Week 10 Thursday
Today Moses receives wise counsel and God reveals the Covenant at Sinai, Psalm 46 declares God our refuge and strength, and the women discover the empty tomb - He is risen!
Exodus 18-19
📖 What are we reading?: A family reunion for Moses, who receives good advice from Jethro about effective leadership and organisation. Then, as Israel reaches Sinai (where God first met Moses in chapter 3), God appears again to reveal the Covenant.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He calls for obedience and consecration, based on His saving acts towards His people.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Jethro's wisdom is a good challenge to us - are we trying to do everything ourselves, or sharing the load as God intends?
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Exodus, meaning "departure", was written by Moses around 1400 BC, and tells of Israel's miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt - a rescue Israel was called to remember for generations, and a picture of Christ's greater deliverance from sin.
Psalm 46
📖 What are we reading?: A beautiful Psalm of deep trust in the Lord, even when the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble - a mighty fortress who fights for us.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: "Be still, and know that I am God." Let this Psalm calm your soul today, whatever chaos surrounds you.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
♫ A classic hymn based on this Psalm, "Be Still, My Soul".
Luke 24:1-12
📖 What are we reading?: The women arrive at Jesus' tomb to find the stone rolled away and the body gone; two angels ask why they seek the living among the dead, and remind them of Jesus' own words. The women run to tell the disciples, though Peter alone runs to see for himself.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: Hallelujah, He is risen! No word from God will ever fail - just as Jesus predicted.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: The women don't stay frozen in grief - they get up and go and tell others. May we do the same with the good news we've been given.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's Gospel was written by Luke, a Greek physician and companion of Paul, around AD 60-62. It is the most detailed account of Jesus' life, and is especially attentive to the poor, to women, and to outcasts.
📝 Luke's devotions on the women's visit to the empty tomb on Easter morning.
♫ A classic hymn written about Jesus' rising from the grave, "Low in the Grave He Lay".
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that You are our ever-present refuge and mighty fortress, and thank You most of all that the tomb is empty - You are risen indeed! Help us, like the women, to get up and share this good news with others. Amen.
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