Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 5:1-7:13
People have often asked me my thoughts about sharing the gospel in places where there is a very real risk of persecution. My response has always been something along these lines, “This world is not our home. We are all just sojourners, passing through a foreign land on our way to our final destination: heaven or hell. We have to stop being so earthly minded. We have to fix our eyes – and our minds – on eternity. We have to be faithful to share the gospel and make disciples of all nations like Jesus commanded in Matthew 28.”
I was thinking about that today when I read,
Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”
Exodus 5:22-23 ESV
Do you believe that heaven – and hell – are real? Are they eternal? How is a person’s final destination determined?
The answers to those questions will determine the answers to these questions —
What if I study the Bible with someone and they end up losing their job because of their faith?
What if I tell someone about Jesus and their husband ends up leaving them?
What if I share the good news with someone and they end up in jail?
I’m not saying we should be reckless, cavalier, or foolish. But I am saying that if God is calling you to share the good news – which He is – you should be more concerned about the results of your disobedience to Him than the results of your obedience to Him.
Indeed the Israelites faced greater temporary trials as a result of Moses’s confrontation with the Pharaoh, but the much greater long-term joys of freedom were coming!
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, You have told us to go and make disciples of all nations. You have promised that You will be with us. Please strengthen those who are living in dangerous lands, and please strengthen us who are living lives of such comfort and ease. Help us to know You more and make us willing to suffer for the gospel and for our brothers and sisters who are in harm’s way. Please protect us all from the enemy’s schemes and to keep our eyes fixed on You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Have you ever felt inadequate? Incapable? Inept? Have you ever felt like there was no way you could accomplish the task that has been set before you? Maybe you feel that way right now.
Maybe you can relate all too well to Moses’s words,
“Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
Exodus 4:13 ESV
As a new homeschooling mom, I struggled for years with those kinds of feelings. “God, I can’t do this! It’s too hard! I don’t know what I’m doing! I’m going to ruin them! They’d be better off at school!”
So, every spring I’d make an appointment to go visit the local Christian school, and my husband and I would reconsider sending our kids there. But every spring we instead chose to recommit ourselves to the task that the Lord had given us to disciple our children at home.
This spring marks my 21st year homeschooling. I’ve successfully graduated my oldest three children, and only my youngest one is still home. I no longer visit the local Christian school every year and I no longer struggle with those feelings of inadequacy when it comes to homeschooling my son.
The Lord has grown both my skills and my faith. And the Lord has proven Himself so very faithful to give my family what we need to complete the tasks that He has given to us.
But, friends, what if I had chosen to send my kids to school? What if I had complained and complained and complained and refused the task that the Lord had called me to? What then?
Well, here’s what I think — I think God would’ve sent someone else. Like God sent Aaron to help complete the job, God would’ve sent someone else to teach my children. My kids would’ve learned to read and write and spell under someone else’s instruction, and I would’ve missed the blessing of having discipled my kids hour after hour and day after day and year after year.
My children would’ve missed the blessings of figuring out how to get along with each other. My children would’ve missed the blessings of doing chores together and memorizing the Bible together and singing off key together. But they would’ve gotten through school somehow.
God would’ve made a way, because He is God, and my children are His workmanship.
Listen, friends, if you don’t tell that person at the grocery store about Jesus, God will send someone else. If you don’t share the gospel with that lady sitting next to you at your son’s Little League baseball game, God will send someone else. If you don’t raise your children to trust in Christ, God will send someone else. I’m walking proof of that.
Jonah tried to run, but God sent a whale to change his mind.
Pharaoh tried to kill all the Hebrew baby boys, but Moses was spared.
Saul tried to wipe out the Christians, but God chose to open his eyes and open his mouth and make him His mouthpiece for the gospel.
God’s purposes will stand. No purpose of His can be thwarted. (Job 42:2) You aren’t that important. You aren’t that powerful. You can’t stand in God’s way.
But, friends, the joys and blessings that you’ll miss!!! Oh, to look back on the fullness of the last 21 years! To remember how the Lord carried us. To see how the Lord worked in me and through me, growing me and growing my kids – I would’ve missed it. To see people that I’ve discipled grow in their faith, there’s nothing like it. I don’t want to miss fulfilling God’s calling … and neither do you!
So, friends, let me encourage you — don’t be like Moses, complaining that you can’t do it and begging God to send someone else.
