Week 16 Devotions

April 16 - - When David became convinced that Saul was going to kill him, he fled for his life. At first, he traveled to Ramah to live with his spiritual mentor, Samuel (I Samuel 19:18-24). When Saul sent soldiers to Ramah, David fled from there and eventually found refuge in the land of the Philistines. In order to convince the Philistines in Gath that he was no threat to them, David acted like a madman (I Sam.21:10-15). David later left Gath and made his temporary home in the cave at Adullam (I Sam.22:1). By this time, David had been on the run from Saul for a few years. David regularly pleaded with God to save him (Psalm 142; 57), and David never lost faith in God’s protection. In fact, that which distinguished David from Saul was David’s constant desire to know what God’s will was. Saul got in trouble because he couldn’t wait upon the Lord (I Sam.13:7b-14; 15:10-25). On the other hand, David leaned heavily on the Lord for God’s instructions (I Sam.23:1-4,6,9-12). God’s guiding hand of protection was upon David because David sought the Lord. David genuinely wanted to know God’s heart and God’s will for David’s life (Acts 13:22; I Sam. 13:14). How much do we want to know God’s will for our lives? When we pray and seek God’s will, are we patient while waiting for Him to show us the way, or do we go ahead and do what we really want to do anyway? It takes faith to “wait upon the Lord”, but those who do so, have been promised a supernatural strength as they depend upon God’s supernatural wisdom (Isaiah 40:31). Saul lost the kingdom because he couldn’t wait upon the Lord. David gained the kingdom because he did wait upon the Lord. Would you prefer to go through life basing your decisions upon your own limited and finite knowledge or basing your decisions upon God’s omniscience? Are you content with the temporary rewards that can be achieved through your own strength or would you prefer the eternal rewards gained from God’s eternal riches? The choice is ours. So, are the consequences. April 19 - - David was at one time, a fugitive, fleeing from Saul in order to save his own life. In the meantime, he had also attracted quite a following to himself. 600 men now looked to David as their leader and many of them had wives and children with them. They were living in the village of Ziklag and one day they had gone out to raid other villages. When they returned to Ziklag, they discovered the village was burned to the ground and their wives and children were gone (I Samuel 30:1&2). The Bible says that David and his men “wept until they could weep no more.” They cried until they had no tears left to cry. When they were finished expressing their sorrow, many of David’s men became angry with him. Even though David had not invited them to join him, but simply allowed them to, many were so angry about losing their wives and children, they began to talk about stoning David. It shouldn’t surprise us how quickly the tide of public opinion can turn against us, but it does. Unlike Saul, David had a close relationship with God. Instead of turning to mediums, David turned to God. The Bible says that “David found strength in the Lord his God” (I Sam.30:6). When we are down, when we are troubled, when we feel like the tide of opinion has turned against us, when we are not sure what to do, where do we go for help? Who do we turn to? David had asked in the Psalms, “I frequently look to the mountains - - but does my help come from there? No, my help comes from the Lord who made the mountains, the heavens, the earth, and everything else in the Universe” (Psalm 121:1&2). David sought comfort in the Lord and David sought direction from the Lord. And God honored David’s desire. “Trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you” (Psalm 37:3-5). David was speaking from experience. The Lord had never let David down. David and his men were told by God to pursue the enemy and they fully recovered all their wives and children. And because David treated those who followed him with dignity, equality, and respect (I Samuel 30:18-31), the Bible says, “day after day more men joined David until he had a great army, like the army of God” (I Chronicles 12:22).

