Tag: sovereignty

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The Rock of Our Refuge

Daily Reading

Isaiah 13-17

Daily Thought

Much of a prophet’s duty is the announcement of judgment, and for the next 12 chapters Isaiah will speak for God against nations, culminating in chapter 24 with judgment against the world. Their sin is our sin and is two-fold at its core: we forget our God and then we take his place; “for you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge” (Isaiah 17:10).

It works for a time, we “plant pleasant plants” and “make them grow on the day that you plant them, make them blossom in the morning that you sow” (Isaiah 17:10-11), and we begin to believe only in ourselves. When all is sunshine, the world seems like a place we can manage on our own, but there is darkness in our heart, and rather than serve, we want to rule, to be our own god. It started in the Garden with Eve, “for God knows that when you eat of the tree your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). It is the sin of Satan: 

“You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’” ~Isaiah 14:13-14

It works during the day, and we desire to rule, but only one can rule and so we war, and then comes the night; “at evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more!” (Isaiah 17:14). We destroy ourselves.

The judgment of God is levied not to ruin, but to restore, to remind us of our God: “In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made” (Isaiah 17:7-8). His judgment lifts our eyes from the pride of our own hands and returns our gaze to the glory of the one who made everything.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are the God most high, and yet you kneeled low so that we might be saved. Your Son came in humility, considering us better than Himself. You, God, showed that kind of humility for our sake.

I look forward to seeing You return again, in power this time. You have already demonstrated love to its fullest, dying for us even though we had turned out back on You. When You come again, we will see You in full glory, full power, full majesty, and still full of love.

Amen

Daily Question

When people don’t believe God is in charge, who is?

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His Story

Daily Reading

Psalm 78-79

Daily Thought

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done. ~Psalm 78:1-4

Psalm 78 steps back and reflects on God’s care for his people. The stories of God’s mighty work paint the big picture of life and should be told to our children, “so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (verse 7). Verse 13, God parted the sea so Israel could walk on dry land; verse 14, God led his people through the wilderness by cloud and fire; verses 15-16, God spilt rocks and water gushed out, quenching their thirst; verses 24-25, God rained manna for food, the bread of angels; verse 27, and quail; verses 42-53, God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt by, verse 44, turning Egypt’s river to blood, verse 45, sending swarms of flies and frogs, verse 46, destroying crops and cattle with locust, verse 47, and hail and frost, verse 51, and finally God struck down the firstborn, verse 52-53, and led the people to safety; verse 54, God established his people in a new land; verse 72, and cared for this new nation.

Still Israel thought life a game of chance, undecided yet if they should bet on God, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness? Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:19-20). But life is not a game, it is a story, and not ours, but God’s, and we are players in his plot. It is not, then, for us to ponder what God will do in our story, but what we ought do in his.

Daily Prayer

Mighty God, there is no one like You. You alone are Almighty, You alone are Sovereign. Your will be done.

It is so hard to trust, to release my illusion of control and turn my life completely over to You. The greatest commandment, the greatest life-giving act I can do is to love You with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, all my strength. I know that You are God, that whatever You say will happen will happen. I know it. God help me trust in what I know.

Amen

Daily Question

What stories about God bring you the most hope in your own life?

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God’s Not Done Yet

Daily Reading

Judges 19-21

Daily Thought

The best thing about chapters 19-21 of Judges is they are the last chapters of Judges. Judges is over, and none too soon. The period of the Judges began when Joshua died “and there arose another generation after him who did not know the Lord” (Judges 2:10); was characterized by the oft-repeated, “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; and 13:1); and closes in summary, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). How often what is right in our eyes is not so in God’s?

The hope of Judges is that the book will end, but God will keep going. And he does. God’s story continues through Ruth into 1&2 Samuel, when, at last, Israel does have a king, a king after God’s own heart, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1Samuel 13:14). Even that is not enough, and the story is far from over, because there is a King to come, the King of kings and Lord of lords, “the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 25).

God’s unfolding story is best captured in the words of the apostle Paul, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). If it’s not good yet, God’s not done yet.

Daily Prayer

My Father in heaven, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I’ve met the King, my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will follow Him. May my life display my allegiance, for I am an ambassador of the good news of salvation.

Thank You, God, that You keep working. That what You began, You will finish, and that it will be once-and-for-all good. Keep changing my heart so that I will desire and delight in righteousness and justice and peace. May I love You fully and out of that love, serve the people of this world who so need to know and trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Amen

Daily Question

How can you make the way you see things the same as the way God sees things?

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Broken Records

Daily Reading

Judges 13-15

Daily Thought

When I was young, I listened to records. A scratch in the surface of a vinyl record would cause a song to repeat at the same spot over and over again. We called it a “broken record.” It would sound something like this, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

Judges 13:1, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” In the Bible, when something is repeated, you are looking at a theme, and the theme of Judges is God is faithful when we are not. Israel would do evil, a foreign nation would enslave Israel, and God would do something special that only he could do to remind Israel that he is their God. Samson was going to be special; it was obvious before he was born. “There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son’” (Judges 13:2-3).

There it is, another scratch in the record, a child born out of barrenness, life from death, another theme. It has happened before. Isaac, son of Abraham, was born to Sarah, who “was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30). Later, “Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer” (Genesis 25:21), and Rebekah gave birth to Jacob and Esau. Jacob’s wife, Rachel, “was barren” (Genesis 29:31), “then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and she called his name Joseph” (Genesis 30:22-24). The theme, life from death, continues. Hannah, “though the Lord had closed her womb” (1Samuel 1:5) would give birth to the prophet Samuel, and barren Elizabeth (Luke 1:7) had a son named John, who would be called John the Baptist. 

Then, one very special, not from barrenness, but from innocence. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). God with us. Jesus. Some things bear repeating, again and again. Life from death. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love for us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Not a broken record, this is grace.

Daily Prayer

God Almighty, I can do all things through You. You give me the strength to find peace and contentment in any circumstance. Whether I have plenty or am in need, weak or strong, You are my strength. If You are for me, who can be against me.

God, may I walk in the confidence of Your strength and the humility of mine. I pray that I grow daily in dependence on You, replacing my will with Yours.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you seen God do what only God can do?

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Forever True

Daily Reading

Numbers 33-34

Daily Thought

The Lord commanded Moses to keep a list of the places Israel camped after departing Egypt–”When they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places” (Numbers 33:1-2). It is more than a list of places, it is a testimony to the sovereignty and faithfulness of God. No difficulty too great. 

The Lord parted the Red Sea to let his people escape, then closed it and drowned the Egyptian army. When the people of God met danger, God prevailed over their enemies. When they thirst, God supplied water, and fed them daily manna from heaven. Miriam died at Kadesh (v 36), and the Lord provided another woman to lead the choir. Aaron died at Mount Hor (vv 38-39), and his son Eleazar stepped in. Eventually Moses died, and Joshua succeeded him. In all of these changes, God remained the same, true to his people. 

God is great, and in the midst of our freedom to wander, he still accomplishes his purpose. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan…” (Numbers 34:1-2). No matter what, they are going to the Promised Land.

Daily Prayer

Faithful Father, no matter what, no matter the ways I wander, no matter my heart’s rebellion, you came to seek and to save me. You are at all times true and I wish I was at all times grateful. I’m getting better, though, because you don’t give up on me. Thank You for Your grace, for Your long-suffering, for Your patience and persistence. I strayed and you found me and put me on the right path.

You have invited me to follow You. I will follow. I will be a disciple of Your Son, Jesus Christ. I will learn from You and grow in Your likeness, so that I might display Your glory and point others to the way of life.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you seen God turn a bad situation into something good?

