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MORNING ENCOUNTERS WITH THE LORD

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: FRIDAY, 9TH DECEMBER, 2022 

TOPIC: MORNING ENCOUNTERS WITH THE LORD

TEXT: EXODUS 34:1-35

1. And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first [ones,] and I will write on [these] tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.
2. "So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain.
3. "And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain."
4. So he cut two tablets of stone like the first [ones.] Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5.  Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6.  And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7.  "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing [the guilty,] visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."
8.  So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
9.  Then he said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we [are] a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance."
10.  And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you [are] shall see the work of the LORD. For it [is] an awesome thing that I will do with you.
11.  "Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
12.  "Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
13.  "But you shall destroy their altars, break their [sacred] pillars, and cut down their [wooden] images
14.  '(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God),
15.  "lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and [one of them] invites you and you eat of his sacrifice,
16.  "and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
17.  "You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
18.  " The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19.  "All that open the womb [are] Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, [whether] ox or sheep.
20.  "But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem [him,] then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21.  " Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
22.  "And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.
23.  "Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel.
24.  "For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.
25.  " You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.
26.  "The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the LORD you shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 
28. So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

The Shining Face of Moses

29. Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 
30. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 
31. Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 
32. Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 
33. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 
34. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been  commanded. 
35. And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.


MESSAGE: 
There is something very unique,refreshing and empowering about rising up in the morning  before the Lord. God instructed Moses to "Be ready in the morning......"(v.2) "so Moses .... went up mount Sinai early in the morning....."(v.4). In verse 5, then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed  His name, the Lord." The morning time is the best time to give to the Lord. A day that would be productive and fruitful  must first be ordered  from the morning  in the presence of the Lord, Moses, the prophet and Jesus all knew the significance of rising up in the morning to present themselves to the lord: " I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your word (Psalm 119:147); in the early morning,while it was still dark, jesus got up, left the house and went away to a secluded place,and was praying there. (Mark 1:35).
           
Rising in the morning to present yourself to the Lord signifies respect and reverence for the Lord as you offer Him the best part of your day in worship  study and prayer that way you will encounter  God's power and presence. It is still the best way you can receive  your bearing and blessing from the Lord each day.

PRAYER: 
Lord, help me to cultivate the culture of rising in the morning and experiencing the glory of Your presence each day.

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