Wednesday, October 23, 2013

THE SIGN OF HIS GLORY

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013

THE SIGN OF HIS GLORY

  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
  Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
  And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
  And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
  And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.  Exodus 8: 20-24

Isn't it true that the Lord wants to be seen, even magnified, in the midst of the earth.  He has always wanted a peculiar people unto Himself, to show forth His praise and His glory. In this text from Exodus 8:20-24 we  see his divine protection over his people, Israel. In the midst of the judgement of flies, there was a land named Goshen, where His people were preserved, uncorrupted.

Today, God still desires to have a people wholly kept by Him, uncorrupted by the world and its perversions.  In Christ Jesus, we have the salvation that we need.  In Christ we are made new.  Let us continue to confess our sins and renew our minds, daily, in the Word.  Let us take on the practice of fasting  and praying as God works in us to build us up and to transform us.

Consider these Scriptures on the fast:

 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
  And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
  Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
  Isaiah 58:5-14.