Stiffnecked
Today’s Passage – Exodus 33 – 35 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 17 – 18; Proverbs 31; Psalms 1 – 5 (Jump start on February because it is a short month)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – 1 John 3:1
Read the “0131 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read previous post from today’s reading passage – “Willing Servants,” and “Beaming.”
“….for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.” (Exodus 33:3 – 5)
Reading this chapter brought back some memories of me as a six year old boy at my great-grandmother’s house and hearing her say, Gerald you are so hardheaded!!
We see the Lord upset with the children of Israel, and it’s not his first time nor will be his last that He has been grieved by them and it’s just amazing that He never just destroyed every last one of them… but can’t the same thing be said about us?
We cannot talk enough about the mercy of God!
The Bible says that we are “but dust.” Know what that means? It means we are NOTHING!
Just take a second and think about how often we grieve our God. Too many saved, children of God, like myself that live like this. Why? Why are we so full of ourselves that we think we know better than the KNOWER of all things!?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)
So flippantly we say Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, and we know that means we are born again, but is He LORD of us? Do we live like He is? Is He Master? Does He call ALL the shots? Or does the creature know more than the Creator?!
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46)
Why do we walk around living a life that screams to God, “I got it!” We live as though we were entitled to salvation or for some reason were worthy of it! We act as though we deserve to be treated a certain way in this world, when you take a step back and think about how we will never receive what we truly deserve. It ought to stop you in your tracks!
Hey every day outside of hell is a good day, NO MATTER WHAT! Without Christ, we are nothing. He is the only thing that makes us special.
We read a lot about the children of Israel and their fickleness, but we must be careful not to look our noses down at them because far too often we are guilty of the same inconsistencies. Think about the things we complain about so much in others that we do ourselves. We look at other “dirt clods” and cast them down, and promote ourselves to better, when at the end of the day, we’re all just dirt.
We must get honest with who we truly are and where we lack spiritually and do something about it.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22)
Look Is He worthy of our absolute total trust in Him or not? Has He not proven countless times the obvious answer? Has our flesh proven that it’s not worth trusting with any moment of our lives, yet which do we yield to more ?
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
Posted in Devotions, Guest Posts, Thoughts from Exodus by Gerald Hicks with 6 comments.
Do As Your Told … by Gerald Hicks II
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 8 – 10 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 3 – 4; Proverbs 5; Psalms 26 – 30)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Joshua 1:8
Read the “0205 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Strange Fire.“
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done.” (Leviticus 8:1-5)
The Lord gave a command for Moses to follow and he did as he was told.
“And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the LORD shall appear unto you.” (Leviticus 9:6)
Moses then explained to Aaron and his sons what God commanded him to tell and show them so they could follow suit, and what would be the result if they listened to the Lord’s command.
“And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.” (Leviticus 9:22-24)
The thought for this morning is to simply trust and obey the Lord God, Our Maker, Sustainer, and Friend.
Sounds simple?
But yet we make listening to Him more complicated than it needs to be.
Constantly hearing this is happening, this is going on, this is coming down the pike, look out for this not, knowing what’s true or not.
The feel of everything in our world, specifically our country, our churches Just feels strange, feels off balance, feels unknown, just wondering what’s going to happen next.
I want to remind you of a few things that we can never forget:
- Let’s never forget Who sits on the throne in Heaven above
- Let’s never forget Who’s not feeling strange or uncertain
- Let’s never forget Who ALWAYS knows the unknown!
One thing I keep coming across either from praying with others or just thinking from time to time
Is that right now as Christians , in this world right now, in this America we are living in: we need wisdom! God’s wisdom!
Every time I consider the word wisdom
I think of this acronym:
When
I
Stop
Depending
On
Myself
When I stop relying on my strength, my power , my abilities, my intuition and words and wit to figure out and do everything my way or what I think is the best way
And rely fully upon Him and His Words – applying His will to my life — those are the wisest options we have at our disposal!
