Mon.’s Devo - The Day to Remember

Read: Exodus 12:14-13:16; Matthew 20:29-21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 6:12-15 God told them that this day was a day to remember. This was the day of their salvation that would epitomize salvation for eternity. When we are saved we come out of our own Egypt of sin and idolatry and we participate with Passover, the shedding of Jesus blood on the cross. We apply his blood to the door of our heart and we enter through his door and are saved from eternal death. We then start our walk with the Lord. During our journey with the Lord we move into the time of unleavened bread where we are cleansing our thoughts and motives to choose God’s. We call it sanctification. We are to continue on to justification which is to live totally free from sin. Few can get past condemnation to get there but true freedom is when we realize our sins were taken on the cross and we were crucified with Christ and he now lives through us. The people of Egypt represented the seed of Satan and their first born son had to die to kill Satan’s power over the world. Satan’s first born had to be defeated before God’s children could accept his first born. They both had to die. Satan’s had to die to pay their penalty for what Satan did in Eden and God’s first born had to die to cover the sins of God’s people. He was the sacrifice. God told Moses that the first born was his and had to be bought back. That is a picture of our lives. God gives our mother the ability to produce life. We have to be bought back and die to our sin before we can be born again of God and free of the penalty of sin. On the night that the death angel passed over and killed all the first born of Egypt, Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and kicked them out of his land. He ironically told Moses to bless him as he left. The Egyptians also begged the Israelites to get out of town quickly. They gave them anything they asked for. The people had been instructed to ask for gold, silver, gems and clothes. They dressed their children in the wealth of Egypt and spoiled them. Exodus 12:38 says that a mixed multitude left Egypt meaning that not only Israelites but some Egyptians went with them. They had been in Egypt exactly 430 years. God gave Moses instructions about how to celebrate this festival every year. He said it would be like a mark branded on their hand on on their forehead. This is why Satan wants to mark his people with his mark on their hand and forehead. They were always to remember this day of deliverance. In Matthew, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die for us. He was met with two blind men on the side of the road as he left Jericho. They begged to be healed so Jesus healed them. They could now see to follow him. At Bethphage which is on the Mt. of Olives, Jesus asked for a donkey to ride into Jerusalem. He would enter the opposite side of Jerusalem from the path of the pascal lamb. Every year a perfect lamb chosen for the last sacrifice on Passover that would die for the nation. When it entered Jerusalem, all the people would shout Hosannah and lay palm branches at its feet. This is what they did for Jesus as he entered Jerusalem because he was truly the Pascal Lamb that would die for the sin of the whole world. Jesus went first to cleanse the temple then to heal the people. The religious leaders saw all the praise and adoration that Jesus was getting and were more jealous than ever. Jesus went back to Bethphage or Bethany to spend the night and in the morning he saw a fig tree that was not bearing fruit and cursed it. The fig tree represented Israel who was not ready for Jesus. It had rejected him so Jesus cursed it and it died. Now the kingdom would be offered to the Gentiles for a time. Lord, thank you for completely taking all our sins with you on the cross. Thank you that we can walk free of sin and in victory. Help us to remember our day of salvation.

