The One Year Devotions for Women with Jill Briscoe

Introduction

When David penned Psalm 23, he pictured a good shepherd leading his flock beside peaceful streams and resting them in green meadows. The Lord is our Shepherd, and we are his sheep. The nourishment he provides for us is found in the green meadows of Scripture. As we follow him and graze the passages of the Bible, we will discover our strength renewed all the days of our life! There will always be a fresh thought, a truth to be relearned, or an insight we have never had before.

Sometimes, however, it’s hard to know how to follow the Shepherd, or to find the green pastures he longs to lead us to. That is why we have created The One Year Devotions for Women. It is designed to help women read the Scriptures regularly and see that what God said years ago to David and all the other biblical writers still speaks to women today.

As you turn to these green pastures for a word of comfort, direction, or instruction, you will find relevant biblical passages and helpful explanations, which will serve to make the truth of the Bible clear, its message understandable, and its points applicable.

May your cup overflow with God’s blessings as you graze on the pages of God’s Word, grasp its meaning, and embrace its truth.

Jill Briscoe

January 1   January 2   January 3   January 4   January 5   January 6   January 7   January 8   January 9   January 10   January 11   January 12   January 13   January 14   January 15   January 16   January 17   January 18   January 19   January 20   January 21   January 22   January 23   January 24   January 25   January 26   January 27   January 28   January 29   January 30   January 31

JANUARY 1

TO READ: Genesis 1:1-25

ELOHIM

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

GENESIS 1:1

Used 2,500 times in the Old Testament, the name Elohim reveals the mighty strength of God. El is the Hebrew word for strength, while alah or oah means faithfulness. God’s faithfulness begins afresh each day (Lamentations 3:23). God is always fresh, never stale. We can depend on it!

The Bible is not a scientific textbook, but a book about faith. It does not tell us how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven. It also tells us who makes the heavens go and who upholds them by the mighty power of his command (Hebrews 1:3).

Elohim meets us in Genesis. In the beginning of days and nights, flowers and trees, fish and mammals, he tells us by his name that he is the Creator of all. God is strong enough to make myriad universes and faithful enough to keep them all spinning safely at the right speed.

And what does this name mean to me? It gives me confidence. It tells me that if God made the world, he can make my world spin around with a little more order than I’ve managed to create in it! It gives me something—Someone—on whom I can depend. If God is perfect faithfulness, renewing his pledge to me morning by morning, I can go to sleep in peace evening by evening. Elohim can be known; Elohim can be trusted; Elohim is there!

JANUARY 2

TO READ: Genesis 3:1-24

DIABOLICAL FOOTSTEPS

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the L

ORD

God had made. One day he asked the woman, Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?

GENESIS 3:1

Satan is called the serpent both in Genesis and in Revelation (Revelation 12:9). In one frightening chapter of Genesis, we catch a glimpse of his powers. He is seen to be cunning, articulate, a liar, a deceiver and destroyer, and an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eve’s mistake was to take him on! She was no match for the serpent; neither are you and I. The second Adam, Jesus Christ, met Satan and withstood his temptations (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus overcame and destroyed Satan at the Cross. Because of Christ’s victory, true Christians have the same power to overcome.

We are promised discernment to match Satan’s cunning, truth to counter his lies, and weapons to fight the unseen battles of the spirit (Ephesians 6:12-18). If we take on the old serpent in our own strength as Eve did, there is no contest. But that is more easily said than done! I like the story of the little boy who told his Sunday school teacher that when Satan knocked on the door of his heart, he sent Jesus to answer it! Very wise! The serpent is stronger than all our best intentions, but God is stronger than all the serpent’s worst designs!

Do you not believe in Satan? Then you really have been deceived! The Bible plots his diabolical footsteps from Genesis 3 to Revelation 20. Jesus believed in him and showed us how to counter his subtlety with triumphant truth.

JANUARY 3

TO READ: Genesis 5:18-32

WALKING RIGHT ON HOME

[Enoch walked] in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

GENESIS 5:24

Enoch was a faithful friend of God. He was in constant touch with him (Genesis 5:24). The King James Version renders this verse, Enoch walked with God. Another word for that is fellowship. His consistency in his fellowship with God gives us something to think about! In the end, after he had lived 365 years, he was favored by being taken to heaven in a supernatural way.

He disappeared, because God took him (Genesis 5:24). The King James Version says, He was not. One moment he was—the next he was not. It was as if these two—God and Enoch—had taken so many walks together through life, talking and delighting in each other, that one day as they walked along, God said to Enoch, It’s late; why don’t you come home to my house tonight? And they walked right on home! To be fruitful, faithful, and favored in such a way shows us what true friendship with God is all about.

Do we enjoy such closeness with God? Walking with God speaks of a commonality, a communion, an easy, conversational walk with our Creator on the road of life. It involves being honest with our heavenly Companion. Hurt feelings must be discussed, misunderstandings laid on the table. Fellowship means warmth of understanding and an interest in the thoughts and feelings of another. When we walk together with God all our days, we’ll find ourselves walking right on home.

JANUARY 4

TO READ: Genesis 6:1-22

STRIVING WITH THE SPIRIT

The L

ORD

said, My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.

GENESIS 6:3

God gets upset with us. He wrestles with us, showing us how to live, move, be, and worship him. He does this as he does anything big—by his Spirit.

In Genesis days, the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the earth (Genesis 1:2). The angel who announced the Incarnation told Mary, The Holy Spirit will come upon you (Luke 1:35). The adult Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit . . . was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days (Luke 4:1). In his temptation, Jesus resisted Satan in the power of the Spirit. Jesus, by the power of the eternal Spirit . . . offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 9:14). He was raised from the dead by the Spirit (Romans 8:11). He works with the Spirit in regeneration, bringing eternal life to men and women.

But men and women do not always allow God’s Spirit to have his way in their lives. Whenever God does anything big, he does it by his Spirit. One of the biggest things he does is change self-seeking people into servants! In fact, that is just what the Bible says: Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

It is the Holy Spirit’s work to strive with us to bring about that creative regeneration in our lives.

JANUARY 5

TO READ: Genesis 6:1-22

A PLEASURE OR A PAIN

Noah found favor with the L

ORD

.

GENESIS 6:8

Noah was a pleasure to the Lord. We are either a pleasure to the Lord, or a pain! What are the conditions of being a pleasure, of having such favored friendship with God?

First, we need to find out how we can bring pleasure to the Lord. Sometimes we really want to please the Lord, but we don’t bother to find out how to do that. We’re a lot more interested in how he can please us. The first thing that pleases God is our right behavior—our holy living even when no one around us is behaving properly.

Noah was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time (Genesis 6:9), for Noah knew and understood God. It wasn’t easy. It’s hard to be the only one pleasing God when no one else is bothering. What was the state of Noah’s society? The crime rate was rising—God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt (Genesis 6:12). God saw that the world was rotten to the core. Noah was God’s friend when others chose the friendship of the devil. But Noah tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will and commands (Genesis 6:9, 22).

Do we care more about pleasing God than pleasing others or ourselves? Do we see our world as rotten to the core as God sees it, and do we side with him? Then we can call ourselves God’s friends! When God looks at us, are we a pleasure to him, or a pain?

JANUARY 6

TO READ: Genesis 9:1-17

NEVER AGAIN

I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.

GENESIS 9:15

When God says, Never again, he means never again! No doubt Noah believed God’s word. One experience of the faithfulness of God leads us to trust in him more. Life’s experiences help us to look back and see God’s promises and judgments that have come true.

Noah began his new life in a brand-new world very wisely. He had a worship and devotional time! It was a time to praise and thank God for his faithfulness. And perhaps he needed God to assure him that things would be better in the future. Noah and his family had just ridden out the storm, and now it was time to move on with their lives.

After a cataclysmic event in your life, it helps to reestablish your devotional life. It’s more important than ever to listen for God’s never again and start looking for rainbows. Spend time reading the promises of God in the Bible. Underline them if it helps.

