27 January: Exodus 9-10, John 17, Psalm 27

Exodus 9-10

• Chapter helps give us a glimpse into the blessing of fearing the Lord. An absence of that fear, however, is a real curse for life.
• Pharaoh dabbles in submitting to God in chapter 10. Twice he essentially says, "OK, Go!" only to experience cognitive dissonance (i.e. buyer's remorse) and rescind his offer. Samson toyed with temptation and Pharaoh toyed with obedience. It's best (or rather the only option is) to go whole hog for the Lord.

John 17

• Here is Jesus' great prayer to prepare himself for the cross. He wrestles in prayer for us! He loves us! And he prays for us — for our love, our unity, and our holiness (not of this world).

Psalm 27

• I love reading psalms that are also songs that we sing. We know them so well through song! I wish we could unlock the power of verse in the Psalms to know them as well as the Hebrews did.