Help us, Lord, to receive Your forgiveness - and to respond to Your call to holy living.

Exodus 11:1-12:28

Help us, Lord, to receive Your forgiveness - and to respond to Your call to holy living. You give to us Your peace. It comes to us with Your gift of forgiveness. You give to us Your power - the power to live for Your glory. May Your peace and Your power equip us for living as Your people.

A Special Visitor

“God will surely visit you” (Exodus 13:19).

Sometimes, when we’re reading the Scriptures, there are some words that just jump out at us. We say to ourselves, “That was just what I needed to read.” We say to God, “Thank You, Lord for that Word. You’ve spoken Your Word to me. It was just the right Word – for me, for right now.” Here’s a great word of encouragement – “God will surely visit you” (Exodus 13:19). What a great privilege this is – God visits us! Are we ready for His visit? Do we pretend that we’re not in when He comes knocking on our door? or Are we so pleased to get a visit from Him? Often, we’re so busy with small things – things that don’t really matter that much in the light of eternity – that we fail to give the Lord an enthusiastic welcome.
As I thought about these words of encouragement – “God will surely visit you”, I looked at the rest of the verse and read these words, “the bones of Joseph”! Here, we see the realism of God’s Word. It lifts us up to the eternal God, but it also keeps our feet on the ground – with a reminder of our mortality! Do we need to hear about “the bones of Joseph”? – Of course, we do! We’re not going to go on forever. “The bones of Joseph” – there’s more than this. There are the heavenly “mansions” (John 14:2). Then, we’ll be going to “visit” the Lord. We’ll be more than visitors. We’ll “dwell in the House of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). That’s our glorious future. This is what we have to look forward to!
Here-and-now, we must settle for something less than that. We’re not quite ready for the fullness of His glory. He’s preparing us for glory. He’s giving us His visitations. He’s giving us ” a foretaste of glory divine.” How well prepared will be for the full revelation of God’s glory? We’ll never be fully prepared. We’ll always be sinners. We can, however, draw encouragement from God’s precious promise – “God will surely visit you.” Here-and-now, we must learn to appreciate God’s visitations. They’re preparing us for something better – “Eye has not seen. Ear has not heard. Neither has it entered into the heart what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Sometimes, Lord, we don't feel like the sun is shining upon us.

Exodus 27:1-19

Sometimes, Lord, we don't feel like the sun is shining upon us. When we feel like this, help us to know that the light and love of Your Son is always shining upon us. When we're feeling down, help us to remember that You raised Jesus up - "Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o'er His foes." This is what we need to hear. This is what lifts us up: up - into Your presence, up - out of our sin, up - into Your salvation' upwards and onwards - to Your eternal glory.

Praying Through God’s Word: Exodus

Exodus 1:1-2:10

Lord, what are we to do when we’re going through a hard time? Hard times can be the breaking of us – or the making of us. We can blame You – or we can trust You. Help us to trust You – to know that You are near, even when it feels like You are far away.

Exodus 2:11-3:22

We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us. We have come to You with our sin – and You have forgiven us. We thank You, Lord, that You call us to bring Your blessing to others. We have received Your blessing. Help us to share it with others.

Exodus 4:1-31

Often, Lord, we fail You – and we wonder why You bother with us. We thank You, Lord,that You never fail us. When we let You down, You lift us up. Help us, Lord, not to be shaped by our failure. Help us to be transformed by Your love and power. Help us to respond to Your call to “attempt great things for You and expect great things from You” (William Carey).

Exodus 5:1-6:13

Lord, what are we to do when we face determined opposition from people who refuse to listen to what Your Word is saying to them? Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to take our problems to You – and help us to leave them with You. When troubles come our way, help us to “wait upon You and renew our strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

Exodus 6:14-7:24

Lord, we come to You in our weakness. We receive Your strength. In our weakness, we fail. Through Your strength, we shall triumph. When we’re stumbling along in weakness, help us to say, with ever-increasing faith, “Our God is marching on to glorious victory.”

Exodus 7:25-8:32

Lord, show us our pride – and teach us to humble ourselves before You. Show us Your power and teach us to trust You to do great things in and through us.

Exodus 9:1-32

Lord, help us not to rest content with going through the motions of religion. Beyond religion, there is redemption. Beyond ritual, there is reality. May our faith in Jesus, our Saviour, be a real faith, a living faith, a faith that changes us, a faith that brings glory to You.

