Month: December 2014

I Will Take You

I Will Take You Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 6:7 What a beautiful promise it is: “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” One of our most fundamental needs is to be loved and to be accepted. This was especially true of a people who had long ago been… Continue reading I Will Take You

When They Heard

When They Heard Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 4:31 “And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” It’s a wonderful example of a people in need responding to the news that God cares about them. Oppressed by harsh taskmasters, trying to keep their… Continue reading When They Heard

Send Someone Else

Send Someone Else Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 4:13 “But Moses said, ‘O Lord, please send someone else to do it.’” I’ve always thought that one of the most interesting, even poignant, parts of the Exodus story is how Moses didn’t want to do the job God had for him to do. I can identify with… Continue reading Send Someone Else

Holy Space

Holy Space Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 3:5 “’Do not come any closer,’ God said, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’” Where are the holy spaces of your life? When Moses encountered the now famous “burning bush” in the wilderness where he was hiding out as a shepherd… Continue reading Holy Space

Hard Labor

Hard Labor Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 1:13-14 “…so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly.  They made their lives bitter with hard labor…in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.” This year, as I write these words and reflect on Israel’s history as recorded in the book of Exodus,… Continue reading Hard Labor

Weeping for Joy

Weeping for Joy Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 45:2 “And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.” After all the twists and turns; all the drama – Joseph is reunited with his family – the very brothers who had long ago sold him into slavery. Does he take revenge?  Does he… Continue reading Weeping for Joy

In a Foreign Land

In a Foreign Land Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 39:1 “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt…” Sold by his brothers into slavery, Joseph was now in a foreign place – Egypt. You might think this would lead to nothing good but in God’s providential grace, exactly the opposite began to happen. Even though there… Continue reading In a Foreign Land

Dreams

Dreams Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 37:19-20 “’Here comes that dreamer!’ they said to each other.  ‘Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say a ferocious animal devoured him.  Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.’” He was, according to scripture, Jacob’s (Israel’s) favorite son, because “he had… Continue reading Dreams

Wrestling with God

Wrestling with God Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 32:27 “The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered.  Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.’” It must have been quite a wrestling match – this one… Continue reading Wrestling with God