Moses was from the Levitical line from Jacob, and was called to be God’s great prophet to Israel. He was the one who led the children of Israel out of Egypt and became the nation’s renown Lawgiver, at eighty years of age! Kept in social isolation for half his life, he was in the despised vocation of sheep-herder, and lived in the parched, arid wilderness, where his self-will was broken.

It was here that the fiery flame of the Lord met with him at the burning bush and Moses found himself being summoned by the God of His fathers, to save God’s people from slavery in Egypt. Before his intense training programme, Moses thought He could do all things through his own strength. But it was not until his will was crushed by the Lord, in his own wilderness walk, that Moses had his earth-shattering encounter with God on Mount Sinai, Who announced, I AM Who I AM.

Moses… the former prideful prince of Egypt, became the most humble of men due to his encounter with God. He recoiled from the enormous responsibility God chose to lay upon his shoulders. How could a man that stuttered so badly and spoke so inarticulately be the chosen mouthpiece for the God of the universe? How could Moses convey God’s orders to the great king of the earth?

“I am not a man of words,” he pleaded. “I am not good at public speaking. I do not have a gift of the gab. I am not fluent in language. I find it difficult to get my words out and stumble over my speech – I am not an eloquent orator” was his excuse. Moses had not yet proved God’s sufficient grace. He had yet to discover that His grace is perfected in our weaknesses. Moses had not yet acknowledged the inexhaustible riches of God’s grace and His unlimited power to work in the lives of His people.

But God not only made man’s lips and mouth.. He made the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak and gave sight to the blind. The Lord is the One Who possesses power over all the senses and attributes of men. He is the One that created all things and He is the One Who holds all things together. God is well able to equip His chosen vessel with the qualification and abilities needed to fulfil His heavenly instructions – for His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Claiming to have a speech impediment was only one of a number of excuses Moses gave to the Lord. He was also concerned that Israel would neither believe him nor respect his word and he begged God to send someone else who was more qualified than he. He claimed that he would not be able to explain Who the Lord was to the people, and had to be told sternly “1 AM that I AM”. Moses had to learn that God was the answer to every question and the provider for all we need.

The lessons Moses had to learn are as relevant today as the day he was ordered to remove his shoes from on the holy mount of God. It is never easy when the Lord says GO, for we often want to stay. Nor is it easy when He instructs us to STAND STILL and wait, for too often we think we want to go.

But when our fleshly self-will has finally been broken by our gracious God and we can unreservedly whisper: Thy will, not mine be done, as did Christ in His Gethsemane… then as we open our mouth we will speak the words that He chooses to give us, and we will finally discover His grace IS sufficient for His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

One theologian summed up the attitude that each of us should have when God places a call on any of our lives – “Cherish the lowliest thought you choose of yourself, but unite it with the loftiest conception of God’s All-Sufficiency. Self-depreciation may lead to the marring of a useful life. We must think soberly of ourselves, not too lowly… nor too extravagantly. The one talent must not be buried in the earth.”

Father, I begin to understand that irrespective of how limited my ability or how boundless my talents, unless I am lead of You and speak the words You instruct, I will be ineffective in my work for You. May I never forget that You are the one who made me as I am and to trust You to fulfil the work that You have prepared for me to do. May I follow in Christ’s footsteps and learn to speak only those things that I hear from You. Teach me Your will and guide me in Your ways. Lead me in the paths of righteousness and may Your will not mine be done, in Christ’s name, AMEN.

Paul used Christ’s own death and resurrection to lay the foundation for a very important teaching about our future…that a day is coming when all Christians will be clothed in a new, resurrected body – after we have travelled through the portal of death. Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God, so too the believer-in-Christ will be raised into newness of life, through the same wonder-working power of the almighty God.

Paul was keen for the believer to understand that death was not the end. Life continues on into the eternal future. However, instead of being burdened with the many restrictions this earthly ‘tent’ affords, we will receive a new, glorious body, of flesh and bone – a body, like HIS glorious body –  “For indeed“, Paul wrote, in chapter 5, “while we are in this mortal tent”, (of flesh and blood), “we groan and are burdened”.  But one day “what is mortal will be swallowed up in life”.

Paul talked about the various restrictions connected with this mortal body, “For indeed,”  he wrote, “while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened… because we do not want to be unclothed. We want to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed-up by life” – the new-life in Christ, which we received at salvation.

