Get a Move on…Confident of the Lord’s Promises!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 3, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: Be Still…and Get a Move On!
This past Sunday, January 3 I “preached” (since I recorded the message on December 26, 2020 as we were in Florida on January 3) on the crossing of the Red Sea by the people of Israel in Exodus 14. This “beach” story is one that has many facets to consider of God, people, and leadership.
The people saw the challenges – water in front, cliffs on the side and the army of Pharaoh pursuing them – and were convinced the slavery they came from would be better than dying at the hand of Pharaoh’s army.
Exodus 14:10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Moses, the leader, saw the same challenges, but trusted God would fight for his people.
Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
God saw the same challenges and said, “I will bring glory to my name.”
Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”
On midnight of January 1, 2021 one sensed a “sigh of relief” that we had “made it” out of the challenges of 2020 and we could put those things behind us…CoVid Pandemic, riots in major cities, charged political climate and more. In fact people were congratulating each other that we “made it” through 2020.
In my message last Sunday, I quipped, “I don’t know what will happen in 2021, but there may come a point that we, like the people of Israel, view the challenges of the present and wish we could go back to the familiar of 2020.” A sobering thought to think, “What would make 2021 worse that we would yearn for the days of 2020 as the ‘good ol’ days’?”
I don’t know.
But already seven days into 2021, a quote appeared on Facebook “I’d like to cancel my subscription to 2021. I’ve experienced the free 7-day trial and I’m not interested.” Why? January 6 saw a dual senate race lean to the Democrats giving them control of both houses of congress. As well as the Senate met to certify the 2020 election results. However in the middle of that process, agitators broke into the Capitol and stormed the building causing all Senators and Representatives to seek shelter in secure basement rooms. Unfortunately one lady lost her life and 70 plus have since been charged. As they should be for breaking the law.
We thought we had left all this in the rear view mirror of 2020. Not so.
And we’re only 7 days in.
Here’s what I know.
People, even God’s people, even me, will naturally look at the challenges we face individually and collectively and want to run from them, avoid them, or simply despair of them. It’s human nature…especially when the situation seems out of our control and bigger than we can handle or know how to help. Perhaps 2021 is shaping up to be a year that will make 2020 look rather benign and lead us to wonder why God is allowing the events of this year to happen.
Leaders, especially God’s leaders, have a choice. Despair with the people or lead forward confident of the promises of God. This is where I pray the devotions of this week and message have been helpful to keep the challenges around us in perspective while we trust God’s promises to deliver and save us…forever in heaven.
God has only one choice. His name will be glorified.
Even the Egyptian army realized they were in trouble because the Lord was fighting against them.
Exodus 14:25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
How will God’s name be glorified? May I suggest three ways I see today:
- God’s name is glorified when I trust his power and promises more than any person or politician.
- God’s name is glorified when I find greater pride and honor and passion in being a child of God and citizen of his kingdom than being a citizen of America (of which I still have a great sense of pride).
- God’s name is glorified when I see and believe the heart of our country is changed when the Spirit of God changes the hearts of people…starting with mine.
I am confident 2021 will provide many opportunities for us to be tempted to despair, for godly leaders to reminds us of God’s promises and God’s name to be glorified.
So we have only one option because we can’t go back…we must go forward! So, get a move on…confident of God’s Promises!
Apply: What promise of God will guide you and give you strength as you move forward in 2021?
Prayer: Lord, we pray for our country and all those in a position of authority. May their hearts seek your wisdom and seek to honor you in all the ways they govern. Forgive us for despairing of the situation around us and forgetting that you are fighting for us. Thank you for godly leaders and fellow Christians to remind us of your power and promises. Lead us forward and cause your name to be glorified in our lives and those around us in the year ahead! Amen.
Get a Move On…Confident of the Lord’s Power
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 3, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: Be Still…and Get a Move On!
The closest I’ve come to walking through water on dry land is walking through a clear aquarium tunnel as the fish (and sharks) swam all around us. While safe inside, I will admit there was a tinge of nervousness as to what would happen if the Plexiglas would break while inside.
I would have been more nervous if there was no Plexiglas and was told to walk through the water.
But that’s what God told his people to do…Get a move on!…through the water!