We know our country is in rough shape but hey let’s pick ourselves up as Pastor Erickson says by our boot straps and keep pressing on — keep going — keep serving — keep doing what’s right — keep living for the Lord
4. Let’s never forget THERE IS A REMEDY
And His name is Jesus Christ!
this is a wake up call obviously the Lord knew we needed in America spiritually speaking — maybe to get us gospel centered — being more gospel minded — I don’t know
This is our time to wake up!
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” (Hosea 10:12)
Does America need to hit Rock bottom? I hope not obviously.. but Maybe it’s what America needs! I have no idea and it’s not our job to try to figure out God — His ways are not our ways – His thoughts are not our thoughts – it’s our job to just listen and do as we have been told — trust and obey
5. Let’s never forget Who saved us and what He called us to do
That’s a living a Spirit led life
That’s getting the gospel out
How concerned are we really with these concepts?
6. Let’s never forget the Mighty God we worship
Praise Jesus!!
Aren’t you glad you’re saved!?
In the midst of the storms and distractions around us!
Aren’t you glad you have a calling on your life!
We have a mission!
Our Saviour saw us worthy enough to take on a task so awesome, so powerful — to tell people about Him!
Praise God!
Keep going.
Don’t quit.
Trust Him!
Posted in Devotions by Gerald Hicks with 3 comments.
Worship the King … by Gerald Hicks II
Today’s Reading – Psalms 115 – 118 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 17 – 18; Psalms 41 – 45; Proverbs 9)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 47:1
Read the “0709 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” (Psalm 115:1)
I. Worship Him for Who He is
“For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:” (Deuteronomy 10:17)
A. God of gods
B. Lord of lords
C. King of kings
“Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. … Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.” (Psalm 115:2-8, 11)
We live in the world that promotes self. A world that says you are your own god. A world that worships the creature INSTEAD OF ( not just more than ) the Creator ..
We have a world that promotes wealth and fame as success and having a lot of stuff ..
Does God have all of us? Or do we have some “idols” in the way?
Just because it’s not a statue of some kind doesn’t mean it’s not an idol in our life!
We give time and we make time for what we deem important—
Do we make time for God ?
Do we make time for the things of God?
That list talks about things that have no physical power – having eyes and ears and a nose And all these different things but with no affect , with no life to them— but yet it still has a hold on the person giving it the worship or attention—
“They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” (Psalm 115:8)
Whether it be a hobby , finances , a job , a sin or struggle, a distraction of some kind , whatever that idol is or may be , it cannot continue to take the place of our adoration and affection and attention that our God deserves!
Let’s not get used to having God in our lives!
If you’re saved this morning , don’t get over the truth of saying “your God” – “Our God!”
Praise Him for who He is— He is Our God!
The Alpha and Omega.
The Beginning and the Ending.
The Author and Finisher of our Faith.
Our Father and Friend!
He’s the Friend that Never Leaves.
He’s the One that removed your sin as far as the east is from the west.
The One that loves you unconditionally.
The One that will never get tired of hearing your voice.
Our God is Our Everything.
Our God,,, sent Our Saviour Jesus Christ to this earth- being 100% man being 100% God and as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:1, 3 – 15.
“Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. … If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. (1 Timothy 6:1, 3 – 5)
Let’s reflect on this challenge that he wrote to Timothy and think of our ownselves.
Sounds like many in our world today doesn’t it?
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (1 Timothy 6:6-7)
But so many live trying to obtain and conquer so much as if they can take it with them when they perish…
“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” (1 Timothy 6:8-11)
The world needs the Gospel!
The world needs us as Christians following the example that Paul is telling Timothy to follow after …
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;” (1 Timothy 6:12-15)
No matter what goes on this world.
No matter how the hearts of men waver.
No matter what happens or changes next or what direction our society goes to next.
Never lose sight of the fact.
There is always One constant.
And He’s the same yesterday today and for ever — that’s our God!
We need to Praise Him for who He is!
Posted in Devotions by Gerald Hicks with 1 comment.
