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daily devotional
Evening ...
Genesis 42:2
There is corn in Egypt.
Famine pinched all the nations, and it seemed inevitable that Jacob and his
family should suffer great want; but the God of providence, who never forgets
the objects of electing love, had stored a granary for His people by giving the
Egyptians warning of the scarcity, and leading them to treasure up the grain of
the years of plenty. Little did Jacob expect deliverance from Egypt, but there
was the corn in store for him. Believer, though all things are apparently
against thee, rest assured that God has made a reservation on thy behalf; in
the roll of thy griefs there is a saving clause. Somehow He will deliver thee,
and somewhere He will provide for thee. The quarter from which thy rescue shall
arise may be a very unexpected one, but help will assuredly come in thine
extremity, and thou shalt magnify the name of the Lord. If men do not feed
thee, ravens shall; and if earth yield not wheat, heaven shall drop with manna.
Therefore be of good courage, and rest quietly in the Lord. God can make the
sun rise in the west if He pleases, and make the source of distress the channel
of delight. The corn in Egypt was all in the hands of the beloved Joseph; he
opened or closed the granaries at will. And so the riches of providence are all
in the absolute power of our Lord Jesus, who will dispense them liberally to
His people. Joseph was abundantly ready to succour his own family; and Jesus is
unceasing in His faithful care for His brethren. Our business is to go after
the help which is provided for us: we must not sit still in despondency, but
bestir ourselves. Prayer will bear us soon into the presence of our royal
Brother: once before His throne we have only to ask and have: His stores are
not exhausted; there is corn still: His heart is not hard, He will give the
corn to us. Lord, forgive our unbelief, and this evening constrain us to draw
largely from Thy fulness and receive grace for grace
May 22
Morning ...
Psalm 107:7
He led them forth by the right way.
Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire "Why is it
thus with me?" I looked for light, but lo, darkness came; for peace, but behold
trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved.
Lord, thou dost hide Thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday that I
could read my title clear; to-day my evidences are bedimmed, and my hopes are
clouded. Yesterday I could climb to Pisgah's top, and view the landscape o'er,
and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance; to-day, my spirit has no
hopes, but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part of God's plan
with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven? Yes, it is
even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of
your hope, all these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe
for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for
the testing and strengthenin g of your faith-they are waves that wash you
further upon the rock-they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly
towards the desired haven. According to David's words, so it might be said of
you, "so He bringeth them to their desired haven." By honour and dishonour, by
evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by
distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your
souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think
not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary
parts of it. "We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom." Learn,
then, even to "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations."
"O let my trembling soul be still,
And wait Thy wise, Thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by Thee."
Romans 4:19-21
(19) And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of
Sarah's womb: (20) He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (21) And being fully persuaded that,
what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Go to this verse on Bible Tools
Hebrews 11:17-19
(17) By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and
he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (18) Of
whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: (19) Accounting that
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received
him in a figure.
Go to this verse on Bible Tools
There was nothing vague about God to Abraham. His relationship
with God was of such intimacy that he thoroughly understood His character and
purpose. He knew that he could trust God to act and react within clear
parameters. Abraham added up what he knew about God and about His promise that
Isaac was the promised seed, reached a conclusion, and acted. He knew God would
have either to resurrect Isaac or to provide a substitute. He chose to trust
the One he knew has the power and is faithful.
What if, like most Americans, Abraham had just guessed, based
upon vague remembrances of a Sunday school class, movies, fiction works, and
paranormal inspirations? We can assume that he would have worshipped the idols
of his father Terah. A right concept of God is a Christian necessity because a
wrong notion of Him is the very foundation, the starting point, for idolatry.
In brief, the essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God
that are unworthy of Him.
God makes this clear at Mount Sinai after making the covenant
with Israel and giving them His law. In Exodus 32, Aaron, confronted by the
sinful pressure of his peers, became carried away and made a stupid Golden Calf
to rescue them from their perceived dilemma. Aaron and the Israelites revealed
that their false concepts of God remained. God had the idol immediately
destroyed. Israel sinned in attempting to determine the nature of God based on
their own reasoning, and many died in a punishing demonstration of the true
God's wrath at this egregious sin.
The Israelites of today are still at it; modern Israelites are
fantasizing about God. The idolater simply imagines a conception of God and
then acts as though his conceptions are true. He is deceived and certainly does
not know the true God as Abraham did.
God seeks out those with whom He desires to make the covenant.
At that time, all they understand about Him is in broad terms. They are then to
seek Him out to know Him more precisely. Those who make the New Covenant with
God are required to seek out intimate details regarding His nature, purpose,
and character.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Seeking God (Part One): Our Biggest Problem
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