Because God is creator, we are given the ability to create as well. We are all artists. Our creativity and artistry can be expressed in many ways, from painting to sculpting to master carpentry to music to storytelling to acting to sewing to designing clothes…and the list goes on. Of course the artistic ability we are given varies widely as well. And I believe Exodus 31 gives us great help in deve...  Read More

I read a story of John Paton who was a missionary in New Hebrides, when after three years of living among, witnessing to and teaching a tribe that practiced cannibalism, he was ready to baptize his first converts. He wrote, “The twelve Candidates then stood up before all the inhabitants there assembled; and, after a brief exhortation to them as Converts, I put to them the two questions that follow...  Read More

If you read Exodus 29 and think about what is described for just the first of seven days of sacrifices, the sacrifice of a bull and two rams, then you know the altar was filled with blood. It would have been shocking amount, and they were just getting started. The sight and the smell of all that blood would have been difficult for even the strongest of stomachs to endure. The priests laid their ha...  Read More

Robert Murray McCheyne was a godly Scottish Presbyterian minister in the 19th century who died before his 30th birthday. But he famously said many times, “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.” It became a motto for many ministers who understood that McCheyne knew that he was not able to save anyone but that he, through an ungodly example, could lead many astray. And that the church’s...  Read More

Were any of us given a pair of sanctified dice when we were born? You know, ones that we can throw that will tell us whether to marry this person or not? Whether to go to this college or another? Buy this house or rent? No? Ok, then should we consult the fortune teller down the street or go eat Chinese every day to get a fortune cookie? Or should we get a Magic 8-Ball or a Ouija Board or Tarot Car...  Read More

It is important to recognize that neither Aaron nor his sons claimed the office of priest for themselves. Their calling came from God. There were no self-appointed priests in the Bible. In fact, whenever a man in Israel, even a king, presumed to act in the place of a priest, it was considered a grave sin. Remember King Saul, who was impatient because Samuel did not arrive when he wanted him to. Sa...  Read More

When the tabernacle was built in the wilderness, it was a place where the presence of God would reside with his people. There was a beautiful screen at the entrance to the tabernacle. It was there to keep out all people except priests. Moses was also instructed to make a veil, a beautiful one that matched the color and the design of the innermost curtains. Royal colors for the King of kings and sk...  Read More

Cindy and I enjoy John Piper’s “Solid Joys”, and in a recent devotion he said that even Satan believes in the resurrection; he saw it happen. So, part of what it means for us to believe Romans 10:9, to confess with our mouths that God raised Jesus from the dead is much more than accepting a fact. Piper wrote, “It means being confident that God is for you, that he has closed ranks with you, that he...  Read More

The ark of the covenant was a box of acacia wood, covered with pure gold, which God instructed his people to build in the wilderness. It was the place (and of course God is not contained in a box) where God was, to be with his people. The lid of the ark was called the mercy seat, and it was crafted from pure gold, and on it were images of golden cherubim. These were not chubby little cherubs playi...  Read More

At the end of the Book of the Covenant in Exodus, God is giving his people two things. First, a promise that he would be with them and lead them to the promised land. They would need only to trust him to remove their enemies when they arrived. God said he would be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries. It is a whisper of Genesis 12, isn’t it? Where God promised Abraham, “...  Read More

God paints two scenarios for his people in the book of Exodus that we can apply to our lives today. Let’s imagine you are driving down the road and you see a person you consider your enemy. He is standing beside his car on the shoulder ahead, engine boiling over, steam rising to the clouds, desperately trying to flag someone down for help. What do you do? Well, you blow the horn of course, and wav...  Read More

God taught his people after delivering them from slavery in Egypt how to treat the most vulnerable in society. That group, especially in those times and still today in many parts of the world, included widows and orphans. You may have heard the saying, “The measure of civilization is how it treats its weakest members.” You can tell as you read the book of Exodus that God is very serious about how ...  Read More