God's Magnifying Glass
"Yes, He loves His people; all those consecrated to Him are in Your hand. They followed in Your steps; they accepted Your Word and received direction from You."
Deuteronomy 33: 3
Amplified Bible
EXPLORATION
"God's Magnifying Glass"
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"And I will place within them as a guide my umpire conscience whom if they will hear, light after light well used they shall attain, and to the end persisting, safe arrive."
John Milton
Have I asked God for direction in my journey and for His guiding light to magnify my path?
"I find that doing the will of God leaves me with no time for disputing about His plans."
George Macdonald
INSPIRATION
"I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your Word…"
Psalm 138: 2
Amplified Bible
For many years I traveled around the country on business. I'll be the first to admit, my driving skills are pretty pathetic, so quite often a staff person would offer to drive. However, my skills at getting to the right place, on-time, are excellent; consequently, I got the name, "The Navigator." It was my job to give out directions and I quickly learned several things.
First, I always called ahead to get the directions myself. I didn't like depending on directions given to someone else then passed on to me. Inevitably, I'd find there was some piece of information left out. And second, whenever I got directions, I always repeated them back to the person who gave them to me, using this time to verify that all I heard was correct.
BEAM #3 in the house of a life that is well-lived, is found in Deuteronomy 33: 3, "They received direction from You."
If you recall, BEAM #1 was following in God's footsteps or as we learned, encamping permanently in the presence of God as we journey through life. BEAM #2 was accepting the word of God as we allow what He says to permeate our entire being.
Today, we find that the sturdy, durable BEAM #3 is receiving our directions from God. The word "receive" in the Hebrew doesn't mean passing something from one person to another and just saying, "Thank you for this gift."
Receiving, in this case, has a much deeper meaning. It means we respect or have regard for someone and for something. But more than this, it means to "magnify."
As we note in Deuteronomy 33: 3, we follow God, we accept God's Word, and then we "receive" His direction and guidance. In fact, God's guidance serves to actually magnify the pathway of our journey throughout life.
As I read the words of the Psalmist David, who says God's Word is like a "magnifier," I thought back to times when I had a city map on my lap and was trying with all my might to read the smallest type in order to get to my appointment only to find myself frustrated by words that were so small, I couldn't see them. On more than one occasion I'd blurt out, "If only I had a magnifying glass!"
Well guess what, our heavenly Father knew that during our life's journey, there would be times when the words were too small to read or the darkness too heavy for us to see clearly or the pain and heartache, like heavy fog, had us blanketed in on all sides. As a result we couldn't read the map at all.
Rather than leave us alone, God said, "My Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path." God gave us directions in His wonderful word to use as our magnifier. As one author so beautifully reminds us, "Never forget in the dark, what God gave in the light."
As Moses stood before the children of Israel, he reminded them to receive directions from God – a God who traveled every path you and I will ever walk. A God who illuminates and magnifies our journey with His Word, which He promises will never pass away!
"O Lord, may I be directed what to do and what to leave undone."
Elisabeth Fry
AFFIRMATION
"Lord, You lead us by ways we do not know, through joy and sorrow, through victory and defeat, beyond our understanding. Give us faith to see Your guiding hand in all things; that being neither lifted up by seeming success, nor cast down by seeming failure, we may press forward wherever You lead, to the glory of Your name."
Eric Milner-White
G.W. Briggs
Your friend
Dorothy Valcárcel, Author
When A Woman Meets Jesus
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