Devotions

sendoff

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:29-36

²⁹ At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.³⁰ And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great outcry in Egypt, because there was not a household where someone was not dead.³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go away from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also!” ³³ The Egyptians strongly urged the people to go away from the land quickly. Because they said, “We are all dead.”³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.³⁵ The sons of Israel had also done as Moses told them, because they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.³⁶ And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked for. This is how they plundered the Egyptians.

sendoff

The use of military terms throughout this narrative points to an interesting thought. The exodus was not so much an escape from Egypt as it was a professional strategic advance toward the promised land. God had miraculously provided the means for that sendoff. First, he stayed true to his threat, and sent the destroyer to the households of all the Egyptians. The firstborn of every family died, from the palace to the dungeon – even the pasture. The Egyptians got the point. They said “We are all dead.” So they had every reason to strongly urge the Israelites to leave… and, “here, take my money with you.” So, the sons of Israel plundered the Egyptians.

When the Israelites would commemorate this night, they would celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because they would leave so quickly that they would have to leave out the processing time for leavening their bread. The quick efficiency of their departure also spoke of professional strategic deployment.

LORD, you have rescued us from the bondage of sin. Now, may we follow your call swiftly to advance toward all that you have promised for us.

Posted in commitment, missions | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

brush with death

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:21-28

²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Draw out and take lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.²² Take a cluster of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you should go out of the door of his house until the morning.²³ Because the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike.²⁴ You are to observe this ritual as a permanent rule for you and for your sons forever.²⁵ So when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you will keep this practice.²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this practice?’²⁷ you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but delivered our households.'”And the people bowed down low.²⁸ Then the people of Israel went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, this is what they did.

brush with death

The symbol of blood on the doorframes of the houses was not just for the night of Passover itself. It was to be performed at every Passover celebration. It was to be a reminder to every Israelite that judgment and death had come, but that the LORD had passed them over. He saw the blood and passed over them.

For the Christian, the ritual of communion, or the Lord’s Supper, can serve the same purpose. When we regularly partake of the emblem of the broken body and shed blood of our Savior, we remember that we were sinners and deserved the judgment of death. But the LORD chose to rescue us by his grace, taking the punishment for our sin upon himself. He did not just decide to arbitrarily forgive us. He paid the price with his own life.

It is possible that the markings on the door were meant to symbolize the actual word for life. The Hebrew word for life is chayim, which begins with the letter chet.[1] The bloody doorposts were a symbol of death but became a symbol of life. The cross is now the same thing for us. That symbol of cruel torture and shameful, agonizing death is now a symbol of rescue, deliverance and life.

LORD, thank you for taking the punishment of death upon yourself, so that we can know eternal life. May we constantly remind ourselves of this grace, and so worship you with reverence and joy.

[1] A painted doorframe would display the Hebrew letter chet.

Posted in atonement, communion, deliverance, worship | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

signs for the believers

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:12-20

¹² Because I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will condemn all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.¹³ The blood will be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.¹⁴ “This day will be for you a memorial day, and you will keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you will keep it as a feast.¹⁵ Seven days you will eat unleavened bread. On the first day you will remove leaven out of your houses, because if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person will be cut off from Israel.¹⁶ On the first day you will hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work will be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.¹⁷ And you will observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Because of this, you will observe this day, throughout your generations, as a decree forever.¹⁸ In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.¹⁹ For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.²⁰ You will eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you will eat unleavened bread.”

signs for the believers

Signs are proof of the power of God. They are meant for believers to honor as demonstrations of their faith. The Passover was to be a celebration reminding the Israelites that on that night, the LORD decisively condemned the gods of the Egyptians, and rescued his people from their power.

One of those signs was a Hebrew letter,[1] painted on the doorframes of their houses. It stood for a word. Nobody today knows what that word was. It could have been the word for grace, or the word for life. Whatever it said, it was God’s way of saying “I choose to rescue you.”

The other sign was the absence of leaven. Leavening bread was normal for Jewish people. But God told them to set aside a few days to rid their homes of the stuff. They would have to rid their lives of all the things about those condemned foreign gods in that foreign land. The leaven served as a sign of those things. Rescue takes consecration. The LORD is not just taking them out of Egypt. He is taking Egypt out of them.

LORD, thank you for rescuing us from sin, and restoring us to right relationship with you. May we visibly demonstrate to the world around us that you have condemned its gods, and we belong to you, not them.

[1] A painted doorframe would display the Hebrew letter chet.

