February 1
Genesis
47:13 to 50:26
Holy
Father, when I read the last few chapters of the opening book of Your
revelation to man, I think of Your gracious provision and constant
attention. I think of Your provision in
several different ways. But mostly I
think of Your provision of salvation.
And I think of how we resist the assurance of Your salvation, not just
because we are inclined to try to use personal merits to come before You, but
because too often we see You more as a cruel monarch than a loving Savior. This is to our shame, and I believe, Father,
that it grieves You in a way similar to Joseph’s grief to tears when he
discovered that his brothers still doubted his love for them after Jacob
died. It reminds me of the grief to
tears that Jesus could not contain when Mary, Martha, and others doubted His
authority over the breath of life.
Forgive me – forgive us, Father, for our foolish doubt and our fleshly
pride. Thank You for Your everlasting
mercy. Amen.
February 2
Exodus 1:1
to
Glorious
Savior, You have given us such incredible resources for understanding Your
Gospel. Out of the slaves arose the
deliverer, whose parents had to escape and hide him, but eventually entrust him
to the very ones who intended harm. You
have given us a Deliverer as well and You protected Him at all costs, even the
cost of the physical death of so many baby boys. Because it was You Who directed the Magi to
not go back to Herod. If they had
reported back to Herod, he would have known exactly where the Christ Child was,
and many babies would be temporarily saved but the world would be doomed
eternally. It has always been You Who
has cared so much that You would give Your only Son. It has always been You Who directs the course
of world events for Your beloved and for Your glory. Loving Father, be praised in my heart and in
the hearts of my family. Forgive our
sins. Amen.
February 3
Exodus
Loving
Father and Sovereign God, people work hard to “protect Your integrity” by
explaining Your hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in ways that differ from the plain
meaning. But Father, I think they forget
how cruel this man has been to Your people, Your son,
February 4
Exodus
Dear
Shepherd, Your care does not know limits and neither should our confidence in
You. But we are so occupied with
self-confidence. Your Word says there
are two steps toward pleasing You. We
first must believe that You are. Second
we must believe that You reward the persistently faithful. Most of us might conclude that we fail at
least at times in the second one, but we take for granted that we are
completely successful in the first. My
Lord, I think we should consider once again how fickled our hearts can be. For if we continually believe that You are,
how could we ever neglect persistent faith; and how could we not see and be
touched by the eternal welfare of others?
If we persist in faith, will You not strengthen our hearts in that
faith? And if we persist in neglect,
will You not strengthen our hearts in that condition as well (like Your Word
shows You did Pharaoh for the good of those You deliver)? Halleluiah!
Amen.
February 5
Exodus 10:1
to
Glorious
Protector and Sanctifier, it is these offices of Yours that I read about
today. You speak to us that there is a
cleft in the Rock where refuge is available for the children of God. Even when the evil lures and distracters from
all that is holy cover the entire land like locusts; even when the darkness
terrifies the entire globe; even when our children are called upon by the angel
of death himself, there is a haven of safety in the shadow of Your wings –
wings spread wide as arms extended and lifted in love (as on a cross). Father, our refuge is in Christ. It is the
February 6
Exodus 13:1
to
God of the
pillars – the cloud by day, the fire by night; You are the Almighty. You share this throne with no other. Your eyes do not leave Your children nor
their enemies. You do not lead us around
the
February 7
Exodus 16:1
to
My Father
in heaven, we forget so easily Your great provision and Your amazing
deliverance. We are willing to trust You
for physical provision, while we ignore You for the provision of peace and
joy. Instead of faith being our tool of
surrender to You, we try to make it a scepter with which we command You. It is no wonder our faith should fail in some
of the smallest tests. Of course, there
have been and still are some who could leave this world with starved bodies,
rejoicing in the goodness of God, because they know that Your provision
transcends the will of man as well as the false goodness of man. It seems that the difference between Moses
and the people, is that Moses was living by Your Word, rather than by his
immediate physical comfort. Father, I
have lived so much by my physical comfort that failure in devotion to You has
been all too common. Forgive me
Father. I love You. Amen.
