tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40725718053051392892024-03-15T10:52:27.420+02:00eDevseDevotions by Theo Groeneveld, from Emmanuel Presby Church, Pretoria, South Africa. <br>Click <a href="https://tinyurl.com/EmmDevSub"> https://tinyurl.com/EmmDevSub</a> to subscribe. Theo writes on Tue-Fri during school terms. He loves God, his family and being pastor. Whatsapp Link: <a href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/JMojiOcEewoDGdNWkxaZln">https://chat.whatsapp.com/JMojiOcEewoDGdNWkxaZln</a> Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comBlogger1998125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-42280412226195765642024-03-15T10:51:00.001+02:002024-03-15T10:51:52.948+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-15 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exasperation ExpressedExasperation Expressed Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." Then the LORD said Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-13285311122715481732024-03-14T08:45:00.001+02:002024-03-14T08:45:20.728+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-14 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Extinguishing ExpectationExtinguishing Expectation That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-43692848544195722572024-03-13T10:23:00.001+02:002024-03-13T10:23:47.880+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-13 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exaltation ExcludedExaltation Excluded Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.' " Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not letTheo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-59371398748614831312024-03-12T10:20:00.001+02:002024-03-12T10:20:27.937+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-12 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] The Exhausted Excite, Exult and ExaltThe Exhausted Excite, Exult and Exalt Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-85268732161504946452024-03-08T06:39:00.001+02:002024-03-08T06:39:17.095+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-08 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Extreme and Exigent ExcisionExtreme and Exigent Excision At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-55910541063053055462024-03-07T08:04:00.001+02:002024-03-07T08:04:33.679+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-07 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Expressiveness ExpeditedExpressiveness Expedited Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is itTheo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-11157829848375046532024-03-06T09:08:00.001+02:002024-03-06T09:08:26.732+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-06 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] X-FactorX-Factor Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-43095341354364357532024-03-05T07:34:00.001+02:002024-03-05T07:34:47.785+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-05 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Excuses...Excuses... But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you (plural) will worship God on this Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-5978541836288150122024-03-01T08:36:00.000+02:002024-03-01T08:37:01.105+02:00EmmDev 2024-03-01 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exceedingly Extensive ExaminationExceedingly Extensive Examination "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-57119798449749940072024-02-29T08:26:00.001+02:002024-02-29T08:26:20.180+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-29 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exceedingly ExcellentExceedingly Excellent "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-79532071999824432082024-02-28T08:21:00.001+02:002024-02-28T08:21:37.900+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-28 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exothermic without ExpiryExothermic without Expiry Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though theTheo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-814616217607874432024-02-27T09:31:00.000+02:002024-02-27T09:32:05.020+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-27 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exiled ExhalingExiled Exhaling When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Some shepherds came along andTheo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-33120384405196661882024-02-23T08:07:00.001+02:002024-02-23T08:07:36.664+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-23 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Explosive Exasperation ExposedExplosive Exasperation Exposed One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labour. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next dayTheo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-66097160197746005462024-02-22T08:21:00.000+02:002024-02-22T08:22:02.937+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-22 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exciting ExpectationExciting Expectation Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-61118118863857479692024-02-21T09:51:00.001+02:002024-02-21T09:51:13.378+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-21 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Excessive Efforts at ExcisionExcessive Efforts at Excision Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." (Exodus1:22) Fear and power always lead to tyranny. Pharaoh's decision to execute new-born babies exhibits complete and utter evil. Not only is Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-28670564061684179392024-02-20T09:34:00.001+02:002024-02-20T09:34:15.877+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-20 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Exempting Exacting ExterminationsExempting Exacting Exterminations The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-56330101653937204382024-02-16T08:36:00.001+02:002024-02-16T08:36:52.951+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-16 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Unexpected Extras from ExertionsUnexpected Extras from Exertions So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly.Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-48080451520119049242024-02-15T09:16:00.001+02:002024-02-15T09:16:55.115+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-15 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] When people want to exploit, expel or expunge us...When people want to exploit, expel or expunge us... The "ex"-words in the title describe the core attitudes of oppressors. They: - exploit those they are threatened by. - do what they can to expel them from their lives - but, ultimately, they prefer to expunge (destroy without a trace) them so that they don't come back. The sad thing is that, in almost all Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-49751078633655065382024-02-14T09:37:00.001+02:002024-02-14T09:37:44.945+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-14 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] God Excruciated (Ash Wednesday)God Excruciated (Ash Wednesday) Today Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day. There is a certain appropriateness about that. Usually Ash Wednesday is about us realising our brokenness and reaching out to God. The problem is that our brokeness makes us incapable of finding help on our own. It is only because God sees our brokenness and comes to us Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-70780349193999958192024-02-13T15:24:00.001+02:002024-02-13T15:24:18.102+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-13 [Lent2024 Exodus Explored] Recognise your BlessingsRecognise your Blessings Last year I started a series on Exodus which I stopped midway to pick up something that felt more relevant at the time. I also think I may have driven people to distraction with my abundant use of words which, like "Exodus", started with "ex"! For Lent 2024 I want to rework some of those devotions and then carry on the series. The Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-85095192715237895772024-02-09T10:21:00.001+02:002024-02-09T10:21:41.227+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-09 [Reasons to Worship God] Unlimited GodUnlimited God Next week is Lent and I want to start a Lent Devotion series. So I'm concluding this short series on "Reasons to Worship God" but I am very aware that there are many more reasons to worship God. We could worship Him for His Providence in giving us so much and guiding our steps, for His Graciousness and Compassion, for the purpose He gives our lives, forTheo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-11808980461063382642024-02-08T08:19:00.001+02:002024-02-08T08:19:08.213+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-08 [Reasons to Worship God] He is the God who Suffers and SavesHe is the God who Suffers and Saves There is a breath-taking moment in John's Revelation. In ch.4-5 John is standing in the "control room" of heaven. He can see all of creation, all of the heavenly creatures who worship God and God's Throne in the centre of it all. Then he sees a scroll. The scroll is sealed and describes the brokenness of the world and the Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-40982583179143869632024-02-07T09:03:00.001+02:002024-02-07T09:03:31.854+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-07 [Reasons to Worship God] Because all of Heaven praises - All the time!Because all of Heaven praises - All the time! In Rev 4 we get a picture of the citizens of heaven. We meet four living creatures, 24 elders and later a multitude of angels and later still, the souls of the redeemed. They are engaged in an ongoing pastime - WORSHIP. Think about it - these are eternal creatures with minds and souls that can handle eternity and they Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-37406084138098897112024-02-06T09:38:00.000+02:002024-02-06T09:39:05.194+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-06 [Reasons to Worship God] His love endures foreverHis love endures forever Psalm 136 gives us another reason to praise God. And it repeats that twenty six (26!) times! It repeatedly gives instructions to give thanks and then intersperses those with observations of how God has provided, rescued and delivered. But like the steady ticking of a metronome, each verse is concluded by the phrase "His love Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072571805305139289.post-37061637331481902602024-02-02T09:19:00.001+02:002024-02-02T09:24:30.446+02:00EmmDev 2024-02-02 [Reasons to Worship God] Because He made an Incredible WorldBecause He made an Incredible World O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, Theo Groeneveldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07991215323662005444noreply@blogger.com