He Holds the Reins by Dawn Foster
Today’s Passage – Numbers 22 – 24 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Romans 1 – 4; Proverbs 23; Psalms 116 – 120)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Proverbs 3:5 & 6
Read the “0223 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 32 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: 33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. 34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. 35 And the angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.” (Numbers 22:31-35)
It has been an unimaginable several years. Can it get any worse? Then the next day it does. Worry, worry, and more worry. As the saying goes: “Worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.” We all have unsaved friends and family members. Time after time we see it in their faces . . . fear, not having control. Do we as saved individuals always live without fear? Of course not. However, it doesn’t mean fear has to consume us. We are able to lay it down at the feet of Jesus. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). The Lord reigns in our hearts and he reigns over the world. Because of this we know He holds the reins to everything that is happening. He is in control yesterday, today, forever.
Numbers 22:22-35 is a familiar passage of scripture. It is where the ass speaks to Balaam. Although Balaam was riding the ass and holding the physical reins, God was still reigning from above and in control. The angel of the Lord stood in the way of the ass each time Balaam tried to maneuver forward. When we try to do what we want to do, things don’t work out too well. As we tread down the wide paths of life before us, God may deny us access to the course we have chosen. That doesn’t mean we should try to walk around the barrier to get where we want to go. There is a reason for trials, tribulations and closed doors. The Lord is trying to redirect us back to Him. He has something better in store for us if we just hand the reins over to Him.
Posted in Devotions by Dawn Foster with 3 comments.
Because He Live … by Dawn E. Foster
Today’s Reading – Job 19 – 21(Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click hereto view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – Colossians 1 – 4; Psalms 46 – 50; Proverbs 10)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17
Read the “0610 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:” (Job 19:23-26)
As we move through the book of Job we see that Job still is faithful to the Lord. I don’t know how many of us would continue to trust in God after losing everything. How strong is our walk with the Lord… that when through losing everything except our life we can still say “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good”? How far can we go without cracking just a little? How do we get through the “hard” times, or going through a pandemic without just turning our eyes, hearts, and souls from the Lord?
In Job 19:23-26, Job finally gets his bearings. Where did he draw his strength from? How did he finally start to turn his eyes back upward? He looked toward His Redeemer. He stated: “For I know that my redeemer liveth…” (Job 19:25). The same God who was alive back in Job’s day is the same God who lives today. Yesterday, today, forever Jesus is the same.
Some of us may have suffered a great deal through our lives thus far. Maybe you have lost a child. Maybe you were abandoned by a spouse, or have gone through cancer. When Job lost his children he experienced death. He even longed to die himself back in Job 3. Through it all however, he cried out to the redeemer.
In the hymn, “Because He Lives,” written by William J. Gaither and his wife Gloria, the refrain says:
“Because He lives I can face tomorrow;
Because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives.”
Today. Even in the year 2020 we can cry out to the same redeemer. Jesus paid the price for all by shedding His blood for our sins. He died, was buried, and rose again so that we could have eternal life. Have you cried out to the redeemer?
Posted in Devotions by Dawn Foster with 2 comments.
How Quickly We Forget…To Pray by Dawn Foster
Today’s Passage – Exodus 30 – 32 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 15 – 16; Proverbs 30; Psalms 146 – 150
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17
Read previous posts from this passage – “Who Is On The Lord’s Side?” and “Called of God…“
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:7-8)
“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;” (Luke 18:1)
The book of Exodus can be described in many ways. It is predominantly a story of how we as humans so quickly forget what the Lord has done for us. Time, and time again throughout the book we see how the children of Israel cried, complained, murmured, and just plain forgot. Exodus 5:21, 14:11, 15:24, 16:2-3, 17:2-3, 32:1 are just a few examples of this. As saved individuals we should never forget the things the Lord our God has done for us.
In Exodus 30:1-9 Moses tells us God’s instructions on how to build the Altar, and the use of incense on the Altar. More specifically in Exodus 30:7-9 the verses describe what is to be done with the incense. “And Aa’-ron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aa’-ron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.” In these three verses incense is a picture of our prayers. We only pray to one God, the only God. We do not pray to saints, golden idols, or anything else.
Exodus 32 discusses Israel’s Golden Calf. They wanted “gods” to worship, and pray to. How quickly they forgot they already had the one, and only God who delivered them out of Egypt. I have pondered the idea throughout reading this book… If every time another “problem” came up for Israel, instead of murmuring, and complaining, they took all of that exertion and just went to their knees in prayer… would they have so quickly forgotten all that the Lord had done, and was doing? I do not think they would have.
We do the same thing in this day and age. Something goes wrong, and the first thing we do is complain. We say something we should not have. We pass blame. Instead, what would happen if we went to God in that same second something went wrong? Would it change our minds? Our hearts? Everyone has heard of the phrase, “Prayer changes things.” It changes our whole way of thinking. It is our connection to the Lord. It teaches us to be grateful, faithful, and trusting. If the children of Israel had went to their knees there would have been a lot less complaining, and a lot more remembering. How quickly we forget the blessings we receive, God’s faithfulness, His provisions, the simple fact that we are still breathing on this earth. How quickly we forget to pray.
Did you take time to Pray today?
Posted in Devotions by Dawn Foster with 3 comments.