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Hammer It Home

Daily Reading

Exodus 7-9

Daily Thought

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ~Exodus 8:1

Twice, God says to Moses, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 4:21; 7:3), and a hard-hearted Pharaoh refuses to let God’s people go, but what choice does a he have? Is he to blame? If God “hardens whomever he wills,” the apostle Paul asked and (sort of) answered this question, “why does God still find fault? For who can resist God’s will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:18-21). In other words, God is God and you are not, and he does what he wants for his purposes. Not a terribly satisfying answer, but then, God does not have to satisfy me. 

God is sovereign, but that does not mean we are puppets. God does not pull our strings, but God’s sovereignty and our freewill walk together, side by side. Of the ten plagues, the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart in four of them; in six, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God is in charge and Pharaoh cooperates. He is no innocent; he cannot point to God and claim, “You made me do it.”

But why ten times? Why so many plagues? The answer is in the stubbornness of Pharaoh, but also in the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Israel worshipped God; every other nation worshipped gods. So, the one and only true God used the plagues to demonstrate that he is God like no other. The first couple plagues, the Egyptian magicians were able to mimic the work of God, as if God wasn’t unique. But they couldn’t keep up. By the third plague, they admitted, “This is the finger of God,” and God continued seven more plagues to hammer it home. The Egyptians would never forget the Hebrew God, the God of gods, the only true God, and the Israelites would always remember their God who delivered them from bondage.

God is God. That seems obvious, but it’s good to remember.  

Daily Prayer

My God, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the One and Only Creator of the heavens and the earth, You alone I worship and adore. Your ways are good and there is none like You. Why would I ever seek good from another source?

May Your Name be known always in my house. May You always be God of my family–we seek no other. May my children and my children’s children follow You and worship You. You are my Lord and Savior. I will always remember.

Amen

Daily Question

What can you do to keep God in your thoughts and decisions throughout the day?

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Simon Says

Daily Reading

Exodus 1-3

Daily Thought

Children play a wonderful game called, “Simon says.” One kid is up front, and he thinks he is in charge. He commanded us to stand on one foot, but no one did. He told us to jump up and down. No one jumped. Finally, he said, “Simon says,” and we all did it. Apparently, it was really Simon who was in charge. We didn’t do anything unless Simon said it.

The people of Israel flourished in Egypt and grew in number, a number that brought fear to the king of Egypt, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them” (Exodus 1:9-10). So the king instructed the Hebrew midwives, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him” (Exodus 1:15-16). The king of Egypt thought he was in charge. “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them” (Exodus 1:17). And the children of Israel continued to multiply, just as God had promised Abraham, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you can. So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5).

God is in charge and that is better than any alternative, whether king or country or even (especially) me. So, what God says, obey. Everything else take under advisement.

Daily Prayer

My God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Hebrews, the God of this world, the one and only God. May I know You, love You, and listen to You. May I know Your voice, and when I hear it, follow it.

God, You are good. Everything that is good comes from You. When I pursue righteousness, when I love my neighbor, when I serve the least of these, I live according to Your kingdom. I display Your kingdom on earth. Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

Amen

Daily Reading

How do you best hear God?

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God in Charge

Daily Reading

Genesis 48-50

Daily Thought

Moses was called by God and so was Pharaoh. “The Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth’” (Romans 9:17). God put him on the throne of Egypt. Likewise, when wicked nations attacked God’s people, they were doing God’s bidding, “for behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation” (Habakkuk 1:6), and “I will use Assyria like a stick” (Isaiah 10:5). They were God’s servants, whether or not they intended to be.

Jews never imagined partnering with the Romans, and yet they did, because salvation required a cross and only the Romans could crucify. “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you [Jews] crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men [Romans]” (Acts 2:23).

Jesus chose twelve disciples, including one named Judas Iscariot; “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil” (John 6:70). He knew it ahead of time.

