God's faithfulness | Kristi's Morning Devotional

May 14, 2021May 14, 2021

Keeping Promises

Yesterday Dave and I had a discussion about good intentions and keeping promises. In a word, it’s called integrity.

I have been reading about Moses and the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. The Israelites were in Egypt because of a severe famine some 430 years earlier. At first all went well for them. They prospered. They grew in number and in wealth. However, Joseph knew that Egypt was not the land that God had promised Abraham, the land flowing with milk and honey. So he made his family promise to take his bones with them when they left Egypt.

“Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him. Before Joseph died, he made the Israelites promise to do this for him. He said, “When God saves you, remember to carry my bones with you out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:19 ERV

According to my calculations Joseph died about 350 years before the Exodus. This causes me to ask “where did they keep Joseph’s bones for all those years” and “who/what family member or group had been given responsibility for his corpse”.

The important thing was the promise was kept. Integrity was exhibited.

There’s another promise made in Genesis. It was made to Noah.

“I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood. ^12-13The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. ¹⁴When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, ¹⁵I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life.” Genesis 9:11-15 CEV

A promise made. A promise kept.

God’s intregrity is on the line. He keeps His word for thousands of generations.

“God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises.” Numbers 23:19 CEV

If God gives his word He will keep it. He always keeps His promises.

“Rain and snow fall from the sky. But they don’t return without watering the earth that produces seeds to plant and grain to eat.¹¹That’s how it is with my words. They don’t return to me without doing everything I send them to do.” Isaiah 55:10-11 CEV

God wants us to know that He is worthy of our trust. We can ALWAYS count on Him to keep His word.

We should do the same. As His children we should imitate His character. When we give our word we should keep it. Instead of making a promise that we don’t know if we will be able to keep we should say “I will try” or “I’m hoping to”. Giving our promise or our word should not be done lightly.

Integrity!

Father, thank you for keeping Your promises. They are all written down for us to read and to believe. I desire to be like You. May I always be a promise keeper! Amen!!

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019

Mark the Moment

When Dave and I came to Rio Rico five years ago we noticed that many of our neighbors’ homes and homes in other areas were marked by large stacks of rocks in their yards. The proper term for these piles of rocks is “cairn”.

For hundreds and even thousands of years they have been used as trail markers, burial markers and monuments to designate a specific event. When I asked a couple of neighbors why they had stacks of rocks in their yards the answer was simple, “we have lots of rocks and we like how they look”. No particular reason other than aesthetics, they are yard art.

However, I remembered a time when the Lord had the children of Israel make a stack of stones and it was a memorial to His faithfulness. The Israelites were crossing the Jordan River and entering their “promised land”. This was the place the Lord had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would give to the Jewish people. This morning I was reading in Joshua and came across those verses again.

“Joshua chose twelve men; he called them together, ⁵and told them:

Go to the middle of the riverbed where the sacred chest is, and pick up a large rock. Carry it on your shoulder to our camp. There are twelve of you, so there will be one rock for each tribe. ^6-7Someday your children will ask, “Why are these rocks here?” Then you can tell them how the water stopped flowing when the chest was being carried across the river. These rocks will always remind our people of what happened here today.

⁸The men followed the instructions that the Lord had given Joshua. They picked up twelve rocks, one for each tribe, and carried them to the camp, where they put them down.” Joshua 4:4-8 CEV

Twelve stones. One for each tribe of Israel. These stones would be a remembrance for their children, grandchildren and all future generations that the Lord had kept His promise and brought them to this land.

When we came to our new home we felt we had come to the Lord’s promised land. It had taken us seven years to sell our home and make it back to Arizona. God was faithful and brought us here.

There is now a stack of seven stones under the mesquite tree in our front yard. To the passers-by it’s just another stack of stones but to me it is a reminder of the seven years it took us to get here. It’s a monument of God’s faithfulness and abiding love. Each time I walked to the mailbox, each time I walk to the neighbors, each time I take Glory out for a walk I see that stack of stones and I remember.

Do you have something special that you need to be reminded of? Is there a time that you prayer for something specific and it took a miracle of God to see it happen? Have you made an indelible mark in your memory of God’s faithfulness? Is there something you can do to that will be a physical memorial your children or grandchildren? Is there some sort of keepsake that reminds you of God’s provision that can be handed down through the generations or maybe it’s just a stack of stones in the yard?

Make a monument to the Lord’s provision.

“Then Joshua told the people: Years from now your children will ask you why these rocks are here. ^22-23Tell them, “The Lord our God dried up the Jordan River so we could walk across. He did the same thing here for us that he did for our people at the Red Sea,^[g ²⁴because he wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him.” Joshua 4:21-24 CEV

May 13, 2018May 13, 2018

A Gift from God

Happy Mother’s Day

This morning I imagine most of us are thinking of our mothers and children. We’re remembering times with both. The joy and laughter, the heartache and the sadness. Some have lost children and others have lost their mothers. The memories come rolling in like a flood.

Most of us didn’t have a manual on how to raise loving, well-adjusted children but we did have prayer, the Word of God and advice from other loving mothers. We weren’t perfect – oh, far from it! However, we loved! At times our hearts ached with an indescribable pain but most of the time we were kissing little knees and elbows, making cookies for classroom parties, taking long walks and listening to dreams and ambitions.

And praying! Praying that our children would grow to love the Lord; praying that they would find love and praying that they would be protected from the cruelties of life.

Hannah, Samuel’s mother, is an example to us all. She prayed desperately for a child and then she gave her son to the Lord for His service.

“When the boy was old enough to eat solid food, Hannah took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh. She also took a bull that was three years old, 20 pounds of flour, and a bottle of wine. 25 They went before the Lord. Elkanah killed the bull as a sacrifice to the Lord as he usually did. Then Hannah gave the boy to Eli. 26 She said to him, “Pardon me, sir. I am the same woman who stood near you praying to the Lord. I promise that I am telling the truth. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord answered my prayer. He gave me this child. 28 And now I give this child to the Lord. He will serve the Lord all his life.”

Then Hannah left the boy there and worshiped the Lord.” I Samuel 1:24-28 ERV

And she left the boy there…this morning those of us with children need to make that decision, whether they are small or grown, we need to take them to the Father and leave them there. At His throne, in His care, is the safest place we can leave them and then we must worship the Lord because He is able to keep them!

Thank you Father for the wonderful life of being a mother!