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  Exodus 13:17-22 Listen to today’s devotional You would think freedom would travel light. But when God's people began their walk out of Egypt, they carried a few important things with them. They brought jewels and clothing that they plundered from the Egyptians. Commentators link that to what God told Abraham more than 400 years earlier, that his descendants would have "great possessions." And they also brought bones. Like the literal bones of Joseph. In his last days, Joseph made the people of God swear that "when God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here." So, more than 300 years later, they did. Now, that may feel like an unnecessary burden. It's certainly extra weight, especially considering the urgency of the situation. But those bones were a witness. Joseph died in Egypt, but his faith reached forward into a future he would never see. So, Israel is walking out of bondage, not just with freedom, but with faith already on their shoulders. ...

  Isaiah 54:1-3 Listen to today's devotional In a patriarchal society, barrenness carried deep shame, a failure to continue the husband's family name. It was also seen as a kind of divine punishment. Today, most of us don't think of barrenness in the same way. But that doesn't mean we haven't found new ways for shame to mark our lives, name us, and follow us around. You may not relate to the Bible's concept of barrenness, chances are, though, you know shame. In Isaiah 54, the barrenness of the people was their exile. It was their suffering, their displacement, and being cut off. As a pastor, I can tell you many of us feel like the things we go through are too embarrassing, too heavy, or too complicated to share. So, yes, we know shame well. That's why God's promise in Isaiah 54 remains such a beautiful reflection point. God told the people that their past humiliation would not define their future. At one point in the chapter, God says "You will forg...

Numbers 13:17-27 It's the classic good news, bad news scenario. The spies have spent 40 days surveying the promised land. They've seen what this place of promise is, what it offers and who lives there. Interestingly, their report doesn't seem to include anything we wouldn't have already known. The good news is "look at this fruit!" The bad news is "the people!" I'm not quite sure who initiated their exploratory mission. Numbers 13 says "the Lord spoke to Moses" and told him to send spies (13:1). As its recorded in Deuteronomy, Moses said the people came up with the idea (Deuteronomy 1). He merely agreed. It could be Moses heard it, thought about it, prayed and got his okay from God. Whatever the case, the spies have returned with their findings. Again, we already knew the kind of people who were there. And God had already said it was a land flowing with milk and honey. Of course, the bigger story will be that most of the spies will conv...

 There's an entire history to "goodbye." That is, "goodbye" and "bye-bye" didn't develop out of thin air. Over centuries, we've contracted a blessing and promise people often gave each other. God be with you is where we began. How we use and change language over time got us to bubye. No matter how we say it, though, we're expressing a reiterated promise of God found in scripture. God is with us. God promised the people they would not walk alone (Leviticus 26:12). Through the prophet Ezekiel, God said, "My dwelling place shall be with them" (Ezekiel 37:27). Isaiah quotes God, "Don't be afraid, for I am with you" (Isaiah 41:10). The Lord even makes the promise to individuals like Joshua and Gideon. Of course, many of us know and hold onto the promise Jesus gave: I am with you always (Matthew 28:20). There's no defining God and speaking of God without mentioning God's presence. Yes, we could only talk about God...

 Psalm 73:21-28 The apostle Paul wrote that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26). That's because we don't know what we should pray for. And he was probably right. I've prayed for certain things to happen before. When something else, something better came out of the situation, it was obvious I had been praying for the wrong thing. But I was praying. That counts for something because of Spirit's work.   Let me share with you some things Christians pray that you might've heard before. Christians pray for God to be with us. They pray for God to be good. I pray every week for God to hear the prayers of the church. Of course, those aren't wasted prayers. They mean something to us. But those are also promises of God.   God is good (Matthew 19:17). We already know God's presence is always with us (Matthew 28:20). And the Lord has promised to hear our praying (1 Peter 3:12). You don't have to pray for those things to be true. They are.   The psalmist...