Daily Devotionals

When we serve the poor, when we get involved in their lives, we also learn from the needy.

It is a statement of the universal mission of Israel, one that began with God’s call to Abraham and continues today.

Sabbath carries a message of equality, a reminder that we are all equally free children of the Creator of the world.

Those who resisted this enticement to sin and followed the eternal nature of their souls are the ones who lived. They chose the path of life.

Imagine the kinship and comfort they must have felt about their own predicament as they were reminded that Moses was just like them, living for future generations.

Yet we have to put our efforts into the proper perspective. We are only as successful as God wills us to be.

“Don’t plan for the future.” Of course, we need to plan. It would be irresponsible not to. But we need to plan humbly for the future, always remembering that whatever we plan, it’s all dependent on what God wants.

No matter how wicked Moab was and how much they deserved to be punished, God’s plan for the future meant that they must be spared. Moses needed to trust in God’s plan for good, as do we.

Despite the difficulties and struggles they faced — some of which we still face today in Israel — their hearts were full and their lives were meaningful. Who says easier is better?

He had full faith that he was doing what God called him to do and he knew that judgment belonged to God alone.

Because when people know that a command or rebuke is coming from a source of love, they are willing and eager to heed it.

The simple fact that we live at a time when we see prophecies in the Bible fulfilled just never gets old.