious. Zipporah realized, either she obey what God had told them to do or she would lose her husband. If they were going to eventually kill the Pharoah’s first born son, their own son needed to be covered by blood himself. Moses met with Aaron first and then the elders of Israel. They were glad that God had heard their cries and they accepted Moses as their deliverer till it demanded of them a test. When Moses went to Pharaoh and presented his request to him, he was not so receptive. Moses explained that they just wanted to go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord. If the didn’t, he would kill them with a plague or with the sword. Not only did Pharaoh say, no, he ordered the slave drivers to stop supplying them with straw to make their bricks. They had to provide their own straw and still make their daily quota of bricks. The Israelite foremen went to the Pharaoh to beg for mercy for their workers but the Pharaoh accused them of being lazy. As they were leaving the palace, they ran into Moses and Aaron. They blamed them for all the hardship they had caused on the people. Obeying God is not the easy road. It is always met with opposition from people and the devil. But, endurance and obedience always reap the greatest harvest in the end. In Matthew, Jesus was asked who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. He brought a little child and stood him in front of them. He told them that the one with the innocence of a little child was the one who was the greatest. To honor that innocence was to honor him. To cause a weak Christian to sin would be like tying a mill stone around his neck and drowning in the depths of the sea. The world that tempts people to sin is headed for much sorrow in the end. Then Jesus explained how to handle problems with fellow Christians. If they sin against you, you are to go privately. If that was unsuccessful, then you were to take another with you. If he refused to listen to you, then you were to take your case to the church and let them make a decision. If that decision was not received by the person, they were to be considered a pagan. Whatever you allow on earth, will be allowed in heaven and whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven. This is a statement worth contemplating! Lord, help us to stop tolerating the evil in this world. We have all heaven backing us up so we come against the evil lies, deception and murder in our nation and declare your kingdom come in America. May your Kingdom spread to the ends of the earth.