History: Israelites leave Egypt                                      verse 1- 2 

When Israel went out of Egypt

the house of Jacob from the people of strange language

Judah was HIS sanctuary – and Israel HIS dominion 

History: Rea Sea and Jordan separate for Israel          verse 3- 6 

The sea saw it – and fled – Jordan was driven back

the mountains skipped like rams – the little hills like lambs

What ailed you – O you sea – that you fled?

you Jordan – that you was driven back?

You mountains that you skipped like rams

and you little hills – like lambs?        

 

History: Water came out of rock in Wilderness            verse 7- 8 

Tremble – you earth – at the presence of the LORD

at the presence of the God of  Jacob

which turned the rock into a standing water

the flint into a  fountain of waters 

COMMENTARY:           

                           DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers 

: 1        When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language. (3937 “strange language” [la‘az] means to speak an incomprehensible language that seems strange to one’s hearers, talk indistinctly, unintelligibly, to speak barbarously, or foreign language)

DEVOTION: I have walked down some streets in a large city and heard many different languages spoken at the same time. I have a hard time speaking English let alone another language. I have tried to give the Hebrew word or the Greek word found in the Bible at times but that is also sometimes a problem.

Now we see that Israel was in captivity for many years in the land of Egypt because of their disobedience to God. HE was the one who brought them out and HE took them to the Promised land.

Today we have many different nationalities around us and we need to be able to communicate with them. Most of them will learn English if they live in this country very long but we need to realize that we have to make sure that we present the gospel to them in a way that they understand.

I am afraid that the children of Israel did not communicate the message of God while they were in Egypt. They started worshiping the false gods of Egypt. They didn’t like that they were not in the Promised Land. They complained while in Egypt but still many of them didn’t tell the true story of who God was that they were supposed to be worshiping.

This can be true today in our world. We have many Christians in our world who are not even trying to reach those who come here from other nations with the message of salvation.

It is not easy to learn a different language but we can communicate by our actions as well as our words. They need to see Christ in us. Can we reach our world for the LORD? Yes we can.

CHALLENGE: If you have someone who is from another country in your neighborhood you can try to show them Christ in so many ways. Our goal should be to reach those the LORD puts us in contact with, even if, the children of Israel didn’t do the same.

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers 

: 2        “Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Sanctuary – 6944 קֹדֶשׁ [qodesh /ko·desh/] n m. From 6942; TWOT 1990a; GK 7731; 468 occurrences; AV translates as “holy” 262 times, “sanctuary” 68 times, “(holy”, “hallowed”, “…) things” 52 times, “most” 44 times, “holiness” 30 times, “dedicated” five times, “hallowed” three times, “consecrated” once, and translated miscellaneously three times. 1 apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness. 1A apartness, sacredness, holiness. 1A1 of God. 1A2 of places. 1A3 of things. 1B set-apartness, separateness. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).

DEVOTION:  The Israelites sang this song at Passover. This was appropriate since it describes God delivering the nation in the Exodus. It is a good thing to remember and praise God for the ways He has worked in the past!  God seems to enjoy our repetition of thanks as we reflect on His works. When we realize the power that God exerts so that his people may be saved or rescued from harm it should cause us to tremble as it does the earth. May we tremble even more when we realize that power is resident in us as believers. When the miraculous work of God occurs may we rejoice and tell repeatedly of His great power!

CHALLENGE:  When God is at work in your life and people ask, “What is happening?” may we respond with, “It is the power of God!” (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)

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: 3        The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. (4141 “driven” [muwcab] means winding about,                                 surrounding, round about, to turn, to change orientation or direction, or to be changed)

DEVOTION: We sometimes look at nature as fixed and that no one or nothing is in control of what is going on in nature. There are laws that govern nature. Nature should never act outside of those laws.

However, we find that God is really in control of nature when it came to HIS relationship to the children of Israel. In this verse we find two impossible things happening according to the laws of nature.

The first was the Red Sea splitting before the children of Israel as they were running from the army of Egypt. It was impossible but they walked across on dry ground. Only the LORD could have done it. Many skeptics have said that it was only a little water but the army of Egypt drown in that “little water.” God caused the children of Israel to escape sure death if the army of Egypt caught them.

Next we find that the same thing happening to the Jordan River. The waters stopped and the children of Israel passed over to enter the Promised Land the LORD had given them to own. The iniquity of the Amorites was full and the LORD wanted the nations in the land destroyed.

