Day 45: Num 4:1 - 5:31

It's so interesting in this passage to see how God has specifically determined which groups of people will do do specific things regarding His ministry. It seems like there are alot of people out there who don't know exactly where they fit in God's will and in the ministry. They know that they're supposed to do something for God, but they're not really sure what it is. It's sad to say, but I believe there are alot of people out there today who are in the wrong area of ministry simply because they didn't take the time to listen to God and find out exactly what they were supposed to do. I can only imagine how chaotic it would have been if each and every Levite male just went to work doing whatever he thought was best for the temple. There would have been people moving things that didn't need to be moved and people taking apart things that needed to stay together. The point is, if we will just be faithful to listen to God, He'll show us exactly what our place is in the ministry and He'll give us the proper skills and talents to do His will.

- Lord, help me to understand exactly what my place is in the ministry and give me the tools and resources that I need to do Your work. Help me to look past what I feel like doing and understand that You've given me a special talent and purpose in Your ministry and if I will just be faithful and do that thing that You've called me to do, when I get to Heaven I too will be able to hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!" -

Day 44: Num 2:1 - 3:51

It's important to see how God commanded Moses to count all of the adult males of all of the tribes except Levi. God wanted to make sure that everyone knew just how strong their army was. I think it's  so important in our Christian lives to understand that when we follow God, the devil will always be against us and he will always be thinking of ways to attack us. If we have absolutely no idea how we're supposed to protect ourselves, then we've lost the battle before it's even begun. God had Moses count all of the men who would be soldiers and He had them come up with a marching strategy so that if and when the enemy attacked, they wouldn't just run around like crazy wondering why "all these bad things always happen to us," but they would stand up and march to meet their opposition.

In chapter 3, I learned something that I'm not sure if I ever paid attention to. God decided to separate the entire tribe of Levi and use them as a substitute for all of the firstborn sons of the rest of the tribes. "Coincidentally," the number of Levite males made up for 99% of all of the firstborn sons throughout the rest of the nation. In other words, instead of every parent forcing their firstborn son to commit his entire life to working at the Tabernacle, it just so happened that the number of Levite males was almost the exact number needed for the Tabernacle to be taken care of. Hhhmmmm, I wonder if this is in any way a shadow of another priest who came down as a man to take our place before the Father to make atonement for our sins. Very interesting!

- Father, help me to always be prepared to fight regardless of how things are going on around me. Although I have Your protection, I understand that the devil will still try to attack me and I want to make sure that I'm ready. Help me to remember You Word and write it on the tablet of my heart so that when the devil does attack, I'll be ready to march out and take him down. - 

Day 43: Lev 27:1 - Num 1:54

You know, it looks to me like the book of Numbers may not be one of the more romantic books of the Bible, but it's a very necessary book in helping us understand the Children of Israel. It's easy to think of "Bible Stories" and only bring to mind the big, fancy, action-packed stories, but the fact of the matter is that not everything in there is like that. So many people seem to get this idea that a Christian life should be all big an excited like the "Bible Stories" and as soon as things get menial or difficult, they cut and run. The thing that we must be reminded of from these passages is that real life is real life regardless of how you're living it. Just because things aren't flashy and exciting at this moment doesn't mean that you're not in God's will. God is concerned with every aspect of our lives - even the simple day-to-day tasks. And as tempted as I could be to just skip the book of Numbers and jump right back into the action, not unlike I felt with Leviticus, I know that if I will stay faithful and just read it, God will show me things that I had never thought of before.

- Father, help me to keep my nose to the grindstone and remember that even when things aren't moving that fast around me, I am still in Your will. Help me to remain in Your will and not grow weary simply because I don't "feel" like anything is happening right now. Thank You for calling me to great things and help me to keep my eyes on that and not on the situations around me. -

Day 42: Lev 25:22 - 26:46

Wow, it's hard to read these verses and not feel a little overwhelmed. It's incredible to see the huge contrast between following God's commands and ignoring them! I realize that we now live in the age of grace and that God forgives us of our sins because He sent his Son, the Ultimate Sacrifice, to make payment for them; but I think these verses are good to help set ourselves straight sometimes. It would be very difficult to read these verses right here and just go off and ignore what God is telling us to do. Only an idiot would choose disobedience over obedience after reading these passages. And even though we're in a different "dispensation" in this day and age, I think we can still take alot from these verses. These passages, in my opinion, lay it out pretty clear. If we want a blessed life, we need to follow God, otherwise we can disobey everything He says and live a horrible, cursed, miserable life. The choice is ours.

