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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Daily Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. 9/7/2025
Today's Passage:Gifts of the Spirit BibleVerse:Exodus 4:1-12 (ESV) "When Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—“that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. Moses praying Moses praying. “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”" Message:
This scene occurred after Moses had first been expelled from Egypt and is dwelling in the desert. He is preparing to return to Egypt to set the Hebrews free.
The final verse is much like several New Testament verses, dealing with gifts of the Holy Spirit after Christ’s ascension. In Exodus, God specifically reminded Moses that it was He who had given man the power of speech and that He could make Moses (or anyone else) speak with eloquence.
God is going to give us the gifts we need, to do the tasks which He has set out for us. Often enough, this is a talent we seem to have naturally and develop during our lives. There are natural gifts that seem to bear no relation to the goodness of our hearts. Hitler was, by all accounts, an eloquent and convincing speaker! And so, it is up to us to develop our natural gifts and use them for the glory of the God who gave them to us.
Cross and Crown
But what is really interesting, to me at least, is where people use gifts they do not have to serve God. It happens a lot, in the Bible and in our non-Biblical experiences!
The paradigm would have to be Jesus Himself, because He was a carpenter’s son from a podunk town in a minor Roman province. Where did He get all this knowledge? And where did He get the nerve to stand up in the synagogue and teach?
Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?”
And they took offense at Him. (Mark 6:1-3)
Of course, Jesus was the Son of God. But Moses actually was just a slave, a fugitive murderer hiding out in a remote rural area. Not only was eloquence not natural to him, but also, he had a speech impediment! And yet he became God’s very mouthpiece.
There are many variations in the Bible and in real life. Glenn Cunningham had his legs burned so badly as a youth, that much of his left foot was amputated and he lost the flesh on both shins and knees. He did not walk for two years; and yet he became one of the greatest runners in history, setting the mile record in 1936. His favorite Bible verse was Isaiah 40:31:
“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint.”
I’m running out of space, so no more examples from the Bible. I think you get the message here. You can be terrible at something, like public speaking or running or dealing with people, and if you need this skill to do what God has set out for you, He will give it to you! Never ever let your service to God be limited by your “aptitudes.” He is God. If it is His will, He will mount you up with “wings like an eagle.”
Meditation : Prayer : May the love of the Lord Jesus draw us to Himself; May the power of the Lord Jesus strengthen us in his service; May the joy of the Lord Jesus fill our souls. May the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Be among us and remain with us always. Amen. |
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