This did not just happen it was a miracle of God. The children of Israel were still celebrating these occasions in their feasts. They were singing songs that honored the LORD for their victories.

We need to do the same when the LORD gives us victories. We might not see rivers divide but we can see the LORD working in our life and we need to sing praises to HIM for each victory HE gives us over the enemy.

CHALLENGE: We need to be singing praise songs to the LORD with our whole heart, soul and body. Too often we see people singing praises with no heart!!!

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers 

: 7        Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob. (6440 “presence” [paniym] means face, faces, in front of, before, at the face or front of, or to the front of)

DEVOTION:  Ever play the game hide and seek? As a child we would play this game. One person had to find the rest of the ones playing the game. There was a safe spot that if you reached it you were safe.

The God of the Bible is Omnipresent. There is no place to hide. There is no safe spot from HIM. HE sees everyone and everything. Not only that, but HE is also OMNISCIENCE. HE knows everything and everyone. There is no one that HE doesn’t know. HE knows not only where we are but what we are thinking. What a great and awesome God we serve.

However, those outside of Christ want to seat in darkness because they think they can hide from God. They are blinded into thinking that HE doesn’t know what they are thinking while they are trying to hide. HE sits in heaven with a smile on HIS face.

I want to see the LORD face to face each morning. HE wants to meet with each of us each morning. The world will face the LORD one morning.  Some will meet HIM with pleasure and others with fear for the first time. Those who meet HIM in fear will spend eternity in the lake of fire.

The psalm describes the time of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. It speaks of the LORD having dominion over HIS people. It speaks of the LORD having dominion over the Red Sea. It speaks of the LORD having control of the waters of the Jordan River. HE had dominion over the mountains and the hills. HE was able of the rocks to bring forth water. The God of the Old Testament is Omnipotent.

This psalm is informing us of the fact that this world is still in the hands of the LORD and it always will be. We are always in the face of God. We are to realize HIS power. We are to praise HIM for the fact that HE is always in front of us fighting our battles.

HE helped the children of Israel through their wilderness experience. HE will help us when we feel we are in the wilderness. HE can still cause water to come out of rocks. The whole earth needs to tremble in the face of the LORD.

This verse uses two of the three major names for the creator of the universe: LORD and God. God is the name Elohim, which means Sovereign or Creator. LORD is the name Jehovah or Yahwah, which means covenant keeping or personal God.  This is the ONE we are to face each morning. Praise HIM!!!

CHALLENGE: Don’t go on feelings but realize that you can experience the presence of the LORD in your life. Sometimes you need to pray for longer periods of time to understand this Psalmist.    

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            : 8        Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. (2015 “turned”                                      [haphak] means to cause to change, make different, to overthrow, to change, cause a                                                   transformation, or alter.)

DEVOTION:  Do we understand all the miracles the LORD did while the children of Israel were moving from Egypt to the Promised Land? NO! The Bible informs us that the LORD did many miracles for the children of Israel in Egypt and while they were traveling to the Promised Land.

One of the miracles was the HE brought out water from rocks. It doesn’t seem possible and there are some who want to explain away all the miracles of the Old Testament and New Testament but we know that the LORD is still doing miracles today when we see someone who wasn’t a believer become a believer. That is a modern miracle as we watch someone change from a follower of Satan to a follower of God.

We all need the water of life that the children of Israel needed in the wilderness. The water we need today is not just like the water from the sink that we can get at any time. It is the water of salvation.

There are many people who are like “rocks” when it comes to listening to the message of salvation but the LORD can still work miracles by turning that person who is against God into a genuine follower of the LORD.

HE did many miracles in the wilderness for the children of Israel and HE is still working miracles in the lives of people today.

CHALLENGE: We need to be praying for some modern miracles in the lives of those we love. HE can turn rocks into water, so HE can turn those who are apposed to the message of salvation into genuine believers.

