KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2018
Chapters: Exodus 33-35
Message: In The Presence Of God
Hello My Friend,
There is a song, “If Your Presence Go Not With Me”, “Many years ago I gave my heart to you, I humbly ask You Lord to be in all I do, but now the burden seems so heavy you’ve given me to bare, before I press on any further, I need to know that you’re still there. Lord, If Your presence go not with me, I don’t want to go. And if Your Spirit is not leading me, Lord I need to know. You have placed me here, I’ll do your will, Your love I’ll try to show, but if Your presence go not with me, I don’t want to go.” Life is a journey, and to be honest, if that journey does not include Christ it does not have a glorious end. We are going to be faced with many trials, some of them much harder to bare than others, but as long as Christ is with us He will carry us through and into the promised land. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” – I Corinthians 10:13.
Moses had been given a very large task by God, he was to lead the entire congregation of Israel to the promised land. Of course, that task was not very easy, in fact, he left them while getting instructed by God for forty days and when he returned they had made themselves a false god and started worshiping it. After all that trouble God sent Moses back up the mountain for further instruction, it was there that Moses had some questions.
“And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” – Exodus 33:12-19.
“My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” You know, our journey with God often leads to lots of hills and valleys, some quite hard to get through, and when we are among them it can be hard to see where God is taking us, even though He is right there with us. God assures us that, even though we are stubborn and proud more than we care to admit, that He is still with us. Now, after God assures Moses that He is with him He makes is presence known by passing by Him. God descends in the cloud, proclaiming His NAME, His perfections, and character, that He is merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and has an abundance of goodness and truth.
“And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee. Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:” – Exodus 34:5-12.
“lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:” You see, God had planned all along for Israel to go into Canaan without any opposition, but once they started dwelling and mixing with them that is when they became a snare and God left them to fight with them all their days. More often than we think, God’s will for us is simply, without a lot of drama, we are the ones who complicate it by doing what the world does. While God could strike down anyone in the blink of an eye, He is always merciful, ready to forgive the vilest of sinners, truly is gracious, kind, and gives so many blessings even though we do not deserve them. Is God boasting about who He is? No. He is proclaiming who He is. The word proclaim means to declare with honor. Every child of God should never be ashamed to proclaim that they are a born again, child of the living God through Jesus Christ. “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Romans 10:11-13.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little fear for people to see that they need God, and once they do, they willingly want to follow His commands and serve Him as He calls them. Moses came back down and told the congregation God’s plan, and for the first time since they left Egypt they willingly began doing exactly what God instructed.
“And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded; The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets, The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering, The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread, The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light, And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle, The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court, The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords, The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.” – Exodus 35:10-19,29.
“his tent, and his covering,” You see, every piece of the Tabernacle and everything that went into it belonged to God, therefore, anything that went into it must have been pure and given willingly. Today, we are God’s Tabernacle, the same rules apply, we must be pure and give ourselves willingly to Him. The entire Tabernacle itself is a reflection of Christ, therefore, we become a reflection of Christ when He comes into our soul. If we are not living a pure and simple life it will reflect Christ also, and this is why so many people reject Christ, if one who calls themselves a Christian is behaving worse than those in the world they only see Christ as being the same. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” – James 1:12-14.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:” – Exodus 33:2.
Today’s Prayer: God, As much as we try to be faithful to You this journey of life seems to always put us to the test. Time and time again, You prove that even when we do not see You You are working in our lives, You are growing us and preparing us for not only the task You call us to do, but to receive the promises You have for us. I am on Your side God, I want to be in Your will, even when You seem far away. Lord, Many years ago I gave my heart to you, I humbly ask You Lord to be in all I do, but now the burden seems so heavy you’ve given me to bare, before I press on any further, I need to know that you’re still there. Lord, If Your presence go not with me, I don’t want to go. And if Your Spirit is not leading me, Lord I need to know. You have placed me here, I’ll do your will, Your love I’ll try to show, but if Your presence go not with me, I don’t want to go. Lead me and guide me, give me Your power to remain faithful at all times, You grace to get back up when I get stalled, and Your strength to keep going even when I do not see You. I ask these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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