Exodus 10:1-29

Touch our hearts, Lord, with Your love. So often, our hearts are hard. How can this hardness be broken down? You must do it. We can’t do this for ourselves. We can’t do this by ourselves. It’s Your love that changes us. It’s Your love that makes us new. Open our hearts to Your love. Fill our hearts with Your love.

Exodus 11:1-12:28

Help us, Lord, to receive Your forgiveness – and to respond to Your call to holy living. You give to us Your peace. It comes to us with Your gift of forgiveness. You give to us Your power – the power to live for Your glory. May Your peace and Your power equip us for living as Your people.

Exodus 12:29-13:16

Often, Lord, we feel trapped – trapped by our sin. We try to break free – but we can’t make it happen. Our sin has such a strong hold on us. We wonder, “Is there a way to freedom?” Jesus says, “Yes. There is.” He says to us, “I am the Way to freedom.” Set us free, Lord, from our self-centredness. May there be less of self and more of You in our lives.

Exodus 13:17-14:31

Lord, we are surrounded by so many temptations. We cannot avoid this. There’s no getting away from it. It’s part-and-parcel of our life in this world. What are we to do when temptation comes our way? What are we to do when we feel the powerful pull of the world, drawing us away from You? Lord, help us to turn to You. Help us to renew our strength – in You.

Exodus 15:1-21

We think, Lord, of Your redemption, and our hearts are filled with thanksgiving – and hope. We think – and we thank. we look back on all that You have done for us, and we say, “Thank You, Lord.” Give us the spirit of thanksgiving, the attitude of gratitude – and, with it, give us the confidence to face the future, knowing that it is more than our future. It is Your future for us.

Exodus 15:22-16:36

Lord, You love us so much. Help us never to forget this. Help us to remember Jesus – to remember that His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. Help us to feed on Jesus, and to be strong in Him. Lord, when the going gets tough, help us to remember that Your love keeps going and going and going  …It is a love that never comes to an end. It’s everlasting love – the only everlasting love.

Exodus 17:1-18:27

Lord, we come to You with questions. You give us victory. Sometimes, our questions are not answered. Always, You give us the strength that we need to keep on walking with You. Lord, when our life gets busy, help us to take time to pray. When we have so many things to do, help us to find time for listening to what Your Word has to say to us. If we’re too busy to pray, we’re too busy! Help us, Lord, not to be “worried and upset about many things.” Help us not to forget this: “only one thing is needed” – “listening to what Jesus is saying” to us (Luke 10:38-42).