Paul presented the great contrast that exists between the present, mortal body we inhabit today, and our future, eternal dwelling place, which we will receive at the rapture of the Church. It is not easy to live in a body that is dying, but because we are fallen creatures, the wages of sin is death. And it is appointed for each one of us to meet the great enemy of our soul, face to face – DEATH.

We wear clothes on our earthly body because we do not like to be naked.. and in the same way, none of us want to live as a disembodied spirit following our physical death. We want to be clothed in a new, heavenly body – a resurrected body of flesh and bone, just as the Lord Jesus was covered in a new, resurrected body – a new spiritual body. For just as the life of this mortal body is in the blood, so the life of our new, heavenly body is given to us by the Spirit – a spiritual body that is animated and enlivened by the Holy Spirit of God.

There is a well-known saying, that “in the midst of life we are in death”, and living in this mortal realm, will eventually result in death – when we discard this physical covering. Paul was a tentmaker by trade and likened the physical frame, which houses man’s soul, as a TENT. Like our physical bodies, a tent deteriorates over time. A tent or tabernacles is a temporary structure, just as this body is a temporary dwelling.

A tent is transitory. It is used to house people who are on a journey. It consists of an exterior casing that covers the people until they arrive at their permanent home. In the same way, the physical body of a believer is a temporary tent – a transitory dwelling to keep the spirit and soul covered during our short sojourn through life.

This incredible gift of a glorious, resurrected body should rejoice the heart of all believers, for when we die, we are promised an immortal body that is far superior to the one we currently inhabit. While we live in this mortal body, suffering and pain is inevitable, but Paul offers us some great encouragement, in this passage, by telling us that ALL Christians will one day, receive an immortal body. All believers will one day be clothed in a heavenly body. All of us have been assured that we will be given an eternal body that will be energised by God’s Holy Spirit of life.

Today we groan within this dying body – not because we would prefer to be bodiless, ghostlike creatures! We groan because of sin and death, suffering and pain, disease and disappointments. We groan because we are burdened and encumbered by the restrictions of this mortal frame. We grown, as we unrelentingly march forward from the moment of our physical birth towards our inevitable death.

Death, however, should hold no dread for a believer, for when we leave this earth our soul goes to be with Jesus. It is not the consequences of death which cause us to groan but from the actual act of dying – the passing from this mortal sphere into the realm of the eternal and the heavenly.

The indwelling Spirit is a down-payment on the heavenly inheritance all Christians have been promised. It is a tangible assurance that… after death, when this exterior tent we call our physical body is discarded, we will receive a new, perfect, everlasting body that has not been tainted by sin and over which death is powerless.

Praise God that a day is coming when we will be re-clothed in a new body, just as we were reborn into the family of God and became part of a new creation – IN Christ. May we come to a deeper understanding of the joys that are ours through faith in Christ and remember that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Heavenly Father, what a joy to know that a day is coming when all that is mortal will be swallowed up by life, and we will stand the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for the truth that we will one day be clothed in a new, resurrected body – like Christ’s own glorified body. Thank You that we are not under God’s condemnation because we have trusted Christ for the forgiveness of sins.. and how I praise You that the suffering and groaning of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. I praise You for Your goodness and grace and I pray in the holy name of Jesus, my Lord and my God, AMEN.

Job is a book that lays out the incredible sufferings of a man who trusts God but cannot understand why he is having to go through so many hardships and calamities. The book is presented through an ongoing series of interactions between the suffering of Job, and his so-called ‘friends’, or ‘comforters’. These men do little to befriend the miserable man, and the only solace they offer is to falsely accuse him of sinning against God.

Job’s companions may have some appreciation of the greatness of God, as reflected in certain things they say, but they show little awareness of God’s character. They believe a perverted doctrine that tarnishes God’s goodness and they lack understanding of the spiritual battle, raging in heavenly places.

Satan had accused the wealthy Job of trusting the Lord from selfish motives, and challenged God to prove him wrong. Job complained bitterly of his unprecedented misfortune, bereavements, and illnesses Satan inflicted on him, but proved the enemy’s accusation to be false. Despite being ignorant of the facts, Job never cursed God for the disasters that struck him, but held to his integrity. Through all his trials, he maintained an unwavering faith in His heavenly Lord. However, Job’s continued, proud insistence of his innocence, proved to be as a character flaw, which needed to be addressed!

