Valuing God's Presence I

STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David Bakare 

Valuing God's Presence I

Monday, 5 August

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalm 84:10

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Exodus 3:10–4:14 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. 16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: 17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: 22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

4:1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. 2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: 5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. 6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. 7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. 8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. 10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. 11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say 13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

MORE LESSON: Exodus 33:12-19 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. 17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. 18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

Moses had a dramatic encounter with God when he received his call at the burning bush. God told him all He wanted him to do and how he would lead the children of Israel from the land of bondage. Moses however kept looking at himself and his limited ability and felt that the assignment was too big and difficult. God then shifted Moses' attention from himself to Him, the All Powerful God. When Moses asked God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?: (verse 11). God responded by telling Moses who He is and added that, ...I will certainly be with you...: Exo. 3:12. God was trying to make Moses realise that it wasn't about his ability but His Ability.

The Lord gave Moses several signs; the rod becoming snake, hands becoming leprous and water becoming blood. All these spectacular signs were not God's main interest. He was merely trying to use them to convey a message to Moses. God's interest was to bring Moses to a point where he would be convinced that God sent him; God was with him and with God nothing would be impossible to him. But Moses continued to press and ask questions till he angered God.

We mustn't copy Moses' unbelief but we must learn a lesson from him. Moses realised that it was dangerous to go on an errand in his own power and might without the power and presence of the Sender. In fact, Moses felt so weak and vulnerable in his own ability that at a particular point, he came out point blank to God and told Him, ...If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here: Exo. 33:15. Moses valued God's presence so much that he wouldn't proceed without His Majestic Presence.

It is amazing to see a man, who had experienced an encounter at the burning bush, heard the voice of the Angel of the Lord and seen the face of God, still feel insufficient to go on unless the Lord Himself would go with him. Some other people, having seen only the bush burning, would have hurriedly opened a ministry and named it 'Burning Bush Ministries Incorporated' without even hearing from God or waiting on Him. But here was a man who had encounters, heard the voice of the Lord and seen signs and wonders done through his own hands still crying, 'Lord, all these are not sufficient for me to go, you must tell me that You are coming with me in all Your Fullness or else I won't move from here.

Moses was a man that valued God's presence. God is asking you today, 'How much do you value My presence? How many times have you gone on your own without Me?'

Prayer/Action

* Thank God for the gift of His presence. 

* Pray against whatever distracts you from the presence of God.

* Continually meditate on the presence of God.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Every altar of pain and affliction in this new month, I command you to catch fire, in the victorious name of Jesus.