February 8
Exodus 19:1
to
My dear
Father, every time I read Your commandments and statutes, the emotions rise up
in such a mixed up way. I am drawn by
Your perfect love and care. And I am
repulsed by my flesh – my sinful disposition.
All comfort, all happiness, all peace is contained within Your
Word. You only want our welfare and we
only want our way – the way of destruction.
Merciful Father, how much I need Your Lordship – how much I need to obey
Your commands from love. But who can
possibly deliver me from this body of death?
The One in the smoke on the mountain terrifies, but the One on the cross
removes the terror and draws me to the fountain that flows from Emmanuel’s
veins. Father, there is so much filth;
certainly, only that fountain can dispatch such waste from the pools of Gehenna
that darken this heart. Glorious God of
grace! Your righteousness prevails! Amen.
February 9
Exodus 22:1
to 24:18
Merciful
Lord, Your promises are true and Your knowledge is not limited as the human
mind is. You know our inabilities, our
sinful inclinations, and our persistent rebellions. Only Your Holy Spirit can grant victory over
the lusts of the flesh. Only Your
powerful Spirit can turn one from the gods of the land, and to the truth of
Your Word. We have not driven out the
besetting allegiances to the snares of this culture. On the contrary, we have created unique ways
of accommodating them alongside You.
When Jesus summed up all that I have read yesterday, today, (and in days
to come will read), He spoke only of love.
Love to God – love to others.
Only love can fulfill all these statutes - not the love for self that
prevails so much today in our ranks.
Rather it is the self-denying love for God, practiced everyday in our
world around us. Such fruit comes only
from Your Spirit. Amen.
February 10
Exodus 25:1
to 27:21
My Father,
I am so thankful that Jesus, my Savior is well-pleasing to You. How could I ever approach You? I could not – no more than Nadab and Abihu
with strange fire. The dominant word in
this section, Father, is “There.” In
verse 25:22, You said, “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that
are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you…” You give us such a clear picture of mercy and
grace prevailing over the law of sin and death by the atoning blood of Jesus
Christ, Who entered into the Most Holy Place, one time for all sin. And the curtain was torn in two from top to
bottom, revealing to all who will believe and approach the merciful Lamb of God
Who ever makes intercession for us. Father,
I come to You as I am, a sinner with nothing to offer, except a Savior, Whom
You offered for me. Forgive me, guide
me, and deliver me by the power of Your Holy Spirit through the victorious work
of Jesus Christ. Revive me Father,
please. Amen.
February 11
Exodus 28:1
to 29:46
Magnificent
God of glory, it is so amazing to consider Your attention to sinful
mankind. It is both terrifyingly tragic
and wonderfully joyous. Tragic, because
Your attention could be so much different, so much more direct and
celebratory. Joyous, because not even
the sinfulness of man can stop Your relentless love, Your continual pursuit of
atonement, always making a way where none seemed to be. Salvation must be of You or it must not be at
all. And that is why You gave us these
photographs of Your Son, Jesus. And that
is why You sent Your salvation, Jesus.
You atone and justify and wash and clothe and anoint and consecrate. You, Father, with Son and Spirit, overcome
that which cannot be overcome by any other – the accessibility of our holy,
sovereign God. I approach You through
Jesus, this day with a full heart, and a desire to be washed by Your Word and
filled with Your Spirit. Amen.
February 12
Exodus 30:1
to 33:6
You made it
so clear, Father, that prayer is important to You. It is the perfect incense at the place where
You meet with Your people. The fact is,
You enjoy conversing with Your people, when they come by way of the altar You
have provided which is Christ, and only through faith. The prayer of faith is the only incense
accepted at this altar. Other incense
and other personal sacrifices are filthy rags that do nothing but desecrate
this altar. My Lord, this truth is
easily understood and yet the pride of life often interferes with its
practice. We need Your anointing – only
Yours is sacred. The anointing of
personal gratification is a dead end that drains the faith and rejects the
Altar that God has provided. You have
done this, Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes. You have prescribed the means – by grace
through faith. To produce any other god
- any other means - is to pervert that with which you have drawn us to You. Amen.
February 13
Exodus 33:7
to 36:7
My Lord and
God of wonders, how good it is when the times of refreshing come – when the
times of repentance and contrition come.
It is so good when peace with God is the rule of the day – when God’s
children are filled with His Spirit – when God’s children open their
hearts. There is something wonderful,
Father, about the process of giving.
When one is involved in such activity, there seems to be no time for
ungodliness, idolatry, lasciviousness, and foolishness. Loving You actively, Lord, is the antidote
for the lust of the flesh – for the law of sin. When we are actively loving You, we are filled
with Your Spirit, we commit our skills to You, we commit our wealth to You, and
maybe most important, we teach others to as well. And the darkness flees. Yet, we are truly a fickled and stiff-necked
people who crumble quickly when Your presence is no longer sensed. We need Your glory in the camp. Too often, our stimulation is from the
flesh. But when we walk in Your Spirit,
we are motivated by love. Fill us
Father, and the victory is ours, (but the glory is Yours). Amen.
February 14
Exodus 36:8
to 38:31
And so our
mighty God places His Tabernacle among men.
Father, so vividly You show us of Your Son to come. With the revelations of detail to Moses, and
Your Spirit indwelling the skilled craftsmen, and the gold and silver that You
had announced centuries before would be plundered from the Egyptians; You have
spoken to the world every step of the way.
And You especially spoke to the children of
February 15
Exodus 39:1
to 40:38
Wondrous
Lord, I love You. My life does not
always reflect these words. You know
that all so well. But Father, truly,
what is not to love regarding You? You
have gone to such great lengths to teach the children of
February 16
Leviticus
1:1 to
Father,
again I am a witness to the life in Your Word.
And more than a witness - a participant, unworthy and broken, ushered in
by the generosity of Your grace. In the
midst of the tragedy of all these blood sacrifices, Your intimate invitation
rises and extends to all mankind. I am
so struck by the phrase “unintentional sin.”
I suppose it is my conscience that is stricken, Lord, because it seems
like so much of my daily “7 times 70” is intentional. There is so much sin that I find myself, that
is my flesh, wanting to do; and my only consolation is that my mind, touched by
Your Spirit and renewed by Your Word, does not “want to want to” sin. That sounds like sloppy grammar,
unnecessarily repetitive; but Father, I believe You know exactly what I
mean. My dear Lord, I am in constant
need of a Redeemer, and my need is constantly met by the righteous sacrifice of
the innocent Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Thank You. Amen.
February 17
Leviticus
5:1 to
My Father
in Heaven, fill my heart with Your Spirit.
To reflect Your grace is to welcome all and reach out to all. Rich or poor should not be restricted. All who come through Christ, believing that
He is the Son of God will know that His blood is sufficient to redeem. They will know that the Priesthood of Jesus
Christ is the only mediation to You on behalf of men. No aroma can please You unless it be the
prayers of those who abide in Christ and Christ in them. You have made provision for sin. Although my feet stray onto the slippery
slope, it cannot claim me because my Shepherd’s staff is always close to
reclaim me. My safety is assured despite
the luring of the wolves. Glorious
Overseer of my soul, renew my heart, refresh my spirit, re-establish my steps,
and restore me to the promised victory.
All of the empty promises of this world leave me without hope and
drained of all strength. But You O’ Lord
are my Assurance, my Rock, my Fortress.
Amen.
February 18
Leviticus
8:1 to
Father, in
this reading today You are revealed as most holy and it is so important that
Your people know that to approach You they must be holy as You are holy. This can only be done through the
substitution of the Perfect – the Innocent – Priest, Jesus Christ. He is our High Priest. Aaron put on a breastpiece and we must put on
the breastplate of the righteousness of Jesus.
Aaron put on a turban and we must put on the helmet of the salvation of
Jesus. Aaron put on the ephod, and we
must gird ourselves with the truth of Jesus Christ. We must be anointed in all our ways and in
all aspects of our life with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God. We must take faith, totally relying
on the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice.
We must present nothing before the Lord to gain access. He provides all, sustains all, and blesses
all in Christ. Thank You, Father. Amen.
February 19
Leviticus
11:1 to
Dear Lord,
You cared (and still care) so well for Your people. In the midst of our high tech society, many
review the ancient medical revelations from You and find themselves better
educated. The nutritional guidelines and
medical guidelines are useful wisdoms even today, but are especially needful
for large migratory groups. But I
suspect, Father, that we are suppose to learn the spiritual application of this
as well. It is interesting if one has a
skin condition that partially covers him, he is unclean, but if it covers him
entirely, he is considered clean, unless he has an open sore. Perhaps we could learn from this how
absolutely critical it is that we see ourselves as totally depraved, completely
sinful, and that there is nothing good that we can bring before our God outside
Christ. Only Christ can make us
sufficiently clean to be in the company of God and in the company of the family
of God. He is the Great Physician. Amen.
February 20
Leviticus
Father, how
much time outside the camp would be required, how much washing, how much
shaving, how many lambs, how many doves or pigeons would die to compensate for
my uncleanness? How much fire will be
needed to burn away the spreading mildew?
Christ Jesus, my Redeemer, You endured it all! The rescue is complete, including this
contaminated flesh that dogs me even now.
Outside of You, O Lord, all is bankrupt of hope. Where can we run? Only to the Priest, the only Path to
freedom. He provides all – we bring
nothing. Send Your Spirit, Father. Show Yourself strong against the enemy of my
soul as You have in days gone by.
Stretch forth the hyssop full of the water of Your Word and touch and
cleanse my impoverished heart. Your Word
speaks and I drink and weep and beg that it be so. Turn me and help me to be Your extension to
the needy. O Son of God, hide me in Your
righteousness and empower me in Your Spirit.
Restore me in Your Word. Amen.
February 21
Leviticus
16:1 to
Holy
Father, there was no comfort in Your presence, when the priest was un-atoned
for. There was the smoke of incense
hiding the mercy seat, the atonement cover over the covenant. But without the shedding of innocent blood,
there is no mercy. Without justice there
is no mercy. But You are the God of
mercy. Your awareness of the uncleanness
and rebellion and Your assurance that atonement is made for the
February 22
Leviticus
19:1 to
Gracious
Father, You begin right away by introducing a relationship, but the
relationship is not horizontal – it is vertical. It is not a relationship that can tolerate
flaws, because it is a relationship with Perfection. You, O Lord, are separate from all
imperfection and it has always been so, and must always be so. In these pages You have described so well
that a proper vertical relationship is manifested in proper horizontal
relationships. There are proper ways to
conduct ourselves toward our relatives and neighbors, and there are improper
ways. Why should we honor our parents? Because You are the Lord. Why should we abstain from consulting mediums
and purge them from the land? Because
You are the Lord. Some infractions
required being cut off from the people, and some required death by
execution. Father, I wonder if we
realize how much Your grace emerges from all this, because prior to this
section was the section of atonement for sin.
We are all guilty and are all deserving of death, but You have redeemed
us through Jesus. Amen.
