Mon.’s Devo - Standing on Our Faith

Read Exodus 15:19-17; Matthew 22:1-33; Psalm 37:2-6; Proverbs 6:20-26 One of the miracles that we miss is that they walked across the Red Sea on dry ground. This was ground that had been at the bottom of the water for ever and God dried it in a few hours. When they saw the waves crashing down upon their enemies, Miriam took out her tambourine and led the women into a song and a dance praising the Lord. Moses led the people to Shur which means “beheld; a point of observation”. So what did they observe? They observed that there was no water in the wilderness and when they found some it was bitter. How true in life. In our wildernesses it seems like everything we try makes things worse. Moses found himself here but he cried out to the Lord and God turned the bitter water to sweet. That is what God does for us when we cry out to him in our wildernesses. The next place they went was a place in the wilderness of Sin between Elim and Mt. Sinai. Sin means “thorn; clay: mire. Elim means “mighty ones and Sinai means “my thorns”. So they were in the place where their sin was being exposed and they either had to let their sin be a thorn or rise above it and become one of God’s mighty ones. God gave them a test to see what they would choose. To be mighty in the Lord they would have to obey. The test was manna. They were to follow God’s instructions explicitly. They were just to pick up what they needed for that day and not a bit more. Those that obeyed were blessed those that didn’t had maggots and stench to deal with. Maggots and stench is exactly what we get when we do life our way. On the sixth day he told them to gather twice what they would need. They had to trust that it wouldn’t go bad even though they had seen it had in the past. Some of them did obey and some didn’t and had nothing to eat on the Sabbath. This was God’s first institution of the Sabbath and he told them that it was his gift to them. They wouldn’t have to work on this day. They then traveled to Rephidim with means “ballusters”. In other words they were walled in with no where to turn. Their dilemma was they were out of water in the middle of the wilderness. Every time they came to a problem they would resort back to their pattern of complaining and arguing. Every problem was a test from God and by complaining and arguing they were really saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?” That is what we are saying to the Lord when we doubt him in the middle of our problems. In Hebrews 3:17-19 the Bible referred to the children in the wilderness and said that they could not enter into God’s rest because of unbelief. Our faith is what is tested all through our lives. Are we going to believe that God is with us or not. In Matthew, Jesus told the parable about a king who prepared a great banquet for his son and no one would come. They all had their excuses and were too busy with their own lives to come to the palace and enjoy a banquet. The king was furious and sent his army to destroy the murderers and burn down their town. Then he invited the everyday people good and bad and filled his banquet hall with people. These people he first invited represented the whole Jewish nation. The everyday people represented the Gentiles. One man was found without the proper wedding garments and had no answer for himself. Wedding garments would have been supplied by the king so this man was without excuse not to wear it. He was bound and thrown into outer darkness - hell. He is the picture of the person who is convicted of his sin, and given the opportunity to be saved, but never takes the time to do it. When he meets God, he will not be wearing the robe of righteousness we get from Jesus but he will be wearing his own righteousness which will not get him into heaven. The Pharisees met together to plot to trick Jesus over his teaching. They first tried to get him to say something against the Roman government so they could get their help. Jesus beat them at their game. The next was a question about the resurrection of the dead. They wanted to get the Sadducees against him but Jesus answer blew their belief out of the water also. Everytime they would lay a trap, they would be caught in their own trap. The questions of the Pharisees just opened the eyes of the people to their lies and showed them the truth in Jesus. Lord, thank you that you are truth and you are worthy of our trust.