Week 15 Devotions

April 9 - - “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.....A time to be quiet and a time to speak up” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7). While many of us speak to the Lord when we pray and many do it quite often, how many of us take the time to be quiet and listen to the Lord? God specifically commands us to, “be silent, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). James reminds us to, “be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19). Most of us are much quicker at speaking to God than we are listening to God. Good listeners are not people who have inherited a chromosome or a gene that others of us haven’t. They are people who have practiced that skill, for it is in practicing that we become good at anything. They are people who have learned not to be afraid of the silence, but to welcome it and even treasure it. For, they know that it is in the silence, we most often hear God (see also I Kings 19:9-18). There was a time in Israel’s history when the Bible says, “in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon” (I Samuel 3:1). Why? Because few people sought the Lord’s will and few people listened when God did speak. Take Eli, for example. He is a priest of God, a spokesman for the Lord, but the Lord warned him on more than one occasion that his sons were totally disobedient to the Lord and Eli did little about it. His few words of warning to his boys were not heeded by his boys because there was no action from their father to back up those words. And when a nation’s spiritual leaders are not listening to the Lord, it is a good bet the people are not listening either. In fact, the Bible paints a rather bleak picture of the spiritual condition of Israel when it says, “The lamp of God had not yet gone out” (I Samuel 3:3). One gets the feeling from those words that even though it hadn’t gone out yet, it was close to doing so. God tried to speak to Samuel three times and Samuel mistook the voice he was hearing to be that of Eli, the priest. Finally, Eli gives the young boy great advice. “The next time you hear that voice, you say, ‘Yes, Lord, your servant is listening.’” (I Samuel 3:9). Samuel did hear the voice again. He did what Eli told him to. And, the Lord gave Samuel an important message. Maybe all of us need to spend more time simply listening for the Lord and giving him our full attention by asking him to, “speak, for your servant is listening.” April 12 - - When large crowds were following Jesus, he encouraged them to first count the cost before deciding whether to be his disciple. He used as an example the following illustration: “What king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and dis-cussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him?” (Luke 14:31). In other words, it is always a good idea to take stock in what we are doing before we do it. Unfortunately, some people will spend forever analyzing their situation and never act or make a decision to do something. Other people will never do something unless they’ve calculated exactly how it can be accomplished utilizing their own strength, intelligence, and resources. Still others count the cost, but they do so with God figured in the equation. When the men of Israel assembled to do battle against the Philistines and saw how many Philistine soldiers there were, many of the Israelites went AWOL. King Saul’s son, Jonathan, was tired of sitting around and doing nothing. He said to his armor bearer, “let’s see what’s going on in the Phili-stine camp” (I Samuel 14:1). Jonathan reminds his armor bearer, “the Lord can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” (I Sam.14:6). And then like Gideon who asked God for a sign before going into battle (Judges 6:36-40), Jonathan throws a fleece before the Lord. “We’ll cross over and let the enemy see us. If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you’, then we will stop and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight’, then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that He will help us defeat them” (I Sam.14:8-10). When the Philistines saw the two, they said, “Look, the Hebrews are crawling out of their holes! Come on up here and we’ll teach you a lesson!” (vss.11&12) That’s all the encouragement Jonathan needed to do battle because he said, “the Lord will help us defeat them!” And the Lord did. The two of them killed about twenty Philistine soldiers. When word spread what had happened, the rest of the Philistine army went into panic and were ultimately defeated. It was Jonathan’s faith, and that of his armor bearer, which inspired the entire Israelite army. Jesus’ words caution us not to be foolish in what we do, by first counting the cost and assessing our situation before we act. But, let us never forget the God factor because great faith always inspires other people to action also. Why don’t you consider being someone who walks by faith and in doing so, inspiring others to do the same?