But what exactly can we be sure about? God promises that sin need never again control us (Romans 8:9-11). He promises that we need not be afraid ever again (John 14:27). He promises that his peace will guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7). He promises that we need never be ignorant of his will, for his word will be a lamp and light to our path (Psalm 119:105). He promises that we need never again be defeated Christians (Romans 8:37). As we read our Bibles, God’s rainbows color our perspective. Be encouraged! God’s promises never fail.

JANUARY 7

TO READ: Genesis 12:1-9

WHAT’S A CHRISTIAN FAMILY FOR?

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

GENESIS 12:2

Have you ever wondered why God blessed you by calling you to himself? Did you realize that when he gave this promise to Abraham he had all the families of the earth in mind—even those yet to come? God called Abraham and blessed him in order that he might become a blessing to others. God promised him, All the families on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3). This is one of the most important verses in the whole of Scripture. Our families—whether Jew or Gentile—can be part of this blessing promised to Abraham. The blessing has to do with a spiritual inheritance—a promised Savior, forgiveness for our sins, and a home in heaven for people of all races, colors, and creeds.

If we belong to the Lord, we have not been blessed just to be blessed. We have been blessed to be a blessing to others. The same applies to our families. God wants us to have not only our families in mind but all the families of the world. This is what Christian families are for.

Everything that God gave Abraham—children, fame, honor, and status (Genesis 12:2-3)—was given to him in order that his descendants would continue what God had begun in his promise to Abraham. They were to pass on the blessing to future generations. We ordinary people in a family are saved to serve the extraordinary purposes of God. We must use whatever material, substance, social standing, influence, and honor that God has given us for the good of others.

JANUARY 8

TO READ: Genesis 17:1-8

EL SHADDAI

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the L

ORD

appeared to him and said, I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.

GENESIS 17:1-2

What’s in a name? Comfort, instruction, and an invitation to trust what is revealed! I am God Almighty, said El Shaddai, the God who is enough.

This was news to Abraham, but he needed some good news at that moment. He was well aware he was ninety-nine years of age and well past the time to be able to have countless descendants (Genesis 17:2); even one would be a miracle! Yet God was telling him that he would have a child! The fact that his wife was no spring chicken herself added to his confusion. Abraham knew he had a grand opportunity to find out if God was as big and as powerful as his name! And find out he did. Abraham believed El Shaddai, and Sarah conceived! God had said that he was the nourisher, the fruitful one, the supplier, the one who satisfies—and Abraham and Sarah found it to be so.

What impossible situation are you facing? Does it seem as dead as Sarah’s womb, as unlikely as a ninety-nine-year-old man producing a child? El Shaddai would tell you he can make the impossible possible. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises (Romans 4:20-21).

God performs what he promises to perform!

JANUARY 9

TO READ: Genesis 21:1-21

A WELL OF WATER

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.

GENESIS 21:17

Have you ever been crying so hard that you’ve been blinded to the help that is right under your nose? Hagar knew about that. Rivalry between Sarah and Hagar had become so intense that Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away.

Abraham had sent Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness. It was very hot, and the water they had been given was soon gone. Hagar left her son under a bush and, going a little distance away, waited for him to die. She couldn’t bear to watch him suffer: She burst into tears. But God heard the boy crying (Genesis 21:16-17). It doesn’t say that God heard Hagar’s voice; it says that God heard the boy crying! Then God asked her, Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there (Genesis 21:17).

Have you ever been so busy crying that you couldn’t pray? Maybe you need to dry your tears and hush your voice to listen in expectancy. Our cries can block out the voice of God, and our tears can blind us to the well of water that is right under our nose. God is waiting to show us the solution to our problem. There will always be a well of living water available to help us cope with our distress. We just need to stop crying long enough to see it.

JANUARY 10

TO READ: Genesis 22:1-18

JEHOVAH-JIREH

Abraham named the place "The L

ORD

Will Provide. This name has now become a proverb: On the mountain of the L

ORD

it will be provided."