Posted in atonement, deliverance, faith, relationship with God | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

rescue by grace

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 12:1-11

¹ While they were still in the land of Egypt, the LORD told Moses and Aaron ² “This month will be the beginning of months for you. It shall be the first month of the year for you.³ Tell all the congregation[1] of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.⁴ And if the household is too small to eat an entire lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor will share according to the number of souls; according to what each can eat you will make your count for the lamb.⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,⁶ and you will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will kill their lambs at twilight.⁷ “Then they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.⁸ They will eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.⁹ Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.¹⁰ And you will let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you will burn.¹¹ In this manner you will eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you will eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.

rescue by grace

I wonder how much of the symbolism of the Passover meal was actually understood by the average Israelite who first received these instructions. It is so easy to see Christ in the facets of this memorial event, and he is definitely here. But what would be obvious from the perspective of an Israelite who had been raised in Egypt, and had endured the plagues. What would they have seen in these preparations? Permit me to speculate:

· tenth day: reference to rescue from the plagues.
· first month: a new beginning, free from the bondage of the past.
· sharing a lamb: rescue for the whole community.
· the whole animal: rescue from a specific death, not a general provision.
· perfect animal: God’s provision for rescue, not my second best.
· blood on the doorpost: marked for life, not death.
· roasted: quickest way for a healthy meal, not a slow process.
· unleavened bread & bitter herbs: quickest available sides, no long preparation.
· eat in haste: prepared for soon departure.

This was to be the first of many Passover meals that these people were to celebrate, because although the rescue would happen only once, it would be remembered forever. It would obviously have prophetic significance. But even if someone did not see that, they would see rescue by grace.

LORD, thank you for you intervention, your rescue of us from the slavery of sin by your grace.

[1] Hebrew ‘edah = company assembled together.

Posted in atonement, deliverance | Tagged Exodus 12 | 1 Comment

a heart too heavy

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 11:1-10

¹ The LORD had told Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will send you away from here. When he sends you away, he will expel you, and it will be complete.² Now tell this in the hearing of the people, so that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.”³ And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. In addition to this, the man Moses was prominent in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.⁴ So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: Around midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,⁵ and every firstborn[1] in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.⁶ There shall be a great outcry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.⁷ But not a dog will stick out its tongue against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, so that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.⁸ And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.⁹ And the LORD had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my miracles may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these miracles before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not send the people of Israel away from his land.

a heart too heavy

It was a great outcry from the Israelites that prompted God to send Moses back to Egypt for their deliverance. The tenth plague would cause a great outcry among the Egyptians. All the people were essentially begging the LORD to leave their land, and take his people with him. The only heart who had remained hard to all the previous plagues was the heart of Pharaoh. Why did he stay so stubborn? Partly it is because God is strengthening Pharaoh’s resolve as punishment for his oppression of the Israelites. The word for “hardened” in verse 10 primarily means “strengthened.” The But there is more to the story.

In The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Pharaoh’s heart was said to have been weighed by the gods at his death.[2] If it was too heavy, he and the people would be punished. That heaviness was not a sign of stubbornness, but of sin. It is no coincidence that Moses sometimes uses a word for “harden” in reference to Pharaoh’s heart that primarily means heavy.[3] He is referring to the sin in Pharaoh’s heart which is causing all the suffering and death all around him.

LORD, soften, weaken, and lighten our hearts. We want to respond to your warnings and you seriously as we aught!

[1] the term refers to the oldest child, regardless of gender.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead

[3] Kaved (7:14; 8:11,28; 9:7,34;10:1.

Posted in repentance, sin | Tagged Exodus 11 | 1 Comment

no more bargaining

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 10:21-29

²¹ Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and let that darkness cause people to feel around with their hands.”²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was deep darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.²³ No man saw his brother, nor did any man leave from under his roof for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.²⁴ Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.”²⁵ But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, so that we may present them to the LORD our God.²⁶ Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, because we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we will not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.”²⁷ But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.²⁸ Then Pharaoh said to him, “Go away from me; keep yourself from ever seeing my face again, for on the day you see my face you will die.”²⁹ Moses said, “You said that right! I will never again see your face.”

no more bargaining

Darkness for three solid days was a felt personally by Pharaoh because it was an attack upon Ra, the sun god, king of the gods of Egypt, and patron to Pharaoh himself.[1] It only took three days of groping around in the daytime, not being able to leave from under their roofs, for Pharaoh to call Moses back to the bargaining table. But what happened then was unprecedented. Pharaoh demanded one more concession – that the Israelites leave their property behind. But Moses responded that the very purpose for their leaving Egypt is their relationship with God. They had to bring their animals because the LORD would require some kind of animal sacrifice. At the time, the law of Sinai had not yet been put into place, so no one but God knew what those requirements would be. So, Moses insisted that “not a hoof will be left behind.”

