Exod. 7:6-7 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Moses and Aaron are told by God to tell Pharoah, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites go free out of his country. They are commissioned by God to confront a hardened ruler and to tell him “everything” God has commanded them to say. They are even warned by God that Pharaoh will not initially comply with their appeal and that the path to convincing him will not be easy. And even though Moses expresses his doubt to God (more than once) about God’s choice to use him, Moses (and Aaron) still go on to obey God - to do “just as the LORD commanded them.” And they were 80 and 83 years old!

It’s so easy for us to feel like God can’t use us, or use us nearly as much, as we grow older in life - to think that once we are past our prime, we are somehow past the place of being “really” useful to God. The only problem is that God doesn’t seem to define our “prime” like we do, as though we all pass through some sort of  “prime time” in our lives. In His eyes, if there is such a thing as “prime time,” it is a factor of attitude, not age. And as long as we have the right attitude, it doesn’t matter what age we are because He can use us! In the case of these two “old guys” - Moses and Aaron - they possessed an attitude of  teachability, willingness, and obedience before the LORD. And God used them powerfully!

Father, I want to grow old in serving You and never grow old of serving You. While I realize there will come times where I doubt You can truly use me, never let me possess an attitude that I am no longer useful to You. Help me to have the kind of attitude that says, “I am willing to do just as You command me to do,” no matter how old I am. And I know You will take care of the rest.

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Jesus has just concluded His teaching about confronting sin and restoring people to fellowship. This naturally brought up a question in Peter’s mind about forgiveness. When Peter asks Jesus how often one should forgive another person, I’m sure Peter thought he was being generous in offering up to seven times. I know that I would be hard pressed to forgive someone that many times! Forgiving another person is difficult when I have been hurt.

Yet I am sure that Jesus stunned the disciples when He responded with a seemingly impossible number, a number that implies an unlimited number of times that we should be willing to forgive others. “How is this possible?” would be running through my mind if Jesus said this to me. Yet I realize that God Himself offers unlimited forgiveness to me through the sacrifice of Jesus. He is calling me to follow His example in extending forgiveness. I believe that through the power of His Spirit and grace I too can offer forgiveness to others.

Father, I praise you for the gift of Your Son, and through Him and Your Spirit the ability to extend forgiveness to others. May I be humble and willing to follow Your example in my relationships with others.

Exodus 3:11-12a à “But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  And God said, “I will be with you.”

 
Moses was wondering what position of influence or power he had that properly equipped him for such a duty.  God is instructing Moses to go to the most powerful man in all of Egypt and ask him for a little favor; the release of an entire people from his control.  I am sure he was flooded by the fear of ineptitude and maybe even a lack of faith (I think I may have second thoughts about conversations with a burning bush as well).  But I love God’s answer: “Don’t worry about it, I’ll come along, too.”

 
I know how hesitant I can be to listen to and obey God’s call.  Sometimes it is hard to hear, sometimes it is hard to discern, and sometimes I don’t want to do what I think I heard Him say.  But God shows His love and care in these words, “I will be with you”.  Like Moses, I often question my own ability and circumstance, but God is teaching me, “It is not who you are, but who I am…It is not what you can do, but what I can do through you”.  I am comforted to know that God is with me.  I don’t have to depend on my own ability when the Spirit of God is working within me.

 
LORD, I am so thankful for your presence in my life.  Thank you for being with me, for guiding, protecting, and strengthening me.  When I can’t, you can.  Let me never forget to depend on you alone.  Walk with me today.  AMEN.       

“He said to them, ‘Who so you say that I am?’ And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

 One of the most profound questions to be asked and answered in life is found in this passage. Jesus starts with a general inquiry, “Who do do people say that the Son af Man is?” Peter’s response reflects the varying perceptions that the general public has of Jesus. Some must have heard things in Jesus’ teaching that resembled the prophets. Some saw the similarities with Jesus. This general question got a general response.

In the turn of a word, Jesus gets acutely personal with Peter. “Who do YOU say I am?” I’m struck by the way this question gets to the heart of my faith. My response must be in the first person, not just a general reflection of the crowd. This response is a far cry from a distant religion. It is a reflection of my personal, one-to-one, intimate relationship with the Son of the Living God. He’s more than a good, moral man. He’s more than a wise instructor. He’s my Lord. My Savior. My Rock, My Redeemer.

