Matthew 6:32-33 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
When Elianna was two years old, we wrote this devotional fifteen years ago that I believe is relevant especially as we celebrated Father's day around the world.
We have a cord-free, battery-free alarm clock -- we call her Elianna. Like clockwork, at 6:45 each morning our 2-year old daughter, Elianna wakes up and begins calling for us to come and greet her good morning. At this point, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that those 8-hour sleep nights we used to enjoy just aren't going to happen again --at least for a long, long time.
What's interesting to me though, is that when Elianna wakes up, she doesn't wonder if we'll come to her. She waits eagerly and expectantly to see us walk in, sleepy-eyed and morning-haired as we may be. Elianna doesn't wake up worrying about what she'll wear today and if she'll be warm enough. She expects that she'll be changed and dressed up nice and warm when it's cold. She doesn't worry about if or what she's going to eat. She expects that we'll know she's hungry and will serve her a yummy nutritious breakfast. When Elianna falls down, she immediately looks toward us, holding out her hands to receive our hugs and kisses so it will be "all better". She doesn't question whether or not we love her. She's sure of it! Elianna has no worries. She expects that we will take care of her every need.
Don't you wish you were a baby sometimes? No worries -- getting pampered and hugged and kissed. Well, I have good news for you -- you are a baby! You are the Lord's baby! We are His children and He loves us with an everlasting and perfect love. He cares for us just like we care for our little Elianna -- in fact, much, much more than that!
From this morning on, let's start coming to the Lord as we are -- His children! We needn't worry about anything. Our Father awaits the time when we will totally put our trust in Him. He loves us and He knows every one of our needs before even a word is on our lips! Let's practice putting our worries aside and determine to expect our Heavenly Father to meet our every need. And don't forget to take some time out today and say -- Abba, thank you for loving me!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Over the past few weeks, we’ve begun a series of devotions based on the Exodus wanderings of the Children of Israel, and their tragic mistakes which we can learn from and avoid. One powerful influence common to their failures was fear.
For the past two weeks we have examined lessons from the OT account of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in hope of avoiding the errors and attitudes of the children of Israel. This week we will draw connections between the Exodus and the prophecies in the book of Revelation.
For the past two weeks we’ve been building life lessons derived from the Exodus wanderings and from Paul’s exhortations to the church in Corinth. Notice carefully that Paul says, “these were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come”…
…that is, written for us today! – admonitions from Paul to learn lessons from the history of the children of Israel.
Paul exhorts the church at Corinth about grumbling and complaining. He reminds the believers of the judgments that befell the 10 spies who brought a bad report of the land – and were struck down by a plague, and terrible fate of Korah and those aligned with him that came against Moses and Aaron and were swallowed up by the ground under them.
Here we have a stark word. Here we see the Lord testing Israel: “He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” [Deuteronomy 8:16]. Yet Paul says that they put Him to the test. A great irony occurs when God is testing us, and we despise His discipline, thereby testing Him.
The Apostle Paul continues his warning to the Corinthians against idolatry by referring to Israel’s celebration/worship of the golden calf. Aaron’s proclamation, “These are your gods (plural) O Israel” could be one of the earliest declarations mixing the worship of the true and living God, YHVH, with idols. This is called “syncretism”. Dictionary.com defines it: ” the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.”
The Apostle Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 10:6 against desiring evil as they did, would seem to point to the obvious sins – lying, stealing, adultery, fornication, etc. – and following their deliverance from slavery, many of the children of Israel were certainly guilty of some of these. But this passage in Numbers describes a type of sin we don’t normally consider: it was simply their desire for the foods they ate in Egypt.