Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Daily Light - May 10, 2011

Daily Light from the Lighthouse

"Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel."
Psalm 78:41

Bondage. Slavery. Death. Destruction. These are not only the words that were familiar to the children of Israel, but it was their way of life. In the land of Egypt this was all that they knew. Then, God in His grace and love intervened on their behalf. He brought out His people from the nightmare of their daily lives and gave them a hope and a promise that consisted not only of a new land but His own eternal presence. These would be a people that would live with gratitude continually on their lips and trust in their heart for the Almighty, or would they?
It seems from the history of this nation that every time God poured out His blessings upon them that they grew even more hard-hearted against Him. God's provision was never enough; there was always a desire for something new and different. "Do for us something that we have not seen before. Prove that you are really God!" We are told that this spirit that came from God's people had an effect on the Divine. The Bible says that it "limited the Holy One". The word "limited" here would correspond well with the New Testament idea of "grieving the Holy Spirit". They could not receive all that God had prepared for them, because they did not place their complete trust in Him. This brings grief to God when He knows all that they are missing through a lack of faith.
We know today what it means to be freed from the bondage and slavery of sin. That sin had a destructive force in our lives, and we recognized that the only thing that it would bring is death. Jesus Christ bought our redemption on the cross of Calvary through His grace and love. He told us to not let our hearts be troubled, because there was not just the hope of Heaven to look forward to but there is also a promise that He will never leave us. You would think that we would live in complete gratitude and place our faith daily in the wisdom of the Almighty, but is that true?
Has our lack of faith in God brought grief to the Holy Spirit? Is it possible that we have limited the good and gracious hand of God in our lives, because we simply could not put our faith in the only One who can do all things and do them well? Let us not "limit the Holy One" but allow Him to do all that He has planned for us.
May you live in the realm of total faith today!

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