365 Reflections

Deuteronomy 10:14–17 (ESV)   Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. This is perhaps one of the most compelling appeals from Moses to Israel in all the Pentateuch. You hear his emotional call to this people known for mindlessly walking in disobedience over the course of 40 years since God saved them. And in this appeal, Moses goes all in on them realizing who God actually is, who they are because of Him and what their response should be.  First they are to understand that the Lord is God and owner of all things. He does not need Israel. He does not c...

Join me as I spend some time in Exodus. We tend to believe Exodus is about escape from slavery. While that is the plot, the theme of Exodus is much much more than a simple and powerful story of deliverance. The key theme of Exodus is coming to "Know the Lord." The phrase, "know that I am the Lord" will appear at regular intervals throughout the book. In Egypt, Israel will grow large but shallow in her relationship to the Covenant Lord of Creation. Egypt will defy the Lord and Pharaoh will state this phrase, "Who is the Lord?" The first half of the book will illustrate WHO the Lord is.  The second half of the book will illustrate what knowing the Lord means. If we are to grow in our relationship with the Lord, this book is a wonderful place to start. So we begin: Exodus 1:1–8 (ESV)   These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjami...