Whenever we host friends for dinner, my wife can’t help but care about every little detail: the menu, the table arrangements, the music that’s playing, flowers and candles in the bathroom, the drinks, cutlery, and more. She always creates a beautiful experience for all.

Exodus 39 outlines the very detailed preparations made by the Israelites as they built the tabernacle, which was to be their meeting place with God and a visible guarantee of God’s approval and care for Israel. They were instructed about yarn, linen, colour schemes, onyx stones, engravings, dress codes, inscriptions and details big and small to create the perfect environment for connection with God.

What an honour to create an earthly temple for the presence and glory of God to dwell. As modern-day readers, we should appreciate their faithfulness and attention to detail. However, God is no longer confined to tabernacles, church buildings or conferences. God may be there, but God is also everywhere. Because of the life of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spirit that dwells within and all around, there is no longer a list of prerequisites we must prepare to experience God’s presence. The truth is, we are in God’s presence everywhere, but what is lacking is awareness!

Take a moment today to close your eyes, take a few slow breathes, and remind yourself of God’s loving presence that is all around you and within. What is it about God that you can be grateful for today?

Written by SAM FAGAN

Exodus 39:42-43 | The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

Psalm 130:5 | I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word.

Psalm 130 is one of the songs of ascent (Psalms 120-134). They were sung by travelers on pilgrimages to Jerusalem as they climbed the high hills in which the city was nested. Recently I was able to visit an archeological dig in the ancient City of David that has uncovered part of the walkway from the Pool of Siloam up to the temple area. How can one hope to “ascend” to the presence of the perfectly Holy God given our sin? Psalm 130 is a prayer of repentance that is both honest about our desperate circumstances and hopeful. It states, “If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” We can never hope to “climb to God’s presence” through our own effort or merit. It is only through God’s mercy and forgiveness that we might enter His courts. For most of the time after Psalm 130 was authored and sung as countless pilgrims made their ascent, the work of the Messiah on the cross, shedding blood to cover our sins, was still a future event. Those pilgrims were journeying towards this moment in which God descended so that we could ascend, having received His mercy and remission of sins through the work of Jesus. Their posture and mindset were aptly captured in the Psalm: “I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

It may seem strange to talk about one’s whole being “waiting” while singing a climbing song intended to inspire pilgrims as they stepped towards an approaching destination. But the temple rituals and culture were not the true destinations for those who were on God’s intended path. The climb itself also did not bring them closer to what they sought. The sacrifices and other rituals conveyed our utter dependency on God’s mercy. A mercy poured out now by His grace through Jesus. We have entered His presence and have peace with God. We still press on, awaiting the full liberation of creation at the return of Christ, where we will stand in His presence directly. Our hope is sure that we will be able to stand, not through any steps we have taken but through His wonderful grace. That is His promise. In His Word, we can put our hope indeed.

Prayer

Lord of the Heavens and Earth, we journey to You through the path of Your grace. We confess the sins and failings that have removed us far from Your presence. Yet we rejoice in Your sure word that gives up hope of Your presence and life eternal. We wait eagerly for the day on which we enter Your courts, people coming from every tribe, tongue and nation set free and made holy. Thank you for this present mercy of receiving Your forgiveness and for the sure hope of the Kingdom to fully come on earth as it is heaven.

William L. Hathaway, Ph.D., serves as executive vice president for Academic Affairs and professor of Psychology at Regent University.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

Colossians 1:15-20 | He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. -Colossians 1:17

There’s a scientific principle that on their own, things tend to become increasingly disordered.

But scientists today are describing another mysterious principle known as “synchronization”—ways in which our universe seems drawn inexplicably toward order. Hearts beat regularly; fireflies flash in synch; and pendulum clocks placed near each other will spontaneously synchronize, for reasons researchers are only beginning to understand.

Reflecting on the ways in which forms of order and harmony emerge in all spheres of a world that often seems otherwise chaotic reminded me of the mysterious truth that—despite its brokenness and corruption—creation is still united by its source in Christ.

Paul explains, “Through him God created everything . . . . He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together” (Colossians 1:16–17).

And though our world is often blind to God and His goodness (John 1:11), it remains true that Jesus is also the way in which God has chosen to bring healing and harmony into a disordered and chaotic world: “through him God reconciled everything to himself” (Colossians 1:20).

Every day, Christ brings light, life, and harmony into our confusion, brokenness, and chaos. And one day all will be united in worship of Him, “in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” every voice celebrating “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11).

Monica La Rose

How has God allowed for both freedom and harmony in the world? How have you experienced those things from Him?

Creator God, thank You for Your amazing creation.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

Joshua 2:1-13 | Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut. Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan. When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. Now please swear to me by the LORD that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

By faith . . . Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. -Hebrews 11:31

One evening at a fast-food restaurant, my four-year-old nephew and I were looking for a table. There was one beside a group of tough-looking men, but their appearance and raucous laughter made me hesitate. Since there was no other table, however, Caleb and I sat beside them.

Minutes later, the men bowed their heads and prayed, then brought out Bibles. They were a Bible study group!

The discovery filled me with shame. I’d seen the men as unsafe. But God showed me how prejudiced I was toward them.

This experience made me think of people God used for His kingdom, people many of us would perhaps view with prejudice. One such person was Rahab. The two Israelite spies chose to hide in her home (Joshua 2:1)—a surprising choice given her occupation.

Yet, because of Rahab’s faith in God (vv. 9−11), she and her family were “not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God” (Hebrews 11:31). Not only that, but the former prostitute from Canaan became an ancestor of Jesus Himself (Matthew 1:5).

Rahab’s story—and my experience—reminds me that God sees people differently. In His eyes, we’re all the same—sinners in need of His grace. And when we respond in faith to Him, He can use us for His glory, no matter what our past might be.

Karen Huang

What prejudices might you have against others? How can you change your thoughts and attitudes with God’s help?

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve been prejudiced against others.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.

1 John 4:7-21 | Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

We love each other because [God] loved us first. -1 John 4:19

At church that morning, I sat in a chair closest to the exit door. I wrestled with pent-up anger, resentment, unforgiveness, and fear that had built up throughout my life and helped me keep people at a distance.

As soon as the preacher stopped talking and the music began, I rushed to pick up my children. Turning to my oldest son, I said, “Take your brother to get a donut and meet me by the car.” The last thing I wanted to do was talk to people.

This cycle of avoidance continued for months. As I listened to the sermons and began reading the Bible on my own, eventually I asked God to help me accept His love personally. Over time, my knowledge of God and my confidence in His intimate love for me grew. Now, I can barely contain my love for God and His people.

The apostle John describes this type of heart and mind transformation as a response to the ultimate display of God’s love for us (1 John 4:19). Jesus took the punishment we deserve because of our sins and gave His life for ours through His death on the cross (vv. 7–10).

Accepting the depth of God’s sacrificial love changes us (vv. 11–12) and gives us the ability to receive love and extend love toward others in the church and beyond (vv. 13–21).

Though we may struggle with feeling unlovable, God can lead us to accept and share His love.

Xochitl Dixon

When have you struggled with receiving God’s love for you? How can He help you better love others in healthy and holy ways?

Loving God, thank You for working in my heart and mind as You lead me to love You and others as selflessly as You love us.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread. Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.