The Runt of the Litter … by Pastor Gerald Hicks II
Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 1 – 2 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – John 1 – 2; Psalms 21 – 25; Proverbs 5)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 18:3 & 46
Read the “0505 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:” (1 Chronicles 2:12-15)
After reading this passage, I just can’t help but think of the privilege it is to serve the Lord. If you’re saved today, aren’t you grateful to be playing for Jesus’ team!
In the passage, we see the lineage leading up to David, and we see he’s the youngest of seven brothers. The youngest son growing up around 6 older brothers most likely was not always a walk in the park. He probably had his days of getting bullied and made fun of, especially for being the youngest. Even when David went down to see the battle involving Goliath, he received ridicule from some of his brothers, even then.
Little did they, even David, know, how God would tremendously use David, not just that day amongst the giant, but even greater days lies ahead for him.
In a group of animals, a runt is a member which is significantly smaller or weaker than the others, making survival in the wild especially, almost impossible. We do not know how much smaller or weaker David was than his brothers, but in comparison to Jesus Christ, we are all runts!
We are all good for nothing sinners that deserved to get tossed aside and forgotten about! And without Him, we wouldn’t survive! Aren’t you grateful that as His focus was like a flint, unwavering, on the cross of Calvary, that you were on His mind!
We may not see the whole game, the big picture as Jehovah God does, but we can trust that He does. We can fully rely on and abide in our Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Don’t take for granted the honor it is that we can call ourselves, Christians! We GET to serve Almighty God!
Aren’t you glad that God does not look on the outward appearance as man does! He doesn’t care how old or young you are— you can still serve Him!
He does not care how much you’ve messed up— you can still serve Him!
” Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
We need to fall more and more in love with our God and His Word each and every day!
Love Him because He’s good, He’s wonderful. Love Him because He’s holy, perfect, and true! Love Him because… there’s nobody like Him!
“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: … For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. … Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” (Isaiah 45:5, 18, 21-23)
Posted in Devotions by Gerald Hicks with 4 comments.
Access Through the Advocate by Pastor Gerald Hicks II
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 5 – 7 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – John 1 – 2; Proverbs 4; Psalms 21 – 25
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 119:105
Read the “0204 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Ignorant but not Innocent.”
Advocate- (n.) one that pleads the cause of another. Intercessor.
In these next set of chapters of Leviticus we read a good amount from the Law of Moses on the different offerings that were observed. There are about five different offerings discussed in chapter five alone. All these offerings were apart of their normal way of life. There were two verses in chapter five that I just couldn’t get over.
“And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.” (Leviticus 5:5-6)
After reading those verses, I just could not stop thinking of the free access that we have to God through His Son. Throughout chapter five you will see how specifically detailed each offering and it’s requirements were. It is a humbling thought to think that Jesus loves someone like me so much that He died. Not only did He die and rise again so that I could have the chance to receive Him as Lord and Saviour, not just so I would never see or spend a second in Hell, but He did all that so that I could have access to the Father.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
I don’t know what you’re going through or where your walk with the Lord is at today. I want to encourage you to not take for granted that high priest named Jesus Christ, but instead take advantage of the relationship you can have with Him. The One that took our place and interceded for us on Calvary desires for us to know Him intimately. He knows you better than you know you. He knows what you’re going through.
He wants to hear from you! He never gets tired of your voice and you can talk to Him anytime of the day or night!
I find more and more as time goes on just how much I need that mercy and grace that is referenced in the verse above. As you have probably gathered by now, life is tough, but I promise you it’s a whole lot easier to go through when the Captain of our salvation is at the helm of our lives. I can hear my dad now whenever he’d talk about life’s trials, “Just keep livin’, you’ll see, just keep on livin.”
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1)
One Last Thought:
Life doesn’t stop at salvation!
James says our life is “but a vapour “.. it’s here now, but with every fleeting breath that God allows us to breath, in all reality we draw closer and closer to being with our Saviour… What are we doing for Christ with the time that we have left?
Posted in Devotions by Gerald Hicks with 5 comments.