Daily Devotion for March 26, 2021
Prayers
Scripture
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
I am surprised that this wonderful comforting hymn is not better known. Enjoy some “comfort food!”
In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.
Refrain:
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.
Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.
Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.
Music and Lyrics by George A. Young, 1903
Rise Up!
Rise up, oh children of light, and let us give glory to the Lord, who alone can save our souls. O Lord, as you withdraw sleep from the eyes of my body, grant me wakefulness of mind so that I may stand before you in awe and sing your praises worthily, all of this day.
Listen, Lord
And now, O Lord—
When I’ve done drunk my last cup of sorrow—
When I’ve been called everything but a child of God—
When I’m done traveling up the rough side of the mountain—
O—Mary’s Baby—
When I start down the steep and slippery steps of death—
When this old world begins to rock beneath my feet—
Lower me to my dusty grave in peace
To wait for that great gittin’-up morning
Prayer for Renewal
Lord, I am one of your people, the sheep of your flock. I pray for you to heal those who are wounded; touch those who are in pain; clean those who are soiled; warm those who are cold; help me to know the Father’s love through Jesus the shepherd, and through the Spirit.
Help me to lift up that love, and show it all over this land. Help me to build love on justice and justice on love. Help me to believe mightily, hope joyfully, and love divinely. Renew me that I may help renew the face of the earth.
Meditation
“I believe in Christianity as I believe in the rising sun; not because I see it, but by it I can see all else.”
~ C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
For Faith
Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my mind. Give me a right faith, a firm hope and a perfect charity, so that I may always and in all things act according to Your Holy Will.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Proverbs 20:13 (The Message)
Don’t be too fond of sleep; you’ll end up in the poorhouse.
Wake up and get up; then there’ll be food on the table.
Your Salvation
Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.
They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry. Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever?
from The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis
Exodus 18:1-12 (ESV)
Jethro Joins Moses
ethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.
Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
Exodus Map - Hammond Exodus Map 2
Notes on the Scripture
We know nothing about the religion of the Midianites, although scant circumstantial evidence suggests that they were willing to adopt and add gods to their worship from other tribes, and so probably worshipped Baal (Baal-peor) and Ashtaroth (the “Queen of the Heavens”). But they were descended from Abraham — Midian was his son by his late wife, Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2) — and might well have worshipped the God of Abraham, as well as others.
We have encountered the Midianites before; Joseph’s brothers sold him to Midianite traders. (Gen. 37:28) So we know they were both traders and herders of livestock, and that they ranged from Canaan to Egypt, including the southern part of the Sinai. It was Mount Sinai, or Horeb, where Jethro had sent Moses to graze sheep when God first appeared to him in the burning bush.
Not much is said of the relationship of Moses, Jethro, and Zipporah. There is certainly an informality and fluidity to their relationship, but they always appear to be on good terms. There is an equal ease of accepting Jethro into Judaism. Scholars enjoy debate over whether Moses “divorced” Zipporah or simply sent her to safety while he undertook a dangerous mission to Egypt, but the truth is, there would have been little difference.
Moses will later marry a Cushite woman, but polygamy was common among the Hebrews of the day. In fact, many people are surprised to learn that polygamy is not forbidden in the Bible — including the New Testament! One might say that both Christ and Paul discourage it, or at least consider monogamy the norm; but nowhere is it called sinful.
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