Exodus 19:1-25

Lord, You have done so much for us. What are we doing for You? You tell us about Your redemption. You call for our response. Our response is inspired by Your redemption. Thank You for the grace of Your redemption – “By grace you have been saved.” Give us the grace to make our response – “Saved through faith for good works” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Lord, help us to have less self-confidence and more confidence in You. Self-confidence is all about us. It has nothing to do with You. Confidence in You is so different. It comes from faith – not from pride. Help us to find our true strength. It’s not our strength. It’s Your strength.
Exodus 20:1-20
Less of our sin, more of Your love – Lord, this is our prayer. Our sin does us nothing but harm. Your love always does us good – nothing but good. We’re sinners, Lord. Why do You keep on loving us? We don’t know why – but we’re glad that You do! We rejoice in this: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Exodus 20:21-21:32
Your redemption, Lord, is more than rules and regulations. It’s not about the things that we do for You. It’s about all that You have done for us. Jesus died for us – This is what inspires us to live for Him. What a great thing Jesus has done for us! Help us, Lord, to do great things for Him. Help us, Lord, to receive Your great salvation – and to give all the glory to You.
Exodus 21:33-22:31
Lord, we’re on a journey. We’re travelling from grace. We’re travelling to glory. Everything comes to us from Your grace. Everything is leading us to Your glory. You have given us all that we need – all that we need to bring us into Your salvation, all that we need to take us on into Your glory. This is not our journey. It’s Your journey. You’re our Travel Guide. You’re with us every step of the way. Thank You, Lord.
Exodus 23:1-33
We rejoice in Your love. Help us, Lord, not to forget Your holiness. You fill us with Your love. You call us to be holy. Lead us, O Lord, in Your way of love. Lead us in Your way of holiness. It won’t be easy – walking with You on Your pathway of holiness. When the going gets tough, help us to remember that we’re not on our own. You are with us every day. You are with us – all the way.
Exodus 24:1-18
Lord, You call us to speak Your Word – but, first, You call us to listen to Your Word. How can we speak for You if we’re not listening to You? Help us to come to the Cross of Christ. Help us to hear the voice of Your love. Send us from the that holy place – the place of His crucifixion, the place of our salvation – back into the world. May we return to the world as people who’ve been changed – changed by the love of Christ.
Exodus 25:1-40
Lord, we thank You for Your Son, Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour He is. There is no-one like Him. None can compare with Jesus. He is greater than all the prophets. He is greater than all the apostles. The prophets cannot save us. The apostles cannot save us. They can only point away from themselves. They point us to Jesus. They are only servants. Jesus is the Saviour. We thank You that He was able to do what the prophets and apostles could never do for us – He “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Exodus 26:1-37
Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see Jesus – to see Him in His holiness and confess our sin, to see Him in His love and receive His forgiveness, to see Him in His power and be changed by Him, to see Him in His glory and worship Him.
Exodus 27:1-19
Sometimes, Lord, we don’t feel like the sun is shining upon us. When we feel like this, help us to know that the light and love of Your Son is always shining upon us. When we’re feeling down, help us to remember that You raised Jesus up – “Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes.” This is what we need to hear. This is what lifts us up: up – into Your presence, up – out of our sin, up – into Your salvation’ upwards and onwards – to Your eternal glory.
Exodus 27:20-29:9
Sometimes, Lord, our lights are switched off. Sometimes, they’re switched on. The light of Your love is never switched off. It’s always switched on. Your love is ‘all the time’ love. There is no love like Your love for us. It’s the only ‘always and forever’ love. Thank You, Lord, for the light that never stops shining – the light of Your undying love. This is the only light that is always shining.
Exodus 29:10-46
Often, Lord, we come to Your House with so little expectation of Your blessing. Where does this attitude come from? – It doesn’t come from You. You are the great God. You fill our hearts with ‘great expectations.’ When Satan comes to us, filling our hearts with apathy – the ‘couldn’t-care-less’ attitude, help us to tell him that You are the great God (Psalm 135:5) – great in holiness, power and love, the faithful God who comes to us with great promises of blessing. When, Lord, we are blessed by You, help us to give all the glory to You.
Exodus 30:1-38
So often, Lord, we get preoccupied with ourselves. Our words say that You are more important than anyone else. Often, our lives tell a very different story – ‘It’s all about us. It’s all about what pleases us.’ How can we be changed? Lead us to the Cross of Your Son, Jesus. Show us Jesus – dying for us. Teach us to live for Him. Lift us out of our weakness and failure into Your strength and victory – and help us to praise You with hearts that are becoming more God-centred and less self-centred.
Exodus 31:1-32:14
Lord, You call us to serve You. How are we to serve You? How can we serve You? – Our sin keeps on getting in the way. We start off well – and then, we take our eyes off Jesus, and things start to go badly. Lord, we need Your Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit. How can we possibly serve You – if we are not learning to walk with You in the way of holiness. Before we pray, “Help us to serve You better”, help us to pray, “Lead us in the way of holiness.”
Exodus 32:15-33:23
Lord, You are the God of holiness. You are the God of love. Your holiness is loving holiness. Your love is holy love. Help us to see that Your holiness and Your love belong together. It’s not one without the other. It’s not holiness without love. It’s not love without holiness. We need both – Your holiness and Your love. Your holiness shows us our sin. Your love forgives our sin. You love us. Help us to love You – and be changed by Your holy love.
Exodus 34:1-35
Lord, You are the faithful God. You give us Your promises. You keep Your promises. You never go back on Your Word. You always stand by the Word that You have spoken. Your promises come to us from the past. They lead us on into Your future. What a wonderful future You are planning for us. We thank You for Jesus’ great promise: “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Help us to receive His Word, to rejoice in His promise, yo be renewed by His love.
Exodus 35:1-36:7
Help us, Lord, never to think that we have nothing to offer to You. We can never save ourselves. That is something that You must do for us. We have been saved by Your grace. Now, we must serve You in Your strength. You gave Your Son for us. Help us to give ourselves to You. May we never be half-hearted in our devotion to You. Help us to be whole-hearted in all that we do for You.
Exodus 36:8-38
Teach us, Lord, that it’s not all about us. It’s not about getting ourselves noticed. It’s all about You. It’s about giving all the glory to You.
Exodus 37:1-29
We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is “pure gold.” There’s nothing better than Jesus. there’s no-one better than Him. He’s the very best. What Jesus has done for us – this is “pure gold.” He died for us. He was raised to life for us. This is Good News. It’s the best news we could ever hear. Lord, help us not to get bogged down in the bad news of our sin. Lord, lift us up with the Good News of our Saviour.
Exodus 38:1-31
Lord, there is work to be done. It’s Your work. Help us all to play our part. We leave it to someone else – and it never gets done. Change us, Lord. Spectators can become workers. Help us not to hang back – on the sidelines. You’re calling us to come into the centre of Your will and Your work. When we’re tempted to stand back and watch, help us to come forward and work. Help us to remember this: “There’s a work of Jesus none but we can do.”
Exodus 39:1-43
Lord, we want blessing – but we’re not so keen on obedience. Help us to learn from Jesus. For Him, obedience was everything. He was fully obedient. For Him, it meant the Cross (Philippians 2:8). Lord, help us not to be thinking, “What are we going to get out of this?” Help us to be praying, “How can we do Your will? How can we bring glory to You?”
Exodus 40:1-38
Lord, help us to listen to Your Word, walk in Your way and “worship You in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). These are the things that matter most. Are they our priorities? We know, Lord, that they should be our priorities – but we are often distracted. We lose our focus. Other things become more important to us. “Restore our souls and lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).

We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "pure gold."

Exodus 37:1-29

We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "pure gold." There's nothing better than Jesus. there's no-one better than Him. He's the very best. What Jesus has done for us - this is "pure gold." He died for us. He was raised to life for us. This is Good News. It's the best news we could ever hear. Lord, help us not to get bogged down in the bad news of our sin. Lord, lift us up with the Good News of our Saviour.

In the bad times as well as the good times ...

“Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw” (Exodus 5:14).
When everything seems to be going from bad to worse, we must pray that God will give us the strength that we need to keep on loving Him, trusting Him and serving Him. Our circumstances may have changed. Nothing seems to be going right. We didn’t think it would turn out this way. Has our Saviour changed? Has He gone away and left us? No! He hasn’t. He’s still with us. Are we still with Him? or Do we opt out when the going gets tough? Lord, You are faithful to us. Keep us faithful to You.

The great power of the Lord ...

Exodus 14:1-15:27

Here, we see "the great power of the Lord" (Exodus 14:31). This leads to worship - "I will sing to the Lord. He has won a glorious victory ... The Lord is my strength and my song. He is my Saviour. This is my God and I will praise Him ... " (Exodus 15:1-2). In the work of God's redemption, we see His love and power - "Lovingly You will lead the people You have saved. Powerfully, You will guide them to Your holy dwelling" (Exodus 15:13). This is the greatness of God's power - it is power which serves the purpose of His love. The Lord is King - "The Lord will rule as King forever and ever" (Exodus 15:18). He is not a tyrant. He is not a dictator. He is the King of love. He loves us. We are to love Him, living for Him and looking to Him to fulfil His promises in our lives.

A land flowing with milk and honey

”A land flowing with milk and honey “ (Exodus 3:8)
God was leading his people on to a better place. Here we are - in the present. We do not know what the future holds for us. The Lord goes before us. He leads us on - into his future. The future is bright with possibilities. May God help us to walk with him - and enter, more fully, into the blessing that phase planned for us.

Lord, there is work to be done.

Exodus 38:1-31

Lord, there is work to be done. It's Your work. Help us all to play our part. We leave it to someone else - and it never gets done. Change us, Lord. Spectators can become workers. Help us not to hang back - on the sidelines. You're calling us to come into the centre of Your will and Your work. When we're tempted to stand back and watch, help us to come forward and work. Help us to remember this: "There's a work of Jesus none but we can do."

Lord, You call us to speak Your Word - but, first, You call us to listen to Your Word.

Exodus 24:1-18

Lord, You call us to speak Your Word - but, first, You call us to listen to Your Word. How can we speak for You if we're not listening to You? Help us to come to the Cross of Christ. Help us to hear the voice of Your love. Send us from the that holy place - the place of His crucifixion, the place of our salvation - back into the world. May we return to the world as people who've been changed - changed by the love of Christ. 

So often, Lord, we get preoccupied with ourselves.

Exodus 30:1-38

So often, Lord, we get preoccupied with ourselves. Our words say that You are more important than anyone else. Often, our lives tell a very different story - 'It's all about us. It's all about what pleases us.' How can we be changed? Lead us to the Cross of Your Son, Jesus. Show us Jesus - dying for us. Teach us to live for Him. Lift us out of our weakness and failure into Your strength and victory - and help us to praise You with hearts that are becoming more God-centred and less self-centred.

Open our eyes, Lord.

Exodus 26:1-37

Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see Jesus - to see Him in His holiness and confess our sin, to see Him in His love and receive His forgiveness, to see Him in His power and be changed by Him, to see Him in His glory and worship Him.

Touch our hearts, Lord, with Your love.

Exodus 10:1-29

Touch our hearts, Lord, with Your love. So often, our hearts are hard. How can this hardness be broken down? You must do it. We can't do this for ourselves. We can't do this by ourselves. It's Your love that changes us. It's Your love that makes us new. Open our hearts to Your love. Fill our hearts with Your love.

Lord, what are we to do when we face determined opposition ...?

Exodus 5:1-6:13

Lord, what are we to do when we face determined opposition from people who refuse to listen to what Your Word is saying to them? Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to take our problems to You - and help us to leave them with You. When troubles come our way, help us to "wait upon You and renew our strength" (Isaiah 40:31).

Lord, we're on a journey.

Exodus 21:33-22:31

Lord, we're on a journey. We're travelling from grace. We're travelling to glory. Everything comes to us from Your grace. Everything is leading us to Your glory. You have given us all that we need - all that we need to bring us into Your salvation, all that we need to take us on into Your glory. This is not our journey. It's Your journey. You're our Travel Guide. You're with us every step of the way. Thank You, Lord.

So Strange ... Yet So Relevant

Exodus 38:1-40:38

All of this may seem so strange to us. Among all the many details, there is one thing which we must not miss. They "made everything that the Lord commanded." They "followed the Lord's instructions" (Exodus 38:22; Exodus 39:1,5,7,21,26,29,31-32,42-43). God's people are called to be obedient to Him. We are not to do what we want We are to what He commands. We are to follow His instructions. There can be no "anointing" (Exodus 40:9-15), if there is no obedience. The two go together - obedience and anointing. We are to do everything the Lord commands us. We are to follow His instructions (Exodus 40:16,19). Such obedience to God will involve putting His Word at the centre of our lives. His Word is not so much a Word of demand as a Word of "promise." It is not so much a Word of law as a Word of "mercy" (Exodus 40:20). Our obedience to God is grounded in our experience of God's "promise" of "mercy." Having received this "mercy" of God, promised to us in Jesus Christ, we follow the Lord's instructions (Exodus 40:21,23,27,29,32). When we have "finished the work" God has given us to do, we must look to Him to send the blessing - "the glory of the Lord filled the tent" (Exodus 40:34-35). In all the strangeness of the world of Old Testament worship, there are deep spiritual lessons for us, lessons which enable us to go on with the Lord - receiving His mercy, obeying His Word, experiencing His glory. God is good to us. He shows His mercy to us. He puts a new Spirit within us - the Spirit of obedience. He sends His glory so that we might rejoice in His presence and be strengthened by His presence.

We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us.

Exodus 2:11-3:22

We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us. We have come to You with our sin - and You have forgiven us. We thank You, Lord, that You call us to bring Your blessing to others. We have received Your blessing. Help us to share it with others.

Lord, we come to You in our weakness.

Exodus 6:14-7:24

Lord, we come to You in our weakness. We receive Your strength. In our weakness, we fail. Through Your strength, we shall triumph. When we're stumbling along in weakness, help us to say, with ever-increasing faith, "Our God is marching on to glorious victory."

Teaching from God's Word - Reed Lessing on Exodus 3

A few years ago,  I read a booklet - "I have heard the Cries of My People: The Exodus for Lent - Daily Devotions by Reed Lessing". I was greatly blessed as I read these notes on God's Word. After looking through the booklet again, I did an internet search for Reed Lessing. He has a church website where you can hear him teaching the Word of the Lord. Here's a link to a sermon on Exodus 3 -  “How God Changes Us” (Exodus 3:1) - YouTube

Lord, show us our pride - and teach us to humble ourselves before You.

Exodus 7:25-8:32

Lord, show us our pride - and teach us to humble ourselves before You. Show us Your power and teach us to trust You to do great things in and through us.