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group) 

Sanctuary (Temple built in Jerusalem)                  verse 2 

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

God the Father (First person of the Godhead) 

HIS sanctuary = Judah where Temple was               verse 2

Dominion of God =Israel                                          verse 2

Miracles in the wilderness                                        verse 4

LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)       verse 7

Earth told to tremble before LORD                         verse 7

                        Presence of the LORD                                            verse 7

                        God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)                        verse 7

                        Presence of God of Jacob                                      verse 7

                        Turned rocks into standing water                         verse 8 

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)    

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation) 

Egypt                                                                          verse 1

People of a strange language                                   verse 1

Jordan                                                                        verse 3 

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins) 

Presence of the LORD                                              verse 7 

Israel (Old Testament people of God) 

Israel                                                                           verse 1, 2

House of Jacob                                                          verse 2, 7

Judah: God’s sanctuary                                                         

                Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events)

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DONATIONS:

Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org.  Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church, please use that method.  Thank you.

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QUOTES regarding passage

3, 4. So, while the story in Exodus and Joshua recaptures the magnitude of what Israel experienced—the terror of pursuit, the wild elation on the far shore, the trembling at mount Sinai, and the eventual crossing of the Jordan ‘in haste’ and ‘in awe’ (Josh. 4:10c, 14)—the psalm takes a totally different view. With a superb flourish it shows us the scurrying and excitement set up by the Creator’s arrival with his earthly court: sea and river falling over themselves, so to speak, to make way for him; mountains and hills no longer aloof and majestic but all animated and agog.

But he is the God of Jacob, and his purpose is salvation. The psalm ends, like its predecessor, on the note of his quiet creativity and care: his power directed to the point of need, transforming what is least promising into a place of plenty and a source of joy. (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 438). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

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By genre this psalm is a hymn of descriptive praise. The theme is God’s theophany to Israel in the wilderness when he committed himself to his people by covenant. He had redeemed Israel from Egypt, consecrated them to be his royal nation, and brought them across the Jordan into the Promised Land. This motif made it an appropriate hymn for the annual Passover ceremony. Brueggemann writes, “Psalms 114 is an invitation for each new generation to participate in this world-transforming memory, to be identified with the tradition and given life by it”

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3–6 The wonder of Israel’s election as the covenant people has its effect on the world of nature. The psalmist chooses the motif of Israel’s miraculous passing through the Red Sea and the Jordan and the theophanic signs at Mount Sinai (Exod 19:18; Judg 5:4; Ps 68:8) as the background for a hymnic celebration of the wonder of God’s revelation to Israel. Nature opened a path for the redeemed of the Lord (cf. 29:5).

 (Message of the Psalms, p. 142). (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 716). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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114:3 The sea … Jordan. Two miracles of God, i.e., separating the waters began and ended the Exodus. On the way out of Egypt, God parted the Red Sea (Ex 14:15–31) and 40 years later He parted the Jordan River in order for the Jews to enter the Promised Land (Jos 3:1–17). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 114:3). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

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3. The sea saw it. The word it is supplied, not very properly, by our translators. It would be more expressive to say, “The sea saw:” that is, The sea—(the Red Sea)—saw the mighty movement—the marshalled hosts—the moving masses—the cattle—the pursuing enemies—the commotion—the agitation—on its usually quiet shores. We are to conceive of the usual calmness of the desert—the waste and lonely solitudes on the banks of the Red Sea,—and then all this suddenly broken in upon by vast hosts of men, women, children, and cattle, fleeing in consternation, followed by the embattled strength of Egypt,—all rolling on tumultuously to the shore. No wonder that the sea is represented as astonished at this unusual spectacle, and as fleeing in dismay.

And fled. As if affrighted at the approach of such an host, coming so suddenly upon its shores.

Jordan was driven back. Referring to the dividing of the waters of the Jordan when the children of Israel passed over to the promised land. Josh. 3:13–17. They also seemed astonished at the approach of the Hebrews, and retired to make a way for them to pass over. (Barnes, A. (1870–1872). Notes on the Old Testament: Psalms (Vol. 3, p. 153). London: Blackie & Son.)