Week 14 Devotions

April 2 - - Great crowds were following Jesus. He made sure they knew that he was not simply wanting thousands of people following him so much as he wanted committed disciples who were totally sold out to him (Luke 14:25-27). He then said, “don’t begin until you count the cost. What king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him......So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me” (14:28,31,33). Count the cost before making a decision. Wise advice. So, it is that God sends an army of 300 Israelites (Judges 7:2-8) against a Midianite army numbering 135,000 soldiers (8:10). Now, if we were counting the cost as Jesus said we should, how many of us would be willing to fight against those odds? Those are nearly impossible odds and it would be stupid to go into battle. When the ten spies told the Israelites that the people of Canaan were like mighty giants, their advice to the Israelites was to retreat. The odds were not in favor of the Israelites. But, Joshua and Caleb factored the One on their side who tipped the scales in their favor whatever the size of the other army. “If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us safely into that land and give it to us......Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” (Numbers 14:8&9). Remember, this is the same God who scattered the entire Aramean army without any help from the Israelites (II Kings 7). Whatever the odds may be against you, never forget the God factor. Not only does His presence and His power tip the odds in our favor, but in truth, His presence and His power makes us the overwhelming favorite, regardless of the human odds against us. “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?.......Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?......No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (Romans 8:31b, 35b, 37). No matter what the Devil or life throws your way, you are more than a conqueror because of the power and strength of Jesus Christ. Go claim your destiny. April 5 - - As Jesus was sending his disciples out to get a little experience, using the teachings and tools he had given them, he reminded them, “I am sending you out among wolves. Be as wary as snakes and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16; see also Luke 10:3). The world we live in is selfish and cruel. There are many who think nothing of taking advantage of, or even stealing from, the most helpless in our society. Jesus warned his disciples ahead of time to watch out for just such people. While we are not to pay back evil for evil (Romans 12:17), we need to be as wise as those we are dealing with or they will surely take advantage of us. One wonders what Samson was thinking of when he succumbed to Delilah’s pleas to tell her the secret of his strength. Yes, he was in love. Yes, he probably trusted her because, “love believes all things” (I Corinthians 13:7). And yes, the Bible does say, “day after day she nagged him until he couldn’t stand it any longer” (Judges 16:16). But, at some point wouldn’t Samson be a little suspicious as to why she kept asking the same question? Our wisdom cannot come from ourselves. It must come from God (James 1:5; I Kings 3:5-15; 4:29-34), for even in our most intelligent moments, the scope of our knowledge is insignifi-cant compared to God’s (I Corinthians 1:20-24). We need to call upon God to lead and guide us. When we depend upon our own knowledge, we get in trouble. Consider the Israelites after they entered the Promised Land. God gave them victory over their enemies and one day the Gibeonites devised a deceitful plan to spare their lives. They would send a delegation to Joshua, looking like they had traveled from a very long distance. The delegation would say they had been sent by their people far away to make peace with the Israelites because they had heard of the reputation and the power of the Israelites, even in their homeland (Joshua 9:7-13). The Israelites made a treaty with the Gibeonites, only to learn that the Gibeonites actually lived in the Promised Land. The reason given for why the Israelites were deceived is very revealing; “the Israelite leaders examined their bread, but they did not consult the Lord” (vs.14). We all get in trouble when we do not consult the Lord, for whatever reason; whether we think we are too busy, whether we don’t want to bother Him with something so trivial, or whether we just don’t think we need His wisdom. Maybe, we’re a lot more like Samson than we think. Maybe, we’re more comfortable with our capabilities and our knowledge than we should be. A truly wise person, is one who depends upon the wisdom of God, and not themselves. How wise are you?

