Foundations October 1, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Leviticus 13-15
SCRIPTURE READING
Mark 2:14b (NIV); “Follow Me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.

The Jewish rabbi was a religious leader who was given the authoritative right to discern the meaning
of a “righteous life” according to the Scriptures. Righteous living was essential to the first-century
Jew, who valued upright behaviour over the condition and intent of the heart. It was up to the rabbi to
teach his disciples to discern the Scriptures and the behaviour that God required.
It was Jewish tradition for an interested young man to approach a rabbi and request a position as
his disciple. The rabbi, then, would either accept or reject him. But Jesus came on the scene with
a different approach; He called His own disciples. Not only that, but those that he chose were not
always the most upstanding of citizens. Levi (who is the same person as the disciple Matthew) was
a tax collector, and therefore was despised by pious Jews who were against any sort of collaboration
with the Romans. In the following verses, we see Jesus openly criticized by the Pharisees for
sharing a meal with Levi and his fellow tax collectors. “Why does he eat with tax collectors and
sinners?” they asked. “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor,
but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
This month we will be discovering what it means to be a follower of Christ. Jesus has invited you to
be his disciple. With all of your imperfections, character struggles and bad habits, Jesus is saying
“follow Me.” Jesus has called you to follow Him. How will you respond?

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Take a few moments to think about the words “follower of Christ.” What does this mean to you?
What about the word “Christian”?
2. How do you feel when you hear that Jesus has invited you to follow Him? Do you feel
honoured? Unworthy? If Jesus randomly walked up to you and said “follow me,” what do you
think might keep you from eagerly jumping up and saying “Yes, Lord!”
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to prepare your heart for what He wants to show you this month. Ask Him to
give you a spiritual goal for the month.

Foundations September 30, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Leviticus 10-12
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 5:6 (ESV); Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be
satisfied.

Jesus has always invited men and women to pursue Him. He has promised that those who
hunger and thirst will be satisfied. This invitation is for everyone, we can all know God because He
created us and redeemed us through the cross for that purpose. He saved us so that we could be
in relationship with Him. Not knowing God is not acceptable for Christians. We must devour the
Bible; cry out to Him in prayer, we must be desperate to know Him, so desperate that nothing else
will satisfy. Our mandate as believers is to know God intimately, not just merely spit out facts about
Him. It’s a living knowledge of a God who dwells in the core of our beings. It’s time for us to lift our
gaze higher, to gain an eternal perspective, and to touch God for real. We must rediscover the God
of the Bible by entering into a lifestyle and a lifelong journey pursuing Him. We must understand
the revelation of God. A deception lies deep in the church today that puts our confidence in spiritual
gifts, abilities, resources, affiliations, etc. We must not be deceived any longer but rather be
confident in God, knowing that we can understand what is going on in His heart. God is crying out,
“Who understands me? Who knows what is going on in My heart? Who feels what I feel as I prepare
to send judgment? Who has a clue about the tenderness in my heart?” We are called not only to
know God but to teach others to know God. Knowing God is more than having information, it’s
about having a heart that can be trusted with the deep things of God’s heart. God wants to simply
be with you, not so that you can do spectacular things for Him but because you are valued by Him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Pray that the church would catch the vision of being satisfied by God. Pray that we would be
people who are hungry for the Word of God and that we would know what is going on in His
heart.
2. Spend some time praising God and worshipping Him for who He is, for His desire to know you
and for the gift of being in relationship with Him.

Foundations September 29, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Leviticus 7-9
SCRIPTURE READING
Proverbs 2:4 (ESV); if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures.

Meditation on the Word and hunger for the Word must be accompanied by wisdom. Wisdom teaches
us to value and strive for the treasure of gaining living understanding of God, which is worth more
than anything on earth. Wisdom calls us to search out these riches like a treasure hunt, and give
up everything else in the process. Matthew 13:44 tells us that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure
hidden in a field and like a merchant searching for hidden pearls. Why is the Kingdom related to
hidden treasure or pearls? It is because God wants us to choose to search for Him, He doesn’t want
passive, uninvolved followers but rather wants followers who are hungry for Him and are desperate
to be transformed by Him. In His wisdom, He uses the seeking and searching principles to purify
us to receive Him in deeper ways. God uses these principles to draw us more deeply into His heart
and into intimacy with Him. Fortunately, we are not alone in our search. The Father sent us the Holy
Spirit to help us search out the knowledge of Him and to encourage us along the way. Think about
it – we are called to a treasure hunt in which God has hidden the treasure in His Son, who dwells in
us by the Spirit. The Kingdom of God is within us. The knowledge we have been searching for has
been living inside us all along. Few of us are aware of what we possess in Christ and how much we
mean to Him. We are made for searching the deep places of God through the Holy Spirit. God is
inviting you today to join the treasure hunt!

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Are involved are you in the divine treasure hunt? Are you actively seeking God as your treasure
or are you aimless in your pursuit of Him?
2. Ask the Lord to refine your heart so that you will seek for Him with pure motives and that you
would be satisfied when you find Him
3. Pray that as a church, we would grow in our personal pursuit of God, that we would realize the
treasure that God is and that He is worth suffering for and worth sacrificing for.

Foundations September 28, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Leviticus 4-6
SCRIPTURE READING
Proverbs 2:3 (ESV); Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding.

Today we will consider what it means to call out for insight and understanding. Hundreds of
times throughout the Psalms, David cried out to the Lord and called the people to cry out. We
receive salvation as a free gift from the Lord and we can never earn it. However, through
spiritual hunger we receive the deeper things of the Kingdom. We don’t “earn” intimacy with God
but at the same time receiving deep knowledge of Him takes a certain heart posture. Building
a relationship with God takes time and effort; it requires both giving and receiving. God does
things for the hungry that He does not do for others. The gospels are full of stories of people
who hungered, who were desperate for God. The Canaanite women in Matt 15 cried out for
a miracle, the women with the flow of blood in Mark 5 reached out to touch Him in faith, blind
Bartimaeus in Mark 10 would not be silenced by the crowd but was desperate enough to cry
out. Are you desperate enough to cry out to the Lord? We are blind, wretched and poor but we
don’t know it. Jesus longs for us to realize the truth so that we will seek Him. He wants us to cry
out in our poverty of spirit and hunger so that He can give us what we are seeking – a deeper
relationship with God. So many of us only cry out to the Lord to fix our problems and mend our
circumstances. We cry out about our finances, we cry out about our illnesses, we cry out about
our wayward children or our abusive spouse but do we ever cry out about our own spiritual
deprivation and for more knowledge and insight into who God is and for understanding into the
heart of God? We must open our eyes and see past our problems and look to the God of the
universe who is willing to show Himself to us if only we ask.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask God to show you a picture of what you life would be without Him in it. Then spend
some time thanking Him for all that He has done for you.
2. Pray that God would grow your spiritual hunger, that this hunger would drive everything that
you do here on earth.