 Thank You, Lord, that You are personal, all-knowing and able to be known. There are so many misperceptions of who You were and are. Help me to be one who will represent and reflect You well. Lord, help me be quick to help others see the real You. Help me be ready to confess You as Lord. I pray that others will see You in me.

Proverbs 4:23  “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.”(NLT)

Issues of the heart, matters of the heart, the spiritual condition of the heart is a major theme and concern to God.  In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon puts the guarding of the heart as a top priority.  “Above all else…”  First and foremost guard your heart and monitor what affects it in this world, because it affects everything.  The heart guides and directs my actions and attitudes.

God wants my heart.  He wants my heart completely committed and drawn close to Him.  He knows the potential of my heart.  He knows that my heart has the ability to be “far away” (Matt. 15:8).  Jesus said in Matt. 15:19 that from the heart come evil thoughts and all kinds of sin.  Psalm 19:12, David knew there was sin lurking in his heart.  But when I give my heart to Jesus, receive his cleansing and forgiveness, my heart is clean.  My heart is His and my heart is being guarded, guided, and directed by His grace and mercy, because I’ve given my heart to Jesus Christ.

As a follower of Christ my first and foremost concern needs to be, above all, the giving of my heart to Him.  Because when I truly commit my heart to Christ, that heart decision, affects everything I do.  How I live, why I live, what I live, and who I live for.

Jesus, please help me to daily guard my heart and give it to you.  Lord, the world wants to corrupt me.  The enemy would seek to destroy me.  There are so many things that could do damage to the condition of my heart and my commitment to you.  Thank you for protection.  Thank you for your Word that makes this issue of guarding a top, the top, priority.  Help me Father to make that a personal, daily commitment.

Psalm 19:14  “May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

That’s my prayer to you Lord, today.

Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Oh LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

One of my favorite verses! Not just things said, but things that are pondered in my heart need to be pleasing and acceptable to the LORD. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (I Sam. 16:17) For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him. (Matt. 12:34b,35a) But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. (Matt. 15:18) I should not be concerned about what others think about what I say. Rather, I should be concerned about the condition of my heart. If I “listen” to what is coming out of my mouth I can evaluate the condition of my heart. My words and heart should be pleasing to Him because the LORD provides solid stability (as my rock) and redemption for wrongdoing (as my redeemer).

Daily, my prayer should be that of David. If my heart is full of those things in Matt 15:19 (evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander) then my words will reflect that. God sees my heart. It can’t be hidden from Him. Why would I want my heart to be anything but pleasing to Him who gave His Son’s life on my behalf and provides me stability as my rock? After what He did for me, I desire to be pleasing to Him in the very depths of my being.

Lord, guard my words today. As you hear them, may you find them acceptable, spoken in love. Create in me a pure heart. As you look at my heart, may you see only things that are acceptable. Make me aware of those things I am pondering in my heart that are not pleasing to you and make me willing to repent of them. Thank you for being my rock and my redeemer. May I NEVER take either for granted!

Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. Genesis 44:33

Things are not going well for the brothers, Israel.  Guilt ridden for selling their brother Joseph to the Ishmaelites (distant 1/2 cousins) for twenty shekels of silver.  Nearly starved due to the famine that is sweeping their land, their dad angry with them for taking his youngest, and favorite, son Benjamin back to Egypt, and now this… the Egyptian ruler (Joseph) will not allow them to return with Benjamin.  They can think of few fates worse than to return to the land of Canaan without their youngest brother, it will kill their father.  To date there has been little to indicate that these men posses character, but now Judah steps up.  He offers himself as a slave to this Egyptian ruler in trade for the freedom of his little brother.  This is admirable and prophetic, but ultimately not required.  The very gesture proves to be more than Joseph can endure and he reveals his true identity and this fairly dysfunctional family is one step closer to being restored.  I am impressed by God’s consistency in the midst of man’s folly.  Having been sold into Egyptian slavery Joseph now holds the power and the food that can save the family of Israel, the very family that would become a nation and provide us with a savior.  God uses the brother’s sin to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The brother Judah’s act of courage foreshadows the righteous act the Lion of Judah that would become Lamb of God and offer Himself for our sins, keeping the Father’s ultimate promise to mankind, a savior.  God, I am so grateful for the honesty of the stories in the Bible, they reveal man’s nature, my nature, and more importantly they reveal your unconditional commitment to me.  Thank you for loving a lost world.

Matt. 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

In Matt. 13:54-58, Jesus comes to His hometown and personally begins to teach the good news of salvation to any willing to listen. The people are amazed at His wisdom and miraculous powers, for apparently Jesus is not only saying great things to them, He is also doing great miracles among them. Their amazement, however, is short-lived as they begin to question the identity of Jesus with each other. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, and Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us?” And then someone yells out, “Where did this man get all these things?” What began as incredible amazement over Jesus, quickly turns into dark skepticism and disbelief about Him. They can’t even call Him by His name, but refer to Him as “this man.” Matthew notes that they actually end up “taking offense at Jesus.” As a result, Jesus does not do many miracles among them because of their lack of faith.” The great works He could have done among them, He chooses not to do because of their fickle faith.

Yes, how fickle we all can be at times when it comes to our faith in Jesus. It doesn’t seem to take much to move us from being amazed over Him one day (or hour) to being offended by Him the next. It seems so easy to ask questions about Him and never really ask a question of Him. I wonder what would have happened in this story if someone would have just asked Him, “Okay Jesus, would you tell us how and where all Your wisdom and power come from?” Or, “Could You help us better understand how You know all this and do all these things?” Would that have been enough for Jesus to continue to do more great works among them? Something tells me it wouldn’t have taken much. After all, back in Mark 8, Jesus healed a centurion’s son simply because the centurion humbly asked Jesus for His help.

Father, you know how fickle of a follower I can be. You know how fickle my faith can be in You on any given day. I can see so much of myself in the people of this story, but I don’t want to become like them. Please continue to cultivate my faith. May it never be said of my life that You couldn’t do many miracles in it because of my lack of faith in You.

Matthew 13:36-43 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a set of parables to the crowd gathered outside a house which is situated near a lake. Jesus tells these parables to His disciples and to the crowds to illustrate truths about the kingdom of God. In this story Jesus is pointing out that there will be different types of people in churches. There will be those who look and act Christ-like, but they don’t really have a relationship with Christ. In addition, there will be those who also look and act in Christ-like fashion who do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In the long run, however, God knows every heart and motivation and it is He who will make the judgment call regarding those who will enter the kingdom of God.

In light of this parable, I am convicted that judging another person’s salvation or relationship with God is not my call to make. I believe that I am called to discern the actions of another person who professes Jesus as their Savior in light of scripture when my motivations and heart are right before the Lord, but to claim I know their salvation status or their heart motivations is really just me trying to take the place of God. I think this is what Jesus was talking about when He warned us not to judge others or we will be judged too (Matthew 7:1-2). I can’t actually know what is in the heart of another person, that is God’s domain, perhaps I should leave that judgment to God.

Father, I am thankful that you know all things and that you will judge those things perfectly and justly. I pray that I may be a servant who does his part to be an active part of the kingdom of God, doing those things you have called me to, while not doing those things (like judging others) you have not called me to.

“But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”  Matt. 13:23
Every spring when I plant my garden of vegetables I am reminded of the value of good soil for planting.  It’s very discouraging to spend lots of time planting and get little reward for your labor.  It must be similar for God who has gone to great lengths to give us his Word, yet finds so many hearts unreceptive and distracted from the greatest news.
On the one hand, you have people who make no response at all.  They are oblivious to the life-giving message.  Jesus said they are like seeds sown on the path or roadside.  The seed is never drawn into the heart of the soil because it is hard and trampled down.  Why is it so hard? - from people walking on it.  Be careful for those who don’t care much about your heart.
Then there are those who show early signs of potential.  They sprout up quickly but soon wilt away with the first days of hot sun.  The soil is shallow and the plants don’t have much of a root system to gather nourishment.  These people receive the message with great fanfare but their lives are never transformed by it because they really have no faith.