Week 13 Devotions

March 26 - - Have you ever said, or heard someone else say, “It’s time to let the younger generation take over”? We have been programmed to think that retirement is a right, not just from our labors in the work force, but also from our labors in the Lord. One would almost think it was an eleventh commandment that scripture somehow omitted. How refreshing it is to see the example of Caleb. Only he and Joshua believed that God would give His people victory over the giants living in the Land of Promise (Numbers 13:30; 14:6-9). Ten of the twelve spies sent into the land to assess the situation, walked by sight and thought it unwise to invade a land filled with a very imposing foe. But, Caleb and Joshua walked by faith in the God who is able to do, “exceedingly, abundantly above anything we ask or even imagine asking” (Ephesians 3:20). Consequently, Caleb and Joshua were the only two adults over the age of twenty to enter into the Promised Land forty years later. Joshua had been an awesome leader and a tremendous replacement for Moses. His faith in God and obedience to God, had served as an example and inspiration to an entire nation of people. With Joshua as their leader, Israel had conquered much of the land promised to them by God many generations earlier. But, there was still some pockets of Canaan needing to be conquered. And who is it that steps forward and says, “Here am I, Lord use me”, but Caleb. Caleb says, “I was forty years old when I was sent as a spy into Canaan. I am now eighty-five and as strong as I was back then. Even though the land is yet to be conquered, I am quite willing to go in and finish the job” (Joshua 14:10-12). And then, just like forty-five years earlier, Caleb puts his trust in the Lord. “If the Lord is with me, I will drive them out, just as the Lord has said.” If Caleb is our example, then there is no age at which we are allowed to kick back and enjoy our last years in the Lord. The spiritual gifts we have received from the Holy Spirit, and the opportunities afforded us by God are intended to be used in service to Him as long as we shall live. Not until God calls us home will we have the luxury of “retiring” from our labors here on earth. Until that time, “be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (I Corinthians 15:58). March 29 - - In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul wrote, “This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them the confidence of eternal life, which God promised them before the world began - - and He cannot lie” (Titus 1:1&2). It is impossible for God to lie. It simply is not within His nature to do so. “God is not a man that He should lie. He is not a human, that He should change His mind” (Numbers 23:19; see also I Samuel 15:29). The One who came to represent God in human flesh, said of himself, “I am the Way. I am the Truth. I am the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). How many times have we heard someone say, “If there are two things I can’t stand, it’s a liar and a thief”? No matter how committed to the core we may be about telling the truth, it’s amazing how we rationalize or justify the need to “stretch the truth” once in awhile to protect ourselves or someone else. God has gone on record with many hundreds of promises. All we need do is examine His record to know whether God is a truth-teller or not. And while there are some of God’s promises yet to be fulfilled, past experience would indicate that God will honor them in time, also. God had promised Abram that He would make from his family, a great nation of people (Genesis 12: 1-3) and the nation of Israel was God’s fulfillment to His promise. God had also promised to bring the nation of Israel out of Egypt, where it had resided for over 400 years (Exodus 3:16-18; 4:29-31) and God did. After the Israelites had conquered those residing in Canaan, and after the Israelites had divided up the land amongst the twelve tribes, and after the twelve tribes had each settled in their respective territory, the Bible reminds it’s readers: “And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. All of the good promises that the Lord had given Israel came true” (Joshua 21:44&45; 23:10,14). The good news for us today, is that God’s character has not changed. And we can be sure that the God who honored His promises to the Israelites, is the same God who will honor His promises to Christians.

Week 12 Devotions

March 19 - - “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12). Israel was the first nation to find out that God isn’t just interested in blessing individuals, but in also blessing entire nations of people, IF they walk in obedience to Him. “The Lord has declared today that you are His people, His own special treasure, just as He promised, and that you must obey all His commands. And if you do, He will make you greater than any other nation. Then you will receive praise, honor, and renown. You will be a nation that is holy to the Lord your God, just as He promised” (Deuteronomy 26:18&19). The history of Israel shows us that God is true to His promise. When they obeyed God and did as He commanded, they were the greatest nation on the earth. As if to make sure they heard what He was promising them, that assurance is repeated over and over in scripture. “If you fully obey the Lord your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will exalt you above all the nations of the world.....The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!” (28:1,7). “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in His ways, the Lord will establish you as His holy people as He solemnly promised to do. Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you” (28:9&10). “You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God and carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always have the upper hand” (28:12&13). But, IF they chose not to listen to God, their punishment would be just as severe.(28:15-68). “You will be cursed wherever you go, both in coming and in going” (28:19). “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth” (28:25). “You will grope around in broad daylight, just like a blind person groping in the darkness, and you will not succeed at anything you do. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you” (28:29). “Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in helping you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you, until you disappear from the land you are about to enter and occupy” (28:63). Given the options of being blessed IF a nation of people obeys God, or being cursed IF a nation of people ignores and disobeys God, why would anyone want anything other than God’s blessings? And what is true of nations is also true of individuals. The choice of what we do with God is ours, as are the consequences of our choice. What will your choice be? March 22 - - It would be difficult to follow a legend in any field; whether it is a great football coach, an outstanding preacher, a President, etc. The successor would always be laboring in the shadows of, and being compared to, his/her predecessor. The Bible says of Moses, “there has never been another prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.....it was through Moses that the Lord demonstrated His mighty power and terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10,12). Those are very strong words of commendation. But, someone had to follow Moses and lead Israel, and that someone was Joshua. God spoke to Joshua and gave him the formula for success. “Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed. I command you - - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7-9). Those words sound like good advice for all of us, no matter who we are or what we do. They serve us well whether we are parents, a business owner, a foreman at work, the manager of a team, an elected representative, the leader of a nation, etc. Solomon was smart enough to know that if he was to do a good job of leading the people of Israel, he would need more than his own abilities and knowledge. That is why when God offered to give Solomon whatever he wanted, Solomon did not request the usual things most of us would, like: riches, long life, fame, etc. Solomon exercised wisdom when he asked, “Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great nation of yours?” (I Kings 3:9). How important is the Word of God to us? How disciplined are we in reading God’s Word, meditating on God’s Word, claiming the promises of God’s Word in our prayers, memorizing God’s Word, and utilizing God’s Word in the decisions we make? God, Himself, tells us that the success of anything we do in life, will be in direct correlation to our love of His Word and our obedience to it. As a matter of fact, because Joshua did as God told him to, the Bible tells us, “for the rest of Joshua’s life, the Israelites revered him as much as they had revered Moses” (Joshua 4:14).