Sun.’s Devo - The Last Plague

Read: Exodus 10:1-12:13; Matthew 20:1-28; Psalm 25:1-15; Proverbs 6:6-11 God told Moses why he made Pharoah stubborn. It was so He could display his miraculous signs so they could tell their children and grandchildren about how God made a mockery of the Egyptians. Then they would know that he was the Lord. The plagues had destroyed every season of crops and all the leaves on the trees. Of all the plagues in their history there had never been plagues like these. After the hailstorm, Moses told Pharaoh that locusts were coming to take out what the hail hadn’t. Pharaoh asked Moses who he was planning on taking with him if he let him go to sacrifice to the Lord. Moses told him everyone. At the beginning, Moses had only asked for the men. Pharaoh could see right through that that they weren’t planning on returning so he said, NO! So, Pharaoh got locusts then darkness that they could feel. After that, Pharaoh called Moses in and told him he could take everyone but the livestock. Moses said, No. He told Pharaoh that the last plague would be the death of their firstborn sons. Moses was given instructions for what his people were to do to be saved from the last plague. The were to take a spotless lamb, kill it and smear the blood on the top and sides of the doors of their houses. They were then to enter the house, cook the lamb and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. It was to be consumed that night. They were to eat it fully dressed with their shoes on and their walking staff in their hands because by faith they were leaving Egypt. God explained that this seventh month would now be the first month of their new year. They were going to be born again as a nation. They were given the practice of Passover as a picture of Jesus death on the cross which made it possible for us to leave our sinful lives (Egypt) and escape to freedom in Christ. Our day of salvation is our beginning of a journey out of Egypt into the promised land of rest and blessing. In Matthew, Jesus gave the parable about the wealthy landowner who hired people throughout the day and paid them the same at the end of the day. The ones who had worked all day had been told what their wages would be and had agreed to them but when they saw that the ones who worked only an hour got the same pay they were upset. The landowner told them that what he did was his right to do. He had the right to be generous. What a lesson to those of us who have been walking with the Lord for a long time. We cannot let ourselves get jealous when we see God pour out his favor on those who are new to the kingdom. It is God’s right to bless whoever he wants to. We should rejoice with them. Jesus was taking his disciples to Jerusalem and he wanted to share with them exactly what was about to happen. He was about to be handed over to the Romans, beaten, then crucified. But on the third day he would rise from the grave. Their reaction is priceless. The mother of James and John came and asked that her sons sit in places of honor in his kingdom. Jesus told them they didn’t know what they were asking because to be elevated in God’s kingdom you must face great spiritual warfare on earth. Satan is not just going to let someone have that place without a fight. Jesus explained that he was not the one who would choose those positions. They had been chosen long ago by God. Jesus told them that the way to become great in heaven was to be a servant on earth. Lord, may we learn to be servants here on earth and let promotions come from you in your timing to whoever you want to promote. Our reward is You.

Sat.’s Devo - The Plagues Have Begun

Read: Exodus 8:1-9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 6:1-5 The plagues had started. They began with the Nile turning to blood. Pharaoh didn’t give Moses his request so it began a stream of plagues where Pharaoh was given another chance to do the right thing and refused. The second plague was frogs, the third was gnats and the fourth was flies. On the fourth one, God made a distinction between Goshen where his people were and Egypt where Pharaoh was. None of the plagues crossed the line anymore. They all stayed in Egypt just in case Pharaoh thought these were natural disasters coming on the whole land. The flies didn’t travel to Goshen. Their cattle weren’t killed in the fifth plague and their people and animals didn’t get boils in the sixth plague. The seventh plague was hail and it only fell in Egypt. Through all the plagues Pharaoh vacillated back and forth but in the end hardened his heart. These plagues were specifically against the gods of Egypt. They had a god for everything God touched. They had a frog-god, a Nile-god, a gnat-god, etc. The last god to be brought down would be Pharaoh himself as he believed himself to be a god. In Matthew, we get to see the personal side of Jesus who loved children and made it clear that he had time for them. Then he was approached by a very righteous man who addressed Jesus as “Good Master” and wanted to know how he could have eternal life. Jesus asked him why he addressed him as good when only God is good but he told him that if he wanted to enter into life he should keep the commandments. Jesus wasn’t talking about eternal life, he was just talking about living on this earth. Eternal life was not offered until he rose from the dead. The man then wanted to know which commandments he was talking about and Jesus gave him some of the Ten Commandments. He assured Jesus he had done those from a youth so Jesus then dealt with his heart. Jesus told him to go and sell all he had and come and follow him. The man turned away because he was very rich and his riches had his heart. Jesus told his disciples that it was very hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven but not impossible because with God all things are possible. Lord, may our hands and heart be pure and may we have a right relationship with you.

