Week 8 Monday
Today Exodus begins with God's people enslaved but not forgotten, Psalm 34 invites us to taste His goodness for ourselves, and Jesus teaches us to keep praying and to come to Him like children.
Exodus 1
📖 What are we reading?: A new king rises in Egypt who doesn't remember Joseph. He enslaves the Israelites and orders their baby boys killed - but the midwives outwit him.
✞ What does this passage say about God? Even under a cruel and evil Pharaoh, God has not forgotten His people. He is already at work, quietly outwitting the powers set against them.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? Don't miss the humour hidden in this dark chapter - God is one step ahead of Pharaoh from the very start, and the brave midwives who feared God more than the king are a lovely example to us of quiet, costly courage.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Exodus, meaning "departure", was written by Moses around 1400 BC. It tells the thrilling story of Israel's miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt - the great rescue that Israel would look back on again and again as proof of God's love, and a picture of Christ setting us free from the prison of sin.
Psalm 34
📖 What are we reading?: David praises God for rescuing him, and invites us to discover His goodness for ourselves.
✞ What does this passage say about God? He is more than just an idea to agree with. Verse 8 says it best: taste and see that the Lord is good!
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? Let this Psalm turn your agreement about God into an experience of Him today. Come to Him and taste His goodness for yourself.
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 story of God's angels encamping around those who fear Him.
♫ A powerful song based on this Psalm, by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.
Luke 18:1-17
📖 What are we reading?: Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow to teach us to keep praying, then the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector to teach us humility, before He welcomes the little children brought to Him.
✞ What does this passage say about God? He is not a reluctant judge who must be worn down, but a Father who longs for persistent, humble prayer. He welcomes the humble, not the self-righteous, and delights in childlike faith.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? Keep praying and don't give up. And when you pray, come like the tax collector, not the Pharisee - humbly, honestly, and like a child.
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 preaches on the parable of the tax collector and Pharisee.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that You have not forgotten Your people, that Your goodness can be tasted and not just believed, and that You welcome persistent, humble prayer. Help us to come to You today like children. Amen.
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