Mon.’s Devo - Investing in the Kingdom

Read: Exodus 26:1-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11 God was very particular and wordy in his instructions for making the tabernacle and every detail in it. I see it as a picture of how he created man and made every detail of our make up. The curtains are like the sinews and protoplasm of our bodies. The embroidered angels are like the threads of our DNA and the curtains over the top and the leather skins is like the epidermis of our bodies. The structure with the poles and all the sockets are like our bone structure because we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We are wonderfully and fearfully made. The Ark of the Covenant which was the very presence of God went into the deepest part of the Tabernacle which is our heart. The altar of incense was made to stand before the ark of God’s presence. It was where the priest would offer his prayers for the people and himself to God. It was to have four horns to stand for the four corners of the earth and for mercy. I wonder if this isn’t in reference to our consciousness. We pray and repent of what we are conscious of. Outside in the courtyard was the bronze altar where the animals were sacrificed. This stood for the cross where Jesus shed his blood for our sins. All the people could watch and see the lambs slain for their sins. The courtyard had curtains for boundaries and a gate where the people could enter. All who entered that gate were entering into the gates of salvation. The courtyard was not big enough for all the people to come in which says to me that only the ones who wanted to participate would. Salvation is free to anyone who wants it but it has to be sought by the person individually. In Matthew, Jesus gave them several parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. The first was about ten bridesmaids who were waiting for the groom to come. Five kept renewing their oil and five let their oil run out. The bridegroom came at midnight and only the five with oil could go out and meet him. The others had to go and buy oil and it was too late. When they came to the door, the groom wouldn’t allow them to enter because he said he didn’t know them. We put the emphasis on the running out of oil but I wonder if the emphasis doesn’t need to be on the part where the groom says, “I never knew you.” Their hearts were not ready because they didn’t have a relationship with the groom to begin with. The next parable is the same. The man left on a long trip and entrusted his treasures to three men. The first two men invested well and had a good return to give their master. The third hid his and his excuse was that he knew him to be a harsh man who harvested crops he didn’t plant and gathering crops he didn’t cultivate. The owner is God and that was this third man’s view of God. He thought God to be a harsh God who used men as his slaves to earn him money he didn’t deserve. This man had nothing to give God at the end of his life. He was like the foolish virgins who had no oil. God gave that man’s gifts to the ones who invested well. We are given one life to choose if we are going to invest into the Kingdom of God. What we do with our lives shows how much we value the things of the God’s Kingdom. Our great reward is not on this earth but at the end of our lives. Lord, may we make decisions for our lives based on your Kingdom and your will on earth. May we invest well.

Sun.’s Devo - The Signs of His Coming

Read: Exodus 23:14-25:40; Matthew 24:29-51; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 7:24-27 God told his people that three times a year they were to join in celebrating his feasts. The first was the feast of Unleavened Bread which consisted of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. This feast was in the spring during the harvest of the barley. The second was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost which would happen 50 days after Passover during the wheat harvest and the last three would happen in the fall during the harvesting of the olive and the grave. Those consisted of the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. These feasts would pinpoint events on God’s timeline for Israel which would affect the whole earth. If they celebrated these feasts in the way God instructed, he would protect them and bring them into the land he had given them. He would drive out the people living there who worshipped idols and false gods. They were to be careful not to worship any of these gods or make any treaties with them or their gods. God called Moses to come with Aaron, his two oldest sons Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders. They were to worship from a distance but Moses was to come near to God. Moses told the people and they all agreed they would do everything the Lord said. Early the next morning Moses built an altar and set up 12 pillars to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. He had some of the men present burnt offerings and sacrifices on them. Moses read the Book of the Covenant aloud to the people and they agreed to obey the terms of the covenant. Moses climbed up to a place that had blue lapis lazuli under his feet. The men with him ate a covenant meal there in the presence of the Lord. Only Joshua went with Moses as his assistant. Moses stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights. God gave Moses a list of the things the people could offer to him to be used in the tabernacle. He also gave him instructions first on the ark of the covenant and its covering. Then the instructions for the incense table and the menorah. All of the furniture in the tabernacle had meaning and purpose. God showed Moses the picture of the tabernacle in heaven and he was to proportionally build the same thing here on earth. In Matthew, Jesus was telling his disciples what the end would look like. He told them that by looking at the fig tree they would know when he was coming. The fig tree is Israel and it will be the sign of when Jesus is coming. When the Jewish people begin to bud and sprout we will know Jesus is about to come on the scene. That would look like many Jewish people waking up to the realization that Jesus is the Messiah. No one will know the day of his coming but his coming is not the rapture, it is the Second Coming which will be after the rapture. Those on the earth when the rapture comes will be aware it is about to happen. Jesus said that he wasn’t coming as a thief to them. The time of his return will be like the days of Noah. In those days there was no righteousness on the earth except a small remnant in Noah’s family. Man’s DNA will be mixed with demonic blood and the world will be filled with cyborgs just like it was in the days of Noah (Genesis 6). Lord, may we walk righteously in this evil world. May our light shine as a beacon of salvation and hope to the earth.

