Daily Dose of Hope New Hope

Daily Dose of Hope
May 1, 2024
Day 5 of Week 5
 
Scripture – Exodus 13-15; Psalm 114; Ephesians 3
 
Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  Let’s get right into the Scripture for today. 
 
I’ve saved the final plague for today even though it was part of yesterday’s reading.  I thought we could talk about the plague of the firstborn, Passover, and the exodus out of Egypt in one section.  Many of us are familiar with this story.  Pharoah has been prideful and stubborn.  He has refused to listen to God through Moses.  He has been warned but must have thought he was above all of this.  I keep going back to how pharaohs believed themselves to be like gods.  He must have thought that nothing could touch him.  Boy, did God demonstrate who is the one true God.
 
I used to struggle with this passage.  Why in the world would a kind and loving God allow all these innocent little Egyptians babies to die?  Let’s reflect on this some more.  Remember how several generations before, Pharoah ordered all the Hebrew baby boys to be killed?  It was evil personified.  Then, God raised up Moses for such a time as this to confront Pharoah and give him opportunities to repent and allow the Hebrew people to be released from slavery.  God gave Pharoah many, many chances, probably over a period of quite a few years.  Each plague was a warning and a chance for repentance.  The plague of the first-born was the absolute last resort.  Pharoah was so evil and so prideful that it would take something absolutely outrageous to get his attention. 
 
That being said, it still breaks my heart that innocents were killed.  The only way I can really rationalize this is that sin has consequences.  Unbridled sin leads to tragedy.  And that is exactly what we find here.  Did God want these babies to die?  Of course not.  Pharoah, however, had free will and he freely chose to rebel against God and not care about anyone but himself.  The end result was devastating.
 
I should also mention that this whole passage plays a critical role in the Jewish experience.  As we read through the rest of the Old Testament, this event will frequently be retold.  Remember who brought you out of slavery in Egypt!  Remember who caused the Red Sea to part!  Remember, remember, remember.  Even now, Jews around the globe remember God freeing them from bondage in Egypt every year during the Passover celebration.  Of course, as Christians, we remember it too but we also know that it was in the Upper Room two thousand years ago, that Jesus turned the Passover meal upside down.  Remembering a huge part of faith, isn’t it?  We need to remember what God has done in order to trust in what he will continue to do in the future.  Take a moment and spend some time to remember what God has done in your own life.
 
Psalm 114 is a beautifully written psalm. This psalm is part of a six-psalm collection called the Egyptian Hallel, each one being related in some way to the deliverance of the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt.  Psalm 114 is a psalm of praise, focusing on Israel’s redemption story. 
 
What we know is that the Egyptian Hallel was sung at the three Jewish pilgrimage festivals. At a Passover meal, Psalms 113-114 were read before the meal and Psalms 115-118 were read afterward.  Think about it, this means that Jesus and the disciples sang these psalms that night in the Upper Room the night before Jesus was betrayed.  These psalms reminded the Jewish people of how they came to be a people in the first place.
 
In today’s Ephesians chapter, we find this beautiful prayer in verses 16-19 that Paul offers for the people in the Ephesian church.  He starts by asking God to strengthen them by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Remember, Ephesus was a very pagan city.  The church there dealt with opposition on a daily basis.  Paul knew they needed supernat

Daily Dose of Hope
May 1, 2024
Day 4 of Week 5
 
Scripture – Exodus 10-12; Ephesians 2
 
Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  Remember to give me your feedback and let me know what you are learning and how God is speaking to you through the reading. 
 
Let’s move to our Exodus text for today, chapters 10-12.  In these chapters, we encounter more plagues.  With each one, we have the same pattern as before.  God tells Moses to go to Pharoah and tell him to release the Hebrew people so that they can worship God.  Pharoah refuses and a plague is released upon the land.  After a lot of grief and destruction, Pharoah demonstrates remorse and calls Moses back, asking for forgiveness and relief from the plague. 
 
But at the end of chapter 10, we sense something different is going to happen.  The plague of darkness is Moses’ last attempt to compromise with Pharoah.  When Pharoah sends Moses and Aaron away this time, Moses is clear, “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.” But Pharoah has no idea what is coming.  His repeated acts of pride and disobedience will have dire consequences for him and his people.  More on that story tomorrow.
 