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3. “The sea saw it, and fled”; or rather, “The sea saw and fled”—it saw God and all his people following his lead, and it was struck with awe and fled away. A bold figure! The Red Sea mirrored the hosts which had come down to its shore, and reflected the cloud which towered high over all, as the symbol of the presence of the Lord: never had such a scene been imagined upon the surface of the Red Sea, or any other sea, before. It could not endure the unusual and astounding sight, and fleeing to the right and to the left, opened a passage for the elect people. A like miracle happened at the end of the great march of Israel, for “Jordan was driven back.” This was a swiftly-flowing river, pouring itself down a steep decline, and it was not merely divided, but its current was driven back so that the rapid torrent, contrary to nature, flowed up-hill. This was God’s work: the poet does not sing of the suspension of natural laws, or of a singular phenomenon not readily to be explained; but to him the presence of God with his people is everything, and in his lofty song he tells how the river was driven back because the Lord was there. In this case poetry is nothing but the literal fact, and the fiction lies on the side of the atheistic critics who will suggest any explanation of the miracle rather than admit that the Lord made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all his people. The division of the sea and the drying up of the river are placed together though forty years intervened, because they were the opening and closing scenes of one great event. We may thus unite by faith our new birth and our departure out of the world into the promised inheritance, for the God who led us out of the Egypt of our bondage under sin will also conduct us through the Jordan of death out of our wilderness wanderings in the desert of this tried and changeful life. It is all one and the same deliverance, and the beginning ensures the end. (Spurgeon, C. H. (2009). The treasury of David: Psalms 111-119 (Vol. 5, p. 42). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

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FROM MY READING: 

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

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It should go without saying that, in 21st century America, most of the assumptions at work in contemporary culture are not Christian assumptions. And whatever new “normal” is, it’s constantly changing, it’s anything but worldview neutral. As my friend and author Natasha Crain puts it in her new book Faithfully Different, “We are in a culture where feelings are the ultimate guide, happiness is the ultimate goal, judging is the ultimate sin, and God is the ultimate guess.”

That means that Christians today are called to a daunting task: believing, thinking, and living contrary to widely accepted beliefs and practices. We must be a “worldview minority,” even, at times, among those who call themselves Christians.

In her punchy and accessible new book, Natasha Crain helps Christians embrace this calling while resisting the false assumptions that surround us. Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture is a terrific guide for those who wish to maintain Christian identity and confidence in the face of pervasive secularism.

Of course, the first step to faithfully living as a worldview minority is to establish that we are, in fact, a minority. After all, Pew Research’s Religious Landscape Study still shows that around 65 percent of Americans identify as Christians. However, surveys that look at actual beliefs give a clearer picture of what’s going on.

In her interview with my colleague Shane Morris on the Upstream podcast, Natasha pointed to the recent results of the American Worldview Inventory, conducted by George Barna and Arizona Christian University. According to that survey, just 6% of Americans hold a “functional biblical worldview,” meaning they gave recognizably Christian answers to questions like, Who is God? and What are human beings? and Is there absolute truth? Among respondents between the ages of 18 and 29, only 2% had a functional biblical worldview.

This kind of extreme minority status means there is constant pressure on Christians to live in a secular way and to hide beliefs that our neighbors find unbelievable. Even worse, there is strong temptation to join in the cultural scorn on historic Christian faith, following the example of the many authors, entertainers, and pastors who have publicly “deconstructed” their former faith.

Faithfully Different is a clarion call for Christians to intentionally push back on this pressure. In twelve rich but readable chapters, she identifies and challenges the primary assumptions held in our secular culture and reasserts the Christian alternative as a better way to understand the world.

In full disclosure, Natasha asked me to write the foreword for Faithfully Different, and I did so gladly after reading it. Here’s a portion of what I wrote:

All humans are, in many important ways, shaped by cultures. Our fashions, tastes, beliefs, and so many other things about us reflect the social environments into which we are born and live. In fact, a culture is most powerful in shaping us by what it makes seem normal.  (Break Point)

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Recommend Dr. Dave Turners blog: The church has long recognized the uniqueness of the Gospel According to John. According to Eusebius,  Clement of Alexandria referred to John as a “spiritual gospel,” written intentionally to supplement Mathew, Mark, and Luke’s stress on physical matters. Preachers today can be heard saying that  John is so deep that an elephant could drown in it.
I recently posted on John as the “Spiritual Gospel” at drdavidlturner.com. I think Clement was right to recognize John’s uniqueness, but wrong in his understanding of that uniqueness as a spiritual versus physical emphasis. In fact, John’s uniqueness is precisely due to his insistence that true spirituality flows from God the Son becoming physical. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God’s glory transcends Clement’s platonic bifurcation of flesh and spirit.
The “spiritual Gospel” is not an immaterial Gospel but an incarnational Gospel. Only the somatic (fleshly) Jesus could convey the pneumatic (spiritual) realities John intends to convey. Jesus’ entering the physical world by becoming flesh reaffirms God’s original evaluation of creation: “it was [and still is] very good”
Check out my post if you’d like to learn more about swimming with the elephants (and wading with the lambs) in the Gospel of John.