Pharaoh gave up. There would be no more appearing before him. He told Moses that by saying that he would never again see his face. Moses responded by telling Pharaoh that he had just prophesied. Pharaoh would not see Moses again. Time for bargaining was over.

How is your exodus coming? Are you serving and worshipping God alone, or is there another king who seeks for primacy and control in your life? Have the good sense to call off the bargaining, and get out of Egypt while you have the chance.

LORD, we commit ourselves to serving and worshipping you alone.

[1] see http://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ra.html

Posted in commitment, loyalty, worship | Tagged Exodus 10 | 1 Comment

remove this sure death

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 10:12-20

¹² Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.”¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.¹⁴ The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and rested on the whole territory of Egypt; it had never been so very heavy with locusts before, nor will it ever be again.¹⁵ They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit from the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.¹⁶ Then Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.¹⁷ So now, forgive my sin, please, this time, and plead with the LORD your God to remove this sure death from me.”¹⁸ So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the LORD.¹⁹ And the LORD turned a very strong sea wind, which removed the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.²⁰ But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not send the sons of Israel away.

remove this sure death

As bad as all the other plagues were, the locust plague finally woke Pharaoh up. He started – just briefly – to realize the enduring consequences of his sin. He recognized that he had sinned against Moses and Aaron, not taking their ministry seriously. But he also recognized that he had sinned against the LORD. Looking out over a land darkened by the flood of insects, eating away all vegetation, he imagined the starvation that would follow this act. He also knew that every hollow eye would be looking toward him for having been too stubborn to prevent it. So he pleads for an instant recovery from this sure death. The LORD responded to this plea even though he knew that Pharaoh would once again renege on his promise to send the Israelites away.

The wages of sin is death. If we only knew what locust cloud is being blown toward our lives as a result of our rebellion and disobedience, we too, would be quickly pleading for the LORD to remove it. But we don’t usually get the visual demonstration that Pharaoh got. But even he failed to respond appropriately. What the LORD wants from us is to take him at his word. He wants to take us out of Egypt. But he also wants to take Egypt out of us. We are either Pharaoh or the sons of Israel. Pharaoh’s immediate desperate plea for God to remove the consequences of the plague from him was not enough. Many come to the LORD in desperation and seek the same thing. But what the LORD wants is our commitment to walk away from our old life in Egypt.

LORD, we see our lives darkened by the overwhelming swarm of a sure death. Give us the wisdom and courage to walk away from those lives, not to just ask you to fix them.

Posted in deliverance, discernment, holiness, perseverance, sanctification | Tagged Exodus 10 | 1 Comment

so that we may know

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 10:1-11

¹ Then the LORD told Moses, “Go see Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order that I may show these, my signs, among them,² and in order that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have humiliated the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, so that you may know that I am the LORD.”³ So Moses and Aaron saw Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Send my people away, so that they may serve me.⁴ Because if you refuse to send my people away, see, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory,⁵ and they will cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they will eat whatever is left to you that escaped the hail, and they will eat every tree of yours that is growing in the field,⁶ and they will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came to the land to this day.'”Then he turned around and went out from Pharaoh.⁷ Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Send the husbands away, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is destroyed?”⁸ So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?”⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.”¹⁰ But he said to them, “Let it be so” The LORD be with you, when I send you and your little ones away![1] See, you have evil in mind.¹¹ Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve the LORD, because that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

so that we may know

Pharaoh’s advisers could see the devastation happening. They suggested a compromise that would allow him to save face, but perhaps settle the matter: a temporary vacation of the warrior class, the husbands. The wives and kids and property would stay back in Egypt so that the men would not think of deserting their land. When Pharaoh inquired to Moses if that might be an acceptable compromise, Moses gently replied ‘no, it’s all or nothing.’ If Moses had conceded to this compromise, there never would have been an exodus.

Why was this struggle with the Egyptians happening? That question is answered quite thoroughly in this text. There are two reasons and an ultimate purpose.

1. God intended to display his power by showing his miraculous signs among the Egyptians (1). His people had been enslaved and in bondage, and that reflected upon his nature. The LORD is omnipotent, but for generations he has been allowing the gods of Egypt to appear to be in control. The plagues and the other signs were God’s way of setting the record straight. God wants to do the same thing today, for the same reason. He is tired of watching the world ignore his existence and deny his power.

2. God wanted to give his people a gospel story – a story of his deliverance — that they could pass on to their sons and grandsons (2a). Passing on this gospel story connects families to each other and bonds them to the LORD. The LORD is more than just “my shepherd” he the LORD of all the nations and families of the earth.

3. Demonstrating his sovereignty amid the struggle reminded the Hebrews who the LORD is. The ultimate purpose for the struggle was so that they would know that he is the LORD (2b). That is the ultimate purpose for the struggles that we experience as well. They drive us to seek a power outside ourselves. They force us to rely on something besides our self-sufficiency.

