Since school days, it's been drummed into our collective conscience to give credit where credit is due. If a person "borrows" a concept without properly giving recognition, they are guilty of plagiarizing-stealing ideas, words or creations. Oftentimes, the plagiarist pays the price by losing their reputation or career. The same is true spiritually. We must be willing to give God the credit for his work in our lives.
The Israelites had almost reached the end of their desert wanderings. The new generation was ready to enter the promised land. They had witnessed miracles and tasted manna. Yet they worried that God would not provide water. So they complained against Moses.
Moses went to the Lord and asked for guidance. God spelled out his instructions: Bring the staff and speak to the rock. God promised that water would pour forth to nourish the people and flocks. Then Moses made two big mistakes. First, he took credit for God's work by complaining about being forced to bring water out of the rock himself. Then he disobeyed God by overreacting. He struck the rock-WHAM! Then again-WHAM!
It's heartbreaking to realize that Moses, God's faithful servant, was left behind. He didn't get to go into the promised land. But God had his reason: "You did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites" (Number 20:12). In other words, Moses did not give God credit where credit was due. He stole God's glory by striking the rock-twice. But in the end, God loved Moses so much he showed him the promised land from the top of Mount Nebo and then had him buried there.
But rather than being hard on Moses, perhaps we should look at our own attitudes and motives. When we accomplish God's work, do we take the credit and back in our own sense of accomplishments? When we benefit from God's grace in our lives, do we take it for granted and think that we somehow deserve it? Take a moment each day to sort out who is doing what, and give God the credit-for gifts and abilities he has given you and for everything he is able to do through you. In short, for everything.
-Women's Devotional Bible
The Israelites had almost reached the end of their desert wanderings. The new generation was ready to enter the promised land. They had witnessed miracles and tasted manna. Yet they worried that God would not provide water. So they complained against Moses.
Moses went to the Lord and asked for guidance. God spelled out his instructions: Bring the staff and speak to the rock. God promised that water would pour forth to nourish the people and flocks. Then Moses made two big mistakes. First, he took credit for God's work by complaining about being forced to bring water out of the rock himself. Then he disobeyed God by overreacting. He struck the rock-WHAM! Then again-WHAM!
It's heartbreaking to realize that Moses, God's faithful servant, was left behind. He didn't get to go into the promised land. But God had his reason: "You did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites" (Number 20:12). In other words, Moses did not give God credit where credit was due. He stole God's glory by striking the rock-twice. But in the end, God loved Moses so much he showed him the promised land from the top of Mount Nebo and then had him buried there.
But rather than being hard on Moses, perhaps we should look at our own attitudes and motives. When we accomplish God's work, do we take the credit and back in our own sense of accomplishments? When we benefit from God's grace in our lives, do we take it for granted and think that we somehow deserve it? Take a moment each day to sort out who is doing what, and give God the credit-for gifts and abilities he has given you and for everything he is able to do through you. In short, for everything.
-Women's Devotional Bible
::1 Chronicles 16:7-36::
7 On that day David gave to Asaph and his fellow Levites this song of thanksgiving to the Lord:
8 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
9 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
10 Exult in his holy name;
rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
11 Search for the Lord and for his strength;
continually seek him.
12 Remember the wonders he has performed,
his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
13 you children of his servant Israel,
you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.
14 He is the Lord our God.
His justice is seen throughout the land.
15 Remember his covenant forever—
the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
16 This is the covenant he made with Abraham
and the oath he swore to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:
18 “I will give you the land of Canaan
as your special possession.”
19 He said this when you were few in number,
a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.
20 They wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
21 Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.
He warned kings on their behalf:
22 “Do not touch my chosen people,
and do not hurt my prophets.”
23 Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.
24 Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
25 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
He is to be feared above all gods.
26 The gods of other nations are mere idols,
but the Lord made the heavens!
27 Honor and majesty surround him;
strength and joy fill his dwelling.
28 O nations of the world, recognize the Lord,
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
29 Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his presence.
Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.
30 Let all the earth tremble before him.
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
33 Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise,
for the Lord is coming to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
35 Cry out, “Save us, O God of our salvation!
Gather and rescue us from among the nations,
so we can thank your holy name
and rejoice and praise you.”
36 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who lives from everlasting to everlasting!
And all the people shouted “Amen!” and praised the Lord.
::Psalm 106:1-2::
1 Praise the Lord!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
Who can ever praise him enough?
::Psalm 106:32-48::
32 At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord,
causing Moses serious trouble.
33 They made Moses angry,
and he spoke foolishly.
34 Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land,
as the Lord had commanded them.
35 Instead, they mingled among the pagans
and adopted their evil customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
which led to their downfall.
37 They even sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters.
By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan,
they polluted the land with murder.
39 They defiled themselves by their evil deeds,
and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.
40 That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his own special possession.
41 He handed them over to pagan nations,
and they were ruled by those who hated them.
42 Their enemies crushed them
and brought them under their cruel power.
43 Again and again he rescued them,
but they chose to rebel against him,
and they were finally destroyed by their sin.
44 Even so, he pitied them in their distress
and listened to their cries.
45 He remembered his covenant with them
and relented because of his unfailing love.
46 He even caused their captors
to treat them with kindness.
47 Save us, O Lord our God!
Gather us back from among the nations,
so we can thank your holy name
and rejoice and praise you.
48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who lives from everlasting to everlasting!
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
::1 Corinthians 10:1-5::
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.
2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.
3 All of them ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.
5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
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