Rather, remember the words of Mordecai to Esther,
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14
Isaiah 14:27 ESV — For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
Daniel 4:35 ESV — all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Proverbs 19:21 ESV — Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, What a blessing it is to have a purpose in this life. What a blessing it is to be Your workmanship and to know that You have prepared in advance good works for me to do and that I can walk in them by Your Spirit in me. What a blessing it is to be Your child and to serve you! I pray that I will be faithful to accomplish each of the tasks that You have given me to do. I pray that my eyes will be fixed on You, the one who is able to do more than I could ever ask or imagine, the God of the impossible. Help me not to trust in my own strength or my own abilities, but to trust in You who is able to do all things. It is in the mighty name of Jesus Christ that I pray, Amen.
Each of my children’s names have special meaning for me. My oldest daughter was named after my dad. My oldest son’s name was chosen to reflect his Russian heritage. My youngest daughter’s name was chosen to commemorate her Christmas birthday and my youngest son was named in honor of a man of the Bible who was faithful to God through the hardest trials.
Today when I was reading Exodus 3, it jumped out at me that God called Moses by name when He spoke to him out of the bush. “Moses! Moses!” called God. (Exodus 3:4) Moments later Moses has a question for God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God’s answer is both simple and deeply proud.
“I am who I am.” … Say this to the people of Israel: “‘I am’ has sent me to you.”
Exodus 3:14
Imagine being sent by the great “I am” Himself. The unmoved mover. The uncaused cause. The origin of all things. The Alpha and the Omega. The self-existent One. The One who spoke the world into existence. The One who breathed life into man. “I am” is speaking to you. The One who was and is and is to come. (Revelation 1:8) The unchanging God.
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Psalm 90:2 ESV
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
Isaiah 44:6 ESV
“”Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.”
Isaiah 48:12-13 ESV
“And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:8-11 ESV
The Great I Am knows Your name and He wants you to know Him, too. He is speaking to you. Will you listen? Will you obey? Will you follow Him? It’ll be the best ride of your life.
As an adoptive mom, the story of Moses has always had particular interest for me. The idea of Moses’s first mom, the mom who gave birth to him, was willing to risk her own life by hiding him for three months, and then to place him among the reeds in hopes that he would be rescued by an Egyptian, reminds of my son’s first mom, the mom who gave birth to him.
I will be forever indebted to her. Though I don’t know the circumstances surrounding my son’s conception or what she went through to bring him to birth, I know it couldn’t have been easy.
So, I’d like to pray for all those first moms out there, the moms who have birth to a child they’re not raising. But I’d also like to pray for all of us adoptive moms who are raising children they didn’t birth. Both moms face unique pains and joys and both moms need our prayers.
Heavenly Father, I pray right now for the mom who has given birth to a child she isn’t raising, a child who is under someone else’s care. I pray that You will encourage her. Help her to trust in You and seek for You with all her heart. I pray that she will someday see in Heaven that child she carried in her womb. I pray that she will know that You are the God of redemption and restoration and second chances, and that it’s never too late to turn to You. I pray that she knows that You are the God who hears and remembers and sees and knows. Truly, You are the God of all comfort. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
And Heavenly Father, I also pray for the adoptive mom who is raising a child birthed by another, who deeply loves a child that You have entrusted into her care. I pray that You will heal the broken places in her heart with the healing balm of Your love. Help her to cast all her cares on you, knowing that You care for her and You care for that little boy or girl, too. I pray that she will remember that You are the God of redemption and restoration and second chances, and that is never too late to turn to You. May she know that You are the God who hears and remembers and sees and knows. Truly, You are the God of all comfort. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.
Exodus 1:12a
I recently read a quote that went something like, “When the authorities loosen their grip, the gospel spreads … and when the authorities tighten their grip, the church is trained and becomes more disciplined … but always we are in God’s hands.”
Today in reading the story of the persecution of the young Hebrew nation in Exodus 1, I saw the Lord’s hand in both spreading and training His people, but in this case, persecution is actually what caused the people to spread abroad.
Isn’t that what happened in the dispersion of the new disciples of Jesus Christ who were persecuted for their faith? And how about what happened when God confused the people’s languages at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11? God’s people were dispersed over the face of all the earth as a result of their suffering and hardship, but all the time they were in God’s hands.