Foundations September 27, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Leviticus 1-3
SCRIPTURE READING
Proverbs 2:2 (ESV); making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to
understanding.

Yesterday we learned that we are to receive and treasure the Word of God, today we are going to
look at the importance of inclining our ears to wisdom and our hearts to understanding. We do this
by deciding to obey everything that the Lord shows us in His Word. This will take a supernatural
empowerment by the Holy Spirit. What good is it if we have our daily quiet time just to go out and
do our own thing all day? As we read the Word of God we should be encountering times when we
are convicted of sin. If God hasn’t been convicting you of sin in your devotion time then I would
suggest you change up your devotions or attend an Encounter or call the church for a prayer
counseling session to determine why. Being convicted of sin is a good thing, it means we can
confess it and deal with it and be released from it. Receiving the Word and treasuring the Word
isn’t enough, we have to go all the way and deal with our sin and walk out what God is showing
is in full obedience. Obedience is the Word living in us, ruling in us. Jesus said in John 14:15 “If
you love Me, keep My commandments.” It’s painful to let go of the pleasure and comfort of sin
and let go of bitterness. It’s difficult to face our sin, especially when it seems like something new
is highlighted every time we open up the Word of God. But, it is essential that we pursue Him
wholeheartedly which includes dealing with the sin in our lives. It is only when we begin to see
ourselves in our own spiritual poverty that we can see what Christ has done for us and worship
and glorify Him for Him. This will cause us to cry out for more of Him, a deep hunger and He will
come and satisfy.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Are you willing to let God speak to you about the sin in your life so that you can deal with it
and grow in your walk with Him?
2. Ask the Lord to show you an area of your life where you are not walking in full obedience.
Confess this as sin and commit to obeying God fully in this area.
3. Pray that you would keep pursuing Him wholeheartedly, that you would see what Jesus has
done for you and worship and glorify Him with your life.

Foundations September 26, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 39-40
SCRIPTURE READING
Proverbs 2:1 (ESV); My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with
you...

If we want to grow in our pursuit of God then one of the biggest steps that we can take is to
receive the Word of the Lord and treasure His commandments. Receiving the Word speaks
of the posture of our heart towards God and treasuring His commandments speaks of how we
value God’s commandments, which leads to obedience. God expresses Himself through His
living Word, which is not meant to be a monologue but rather a dialogue. When you read the
Word, take time to mediate on it, be quiet and still taking moments to reflect upon what He is
trying to communicate to you through it. The Bible is the door through which we communicate
with the Lord, don’t rush or you will miss out on the life of God. We must approach our Bible
reading with a right heart and open our Spirits to receive from Him through it. Instead of reading
God’s word casually, we must do it with humility and expectation. God breathes life into us
through His Word whether you feel it or not this happens each time you receive the Word of
God into your spirit. There are many people who find the Bible dull and boring mainly because
they are not fellowshipping with God through the Word. We have been made for relationship,
we must cultivate fellowship with God as we read the Word, spending time meditating on and
enjoying the Bible. The Bible is not boring – we are boring. Our culture has turned us into
passive listeners (watching TV, movies, playing video games, listening to music, etc). We aren’t
used to engaging our spirits therefore we are bored with Scripture. The point of reading our
Bibles is to actually take it into your spirit and have it written on your heart, not to get through a
Bible reading plan. If we commit to changing the approach we take when reading the Bible then
we will be guaranteed a deeper relationship with God.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Commit to spending more quality time reading the Word of God, combing through it instead
of rushing through it.
2. Ask God to help you develop relationship with Him as you fellowship with Him in the Word.
3. Pray that you will learn to engage your spirit with His Spirit.

Foundations September 25, 2011

SCRIPTURE READING
1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV); So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory
of God.

One of the hindrances in our walk with God is the dividing of our hearts into two arenas; the sacred
and the secular. We are children of two worlds, the spiritual and the natural. As children of Adam
we live our lives on earth subject to the limitations of flesh and the weaknesses and ills to which
all humans share. Contrast this to our life in the Spirit where we enjoy another higher kind of life,
we are children of God therefore we possess heavenly status and enjoy intimate fellowship with
Christ. This tends to divide our soul into two departments. The sacred acts that we engage in
are things like Bible reading, prayer, singing in worship, attending church, etc. The secular acts
include all ordinary activities of life such as eating, sleeping, working, looking after the needs of
our bodies and performing mundane duties here on earth. Often we can feel like these secular
activities are a waste of time and strength which makes us uneasy and frustrated. Many Christians
spend their entire lives trying to walk back and forth between the sacred and the secular and end
up feeling no peace. Is this what God intended for us? Did Jesus live a divided life? The Lord
took on a real human body that needed sleep and food; He needed to go to the bathroom too! He
lived in a human body among men and never once performed a non-sacred act! WOW! Amazing!
Paul’s exhortation to “do all to the glory of God” gives us a clue on how to live our lives. It opens
up before us the possibility of making every act of our lives contribute to the glory of God. Paul
even mentions eating and drinking! This means that we must practice living to the glory of God
by meditating upon this truth and talking it over with God often in your prayers. Let Him lead and
guide you as you pursue Him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Do you ever feel like you are living a divided life between the sacred and the secular? How
does this make you feel?
2. God expects us to do the “natural” things such as sleeping, preparing food and eating,
bathing, etc. Ask God how you can give Him glory through these things.
3. Pray that God will guide you in your pursuit of an undivided life.

