The Way He Speaks

Numbers 7:89

When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law. In this way the Lord spoke to him.

Isn’t that interesting?  Can you see Moses inside a tent listening to a voice coming from between two cherubims?

God can speak to us wherever he pleases.  We just have to be able to recognize his voice.

First of all, Moses was in the “tent of meeting” where God’s presence lived.

Secondly, the voice came from above the “atonement cover” where mercy poured.

Thirdly, the voice came from between two cherubims, which were first mentioned in the bible back in Genesis where they guarded the tree of life.

If you have trouble hearing God’s voice or get confused about what you’re hearing, make sure you’re surrounded by his presence, his mercy, and his protection – his word – when you sit down to listen.

There’s great wisdom in tuning our ears to hear his voice in the way he speaks to us, by staying close to where he lives, moves, and breathes.

When we stray too far from any of those places, we’re likely to be confused by the noise around us.

Did You Hear?

Exodus 4:31  And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Yesterday’s verse reminded us that God hears us when we cry out to him, in our pain.

Today’s verse says when the people realized  God was concerned about them, they worshiped.

Isn’t it awesome to find out a friend is concerned about us, when we find a card by our front door, or a gift in the mail, or a voicemail on our phone, just asking how we are and how we’re doing?  It makes our day, doesn’t it?  It makes us want to respond to our friend in like manner, or call her to give thanks.

Our needs concern God, because we belong to him.  We need to hear this and be aware of this and believe it.

When we know that we have a God who is concerned about our needs, who sees us in our misery, we need to respond.

Self-pity isn’t pretty, and it does us no good to wallow in it when we’re in pain.  But what does do us a world of  good is to bow down and worship, even in the middle of our worst pain, because we KNOW that God is concerned.

Concerned enough to keep his promise to be with us and never leave us, to guide us when we don’t understand, and to set us free when we find ourselves trapped once again.

That Long Period

Exodus 2:23-25

During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.  So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

I love this passage.

This group of people were slaves and in pain, and they cried.  They cried out to God, and he heard their groaning. He not only heard them crying, but he remembered his promises he had made with them. And the last verse says he was concerned about them.

If we had good parents, they took care of us when we hurt, they tended to our cries, and they alleviated our pain the best they knew how.  However, even the best of parents can’t heal every pain, or rescue their children from every hurt in the world.  We try, but our best attempts pale in comparison to the concern God has for us, his children.

God not only wants us to hear his voice, but he hears our voices too, when we cry to him.  In fact, he sees our tears, as well.  And our pain moves his hand, because of his son Jesus, and the covenant he made with us when he saved us and redeemed us to be his children.

God’s concern isn’t like that of earthly parents.  Earthly parents can only see with finite eyes and fix the hurt at the moment, by placing ointment and a bandage over the wound, to wait for healing.

God’s concern sets people free, and brings them into a land flowing with milk and honey, a place where they can flourish and thrive.

Are you crying and in pain, today?  Cry out to your heavenly Father.  He will hear your cries and his concern will cause even the worst of the slavemasters to let you go, as he leads you across the treacherous sea to dry land.

Laugh With Me

Genesis 21: 5,6

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 

What a miracle like none other. 

Miracles still occur every day, if we are looking for them.  Just yesterday my kids made it home after being stuck on the highway in a snow/ice gridlock.  Any birth at all is a miracle in the making.  The fact that we awaken each morning and stand on our two legs is a miracle.  Miracles should, and do, bring us joy and laughter.

But notice here that Sarah says that everyone who “hears” about her miracle will laugh with her.

I think the FB posts that get the most LIKES are ones where friends post about a cool incident that happened to them or their family.  People want to rejoice.  They want to hear about the goodness of God to us and ours.

Why?

Because it encourages them. Because it offers them hope that their miracle is coming.  Because life needs miracles.

Laughter and joy are good for the heart.

Listen for the miracles told by others.  Tell of your own miracles so that others can hear them.

Then laugh. And join in with the laughter of your friends, and invite them to laugh with you.

What a happy day that will be, when we all share, hear, and laugh at the goodness of our God.

His Voice

Yesterday we read how Adam and Eve were naked in his presence and felt no shame.

But let’s read further:

Genesis 3:6-11 says, When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked?

Adam and Eve went from feeling no shame in their nakedness to being completely afraid in their nakedness, so much that they tried to cover it up, in his presence.

Why?

It was because they had heard God instruct them on how to live, and yet they chose to listen to another’s voice and take that instruction instead.

God walks with us and talks with us and instructs us in his word, and when we are listening and obeying, we feel no shame.

However, when we choose to listen to other voices that condemn us, accuse us, tear us down, or cause us to fear or be anxious, we often choose to walk with those voices instead.

I love God’s question above when he asks, “Who told you that you were naked?”

No one told them.  Their own eyes were opened to their sin and they saw for themselves that they were naked and in need of being covered.

We know the rest of the story, how they were banished from the garden, and cursed…

Wow. 

It all started with hearing God’s voice and choosing to listen to another.

No Shame

Genesis 2:25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

In the very beginning, God created man and woman and had this relationship with them, to where they were completely vulnerable and unafraid in his presence.

Can you imagine?  

When we think of nakedness physically, it’s something we hide from everyone, except in our most intimate times with our husbands.  And even then, many women are uncomfortable in their nakedness because of shame regarding weight, looks, or previous abuse.

But being naked spiritually is laying bare all of our dreams, hopes, disappointments and fears and still feeling comfortable in HIS presence.

That’s how Adam and Eve were created to be, and it’s how we are intended to be too, in his presence. 

But of course, we know that the no-shame feeling didn’t last for long…

Stay tuned to tomorrow's devo....

With Songs and Full Arms

Psalm 126

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Was 2014 full of sorrowful tears?  God saw every one of them as they fell.

But this verse brings us hope of joy, after the tears fall, after the weeping is over, just like there is a harvest after planting is completed.

Have you ever thought of your tears as being seeds that fall, seeds that then shoot up with new life, so much that you cannot contain or carry all that the return yields?

There is great promise for the year 2015.  If tears have fallen, there is joy ahead.

If you are still weeping, begin to look around you and see what’s growing in place of the sorrow.  Ask God to fill you with his songs of joy as you begin a new year.

And when your arms are too full of his blessings and you can barely carry them, scatter them around to those you know who are still sorrowful and in tears.

Songs of joy for 2015 – listen for them – and sing them.