- Lord, help me to always choose blessing over curses. I know the devil brings temptation, but help me to see past the immediate gratification and see into the terrible curse that I would put on my life. Thank You for offering Your blessings and I pray that You help me to always have the strength to choose wisely. -

Day 41: Lev 23:1 - 25:21

I think some people tend to only see God in terms of power and all knowing and just, but we don't always think of God in terms of festivity. But we see in these passages that God is very much concerned with festivals and feasts for a couple of different reasons. Much like the altars that we discussed weeks ago, God wanted the Children of Israel to participate different feasts and celebrations to remind themselves of where they came from. When a group of people that large migrates to a totally different land and develops totally different customs, it can sometimes be easy to forget how things used to be, and that was something that God did not want to happen. The other reason He  commanded them to have these feasts is so that they could relax. It's easy to think that a God as enormous and all-powerful as our God would probably want us to work at 100% speed 100% of the time, but we've seen from the very beginning of the Bible that God doesn't want us to just work ourselves to death. He even rested on the 7th day, not because He was necessarily tired, but because He wanted to set a precedent to be followed throughout the ages. 

- Lord, help me to set up holidays and celebrations along this path that You're showing me. Help me to not forget where I came from, and help me to remember the importance of resting and taking a breath every once in a while. Thank You for setting the precedent on the 7th day of creation and I pray that You give me the strength and help me to remember to continue to honor that even today. - 

Day 40: Lev 20:1 - 22:33

We see here another example of God making sure that His people are set apart from the rest of the world. All of the other nations didn't really care who slept who or how it all happened, but God laid down specific guidelines to make sure that His people were set apart. At times it can be difficult to be set apart from the world and yet still exist in and have influence on a society so full of negativity. The only way it's possible is through God. It's sad to see certain denominations that are so determined to "set themselves apart" that they've ended up counting themselves out and ostracizing themselves from the very society that they're called to reach. On the other end of the spectrum, I've seen plenty of congregations that are so caught up in "relating" to the rest of the world that they've done absolutely everything possible to look, smell, sound, and feel like them in the hopes that maybe they can trick someone into joining their club and maybe make it to Heaven. In my opinion, the fatal error with both of these groups is this: The focus can't be on us, it must always be on Him. If our focus is on Him, then He can show us how to act and He can lead us and guide us in the right direction so that, although we may not look anything like the rest of the world, the rest of the world will not be able to ignore the wonderful blessings that God has put on our lives. If your life looks exactly like mine, I have no reason to assume that you've got any more answers that I do, but if you're living in victory while my life is in chaos, then I can't help but wonder what you've got and how I can get it too. 

Lord, help me to keep my focus on You and trust You to show me how live in this world, but not of it. You are the only One who can show me how to make my life truly attractive to the lost, and I would be a fool to trust any source other than the One who created the entire universe. Thank You for giving me this incredible responsibility and help me to always trust You to lead the way. - 

Day 39: Lev 17:1 - 19:37

Amidst a large group of rules, there's one truth that will always be true and applicable regardless of where we are in this world - God has always been and will always be our true God and we should never exalt anything over Him. Although this can seem to be somewhat of an elementary subject, it's such a huge truth and applies to our lives more than anything else. All day every day we are faced with decisions and opportunities to put other things above God. We're told that this new pizza will change your world and that new phone will be the most important thing in your life and that this certain presidential candidate needs all of your support and attention, but the truth is that none of those things even deserve to be in the same thought as our Heavenly Father. Aside from all of those blatant examples, sometimes it's a little more subtle. Things like bring more concerned about doing my own thing than I am about getting in the Word, or sleeping in rather than going to church can also indicate that God isn't at the top of our list. The point is, God must always be our God and He must always be #1 in our lives no matter what, period, that's it.

