He does not miss a day...

 

Yesterday I took a break from my daily routine and focused on a project with a deadline. I felt odd about it, as if this irregularity was not God’s idea. It is no surprise that today’s devotional word is DAILY!

The OT noun for daily is used as an adverb to describe that which is “lasting” or something done “continually.” The word can describe both an action done regularly, often according to a schedule or an adjective to describe offerings in the sacrificial system.

Ezekiel 46:13. “You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it.

It occurs also to describe God’s people in bondage in Egypt. When Moses asked that His people be allowed to go out and worship, their slave drivers increased their daily work load. However, after they were brought out of that bondage, the Lord went before his people in a pillar of cloud by day, indicating His daily guidance.

Nehemiah 9:12. “By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go.”

These and other verses tell me that God does not take a vacation from leading His people, nor should I take a holiday from listening to His instruction.

As He led His people through the wilderness, the Lord gave them daily rations with one day of rest, “on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” Again, this word expresses continuous action. The daily care of God is a dependable and important part of following Him.

When Moses brought them to the promised land and leadership was given to Joshua, God gave these instructions that also have applications for me:

Joshua 1:8–9. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

These instructions are significant. God taught me the habit of reading His Word long before He opened my eyes to the identity of Jesus Christ and to understanding what I was reading. Every day since then, for more than fifty years, He has daily guided me with light from His Word and whispers from His Holy Spirit.

Daily applies to God’s care and His expectations. The offerings for sin were daily, telling me to keep short accounts with Him, confessing sin daily as necessary. The psalmist also praised God saying, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.” And even when exiled to Babylon, the leader of the Jews, Jehoiachin put off his prison garments and “every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table . . . . a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.”

Daily care for others is a way of life for God’s people too. Nehemiah 5:15 says, “The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.”

Solomon rightly personified wisdom saying, “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 8:34–35)

While Jesus used a word for food in Matthew 6:11, He could have meant spiritual sustenance. In other words “Give us this day our daily bread” could be literal bread, but also refer to the bread of life which is the Living and Written Word of God — both necessary for spiritual health and well-being.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. This is a daily thing. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” He lived what He said, “teaching daily in the temple” even as “the chief priests, scribes and principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him.” After the resurrection, the Gospel spread and “churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.” Paul had “daily pressure in anxiety for their well-being” and that continues today for those who care about God’s people. The only thing that is no longer daily is this truth from Hebrews 7:27: “(Jesus) has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.” Yet after doing that one time, He still takes daily care of His people!

 

His love shed abroad in our hearts . . .

Genesis 16; Nehemiah 5; Matthew 15; Acts 15

I have one sister. We are just under two years apart in age and have been the best of friends all our lives. I cannot remember ever having a fight with her. We are also sisters in Christ, making the relationship even closer. I know this is somewhat unusual. Sibling rivalry is more common. Some sisters are estranged for years.

Today’s reading tells the story of Sarai and Hagar, not sisters. Sarai wanted a child. Hagar was her servant. Sarai convinced her husband Abram to sleep with Hagar but when she conceived, the rivalry began. Hagar eventually fled to the wilderness because the pressure was so intense. However, God reached out to Hagar . . .

And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Genesis 16:8–10)

The word that comes to mind is “grace.” Not so much for Abram or Sarai. God made a covenant with Abram to give him a son, but as time passed, the two of them became impatient, even desperate for children. They decided to take matters into their own control. It was not illegal to take another wife, but this was not the Lord’s plan. It resulted in tension in their household for years to come. This faithless move affected not only the next generation but was the beginning of the Arab peoples who have been in hostility with Israel ever since.

The grace was to Hagar. She could have died in the desert, losing her child and the promise God made to her, and we would miss seeing how God, even in the early history of His dealings with humanity, cares for the despised and the outcast, for even those not connected with the people He had chosen.

Nehemiah was God’s man and demonstrated the same compassion for those mistreated. Chapter 5 tells how he stopped oppression of the poor and how he was generous to those in need. After shaking up those who treated others unfairly, he explained his reason:

The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. (Nehemiah 5:15)

Jesus showed the same compassion on a Canaanite woman as His Father showed toward Hagar. She came to Him for help concerning her demon-oppressed daughter:

But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (Matthew 15:23–28)

It is no surprise that the reading in Acts describes the debate among the Christians in Jerusalem concerning Gentile believers. Some thought these people needed to become Jews and be circumcised. Peter insisted that was not the message God gave them.

And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7–11)

Compassion to all, to the outcast slave, the poor and oppressed, the outsiders, the Gentiles. I cannot help but mix my sister into this description of God’s inclusive grace. She has been like that all her life, not turning anyone away for any reason. Now she is close to the end of her life . . . and dearly beloved. Her family has cared for her intensely because they love her. All who know her love her, including the medical staff who have tried so hard to stop the death that is ravaging her. I am sad for me but letting go because I can in my mind’s eye see her walking into the arms of Jesus and hearing Him applaud her for being such a lovely expression of His compassion.