Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:23-29.

 

“²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child;  and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.  ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt;  for he was looking to the reward.  ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king;  for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.  ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.  ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land;  and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.”  Hebrews 11:23-29.

 

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1.  “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”  Exodus 1:22.  But, Moses’ parents had faith producing the courage to risk death, “they were not afraid of the king’s edict”, and they hid Moses’ for three months.  Verse 23.  “But when she (Moses’ mother) could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch.  Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.”  Exodus 2:3.  Pharoah’s daughter discovered Moses, had pity on him, and raised him as her son.  Exodus 2:5-10.    

 

2.  “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”  Verses 24 to 26.  By faith, Moses had courage to endure suffering.

 

3.  Moses had faith producing courage to leave Egypt “not fearing the wrath of the king;  for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.”  Verse 27.

 

4.  “By faith he (Moses) kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.”  Verse 28.  Moses had faith producing courage to keep the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, saving provisions that God gave to the people of Israel, and in the following language of Psalm 91:5-9, Moses was not afraid of the terror by night wherein thousands were falling at his side.

 

“⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸ You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.”  Psalm 91:5-9.

 

5.  By faith, the people of Israel were not afraid of the forces of nature in the Red Sea and had courage to pass through it.  Verse 29.

 

And so, these five lessons from the life of Moses inspire us, give us faith, producing courage to face and overcome whatever comes our way today. 

 

Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” 

 

Joshua 1:6
“Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”

 

Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

Joshua 10:25
“Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed!  Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.”

 

2 Samuel 10:12
“Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God;  and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

 

1 Chronicles 22:13
“Then you will prosper, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD commanded Moses concerning Israel.  Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed.”

 

1 Chronicles 28:20
“Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and act;  do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you.  He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.”

 

2 Chronicles 15:7
“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”

 

2 Chronicles 32:7
“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him;  for the one with us is greater than the one with him.”

 

Psalm 27:14
“Wait for the LORD;  Be strong and let your heart take courage;  Yes, wait for the LORD.”

 

Psalm 31:24
“Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.”

 

Isaiah 35:4
“Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not.  Behold, your God will come with vengeance;  The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

 

Matthew 14:27
“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I;  do not be afraid.”

 

John 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage;  I have overcome the world.”

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:20-23.

 

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.  By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.  By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.”  Hebrews 11:20-23.

 

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By faith, we believe that God blesses us.  By faith, we pronounce a blessing on our children believing that God will also bless them.

 

When we read that God promised:  “I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations… to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Gen. 17:7), we believe that such covenant and blessing includes us and our children.

 

So, what is this covenant?  What is this blessing for us and our children?   

 

Professor David J. Engelsma wrote in his article “THE COVENANT OF GOD AND THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS”:  “The covenant is the relationship of friendship between the triune God and His chosen people in Jesus Christ.”  Click here: THE COVENANT OF GOD AND THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS

 

He further writes:

“But above all, the place of the children in the covenant is important to God.  He said at the beginning of the history of the covenant with Abraham, “I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations… to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Gen. 17:7).  He inspired the apostle, on the very day that the covenant became new, to proclaim as gospel, “the promise is unto you, and to your children… even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).  Rebuking His unfaithful wife, Judah, in Ezekiel 16:20, 21, God exclaims, like an aggrieved Husband and Father, “Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain My children…?”  In Malachi 2:15, God condemns the divorcing that was prevalent in Judah, because divorce jeopardizes the “godly seed.” (And still today the unchangeable God hates divorce in the covenant community because it is destructive of the children who, as covenant children, are His children.)

How important our children’s inclusion in the covenant is to God is shown in the New Testament (Covenant) by Christ’s command, “Suffer little children (infants) to come unto Me… for of such (infants of believers) is the kingdom of God (made up)” (Luke 18:15ff.).  It is shown also by the careful provision God makes for the children, as members of the congregation, in Ephesians 6:1 ff.:  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord … and, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:  but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

And so, by faith, we bless our children.