GENESIS 22:14

The name Jehovah speaks of God’s involvement in people’s lives. Many patriarchs recognized God’s hand of mercy and blessing in their circumstances. There are eight compound names of Jehovah that explain God in a fuller sense. We come across the first here in Genesis 22; it is Jehovah-Jireh.

God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Incredibly, Abraham set out to do so. Taking Isaac with him to Mount Moriah, he said to the young men who accompanied them, Stay here with the donkey. . . . The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back (Genesis 22:5). Notice he said, "we will come back." He had faith to believe that even if he did kill his son, God would raise him from the dead. After all, God had told Abraham that Isaac was a very important part of his plan of redemption for the whole world.

As Abraham raised his knife to kill Isaac, the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and stopped him. Now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from me (Genesis 22:12). Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket and sacrificed the animal instead of Isaac.

Because God had provided a sacrifice in place of Isaac, Abraham called that place Jehovah-Jireh meaning "The L

ORD

Will Provide." Little did Abraham know that God would one day provide the ultimate sacrifice—his Son—to die in our place as punishment for our sins.

JANUARY 11

TO READ: Genesis 28:10-22

JEHOVAH-YAHWEH

What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.

GENESIS 28:15

When God appeared to Jacob, he called himself Jehovah, the Elohim of Abraham (Genesis 28:13). The name Jehovah was first used in Genesis 2:4 when God made man. The title speaks of the special relationship between God and Israel.

When Moses talked with God and asked his name, God replied, "I A

M

(Exodus 3:14). Jehovah told Moses he had heard the people of Israel crying because of their Egyptian taskmasters and had chosen to redeem them. I am all that you will need as the occasion arises," he promised Moses. He is all that is needed as our occasions arise as well!

He cares when we are in bondage to some earthly taskmaster. Perhaps food or some other appetite has us whipped, and we long to be free. Yahweh has revealed himself as our Redeemer from all bondage.

It is exactly at this point that some reject Christianity. The idea of God’s relating to them in a personal way is too much for them. Somehow the concept diminishes him in their thinking. People feel that if God can be known, this brings him down to their size; if he is their size, why do they need him? But knowing someone does not necessarily mean knowing all about that person. The pot knows the feel of the potter’s hands, but because it is not the potter, it cannot fully fathom its Creator’s mind. Jehovah-Yahweh wants us to know him. His name assures us that he made us capable of knowing enough to experience his salvation.

JANUARY 12

TO READ: Genesis 34:1-31

OFF TO SEE THE WORLD

Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped. Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family, something that should never be done.

GENESIS 34:7

Dinah was young and daring and wanted to see how the women in the rest of the world lived (Genesis 34:1). She went to the annual Canaanite festival of nature worship even though this was forbidden for an Israelite. Dinah, so young and naive, roamed around the festival awestruck, no doubt, by the town girls’ oriental garments.

Then Prince Shechem saw Dinah. Saw means lusted after, for the text says that immediately after seeing her, he seized her and raped her (Genesis 34:2). After that, he tried to win her affection (Genesis 34:3), but his lust had already done the damage.

The sons of Jacob were furious and plotted their revenge (Genesis 34:24-29). Simeon and Levi, two of a kind . . . instruments of violence, were the main culprits and earned Jacob’s curse when he was dying (Genesis 49:5-7).

We are not told any more about Dinah. We do know that when Simeon and Levi came to do their dirty work, Dinah was rescued from Shechem’s house while her brothers killed all the men in the town (Genesis 34:25-26). Dinah had let curiosity lead her into disaster, and the little escapade caused suffering and death to many.

There is a Dinah in all of us. Suspicious that God is withholding fun and happiness from us, we go to the party either in our heads or in actual fact, just to see what the world has to offer and if it’s really as bad as some narrow-minded Christians say it is. Such curiosity ends up bringing trouble to everyone and disgrace to God.

JANUARY 13

TO READ: Genesis 41:37-57

READY FOR ANYTHING

Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.

