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Closing the Gap 2.22.18

By February 22, 2018Daily Devotional

Week 7 Day 4

Pray:

Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.

Read:

Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Reflect:

Moses was given a vision of his people living in liberty in a land of promise.  He was also given a commission to lead his people out of the land of slavery to that promised place.  He did not believe he was up to the task, and in many ways, he was not.  However, God intended to reveal himself through Moses’ insecurity and inabilities.  As Moses took on the task God set before him, he encountered difficulty after difficulty.  He was challenged by his enemies as well as his own people.  He poured his life out for others, and very often they questioned his leadership and his motives.  He took his people to the threshold of the Promised Land only to have to turn back into the wilderness because of their unbelief.  Finally, after decades of living off of God’s faithfulness, the people were able to enter the land God had promised.  Yet, Moses could not go in.  He was only able to see it from a distance.  He died in the wilderness, looking into the land of God’s promise.  Did God cheat Moses?  Is the final chapter of Moses’ life disappointment, emptiness, and futility?  Did he give his life for a goal that was never accomplished? I will give you one sentence from the book of Exodus that will give you the answer to all of these questions.  “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” So, what is your answer?  Was his life one of futility or of fullness?  Did God cheat him or bless him beyond all measure?  How you answer these questions will help you evaluate your own perspective regarding your status as an “alien and a stranger” here and now.  Moses received the greater promise.  He did not walk on a certain piece of ground in the Middle East, but he did get to the place of promise.  In addition, as he walked in the wilderness, far from the land of promise, he walked with God as his friend.  Wherever we walk with God as a friend, that place becomes the place of promise for us.  Close the gap on your friendship with God.  Friendship with God is tied most closely to absolute obedience to him.  He is not looking for a junior partner; he is looking for one whose heart is fully surrendered to him.

Pray:

(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)

Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.

 

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