KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019
Chapters: Exodus 4-6
Message: Faith Before Work
Hello My Friend,
People every day talk about God, and even Jesus, but do you know that they lack? Jesus. You can talk about Jesus all you want, but unless you are saved yourself you might as well be digging your own grave right into hell along with the devil. Satan certainly believes in Jesus, and knows exactly what He did on the cross for even him, but he refuses to receive Him as his Saviour. Therefore, he will be cast into the lake of fire along with everyone else who refuses to receive Him as their Saviour. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” – James 2:17-20.
“that faith without works is dead?” This may sound like an oxymoron here, but it is not, it means that our faith in Jesus comes before our works, otherwise, our faith is dead, and if our faith is dead, then we are dead because we need to have faith in Jesus in order to do His work. Now, remember, Jesus chooses us by our faith, there is not one thing that we do for God on our own, He called us to do it. Now, here is Moses, he has been living in Median for the past forty years, while his Israelite people were under harsh slavery to the Egyptians. God hears their cries for help, and calls on Moses for the first time, and He was going to use him to set Israel free.
“And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.” – Exodus 4:1-5.
“behold, they will not believe me,” Moses was thinking they were going to think, “Here comes this man they never knew claiming to have heard from God, and that He was going to set them free.” When I first got my job and was told that I would be in charge and have to speak to store managers and tell them that this was my product, and it needs to be out I reacted pretty much the same way, but God does give you the power to do the things that He calls you to do regardless of what it is. Moses was still not convinced.
“And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.” – Exodus 4:10-15.
“And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses,” God was angry with him because he kept making excuses as to why he was not qualified to do the job, but God does and never does choose the qualified, He always qualifies who He chooses. Now, when God told Moses that He was going to get his brother to help him that eased his mind a bit and he agree, and actually left right away, but something happened along the way.
“And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life. And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.” – Exodus 4:18-20,24-26.
“and sought to kill him.” Why was God going to kill him after He was so adamant about telling him to go Egypt? God may call on us, but we must obey His Word also. Moses did not know the covenant of circumcision, and his sons were not circumcised. And you cannot say that you are doing His work if you are not practicing what you preach. Remember, ignorance to the law cannot save us, if we were to die today without knowing Jesus as our Saviour, having never heard of Him, we would be in hell. Moses may have become ill because his wife performed the procedure, and when she did she threw the bloody foreskin at his feet. In this odd illustration, the foreskin represents sin, the blood, Jesus Christ, and the removal of it as Jesus cleansing us from all sin. We cannot be clean from sin unless we have His blood upon us, and when we do He removes our sin, and cleanses us. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:” – Colossians 2:10-11.
Now, that all that was over, it was time for Moses to meet his brother for the first time. “And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.” – Exodus 4:27-31.
“then they bowed their heads and worshipped.” You know, while some of the people did fear God, the majority of them were like most people today, “It is God, big deal, what has He done for me?” However, this time it was different, and these were the elders, they bowed down and worshiped God. Moses and Aaron has the people excited, now what? Moses and Aaron stand before the Pharaoh.
“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.” – Exodus 5:1-2,6-9.
“Let there more work be laid upon the men,” Did you ever get a job, the perfect job, but there is only one thing, you have to work on Sunday, or whatever day it is that there is a church service? The world can care less if we worship God, but it better be in your spare time, and not ours, and if we have time to do that then we are not working hard enough. Pharaoh thought himself to be a god so, when Moses and Aaron asked them to let the Israelites go worship God he afflicted them even more, saying I do not know who this God is, if they have time to worship God they need more work to do. Of course, this did not go over too well with the Israelites.
“And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.” – Exodus 6:2-7,9.
“but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” JEHOVAH; the Supreme Being, the eternal Spirit, and unchangeable God. To paraphrase God, “I am the Supreme Being, I will bring you out of captivity.” The Israelites did not want to hear what Moses had to say, their faith was dead because they could not see past the affliction they were facing. God allows affliction, not to punish or hurt us, but to grow us, prepare us, and to show us that He truly is JEHOVAH. I often pray to God, and remind Him that I know He is JEHOVAH, who nothing is too hard for, nor impossible. “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?” – Exodus 4:11.
Today’s Prayer: God, Every single person born has a place and purpose in this world, we are fearfully and wonderfully made by You, and for You, and what we see as flaws or disabilities are the very things that you use to qualify us to do Your work. Lord, lead us and guide us on how to use our bodies for Your glory, let us continually remember the work that You call us to do is not grievous. Give us comfort, peace, and guidance, let the afflictions we endure become inspirations to do more by the hope we have in the Lord, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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