GENESIS 41:52

Joseph was in his thirties when he named his son Ephraim—a name that sounds like the Hebrew word for fruitful. Joseph had experienced his share of suffering through his teens and twenties. He had suffered the spiteful jealousy of his siblings from his youngest days. He had been kidnapped and sold to slave traders by his brothers (Genesis 37:28), then sexually assaulted by his boss’s wife and wrongfully jailed for a crime he hadn’t committed (Genesis 39:11-20).

Yet God was not absent from Joseph’s turbulent years. He suffered the pit and the prison patiently, but then God placed him in charge of the whole land of Egypt and blessed him with a wife and children. Joseph’s life had been planted in the soil of suffering so that he might blossom into godly manhood.

The real fruit was seen in Joseph’s character—evidence of the Spirit of God in his life. Joseph showed love for his enemies, self-control with Potiphar’s wife, and long-suffering with people who forgot all about him when they had promised to help him (Genesis 40:23). God’s Spirit bore the fruit of righteousness through Joseph in Egypt. Could such fruit have been produced without the soil of suffering? Probably not. As James says, When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing (James 1:3-4).

Let God make you fruitful in the land of your suffering! Then you’ll be ready for anything.

JANUARY 14

TO READ: Genesis 47:1-12

OUR BORROWED YEARS

Jacob replied, I have traveled this earth for 130 hard years. But my life has been short compared to the lives of my ancestors.

GENESIS 47:9

In Old Testament times, long life was considered a sign of God’s favor and was linked, very definitely, to obedience. When Pharaoh met Jacob, his only recorded question was How old are you? (Genesis 47:8). Pharaoh’s query may have been prompted by appropriate awe in the presence of such an aged man. Jacob answered Pharaoh’s question saying that he was not nearly as old as many of his ancestors.

In the end, it’s not a question only of how many years God gives us but of how we live them. A long life may not necessarily mean a good life or a happy life, even if we enjoy God’s favor. For Jacob it meant a hard life, but he did not allow his later years to be bitter ones. When Jacob was 130 years old, he blessed Pharaoh. Seventeen years later, as he lay dying, Jacob gathered his twelve sons around him and blessed them.

The point is that Jacob’s old age was crowned with blessing and worship. Jacob used his borrowed years for God—he was a blessing to those around him.

So how do you and I live out our lives, whatever the years bring? Do we seek to live them as Jacob did—growing our souls upward toward the light in the fertile soil of adversity? Do we strive to be obedient, enriching other people’s lives? Jacob was a blessing; we should be too.

JANUARY 15

TO READ: Exodus 10:1-20

WHEN TROUBLE TROUBLES YOU

Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. "I have sinned against the L

ORD

your God and against you, he confessed. Forgive my sin, just this once, and plead with the L

ORD

your God to take away this death from me."

EXODUS 10:16-17

Does something really bad have to happen to you before you let God have his way in your life? Sometimes plagues of trouble bring people to their senses, and they truly repent and come to the Lord. Others repent for a moment, but when a reprieve comes, they, like Pharaoh, put the whole thing out of their minds (Exodus 7:23).

When God sent a plague of frogs on the land of Egypt, Pharaoh began to soften, so God removed the plague. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn (Exodus 8:15). When the next plague hit Pharaoh, he pled with Moses, Now hurry and pray for me (Exodus 8:28). But after God had removed the plague, Pharaoh again hardened his heart. Pharaoh was given many opportunities to deal with his sin, repent, and acknowledge the Lord. But he was never sorry for his sin—merely sorry for himself. He repeatedly hardened his heart, and in the end, God took over and hardened it for him. God has warned us that his Spirit will not always put up with people (Genesis 6:3). If we resist the promptings of God’s Spirit pointing out our sin and our dire need of a Savior, there may come a time when it will be too late. If God has allowed trouble to trouble you, it may be a stimulus to let his Spirit do his convincing, convicting, and converting work in your life.

JANUARY 16

TO READ: Exodus 15:22-27

JEHOVAH-RAPHA

If you will listen carefully to the voice of the L

ORD

your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the L

ORD

who heals you.

