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August 31, 2005
By the Waters of Bitterness
Exodus 22-27 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah (bitter)) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians,
... for I am the LORD, who heals you."
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
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When the experiences of life are bitter, what can make them sweet?
Only the cross of Christ.
Some see the above passage as a prophetic picture of Christ's sacrifice for our sin. Moses "cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet" (v.25).
The New Testament uses "the tree" as a metaphor to describe the cross on which our Savior died.
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
God's love is the same today. As we embrace all that the cross means, we can find healing in the transforming power of God's love thru the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ can turn the bitterest waters of life sweet.
Come, won't you cast the tree of Christ into your bitter waters?
___________
Thank You Lord for the tree of Christ. Help each of us come and embrace the cross. Help us cast this tree into our own bitter waters. Thank You that as we do this, God's transforming love will sweeten our hearts.
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August 31, 2005
By the Waters of Bitterness
Exodus 22-27 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah (bitter)) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians,
... for I am the LORD, who heals you."
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
___________________________
When the experiences of life are bitter, what can make them sweet?
Only the cross of Christ.
Some see the above passage as a prophetic picture of Christ's sacrifice for our sin. Moses "cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet" (v.25).
The New Testament uses "the tree" as a metaphor to describe the cross on which our Savior died.
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
God's love is the same today. As we embrace all that the cross means, we can find healing in the transforming power of God's love thru the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ can turn the bitterest waters of life sweet.
Come, won't you cast the tree of Christ into your bitter waters?
___________
Thank You Lord for the tree of Christ. Help each of us come and embrace the cross. Help us cast this tree into our own bitter waters. Thank You that as we do this, God's transforming love will sweeten our hearts.
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