Let’s talk about Ephesians 2.  Central to our belief as Christians is that Jesus was not only resurrected but also exalted to a high place.  In fact, he sits at the right hand of the Father.  The amazing thing is that we as believers receive new life in Christ AND we also are exalted with him in the heavenly realms.  Paul states that the purpose of this is that we can be shown the incomparable riches of his grace.  Think about that for a moment.  The Message translation says it a different way: Once God has us where he wants us, he will have all the time in the world to "shower grace and kindness upon us."  Both sound absolutely marvelous.  We get to know and experience Jesus' amazing love for us right now.  We are exalted with him and he continues to shower us with grace and love. Wow.
 
But there is more.  Our salvation is totally and completely based on faith and nothing else.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus alone.  There is nothing else needed to be saved.  At the time Paul wrote this, there were plenty of people who said that circumcision and following the law were also necessary to be saved.  Paul has made it clear that NOTHING else is needed-we are saved by the amazing grace of Jesus and all we have to do is have faith.  God knows us well and he did this so that we couldn't brag about our salvation because it was totally his doing and not ours.  Again, wow.
 
One more thing from today’s reading - we are God's handiwork.  Other translations say "masterpiece."  We are created by God to do good things that God designed us specifically to do.  If you needed a Scripture to illustrate the phrase "God don't make no junk," this could be it.  You are God's masterpiece.  He lovingly designed you.  You are not a random experiment.  He had YOU in mind when he made you.  Your gifts and talents were also not random but were given to you by God to do good things for his world.  You are a masterpiece and you have a purpose.  Let that sink in.
Have a great day.  We’ll talk again tomorrow.
 
Blessings,
Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope
April 30, 2024
Day 3 of Week 5
 
Scripture – Exodus 7-9; Psalm 105; Ephesians 1
 
Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  I hope you are having a great Tuesday.  Please know I pray for all of you.  If you have any specific prayer needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at vicki@findnewhope.com.  I want to be there for all of you.  Okay…let’s get into today’s Scripture.
 
Today begins the real showdown between Pharoah and Moses, or might we say Pharoah and God.  Moses and Aaron demand that Pharoah release the Hebrew people on the command of God Almighty.  Pharoah doesn’t really care about God Almighty and he continues to refuse.  Even after all these horrible plagues, Pharoah refuses to comply. 
 
But one piece of the story that has always puzzled me is the hardness of Pharoah’s heart.  I mean God told Moses ahead of time that he would hardened the ruler’s heart and we can see that throughout each plague.  Sometimes, it seems to indicate that God hardened his hard and other times, it appears that Pharoah does it on his own.  How it’s worded will differ depending on which translation you are using.  But it leads to these questions:  How much free will does Pharoah have in this situation?  Who is actually calling the shots?  And why does the situation have to escalate into such destruction and violence? 
 
The first thing I discovered in learning more about this passage is that Pharoah is not one singular person.  Remember, there were many pharaohs in Egypt.  From what I can deduce, this passage probably refers to a sequence of pharaohs over a long period of time.  And while the author could have named the pharaohs specifically (I mean, they all have names we recognize – Rameses I or II, Thutmose, etc.), he chose not to.  Pharoah here simply represents the evil ruler of Egypt, but more generally is a symbol of human rebellion and sin.  Pharoah is an example of what happens when one person puts their own desires/values/well-being over another.  Pharoah is what you get when a person and society decides what is right and wrong apart from God’s wisdom and direction.  You find yourself with a nation, in this case Egypt, building it’s resources on the backs of a persecuted and enslaved people.  As the story progresses, we even find Pharoah putting his pride above the welfare of his own people.  Pharoah truly defines the human condition.
 
But what about the whole hardening of the heart issue?  In the first five plagues, we are told that Pharoah’s heart becomes hard.  In his arrogance and greed, Pharoah refuses to comply with God.  Pharoah thinks he has more power and authority.  I can’t help but think about how the pharaohs considered themselves to be gods.  Think about that for a minute.
 
But there are certainly some plagues in which it appears that God hardens Pharoah’s heart.  Why would God do such a thing?  Well, I’m not an ancient Hebrew scholar in any way, shape, or form, but my understanding of this text is that the hardening of the heart is not passive but active.  That means Pharoah’s heart hardens (not “was hardened” by someone else).  God didn’t harden it, Pharoah hardened his heart on his own free will.  This is one reason I like the NIV translation because it does leave this ambiguous. 
 
While I’m not going to spend much time discussing Psalm 105, please do read through it.  I think as you read it, you will recognize how the psalmist included so many of the passages and themes we’ve been reading about in Genesis and Exodus. 
 
