Tag: Christian
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Do Not Take God’s Name in Vain- Exodus 20:7 (Daily Devotional)
God instructs Israel not to take His name, Yahweh, in vain. The Hebrew word translated as “take,” here ((נסא, means to raise up, exalt, or carry—literally covering every way in which God’s name can be taken—merely spoken, used in praise, or carried as the name of a people (e.g. Israel, Christian). To do anything in…
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Encouragement for Those Who Have Been Betrayed
Betrayal comes in many forms on this earth. Betrayal can come even from people with good intentions. You’ve heard the old adage, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Betrayal hurts. People we feel should support us shoot us down or stab us in the back. Unfortunately, betrayal is still a part of…
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Daily Devotional- Exodus 20:4-6
Along with having no other gods besides Yahweh, Israel is not to make any idols. Of course, if the people obey the first commandment and worship only Yahweh, they would not make idols anyway. Toys, statues, and images are not always idols. What makes these items idols is our service to them as if they…
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Daily Devotional: Exodus 20:1-3
God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are a summary of the whole Law. God first describes who He is and what He has done. His own character and action are the bases for the imperatives. God identifies Himself as Yahweh, Israel’s God. As Israel’s God, He brought Israel out of Egypt where…
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Daily Devotional: Exodus 19:18-25
There are many things we see here in Exodus that translate to the apocalyptic imagery we find in books like Daniel and Revelation. For instance, God “comes down” in the storm or in the clouds. He is coming to His people. He responds in thunder. There are earthquakes. Trumpets resound at His coming. All of…
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Daily Devotional: Exodus 19:9-17
God doesn’t hide what He does. He instructed Moses to bring the people so that there would be witnesses. While no one can see the essence of God, the people would see a manifestation of God in a cloud. God so organized the encounter so that the people would trust in Moses as their leader…
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Daily Devotional: Exodus 19:1-8
God now covenants with the nation of Israel, after saving them out of Egypt and bringing the people to Himself (Exodus 19:4). Like we saw with Abraham, the call to obedience follows the gift of salvation. In Abraham’s case, salvation was the gift of righteousness—credited to him on the basis of his faith. In Israel’s…
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Daily Devotional: Exodus 18:17-27
Jethro implores Moses to delegate some responsibility because Moses’s way of doing things is not sustainable. He will wear out, or burn out, himself and the people of Israel. Moses listens to Jethro’s advice. There are many good applications to make from this part of the text, even knowing that it is narrative and descriptive.…
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Daily Devotional: Exodus 18:1-16
After their flight from Egypt, while Israel is at the Mount of God, Jethro brings Moses’s wife and children to the encampment. Jethro, a Midianite priest, heard about what Yahweh had done to Egypt. As if there was a doubt in his mind about Yahweh, he exclaims “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than…
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God is Building Something
In Ephesians 1, Paul writes about the unconditional love of God in Christ. He makes immediate application to himself, saying that he thanks God for the saints because God has unconditionally chosen and adopted them. Because God loves and accepts His people unconditionally, we also love and accept one another unconditionally. The truth is simple,…