I hope you find my website useful. Let me know what you think by commenting on the website or by emailing David@drdavidlturner.com. You may sign up on the website homepage to receive notices of future posts. You may unsubscribe from future emails below.

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It’s not good for man, or woman, to be alone. And a new Canadian study confirms it.

What makes people happy—I mean, really happy?

Many of us believe we’ll be over the moon if we get a good education, find a great job, and make lots of money. But a recent study found that what really makes us happy is membership within a tight-knit community—one that includes regular church attendance.

Which is exactly how Scripture tells us we ought to live.

Happiness researchers at Canada’s McGill University and the Vancouver School of Economics recently interviewed 400,000 Canadians. They found that people who are members of strong communities—typically in rural areas—are EIGHT TIMES happier than people who live in cities.

Factors in greater happiness include shorter commutes—which means more time with family. Residents pay much less for housing than city dwellers, who pay 30 percent or more of their income on a place to live—something that can cause real stress.

While people who live in densely-populated areas may interact with more people, those interactions tend to be shallower. City dwellers also tend to have less contact with friends and family and feel less safe—which probably makes it harder to reach out to neighbors.

And that can be dangerous. Social isolation can “literally change the brain, flooding [it] with a chemical that fuels fear and aggression,” notes the Daily Mail.

By contrast, people in rural areas say they feel a stronger sense of connection with their neighbors. They tend to be less transient, and more likely to attend church. Clearly, small towns and rural areas “are more conducive than cities to forming strong social bonds,” writes Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post.

This isn’t the only study that found that a strong sense of community makes for greater happiness. For instance, the Danish people spend a great deal of time with family and friends—which is likely why they are among the happiest people on earth, despite awful weather and super-high taxes.

 

A strong sense of community doesn’t just lead to happiness; it also brings down the crime rate. Chuck Colson once wrote that “an extensive study . . . found only one reliable predictor of crime rates in a community: whether it had, or lacked, a strong sense of community values and a willingness to impose those values on public space—what researchers called ‘community cohesion.’ Crime,” Chuck noted, “was low in neighborhoods where people felt free to discipline neighborhood kids caught skipping school or scrawling graffiti on walls.”

This need for close community echoes the community enjoyed by God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  And in the book of Acts, we read of how closely the new Christians lived in community, sharing everything with one another, strengthening one another’s faith, and keeping each other accountable.

What doesn’t make for greater happiness? Living in a richer community, filled with highly educated people.

If you—like me—live in a city, there are still plenty of ways to become part of a tight-knit community. The most important thing is to become active in a good church. Join the choir, or bring meals to the sick. You can join a small group, or get together once a week for meals with fellow Christians, or join an outreach ministry.

What else can you do? Move near a Christian school, send your kids there, and get to know the other families. And—yes, this is a big thing—think about moving to a Christian community within your city.

Finally, be countercultural: Try to get to know your neighbors.

We don’t need to let where we live dictate our level of happiness—but we do need to know WHY our rural neighbors are eight times happier than city dwellers: It’s because they’ve mastered the art of creating, and maintaining, strong and caring communities—just as God intended.

Before I leave you today, if you don’t know about Canadian pro-life apologist Stephanie Gray, you need to come to BreakPoint.org/free to download a free copy of a chapter from her outstanding book “Love Unleashes Life.”

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

Eric Metaxas is a co-host of BreakPoint Radio and a best-selling author whose biographies, children’s books, and popular apologetics have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

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A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority. Booker T. Washington.

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Godliness in Form Only
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:5)
Those with a “form of godliness” are much more difficult to recognize than those who are openly wicked. Jesus gave His most harsh criticism to the hypocritical leaders of the religious sects of His day. Jesus also warned of “false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15).
On another occasion, Jesus illustrated the challenge of identifying those who looked like God’s people but were really “tares” that the Enemy had sown among the wheat. In His parable, Jesus indicated that even the “servants of the householder” might uproot the wheat along with the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). The Corinthian church was warned about the same problem when they were told that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
We are strongly urged to “turn away” from these kinds of people. They have the ability to cause serious damage among the churches. They will “creep” into “houses” (a metaphor for churches—1 Timothy 3:15) and will lead “silly women” away with many different desires (2 Timothy 3:6). They will resist the truth and will have power like the magicians of Egypt who deceived Pharaoh and opposed Moses. And like those magicians, their minds are corrupt (focused on sin) and are already condemned (2 Timothy 3:8).
The good news is that they will be forcibly stopped and exposed as foolish (2 Timothy 3:9). Peter notes that they will have swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1-3) and will utterly perish in corruption (2 Peter 2:12-13). Like the magicians who produced snakes, blood for water, and frogs aplenty (Exodus 7-8), they will be unable to go any further and will be forced to say, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). HMM III