- Father, help me to keep you number one in my life regardless of the the temptations around me. Help me to look towards you and understand that if I will keep my Focus on You, You will see to it that all of my other needs are met. -

Day 38: Lev 14:36 - 16:34

It's easy to think about people being contaminated with sin, but the main parallel I see in this passage is the fact that you don't only have to be careful who you hang out with, but it's also imperative in our Christian lives to be careful what kind of places we spend our time at. In these passages, God talks about what the children of Israel were supposed to do if they found a house with mold in it. We need to be careful about where we spend our time because, just like mold, sin can be left behind and if we're not careful, we could subject ourselves to demonic presences that we have no business being around. Just like God told the children of Israel to inspect their homes and places where they go, we need to make sure and feel those places out in the spirit to make sure that we're not going to face opposition that we're not prepared for. 

- Lord, help me to be mindful of the places I go. Although You are the Light and I bring you wherever I go, I know that doesn't necessarily give me a license to go wherever I want. Help me to be spiritually discerning so I can know when I'm in an environment that I don't need to be in, and help me to be spiritually prepared to cast out those devils if need be. - 

Day 37: Lev 13:1 - 14:35

This may possibly be the strangest passage that I've read so far. The entire passage dealt with skin diseases and mold and how the children of Israel are supposed to deal with them. As far as I can gather, perhaps we are to view the skin disease and fungus as a type of sin. Whenever we get sin on ourselves, we need to make sure that we take appropriate measures to get rid of it. I think alot of people are used to getting themselves "contaminated" with the sins of this world, but they just sit and say, "Oh it's ok, I live under grace now. It's ok for me to be around this stuff because, after all, I'm a Christian and none of this is actually going to stick to me." We have been given freedom from death and hell, but that doesn't mean that we're totally immune from sin. When we find ourselves in bad situations where our hearts could potentially be contaminated, we need to take the proper steps necessary to ensure that our lives are clean and spotless. Otherwise, the disease could continue to grow and destroy our lives from the inside out.

- Father, help me to stay away from the infections that sin brings about. Help me to stay out of those situations where I could potentially be contaminated by sin and help me to keep my spirit and soul clean. And if I do end up in a situation where I could be influenced by sin, give me the knowledge and strength to look to You to forgive my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. - 

Day 36: Lev 9:24 - 12:8

It's so amazing to see the detail that went into the book of Leviticus. I mean, it's one thing to say, "God wants us to build Him an altar to kill animals on and we're only allowed to eat certain types of food." It's a completely different story to spend hours and hours of tiny minute details about ever aspect of life. This book really does well to teach us how deeply interested God is in our daily lives. Rarely is it the huge, once-in-a-lifetime occurrences that cause us to stumble, but normally it's our day to day habits that can slowly corrupt and lead us astray. God knows this and therefore in this book of the Bible, He shows how deeply involved He is in every are of their lives. He didn't just want them to be a big group of people who had the honor of calling Him their God. He wanted them to be a people totally set apart and consecrated to Him so that anyone looking in would know right away that these people were different.

- Lord, help me to keep myself totally consecrated to do Your work. Help me to not look and act and feel exactly like the rest of the world. You have already set me apart, now help me to remain in the place You have put me in order to do Your will. - 

Day 35: Lev 7:13 - 9:23

How many times has God told us to do something and as soon as we walk away, we feel so excited and ready to go, but only hours later it seems like we've forgotten what we were supposed to do? The picture I get from that thought is the teenager who goes to youth camp. When he first gets home from youth camp, he wants to go out and change the world and start ministering to people right then, but as the days and weeks go on, he ends up fading out and falling back into the normal old lifestyle. I can only imagine how it would have been if Moses had walked off of the mountain and then decided that all of that stuff God told him to do was just a little too extreme. It's so awesome to see that not only did Moses and Aaron come down and do what God said, but the Bible shows us that they did exactly what he asked them to - right down to the letter.

- Lord, it's easy, at times, to come down off of the mountain and forget what we were told. Please help me to write the words that You speak to me on the pages of my heart so that I won't simply forget them as soon as I'm not in Your presence. Thank You for continuing to speak to me and give me the strength to not only follow the "general ideas" of what You're saying, but to do exactly what You've spoken to me. - 

Day 34: Lev 4:12 - 7:12

I have to be honest, I have a very difficult time reading this part of the Bible, but I think that at this point, what God is teaching me is not necessarily in the content of the verses, but rather in the actual act of reading them. One thing that I have been able to glean from all of this is that God wants His people to have discipline. It's easy to understand why we should all read books of the Bible like the Gospels or the book of Romans, but at least for me right now, the only reason I'm reading through the book of Leviticus is because God is teaching me the exact same thing that He was teaching the Children of Israel in these passages: discipline. Discipline to me means doing something, not necessarily because I feel like it or even because I want to do it, but rather doing it because I know that it's what I'm supposed to do. I don't know if there will be anything that I can apply to my life reading about burnt offerings and building altars, but I know enough to understand that it's not necessarily the words that will change the way I think - it's the spirit behind those words. 

- Lord, help me to get all that You want me to get out of reading Your Word. I know this isn't the last time I'll pass through these verses, but I want to learn and develop as much as possible. Thank You for sending Your Word down to us and I pray that You speak to me on a much deeper level than simply words on a page, but that  You speak to my heart so I will hear what You are saying to me. -

Day 33: Ex 40:16 - Lev 4:11

Very quickly, as we come to the end of the book of Exodus, I want to point out something that I wrote about a few weeks ago when we read about Noah. What I want to point out is one little phrase - "Moses did all that God Commanded. He did it all." There seems to be some sort of common thread between the "Heroes of the Bible." That common thread is simply this: They did all that God commanded. They didn't just do some of it, or make up their own versions of how they thought things should be done. They listened to God and did what He said.

You know, I've never particularly enjoyed reading about the offerings that the Children of Israel presented back in those days because they just seem so bloody and violent, but whenever I read these passages, I can't help but think about how much more bloody and violent the last offering that was ever made for our sin was. These animals being slaughtered is not simply some violent act to make sure people are really sorry for their sins, it's a picture of what was to come. It was a picture of what finally did come - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ offering himself to be slaughtered on a cross for our sins. Although the burnt offerings themselves may not necessarily be pertinent for today, the message behind them will live on forever.

- Lord, help me to stay strong and focused and able to do "all that You have commanded." It can be so easy sometimes to just decide our own way of doing things, or coming up with our own "interpretation" of what we think You're saying, but I want to be known as a man who did exactly what You commanded no matter what. And please help me to never forget or take for granted the wonderful sacrifice that You offered for my sins. Because of that sacrifice, not only am I free from having to offer up a burnt offering, but I can have peace knowing that I will one day spent eternity with my father in Heaven! - 

Day 32: Ex 38:1 - 40:15

You know, it's really easy to read all about the Tabernacle and only focus  on what it was and how it was made and the earthly value that it held, but it's important to understand even more the inner value of the Tabernacle and why it was there. In the same way, I think alot of times we tend to focus on the outside of the spiritual things that God has for us. For example, it's easy to get caught up in church and how to make it bigger and how to bring more people and how to make it a cooler place for people to come, but we need to remember the initial purpose. God didn't command Moses to build the Tabernacle so that he could show it off to all of the other nations. He didn't tell him to build it because He thought the Israelites needed something to occupy their time. He told Moses to build Him a Tabernacle so He could come down and have communion with His people. That's what the focus of each and every aspect of our lives needs to be - not how cool or how successful can I be on the outside. As long as we will rearrange our focus inwardly towards what God's purpose is for our lives, there's no telling out far we will go. 

- Lord, help me to not allow my focus to be directed solely towards the outward appearance of things. Help me to always keep my focus on my heart and on what you have called me to do. I know that without You, any success that I could achieve here on earth would be worthless. Thank You for the call that You've placed on my life and help me to never ignore it. -

Day 31: Ex 35:21 - 37:29

In these Scriptures we see something beautiful - The children of Israel coming together and  not only offering their possessions, but offering themselves in service for the Tabernacle. That's something we rarely see in a single church, much less in the entire body of Christ. Now, there are alot of things that the Israelites did that we should never ever repeat, but this is one example that we need to pay attention to. It's just so incredible to see how willing they all were to come together and bring all of their most valuable possessions to be melted down and used for God. It's sad to see how some people today will only give to the church if they have a little extra, or they'll be happy to donate that old hand-me-down tv for the children's ministry, but they're not even willing to give God a 10th of what they've earned. The point I'm trying to make is this: if we truly want to see a move of God in our lives, family, work, school, city, or country; we need to be willing to give whatever it takes and more. How many churches have you heard of that had to ask people to stop giving? I've never heard of that in my life, but I pray that one day, thanks to my giving and the gifts of others, I will be a part of a ministry that is so incredibly blessed that they have to ask people to stop giving because there's no more room!

- Lord, help me to have the kind of heart that wants to give and give until there's nothing more. Give me the kind of love that You have that isn't focussed on me and what I can get, but a love that's focussed on others and how I can bless them. If there's anything else in my life that I need to offer You, please show it to me so that I can stand firm knowing that I have been obedient and instrumental in building and supporting Your kingdom. -

Day 30: EX 32:35 - 35:20

Can you imagine what would've happened if God had actually gone through with leaving the Israelites on their own? It's so incredible to see the impact that one man had on God's decision. God could have done whatever He wanted. He could have taken Moses by himself and made an entire nation out of him and destroyed all the rest of the Israelites, but Moses convinced Him otherwise. The point I'm trying to make here is that God didn't have to change His mind, He did it because He loved Moses and He valued him and what he had to say. So often it's easy to think of God as some all-powerful,  untouchable, being that does whatever He wants, but the truth is, He wants us to be happy. It is so awesome to think that a God that huge and that powerful would be willing to listen to a small, fragile human being and change His mind simply because Moses asked Him to. Now, God won't just change His mind and make exceptions to the rule for just anyone and everyone, but when we are truly in relationship with our Father, His concern is always on us and that is one thing that makes Him so incredibly amazing!

- Lord, thank You for loving me. It's easy to think that You're up there doing Your own thing and we have to stay down here and just hope that we don't cross You, but the fact is that You love us even more than an earthly father loves his children, and Your focus is not on rules or opinions or  even our past, Your focus is on us. Thank You for loving us so much that You were willing to send Your only Son just to be able to be with us. Although Your love is higher than this human mind could ever comprehend, help me to somehow learn to love like You do. - 

Day 29: Ex 29:46 - 32:34

The first 11 verses of chapter 31 are verses that I don't actually remember ever reading. I'll admit that it can be difficult paying alot of attention to these passages since they can be somewhat dry, but I noticed something really great in these verses. God picked out 2 men, who probably had absolutely no prior idea to construct every single part of the Tabernacle and all of the pieces even down to the tiniest detail. For all we know, their entire lives came down to one purpose, and God consecrated them specifically for that purpose. This passage is an excellent example of the fact that it's not up to us to make things happen. As far as we can see, these two men didn't do anything to force God's purpose to come to fulfillment in their lives. They simply stayed faithful where they were supposed to be and God came to them and picked them out. Just think if they had decided to stay back and live in Egypt, or what if they had tried to face Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea? Sure God would have probably just found two other people to make His Tabernacle and these two men would've never been remembered. But that's just it - these two men are only mentioned regarding this specific story and their names are in the Bible for all eternity simply because they were where they were supposed to be and God came to them and picked them out!

- Lord, I don't want to be remembered for being someone who made his own life and did everything himself. I want to be remembered as a man who was faithful to You and who was used by You for the exact reason you created me. Help me to stay in the right place at the right time and not get impatient and try to make it happen myself. I know that there is absolutely nothing I can do that would ever be as great as what You've called me to do, so I will stand firm and listen when You speak. -

Day 28: Ex 28:1 - 29:45

These passages of Scripture explaining the sanctification of the priests is a good picture of what we need to do with ourselves. Fortunately, though, these are all things that we should do on the inside to make ourselves holy. God wants us to be a sanctified group of people set apart from the rest of the world. God would have never accepted the sacrifices from someone who was already set apart and made holy. Back then, you had to go through alot of outward ritual to become "qualified" to commune with God, but now we live under God's grace and what used to only be determined outwardly can be  taken care of on the inside. God doesn't want us to make weird robes and turbans and breastplates before we can serve Him, He just wants us to clean up on the inside and work just as hard preparing our hearts as Aaron did preparing his outward appearance.

-God, help me to remain consecrated for You purpose. Help me to remember that You look at the heart and that's the part that I need to be the most concerned about. I choose not to look the same on the inside as everyone else. I choose to clean up my heart and make sure that it's a worthy place for You to dwell. And help me to love and serve You with the same kind of passion and devotion that the Priests did in Exodus. - 

Day 27: Ex 25:16 - 27:21

It's amazing to think of how difficult it was for the Children of Israel just to commune with God. Reading this passage makes me so incredibly thankful that we live under Grace and not under the Law. Sadly, I think there are still alot of people out there today who still think that we have to go through all sorts of ritual and tradition just to speak to God. The fact is, when Jesus died on the cross, he made it so that we didn't have to sit and let one man once a year go to God and make payment for our sins. Jesus was the last man who ever had to stand before God to make payment for our sins. Now all we have to do is just talk to God and He will listen. As awesome as it would have been to be with the Children of Israel when God did all of those things, I would much rather live under God's Grace in these days where we can come before God and speak to Him and listen as He speaks to us.

- Lord, Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak to You directly rather than having to rely on a priest to communicate to You on our behalf. I pray that I will never take for granted the blessing that you've given me to be able to communicate with you directly. Thank You for breaking down the walls of tradition and religion so that we could have communion with You. - 

Day 26: Ex 22:13 - 25:15

It's difficult sometimes to read these passages and not get legalistic, but I really think that these verses are important because these rules and standards help to set God's people apart from the rest. It's no mystery that God wants us to be a people who don't live by the world's standards, but I think sometimes we forget that. We are not, by any means, expected to live flawless lives free from any sort of mistakes, but we do need to be mindful of what we do and how we behave in this world. God wants us to be an example of Himself and we can't do that acting just like everybody else.

- Lord help me to live a disciplined life, mindful of You. Help me not to just follow the crowd and do what everyone else is doing, but help me to stay focused on You and Your Word. I want to be a light to all those in darkness so that they can see me and see the anointing that You've placed on my life. Help me to always follow you and be the kind of light that this dark world needs. -

Day 25: Ex 19:25 - 20:12

I'm concerned that things might start getting a little more difficult for the next few days while I'm reading through some pretty legalistic "Old Testament" type passages, but I do feel like God was showing me something about this one. If we really want to hear God for ourselves, we've got to be bold enough to go where nobody else is willing to go. It's great to be told by someone else what they  heard from God, but it's a whole different thing to hear God yourself. The children of Israel were so afraid of all that was going on up on the mountain that they ended up having to survive on something that God told Moses. Imagine how it would have been if each person had gone up to the mountain to get a personal word from God. There's no telling what that nation could've done! God wants us to be brave and approach His throne with boldness. It may be a little intimidating at first, but a true word from God will always be worth it!

- Father, help me not to be scared to come up to the mountain and 

hear your voice. I want to be in the group that heard Your voice 

directly and not just someone who heard it from someone else. I know that if I will approach Your throne with boldness, You will honor 

my faith and I will be able to hear Your voice! -

Day 24: Ex 16:1 - 19:24

You know, it seems like it doesn't matter what's going on, the children of Israel were always whining. I'm guessing that's probably a big reason why they're known as the "Children" of Israel and not the people of Israel. But to be honest, it a little reassuring because although God did send down occasional punishment for their whining, He was always a merciful God. Even when they weren't grateful, He still loved them. I know sometimes the devil will come to us and tell us that what we've done is too bad for God to forgive or that God is tired of always having to show us mercy, but we can see here that God loves us no matter what and if we'll be faithful to repent, He'll be faithful to forgive us.

It's also such a great thing to remember the awesome might and power that our God possesses. There's alot to be said about God speaking to our "inner-man" and being that still small voice, but I love the reminder that He gives us in chapter 19 about being an awesome, powerful God. We need to remember that we serve a God that's bigger than us, and bigger than any issue that we're facing. And instead of being cowards and running from Him, we now can come boldly into His presence thanks to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

- Lord, thank You for not getting tired of me. It would be so much easier for you to just swipe those difficult people off the face of the earth and get rid of them, but You are a merciful God who wants to see us blessed and successful even when we haven't quite gotten things figured out. Thank You for reminding us of Your great power as well as the fact that, even though we couldn't before, we now can come boldly to Your throne and speak with you face-to-face! - 

Day 23: Ex 13:1 - 15:27

I think that the command that God gave the children of Israel to separate the firstborn is a very important one to take note of. I know that the symbolism here deals with them remembering that God took them out of Egypt after putting to death the firstborn of all of the Egyptians, but I think we can also learn alot from it. God doesn't want our leftovers, He wants the first, healthiest, most important part of all that we have. The firstborn in the Bible is always a picture of the most valuable, most important part and we see here that God wants us to give Him the best that we have. If we will be faithful to offer Him our best, then He can truly bless our lives.

It's interesting to note the order of events in the the story of God parting the Red Sea. We see a group of people in trouble, whining and panicking before God, freaking out because of the "trouble" that they're in. God steps in, does an enormous miracle, and then once they're on the other side, they start to rejoice. It's a wonderful story, but I can't help but wonder what would've happened if they had praised the Lord before He ever did the miracle. What would have happened? I can't even imagine things working out better than they did in this story, but as far as I can tell, it wouldn't have hurt them any. The point I'm trying to make is that God is going to rescue us from whatever "army" is chasing us, so we may as well just go ahead and thank Him now for it. Who knows, it may even prevent us from getting another ulcer or loosing anymore sleep! 

- Lord, right now I feel a little like I'm running for my life, just trying to keep breathing. I have seen in Your Word time and time again where You have delivered Your people from all sorts of disasters. Help me to thank you right now for it rather than panicking until the very end when I know it's safe. I don't want to miss out on everything right now simply because I'm scared. Thank You, Father, for rescuing me from this army. Thank You for picking me up and setting me on dry ground as I watch my enemies be destroyed in pursuit. Thank You for loving me and for giving me the strength to be thankful even when I can't yet see why. -

Day 22: Ex 10:1 - 12:51

The end of this part of the story has always been on of the scariest Bible stories I remember learning about as a kid. It can be a little difficult to swallow thinking about an angry God allowing every firstborn child to be killed, but I would like to focus on how blessed the children of Israel was throughout all of this. Today we live in a society where all sorts of things are going wrong and good Christian people are being persecuted for their faith, but I think we can look to this story, more than any other in the Bible, and know that there is always deliverance for those who love God. It's so amazing to see how God spared the children of Israel from being affected by a single one of those plagues while the Egyptians, living in their sin, had to suffer all of them. And then, not only were the children of Israel protected from all of the plagues and released to leave the country, but God saw to it that the Egyptian people blessed them with all sorts of gifts simply because of the favor God had given them in the eyes of the Egyptian people. 

- Father, help me not to be afraid of the bad things happening around me. I am Your child and I know that You will protect me no matter what is going on. Help me to be a light to those who are in darkness so that whenever they see me living a blessed life in the midst of their  terrible life, they will come and find out what the difference is. Thank you for Your mercy and You infinite power and help me to always remember that You can deliver me now matter how bad the situation. - 

Day 21: Ex 7:25 - 9:35

I've always thought it was interesting how God brought on all of these different plagues rather than just sending one devastating event to force Pharaoh to get rid of the children of Israel. The obvious reason for God doing this is so he could build faith both in the Israelites' and in the Egyptians' eyes. So many times we end up thinking to ourselves, "If God would just fix it like this, then everything would be fine," but we often-times forget that God isn't our Heavenly butler, He's our Heavenly Father and a good father always makes sure His Children are learning something. Instead of just griping because God isn't working fast enough, we need to take a step back and find out what He wants us to learn.

- Lord, help me to understand that You always have a plan and even though things may not be working out exactly how I wanted them to, You're the One in control. Give me the wisdom and the understanding to learn what I need to learn so that not only will my needs be met, but my faith will be strengthened at the same time. - 

Day 20: Ex 4:15 - 7:24

We must always remember that excuses will never get us anywhere with God and as long as we're doing what He said, we can't let what's happening around us deter us. Moses had so many opportunities to walk away and change his mind, and, honestly, most of us wouldn't have blamed him if he did. In this passage alone, Moses had 5 separate opportunities to turn and run, yet God gave him the strength to stand firm and continue on with what He told him to do.

- Lord, help me to not look to the left or to the right. Give me the strength to continue to do what You've called me to do even when the odds are against me. Help me to remember that no matter how dim things look right now, You will be faithful to illuminate my path if I'll just hold on and follow You. - 

Day 19: Ex 1:1 - 4:14

The beginning of the book of Exodus is somewhat difficult to read especially after such a happy ending in Genesis. It is very important to understand from this part of the Bible that just because something bad is happening, it doesn't necessarily mean that you've done something wrong and are being punished for it. In fact, as we see in this passage, the persecution came directly from the devil to counteract the blessing that God had given them. But God had an amazing plan set up for His children.

It seems like all throughout history God has to deal with people trying to take things into their own hands. Even before Moses knew that he was supposed to deliver his people, he went out and killed an Egyptian guard just to prove a point. Fortunately, God was able to work through Moses' hastiness and He got him to a place where he would be alone and not distracted with other things. I love the story of the Exodus because it shows us just how grand a scale God works on. Instead of just doing something like striking the Pharaoh dead and making Moses the new Pharaoh so he could make the decision to send all of his people back home, God put this huge, elaborate plan into action so that His power would be demonstrated on a scale that nobody could ignore. 

- Father, help me to always remember that whenever the blessing is on my life, there can also be a target on my back. Lord, just like Paul, I welcome persecution because I understand that the devil will do everything he can to keep me quiet. Thank You that no matter how dark things get for me, as long as I'm following You, there will always be a way out. Whether it's a simple solution or a huge, earth shattering event, You will see to it that Your children are safe. - 

Day 18: Gen 47:31 - 50:26

The story of Jacob blessing Joseph's sons is one that I think has been overlooked at least by myself over the years, but there's a very important lesson we can learn from it - God always knows what He's doing. I'm sure Joseph must have been really confused when Jacob crossed his hands and put his right hand on the youngest, but the fact of the matter is that God was leading him and God was the one who told him to cross his hands. We have to remember that it's not our job to second guess what God is saying or try to "correct" His mistakes. Our job is to listen to Him and be obedient.

Chapter 49 deals with Jacob blessing his own sons, and, for some reason, it really means alot to me. I think it's very important for a father to speak God's Word over his children. And I don't just mean speaking the Bible over them. There's really nothing quite like your father getting a word from God specifically for you, and I can't wait for the day when I'll be able to prophesy to my own children.

It's a little sad to think that after all of those years of blessing and togetherness, as soon as their father was dead, Joseph's brothers were immediately worried that he was going to pay them back for what they did to him. I think their fear and Joseph's reaction is a good picture of how we are with God sometimes. We need to understand that when God forgives us, He has forgiven us and that's all there is to it. It's both foolish and offensive for us to think that God would dig up the past and decide to be upset with us for something He's already forgotten. We serve a God of mercy and when He has forgiven us, that's final, no questions asked.

Well, we're done with the book of Genesis, and I must say, it's definitely one of the most concentrated books of history in the entire Bible. I hope that I can remember the things that I've learned over the past 18 days as this part of the Bible is the beginning and the foundation of what's to come.

- Lord, I pray even now before I have any children that You give me words of knowledge and words of wisdom for them. Children are a gift from God and I want to raise them knowing the love and blessings that You provide. Help me not to second-guess Your Word, but to understand that You know what You're doing and that my job is to simply listen. Thank You for being a merciful God and help me to cast away those thoughts that would come and make me think that I'm not truly forgiven. You sent Your only Son to die on the cross for my sins, and that is the only assurance I will ever need. -

Day 17: Gen 45:1 - 47:30

For the most part, this whole passage is just wrapping up all of the loose ends from the story of Joseph, but it still has such a wonderful feeling to it. After all that Joseph went through and after all of the horrible things that were done to him, in the end, he had forgiven his brothers, made sure that they were trustworthy again, and then he blessed them more than they could have ever imagined. Now I know I've focused alot on Joseph and how difficult things were for him and how he came through everything, but now I want to take a look at his brothers for just a moment. I know we've all had times in our lives and done certain things that we felt we would never be free from. I can only imagine how Joseph's brothers ended up feeling after all they had done to their little brother. And for a while when they were trying to buy food, it seemed as though they were finally getting what they deserved for being so horrible to their little brother. But even after all they did, God was still watching over them and even if they didn't necessarily deserve it, they received forgiveness and that one recurring theme throughout the Bible - Sweet Redemption!

- Lord, thank You for Your redeeming grace on our lives. It's easy to stumble and think that there's no way we will ever get back up, but You will always be there to pick us back up and restore the blessing on our lives. Thank You for your love and your mercy and help me to always show the same love and mercy to everyone around me. -