Exodus 2:1-3

Good afternoon, everyone! :)

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Exodus 2:1-3

And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.

 

I have often wondered just what Jochebed (Moses' mother) was hoping to accomplish by placing her infant son in the river in a basket. This little action really seems to have no rhyme or reason. I may never know (until I get to heaven) why she placed Moses in the river; but I wonder if it was sort of symbolic. She was placing her baby wholly in the hands of an unseen, unpredictable God; she had no idea what God's plan for her baby's life was or how He was going to work it out, just as she had no idea where the river would take him. She simply placed him there in faith, and walked away, trusting her baby--so dear and precious to her heart--wholly and completely to God in a very real way.

 

Father, help me to trust You completely, as Jochebed did, with even the things I hold most dear! To place them in Your hands and leave them there for You to do whatever You want.

 

May the Lord richly bless you as you choose to trust Him!

 

Dancing in the rain,
Haley "SunShine" Miller
"Exhort one another daily while it is called 'Today'" (Hebrews 3:13)
Mornin' SunShine Website
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Isaiah 58:4-9a

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

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Isaiah 58:4-9a

Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'

 

In the first kind of fast described here, the people were focused on outward things; trying to look like they were fasting, look like they were spiritual. They also went into this fast with their own idea of what should happen, and then when God didn't do what they thought He should, they got upset with Him. This kind of fast is useless, a waste of time and completely lacking in power.

But look at the fast that God has chosen!! In this fast there is great power--the power to break the chains of sin and slavery, the power to lift heavy burdens, the power to set others free, the power of healing and the power of a ready audience with God. In fact, this fast that God has chosen is not about an outward appearance at all; it's all about the releasing of God's power in a situation by obeying Him even when we don't understand why, or how He's going to work. It's all about simply being willing and available to be a vessel of His power to a world in desperate need of God! It is a glorious mystery beyond our comprehension, why and how God uses His people as conduits for His amazing works. But the fact is He does, and He is longing for a people who will choose the fast that He has chosen that He might pour out His power through them. Will we be that people?I

 

Father, I want to be one through whom Your power flows!!! I give myself to You; help me to choose You in every choice I make, big and small; to live my life yielded completely to You for You to use as You see fit. I will choose to live this fast that You have chosen--even when I don't understand what all that means!

 

May the Lord richly bless you as you yield yourself to be used by Him!

 

Dancing in the rain,
Haley "SunShine" Miller
"Exhort one another daily while it is called 'Today'" (Hebrews 3:13)
Mornin' SunShine Website

Genesis 1:24-25

Hey, y'all!

Well, I noticed the other day that the e-mail I tried to send back in December explaining that we were in the middle of moving and it would be after the first of the year before I got back to Mornin' SunShine got cut off. I'm sorry about that! We had no internet so I was trying to do it from my phone, and apparently it didn't work too well. The good news, though, is that we are pretty much settled here in San Angelo, and I'm back! :)

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Genesis 1:24-25

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

 

Everything on the earth "brings forth according to its kind". It started here in Genesis 1, and continues to this day. Dogs have dogs, cats have cats, apples produce apples and peaches produce peaches, etc., etc., you get the picture. So what's the point? Simply this: since everything reproduces after its own kind, shouldn't we strive to be the difference we want to "bring forth" in the world? If we want to go out into the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) who are passionate for God and who obey His word, wouldn't it follow that we must be passionate, and we must obey His word?! If we want to see Christ-like results in our lives and ministry to others, shouldn't we be pressing on toward being Christ-like??

 

Father, I want to make a difference, but first I must be willing to be that difference. Help me to press on toward being more like You, trusting that as I become more like You, the fruit of my life will be Godly fruit.

 

May the Lord richly bless you as you strive to be like Him and "bring forth" a Godly difference in our world!

 

Dancing in the rain,
Haley "SunShine" Miller
"Exhort one another daily while it is called 'Today'" (Hebrews 3:13)
Mornin' SunShine Website