Today, we are starting another New Testament book, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus is quite extraordinary!  The prose is both beautiful and powerful.  It speaks to who we are in Jesus, new life in Christ, and what we must now do about it.

Daily Dose of Hope
April 29, 2024
Day 2 of Week 5
 
Scripture – Exodus 4-6; Galatians 6
 
Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  Let’s get right into our Scripture for today.
 
In the book of Exodus, our reading starts with the signs God gives Moses, including a staff turning to a snake, his hand turning leprous when he puts it in his cloak and then becoming healthy flesh again, and water from the Nile turning to blood when Moses splashes it on the ground.  The purpose of these signs was to demonstrate to others that Moses spoke for God.  The whole time, we can sense Moses’ reluctance.  He is fearful.  I think we can all relate to his statement when he says in verse 13, Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else. 
 
While we know God was angry at Moses for his lack of confidence (which ultimately was a lack of faith), God shows much grace.  He comes up with the practical solution of having Moses’ brother, Aaron, be his mouthpiece.  God will give Moses the words, Moses tells Aaron what to say, and then Aaron communicates the message.  Together, they tell the Israelite elders about Moses going to Pharoah to release the Hebrew people from slavery, they showed them the signs from God, and they all believed. 
 
Before we move on to chapter 5, I did want to touch on one really bizarre paragraph.  Maybe you caught it too.  In chapter 4, verses 24-26, the Scripture says that God attempted to kill Moses but his wife, Zipporah, knew immediately what the problem was: their son had not been circumcised.  Thus, she immediately circumcised the boy, took the foreskin and touched Moses’ feet, and then all was well.  This is one of those stories when we can pretty much say we don’t have all the information.  Why would God call Moses to this hugely important task of freeing and redeeming his people, only to kill him because one of his sons’ was not circumcised?  We recognize that circumcision is important, but I think we are definitely missing a whole piece of the story.
 
During the next two chapters, we see Moses and Aaron going to Pharoah to deliver God’s message of letting the Hebrew people go free.  Pharoah is having none of it and rather than listen to Moses, he decides to double down on the Israelites.  He requires more work than humanly possible and punishes them severely when they can’t deliver.  Moses and the Hebrew people become discouraged.  More on this tomorrow…
 
We have reached the final chapter of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Paul once again emphasizes the main point of the letter, that salvation is found in the cross of Jesus and not in the law.  It’s somewhat ironic after what we read in Exodus regarding the circumcision situation.  How thankful I am for Jesus!  To live under the law was so difficult.  True freedom is only found in Jesus Christ.
 
But Paul also gives the Galatians some words of encouragement.  He speaks of sharing one another's burdens.  Notice the assumption: every single one of us has burdens and the intent is not for us to bear them alone.  There are certainly people who are resistant to sharing their concerns and burdens with others.  Some are embarrassed, others are too proud, some don't want to appear needy, and others truly don't want to impose. But Scripture tells us that God wants us to share our burdens with others so that they can help us carry them.  AND...God wants us to do the same for others.  None of us are too important or too busy to care for our friends.
 
Psalm 55:22 reads, Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you...  Then there are the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is eas

Daily Dose of Hope
April 28, 2024
Day 1 of Week 5
 
Scripture – Exodus 1-3; Galatians 5
 
Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  If you know someone who might benefit from this devotional, please send them the link.  They can sign up on our website, findnewhope.com, but the Daily Dose of Hope is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
 
Okay, let’s get right into our Scripture for today.  We are starting the book of Exodus and it begins on a dark note.  The Hebrews flourished and multiplied in Egypt but the Pharoah who admired Joseph and his brothers have died.  The current Egyptian authorities feel threatened by the Hebrews.  First, they respond by enslaving them and then move more into genocide.  We can see how fear drives violence and genocide.  But God is with the Hebrews.  The more Pharoah drives to eliminate them, the stronger they become.  I love the story of the midwives. Pharaoh’s desire to kill the boys spurs the women to action. With confident defiance, the women of Exodus 1-2 protect the boys, among them the one boy who will become the future rescuer of the people.
 
It's here that we meet Moses, the unconventional rescuer.  God has his hand on Moses from the time he was born.  Afterall, he was raised by Pharoah’s daughter!  But Moses knows who he is and doesn’t take long for him to rebel against the Egyptian oppression of the Hebrew people.  But rather than stay and fight, Moses flees to Midian, which is in the northern part of modern-day Saudi Arabia.  He seems pretty content being a dad and helping his father-in-law take care of his flocks. 
 
