February 7 – Exodus 25-27

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 25-27. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

The Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle would have been an impressive sight to see. God was very specific in the instructions he gave for its construction, and rightly so. The Ark of the Covenant was the very representative of God amongst the people of Israel. It was his physical manifestation. The Tabernacle, which was a mobile Temple, created nearly five-hundred years before Solomon’s Temple, was the home of God amongst the people because that is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.

God was very specific in his direction for how the Ark was to be built. It was also grand and beautiful. Some believe it was one of the greatest pieces to ever be built in the ancient world. I think we get a great glimpse into whom God is and that he takes beauty and care very important. God wanted his residence to be beautiful. He wanted it to be of precise construction. He wanted it to be of the finest materials. God wanted his home to be the best that any human could make it.

By the time Jesus is living on the earth the Tabernacle is no longer in use. Under Solomon the first Temple is built. The Babylonians destroy Solomon’s Temple and nearly seventy years later it is reconstructed under the leadership of Ezra. During King Herod’s reign the temple is expanded and remolded. During Jesus day it is the third rendition of the Temple. By this time thought the Ark of the Covenant has been lost. Even though the Ark is lost, this huge and massive Temple is still the home of God; it is his physical representation among the people. But when Jesus died on the cross something happened at the Temple … “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.” Matthew 27:50-51 NIV84. The curtain separated the Holy of Holies … the most holy place that a priest got to enter once a year … from the rest of the temple. In essence God has left his temple saying its purpose is now over; there is no need for this curtain to separate man from what was once the Holy of Holies.

God no longer resided in the beautiful, ornate, and well crafted temple. He wanted something that was beautiful and majestic, but this time it did not come in gold and stone, but in flesh and bones. Paul tells us that in Christ we are now the Temple of God. In Christ God has taken up residence in our hearts … “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV84. In Christ we are now the Holy of Holies. So I wander how much God cares about the physical appearance and health of his Temple today?

If he cared enough nearly thirty-five hundred years ago when he gave Moses the instructions to erect the Tabernacle and the Ark, I believe he cares enough now. As people who are the Temple of God, I believe we have a responsibility to care for God’s Temple. I believe we have reason to invest into our appearance. I am not saying we need to define beauty the way the world does. I am not saying we need to spend money we do not have. I am not saying we need to be on the cutting edges of fashion. But proper care for the body regarding health, whether our appearance is sloppy or not, and those kinds of things, I think to some degree they matter. Remember God seemed to care when he created the Tabernacle and Ark, and I think to some degree he cares today as well. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments below.

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February 6 – Exodus 22-24

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 22-24. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Have you ever thought how it would be to find a Buick in a pyramid? I hadn’t either until I heard Jeff Walling give this illustration. Just imaging you were on an archeological dig in Egypt and you have come accost a pyramid that hadn’t been unearthed. No grave robber, no treasure hunter, no historian, no human being had entered this tomb since the Egyptians closed it up nearly thirty-five hundred years ago. You walk into the tomb, and yours are the first set of human eyes to spy all the shinning gold, the sparkling emeralds, the well-defined statues, and the 1957 Buick sedan.

You completely look over the beauty of the objects in the room as you scratch your head as you stare at this mint condition Buick sedan. You examine the room but you find no signs of anyone ever entering it in the last fifty-six years. The layers of dust on the Buick are the same as all the other objects. There are no relatively fresh tire marks. There are no doorways big enough to get that car in there. Your team later does all the carbon dating that can be performed and it dates to the time you thought the Pharaoh was buried in the tomb. This is a mystery you just cannot wrap your head around.

What you think if I told you the Bible contains many Buicks in a pyramid? The Buicks presence in the tomb makes no sense to us. In today’s reading we begin to encounter the Laws that God gave to his people to live by. Yesterday we read the Ten Commandments. Today we read about how to develop good relationships with others and what to do if we mess them up. Throughout the Laws we will read guidelines to the people that seem really odd and strange. However, with our modern science we know they were really good directives.

Take circumcision. God ordered his people to circumcise baby boys on the eighth day. Circumcision was a symbol of the covenant God struck with Abraham. But did you know the eighth day was the perfect day to circumcise. It isn’t until the eighth day that breast milk has reached its full capacity. It is on the eighth day that mom is producing all of the anti-bodies needed to protect the healing of the circumcision. That my friends is a Buick in a pyramid. It makes sense to us why God ordered it, but not to the people it was given to. They didn’t know the science behind it.

Or we can use certain foods that they were to abstain from. We know today that pork needs to be cooked more fully than other meets because it is more susceptible to bacteria and disease. They didn’t have our modern science and FDA but they had God and he knew best. He placed the Buick in the pyramid for their protection! What an awesome God we serve. While these Laws may not make sense to us today God put many of them in place to offer safety and protection to the Israelites.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 5 – Exodus 19-21

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 19-21. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

When the Israelites encountered God at Mt. Sinai there was some preparation on their part before God would come. “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” (Exodus 19:10-11 NIV84) In another place Moses commanded them … “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.” (Exodus 19:15 NIV84) To encounter God, they had to prepare themselves, to get their minds right. They needed to be as holy and pleasing before God as they could be without the stains of sin in their way. Let me note here that sexual relations does not make one dirty, but for this purpose I believe Moses wanted their heart and thoughts to be on God and God alone in preparation. God created sex as a binding covenant forming physical act between a husband and a wife. It wasn’t created just for procreation but to strengthen and bring pleasure to marriages.