I am reminded again and again as I read through the scriptures that my ways are not God’s ways. So often the very thing that seems straight from the pit of hell is exactly what God uses for His glory and my good – if I only keep my eyes open to it. No matter what, I can trust that I am in God’s hands.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, Help us to trust You no matter what. Help us to believe that You are in control even when life feels out of control. You are always on Your throne. You are working all things together for good. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, both the Jew and the Gentile. Help us to want for the good even of those who persecute us and shame us and say all kinds of evil about us falsely on Your account. We love You and we trust You. Increase our faith, Father. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
The ending of Matthew’s very thorough account of Jesus’s life and ministry feels so sudden. After reading twenty-seven lengthy chapters, Matthew 28 contains only twenty verses, summarizing the resurrection of Christ, Jesus’s appearance to the Marys, the Jewish leaders’ bribing of the Romans guards, and concluding with some of Jesus’s final words to His disciples,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
So, as we wrap up four weeks spent studying the words of Matthew, let these be my words to you.
Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. He can do it. Nothing is impossible for Him. You can trust Him. Therefore, you can go with confidence, under His authority, by the power of His Holy Spirit, and make disciples of all nations. He wants to use you. You don’t need to be a ordained minister to share the good news. You don’t need a seminary degree to tell people how to trust in Christ. His Spirit and His Word are all you need. He wants you to share the good news with those who have never heard. But don’t stop there – teach them to observe all that He has commanded in His word. Being a disciple is so much more than just being a fan.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. If you’d love to join me in international ministry, leave a comment or send me a message. I’d love to help you get plugged in! Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, What a blessing it is to be a laborer in the harvest! I am so thankful for Your Holy Spirit who lives in me and gives me wisdom. I pray that Your Spirit would guide me to those who are hungering to hear the good news and those who need to be discipled in obedience to Your commands. In the powerful Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord we pray, Amen.
When my kids were little I loved taking them to the zoo. We could spend all day there wandering around, pushing whoever was the youngest in a stroller while the oldest ones walked. Inevitably the youngest would cry out, “Mom, pick me up! I can’t see,” so I’d lift them out of the stroller and hold them high, so they could peek into the enclosure and see the coveted lion or tiger or hippo. The concrete wall designed to keep the beast inside and the humans safely out, also prevented my children from seeing what we’d come to see.
In God’s mercy, He had commanded that a thick curtain be hung to separate the congregation from the “Holy of Holies” – first in the tabernacle and later in the temple. This curtain, estimated to be nearly 60 feet long and 4 inches thick, three times as tall as the tallest giraffe, is the one referred to in Matthew 27.
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”
Matthew 27:50-51a ESV
What is the significance of the temple curtain being torn in two? Why would God cause that to happen when Jesus died?
Click here to read how Got Questions answers the question, “What was the significance of the temple veil being torn in two when Jesus died?”
I hope you’ll continue on in the 2-year Bible reading plan! The next books we will be reading through are Exodus and Leviticus. In them you’ll learn so much more about the history of the tabernacle and the worship of Jehovah God. Then, we will turn to Hebrews where we will learn the purpose of these types and shadows of the Old Testament and how Christ fulfilled them.
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, You have made a way through the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, for us to come into Your presence. We have been washed clean through our faith in the finished work of Jesus who paid the price that was demanded. By His death, the veil has been torn. By His death, we have received eternal life. Now, Father, let us walk in gratitude and faith in Your Son in whose name we pray. Amen.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
I remember the first time I heard the song, “Alabaster Box.” It wasn’t Cece Winans’ famous version that I’ve linked below. Rather it was a dear friend who sang it through tears. The words touched my heart in such a profound way that I still think of it now, ten years later, every time I read the story of the very grateful woman in Matthew 26 who was willing to make such a sacrifice for Jesus who had changed her life.
Many people have a hard time understanding why I have wrapped my whole life around Jesus. Why is my every day consumed with thoughts of Him, service to Him? Why can’t I just talk about something else? What’s the big deal?
Well, have you ever read one of those touching stories about an organ donor and a profoundly grateful recipient? Someone is on the verge of death because of a failing heart or kidneys, when they are suddenly given a second lease on life because of someone else’s selfless sacrifice. They are overwhelmed with gratitude. They can’t put into words how much they appreciate this priceless gift. They would do anything to try to pay back that person who saved their loved one’s life – or their own.
My friends, that’s how I feel. Jesus has given me everything. He has given me a new lease not only on this present life, but for all eternity. And now everything in my life is seen through these lenses of profound gratitude.
