Are you in a desperate spot? Sick of spirit, soul, or body? Are you frustrated because you’re not caring for yourself in the way you should? If so, I can relate. Our bodies, minds, and emotions are wonderfully made. But, if we don’t take care of them, and even when we do, they can break or get sick. Disease can strike…physically, spiritually, emotionally. But, let’s zoom in on a way our Heavenly Father chose to reveal Himself. Israel had just celebrated their crossing of the Red Sea and escape from the Egyptians. After three days in the wilderness and no water, they arrive at the waters of Marah, but the water was bitter. They couldn’t drink it. Picture the scene. You’re dying of thirst looking at water you can’t drink. And you can’t do a thing about it. You can’t fix it. Are you there now in your life? You have a problem you can’t fix?

Moses is desperate. He “cried out” to the Lord. And Jehovah-Rapha “showed him” what to do. Rapha means healer; to mend, cure, make whole. Jehovah-Rapha told Moses to throw a certain tree into the bitter water. Moses obeyed and the most miraculous thing occurred. The water became sweet. Exodus 15:25b-26 says, “There He made a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

Which brings us to a question. What have we cried out to Jehovah-Rapha about? What has He shown us to do? Are we doing it?  Jehovah-Rapha’s message is clear.

• “If”… that means there’s a choice we make with a correlating consequence.
• “we give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord our God” …. that means we pay attention when He shows us what to do.
• “and do what is right”…Moses had to do the work of cutting down the tree and throwing it in the water. We have to act on what Jehovah-Rapha shows us.
• “in His sight”…God watches to see if we’re doing what He shows us.
• “and give ear to His commandments”… God knows what works. Are we paying attention to how He tells us to live?

God is our spiritual, emotional, relational, mental, physical doctor. Have we cried out to Him? Are we doing what He shows us?

Jehovah-Rapha, Lord our Healer, we praise You for the complete healing we’ll experience in heaven. In the meantime, may we look to You for direction and then do what You show us.

Have you ever felt desperate and cried out to God for help to fulfill what He’s asked of you? Such was the case for Abraham. God asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. It seems crazy and incomprehensible to us, but God never intended for Abraham to kill his son. Abraham knew that. He told his servants, “We will return,” not “I will return.”  But Abraham also knew that God told him to sacrifice Isaac, so he took the steps not knowing what would happen. One step of faith at a time. In the final moment, as he raised the killing knife, God stopped him. He then provided a ram for Abraham to substitute in the place of his son. Genesis 22:14 records, “Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.” This dramatic moment was a foreshadow, a “seeing” of the day God would provide Jesus as our sacrifice. He would be laid on the wood, stretched out, and killed. In the demand of a human father being asked to sacrifice his son, we glimpse the pain and incomprehensible suffering of God sacrificing Jesus for us. God provided for Abraham and God has provided for us. How are we living in response to the great sacrifice our Heavenly Father made? Who might we share His love with who is killing themselves on the altar of self goodness all to no avail because Jesus is the only perfect and acceptable One?

JEHOVAH-JIREH, You saw our need and provided Yourself as the fulfillment for it. We’re overwhelmed with gratitude. Point us to someone with whom we can share the good news of salvation through Christ. 

Have you ever been called a “gift” because of who you are and what you give to others? Second Corinthians 9:15   describes Jesus in this way. “Thanks be to God for His INDESCRIBABLE GIFT.” What is the indescribable gift? Jesus Christ laying down His life so that we would receive the free gift of eternal life. The INDESCRIBABLE GIFT of grace, righteousness, and so much more that we receive in salvation! Who is the recipient of God’s INDESCRIBABLE GIFT? Every one who repents and confesses Jesus as Lord. YOU!

Thank You, Heavenly Father and Jesus, God’s INDESCRIBABLE GIFT! 

Once upon a time, before Covid-19, when you were grocery shopping, did you ever smell cantaloupe or peaches to determine if they were ripe? I remember the first time I saw someone hold a cantaloupe close to her nose. After she placed it in her basket, I decided to try the smell test. The first cantaloupe had zero fragrance. I returned it and reached for another one, wondering if the smell test was bogus. But as I held the second one close to my nose, I was pleasantly surprised. It had a sweet aroma. That evening at dinner, I wasn’t disappointed. Its taste matched its aroma. The Bible says Christians are a fragrance of Christ to God and to others. In other words, as we connect with people, they get a whiff of either the sweet presence of Jesus or a whiff of our anxiousness, impatience, or sin? How can we become a fragrance of Christ? We can daily focus on a character trait of Christ and pray He fill us with His nature. If you’re not already getting 365 Days of Praise – Beyond Ourselves, subscribe here. Be a sweet aroma of Christ to others.

People long to be IMMORTAL. “If I can drink from the Fountain of Youth….” “If I can exercise and eat right….” It’s in the human heart to want to live, not die. Yet, we are mortal and will physically die. Jesus alone possesses immortality and He dwells in unapproachable light, as 1 Timothy 6:16 states.  The good news is… the IMMORTAL ONE extends immortality to us. Yes, it’s possible for us to live forever in heavenly light. But we have to drink from Christ, the Fountain of Life. (John 7:37)  We have to enter heaven through Jesus, “who alone possesses IMMORTALITY and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”(1 Timothy 6:16)

IMMORTAL LORD, we praise you and thank You for making us immortal through You.

A person’s name represents the person. If you say “Billy Graham,” not only is a visual of the man formed in your mind but also what Billy Graham represents. If you say the name, “Hitler,” another visual pops into our mind, along with his character.  When Moses asked God what His name is, God replied in Exodus 3:14-15b “‘I AM WHO I AM;’ and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ … This is My name forever, and this is MY memorial-name to all generations.'” His name, “I AM” means “I am the One who is.” His name, “I AM,” emphasizes “God’s dynamic and active self-existence.”*  He is not only the God who was. He is not only the God who will be in our future. He is the God who IS presently active, dynamic, and self-existent today.  How aware are you of His active, dynamic presence in our life?

Lord, we praise you, the great I AM!

*Charles Ryrie, Expanded Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition, New American Standard Bible, pg 94.

Are you in a dark spot? Maybe not literally, but it feels like it. You’re down. You don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps it’s the sin that surrounds you that oppresses your spirit. Maybe you’ve lost your vision for future projects or the vision for the family for which you long. Perhaps the thought of growing older and entering the sunset years seems bleak. Whatever you’re going through, there’s good news. God is an eternal lamp that illumines darkness. Wherever you go, whatever your future, He will be there. Day by day, moment by moment, look to the Light of His presence in the midst of your darkness.  Say with the psalmist, “You ILLUMINE MY DARKNESS.” 2 Samuel 22:29

Jesus, thank You that even in the worst of times, You are present. You ILLUMINE MY DARKNESS.