LORD, come to us today, and show your power to deliver us through the cross! Give us a gospel story to tell to our children and grandchildren. Demonstrate your sovereignty in our struggles so that we may know that you are the LORD.

[1] Pharaoh’s reply was sarcasm. He meant the opposite – that he never intended to send them away.

Posted in evangelism, gospel, sovereignty of God | Tagged Exodus 10 | 1 Comment

fearing the face

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 9:29-35

²⁹ Moses told him, “When I have gone out of the city, I will reach out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the land is the LORD’s.³⁰ But I know that you and your servants do not yet fear the face of the LORD God.”³¹ (The flax and the barley were struck down, because the barley was fresh and the flax was in bud.³² But the wheat and the spelt were not struck down, because they are late in coming up.)³³ So Moses went outside the city, away from Pharaoh and reached out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.³⁴ But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he failed to keep his promise yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.³⁵ So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not send the sons of Israel away, just as the LORD had predicted. through Moses.

fearing the face

The expression mifney ‘adonai in Hebrew: “face of the LORD” , or “presence of the LORD” is usually untranslated, but it is associated with fear in all nine verses where it is found.[1] Moses and Pharaoh serve to contrast what it means to fear the LORD’s face. Both were strong, determined men, so fearing the LORD’s face did not mean that Moses was timid and Pharaoh was bold. No, the difference was of a different kind:

1. Moses’ fear of the LORD’s face led him to serve the LORD, not to hide from him.

2. Moses’ fear of the LORD’s face enabled him to reach out to the LORD in prayer.

3. Moses’ fear of the LORD’s face gave him the courage to leave the protection of the city, and pray in the open field, even while the fatal hailstorm was raging.

4. Pharaoh’s lack of fear of the LORD’s face led him to serve himself, even making promises he never intended to keep, because he was not obliged to consider the LORD’s judgment.

5. Pharaoh’s lack of fear of the LORD’s face invited a hardening of his heart. He remained in the “I can handle this “ mode, and so God hardened him to the pain that his stubbornness was causing to all those around him.

The paradox is this: sin causes us to fear the LORD’s presence because we are guilty, but the LORD’s presence is our only means of dealing with sin. When we stubbornly seek to handle things ourselves, we are – in essence – hiding from the only solution to our problem.

LORD, we confess that we fear you, because we are sinners. Yet, by your grace, we will enter your presence and seek your face. We trust in your atoning work. We cannot fix us. So we seek your face.

[1] Gen. 3:8; Exod. 9:30; Judg. 5:5; 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer. 4:26; 23:9; Hag. 1:12; Zech. 2:17; Mal. 3:14. {The Kethiv is mifney Yehovah}.

Posted in courage, faith, fear, relationship with God, repentance | Tagged Exodus 9 | 1 Comment

gone too far

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Jefferson Vann

Exodus 9:22-28

²² Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and animal and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.”²³ Then Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.²⁴ There was hail and lightning flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.²⁵ The hail destroyed everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and animal. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and stripped every tree of the field.²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have gone too far; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.²⁸ Plead with the LORD, because there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will send you away, and you will stay no longer.”

gone too far

This could have been the end of the story, but it was not. Pharaoh’s repentance was not based on a true assessment of who God was, so it did not last. Pharaoh was genuinely sorry that all the plagues had descended upon him and his nation. Perhaps you are there. Maybe you look at your life and deeply regret some of the choices that you have made, and are willing to accept the blame for those choices. That is a good start, but it is not biblical repentance. It is “worldly sorrow” which “lacks repentance” and “results in spiritual death.”[1] Worldly sorrow accepts the fact that you have gone too far, but godly sorrow admits that you have not gone far enough. Worldly sorrow is sad over God’s judgment, but godly sorrow agrees with God’s judgment. Worldly sorrow pleads for God to relent, but godly sorrow begs for God to renovate.

If you are a sinner today and you know it, don’t ask for God to quickly take care of your problems. Ask him to change you. Be willing to continue suffering for as long as it takes for his image to be restored in you. Accept God’s forgiveness, and live in a renewed relationship with God on the basis of Christ’s finished work on the cross. His forgiveness is free, and his acceptance is immediate. But don’t assume that a lifetime of rebellion against God can be undone by a simple confession and prayer. Be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to move you from your present position to the place where God wants you.

LORD, show us how to be unsatisfied with our sin, but to move beyond that to being unsatisfied with our holiness. Create in us a hunger for more of you, not just less of sin and sorrow.

[1] 2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT.

Posted in deliverance, forgiveness, repentance, will of God | Tagged Exodus 9 | 1 Comment