Foundations September 24, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 37-38
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 18:3 (ESV); Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Sin plays many tricks on us and one of these tricks is infusing on us the false sense of shame.
For many people, the fear of being “found out” gnaws at us like rodents in our hearts. This fear
kills our hearts little by little and makes growing in humility almost impossible. What if people
find out who you really are? What if they see your deepest hidden sins?
The root of this is pride and there is no release from these fears until one takes on the humility
of Christ. Jesus offers us rest from the weariness of pretense. It’s time to release ourselves
from pretending. What is one way to do this? Jesus gives us the answer in today’s verse – we
must become like little children. Little children do not compare; they receive direct enjoyment
from what they have without relating it to something else or someone else. Only as they get
older and sin begins to stir within their hearts do jealousy and envy appear. Children also
readily confess their sin and ask for help if they need it. Are you willing to finally go to an
Encounter and deal with the issues in your life? When you do this God will be able to set
you free, at last. We must cry out to God to become childlike, asking Him to deliver us from
the urge to compete with another for a place of prestige or position…we must ask Him to
help us become as simple as a child. We must pray that He would deliver us from thinking
of ourselves first and Him last. If we are going to grow in our pursuit of God then we must
humble ourselves before Him so that we can find rest.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. What is an area of sin that causes you to feel a false sense of shame in which you feel
a struggle with the fear of being found out? Confess this as pride and ask the Lord to
forgive you.
2. Ask the Lord what steps you need to take in order to break the bondage that this sin has
in your life. Do you need to go to an Encounter?
3. Pray that God would help you think of Him first, that you would grow in humility and find
freedom and rest in Him.

Foundations September 23, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 35-36
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 11: 28-30 (ESV); Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

In this passage of Scripture we have two things that stand in contrast to each other, a burden and
a rest. The burden is one that is borne by the entire human race. It is a heavy and crushing thing,
the word Jesus used refers to a load carried to the point of exhaustion. Rest is simply the release
from that burden. It is not something that we do; it is what comes to us when we cease to do.
Pride is a burden that so many Christians needlessly carry; it’s a heavy burden of self-love. How
can you hope to have peace in your life if you have set yourself up to be a little god to whom you
must be loyal? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself will never find rest. Yet so many people
carry this burden continually; challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under each
criticism and tossing sleeplessly if someone else is given preferential treatment. Yet Jesus calls
us to His rest and the method is humility. The humble man could care less who is greater than
him because he has decided a long time ago that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort
and he has ceased to care what man thinks. A humble man is not afflicted with a sense of his
own inferiority; He has accepted God’s view of his life and knows that he is weak and helpless but
knows at the same time that in the sight of God he is more important than all the angels. He has
nothing in himself, but everything in God. He knows well that the world will never see him as God
sees him and he has stopped caring about what the world thinks of him. He will wait patiently until
the day when everything will get its own price tag and his real worth will come into its own as the
righteous shine forth in the eternal Kingdom. He is willing to wait for that day. In the meantime, he
walks on in humility, happy to let God defend him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask the Lord to show you any hidden areas of pride that you need to deal with. These can
be very subtle so listen carefully to the Lord and give Him time to speak to you. Confess as
necessary.
2. Pray that you will grow in humility!

Foundations September 22, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 33-34
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 5:5 (ESV); Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

If we wanted to find a fairly accurate description of the human race then one thing that we
could do is take all the opposites of the Beatitudes. The exact opposites of the virtues in
the Beatitudes are the very qualities that we see running rampant in humanity today. Instead
of poverty of spirit we find pride, instead of mourners we find pleasure seekers, instead of
meekness we find arrogance, instead of hungering after righteousness we find people striving
for wealth and material things, instead of mercy we find cruelty, instead of purity of heart we
find corrupt images, instead of peacemakers we find quarrelers and those that don’t forgive,
instead of rejoicing in mistreatment we find that humans fight back. Humanity is plagued with
heartache but does anyone bother to ask why? Could it be that a great many of our greatest
problems spring directly from these sins? Pride, arrogance, resentfulness, evil thoughts,
hatred, and greed: these are the source of more human pain throughout history than any
disease! When Jesus spoke the Beatitudes He was not uttering an opinion, He knew and
could say “blessed are…” with complete authority. It is wise for us to listen to what He teaches
and apply it to our lives. Jesus teachings were simple and the main the message was one of
humility, charity, and brotherly love. He taught the importance of transformation of the inner
person. Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life which will ultimately
lead to eternal rewards. Take a moment and read them in your Bible (Matt 5:3-12), meditate
on them, pray through them.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Which of the beatitudes speaks to you the most? Why?
2. Ask the Lord which of the beatitudes you need to work on, and then ask the Lord to give
you a practical idea for how to grow in this area.
3. Pray that as a church, we would be known as a people full of these Christian virtues.
Pray that one by one God would transform the lives of the Christians in our region so that
we are exemplifying the Christian life that God intended for us to live.

Foundations September 21, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 31-32
SCRIPTURE READING
John 5:44 (ESV); How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek
the glory that comes from the only God?

It is sad to say that the world does not honor God. Millions of people may call themselves
Christians, some may pay some respect to Him but a simple test will show how little He is really
honored among them. The test is quite simple; let the man choose between God and money,
or between God and men, or between God and personal ambition, or between God and self, or
between God and human love, or between God and anything else. What you exalt higher than
God is proved by the choices that you make every day. One of the biggest problems in today’s
church is that people yearn for honor from men instead of wanting to receive honor from God.
When you look at today’s verse, spoken by Jesus, you will see that the desire for honor from men
makes belief impossible. Is this the sin that is at the root of religious unbelief? Could it be that
the many excuses that people use for their inability to believe and grow in God are all a smoke
screen used to conceal the real cause that lies behind them? Is it greedy desire for honor from
man that makes us into Pharisees and blinds us to our real spiritual condition? Is this the secret of
self-righteousness and empty worship? The whole course of life is upset by the failure to put God
where He belongs when exalt ourselves instead of God. It’s time for the church to repent of this.
It’s time to take a long deep look into our hearts and see where we are yearning for honor from
man instead of honor from God. If we are to move forward as individuals and as a church then we
must be willing to get our hands dirty and let the Holy Spirit shine His light into our ugly hearts and
reveal what is really there. The result will be worth it all as we are drawn deeper into relationship
with God, for His glory and not for our own!

