OT DAY 125 - God Takes Longer Route than You Expect (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Let us praise the Lord:

Clap your hands, all peoples!
    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
    a great king over all the earth.
                                             Psalm 47:1-2

Today's Reading: Exodus 10:1-20

** If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from my Devotion on Fire blog:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

To use this simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link:

 .Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf

Please click this link to read Exodus 10:1-20

Chinese(CUV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=出 埃 及 記 10&version=CUV
English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+10&version=ESV

Bible Study

      Do you take short cut? I think if you have a short cut, you will. Do you think God would take short cut? Well, according to what Moses and his people's experience, God takes longer route and prolonged time to change hearts of His own people.  

Let's take a look at what Professor John Goldingay says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

    

       Throughout, the exodus story alternates two ways of understanding events.  There are two wills being worked out in the story, God's and Pharaoh's.  Pharaoh is stiffening his resolve not to let go of his Israelite labor force.  At the same time, God is stiffening Pharaoh's resolve, encouraging him not to let the Israelites go…
      There are several linked aspects to God's will.  God is intent on ending the Israelites' suffering and also on enabling them to focus on serving God rather than having to give their energy to serving Pharaoh in building projects that just serve his interests.  God is intent on showing Pharaoh who is God and who is in control of the world, and on Israel itself recognizing this.  Further, God is intent on this being a story that will bring that truth home to the world - to people like us who still read the story.  In order to achieve the first two of these ends, it would be fine to get the Israelites out of Egypt as easily and as quickly as possible, but in order to achieve the other three ends, it is useful if it take longer. 

John Goldingay. Exodus & Leviticus for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, p.52.

      Do you know why God always want you to wait and lead you to a longer route now?  

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

    The title I heard from Jesus today is: God takes longer route than you expect 

    What I receive from Jesus today is a wake up call for us to get out of our discouragements.

    We as human beings are so easily being discouraged by lots of things. Especially when we don't understand why God wants us to wait so long for something to happen.

    I sincerely hope today's passage can help you to understand why God wants to do that to you, to make you wait. Or, to have some people like Pharaoh pouring down sufferings upon you. Well, you can consider that as God's work as an eye opening for you to understand that He is in total control, not you or not those people who want to persecute you.

    God takes longer route than you expect so that you can see more miracles! A short cut or easy route would make you miss many miracles! 

Dear Lord Jesus,
I give thanks to you for all those Pharaohs in my life so that I can see so many miracles. Lead us to help more people to be able to see how you make use of crisis and sufferings to open our eyes to see your miracles.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

    Please click this link to the app. Andy Ng wrote. You really need to use that if you have an Android cel. Andy said he is going to do the App. for iPhone later:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideal.rec.app

Please click this link to worship with us -

從心合一

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWZQyLzDRQ

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

You may choose to follow my other daily blog: 

Daily Devotion on Fire 2(2 years plan -One year New Testament, one year Old Testament): 

http://bishopsilas2.blogspot.ca/

Daily Devotion on Fire (3 years and 3 months plan, one chapter a day to finish reading the whole Bible): 

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/

Break.Build (40 days daily devotion- For Renewal or First Step for new Christians): http://www.breakbuild.blogspot.ca/

Emmanuel330 (40 weeks First Step Bible Study): 

http://emmanuel330.blogspot.ca/

This blog:

Discipler 123 (Daily devotion using N.T. Wright's NT for Everyone as source)

http://discipler123.blogspot.ca/

Rev. Nicky Gumbel's daily devotion: Bible in One Year

http://www.htb.org.uk/bio