Let me ask you this … how do you prepare to encounter God? When you sit down to read His word, when you get ready to spend time in prayer, when you prepare for gathering with other Christians, when you get ready for worship, how do you prepare? Do you consecrate yourself; do you clean your heart and mind? Do you center your focus so the business of life is not cluttering your mind? If we begin to prepare we might just hear God in a more powerful way!

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 14 – Exodus 16-18

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 16-18. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Do the Israelites frustrate you? They have experienced or been protected from the ten plagues … water turned to blood, frogs coming out of the river, dust turned to gnats, swarms of flies, death of livestock, boils all over the skin, hail raining down, locust devouring the earth, complete and total darkness, and the death of the first born which God protected them with in the Passover. After leaving Egypt God has erected a pillar of fire by day and a cloud of smoke at night to protect and lead with. He leads them safely through the Red Sea on dry ground while swallowing up the pursuing Egyptian army. Today we learn he provides manna  to supply their dietary needs, and he has Moses call water from a rock.

But after all that the Israelites frustrate me. They have witnessed and experienced God like I never have. They have seen his power and might. They have seen him laugh at the Egyptians gods. They have seen him deliver their basic needs, water and food. Yet they still grumble against him and doubt his sovereignty … “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:2-3 NIV84) Now granted this is before the quail arrives on the scene and they grumble in a similar way before water comes from the rock, but come on people, you have witnessed God in a way I never will and you have doubt?

Do you doubt God? Are you like the Israelites? Have you seen God work in your life but when you get in tight situations you worry about how YOU are going to overcome, how YOU are going to make things work, instead of trusting in God to bring you through, to provide the resources you need, and to give you the will and guidance you need? Let’s learn a lesson from the Israelites and do all we can to trust in God and allow him to work. He is capable for far greater things then we can ever imagine.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership. 

February 2 – Exodus 10-12

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 10-12. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Have you ever experienced darkness? I mean really experienced it, where you can see nothing, not even the shadow of you hand, where there is no light being created anywhere or even creeping through a crack in the room or dwelling you are in? I do not know if I have ever truly experienced real darkness. The closest I have ever come was in a cave in Kentucky that I ventured through with my youth group when I was in high school. We found a room in the cave where we stopped, paused, turned our flashlights off and worshiped God. It was a really cool experience; however, it was not complete darkness. Off in one direction you could see light coming in reflecting in the water. This little bit of light was enough to provide comfort. Still the darkness was kind of eerie.

I cannot imagine the darkness those in Egypt felt. The only light was coming from God’s people. It was a darkness that forced everyone to stay home. No light, except from God’s people, could be generated. Is not that a cool reminder of the truth? That those in Christ, that those connected to the one true power source, are the only ones able to generate real light in this world.

People should see Christ living in you. People should see the light that you as a follower put out. We were not created to live in darkness, and that is the joy of knowing Christ … we know light, and people are attracted to the light. Let your light shine.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

February 1 – Exodus 7-9

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 7-9. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

I love the power and might that I see in God and nowhere in the entire Bible outside of the creation story is that stronger than here in Egypt as he displays who he is. These ten plagues we see God display before Egypt all have significance to the Egyptians. The Egyptians believed in many God’s. Many of the natural wonders they attributed to the various God’s they had created … I think this is a clear indication that we were created to worship. Every civilization that has not known about the one true God has created a god or various gods to worship. We have been created to worship.

When God erupts these ten plagues on the land and people he is going straight for their various gods. He is letting Egypt know that whatever magic arts they have … it’s amazing, they were able to turn their staffs into snakes (although Aaron’s snake ate the other snakes … I love God’s sense of humor), they are able to turn water into blood, and they are able to call up frogs on the land. But they could not turn dust into gnats … God wanted them to know he was more powerful, that he was the one true God. I believe they had “magic” powers, whether bestowed upon them by God, or done through the hold Satan and his demons had on the Egyptians … Tangent ~ I guess we could theme today “Tangents” ~ Satan knows we have been created to worship so if he can get us to worship anything other than God he has found victory. He doesn’t care if it is sports, TV, Facebook, or our own created gods, whatever ranks ahead of the one true God, and salvation in Jesus Christ, that is a win for Satan.

God is ready to reveal himself to the Egyptians. The purpose of Pharaoh hardening his heart and then God hardening his heart, the purpose for this destruction, the purpose for the eventual death is for this God stated reason … “Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.” Exodus 9:13-14 NIV84. Did you get that God’s entire purpose was to reveal himself, to make his name famous and to teach the Egyptians that there is nothing greater than him.

Is that a reminder you need in your own life? Pray and ask God to reveal the level of his importance that you hold of him in your life. Seek his leadership in your life and worship him only.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.