Overview of: ExodusToday's Reading:
Exodus 40:1-38
"God's Glory and the Tabernacle"
Focus Verses: Ex. 40:36-38
36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.
Insight:
When the work of building the Tabernacle was finished, a cloud descended upon it and it was filled with the glory of God. More than a place for worship, it was a place inhabited in a special way by the Spirit of God. It was a constant reminder of God's presence as the Israelites traveled. The fire and cloud hovered above the Tabernacle in the center of their encampment. The cloud shielded them from the heat of the day and the fire brought warmth by night.
Response and Action:
I want to have an awareness of God's presence with me. I do not want to face the journey of my life without God's help and guidance. I need God's Spirit to shield me and comfort me. I will read the Scriptures, pray, worship each day as ways of practicing the presence of God. I will live in the faith that God is with me. I will grow in that faith as I experience his care and blessing.
O God, be my steadfast companion every step of my life's journey. Guide me, shape me, teach me, transform me, and sustain me by the power and grace of your Holy Spirit. Give me a growing awareness of your presence as I live by faith in your son, Jesus, who loved me and gave himself for me. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
New Testament for Today: 2 Corinthians 9:12-15
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
In Context: Romans 8:1-17
Proverb for Today: Prov. 10:29
"The way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil."
Resources:
The Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things
by Leighton Ford