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14:15-16)
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-22)
What would you be thinking as you stepped into the pathway with your family with the water to your left and right realizing nothing was holding it back but the power of God.
Each step was a step forward in confidence that the power of the Lord was strong enough to hold back the waters. The deeper it got…the more confidence you needed. As you stepped on the shore safely on the other side and watched the waters crash in over the Egyptian army, one might have thought, “That could have been me if it weren’t for the power of God fighting for me.”
Even the powerful Egyptian army realized they were powerless before the Lord.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. (Exodus 14:23-28)
God opened the way before them and defeated the opposition pursuing them. He was willing to display his power to carry out his promises and give them confidence to move on!
When they all were safe on the other side, Moses and the people sang a song of praise (Good read in Exodus 15):
13 “In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. (Exodus 15:13)
God doesn’t promise us the same display of his power, but his power is ready to be displayed to carry out his promises. He wants to lead us to an eternity in his holy dwelling.
I don’t know what seas or armies you will face in your life, but God has one desire for us to be with him in his holy dwelling, heaven. He has his power ready to be displayed to carry out this promise to you.
So…in 2021, get a move on … moving forward confident of the Lord’s power – no matter how deep the waters get or how powerful the pursuit!
Apply: Resolve today to move forward with confidence in the Lord’s power. The path forward may seem challenging, but the Lord is able to remove the obstacles and bring an end to the opposition.
Prayer: Lord, display your power in my life. Help me to realize my weakness and rely all the more on your strength as I go through the days of 2021. Amen.
Be Still and WATCH the Lord Act!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 3, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: Be Still…and Get a Move On!
Sitting on the beach in most situations is a relaxing and refreshing activity. As you watch the waves roll in and hear their roar, you are mesmerized by the uniqueness and power of each wave. If you venture into the water, you realize the weight and force those waves have as they shift you around.
Taking time to observe the creation of God is a good thing to do. The beach is a good place to do it. (Just my humble opinion!)
However watching the power of God is not always so relaxing…or so calming.
The community of Israel was sitting on the beach. The water of the Red Sea in front of them. The cliffs beside them and their only path out being closed in by the Egyptian army. The cliffs were no longer marvels of God’s immensity, but a high point over which they could not climb and from which any army could fire upon them. The water in front of them was not the calming waves of a relaxing vacation, it was a death trap which may be preferred to the Egyptian army.
The people wanted to surrender. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:11-12)
Ironically, the nature around the camp of Israel would be their deliverance…they only had to watch God act.
The passage way between the cliffs was blocked by the pillar of cloud – making the army of Pharaoh unable to see the Israelites. The opposite side was the light of the pillar of fire, enabling the camp of Israel to get ready to move while darkness prevented Pharaoh from attacking.
Then the water in front. What would you be thinking as the waves stopped and the water coming on shore was blown back until the ground covered with water was now as dry as the land on which you were sitting. The water you thought would be your demise was now your deliverance.
God acted while you watched.
NOTHING humanly speaking would save them from the Egyptians. I’m sure some were grabbing their swords, trying plot how they would escape or figuring out words they would speak to save their lives, or graveling to offer themselves to be slaves again.
But God wanted them to stop the fretting, stop the planning and be still and watch the Lord act.
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14)
Perhaps we don’t face the same situation as the Israelites did in the year ahead, but we will encounter obstacles that humanly speaking have no way of overcoming. Maybe in those situations the voice of God whispers, “Be still and watch me fight for you.”
Apply: What situation are you facing that seems to have no way out? Ask the Lord to act on your behalf and show you the way. Be still and watch him act.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for my fretting, worry and lack of trust that faces life with my limited perspective and power. Help me in 2021 to trust that you WILL fight for me…and then calmly and confidently watch you act. AMEN.
Be Still…and REMEMBER what the Lord Has Done!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 3, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: Be Still…and Get a Move On!
I can forget a lot of things.
This past week on our family vacation, my wife and I take time to reflect on the year coming to a close and plan for the year ahead. She is better at it than I, but she suggested scrolling through the pictures on our phones to jog our memory as to the things that happened in 2020. (GREAT idea by the way!) In doing this, I remembered a lot more of what happened in 2020 than I would have without the aid of pictures. Then when we compared notes, she remembered things I had forgotten and visa versa.