Chapter 26 is an extended response to Bildad, who was a man with a strong religious bias. Bildad adhered to past traditions, human logic, and religious rationality. He held fast to the voice of human reasoning and delighted in philosophical platitudes and pious proverbs. He incorrectly believed that someone experiencing trials must be due to their sin – but that doctrine blasphemes God’s holy character

Bildad was a ‘religious’ man – a legalistic man, who could eloquently pontificate about God’s heavenly dominion, and accurately proclaim the veneration He commands from humanity. While boasting a head-knowledge of God this prideful man lacked a heart of humility and understanding.

While Bildad and his accomplices failed to prove their argument about Job’s wickedness, Job also failed to solve his problem, by answering the question – WHY ME? What have I done to deserve this trouble?

As he responds to Bildad’s comments, in the previous chapter, Job begins Chapter 27 with a lengthy monologue, which lays the foundation for the Lord to reveal Himself to Job, in a personal and intimate way. Job eventually experienced the Lord in a new and wonderful way – and the story concludes with him confessing his own lack of humility before the Lord.

As he starts his soliloquy, Job continues Bildad’s discourse on the greatness of God and His sovereign power with an explosion of thoughts – “The Lord stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing”, Job wrote. “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, but they do not burst under them. He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads His cloud over it. He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters, which is at the boundary of light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at the Lord’s rebuke. He quieted the sea with His power, and by His understanding, He shatters the proud. By His breath, the heavens are cleared and by His hand, He has pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are the fringes of His ways and how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder – who can understand?”

Everything Job identified in this initial outburst of God’s majesty and power accounts for many truths that have only recently been discovered by modern sciences or continue to be areas of scientific study, that remain a mystery in the minds of great professors and research scientists. Theories abound connected with the functioning of the earth, the mysteries of the moon, God’s control over the raging waters and the outer reaches of known knowledge.. and the proud, satanic serpent who was defeated at Calvary’s cross.

There are MANY secret things that belong to the Lord our God.. the depths of which can never plummet by man’s mortal mind or careful calculations. There are universal laws that remain baffling to the highest intellects and realms of wisdom that cannot be purchased at any price.

There are elements of scholarship that will always remain impervious to the probing of academic man, and patterns of nature that can never be justified in the mind of mortals or replicated by mans’ ingenuity. We are simply to behold such wonders of creation and recognise them to be nothing more than being on the fringes of His ways, for the depth of God’s understanding are past finding out.

We will never understand the mind of God AND YET… He sent JESUS to reveal Himself to us in the most amazing way. We may not understand the things WE have to go through – the problems and pain, the trials and tribulations. BUT GOD remains in control and He has His finger on the very pulse of our lives – therefore we should trust Him in everything, even when we do not understand.

Heavenly Father, what a great and glorious God You are. Thank You for the magnificence of Your creation and truths You have unfolded to our understanding through Your word. But Lord, as I read through the book of Job and other testimonies of Your greatness, I realise how great You are and how insignificant we are – and yet, in Your goodness and grace, You send Jesus to give us a greater understanding of Who you are and all that You have done. Thank You for Your amazing plan of redemption and for loving me enough to send Jesus to be my Redeemer and Friend – to Him be all praise and glory forever and ever, AMEN.

The unfathomable depths of Satan’s habitual sin, lies in contradistinction to the immeasurable heights of Christ’s eternal righteousness. From the genesis of God’s revelation of Himself to mankind, the devil is identified as the slimy source of sin and subtle instigator of all that is evil.

We are warned that the man or woman who commits sin is of the devil. He is the father of sin. He is the instigator of sin. He is one who deceived Eve in the beautiful garden. He is the poisonous root from which all sin is sprung, for Satan rebelled against God and sinned from the beginning of time.

Instead of reflecting the goodness of God the Father, the one who sins is imitating the behaviour of Satan. Instead of manifesting the beautiful, character of Christ by walking in spirit and truth, and by abiding in Him and He in us, they allow the enemy of our soul to dictate what they do and to adversely influence their hearts away from the Lord.

Those who adopt Satan’s practice and imitate his ways are ‘of the devil‘. The sin nature, imputed to man at the beginning, is inextricably linked to the devil’s wicked ways. He is the instigator of corruption and deceit and he was a murderer from the beginning. He is void of truth because he abandoned the truth when he rebelled against the Lord, and has proved himself to be both a liar and the father of lies.

While the principle and practice of sin originates from Satan, divine righteousness comes from the Lord Jesus. Christ’s perfect righteousness is imputed to those who are born of God. The new nature we received from the Spirit of God at Salvation, is Christ’s own sinless nature, which is imputed to us and cannot sin.