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask the Lord to reveal to you areas where you have sought honour from man. Confess this
as sin and ask God to forgive you.
2. Ask the Lord to help you live your life for God’s glory alone and not for the praise of man.
3. Pray that the church would grow in humility and that God would be gloried in us and through
us.

Foundations September 20, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 29-30
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalms 34:3 (ESV); Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Many Christians find themselves torn between worldly pleasures and following Jesus.
Yesterday we looked at the necessity of relating to God with Him as complete Lord over our
lives. This includes putting ourselves in a proper place of submission to Him. The moment we
make up our minds that we are going to do this, we exalt Him the way Scripture commands us
to. A break with the world will be the direct result of our submission and exaltation of God. As
we continue to submit to God we will find ourselves not yearning so hard for the things of the
world but instead we will find that we are making progress in our spiritual lives. Our desires
and our viewpoints will begin to change as the power of the Holy Spirit grows inside of us. “Be
thou exalted” is the language of the victorious Christian. It is a little key that unlocks the door of
the treasures of grace. It is central to the life of God. In our pursuit of God we must get to the
place where “be thou exalted” is what we say continually and our actions exhibit that attitude.
When we get to that place in our walk with God then a thousand problems will cease to exist
and life will be less complicated. Are you afraid that you will lose something if you voluntarily
sell-out all of yourself to God? The fact is that when we exalt God to the place that He requires
then we will find peace in our souls as we are no longer slaves to sin. We are made in God’s
image and therefore God is meant to be the only habitat for our hearts and our hearts won’t feel
at home again until we are fully surrendered to Him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Are you afraid that you will lose something if you voluntarily sell-out all of yourself to God?
Ask the Lord to help you work through these fears.
2. Pray that your life of submission to God would be pleasing to God and that He would be
exalted through your obedience. Pray that you would diminish and that God would be
magnified!
3. Spend some time praising God for His goodness in your life, that He helps us grow and is
so good to us!

Foundations September 19, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 27-28
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation 4:11 (ESV); Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

When God created Adam and Eve there was perfect harmony in the world. The relationship
between God and man was also perfect. The fall of man caused a sharp change in man’s
relation to his Creator. The proper relationship between God and man was destroyed. Salvation
essentially is the restoration of a right relationship between man and God, bringing back the
relationship that God had intended to have with man as He had in the Garden of Eden. In order
to have a satisfactory spiritual life there must be a change in relationship between God and the
sinner. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross makes this possible and the working of the Holy Spirit
makes it satisfying. So how do we change our relationship with God? First, we must begin with
our view of God. God is above us in rank and station, exalted in dignity and honor. He gave being
to all things and all things exist out of Him and for Him. Every soul exists by His pleasure and
the only thinkable relation between us and Him is one of His full Lordship over us. This requires
complete submission to Him as we owe Him every honor that it is in our power to give Him. Much
of our difficulty as Christians stems from our unwillingness put ourselves in the proper place of
submission to God. The person in pursuit of God will embrace the labor of bringing their total
personality into conformity to His. It requires the willingness to surrender our whole being to the
place of worshipful submission to Him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. In listening prayer, ask the Lord to show you through a word, thought or picture where you
are at in your submission to Him. Are you holding back any areas in your life from God? If
so, what areas.
2. Are you willing to work through these areas of insubmissiveness? Are you willing to put
yourself in the proper place of submission to God? Ask God to give you 1-2 practical steps
that you can take today.
3. Pray that you will grow in putting Jesus in the place of functional Lord of your life and that you
would surrender to Him fully.

Foundations September 18, 2011

SCRIPTURE READING
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV); But we all…beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory.

One aspect of faith is choosing over and over again to keep our hearts gazing on Jesus. Our faith is
solid because of the God who we put our faith in. Faith is occupied by the Object upon which it rests.
While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves. There are many spiritual disciples that we can
put into our lives in order to grow our faith. Prayer is a primary method of keeping our eyes focuses
on God and should be practiced by every Christian. Long periods of Bible meditation will purify our
gaze and direct it. Church attendance will enlarge our outlook and increase our love for others.
Service or ministry should be engaged by every Christian. But at the bottom of all of these things will
be the inward habit of beholding God. As we do this a new set of eyes will develop within us enabling
us to be looking at God while our outward eyes are seeing the scenes of the world around us. When
the habit of gazing toward God becomes fixed within us then we will be ushered into a new level of
spiritual life more in keeping with the promises of God and the mood of the New Testament.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Prayer, Bible meditation, Church attendance and ministry are all ways to increase our faith. Ask
the Lord which of these four things He wants to grow in your life. Then ask Him what He would
like you to commit to in this area.
2. What does it mean for you to behold God and gaze at Him? What are some practical things that
you can do in order to behold God more and at a deeper level?
3. Pray that you will obey the things that the Lord has showed you today. Pray that you will learn
to engage with God throughout your day, that you would have your eyes fixed on Him.

Foundations September 17, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 25-26
SCRIPTURE READING
2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV); For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to
give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

The most important thing about faith is not the amount of faith that you have but rather the object
that you put your faith in. Faith itself has no merit, the merit is in the object of our faith, the One
toward Whom it is directed. If I have faith that I can jump off a cliff and start flying, I would be
deathly wrong. The thing about faith is that sin distracts us from focusing on God who is the
object of our faith. Sin twists our vision inward and as a result we focus on ourselves. Faith is
redirecting that focus toward God. Faith looks out instead of in and the result is that our whole
lives fall into line. This may seem too simple yet when we lift our eyes to gaze upon God we are
sure to meet His friendly eyes gazing back at us. Our verse today says that the eyes of the Lord
run to and fro throughout all the earth – when our eyes meet His eyes we are sure to be changed.
You may say, “I don’t have time to devote to this sort of gazing, I am a busy person and have
little time to spend alone”. I am happy to say that the life of being God’s child is for everyone
regardless of the circumstances in their lives and that it is not beyond the reach of anyone. Many
have found this secret and practice the inward gazing upon God every day. Yes, they have much
business to do in their lives but they still find a way to keep their attention on God. This is a key in
our pursuit of God. Tomorrow we will look at some practical ways of doing this.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask the Lord to reveal to you any sins that would be twisting your vision off of the Lord.
Confess as necessary.
2. Ask the Lord to show you ways that you can redirect your focus on Him. Thank Him that
when we focus on Him we always find His friendly eyes gazing back at us. Praise Him for
His goodness.
3. Pray that you would find the time and learn the devotion necessary to keep your focus on
God and your constant pursuit of Him. Pray that you won’t give up striving for more and
more of His presence in your life.

Foundations September 16, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 23-24
SCRIPTURE READING
Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV); looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Faith, without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is essential for our walk with God. Without
faith there is no approach to God, no forgiveness, no deliverance, no salvation, no communion,
no spiritual life at all. Faith is a must in our pursuit of God therefore we must be deeply concerned
over whether or not we possess it. Too many Christians spend all their time and energy trying to
define faith instead of trying to exercise it. That is a great error in our walk with God for it is better
to exercise faith than to know its definition. In Hebrews when we are told to look to Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith we learn that faith is not a once-done act but a continuous gaze of
the heart at God. It’s turning our heart’s attention towards Jesus, its lifting our head to behold the
Lamb of God and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives. There are many things that
can hinder us along the way but the committed heart, after each brief disruption, will return again to
the gazing. Over time the distractions will lessen and the gazing will grow deeper and deeper.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. How would you define faith? Why is faith so important in our walk with God? Why can we not
pursue God without it?
2. Have you been trying to develop your faith on your own or have you been looking to Jesus as
the author of your faith? What would it mean for you to look to Jesus instead of doing it on
your own?
3. Pray that God would teach you to exercise faith and grow you faith. Pray that you would
never cease to gaze on Him and turn your full attention towards Him. Pray that as a church
we would have a strong foundation of faith.

Foundations September 15, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 21-22
SCRIPTURE READING
John 10:27 (ESV); My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Today, stillness is not part of popular religion. Instead, religion has embraced the monstrous
heresy that noise, size and activity make a man dear to God. God isn’t interested in bigger and
better worship services; God isn’t fascinated by the noise that we make in worship. God says,
“Be still and know that I am God.” We must be still to wait on God. The best place to be still is
somewhere that we can be alone with our Bibles and our journals. Then if we begin to listen, we
will hear Him speak to us in our hearts. First, we may only hear His footsteps, and then we may
hear a more intelligible sound that is far but clear. Then, as we keep listening, we will eventually
hear the incredible sound of the Holy Spirit illuminating our hearts. The sound will be warm,
intimate and as clear as a word from a dear friend. Then things will come to life as we embrace
Jesus. We must remember that this is not automatic, it will take time and effort in order to grow in
Hearing God but it will be worth the effort. The Bible will never be a living Book to us until we are
convinced God is speaks today. We must not read our Bibles as a book that recorded what God
said a long time ago but rather as living Book in which God can speak to us now through it. Jesus
is called the Word; He desires to speak to you. The Bible is not a book that was once spoken bur
rather is a Book that is now speaking. When you read your Bible, expect that God will speak to
you through it. Listen for the voice of God, a word, the very Word of the living God.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Pray that God would teach you to listen, ask Him to help you discern the sound of His voice.
2. Ask the Lord to reveal to you some of the “noise” in your life that is preventing you from
hearing God. Ask Him to show you a strategy for getting rid of that “noise” so that you can
hear Him better.
3. Pray that the Bible will become for you a book that speaks to you, pray that the Holy Spirit
will speak to you each time you read the Word of God and that He will help you apply the
Word to your life.

Foundations September 14, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 19-20
SCRIPTURE READING
John 1:1 (ESV); In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.

Anyone reading today’s verse would easily see that John meant to teach that it is the nature
of God to speak and to communicate His thoughts to others. This is a correct assumption.
We use words to express thoughts and communicate with others and the application of “the
Word” being Jesus tells us that self expression is inherent in the Godhead. God is forever
seeking to speak Himself out to His creation. God is speaking, not God spoke, but God is
speaking. Understanding this concept is key in our pursuit of God for how can we have an
interactive relationship with a God who does not communicate? The Bible is the written Word
of God and because it is written it is confined and limited by ink and paper. The Voice of God
however is alive and free as God is alive and free. In John 6:63 Jesus says “The words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life”. God’s voice has not been silent since He
spoke the world into existence upon creation and it has not been silent since the canonization
of Scripture. God is speaking. God did not write a book and then send it by messenger to be
read at a distance by unaided minds. Yes, He gave us the Bible and He lives in there but He
is also constantly speaking His words today. The fact that God speaks and how we react is
important to note. Are we like the scientist who kneels to examine, to search, to find the cause
and the how of things or are we more like the worshipper who does not claim to understand but
stands in awe, then falls to his knees and whispers “God!”

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Are you willing to accept that God speaks, even today? Are you willing to ask God to
speak to you, to lead you, to guide you? If you struggle with this, are you willing to take
the Hearing God course so that you can learn more?
2. Spend some time confessing on behalf of the church, that we have silenced God by not
believing that He speaks. Ask the Lord to forgive us and to speak to His children.
3. Pray that you would be open to hear what the Lord wants to say to you, even the tough
stuff, so that you can grow spiritually.

Foundations September 13, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 1-2
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 6:33 (ESV); But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you.