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:17-19.

 

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;  it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.”  He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”  Hebrews 11:17-19. 

 

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By faith, we believe that God is able to even raise people from the dead.  We need that faith in order to believe that despite our death we will go to heaven.  Abraham needed that faith in order to believe that despite his offering of Isaac he would have descendants through Isaac.

 

We profess to the world our faith in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting every time we confess the Apostle’s Creed:  “I believe in … the resurrection of the body;  and the life everlasting.  AMEN.” 

 

We profess to the world our comfort in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting every time we confess the Heidelberg Catechism:

 

 

 

 

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:13-16.

 

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.  And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;  for He has prepared a city for them.”  Hebrews 11:13-16.

 

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We are pilgrims on a journey.  We are passing though this earthly life.  We do the good works that God created us to do on earth, but we look forward to heaven.

 

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.  Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”  I Timothy 6:17-19.

 

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:11-12.

 

“By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.  Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”  Hebrews 11:11-12. 

 

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Sarah “considered Him faithful who had promised”.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.  So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.  Please go in to my maid;  perhaps I will obtain children through her.”  And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.  After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.  He went in to Hagar, and she conceived;  and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.”  Genesis 16:1-4.

 

In addition, it is possible (although we don’t have Scripture to inform us one way or the other) that Sarah may have had fleeting thoughts that they would only have spiritual children, children of faith.  We may want to “spiritualize” every promise of God, so that every promise of God will “only” have a spiritual fulfillment such as heaven.

 

It is not clear to me all the thoughts that Sarah had.  As one example, compare the bookends of Genesis 16 in which we read of Sarah’s suggestion of Hagar.  Nothing is mention of what Sarah knew of the promises of God to Abraham in Genesis 15.  Whereas, later in Genesis 18, the promise is directly revealed to Sarah.  However, I think that we can infer that Sarah knew of these promises of God at the time she took things into her own hands.

                              

 

Most importantly, today’s Scripture informs us that Sarah did have faith and did receive the ability to conceive and did eventually have “as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”

 

There is hope that even if we experience lack of faith at some point of our lives, we may gain faith and rest on that faith and be viewed by God simply as having faith.  We may not be faithful at every point of our lives.  But, God is entirely faithful. 

 

The lesson for today is not that we should focus on Sarah and think how great she is.  But, rather, the lesson for us today is that we should focus on God and think how great He is.  Like Sarah, we should consider God “faithful who had promised”. 

 

God has made all these “precious and magnificent promises” to us.  God is entirely faithful to fulfill all of them.   

 

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”  2 Peter 1:2-4.

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:8-10.

 

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance;  and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;  for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”  Hebrews 11:8-10.

 

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“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6. 

 

Abraham believed that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him.  He “obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance”.  He expected an inheritance.  “By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise”.  Although he lived as an alien in the land, he considered that land “the land of promise”.  He “was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God”.  He had high expectations.

 

“For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise;  but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.”  Galatians 3:18

                            

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”  Ephesians 1:13-14.

 

We preach and teach God’s Word “…for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,”  Titus 1:1-2. 

                                            

“Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.  For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also;  but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”  Hebrews 4:1-2.  

 

“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.                                   

                                      

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:7.

 

“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”  Hebrews 11:7.

 

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Noah literally “prepared an ark for the salvation of his household”. 

 

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ark in part as “1 a : a boat or ship held to resemble that in which Noah and his family were preserved from the Flood b : something that affords protection and safety …”  Click here: Ark – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

We can believe that God is calling us to build a church or enter a church that is more faithful to God’s Word.  In a sense thereby, we are building and entering an ark for the salvation of our household.

 

Christian Schools can be considered arks.  They provide protection and safety for our children.  They are built in faith and entered to provide salvation for our households.   