Fri.’s Devo - The War Begins 1-28-21

Read: Exodus 5:22-7:25; Matthew 18:21-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 5:22-23 Moses went back to the Lord and complained. Things had not turned out quite like he had in mind. He thought it would be a one and done thing. He would tell Pharaoh what God said, Pharaoh would say no and God would show his power, then they would be on their way. But, it all had to take time. It takes time to confront evil and wage a war against it. That is where we are in history. We are waging war against the evil that we didn’t even know about until 2020. I will take time to confront it which is where we are, and see it gone which is what we are waiting for. But like in Moses’ time God doesn’t start a war he doesn’t intend on winning. God assured Moses that everything was going as he had planned. When God was through, Pharaoh would be forcing them to leave. God reminded Moses of the promise he gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised to give them the land of Canaan and he had not forgotten his promise and had no intention of not keeping it. First he was going to judge Egypt for their evil sins against his people. Moses tried to tell the leaders of Israel but they were not interested in hearing anything Moses had to say. God gives the genealogy of the first three sons of Jacob and stops because that is where they were in history. Every son represents a period in history. Reuben represented the age from Adam to Noah. Simeon represents the time from Noah till Moses and now Levi would represent the time of Moses and the giving of the law and establishing the priesthood of worship. God told Moses that he would make him seem like God to Pharaoh and Aaron his brother would be his prophet. Every time Pharaoh refused to let them go, God would bring down his hand of judgment on the land. When Pharaoh asked Moses for a sign, he threw down his staff which became a serpent. His staff represented his authority with God. It was what Moses leaned on and his blessing but to Pharaoh it was a curse. Pharaoh’s magicians could mimic Moses’ miracles but Moses snake ate theirs. Pharaoh refused to listen so Moses stretched forth his staff over the Nile and it became blood. It lasted a whole week. In Matthew, the disciples asked Jesus how many times they should forgive someone but Jesus answered with how they should forgive. “Seventy times seven” means “completely and thoroughly”. He then gave the parable to explain that they had been forgive their sins which was worth millions so shouldn’t they forgive a few dollars worth of offense. He goes right into his discussion on divorce to prove his point. Moses allowed divorce because of their hard hearts. He knew they would commit adultery not only with their spouse but also with Him. Divorce had to be made legal through a document to break the covenant. In Jesus day, they were not making their divorces legal so to remarry was to commit adultery because they were not legally divorced. God divorced Israel and Judah but he said that he would one day remarry them. Jesus explained that committing adultery breaks the covenant just like Israel and Judah broke their covenant with God when they committed adultery so many times with foreign gods. Lord, help us to forever stay true to our covenant with You. Give us strength to wait on You for your timing.

Thurs.’s Devo - What is in your Hand?

