From: January 28, 2026
“God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.'” (Exodus 6:2–3 ESV).
In this passage, God spoke to Moses at a moment when Israel groaned under Egyptian bondage and Moses himself felt discouraged about the mission. He spoke to reassure Moses of His covenant faithfulness by reminding him of His revealed name, Yahweh, the LORD. This verse has long puzzled readers because the patriarchs clearly used the name Yahweh in Genesis. Yet the Lord’s point was not that they had never heard the name, but that they had not yet experienced its full meaning. God had revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob primarily as El Shaddai, “God Almighty,” emphasizing His power to make covenant promises. But now, in the days of Moses, God was about to reveal Himself more fully as YHWH, the covenant name that displayed His faithfulness to keep those promises through mighty acts of redemption. This marked a major turning point in redemptive history: the shift from promise given to promise fulfilled. As Scripture unfolded, God progressively revealed more of His character, allowing His people to grow in experiential knowledge of who He is.
We now live in the fullest stage of this unfolding revelation. For God has made Himself known to us in an even greater way through the name of Jesus. Just as Israel came to know the deeper meaning of Yahweh through deliverance from Egypt, we come to know the fullness of God’s saving character through Christ’s deliverance from sin and death. Scripture tells us that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Through faith in Jesus’ name, we are not only rescued but welcomed. We are given the right to become children of God and to call Him Father (John 1:12). This means we don’t approach God as strangers hoping for mercy, but as adopted sons and daughters confident in His love. When we pray, when we worship, when we cry out in need, we come in the name of Jesus, the name that opens the way to the throne of grace. As we walk with Christ daily, we grow in experiential knowledge that our God is still the promise-making, promise-keeping God. And one day soon, He’ll keep His promise to come again.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for revealing Yourself to us so fully through Your Son. Thank You that in the name of Jesus we have salvation, access to Your presence, and the privilege of being called Your children. Teach us to rest in Your covenant love and to call on You with confidence and gratitude. Deepen our understanding of who You are as we walk with You each day. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: January 28, 2025
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1 ESV).
David, the shepherd-king, knew how sheep trusted their shepherd with every need. As he considered his relationship with God, he wrote of his total dependence and contentment to the Lord as his shepherd. He said that having the Lord as his shepherd meant that he lacked nothing, that he was in want for nothing that the Lord didn’t provide.
The apostle Paul knew this contentment in Christ. He said, “I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me… And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:12-13, 19).
Do you know this contentment, this lack of want, that David and Paul described? Are you able to say, “The Lord is MY shepherd, therefore I shall not be in want, for all of my needs are met in Christ Jesus?”
PRAYER: Dear Father, we have trusted Your Son as our Shepherd. We follow Him this day and trust that all our daily needs will be met in Him. Help us not to worry, but to trust You for every need and detail. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: January 28, 2024
“Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh” (Exodus 7:7 ESV).
The life of Moses can be divided into three 40-year phases. The first 40 years of his life, he lived as a prince of Egypt, the second, as a shepherd in Midian, and the third, as the deliverer of Israel. It took 80 years for God to get Moses prepared to deliver His people. That’s a long education. Yet finally, he was both humble and obedient enough for God to use. The last 40 years of his life were devoted to being God’s man, leading Israel out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan. The most powerful and productive years of Moses’ life were the years after 80. For he gave his life completely over to God.
What’s your plan for your later years? You’re never too old or too young for a God-sized calling to capture your life! Instead of retiring, why not view your later years as a time to retool. Learn something new to reequip yourself and reenergize yourself. Answer the calling you’ve been afraid to answer. Give yourself wholly to the Lord. Perhaps life’s greatest adventure is only just beginning.
PRAYER: Lord, we want to continually say ‘yes’ to the calling you have on our life. We don’t want to waste one minute of the life You have given us. We turn every area of our lives over to You. We are Your servants. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
From: January 28, 2023
“The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need” (Psalm 23:1 NLT).
David, the shepherd-king, knew how sheep trusted their shepherd with every need. As he considered his relationship with God, he wrote of his total dependence and contentment to the Lord as his shepherd. He said that having the Lord as his shepherd meant that he lacked nothing, that he was in want for nothing that the Lord didn’t provide.
The apostle Paul knew this contentment in Christ. He said, “I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me… And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:12-13, 19).
Do you know this contentment, this lack of want, that David and Paul described? Are you able to say, “The Lord is MY shepherd, therefore I shall not be in want, for all of my needs are met in Christ Jesus?”
PRAYER: Dear Father, we have trusted Your Son as our Shepherd. We follow Him this day and trust that all our daily needs will be met in Him. Help us not to worry, but to trust You for every need and detail. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: January 28, 2017
Why is there suffering in God’s creation? Humanity has rebelled and chosen its own way. And the whole world has fallen under sin’s sway. Sin begins as an attitude of self-will that wants its own way, rather than God’s way. So, sin is an offense against God, but it is also harmful to the one sinning. A father may tell his toddler not to touch the hot stove, but when the toddler touches it anyway, the father need not punish. The blistered hand is punishment enough. Yet, the day of judgment is coming when all sinners will be judged. Until then, sin itself is already at work in the sinner. For it entraps and entangles, enslaving and deluding, slowly squeezing the life out of the sinner hypnotized by its stare and strangled by its coils. Thank God there is a Savior, One who came to break the bonds of sin and set us free! Thank God for Jesus who not only releases us from sin’s snare, but also adopts us into the Father’s family. Those who have received Christ as Savior and Lord are no longer entrapped and caught in the cords of sin.