Devotion
How can we lead anguished spirits to God?
David Jacobs
War, terror attacks, sexual abuse...the world is filled with people committing acts that are not in line with the word of God. People turn to things to give them comfort: religion, alcohol, drugs, sex, greed, exercise, food. It may seem hopeless, like the world is filled with too many challenges for us to overcome. What is the point in trying if the problems will keep resurfacing?
Moses faced a staggering challenge at the request of God: free the Israelites from Egypt. Moses balked at first, thinking that he was not capable of performing the tasks that God commanded. Moses probably felt the same way that I described in the first paragraph: hopeless. What would be the point in even trying when he would surely fail? Even when Moses finally musters the courage to speak to the Israelites, they are unable to listen "for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage." (Exodus 6:9) Life had beaten them down so hard they had lost all hope.
Consider many of the problems that I mentioned in the first sentence. Why are people committing such heinous acts? They have lost hope. Why do people turn to alcohol, drugs, greed, food, corruption, and sex? They have lost hope. Brothers and sisters! We must lead as an example, as a shining beacon on a hill, to show the hopeless that there is hope! (Matthew 5:14) Moses became hopeful; survivors of the Egyptian captivity eventually became hopeful; the early Christians that were persecuted and killed remained hopeful; survivors of the Holocaust and world wars remained hopeful. Let our light shine in the darkness for all to see. If not us, then who?
Prayer
There are so many things that divide us: countries, race, religions, politics, economic factors. Think about what things make us all distinctly human. How can we focus on the things that unite us to bring us closer together?
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