Read: Exodus 4:1-5:21; Matthew 18:1-20; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21 God and Moses were having the conversation about returning to Egypt and setting God’s people free. Moses protested that no one would listen to him. God asked the question that is asked all through the Bible. “What is in your hand?” In other words, what have I already given you that you can use? Jesus asked the disciples the same thing when they had no food to feed the multitude. God asks us that question when we are up against problems. We already have what we are going to need or it is ours for the taking; we just have to reach out our faith and take it. Moses had a shepherd’s staff which seemed useless when facing a Pharaoh who despised shepherds and especially Hebrew shepherds. God gave Moses two signs to use: the snake and leprosy. Moses’ next argument was that he was not a good public speaker. So God reluctantly gave him Aaron to speak for him. Moses was to show the Pharaoh all his signs but God would harden his heart. Then he would tell Pharaoh that Israel was God’s first born son so he was to set him free to worship him. Pharaoh would refused and God would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son. The last event would be the killing of Pharaoh’s first born son. On the way to Egypt, the Lord confronted Moses and was about to kill him until Zipporah stepped in and knew what to do. She took their first born son and circumcised him. She proclaimed that now their marriage was sealed in blood. God spoke to Aaron to go and meet Moses at Sinai. Moses showed him his two signs and together they met with the elders of Israel. The elders believed they were from God and worshipped the Lord for seeing their misery and coming to their defense. Their devotion lasted until they met opposition, then they turned on Aaron and Moses. When Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh he was not impressed. Moses and Aaron asked to take a three-day journey into the wilderness to meet and worship their Lord. If they didn’t go, the Lord would kill them with a plague or with the sword. Instead of letting them go, Pharaoh ordered more work for them. Now they had to gather their own straw to make bricks and make the same quota per day. The Israelites foremen went to Pharaoh to beg for better treatment but were denied their request. They told Moses and Aaron that this was all their fault. How quickly they changed their worship into a complaint. In Matthew. the disciples asked who was the greatest in the kingdom and Jesus brought them a little child. He said that the one who is humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of God. Those who accept the humble will be accepting him but anyone who harms the humble will be greatly punished. The world tempts us to sin and the one who does the tempting will face hell. He warned them not to look down on any of the children or the humble because their angels are always in the presence of God. It is not God’s will that any of them perish. God gave them a formula to follow if someone sins against you. You are to confront them face to face. If they repent then you have won them back. If they don’t then you are to take two witnesses back with you to confront them again. If that person still refused to listen then you are to take you case to the church. If they won’t listen to the church then you are to treat that person as a pagan. He followed it with whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven and whatever we permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. So, to not confront a person’s sin in the church is to allow it both on earth and in heaven. Also, to agree with two or more believers concerning a thing causes God to move for you because when two or more believers meet, Jesus is with them. Lord, help us to agree about the right thing and oppose what you oppose. May we see what we have in our possession that you want us to use for your kingdom.

Wed.’s Devo - Moses’ Mission

Read: Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14 Moses grew up in Pharoah’s palace but always knew he was an Israelite. One day he went out to visit his own people and saw how oppressed they were being treated. He witnessed an Egyptian beating an Israelite and when he thought no one was looking, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. When Moses went back to visit the Hebrews the next day he found that everyone knew what he had done. News quickly made it to the palace so Moses had to flee for his life. He ended up in Midian which means “strife and contention”. He saw that in his first encounter at the well. The contention was between the women shepherds and the men shepherds. Moses stepped in and rescued the women and drew water for their flocks. When the women who were seven daughters of the priest of Midian reported why they were back so quickly, their father told them to go back and bring Moses home. The fathers name was Reuel whose name means “friend of God”. Moses came and lived with Reuel and eventually was given his daughter Zipporah to be his wife. They had a son named Gershom which means “a stranger desolate” which was how Moses felt. One day Moses took Reuel’s sheep to pasture on Mt. Sinai. Reuel was also called Jethro which means “excellent remnant”. One of those names might have been his official title since he was the priest. Both names give us a great picture of who this man was and why God would choose him to nurture Moses and prepare him for his assignment. While on Mt. Sinai, God appeared to Moses in a bush that continued to burn. He told him to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. God introduced himself as the God his father, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God told Moses that he had seen the oppression of his people in Egypt and wanted to rescue them from Egypt and give them their own land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites now lived. Then he gave him the kicker…he was sending him to go lead them out. Moses protested but God told him he would be with him and bring him back to this very mountain to worship him. Not only did God bring Moses back to this mountain but he showed all of Israel his power through this mountain called Sinai. Here God would speak to them then give them his law and call them his people. When Moses asked God what to call him, God said his name was I AM. God told Moses to meet with the leaders of Israel first and tell them His plan. They would accept him but then they were to go to the Pharaoh who would not accept them. God would have to use his hand to strike the Egyptians with all kinds of miracles before they let them go. Eventually they would leave with the wealth of Egypt. In Matthew, Jesus was asked about the scriptures pertaining Elijah. The scriptures said that Elijah must return before the coming of the Messiah. The people actually thought that Jesus might be Elijah. Elijah did return on the Mt.of Transfiguration and Jesus explained that he did come through John the Baptist. In this we know that it was the spirit of Elijah that would come before the Messiah. Elijah in the Old Testament arrived on the scene during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. He confronted them and God’s people over their sin of idolatry. John the Baptist arrived on the scene during the days of the evil Herod’s. He exposed their sin and the sin of the nation also. He came to prepare the people’s hearts to receive salvation and the Savior. Jesus was brought a boy who was demon-possessed and the disciples had not been able to help him. Jesus rebuked the whole generation for not having faith. He wasn’t just talking about delivering the boy, he was talking about accepting him as the Messiah. Jesus had an interesting discussion with Peter over taxes. The discussion really had to do with living in this world with its rules when you are really a part of another kingdom where those things don’t apply. Jesus told Peter not to offend them and he provided the tax miraculously and had him pay it. We live in this world where we are bound to many of its regulations but our citizenship is in heaven where we are not slaves, don’t pay taxes and everything is free. It is tricky navigating through that matrix. The key is love. If we do everything out of a heart of love then we will bend when we need to bend and stand up when we need to stand. Lord, give us discernment and great wisdom to be in this world but not of it.

