| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Living by faith” Our Bible verse for today: “When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him out of the bush.” Exodus 3:4 (New Jewish Publication Society Translation) Our thought for today: “It’s your move” Yesterday we learned what it means to think of God as “Abba, Father” and why doing so is important. It’s because our faith is supposed to consist of more than just a set of beliefs about God. Instead, it should be a warm, deep, trusting relationship with God. It’s much easier to live by faith if your understanding of God is based in a close relationship with Him rather than just on a set of beliefs about Him. In his commentary on the of the book of Exodus, Dr. Dennis Prager made an interesting and helpful observation about living by faith, and he used the example of Moses in Exodus 3:4 to illustrate it. I’m going to quote Dr. Prager’s entire note: “God waits to call out to Moses until Moses first notices God. For nearly every human being (Abraham was a rare exception), that is how the divine-human encounter takes place: God communicates to us after, or if, we make the effort to notice His presence … this is our choice to make. If you wait for God to contact you before you lead a God-centered life, you will almost surely never lead a life with God in it.” Prager goes on: “Here’s an almost precise analogy: Shakespeare will speak to you only after you make the effort to read and understand him. And the more effort you make to understand him, the more meaningful he will be in your life. That is the case regarding God: Bringing God into your life takes effort. What worthwhile thing in life doesn’t require effort? Why should God be different?” Prager’s point, using Moses as his example, is that the ball is in your court. God is here. He is as present to you in your circumstances as He was for Moses in the burning bush. Now the next move is yours. Will you make the effort to notice His presence and to engage with Him? Going back to yesterday’s devotional: God wants to be your Abba, your Father – in the fullest sense of the term. But you have to want that too and you have to then willingly move into His embrace. Living by faith involves making a decision about God, and then taking the action necessary to have a close and deep relationship with Him. God is there for you and He is waiting. Now it’s your move. God bless, Pastor Jim |
| Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. |
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Oak Hill Baptist Church 