EXODUS 15:26

If the name Jehovah-Jireh revealed God’s concern for people’s spiritual health, the name Jehovah-Rapha revealed his gracious concern about Israel’s physical health. Moses led the children of Israel to a place where they saw God heal bitter waters, making them fit to drink (see Exodus 15:23-25). God then used this as a little object lesson, saying: "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the L

ORD

your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the L

ORD

who heals you" (Exodus 15:26).

It was at Marah, which means bitter, that God showed the children of Israel that he was the source of all health.

Does God really care if I am sick? Does he notice when my child’s life is threatened by some dreaded disease? Nowhere does Scripture tell us he will heal all people of all diseases; but he will heal many people of many diseases. There is no health without the healthy God. In his wholeness, we find a measure of health on earth and a full measure of health in heaven. Revelation 21:4 tells us no one is ever sick in heaven.

God heals, of that there is no doubt. Sometimes he allows the body to heal itself, and at other times, he miraculously quickens the process. Either way, he is Jehovah-Rapha, the healing God! This should be enough to turn our bitter waters to sweet.

JANUARY 17

TO READ: Exodus 20:1-18; 24:12-18

GOD’S TOP TEN

The L

ORD

said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.

EXODUS 24:12

In the Ten Commandments, God gave Moses a pretty substantial message for us. On tablets of stone were written ten things he wanted us to do. These laws were given to the Jewish people to give to the world. While some in today’s culture don’t want to admit it, these Ten Commandments form the foundation of our society, the bedrock of our system of law and order.

The Ten Commandments are expanded and explained in the books of Moses that form the Pentateuch. The statutes that Psalm 119 extols are the civil and religious applications of the Mosaic Law.

The Bible is a whole book. The Old Testament is the preparation for the Gospels, which contain the manifestation of the living Word of God; the Acts of the Apostles, the propagation of his message; the Epistles, the explanation; and the Revelation, the consummation of all things. The Bible is God’s library, yet some don’t even bother to join! God in Christ intervened in human history. The Old Testament sets the stage for it, and the New Testament describes it as it happened.

The Ten Commandments are not ten suggestions; they are the foundation of all the laws of life. They have to do with our relationship to God, to other people, and even to ourselves. Psalm 119 tells us that his laws are good, fair, and true (Psalm 119:68, 137-138, 151). Jesus said, Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear (Matthew 24:35). Words that substantive are worth investigating, don’t you think?

JANUARY 18

TO READ: Exodus 33:1-23

FACE TO FACE WITH A FRIEND

Inside the Tent of Meeting, the L

ORD

would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. . . . . The L

ORD

replied to Moses, I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.

EXODUS 33:11, 17

Moses and God were friends! Have you ever thought of your relationship with God in terms of a friendship? What were the elements of this friendship between God and Moses?

The first element clearly was determination. Moses had a very busy schedule, yet he was determined to spend time with God (Exodus 33:7-11). God watched over his servant Moses, for Moses had been given the overwhelming task of leading an entire nation from one country to another! In turn, Moses knew that he could not possibly handle the task of leading God’s people without constant guidance from the Lord.

Second, Moses did not exclude others from his friendship with God. "It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the L

ORD

would go to the Tent of Meeting" (Exodus 33:7). Moses knew that he was not the only one to whom God could speak. Moses wanted others to know God’s friendship, too.

Third, the phrase face to face gives us the sense of openness, honesty, and delight. Moses was not afraid to ask God anything. Moses spoke honestly, showed his true needs, and expected God to answer.

We need to nourish our prime relationship with God! As we meet him regularly face to face, he will fill our lives to overflowing, and out of that overflow our human friendships will flourish.

Do you lack friends? Start with God, and he will show you how to be a friend to others.

JANUARY 19

TO READ: Leviticus 19:1-19

PREJUDICE

Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.

LEVITICUS 19:15

Few of us would admit to being prejudiced. A dictionary defines prejudice as suspicion, intolerance, or hatred of other races or creeds. This type of unfair judging goes against God’s