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Today’s Scripture
Genesis 41-42 

Forgotten by man yet not forgotten by God. If there is one that I choose to be remembered by, I will choose God. So many times, in our lives we feel that we have been forgotten or overlooked by friends and family. I remember when we were pastoring in New York and one day leaving one of our kids behind at church thinking she was with a friend. It was frightening to realize she was not with us.

Joseph had been forgotten by the servant of the Pharoah. For two years he had sat in prison and waited for the prison doors to open. It finally took a supernatural act for the cupbearer to remember Joseph and make his name aware to Pharoah. 

Two dreams of Pharoah that no one could interpret was the catalyst that caused the doors of prison to open and for Joseph to suddenly experience the plans God had laid out for him as a young person. The dreams were interpreted and Pharoah believed Joseph’s explanations to the point where he appointed Joseph to the position of second in command in his government. 

Joseph’s obedience and personal drive to be a servant of both his God and master guided him to secure the goods to provide for all of Egypt and the surrounding countries in the years that followed. This position led to the fulfillment of Joseph’s own dreams and visions he had as a youth. 

Perhaps there have been times when we feel that God has forgotten us, and we are wasting our lives in a cell of confinement. Joseph’s story is a reminder that God never forgets His promises or His children. In the proper time, He opens doors, and His promises will be fulfilled. How will we wait upon God? With a sour attitude and a whining voice or with a humble attitude that says we will trust God until He moves us to the next step. May we believe God’s promises and anticipate His movement as we patiently wait for doors to open!  With an Expectant Hope, Pastor Miller

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Tomorrow
“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1)

The sin of procrastination may not be one of the so-called “seven deadly sins,” but it may come close if it involves neglecting to do what God has clearly commanded us to do. Sins of omission may well be as serious in many cases as sins of commission. The Bible warns: “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

To the professing Christian who deliberately goes against God’s will, either by neglect or intent, Jesus warns: “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes” (Luke 12:47). This was spoken in the context of a parable, but the message was clear that it is dangerous to ignore God’s revealed will.

The principle even applies in the secular realm. “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow” (James 4:13-14).

The most dangerous sin of procrastination, of course, is neglecting to come to Christ for forgiveness and salvation. As Paul stressed: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Ignoring God while fully involved in pleasure or business or anything else is at least presumptuous. To the rich man in Christ’s parable who had spent his life concentrating on accumulating goods, God said: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20). We do not know what even one tomorrow may bring, so we need to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5).

                (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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Getting What We Want

Adonijah . . . put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” 1 Kings 1:5

Aaron Burr anxiously awaited the result of the tie-breaking vote from the US House of Representatives. Deadlocked with Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 race for the presidency, Burr had reason to believe that the House would declare him the winner. However, he lost, and bitterness gnawed at his soul. Nurturing grievances against Alexander Hamilton for not supporting his candidacy, Burr killed Hamilton in a gun duel less than four years later. Outraged by the killing, his country turned its back on him, and Burr died a dour old man.

Political power plays are a tragic part of history. When King David was nearing death, his son Adonijah recruited David’s commander and a leading priest to make him king (1 Kings 1:5–8). But David had chosen Solomon as king (v. 17). With the help of the prophet Nathan, the rebellion was put down (vv. 11–53). Despite his reprieve, Adonijah plotted a second time to steal the throne, and Solomon had him executed (2:13–25).

How human of us to want what’s not rightfully ours! No matter how hard we pursue power, prestige, or possessions, it’s never quite enough. We always want something more. How unlike Jesus, who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross”! (Philippians 2:8).

Ironically, selfishly pursuing our own ambitions never brings us our truest, deepest longings. Leaving the outcome to God is the only path to peace and joy.

             (By Tim Gustafson, Our Daily Bread) 

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