 

Our ancestors even believed that God called them to leave their country to come to our country where they would have more religious freedom.  They got on ships, in a sense you can call them arks, to come to America for the salvation of their household.

 

Even our Reformed Confessions can be considered arks in the sense that they afford us protection and safety from heresy.  They are statements of faith.  We enter and stay within these Reformed confessions for the salvation of our households.

 

And, other arks may come to your mind. 

 

We can build arks.  Or, arks can be built for us.  But, in any event, we need to enter the arks.

 

Genesis 7:1
“Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.”

 

Genesis 6:18
“But I will establish My covenant with you;  and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”

 

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”  Hebrews 10:19-22.

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:6.

 

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6.

 

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Here are three examples of faith seeking the ultimate reward.

 

Abraham “… was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”  Hebrews 11:10.

 

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt;  for he was looking to the reward.”  Hebrews 11:24-26.

 

“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God;  for He has prepared a city for them.”  Hebrews 11:16.

 

 

 

 

We know it to be heaven, the ultimate reward.

 

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:5.

 

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death;  and he was not found because God took him up;  for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”  Hebrews 11:5.

 

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“Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.  Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.  So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.  Enoch walked with God;  and he was not, for God took him.”  Genesis 5:21-24.

 

From today’s Scripture and Genesis 5:21-24, we can infer that Enoch was pleasing to God, because Enoch had faith and “Enoch walked with God”.  We also note with interest that Enoch was father to Methuselah, a great high priest and type of Christ as we learned earlier in Hebrews.

 

We note no accomplishments by Enoch that the world would think is great.  Enoch simply lived by faith and walked with God.

 

“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”  Ezekiel 36:27

 

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”  Galatians 5:25

 

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”  Galatians 5:16

 

Jesus said:  “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart;  and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  For My yoke is easy, and My load is light”. Matthew 11:28-29. 

                                      

What is a yoke?  According to Oxford American Dictionary, published in 1980 by Oxford University Press, a yoke is a “wooden crosspiece”.  It is a foundation for pulling or work.

After reading this definition of yoke, I thought of the cross.  The cross is a wooden crosspiece that was fastened to Christ as a foundation for His work of carrying away the sins of the world.  The yoke that Christ endured was the cross, but the yoke that Christ give us is His Spirit.

The Pharisees lay law upon law on the people:  “And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders;  but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”  Matthew 23:4.

In contrast, Christ tied up the heavy loads of the law and laid them on His own shoulders and gave us His Spirit as a yoke:  “in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”.  Romans 8:4.

Today’s devotion comes from Hebrews 11:4.

 

“By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”  Hebrews 11:4.

 

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What sacrifice do we offer to God?  It may not be best in the eyes of the world.  But, by faith, we determine what is best for us to do in the eyes of God.

 

We may not receive the thanks or recognition from our fellow saints that we think we deserve.  But, by faith, we believe our sacrifice pleases God.

 

And though neither the world nor our fellow saints speak much about our sacrifice;  by faith, we rest in peace speaking through our sacrifice.

 

There are all kinds of good things that we can do.  We feel pressure from the world to do some of those good things.  We feel pressure from even our fellow saints at church to do other good things.  But, we only have limited spiritual gifts, limited time, limited strength, limited wisdom, limited passion, limited focus, and other limited resources to do that one best thing (or few things) as well as we should do it (or them).  

 

Do we please the world and do those good things that they want us to do?  Do we please our fellow saints and do those good things that they want us to do?

 

Or, do we do what is best and please God?

 

There may be times when it is best to do some of those things that the world and our fellow saints want us to do.  We must respect authority. 

 

But, there are times when it is best to resist that pressure.

 

Who can know what is best in the eyes of God?!

 

 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10.

 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”  Psalm 32:8.

 

“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13.

 

By faith, we believe God’s Word.  By faith, we determine what is best for us to do in the eyes of God.  By faith, we do what is best in the eyes of God.