Exodus 22 continues laying out guidelines for how the Israelites were to begin to be changed in how they treated one another and how they loved God. God’s love for us is at the heart of all His instructions. How could you steal if you had love for the person you stole from? If an…

Right after giving the Ten Commandments, God gives laws that will guide and govern this nation of Israelites beginning in Exodus 21. They are laws to govern Hebrew servants, personal injuries from people or animals or to people or animals. I couldn’t help but think as I read them that God was concerned with both…

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22. What beautiful words, what amazing truth…that we are being built together to become a dwelling…

It’s good to reflect on all that God has done and that He does for us still, every day. Highly trained astronauts experience the awe that comes from seeing our beautiful planet from space suspended and held by design so elegant our minds can’t comprehend it fully. I can’t help but consider all the ways…

There are times when I read Scripture and my heart is lifted up with possibility. Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 18:1. Jethro was delighted to hear…

We can read Scripture over and over and yet something will always stand out that we couldn’t see before. In Exodus 17 we first encounter Joshua and the first people to attack the Israelites. The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out…

Do we ever take the time to think about all we have to be grateful for? We take so much for granted but think about how much God does and provides for every day of our lives! Our bodily rhythms are so necessary and we take them for granted but why? I can’t control them.…

Exodus 15 introduces the song Moses and the Israelites sang to God. Can you imagine? You know how powerful Pharaoh and his army is. Now you have witnessed God’s power and it is mighty. I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. v. 1. Can you imagine how they felt singing this…

In reading Exodus 14, I was struck by so many things. People, Israelite and Egyptian, who did not know God are being actively impacted by His working in their lives. Plagues that devastated Egypt. Two million or so former slaves leaving en masse with their livestock are now traveling through the wilderness and the Lord…

Last night we watched the first part of the 3 part series on PBS The U.S. and the Holocaust. It showcased the sentiment in this country toward immigration during World War II. The Great Depression left little room in people’s hearts for “foreign” people coming to find shelter here when jobs and food were so…