Failure to seek the Lord is the reason that we see so many Christians with shallow lives and who
have hollow religious philosophies. Today’s churches are full of fun and the glorification of men
but where is God? Many churches have become quasi-religious fellowships using salesmanship
methods and mistaking dynamic personalities for the power of the Holy Spirit. We have lost
our way and as a result we are sick and anemic spiritually. These are the symptoms of an evil
disease which is a sickness that is upon the Western Church. We all have contributed to this
problem either directly or indirectly. We have copied one another’s spiritual lives and made
one another’s experiences the model for our own instead of looking to the Word of God as our
standard. In fact, we have made the Word of God conform to our experience instead of striving for
our experiences to conform to the Word of God. But we don’t have to be satisfied with a mediocre
relationship with God. It will require a determined heart and more than a little courage to wrench
ourselves loose from the grip of our culture and return to Biblical ways, but it can be done! Such
men as St. Francis, Martin Luther and John Wesley have done it so we can too! Let’s seek to
God’s face earnestly and root out godlessness from our lives. Let’s develop spiritual receptivity to
God by trusting and obeying Him in humility. Let’s repent and turn to God wholeheartedly and use
the Bible as our spiritual standard instead of the world.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Spend some time in personal repentance. Ask the Lord to show you areas of your life where
you are not obeying Him or trusting Him. Confess these things as sin and ask for Him to
empower you to live victoriously in these areas.
2. Pray that the church would grow in spiritual receptivity by trusting and obeying God in
humility. Pray for a revival within the church, that we would grow apart from the world and
use the Bible as our spiritual standard instead of the world.

Foundations September 12, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 17-18
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 27:8 (ESV); You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do
I seek.”

We learned yesterday that God is present everywhere! Today we will look at how He is forever
seeking to manifest Himself to us. If God is present everywhere then why do some people
“find” God in a way that others do not? Why does God manifest His Presence to some and let
multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience? Of course
the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever
done for any of His children He will do for all of His children. The difference lies not with God
but with us. If you pick a famous saint of old or a Bible character you will realize instantly that
their lives were not alike. Sometimes the differences are glaring. How different was Moses from
Isaiah; how different was Elijah from David; how unlike each other were John and Paul. The
differences are as wide as human life itself just like today; Christians differ in race, nationality,
education, temperament, habit and personal qualities. One of the biggest differences between
someone who experiences the presence of God and someone who doesn’t is that when they feel
the inward longing to experience God they did something about it. They responded spiritually
to God, they sought the Lord’s face. Seeking God can be present in degrees, depending on the
individual; it may be increased by exercise or destroyed by neglect. It is a gift of God that must
be recognized and cultivated just as any other gift if it is to be realized for the purpose for which
it was given. Failure to see the importance of cultivation and exercise is one of the reasons
that the modern evangelical church is breaking down. We can’t spend minimal time in devotions
and think that we can grow in God.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Think about your own experience with God. What would be an example of your exercising
yourself spiritually and then growing as a result? Have you ever neglected God and then
shrunk spiritually?
2. Ask the Lord to show you how He wants you to cultivate your spiritual life so that you can
“find” Him in a more powerful way.

Foundations September 11, 2011

SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 139:7 (ESV); Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Divine immanence refers to the fact that God dwells in His creation and is everywhere indivisibly
present in all His works. Basically it means that God is omnipresent, or present everywhere. God
is here; wherever we are, God is there; there is no place where He is not. God is everywhere; there
is no point that is closer or farther from God for God is in all places. Why does it matter if God is
present everywhere? What does divine immanence or God’s omnipresence mean for me? Let’s use
an illustration: when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he tried to do the impossible – hide from
God, but He couldn’t. David must have had a similar idea when he wrote today’s verse - Where
shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If God is present at every point
in space then we can’t even conceive a place where He is not. So what’s the big deal about all of
this? The point is that the Presence of the Lord and the manifestation of His Presence are not the
same. There can be one without the other. God is with us even when we are totally unaware of His
Presence. He is present everywhere, all the time. But if we are going to experience His presence
then there must be a surrender to the Spirit of God on our part. If we cooperate with Him in loving
obedience God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a
nominal Christian life and a radiant Christian life with the light of His face. So basically, it’s important
for us to understand that God is present everywhere all the time so that we can know that we can
experience Him every day, all the time!

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. How does God’s omnipresence make you feel? Do you feel good that you can’t escape His
presence or does this scare you a bit?
2. Do you feel the presence of the Lord in your life? If not, ask the Lord to show you areas where
you need to surrender to God.
3. Thank the Lord that we don’t have to lead nominal spiritual lives, that we can experience His
manifest presence every day!

Foundations September 10, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 15-16
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 34:8 (ESV); Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes
refuge in him!

Is God personally unknown to you? If so, then you are part of the majority of Christians out
there. It’s sad, but true – for most people God is someone who they believe exists but isn’t
someone who they really know. While admitting that God exists, most people do not think of
Him as knowable in the sense that we know things or people. These people go through life
trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle. The good news is that God can be
known in personal experience. A loving Personality dominates the Bible - speaking, pleading,
loving, working and manifesting Himself whenever and wherever His people have the receptivity
necessary to receive the manifestations. As humans, we possess five senses in order to
experience our world – taste, sight, touch, smell and hearing. Spiritually we also possess the
senses necessary in which we can know God if we will obey the Spirit’s urge and begin to use
them. Faith is the foundation to using our spiritual tools. Where faith is defective the result will
be an inward insensibility and numbness towards spiritual things. This is the condition of the
vast number of Christians today. There is a spiritual Kingdom out there for anyone who has
the faith to recognize it. God Himself is there waiting for us to respond to His presence. The
eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to consider its reality. At the root of
the Christian life lies belief in the invisible. The object of the Christian’s faith is unseen reality.
There is no contrast between the spiritual world and the “real” world. We must stop ignoring the
spiritual but instead place it as the place of highest importance in our lives.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Spend some time thanking God that He has given us the ability to know Him. Praise Him
for the way that He speaks and works in our day to day lives.
2. Ask the Lord to grow your faith so that you can see things with spiritual eyes and recognize
spiritual things.
3. Ask the Lord if there is a gap between the natural world and the spiritual world in your life.
Pray that this gap will lessen and that you will see the natural world through a spiritual lens.

Foundations September 9, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 13-14
SCRIPTURE READING
James 4:8 (ESV); Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Yesterday we learned that the veil into the Holy of Holies was torn apart when Jesus died on the
cross giving all people access to the Presence of God. Yet, many people spend their entire lives
never experiencing the Presence of God. Why is this? If God offers us a deep relationship with Him,
why do we fail to draw near to Him? Many people have a desire for a deeper relationship with God
but the problem is that our hearts are cold, it’s like there is a veil in our heart that prevents us from
experiencing all that God intended for us to experience in our relationship with Him. This veil is made
of our fleshly fallen nature and can be hard to identify. This veil is not just made up of the little sins
that you do, it’s the sins of who you are. It’s made up of things such as self-righteousness, self-pity,
self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a whole host of other sins like them.
They dwell so deep and are such a part of our nature we hardly notice their presence. These are the
sins of egotism, extravagant behaviour intended to attract attention to oneself, self-promotion, pride,
etc. We can even spiritualize these sins by using them to promote Christ which is so common in the
church today that many don’t even notice it. These sins of self can live unrebuked for our entire lives.
Self is the veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can only be removed in spiritual experience as
you pursue God. We must constantly invite the cross to destroy our self and flesh and be willing to
go through suffering, if necessary, to remove them. There is nothing pleasant about this process.
Tearing away this veil will injure us and make us bleed; it is never fun to die to self. We must work
with God, letting Him do the work for our job is to yield to Him and trust Him. We must confess,
forsake, deny our flesh and refuse to give up. Then the moment will come when the work is done
and we can enter in to the Presence of God and it will have all been worth it.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask the Lord to reveal to you any of the above mentioned sins. Spend some time in confession.
Pray that God would root these sins out of your life and that you would deny your flesh, forsake
your sin and refuse to give up.

Foundations September 8, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 11-12
SCRIPTURE READING
Mark 15:37-39 (ESV); And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of
the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him,
saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Our journey of growing into enjoying the presence of God can be beautifully illustrated by the
Old Testament Tabernacle. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the sinner would enter the
outer court where he would offer a blood sacrifice on the brazen alter and wash himself in the
laver that stood near it. Then through a veil he passed into the holy place where no natural
light could come, except for the golden candlestick representing Jesus, the Light of the World,
which threw its soft glow over all. There was also the table of shewbread to tell of Jesus, the
Bread of life, and the altar of incense, a figure of unceasing prayer. Yet there was another veil
that separated the worshipper from the Holy of Holies, where above the mercy seat dwelt the
God Himself in awful and glorious manifestation. Only the high priest could enter there once
a year, with blood which he offered for his sins and the sins of the people. It was this last veil
which was torn in two when Christ died on Calvary. This opened the way for every worshipper
to come into the divine presence of God. God wills that we should enter into His Presence
and live our lives there. This is more than doctrine to be learned, it’s a relationship to be
enjoyed every moment of every day! The greatest thing about the Old Testament Tabernacle
was that God was present there, waiting behind that veil. Similarly, the presence of God is
central to Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself, waiting for His
redeemed children to become aware of His Presence. He waits to show Himself in ravishing
fullness to the humble of soul and pure in heart who dare to seek Him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Thank the Lord that He has made a way for us to enter into His Presence, that He has
designed it that we can have a relationship with Him every day.
2. Pray that as His child, you will become aware of His Presence, that you will find Him in
all parts of your day, that you will enter into His Presence and live your life there.

Foundations September 7, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 9-10
SCRIPTURE READING
1 Corinthians 10:31b (ESV); whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, completed in 1647, states that the chief end of man is to
glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. (Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev.
4:11; Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4). God formed us for His
pleasure and made us so that we can have divine communion with Him. If there is a problem
with our relationship with God the perpetrator is us, not Him. We are the ones who are broken;
we are the ones who are guilty of rebellion and sin. We are the ones who have disobeyed or
ceased to love Him and in guilt and fear have fled as far as possible from His presence. God
requires that our sin be dealt with and He has provided a way for this through Jesus. This point
must be reiterated – God made the way for our salvation. He brings us back into right relationship
with Himself because Jesus offering was acceptable to God. Although our sin closes the door to
relationship with God, Christ’s sacrifice makes a way for us to return to communion with God and
to live again in His presence. It is up to us to decide if we want to know the God of this great love.
Frederick Faber made that decision; His love for God was so intense he writes of God: “Only to
sit and think of God, O what a joy it is! To think the thought, to breathe the Name, earth has no
higher bliss. Father of Jesus, love’s reward! What rapture will it be, prostrate before thy throne
to lie, and gaze and gaze on thee!” This goes well beyond a theological knowledge of God; it is
knowing Him, knowing that that He is so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful, it’s
being in His Holy Presence and gazing upon Him.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Pray that you would learn how to live your life in such a way that you are bringing glory to
God. Pray that this would be the goal that would motivate all that you do. Pray that you
would learn to gaze on Him and know how utterly and completely delightful being in His
Presence is.
2. Ask the Lord to show you any areas of brokenness or any areas of rebellion or sin that
is keeping you from knowing Him in this way. Ask the Lord if you need to make a prayer
counselling appointment to work through this or maybe go to an Encounter?

Foundations September 6, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 7-8
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV); Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When we read this verse we often think that those who are laying up treasures on earth are
those who are pursuing getting rich. It’s very easy for those who are in the lower socio-economic
levels to assume that because they aren’t rich this verse doesn’t apply to them. They couldn’t
be more wrong for earthly treasures come in various forms and those storing them up come
from all income levels. For many people treasures can be relationships, loved ones and friends.
The mom who endlessly worries about the safety of her child has not given that child over to the
Lord. Treasures can also be gifts and talents which need to be given over to the Lord. Are you
keeping your talents to yourself or using them to serve God, the One who gave you the talent?
Or, are you taking credit for your gift and talent instead of giving God the credit as the one who
made you and has given this gift to you? We can take no credit for our gifts and talents just like
we can’t take credit for our eye colour! If you take a moment and look into your own heart even
a little bit, you will find some treasure that you must submit before the Lord. Do you desire God
enough to take a look? Are you strong enough to see what is inside your heart? Are you willing
to do something about it when God shows it to you? It’s time to stop making excuses and to trust
the Lord; that we can truly give him Lordship over all areas of our lives.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the treasures that you must submit before the Lord. Is it
talent, a ministry gift, a relationship, a loved one or a friend or something else?
2. Pray that you would be strong enough for God to show you what is in your heart then submit
this area to God. Ask the Lord to keep showing you the things that are getting in the way of
your relationship with Him. Pray that you would respond with an obedient and joyful heart.

Foundations September 5, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 5-6
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 5:3 (ESV); Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Yesterday we talked about simplifying our lives so that God can become our treasure. It is important
to note that God created a world full of things for us to enjoy but these things were never meant to
become the centre of our lives and they were never meant to replace God as the centre of our lives.
Unfortunately, sin has complicated the world and the things that God has given us to enjoy have
often become a source of ruin to man’s soul. Have you ever noticed that no one has to teach a
toddler to be selfish? The words “MINE” come quite naturally to young children as they snatch toys
away from siblings and friends. Jesus taught His disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matt 16:24-25). What does it mean for you
to deny self? In pursuing God the path to deeper knowledge of God will require denying your “self”
or denying your flesh. This is one of the characteristics of those who are poor in spirit. These are
the people who are not slaves to the “things” in their lives but rather have become slaves of Christ
(1 Cor. 7:22). This should make you feel a bit uncomfortable for this is not something that you can
merely believe as doctrine; this requires a lifelong pursuit of denying yourself which is taken one
step at a time. It requires that we listen to God and obey Him each step of the way. If we refuse to
take the next step then our entire journey in pursuing God comes to a halt. Pursuing God is not for
the faint of heart.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask God to reveal to you which “things” in your life you have become a slave to. Then ask the
Lord for a strategy in dying to yourself in these areas. Ask Him for a practical step that you can
take to move past this hindrance.
2. Pray that you would be willing to obey Matt 16:24-25, that you would grow in denying yourself
and following Him. Ask God to show you what this means for you today. Pray that you will
obey what God is showing you.

Foundations September 4, 2011

SCRIPTURE READING
Numbers 18:20 (ESV); You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any
portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

One of the biggest things that distract people from pursuing God is all the religious externals
that we fill our lives with. We can be so busy doing ministry and serving the Lord that we forget
about the Lord. Who are we trying to impress anyway? For others, the main distraction can be
the pursuit of career or wealth. We have payments to make for purchases that we didn’t really
need in the first place. Yes, you need shelter, food and clothing but think about all the things in
your house, garage or shed that you really don’t need. Many of us have convinced ourselves
that the extras are the essentials and therefore we are distracted with the cares of the world and
the deceitfulness of riches (Matt 13:22). It would do us a lot of good if we would just simplify our
lives. There is little that we actually need other than God Himself. Some of us are scared that
if we simplify our lives we will miss out in life but the opposite is actually true. A. W. Tozer writes
“The person who has God as their treasure has all things in One”. In the Old Testament, when
God was dividing up the Land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, God gave the Levites no
share of the land. This brings us to our verse today; God told Aaron “I am your portion and your
inheritance”. These words made Aaron the richest man on earth.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. In what ways have you been pursuing career or wealth over pursuing God?
2. Do you believe deep down in your heart that God is enough? Do you believe that giving
up worldly things and finding God will truly satisfy you? Spend some time listening to God
in this area. Let Him reveal things to you, listen in prayer asking God to give you a word,
thought or picture about this.
3. Pray that like Aaron, God will be your inheritance and that you will find that this is enough,
for He satisfies!

Foundations September 3, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 3-4
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalms 42:1-2 (NIV); As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

David is an example of a person who sought after the Lord. The Psalms that he wrote are filled
with the cry of his heart to know God in a deep and profound way. In today’s verses David
compares our desire to hunger after God with a deer who is panting for water. Have you ever
been so overheated that you would do anything for a drink of water? So thirsty that you would
pay an exorbitant price for a bottle of water; you would even trade something valuable to just
have a drink? David writes “Where can I go and meet with God?” David thirsted so deeply for
God that He was eager to meet with God each day. God was his lifeline. Too often in today’s
culture, we centre our evangelism around the initial act of “accepting” Christ. Yet, there is more
to being a Christian than this, we must spend our lives pursuing God, worshipping Him with our
lives, seeking Him and when we find Him we must not be satisfied for we must know that we can
never truly know an infinite God – there is always more that He can reveal to us about Himself.
It’s an endless journey, until we see Him face to face. We must not be too easily satisfied in our
relationship with Him. We cannot let ourselves become stuck thinking that if we have found Him
or experienced Him then we don’t need to seek Him anymore. Complacency is the most deadly
foe of our spiritual lives. We must press in and strive to desire know God.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Have you been too easily satisfied with your relationship with God?
2. Ask the Lord to reveal to you where complacency has crept into your life? Confess this as
sin and ask the Lord to change your heart.
3. Pray that God would continue to show to you the depth of who He is, that you would
continue to seek Him and experience more of His character every day.

Foundations September 2, 2011

The Law in 90 Days: Exodus 1-2
SCRIPTURE READING
Psalms 63:8 (KJV); My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

Have you ever come to the realization that God is upholding you? Do you know that you are in
His hand? Sometimes it may feel like God is a million miles away. Sometimes it may feel that
you must endlessly strive to get into God’s good books; that you have to “earn” the relationship
that you have with Him BUT in reality the whole time that we are pursuing Him we are actually
in the palm of Hand. Now this does not mean that we can stop pursuing God, for God is a
Person and we must cultivate our relationship with Him. We are not to be content with merely
being “saved” (saying a prayer and then not relating with God throughout our lives). No, we are
to grow in our relationship with God for we cannot know someone if we do not encounter them
over and over again. Let’s not take our relationship with God casually, let’s cultivate an intimate
communion with Him. We are created in God’s image – this means that God has feelings,
emotions, He loves, He enjoys, He has desires, He thinks and He has a will. When we pursue
God then we get to know these things about God. It is the most amazing thing in the world to
know the thoughts and feelings of the Almighty God. This is personal, it’s not a religion, it’s not
a doctrine, it’s not done through corporate church services – it’s done individually, it’s done one
on one as you mine the depths of God in your personal devotion time. There are no short cuts,
no one can do this for you - you must do it for yourself.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Spend some time thanking God that He upholds you, that you are in the palm of His hand.
Spend a moment asking God how this impacts your life.
2. Have you been content with just being “saved”? Are you living your life without relating
to God? Confess this and ask the Lord to show you practical ways that you can relate to
Him.
3. Pray that you would grow in your personal relationship with God, that you would get
personal with God and open your heart to experience more of Him.