Week 11 Devotions

March 12 - - There are times as we read through Scripture that profound statements are made and in our haste to complete our reading, we barely take note of what we just read. Moses’ brother and sister were complaining about their brother’s position as God’s spokesman. Afterall, they were both older than Moses. They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He spoken through us, too?” The answer was of course, “yes.” But, the implication was that maybe they deserved to be elevated before the people as highly as Moses was. Now, one of the reasons Moses was given the position he was, was because of his humility. He had it. They didn’t. The Bible tells us in words we sometimes skim right over, “Now Moses was more humble than any other person on earth” (Numbers 12:3). That’s a pretty strong statement. God hates the proud (Proverbs 8:13; 16:18; James 4:6; I Peter 5:5). Pride takes stock in one’s own abilities and leaves God out of the equation. Aaron and Miriam thought pretty highly of themselves and they reaped the consequences of their pride (Numbers 12:5-16), as do we all. We are what we are and we are who we are because of God. And, when we recognize that, God blesses us with His wisdom (Proverbs 11:2; 13:10). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul gives us this warning, “Be honest in your estimate of yourselves” (Romans 12:3). God is the One who “has given each of us the ability to do certain things well” (12:6). So, when we accomplish anything noteworthy, the credit and the honor go to Him and not to us. That is why some of Moses’ remarks to the Israelites before he dies and they enter into the Promised Land, are interesting. Moses blames the fact that God would not let him enter into the Promised Land on them. “And the Lord was angry with me because of you” (Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:26; 4:21). Translated, “it’s your fault I can’t enter into the Promised Land with you.” The fact is, Moses had not followed God’s command when the people had demanded water. Instead of giving glory to God, Moses took some of the credit unto himself (Numbers 20:1-13). Like all of us, even Moses fought this battle between giving God the glory He deserves and keeping some of God’s glory unto himself. It is a battle all of us have raging on inside of us, as well. It should be encouraging to us that the most humble man on earth struggled with the issue of pride. And if God accepted and loved Moses as He did, then there is room for God to do the same with us, in spite of our occasional relapses with pride. March 15 - - As Moses talks to the Israelites in the book of Deuteronomy, he is talking to people who were either younger than twenty years of age when the nation left Egypt (Numbers 14:29), or born during the forty years the nation wandered in the wilderness (14:33-35). If we assume that most children don’t remember much before they are five years of age, then only those forty-five years of age and older would have any recollection of the miracles God did in Egypt prior to their leaving Egypt, or any recollection of the miracles God performed for the Israelites after they left Egypt. But, it is that group of people whom Moses appeals to as the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land. “You have seen the many miracles God has done in the past, with your own eyes! You, as much as anyone, should understand the necessity of obeying God, and you, more than anyone, should set the example for everyone else by obeying God!” (Deuteronomy 11:1-7). Eyewitness accounts are always given more credibility than reports heard second hand. The apostle John would write about Jesus, “the one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us” (I John 1:1-3). There will be those, like Thomas, who refuse to believe unless they actually, personally see Jesus for them-selves (John 20:24-29). But, while none of us has literally seen Jesus, many of us have seen what Jesus has done in our lives. Many of us have experienced changes, been blessed by his miraculous provisions, and more to know that he is alive and still at work in us. Now, even though many do not believe the testimony of our lips when we say we have seen the Lord at work, they will believe the testimony of our lives, if the change in our lives verifies the testimony of our lips. If you have seen the Lord’s mighty deeds with your own eyes, then prove it in the way you live!

