DAILY DEVOTION

DAILY DEVOTION No. 32

GOD'S WAYS OR HIS ACTS?

As we saw in our last devotion, God desired to have a personal and intimate relationship with His people but they wanted to receive God's word through His servant Moses. They wanted to see his power, but from a distance. In this devotion I want to go again to Exodus and see how God revealed His ACTS to Israel but revealed His WAYS to Moses. Ex.34:10 says “Then God said, ”Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.” These miracles can be described as the acts of God, the hand of God, or the anointing of God.

Now let us look at Ex.33:11 and 13. Verse 11 ……if I have found favour in your sight, show me Your ways that I may know You………” 13 “The Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to a friend”. Moses wanted to know God whereas Israel wanted to know about God.

Let us have a look at the difference between “His acts and His ways.”

HIS ACTS	HIS WAYS
A demonstration of His mighty hand.	Refers to His ways, His face, His Glory. Truly discovering who God is.
It is a release of His anointing for a specific time or purpose.	It speaks of the Dew of Heaven that settles and saturates and brings growth and life. As we know Him and His ways we walk in His anointing.
It is the rain of Heaven but can quickly run off. Speaks of the charisma of God, His gifts which lead us to ministry.	Developing within the character of God and producing within us the fruits of the Spirit. It is what keeps us in ministry.
Show the power of God for certain times and situations.	Makes us a people that are strong in our God.
Producing faith within us.	Producing not just faith but faithfulness.
Men of power flowing in His anointing.	Men of God living in relationship and fellowship.
His acts attract a crowd.	His ways build a strong, powerful church.

As Christians we can have a preoccupation with the hand of God. We can look for the spectacular. This can be manipulated, duplicated and played with. We must be a people that can tell the difference. Do we know God by His Acts or do we know God for who He is? Let us be able to recognise Jesus when He comes into our churches. It is possible to have a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and very little evidence of His Glory. Don’t take as a guarantee for Godliness an expression of the gift.

We must learn to discern. There will be a lot of things thrown at the church in the last days in the hope that we will lose our way. Let us be people who know the ways of God. The presence of God cannot be manipulated or duplicated. When the Glory comes, it is God’s doing.

Challenge

Will you be a person that discovers God's ways, establishes a close friendship with Him and experiences His power in your life first hand, or will you keep your distance from Him and see His power from afar? God gave Israel an opportunity to have a relationship with Him and to know His ways but they chose to listen to Moses above friendship with the Lord. I believe He is giving His church today the same opportunity to know Him in intimacy and love. Let us be people who say “Show me Your ways, that I may know You.”

Prayer

Father, help me to know Your ways and understand Your precepts and not just Your mighty acts. May I know you face to face and then as a part of strong friendship with You, see a demonstration of Your mighty acts through my life and ministry.

Rod Best