Mon.’s Devo - The Blessings of Jacob

Read: Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29:16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20 God had told Jacob that he would see Joseph again and that Joseph would close his eyes when he died. Jacob was dying so Joseph came with his two sons so Jacob could bless them before he left the earth. Jacob not only blessed them but he adopted them as his own and they were now counted among the tribes of Israel. Any sons born after this to Joseph would be his own. Jacob recounted the history of Joseph’s mother, Rachel. She had died in Canaan and was buried in Bethlehem - the place Jesus would be born. It came time for Jacob to bless Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob brought them to Jacob and they were so young they came to his knees. Joseph strategically placed them where Jacob would place his right hand on Ephraim’s head since he was the oldest and his left hand on Manasseh’s head. Jacob crossed his hands placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head. When Joseph saw this he tried to stop Jacob but Jacob knew exactly what he was doing. Ephraim would be greater than his older brother so the blessing of the first born would be his. With his arms he was making the sign of the cross. Jesus would come and cause us to forget our past and make us fruitful. Jacob blessed Joseph first and then his two boys. He said that their names would be synonymous with the word “blessing”. He told Josepth that his posterity would return to Canaan and told him that he was giving him an extra portion of the land that he took from the Amorites. That was true because Manasseh had land on both sides of the Jordan River. Jacob called all his sons and gave them their blessing. Each of them was blessed and prophesied over. Their prophecies stood the test of time. Jacob gave specific instructions about where his bones should be buried. He wanted them buried with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Leah’s bones in Hebron. In Matthew, Jesus returned from the area of Tyre and Sidon back to the Sea of Galilee. The crowd was there waiting with their sick and demon-possessed. Jesus healed them and taught them. He didn’t want to send them away hungry so he had them sit down. He told the disciples what he wanted to do - feed the crowd. He asked them what they had. They had seven loaves and a few small fish. Jesus did what he had done before. He blessed the food then broke it and gave it to the disciples. The disciples distributed the food and the 4,000 men and their families ate. The disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. Then Jesus sent the people home and crossed over to the region of the Magadan. The Pharisees came to Jesus and demanded that he give them a sign to prove that he was the Messiah. Jesus had given them so many signs they had to be blind to not see them. So, he told them that the only sign he would give them was the sign of the prophet Jonah. Then he left. I’m sure they had no idea what he meant. They didn’t know that like Jonah he would be in the belly of the earth for three days then resurrect like Jonah did. Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee and Jesus began to teach them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. They immediately though he was talking about physical bread and realized they had none. Jesus explained he was not speaking naturally but spiritually. The yeast of the Pharisees was their wrong teachings. The Pharisees had abandoned God’s laws for their own man-made laws. They made it impossible to be good enough to find God. Lord, help us to see with spiritual eyes and see beyond the natural. May we see as You see and walk in the supernatural with you.