Are you self-reliant or God-reliant?

 28 Jan 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One

Readings:

Exodus 16

Exodus 17

Exodus 18

Matthew 19:16-30

Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). 

Are you self-reliant or God-reliant?

God says to the fallen Adam, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it” (Genesis 3:17). Yet the Lord later extends mercy to Israel showering them with the food they didn’t labor for. The psalmist shares that God “had rained down manna on them to eat and given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food” (Psalm 78:24-25). Daily they are to retrieve breakfast and the day before the Sabbath to take a double portion (Exodus 16:25-29). This object lesson is to teach the nation to depend upon God daily. Centuries later, a self-righteous rich man comes to Jesus asking how he might earn eternal life. Jesus exposes his covetousness by commanding him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him (Matthew 19:21). His departure reveals an independent spirit. 

Employment Point: Rely daily upon Jesus for your spiritual and physical needs.

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Reflections

I ponder over this for a while and I reckon to just rely on God for His daily bread is definitely easier and better than I strive to find my own bread. This means lesser worries and also no anxiousness because I know all have been provided for. But honestly as a normal human being, the times when I don’t have work and is just waiting, do make it panic a bit.

Typically people will tell you to have at least an X portion of money in your bank so that you have enough to cover expenses should you fall out of job for whatever reasons. However, I fall into one where the Lord ask me to leave my job without a clear sign of where He wants me to go next and I live a life worried because I don’t know how I will have enough due to the many commitments I have. However, in retrospective, He does provide, no matter what. I was never hungry and would still have enough. It is always a struggle because of my lack of resources and God always makes it a point to lift me out of it, in one way or another.

I think to be promised angel’s food is so special. I mean who gets to eat them except for the Israelites right? It is not something that we are used to eating but it fills the hunger so that is more important. It makes me realised too that He will provide, every single time. We just need to learn to trust Him even more, each time it happened. He will prove to us time and again, if we rely on Him *totally* He can.

“The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.””

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• sometimes hunger make us go crazy, doing the things or saying the things which we ought not to say.
• The Israelites are complaining that they don’t have food to eat and rather go back to be slaves because they have pots of meat to eat. Pause here for a moment and think about this. Does this reminds you of something? 
• This reminds me of Esau, who gave up his birthright over a pot of stew. Friends, what is more important in your life that you can give up? Is it God? Food? Birthright? What are you willing to give up in order to grow in your relationship with God? Are we treating God like an ATM, only going to Him when we are troubled and forgot to give thanks when we are on the mountains. May the Lord grant us discernment on what to choose and to choose what is right.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• this is a reminder that the Lord WILL test our obedience to Him. And we also do see that there will be people who fall, people who choose to do things their own way, and ended up in failure.
• I come to realise being obedient is the fastest way to end a season, especially when we are facing challenges. When the Lord understands that we learn our lesson, He allows us to move forward. Otherwise we will just keep moving in circles or loops if that’s what you call it.

“Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.””Exodus‬ ‭18‬:‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• I find this verse comforting because the Lord is our strength and our fortress. Anyone who does evil to His people will be served justice by Him who is our judge

“The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?””Exodus‬ ‭18‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• whenever I read this verse, it reminds me of how much Godly counsel is important. Can you imagine what will happen if Moses were to do this in the long run? He will be using just his own strength to deal with the many things that were just piled on his shoulders. The Lord brings people to ask, to help us and also share our burdens together. We are not meant to do things ourselves. We are to guide and help one another, so that in the end, the whole community gets lifted up and everyone is happy! 😊 

“But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭18‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• we saw how wise advice is also given. Jethro did not say to select any man but to select men who fear God, those we are trustworthy and hate dishonest gain. He has his good reasons to because these people were to sit as judges for the people. So if the wrong people were chosen, it will bring about repercussions going forward.
• The learning point here is for bosses to properly choose the right people for especially important roles that carry a certain weight and power. As managers, the Lord would also expect them to properly steward the flock.

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Our Way or His?

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

January 28

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? —Acts 26:14

Are we determined to serve God in our own way, or in his? Until we undergo the baptism by fire of the Holy Spirit, we will always be tempted to put our own ambitions and interests first. We won’t understand that our self-will and stubbornness stab Jesus, that our insistence on our own dignity and rightness hurts him. Every time we stand on our right to ourselves and insist that this is what we intend to do, we persecute our Lord.

When we realize what we’ve been doing, it is the most crushing thing. We see that we’ve been lying, see that every time we went out into the world with the Lord’s name on our lips and selfishness in our hearts, we were persecuting Christ. We were preaching sanctification while exhibiting the spirit of Satan.

Is the word of God alive and true in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life prove the lie of what I say? That is the question we must ask ourselves. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of one thing only: a perfect oneness with the Father. All we do should be founded on this oneness, not a prideful determination to “be godly.” “Learn from me,” Jesus said, “for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). If we are gentle and humble, it means that we can be easily taken advantage of, easily snubbed, and easily ignored. But if we submit to this treatment for his sake, we will prevent Jesus Christ being persecuted.

Exodus 19-20; Matthew 18:21-35

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….” 

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Reflections

I believe as a Christian, we know and believe that Jesus died for our sins and He did that out of God’s plans and obedience to the Father. The sacrifice is meant to be and can only happen when Jesus chose to follow, trust and obey. Can you imagine what will happen if Jesus were to choose His own way and not follow God’s way? There will not be any redemption, no salvation and we will still have to continue with many sacrifices of the atonement of our sins. He obeyed, to the point of death on the cross.

From our perspective, we not only need to understand but also need to do what He does, for we are all followers of Christ. Which is why we are all to deny ourselves daily, carry the cross daily and follow Him. If we don’t deny ourselves and choose to do things our way, we may really have to deeply reflect on our ways and think whether what we do is accordance to His will. And if we do not seek His will, then whose are we seeking?

When what we proclaim and what we are doing is not aligned, we come into direct conflict with our Lord. Are we loving? Are we giving grace, patience and self-control to the not so loving people? Are we faithful or are we pursuing other gods? 

The Lord recognises that we are all work-in-progress and thus gives us grace when we fall short and forgives us. Are we taking that for granted, testing His patience and grace for us? And it is usually us who stumbles the pre-believers because our speech and our actions are not very loving or does not exhibit the heart of Jesus. People ever told me that is the very reason why they don’t want to become Christians as they find us to be like hypocrites.

Remember the parable where the master allows the servant to slowly repay his debts but the servant did not do the same to someone else who is unable to repay their debts to him? Are we judging the world based on human efforts and doing what everyone else is doing? What difference is there then, of what and who we are supposed to represent? Does people see Christ when they look at us or do they see someone else? 

I believe we each bring with us valuable knowledge and experience and within the community, we are to use those knowledge and experience to share with others. We also ought to acknowledge that no matter what stage we are in, there are always things to learn. We should never have the mentality that we already know. That is complacency as well as pride two-in-one. What we ought to adopt, is a teachable heart. Be open to adventures, new methods, new skills, new people even. We are never meant to stay stagnant. So may the Lord grant us all a teachable heart and a heart that comes to serve and not to be serve.