The turning point comes in chapter three of Exodus.  Moses is doing his thing, tending flocks in the wilderness, when an angel appears to him in a burning bush.  This is what we call in church language a “theophany.”  A theophany is a manifestation of God.  This isn’t too different from when Jacob wrestled all night with God.  Now, Moses is having a personal encounter with God.  This is his theophany.  So God tells him to take his shoes off because this is holy ground.  God is here and he is calling Moses. 
 
In fact, we see God lay his plan out for Moses.  Moses is the one God has chosen to save the Jews from the oppressive and violent hand of Pharoah.  Can you imagine what Moses is thinking?  He is probably quaking with fear and doubt.  I mean, God isn’t asking him to bake banana bread for a sick neighbor or even pray with a stranger; God is telling him that he is the chosen one to free the Hebrews from the yoke of slavery in Egypt.  Moses has to approach one of the most powerful men in the world at the time and be the mouthpiece of God.  So it isn’t that surprising when Moses asks, “Are you sure, Lord?  Who am I?”  But God insists.
 
When God calls us to his service, he isn’t joking.  We can try to ignore the call but that doesn’t mean God will let up.  My own humble piece of advice:  If God is calling you to do something, just go ahead and say yes.  You won’t win.  More on the Moses story tomorrow.
 
Our New Testament Scripture for today is Galatians 5.  Throughout the book of Galatians, Paul is emphasizing that in Christ, we have freedom. Under the law, we live in bondage.  He is imploring the Galatians to live as free people, true heirs of God, experiencing the fullness of life that comes knowing you belong to Jesus Christ.
 
In this chapter, Paul speaks to how easy it is to slip back into a life of bondage.  Others use their freedom to engage in sin.  Paul is stating that neither is acceptable.  True Christian freedom manifests itself in obedience, self-control, and love.  Just as Christ sets us free, Paul says that it is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that sanctifies us, allows us to better reflect Jesus.  When the Holy Spirit comes and makes a home within us, it b

Daily Dose of Hope
April 25, 2024
Day 5 of Week 4
 
Scripture – Genesis 49-50, Galatians 4
 
Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church’s devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  We are at the end of the fourth week – congratulations!  You are making great progress.  I would love to hear some of your big takeaways thus far.
 
Today, we are finishing up the book of Genesis.  This has been quite a journey.  Did you know that Genesis is the second longest book in the Bible? (Jeremiah is the longest by just a tad.)  We have covered a lot of ground in Genesis and this is Scripture that provides the foundation for the rest of the Bible. 
 
As I mentioned yesterday, Genesis 49 includes Jacob’s deathbed prophecies for his twelve sons who will lead the twelve tribes of Israel.  Be sure to read through them.  Understandably, they aren’t all positive.  Most of the blessing was reserved for Joseph.  When Jacob finishes speaking, he dies. 
 
The final chapter of Genesis spans quite a few years.  It starts with Pharoah giving Joseph and his brothers permission to bury Jacob in Canaan and ends with the death of Joseph himself.  But despite Jacob’s desire to Joseph to go back to his homeland, he is embalmed (keep in mind that Jews don’t embalm so this was a very Egyptian way to handle his body), and his body stays in Egypt.  Joseph’s dying promise to his family is that God will pull them out of Egypt and resettle them in Canaan.  How will this happen?  We begin that journey tomorrow as we start the book of Exodus. 
 
Let’s move on to Galatians 4.  Boy, is Paul frustrated with the Galatians or what?  He doesn’t mince words.  But he continues to make his point. Paul contrasts humanity's condition under the law versus in Christ. Under the law, people were heirs to a promise that God made with Abraham, but really they were no better than slaves, for they were still in bondage to the law. Under Christ, however, there is true freedom.  People aren't merely heirs to a promise.  They are children of the one true God. 
 
Our salvation has nothing to do with the law.  Rather, our salvation rests in the work of Christ.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  When we are saved, God puts his Holy Spirit within us.  There is an intimacy there.  Now, we call out "Abba, Father" which effectively means "Daddy."  We aren't slave children.  We are truly God's children whom he loves.  We can rest in the love of our father.  We don't have to be fearful or timid.  We can spend time with our Father God, sit in his lap, and soak up the love he has for us.  I'll close today with Romans 8:15-16, So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
 
Over the next two days, you can rest, catch up, or get ahead.  Our next devotional on Sunday will start week 5.  Have a wonderful day. 
 
Blessings,
Pastor Vicki