And ten brothers were intent on murder, but God was intent on salvation, so Joseph was sold as a slave to be just the right person in just the right place at just the right time. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

Like it or not, God is in charge. (It’s better to like it.)

Daily Prayer

Sovereign God, the mountains and the oceans, the sun and moon and stars display Your majesty. I hear Your story in the history of my world. I see Your love and Your lordship in the events around me. Throughout history, we try to live without You and against You. How foolish! How foolish we are if we do not call You King of kings and Lord of lords. You are sovereign over the good and the bad. Over all.

Lord, may I always walk in faith, listening to Your Holy Spirit, doing those works You have set before me. May I trust that Your plan is bigger than mine, and may my plans always be part of Yours.

Amen

Daily Question

What are some ways a person who believes God is in charge lives differently than someone who does not?

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Meanwhile

Daily Reading

Genesis 35-37

Daily Thought

Jacob knew his son, his favorite son, Joseph, was gone, apparently dead. The sons of Jacob knew more. They knew Joseph was not dead. He was, however, as good as dead. They had sold him into slavery. 

But nobody knew about ‘meanwhile.’ “Meanwhile the Midianites had sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard” (Genesis 37:36). When you read the word ‘meanwhile,’ it might be a clue God is up to something. Meanwhile describes something else happening at the same time in another place. Meanwhile means the story isn’t over. Meanwhile is the habitation of God, a place where God is at work. 

We draw conclusions and make decisions based on all we know, but all we know does not mean we know all. God may be up to something good in the meanwhile.

Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph to the Midianites. Joseph would become a slave, then a prisoner, then the prime minister, second in command beside Pharaoh over the land of Egypt and would save the people of Egypt, and of Israel, from famine. Looking back now, Joseph understood ‘meanwhile’ and explained it to his brothers, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Meanwhile is Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Daily Prayer

Sovereign God, You not only know the future, You make the future. You are good and all that You do is good. I trust in You, not because I know Your plans (I usually don’t), but because I know You, and You are good.

You are the Potter and I am the clay. As You mold me, Your wisdom and beauty is on display. Father, may I not resist, but rather surrender to Your hands and trust in Your skill.

Amen

Daily Question

Do your decisions and actions demonstrate that you trust or that do not trust that God is at work behind the scenes? Give examples.

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Let God Define You

Daily Reading

Genesis 30-31

Daily Thought

Israel, the great nation of God, would come through the line of Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons and a daughter by four women. Two were wives, two weren’t. Why would God use such a convoluted, sin-filled line to bring forth his people?

We are sinners, simple as that. When God uses us to accomplish his plan, sin tags along. We don’t have to search; sin doesn’t hide. Jacob’s wives invited him to sleep with their maidservants, and Jacob said, “Okay.” What a mess!

We do bad things and bad things happen to us, and God shapes it into his design. Joseph said to his brothers who sold him into slavery, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). God used the actions of the sons of Jacob to refine them so that they would learn love and trust through the consequences of their own hate and betrayal. God is sovereign, but that doesn’t mean he makes everything happen. For instance, God didn’t make the sons of Jacob sin. Sovereignty is much bigger than that. It means that God is in charge of this world, and he takes everything that happens, good and bad, and uses it to carry out his plan–and his plan is good for those who love him.

Often we let the bad things we do define us–“I’m a bad person”–but God can reshape the bad you have done into a work of his glory. God’s goodness is more powerful than your sin. Let God define you.

Daily Prayer

Father God, thank You for Your mercy. Your son made a trade: He took my sin and gave me His righteousness. What amazing grace! You have made me a new person in Jesus Christ. My old self, delighted with sin, is dead. I am born again, born from heaven, a new person who now delights in You.

God, I hunger and thirst for righteousness. May I be filled and overflowing. May I live a good and godly life that lights the world around me so that people see You and delight in You. And when I don’t follow You, use what I do wrong to turn me right. Thank You for welcoming me even in my sins, but not leaving me there.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you seen God work out a bad situation into something good?