Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: A Diligent Doer
Date: Friday January 20, 2012
Today's Chapters: Exodus 14-16
Preview of Today's Message: Anyone can read the Bible, but those who live by it not only find favor with God, they are blessed. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

If Jesus Himself was our preacher and we rested in hearing His Words only, it would never bring us to heaven. People had Him right there in front of Him and yet they died and went to hell because they did not do what He said. We have a right to choose whether or not to believe in Christ, and many do believe that He existed and died to save them, but unless we do what we hear from the Bible concerning our salvation we will never get to the Kingdom of God. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” - James 1:22-25. 

Israel finally had their freedom, they were no longer held in slavery to the Egyptians. Right in front of them was a pillar leading the way to the promised land, it was with them day and night, that pillar was God Himself. Can you imagine looking up and knowing that God was right there in front of you? I envy what the Israelite's had, they saw so many miracles from God and were chosen by Him to be their people. You would think that the Israelite's would have had more faith in God than anyone, but the sad thing is that they did not. The second they were faced with difficulties they began complaining, their first test of faith came when they were being chased by the Egyptian. 

“And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” - Exodus 14:10-14. 

When God is on our side we have nothing to fear, He loves us, and guess what, He even takes care of us and protects us when we have no faith in Him at all. We need not seek vengeance, God gets the vengeance all the time, and let me tell you, both you and your offender will know who God is. Egypt and Israel both saw God part the Red Sea and devour all the Egyptians once the Israelite's were safe. “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.” -Exodus 14:30,31. 

Yea, they feared God, right up until the next challenge, three days later, when they could not drink the water. “So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” - Exodus 15:22-26. 

One amazing thing about God is that He wants us to prove Him as the Almighty God, that is why He faces us with challenges. Is there anything too hard for God? He welcomes the challenge and always comes through, but the key to seeing His blessings come to pass is having faith in Him. Faith, is talking yourself into believing something to be true when you cannot see it. You put your faith in God knowing He is true, without seeing His face and you will see those blessing unfold right before your eyes. That word diligence means to keep doing what God tells you through His Word, when you become a doer of His Word that is what gives you the faith to believe in God. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” - Hebrews 11:1,6. 

I have this talking alarm clock on my computer, I have two alarms set, one to pray, one to read today's Scripture. Since I want to put God first I try my hardest to keep to this schedule because if I am not it throws my entire day off. The last two days I have overslept and have not done either one on time, it's frustrating, and quite upsetting to know that I let God down. Then it hit me, while schedules are good to keep us on track, we are on God's schedule not our own. God knows what we need, He certainly knows when we are going to best serve Him, so, rather than get upset about what we see as failures, we need to be thankful that God counts all failures as opportunities for us to be diligent in all we do for Him, whether that is at home, work, or His ministry. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” -Colossians 3:23,24. 

Today's Psalm: “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” - Psalm 119:4.

Today's Proverb: “Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.” -Proverbs 7:15.

Today's Prayer: God, we want to be diligent in our walk with You, we want to study Your Word to show ourselves approved of You and to fully understand Your plan for our lives. Thank You for Your Word that is a lamp to my feet and light for my path. Your Spirit illumines my path so that I do not walk in darkness, but walk in the power of the Holy Spirit who keeps me going in the right direction when I diligently seek You. Lord, keep me on the right path and help me to be diligent about serving You every where we go. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Enjoy the rest of your day/night. 
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Victory Through Christ
Date: Thursday January 19, 2012
Today's Chapters: Exodus 11-13
Preview of Today's Message: The sting of death is sin, but death is swallowed up in victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. All Scripture quoted from the King James Version.

Hello My Friend,

There is a song, “Where would you be if Jesus came five minutes ago?” There is a lot to think of just in the title of that song. Where would you be if Jesus came five minutes ago? In the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of a trumpet Jesus will be here. Will you be raised from the dead and changed into something glorious or would you be cast into the lake of fire? “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:50-57. 

Eighty years ago Pharaoh was fearful by the strength and number of the Hebrews that in order to control their population he ordered all male Hebrew babies born to be cast into the river. Well, who would have thought that after all this time that the same thing would happen to the Egyptians. Egypt will be judged, the first born of every household, man and beast, Egyptian or Hebrew in the land of Egypt will die. 

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether...And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.” -Exodus 11:1,4-6. 

God, gave specific instructions for Israel to follow if they wanted to be saved from this plague, each household was to take a perfect male lamb, kill it, take the blood and apply the blood over the door post, then roast the flesh and everyone in the house was to eat of the sacrifice. It was to be just enough for all of them to eat, with nothing to be left over. “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt...And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” -Exodus 12:11-13,48,49 

While God chose Israel as the people that would be His people, He is not a respecter of persons, He allows anyone to be a part of the family. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” - Romans 2:9-11. 

The time had come, God would bring His judgment upon Egypt, just as He said, at midnight He passed over Egypt and every first born that did not have the blood applied to the doorpost died. “And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.” -Exodus 12:28-31.

The key to us being saved from death is doing what God instructs us to do, it's simple, believe. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Romans 10:9-13. 

The Hebrews were free, for the first time in over four hundred years they headed for the promised land, they had no idea how they would get there, but they had the best guide of the land, God. “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt...And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” -Exodus 13:17,18,21,22. 

God never leaves us wandering around in the wilderness, although He may take us the long way around, He guides us and leads the way to victory all the time. We cannot do anything or go anywhere without the Lord leading the way, even if we have gone astray He is leading the way and will take us where we need to be. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:35-39. 

Today's Psalm: “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” -Psalm 91:14.

Today's Proverb: “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:” -Proverbs 8:20.

Today's Prayer: God, we do not have to fear the present nor the future when we place our complete confidence in You and recognize that Your plans prevail. Daily we make our plans but we know that You have the final say.  Help us to find comfort in You for the circumstances of life that throw us for a curve, knowing all the while, that You will supply us with the needed resources and spiritual support that leads us to victory so that we can truly proclaim from the depths of our hearts, “All is well, with my Lod!” In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night. 
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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