However, the original sin nature we all inherited from our fallen parents can do nothing but sin. Our old sin nature is the heritage of all humanity and is incapable of producing good deeds and righteous acts. Every member of the human race is born a sinner. Every person is indwelt by the very principle of sin from conception – but The Son of God came to earth to destroy the works of the devil.

While man’s old sin nature is of the devil our new, born-again nature is of God. The ‘old creation in Adam’, is part of the kingdom of darkness and can do nothing but sin, while the ‘new Creation in Christ’, has been made a child of the light and has become a member of God’s family – and that new nature, that comes from Christ cannot sin.

Throughout our life on earth, a believer’s old sin nature lusts against our new life in Christ and needs to be kept in the place of death – BUT Christ came into the world to pay the ransom price for the sin of the whole world. How we praise God that Christ was born into His own creation, that He might put an end to the works of the Evil One.

The continuous characteristic of the devil is evil and he who sins is of the devil. Satan was the one who spawned sin and has continued to sin from the very beginning. The nature of man is sinful, for man is a sinner who was born dead in trespasses and sins, but Christ came into the world to save sinners and to rescue them from the clutches of the Evil One – and by His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, He has destroyed the works of the devil and put an end to his wicked ways.

Let us in lowliness of heart and thankfulness of spirit praise our great God and Father for His great plan of salvation and marvellous purpose for mankind. His plans and purposes were conceived in the eternal council chambers of the Almighty and designed to arrest the evil intent of the enemy assault on those who are made in God’s image.

Let us not serve sin or indulge in lawlessness by our actions and attitudes, our words and our imaginations, but rather let us show grateful thanks, for His unspeakable mercy and amazing grace. Let us turn our backs on all that feeds the evil lusts of the fallen one, by the obedient surrender to God, of all that I am and all that I do.

God’s purpose for us is encapsulated in this precious verse, for the Son of God came in the likeness of sinful flesh and suffered the most shocking ignominy, insults and death, so that sin and sickness; want and weariness; destruction and death and all that is encompassed in the works of lawlessness and evil might be forever destroyed in my life and in yours, in order that Christ is all in all.

Father, I thank You that everything that could cause my ruin has been forever destroyed at the Cross of Christ and I am born into the family of God. But Father, many are blinded by the wicked one who seeks to destroy the souls of men. Use me I pray and may I become a channel through whom Your saving grace may flow out to others, who are in bondage to sin and Satan. Help me to keep my old sin nature in the place of death and walk in spirit and truth. In Jesus’ name, I pray, AMEN.

Parables and proverbs are often illustrated stories that teach life-principles clearly and simply. They generally use everyday objects that have been familiar in every society, down through the ages. Houses and tents; sun and rain; animals and birds; parents and children; planting and harvesting have all been used to teach important lessons on life and living.

Solomon used wood and fire to teach a necessary lesson on the inflammatory nature of gossip and talebearing, as opposed to the tranquillity and peace that accompanies the pure words of a righteous man. “For lack of wood the fire goes out,” is his initial observation, which directs his reader towards some wholesome words.. “and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down”.

Every generation, since the creation, is familiar with fire and understands its benefits as well as its dangers. Solomon simply makes a statement with which everyone would agree – a fire needs fuel to keep it alight and if wood is withheld from the burning embers, then the heat it gives off will die down and the flame will go out!

Without any fuel source, there is no fire. No smoke is given off and no heat is produced and the author makes a direct link with a gossip, who can cause a lot of contention with their tittle-tattling. BUT.. “without a gossip, conflict dies down”. Just as fire can be used for good and for evil so too the words that come out of the mouth. Spoken words can be wholesome and good but words that fall from the lips of a gossip cause much damage and harm.

Different translations use different words to identify the ‘tale-bearer’ or ‘gossip’. Some describe a person who causes contention among brothers as a ‘whisperer’ – who goes around murmuring, grumbling and complaining. They are ones that go round sharing secrets that are no concern of theirs and spreading discontent. Other translations substitute the word ‘gossip’ or ‘slanderer’ – which can suggest false accusations, idle talk, the spreading of malicious rumours or the engaging in a smear campaign.

Although fire has many benefits and a wholesome tongue is like a tree of life… that same fire can cause havoc, distress, and devastation. In the same way the tale-bearer, the gossip, the slanderer and the whisperer can cause much mischief, but when there is no-one to spread gossip – conflict dies down.