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Laws

Read: Exodus 21:22-23:13; Matthew 24:1-28; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 7:6-23 God gave them specific instructions about how to handle every situation they would come up against. His laws were just and fair. They took into account the circumstance and the intent of the heart. These were the problems of the people that Moses had spent all day deciding. He taught these laws to the men he trusted and they were able to help govern the people so there was peace. One of the laws that stood out to me was the one about taking bribes. God said that bribes would make a person ignore something that he clearly saw and it would make even a righteous person twist the truth. We see this distortion in our government and it it so true. I pray for the fear of the Lord to be upon myself and our nation. In Matthew, Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds with his disciples. They were pointing out the different structures of the Temple when Jesus said that the day would come when they would all be torn down. The disciples asked when this would happen and what would be the sign of his return and the end of the world. They believed that he would set up his earthly kingdom while they were alive. When he died he would one day come back and it would be the end. They had their timeline a little messed up. He gave them the signs of his return. First the kingdom had to be preached to every nation. The Temple would be defiled by some sacrilegious object and when that happened the remnant would need to flee to the mountains. Things will get so bad that God will have to cut the time short to save anyone. Many false prophets and false Messiah’s will pop up and they were not to follow them. Discernment will be key during those times. Lord, you are king forever. You give us strength and you bless us with peace.

Fri.’s Devo - God Gives His Laws

Read: Exodus 19:16-21:21; Matthew 23:13-39; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 7:1-5 On the third day, the cloud that they followed covered the mountain while thunder and lightning filled the sky. There was a blast of the ram’s horn that grew louder and louder and wasn’t blown by a human. God came down on top of Mt. Sinai and called Moses up to him. God had told Moses not to let the people come up to the mountain and even touch it or they would die. God told Moses to go back and bring Aaron with him but not the priests or the people. Moses went down and told them what the Lord had said. God gave Moses what we call the Ten Commandments. Jesus summed them up with two. The first was to love the Lord with all your heart - then you wouldn’t have any other got but Him or make an idol or image of him or misuse his name and you would observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. The second was to love your neighbor as you love yourself which would cause you to honor your parents, not murder or commit adultery or steal or testify falsely against your neighbor or covet your neighbor’s things. All the sounds and sights scared the people greatly. Moses explained that God came in that way so they would fear him and not sin. He spoke to them directly from heaven so they would know that God doesn’t talk through idols, but directly to their hearts. God told them to make an altar of uncut stones and without steps. The altars of Egypt were carved with figures and ornaments that lead to superstition and all sorts of occultist practices. It was not to have steps as for the sake of decency since the priests wore loose, wide, flowing garments. Jesus warned the people not to be impressed with the long fancy prayers of the Pharisees because their hearts were naked before him and evil. As priest before God, we can’t fool God with our self-righteousness because we are naked and exposed before him. We come as we are, humbly with no pretense and he accepts us and clothes us with his robe of righteousness. Then God gave Moses rules for relationships with slaves, their families, and spouses. He gave them the laws about what to do with evil-doers and their punishment. One that got my attention was the one about if a master gave a wife to a slave. At the end of the sixth year if he decided he didn’t want to leave his wife and children, he would choose to remain a slave and have his ear pierced to the door and serve his master his whole life. That is what Adam did in the garden. He was given a wife by the Lord and when she was deceived he could have chosen not to sin and stayed in the garden while she was exiled. Instead he chose to stay and be a slave to sin his whole life because of his love for his bride. Jesus did the same. God gave him a wife, us, and he chose to be the sacrifice for our sin so that we could be restored to relationship with him. We have to make that same choice to leave this world and be pierced to the door which is Christ and live our lives as slaves to him. The better news is that Christ doesn’t consider us slaves but friends of him and his bride. In Matthew, Jesus nails the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and religious leaders. They were so concerned with appearances but their hearts were wicked to the core. They not only hurt themselves but kept the people from the truth that was entrusted to them. They would be held responsible for the blood of all the murders from Abel to Zechariah (A to Z). They would be held responsible for rejecting the Messiah. Lord, we treasure your commands and hide them in our hearts that we won’t sin against you or our fellow man.

Thurs.’s Devo -God is My Banner

Read: Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; PSalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35 The people of Amalek came out to attack the Israelites. Amelek means “perversion”. God told Moses to pick some men to go and fight them and to stand on top of the hill holding the staff of God in his hand. Whenever Moses raised his staff they would gain the advantage but if he dropped his arms from exhaustion, they would start losing. God wanted them to know that they were only going to win if he helped them. Finally, Aaron and Hur held his hands till sun set up so they could win. God told him to write it down: God would erase the memory of the Amelekites from the earth. We will read later that God told Saul to do this very thing. God gave them another name for him: Yaweh-Nissi which means “God is my Banner”. Moses hands were the balusters that held up God’s invisible banner when they fought. Praise is our weapon against the enemy and when we raise our hands we are raising God’s banner. Moses then sent for his family to come and meet him. His two sons and his wife came. His first son was named Gerhom which means “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.” Moses had been raised by Egyptians and Midianites. He had lived as a stranger in a foreign land. His second son was named Eliezer which means “the God of my ancestors was my helper”. He recognized that it was the God of Abraham that had helped him and not the Egyptian gods he had been raised to worship. Jethro also came to meet him and to hear first hand how the Lord had rescued them out of Egypt. Jethro had been Moses’ mentor to teach him God’s ways. He was a priest in Midian and knew the Lord. He observed how Moses spend his whole day being the judge of all the people’s cases and told Moses he was going to wear himself out. He advised him to find men who hated bribes and teach them God’s ways. They could handle the small cases and he could just handle the hard ones. They came to Mt. Sinai exactly two months after they had left Egypt. God told Moses to tell the people to prepare to meet with Him. They were to wash their clothes and abstain from having sex until after He came because he was coming on the third day. In Matthew, the Pharisees took Jesus aside and tried to trap him again. They asked him what was the most important commandment in the law of Moses. Jesus told them to love the lord your God will all you heart, soul and mind and the second was equally important…to love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the other commandments would be met if they just met these two. Then Jesus asked them whose son they thought the Messiah was. They told him the son of David. So Jesus asked them why David called the Messiah his Lord in one of his Psalms (Psalm 110:1). They had no answer. Then Jesus nailed the Pharisees. He told the people to listen to what they say about scripture but not how they walk. They were nothing but hypocrites that did their worship for show when they hearts were far from God. Only the Messiah is the Good Teacher because he does what he teaches. Lord, you are our banner. May we raise you high and exalt your name in our lives.

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.

Tue.’s Devo -Crossing Through the Red Sea

Read: Exodus 13:17-15:18; Matthew 21:23-46; Psalm 26:1-12; Provers 6:16-19 Jacob had made Joseph promise to bury his bones in the family plot and Joseph made the same request. He knew that one day God would take them back to their land and now 430 years later, God was doing it. It took the children of Israel days to get to the Red Sea. God had led them during the day with a pillar of cloud and at night the pillar became fire. God turned them back to camp by Pi-hahiroth. Pi-hahiroth means “mouth of the defiled”. It was across from Baal-Zehphon, the storm god of the north or the winter. He was the god who protected maritime trade so sanctuaries constructed to him were found around the Mediterranean sea. God dealt with this last god also as he took over the sea and let the wealth of Egypt pass through without a storm. He allowed that god to unleash his anger on the Egyptians instead of his people. When the Israelites were cornered with no escape in sight, God told them to stand back and see his salvation. He told Moses to pick up his staff and raise it over the Read Sea and divide it so the Israelites could pass through. I assume it was Michael who was leading them. He then went to the back and protected the very last one of them till they all passed over safely. When the Egyptians followed them into the sea, they realized God was fighting against them and for the Israelites. Not one of them made it out of the sea alive. When Moses raised his staff back over the waters, the sea completely covered them and they drowned. They saw God’s salvation on that day just like God said they would. Moses sang this triumphant song and taught it to the people. In Matthew, we get to see that the ones who were in authority on the earth were afraid of the people so it was really the people who had the power and didn’t realize it. The religious leaders questioned Jesus authority to do good. Jesus turned it back on them trying to force them into a corner. He asked them who’s authority John the Baptist came in. If they answered that it was from God then he would ask them why they didn’t believe him and if they answered that it wasn’t from God, the people would stone them. The same would happen if they said his authority wasn’t from God. Then Jesus told two parables. The first had to do with obedience which they had failed and the prostitutes and sinners had responded. The second was about the religious leaders who had been given a standard for worshipping God and leading the people. Israel was God’s vineyard that they had been given responsibility to protect and train in righteousness. Instead they had killed every prophet and now were about to kill the Messiah. He was the chief cornerstone that they were rejecting. Lord, you are the King of all the kings and the Lord of all the lords. You are the all-powerful, omnipotent God and we praise you. We accept you as our chief corner stone.