This Weeks Devotional

Monday, January 19, 2009 -
Exodus 17:8-16
How do we battle against our enemies? We all have them. Sometimes our enemies are from without, sometimes from within. I know that I have many demons that I fight in my life, and most everyone that I know do as well. And I really do not know anyone that has no enemies without. Here in the book of Exodus the children of God was at war with Amalek, and his warriors. He wished to destroy Moses and Joshua and make no mistake about it our enemies wish to destroy us, whether the enemy comes from within or without. The solution is spelled out here in the Book. We must fight. We must not lay back and surrender. If Moses had done that the victory would never have been won. But fighting is not the only thing that we must do. We must hold the rod of God up high. While the rod was held toward the heavens, the Army of God prevailed. When the rod was let down, the foe began to gain the victory. The rod of God was used many times in many different miracles. Here it was used as a key to victory. What will bring us victory? Fighting the fight and holding the standard of God, the rod of God, the Word of God high. When that is done, victory will be ours. It is war, but the battle is worth it. Tuesday,

January 20, 2009 -
Numbers 14:6-10
God had promised His children victory and a promised land. Unfortunately many of the people feared and their faith was compromised. Fear will always cause you to have a lack of faith. So God granted them their wish and sent spies into the land of Canaan. The report came back and the majority of the people talked about how great the enemy was and how they could not be defeated. Two talked about how great God was and how He could not be defeated. Who was right? Well, they both were. The ones who looked at the enemy and their greatness never did defeat the enemy and they died in the wilderness. The ones that looked at the greatness of God and how he could not be beaten lived and entered into the promise land, the land of victory, a picture of the victorious Christian life. So, in your life, will you look at the enemy and say that he is too big to beat, or will you look at our Saviour and know that He cannot be beaten?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 -
Numbers 27:12-23
Moses was a great man of God, a great man of faith, a great man of victory. He led the children of God, faced enormous difficulties, fought brilliant battles but he never got to enter the promise land. God said in verse 14, “For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, . . .” To day, let us not name the sin of Moses that cost him presence in the Promise Land. We will not speak of the Grace of God that passes all understanding. I wish to look at one thing. The time that we spend in sin can never be recovered. In a life time the average will make a couple of million dollars. But once a dollar is spent foolishly, that dollar cannot be brought back by saying “do over.” A sin that is committed can be forgiven, without a doubt. A sin that is committed can be forsaken. A sin that is committed, but forsaken and forgiven will never be brought up at the judgment seat of Christ. But the time spent in that sin, and the damage it causes can never be overcome. Think about it!

Thursday, January 22, 2009 -
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Moses was a wise, spiritual, strong, Godly man. He made his mistakes, which cost him dearly, but that did not take away from the fact that he was God’s man for the hour. The wisdom that he gave to Joshua is priceless and worth taking a look at and imitating to the very best of our God given ability. First of all, understand that there will be times that we fail God and even forsake Him, but He will never fail us nor forsake us.
That is why Moses states in verse 3, “ . . .He will go over before thee. . .” In verse 4, “And the Lord shall do unto them . . .”Again look at verse 5, “And the Lord shall give them up . . .” One more verse, verse 6, “ . . . :for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee . . .” God is always there for us, that we can be sure. Be strong, God will give strength through the Word of God. The joy of the Lord is my strength. And of good courage. Courage quality of being brave: the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action . Do not fear, fear cannot live where faith abides. Nor be afraid of them. Who is ‘them”. Our enemies, the ones from within, the ones from without, the ones that would distract us from our walk with God. Joshua, I am not going to go to the land of promise. I am old, I have made mistakes, God has appointed you, to lead the people, God’s people into the land of promise. God will bury His workman, but never His work.

Friday, January 23, 2009 -
Deuteronomy 34:1-9
As I read this verse my eyes tear. My heart rate is up, and my stomach feels sour. I think that this is one of the saddest passages found in the Word of God. In fact, I identify with it so much, that it causes me grief and I think I understand what was on the heart of Moses as he looked at the land of promise and knew that it would never be his. God allowed Moses to see the land of Canaan, the promised land, the land that flowed with milk and honey. So many times I have dreamed what God could really do with my life. I dream and think of my church being much larger. I drew up plans for a new place of worship 29 years ago, and I still have that plan in my desk drawer, but the building has never been built. I have dreams of a radio ministry that reaches all of the Philippine Islands and the regions beyond, some 100 million people, many of them Muslims and Communist. I have dreams of helping train tomorrows preachers to make a large impact for the glory of God. I dream of being used of God to build orphanages in India and other places where children have no hope or dreams beyond eating a good meal or of having a safe place to sleep. I can see these things with my eye of faith, but will God allow me to realize my dreams or will I die in the wilderness and be buried in an unknown grave the way that Moses life was ended? Only God knows, and I will be satisfied with His decision. But my heart still goes out to Moses. His eyes were not dim nor his natural force abated. He died with life still in him and dreams unrealized. I guess that a lesson here is that sin committed will cause dreams to be unfulfilled. However, I would rather die, with dreams not realized, than to never have dreams at all.

Saturday, January 24, 2009 -
Joshua 1:1-9
Moses is dead. We have mentioned a sin that Moses committed that prevented him from the realization of his dreams several times in this weeks devotionals. But notice verse one “Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord . . .” God still loves Moses! He, God, still thinks of him as a “servant of the Lord.” That does not give us the right to sin. We must not sin and say “I can sin, and God will forgive me.” But it is great to know that when we stumble and fall, that God will pick us up, clean us up and still love us and never doubt our love for Him. What a God we have. Wouldn’t it be great if those that we have offended, those that we have sinned against, would be as gracious as God? I for one, will always take this position. This is a position of strength, a position that makes us more like Him.