Your Daily Devotional for August 2, 2007

 

August 2,  2007

 

 

When We Place Him First

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites."

 

 

Exodus 3:7-8

 

 

Some 3,500 years ago God brought His people out of Egypt. He brought them through the wilderness to a mountain where He re-introduced Himself to them. There He showed them His power and holiness, and He gave them the Ten Commandments—His moral law for them to follow. While this law was fulfilled by the death of Christ on Calvary some two thousand years ago, God still desires that we would obey these commandments today.

 

Yesterday we saw the first commandment which tells us that God desires to be first in our lives. Sometimes we can let other things, such as pride, come between us and God. But God desires that we would place Him above everything else and seek to glorify Him in all we do. Today we will see how God blesses us when we place Him first in our lives.

 

Our verses today show us that God promises to provide for His children when they place Him above everything else. Exodus 16:11-13 says, "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host." God met the needs of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness!

 

Even though we may not have to wander in the wilderness like the Israelites, we still face trials in our lives. God promises us that as we place Him first and seek to glorify Him, He will provide for us during our trials. We don't need to worry! When God is first in our lives, He will take care of us!

 

God will not only provide for us, but He will also be near us during our trials. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, it may have seemed to them that God had abandoned them. But time after time, God made His presence known to His children. Exodus 16:10 says, "And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud." God appeared to them in a cloud! He made His presence known to them through a pillar of fire, a cloud, and many other ways.

 

Just as God made His presence known to the Israelites, God makes His presence known to us as we place Him first in our lives. He may not appear to us physically, but God has revealed Himself to us through His Word. As we place God first in our lives and spend time in His Word, He will be with us through anything we encounter.

 

Are you placing God first in your life? He desires to bless you by providing for you and being near to you, but you must put Him above everything else in your life; He must have preeminence. Take time to evaluate the priorities in your life. Is God at the head of the list? If not, make any sacrifices necessary to place Him first. He can only bless us as we place Him first in our lives.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 60-62 • Romans 5

 

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