There are many examples in the book of Proverbs that contrasts the benefits of godly, gracious speech with the danger and destruction that wrong words can cause. In Chapter 16 we read, “A whisperer separates chief friends”, while Chapter 22 teaches that contention must be eschewed.. “Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out. YES, strife and reproach shall cease.” And in Chapter 15 we read, “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath”.

There are many such examples throughout God’s word that warn of careless and contentious words, while promoting healing and wholesome speech. James warns that “Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing,” and scolds his readers by saying, “My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

How sad when a Christian life is marred by wrong speech and a godly testimony is stained by gossip and talebearing, whispering or slander;  grumbling or false accusations… all of which give rise to discord among brothers… contention; brawling; dissension; dispute and argument.

May we take to heart the prayer of Solomon’s father who cried out to the Lord, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Oh Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.”

Heavenly Father, thank You for the wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Help me to take to heart the devastation and destruction that can be caused by careless speech and foolish words. Keep me from participating in any form of talebearing or gossiping. Help me to take to heart this simple truth… that without wood, a fire will go out and without a gossip, conflict will die down. Purify my heart and my speech I pray, and may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable to You – in Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

The Lord’s teaching in His extended, ‘Sermon on the Mount’, gives step-by-step information to believers on true discipleship, followed by structured teaching on how to live such a life. It touches on things to avoid like anger and adultery, and the correct way to fast and pray. It teaches about charitable giving and the right attitude towards one’s possessions.

It provides training, for Christians, in acceptable, (or unacceptable) behaviour; character and conduct that is pleasing to God; various forms of relationships and theological principles by which to abide. And in Chapter 7, Jesus leads us from the dangers of developing a critical spirit, to what has been universally termed, ‘The Golden Rule’ – “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets”.

The whole of His ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is directed towards the believer, rather than the non-believer. It systematically lays out principles on how to live righteously in the sight of God and in chapter 7 verse 11, Jesus demonstrates the incredible goodness of our perfect God towards His children.. by comparing it with the care and concern that a human parent has towards their own offspring.

He reasons that IF a human parent.. who is a fallen being, is capable of caring for their children and giving them good things, HOW MUCH MORE will our heavenly Father show consideration for His children, and bestow good things on them –“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

In this passage, the Lord is arguing from the lesser to the greater – from the imperfect to the perfect. IF a fallen human parent, who has a sin nature is capable of showing love, care, and consideration to their child who asks them for something.. how much more will our holy, heavenly Father, Who loves us with an everlasting love bestow His gifts and graces, on His blood-bought children.

Throughout the word of God, we are reminded of His great love toward us – a never-failing love that passes human comprehension. Initially, we read that He loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son to become the sacrifice for our sin. But once saved by grace through faith in Him we are reminded of the great love the Father has lavished on each of us – that we should be called children of God!

But just as a child trusts his parents to give him good things, so those of us who are God’s children have to trust our heavenly Father to give good things to us. And earlier in His ‘Sermon on the Mount’, the Lord Jesus reminded us that we are to ASK God for the things we need and to keep on asking… because He is a good and gracious Father to His children and has promised to provide all we need.

“Keep asking,” He told His disciples, “and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you. Because everyone who keeps asking will receive. The person who keeps searching will find, and one that keeps knocking will have the door opened.”  And to explain the great generosity of our heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus drew His comparison… “There isn’t a person among you who would give his son a stone if he asked for bread, is there? Or if he asks for a fish, he wouldn’t give him a snake, would he?  NO! So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him! 

But how often do we forget to ask Him? How frequently do we tire of asking, when the answer seems long in coming? We KNOW that all good and perfect things come to us from our Father, Who loves and cares for each one of us with an everlasting love. Let us not listen to the lies of the enemy, but prove our faith in HIM and stand fast on the word of TRUTH, by asking God for all we need and expecting Him to answer.

Lord, how privileged we are to have a heavenly Father Who loves each one of us with an everlasting love and provides ALL we need, according to His riches in glory. Thank You that You loved me enough to send Jesus to die for my sins and that You delight to give good gifts to Your children. Lord, I know too often I have tried to provide for my own needs without asking You, or I have lost faith and stopped seeking You, when an answer is delayed… and realise that this must sadden Your heart. Thank You that You have provided over and above all that I could ask or think – not only in this world but in the ages to come – this I pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN.