KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, February 04, 2018
Chapters: Exodus 16-18
Message: Trust God And Be Grateful
Hello My Friend,
Chide: To scold; to clamor; to find fault; to contend in words of anger. It is no doubt that we as Christians know how blessed we are and that God never fails at providing us with everything we need. In fact, we are blessed with much more than we deserve, so it is not uncommon for us to praise Him when the blessings keep coming. So, how do we react when we are faced with calamities? You would be surprised to find that many Christians start chiding with God, maybe not even directly, but instead of trusting Him, knowing He has always provided, they find fault and question Him. If there is one thing I am learning in this walk with Christ it is that we are not the most grateful bunch, but thankfully He never leaves us. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” – Hebrews 13:5.
I believe that as long as we keep fussing and complaining about what was and what we do not have now that God is going to keep putting us in situations until we learn to be thankful and trust Him with everything. Sadly, and while we truly are thankful when He does provide, it does not take long before we lose sight of those blessings when faced with the next challenge. Remember, all the while Israel was walking in the wilderness, God was the one directing their path, now, it has been two months since they left Egypt, the food supply is starting to diminish, and what do they do? They fuss and complain that they have nothing to eat.
“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.” – Exodus 16:2-3,6-8.
“to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Surely they were being overly dramatic, they were led by God, of course, He was going to take care of them, but instead of being grateful that they were free they grumbled and complained even at the slightest challenge. This is exactly why God gives us things a little bit at a time instead of all at once, He wants to prove our faith and obedience to Him. Think about it, if we had everything handed to us with no effort on our part, are we going to see the need to follow God? I am not against welfare, but how many people receive funds from the government on a regular basis and have no desire to work or want to better their lives, and they are the ones who complain about having nothing. God never denies us anything, He wants to give us more than we ever ask for, in fact, He gives us much more than what we deserve already, all He asks in return is that we trust and acknowledge Him. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” – Colossians 3:16-17.
As Israel continues their journey to the promised land God placed one obstacle after another before them. Why? To prove their faith, yet each time all they saw was the obstacle and not God, even though He was right there in front of them. Once again God placed an obstacle in front of them by taking them to a spot with no water.
“Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” – Exodus 17:2-7.
“saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” God always stands before us with the very things we need, we just have to have reach out by faith and get them. Massah means temptation, Meribah means strife, they began to question whether God was with them or not. This is their tempting God because of their distrust in Him after they had received such proofs of His power and goodness. Every time we question God’s ability or existence when facing difficulties we are tempting God. Now, we all have questions for God, but to tempt Him is another story, it is as if we are saying, unless you do this for me I am not going to believe You anymore. The rock represents Christ, and their drinking of it is represented as their being made partakers of the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” – John 7:38.
Now, some time had passed, and the Amalekites started a war with the Israelites, Moses instructs Joshua, one of his faithful followers, to put an army together. “So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” – Exodus 17:10-16.
“when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed:” It was not until Moses had help that he was able to keep his hands up until they were able to win the battle. It was not the rod that gave them the victory or that God was not with them because he did not hold up the rod, it was looking to God that gave them the victory. Whenever Moses held up the rod he was looking to God, but when he became tired and lowered his arms, they were failing. This proves that we cannot physically do everything by ourselves, no matter how strong we think we are, we all get tired, and need some help. To illustrate this more, Moses’ father-in-law met up with him and brought his wife and children, he was pleased to see all that God had done, but disturbed to see that Moses was taking on all the burdens of the people by himself.
“And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.” – Exodus 18:17-22.
“and they shall bear the burden with thee.” I use to think that if I wanted something done right I needed to do it myself or that I could get it done faster if anyone was not getting in the way. I come to realize two things, 1. Most of the time, many hands make light work, and 2. I am not invincible. We when get to heaven we are not going to tire out our bodies, but while we live in the flesh we just cannot do everything ourselves all the time. We all need help from others sometimes, so it is wise to teach others what we know because we are not invincible, and will not be around forever. Always remember that Jesus is with You, He will help you carry the burdens., we just need some faith and to be reminded of that. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.” – Exodus 16:15.
Today’s Prayer: God, I know that you are always with me, and will always provide for me. When faced with an obstacle I admit that I am not always grateful with what You have already blessed me with. Forgive me, You have proved to me time and time again that You take care of every need and also will give me the strength I need to face every obstacle that comes my way. I also know that I cannot do everything by myself all the time, I need family, friends, and those You send my way to help me through some of these obstacles, and without them I will tire and lose. Lord, give me Your power and strength to endure every battle, let me not be too proud to seek the help of others, fill me with Your mercy and grace, and also let me be a helping hand to someone who may need my help. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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