Alabaster Box
I can’t forget the way life used to be I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound And I spent my days Poured my life without measure Into a little treasure box I’d thought I’d found Until the day when Jesus came to me And healed my soul With the wonder of His touch So now I’m giving back to Him All the praise He’s worthy of I’ve been forgiven And that’s why I love Him so much
And I’ve come to pour my praise on Him Like oil from Mary’s alabaster box Don’t be angry if I wash His feet with my tears And dry them with my hair You weren’t there the night Jesus found me You did not feel what I felt When He wrapped his loving arms around me and You don’t know the cost of the oil Oh, you don’t know the cost of my praise You don’t know the cost of the oil In my alabaster box
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, I am eternally grateful for all You have done for me. It is a joy to pour out my life for You. It is just a tiny offering to give back to You who has given me everything – my very breath and life and joy and peace and hope and purpose and everything I have – it is all Yours. My cup indeed runs over, and it spills out praise for You. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. You are worthy of every ounce of my life. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ who gave Himself for me. Amen.
The Lord blessed our family with four children over a span of eleven and a half years. I was a busy homeschooling mom trying my best to manage a very busy household. One way that I did this was with “chore charts” assigning various chores to each child in our household.
My oldest daughter was responsible for so many tasks around the home from cooking and cleaning to helping with her younger siblings. My youngest son had much smaller jobs like feeding the dog or putting away the silverware.
Were their jobs unequal? Definitely! Was it unjust? Absolutely not. They were different people and given correspondingly different jobs. They were equally praised for a job well done, and equally reprimanded for a job poorly done – regardless of whether they were supposed to clean the entire hall bathroom or merely empty the hall bath’s trash can.
Likewise, our perfectly wise Lord gives different people different portions of talents, but equal praise. To the one who invested well his five talents and the one who invested well his two, the Lord says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:20, 22) The one who invested well his five talents did not receive greater praise, nor did the one who invested well his two talents receive lesser praise.
The Lord is angry with the worthless servant, not because he only had one talent, but because he did not invest his one talent well. The one who received only one talent chose to hide it in the ground, saying that he knew that the master was a hard man, “reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed,” (Matthew 25:24) Surely this man doesn’t know the true character of his Master, for if he did he would never utter such words.
Good servants know the true character of their Master, that He is good and generous in giving His servants talents with which to serve Him. I speak from the perspective of someone who was once an atheist, living a life devoid of lasting purpose. As a follower of Jesus Christ, it is a priceless gift to know that your life has meaning and purpose. It is good news to be God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
What talents has the Lord entrusted to you?
Has He blessed you with children, a house, a skill, a passion, a testimony – or all of the above?
How can you put them to good use for your master?
Heavenly Father, You are a good Father who delights in giving good gifts to Your children and You are a good Master in giving us, Your servants, fruitful tasks to accomplish. It is a joy for our lives to have meaning and purpose. It is a joy to serve you here on earth and it is a joy to look forward to that day we will enter into Your kingdom and hear the words we long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the Name of our Gracious Master Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
Seeing yourself as a steward of your time, talents, treasures, and testimony
I remember many years when I was growing up and was left home all summer long under my big sister’s care while my parents went to work. We knew that our parents would be home sometime before dinner, but we never really knew exactly when that would be. When my sister would hear the back door opening, she’d demand, “Stop screaming, Kim! Be good! Mom and Dad are home,” and my steady stream of bickering would come to sudden hault. I didn’t want my parents to walk in on us mid-argument.
Fast-forward thirty years and I remember all those years when I’d have my kids clean up the house at five o’clock, so we were ready for their dad to get home. I wanted my husband to open the door to me preparing dinner in the kitchen, while the kids played quietly on the floor, the school books and toys put away. I hated for him to walk into the middle of the chaos that four rambunctious, homeschooling kids can produce.
Matthew 24 explains that though we won’t know the precise day or hour, we will know the season when Jesus’s return is near. Like “the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37) If the people of Noah’s time had paid attention they would have seen Noah building a boat and known that a flood must be coming … but they remained unaware until the flood swept them away.
Friends, the days are near. Jesus is coming soon. He will not tarry forever! We must “stay awake.” We must “be alert.” We must “keep watch.” Though we do not know what day our Lord is coming, we can know that it will be soon. (Matthew 24:42)
Are you ready for Jesus to return?
Are you like that faithful and wise servant who is busy doing his master’s work, or like that wicked servant who is going to be caught unaware when his master returns?
Are you anxiously looking forward to your groom to arrive and call out, “Honey, I’m home” or are you distracted by the trappings of this world?
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, You are giving us so many signs that the days are short. Let us be about our Father’s business. Strengthen us for the task that You have given to us. Let us not be distracted by all that glitters and calls for our attention. Help us to fix our eyes on the heavens from where our savior will return for His bride. In the good and perfect name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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