In doing this, it was honestly hard to join the “2020 stinks, on with 2021” crowd. Sure we utilized our home, health and car insurance (some multiple times)…sure the ministry of the church went online and faced challenges…we’ve had to wear masks and social distance, but what we realized was 2020 had a LOT of blessings as a result of the challenges we faced…personal blessings, ministry blessings, family blessings, financial blessings, and more.
It just took time to remember what the LORD HAD done instead of focusing on what I wanted him to do or the things I wish would have been different.
God has been faithful for thousands of years. 2020 was one more…I’m confident 2021 will be the same.
The problem is, it is easy to forget the blessings God has given. I do it to. I can focus on what God HASN’T given…just like the Israelites did.
Exodus 14:10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
God had just delivered the people in a miraculous way through the tenth plague, the event marked by Passover (Exodus 12). Yet, when faced with a new obstacle, they forgot the power of God and his promise to deliver them. The result? They wanted to go back to slavery and die in Egypt.
God used Moses to calm the fears of the people and focus them on remembering the deliverance the Lord had already orchestrated…to instill confidence on the deliverance he would orchestrate.
When I face a challenge or fear the future, it is easy to forget how the LORD has helped you in the past. Each situation seems new and overwhelming. To the LORD it’s another opportunity to remind you of his power and promises. The Israelites didn’t muster the army to get out Egypt, the Lord did it for them. In the same way, he would do it again.
Don’t forget…God will do the same for you!
Apply: God has been faithful and acted on your behalf. Perhaps this is a good time to reflect back on 2020 – use your pictures on your phone if you have to. Make a list of what the LORD has done for you in the past year…keep them handy to remind you when the next obstacle in life comes.
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your faithfulness and all the things you have done for me in the past. Forgive me for forgetting and fearing you will abandon me in the present. When I am afraid and the obstacle large, lead me to be still and remember what you have done in the past and look forward to your promise to act in the present. Amen.
Be Still…and turn TO the LORD!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon from January 3, 2021
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: Be Still…and Get a Move On!
I am a person of action…most of the time! If something is broken, I want to fix it. If there is a problem, I am willing to help out.
But I have a hard time turning to others to help me solve issues or accomplish tasks I can’t figure out or get done on my own.
Too often I treat the Lord like this too. I look at the circumstance, situation or issue and see if I can figure it out, fix it or make it better. Only when I get frustrated and stuck…maybe I turn to the Lord for help.
The Israelites were facing a huge challenge. God had delivered them in a powerful way from their slavery in Egypt, yet now they were faced with the Red Sea in front of them, cliffs of both sides and the army of Pharaoh in hot pursuit behind them.
They thought, “We’re going to die. We might as well go back to Egypt and offer ourselves as slaves again.” They didn’t see how THEY could fix the problem they were in.
God gave Moses a different solution to offer the people. Instead of turning FROM the LORD…be still…and turn TO the Lord.
Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
If you’re curious of the details – read Exodus chapter 14. Bottom line: God wins. Israel is delivered, and the army of Pharaoh perishes at the bottom of the Red Sea.
As you enter 2021, what situations in life are you finding yourself turning FROM the Lord instead of TO the Lord?
2020 had many challenges. 2021 will have them too. So perhaps in this first week of the year, make a decision to turn first to the Lord when your challenges arise.
Instead of blaming God for the problem, invite God into the problem.
Instead of trying to figure out the problem first, ask God to show the way through the problem.
Instead of running from God and back to what is familiar, run with God and follow where he leads, even if the challenge or change is difficult.
Israel thought running back to Egypt was the solution. Yet, that direction led them back into slavery. Being still and turning to God led to their deliverance and freedom.
God desires the same for you. Be still and turn TO God in 2021!
Apply: Take time this week to be still and identify those situations which are or tempting you to turn from the LORD. Ask the Spirit of God to give you wisdom and strength to turn TO the Lord. Perhaps asking the simple question in a situation might help: “What happens if I turn from the Lord and do it my way versus what might happen if I turn TO the Lord and do it his way?”
Prayer: Dear Lord, give me trust and confidence all year to turn TO you in every circumstance and never turn FROM you. Amen.