Week 10 Devotions

March 5 - - It is an encouragement to see how even great people of faith in the Bible, sometimes had their moments of being human like the rest of us. It's somewhat reassuring to know that sinful people can still be close to God, in spite of their sinfulness. David is described in scripture as, “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22; I Samuel 13:14). And yet, we know how David messed up by committing adultery with Bathsheba (I Samuel 11) and how he covered up his sin by having Bathsheba’s husband killed at war. Moses is described as being “more humble than any other person on earth” (Numbers 12:3), in spite of having some “not so humble” moments in his life. God had demonstrated His provisions for the Israelites on several occasions after they left Egypt; whether their need was for water, food, protection, etc. So, when the Israelites complained again about their being no water to drink (Numbers 20:3-5), God gave Moses instructions on what to do. “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire com-munity. As the people watch, command the rock over there to pour out it’s water. You will get enough water from the rock to satisfy all the people and their livestock” (20:8). Moses and Aaron assembled the people at the rock where God told Moses water would come from. But, Moses took it upon himself to add to the instructions God had given him by arrogantly blasting the people of Israel with a tongue-lashing. “Listen you rebels! Must we bring you water from the rock?” Who is this WE stuff? Moses and Aaron? Moses and God? God is the source of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17) and Moses was being quite presumptuous in taking credit for also being their provider. In fact, Moses was so caught up in himself that instead of obeying God’s instructions and speaking to the rock, Moses twice struck the rock with his staff. This angered God so much that Moses, the one whom God had chosen to lead the people out of Egypt, the one who would guide the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years, and the one whom the scriptures called, “the most humble person on earth”, would be punished by God. He would not be allowed to see the Promised Land (20:12; Deuteronomy 32:48-52). All of us can be thankful that God does not punish us as “our sins deserve” (Psalm 103:10; Lamentations 3:22&23). This is called grace. Though none of us deserves God’s grace. All of us have been recipients of it, and for that we should all be eternally grateful. March 8 - - Relationships require time. Without people spending time together, they can’t adequately develop their relationship. That is true whether one is talking about a marriage, friendship, re-lationship between parents and children, etc. It is also true of our relationship with God. We can talk about having a personal relationship with God, but if we aren’t spending time with Him, our relationship isn’t really personal. It’s more superficial. He is always ready and willing to spend time with us. But, somehow we rationalize how we are too busy for Him. That’s why God says that we must find time with Him to, “be still”. We must find time to spend with Him in the silence. And God promises that when we do, we will sense His presence. And, we will, “know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Jesus set a great example for those who would claim to love God. No one was busier than was Jesus. None of us deals with as many people as Jesus dealt with on a daily basis. And yet, Jesus would often carve out time to spend with God; alone, and in silence; whether it was early in the morning (Mark 1:35) or up in the mountains (Matthew 14:23; Luke 6:12), or in a Garden (Matthew 26:36-39). Even in the Old Testament, God had the Israelites devote several festivals to Him (Numbers 28:16-29:40) and part of the purpose for doing so was so they would spend time with Him and develop their relationship with Him. It is easy to become so busy with all the things we want to do, that we forget to do the things we have to do, like spending time with God. How are you doing in the time you spend with God? Is it exclusive time spent with Him or is it shared with the television on, music playing, or other noise distracting us? Discipline yourself and carve out time alone with God on a regular basis. You won’t regret doing so.