February 23
Leviticus
22:1 to
Father in
Heaven, I can hardly imagine what it must be like to know all things from outside
of time, and yet communicate with Your creation within the framework of
time. As You give careful instruction
for the well-being of Your special people, You also know of the rebellion in
the hearts of all men. You know of each
act of disobedience. You know of every
time I will falter when I should have been strong. The only rational explanation that comes to
me is that Your love for mankind exceeds our imagination. The wonder of Your love is so sweeping, we
become breathless at the hints of it. You
so much wanted the priests to do things right, and it is still the same
today. You want Christians, the
Priesthood of Believers to be holy and to reveal that holiness by doing things
right. But I am comforted by one thing,
Lord. Several times You said, “I am
Lord, Who makes you holy.” That is our
only hope of fulfilling Your command to “be holy.” Amen.
February 24
Leviticus
24:1 to 25:55
Loving
Father, Your Lordship is perfect and extends from Your love. The reading today reminds of how joyous life
can be when the community employs the balances that You have given. The reading
opens with the clear oil and the light from the lamps that must always
burn. And the Table of Showbread with
the pure incense is demonstrated next.
Father, I know that Jesus is the Light of the world, the Spirit is the
oil, and we are now the lamps in a dark world.
I also know that I have not kept my lamp trimmed as it should be. Forgive me.
The bread again represents Jesus, Who is the Bread of Life, broken for
us, and the incense has always represented prayer, which is a sweet smell to
You. But the bread is in 12 loaves and
just as You were broken, so we must be broken and distributed for Your
glory. The reading also shows the terrible
consequences of blaspheming Your Name – the Name. Be hallowed O Lord. Amen.
February 25
Leviticus
26:1 to 27:34
Lord, I do
not know of another reading that so vividly depicts Your relentless love for
Your people and Your complete abhorrence of sin. You depicted the blessings of obedience and
then the curses of disobedience. It is
telling that the curses of disobedience were much more numerous. They were terrifying and they began with the
word “if” but eventually changed into the obvious tone of prophecy. You knew what would happen. But as terrifying as the curses are, a person
reading can almost feel tears behind Your words. It is here (as much as in the blessings) that
Your love is revealed as the prevalent virtue of our Creator. It is so simple – obedience for blessing –
but we just keep rebelling. Father –
wonderful Father, thank You for a love that goes all the way – that won’t give
up. Thank You for the Blood, thank You
for Jesus – for divine righteousness.
Please, Father, lift me into the practical outworking of this
unspeakable imputation. Amen.
February 26
Numbers 1:1
to
Sovereign
Lord, this reading reveals how much You have blessed the nation of
February 27
Numbers 3:1
to
Father,
Your holiness and the holiness of those people and things set apart to You is
the main theme of this reading. They are
vivid lessons in the necessity of reverence.
They are also vivid lessons in the liberty provided through Jesus
Christ. His death changed everything and
His resurrection proved everything. The
care of the Tabernacle with all its components actually speaks more to me,
Father, of Your care of this special people that You chose as a channel through
which the Messiah would come to all the world.
But placing Your presence among sinful people prior to “the fullness of
time” was a very labored business. And
how detailed were Your instructions.
What a privilege it must have been for that individual who carried a
couple of rings or a few poles or helped with the articles of the holy
place. Each person had his small part,
and don’t we as well, Father? May we
recognize and live every moment in devotion to You. May we take up our crosses and follow You,
today. Praise Your name. Amen.
February 28
Numbers
Dear Father
in Heaven, Your Name is holy and Your camp is holy. And just as the diseased had to stay outside
the camp, so Jesus, Who knew no sin, but became sin for us, had to die outside
the city walls. This is yet another view
of the scope of Your love which always exceeds our view of love. But then everything about You exceeds our
view. We tend toward not only cheapening
Your grace but Your justice as well. In
fact, it occurs to me, Father, when one has done one of those, he is actually
doing both.
What a
sobering time it must be Father, for the woman of faith, whether she is guilty
of adultery or not, to go through the testing that You have prescribed in this
reading. Because the woman of faith
would know that it is more than superstition, but divinely ordained. Others would probably scoff at it. To fall into Your hands is the ultimate
sobering. Amen.
Ó
2005 C. E. Briggs