Week 36 Devotions

September 3 - - Funny how pride is easier to spot in other people than it is in ourselves. How many of us have read the story of Pharoah’s stubbornness as he refused to let the Hebrew people leave Egypt and wondered what in the world he was thinking of? Why after three plagues didn’t Pharoah realize who he was dealing with? Why did Pharoah still not get it after six plagues? Or, eight? Was it really necessary that it take ten plagues before Pharoah finally figure it out? Does pride really blind us that much? Even though he didn’t realize it, King Nebuchadnezzar had been used by God to bring down punishment upon the people of Judah. The same had been true of the king of Assyria when he conquered the kingdom of Israel. “Assyria will enslave my people, who are a godless nation. It will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath it’s feet. But the king of Assyria will not know that it is I who sent him. He will merely think he is attacking my people as part of his plan to conquer the world” (Isaiah 10:6&7). We need to remember that, “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; He turns it wherever He pleases” (Proverbs 21:1). Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and Daniel interprets the dream for the king. Daniel warns the king that God will soon take his kingdom away from him and he will live like a cow for seven years (Daniel 4:10-17). Daniel pleads with the king to turn from his pride so he would not be judged (4:19-27). God gave Nebuchadnezzar a full year to humble himself, but the king still took pride in all that he had done (4:28-30). So, God fulfilled His promise and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from his throne. Why did it take Nebuchadnezzar even two years to realize how foolish he had been? Why didn’t he realize his foolishness after four years? Why in the world would it take him seven years to come to his senses? Nevertheless, the king’s sanity returned when he finally “looked up to heaven” (4:34). It took seven whole years of living like a cow before Nebuchadnezzar finally realized that God “is able to humble those who are proud” (4:37). And yet, while we shake our heads at the king’s pride, how many times does God shake His head at us wondering why we don’t learn from the examples of others or even from our own personal experiences? Why is it we insist that we know better than God and stubbornly refuse to turn in complete obedience to Him? How true it is that, “pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18), regardless of who we are. Pride really isn’t restricted to royalty, is it? September 6 - - Water is one of the absolute staples of life. Plant life needs water to grow. Most animals, including humans, are largely comprised of water and need constant nourishment and refresh-men from water to continue living. It is no accident that Jesus calls himself, “living water” (John 4:10). Jesus “created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make (I Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16&17; Hebrews 1:2). Life itself was in him” (John 1:3&4). Jesus is the “author of life” (Acts 3:15) and he “came to bring us life” (John 10:10). While it is true that Jesus created every physical thing that exists, it is also true that until human beings really know Jesus they are only existing. They are not living. We see this analogy of water giving life in both the Old Testament before Jesus Christ was born and again, after Jesus ascended into heaven (Revelation 7:17). The Dead Sea has nothing living in or around it because the water contains so much salt. But, through the prophet, Ezekiel, God pointed to that day in the future when trees would grow along both sides of the Jordan River running to the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47:6-9). Fish would live in the river and everything that touches the river would also live. In fact, this living water would also heal the waters of the Dead Sea and fishermen would fill their nets there as surely as they did from the Sea of Galilee (47:10-12). If you’ve seen the Dead Sea, that hardly seems possible. Even now, the size of the Dead Sea continues to shrink because of the abundant amount of salt in it’s waters. But, nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37). God will bring life where God chooses to bring life. He will heal that which is sick or broken. The picture of God bringing life to the Dead Sea is both a prophecy of future events, but also a promise of present healing. There are times in each of our lives when we feel spiritually dead. There are seasons when hope is not even a mirage we think we can see. God simply wants us to know that He not only has the power to bring life where He wishes and to whom He wishes, but He also has the desire to do both. The “author of life” is faithful. He knows our needs. He knows our sorrows. He knows our weaknesses. And he will never fail us (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20; I Peter 5:7). Never!