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Years ago during a visit with Billy and Ruth Graham, I noticed while we were outside that their dog was continuously going around in circles.
"What's wrong with this dog?" I asked them.
"He's chasing his tail," they told me.
I had heard about dogs chasing their tails, but I had never actually seen one do it before.
Like that dog, some people are effectively chasing their tails in life. They are chasing after happiness. But the best way to not be happy is by trying to be happy.
Our purpose in life as Christians is to know God and bring Him glory. If you will do that with your life, if you will get up every morning and say to yourself, "I want to know God, and I want to bring Him glory," then you will find the happiness that has eluded you. You will find the satisfaction you have always wanted by having your priorities in order.
Anything short of this ultimately will disappoint, because true and lasting happiness never will be found in the things this world tells us to look for.
The Bible offers something better than happiness, and that is joy. Happiness largely depends on good things happening. When things are going reasonably well, we are happy. If things aren't going so well, we are not happy. But we can have joy despite our circumstances.
The problem with happiness is that it's generally derived from accomplishments, accumulation, and, to some degree, through escape. The trouble with that is we won't always be able to accomplish something or escape somewhere. And the things we have accumulated will go out of style, break, get lost, or may be stolen.
If we live for happiness, we'll never find it. We'll be like that dog, constantly chasing his tail.
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Did you know your purpose in life is to know God and bring Him glory?
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Today's Bible Reading:
Exodus 17: The Lord Gives Water from a Rock
1 The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the Lord ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim,[a] but there was no water for them to drink.
2 The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”
Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, “Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses prayed to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!”
5 The Lord answered, “Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick you used to strike the Nile River, 6 and when you get to the rock at Mount Sinai,[b] I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink.” Moses did this while the leaders watched.
7 The people had complained and tested the Lord by asking, “Is the Lord really with us?” So Moses named that place Massah, which means “testing” and Meribah, which means “complaining.”
Israel Defeats the Amalekites
8 When the Israelites were at Rephidim, they were attacked by the Amalekites. 9 So Moses told Joshua, “Have some men ready to attack the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on a hilltop, holding this walking stick that has the power of God.”
10 Joshua led the attack as Moses had commanded, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur stood on the hilltop. 11 The Israelites out-fought the Amalekites as long as Moses held up his arms, but they started losing whenever he had to lower them. 12 Finally, Moses was so tired that Aaron and Hur got a rock for him to sit on. Then they stood beside him and supported his arms in the same position until sunset. 13 That’s how Joshua defeated the Amalekites.
14 Afterwards, the Lord said to Moses, “Write an account of this victory and read it to Joshua. I want the Amalekites to be forgotten forever.”
15 Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord Gives Me Victory.” 16 Then Moses explained, “This is because I depended on the Lord.[c] But in future generations, the Lord will have to fight the Amalekites again.”
Jethro Visits Moses
18:1 Jethro was the priest of Midian and the father-in-law of Moses. And he heard what the Lord God had done for Moses and his people, after rescuing them from Egypt.
2-4 In the meantime, Moses had sent his wife Zipporah and her two sons to stay with Jethro, and he had welcomed them. Moses was still a foreigner in Midian when his first son was born, and so Moses said, “I’ll name him Gershom.”[d]
When his second son was born, Moses said, “I’ll name him Eliezer,[e] because the God my father worshiped has saved me from the king of Egypt.”[f]
5-6 While Israel was camped in the desert near Mount Sinai,[g] Jethro sent Moses this message: “I am coming to visit you, and I am bringing your wife and two sons.”
7 When they arrived, Moses went out and bowed down in front of Jethro, then kissed him. After they had greeted each other, they went into the tent, 8 where Moses told him everything the Lord had done to protect Israel against the Egyptians and their king. He also told him how the Lord had helped them in all of their troubles.
9 Jethro was so pleased to hear this good news about what the Lord had done, 10 that he shouted, “Praise the Lord! He rescued you and the Israelites from the Egyptians and their king. 11 Now I know that the Lord is the greatest God, because he has rescued Israel from their arrogant enemies.” 12 Jethro offered sacrifices to God. Then Aaron and Israel’s leaders came to eat with Jethro there at the place of worship.
Judges Are Appointed
13 The next morning Moses sat down at the place where he decided legal cases for the people, and everyone crowded around him until evening. 14 Jethro saw how much Moses had to do for the people, and he asked, “Why are you the only judge? Why do you let these people crowd around you from morning till evening?”
15 Moses answered, “Because they come here to find out what God wants them to do. 16 They bring their complaints to me, and I make decisions on the basis of God’s laws.”
17 Jethro replied:
That isn’t the best way to do it. 18 You and the people who come to you will soon be worn out. The job is too much for one person; you can’t do it alone. 19 God will help you if you follow my advice. You should be the one to speak to God for the people, 20 and you should teach them God’s laws and show them what they must do to live right.
21 You will need to appoint some competent leaders who respect God and are trustworthy and honest. Then put them over groups of ten, fifty, a hundred, and a thousand. 22 These judges can handle the ordinary cases and bring the more difficult ones to you. Having them to share the load will make your work easier. 23 This is the way God wants it done. You won’t be under nearly as much stress, and everyone else will return home feeling satisfied.
24 Moses followed Jethro’s advice. 25 He chose some competent leaders from every tribe in Israel and put them over groups of ten, fifty, a hundred, and a thousand. 26 They served as judges, deciding the easy cases themselves, but bringing the more difficult ones to Moses.
27 After Moses and his father-in-law Jethro had said good-by to each other, Jethro returned home.
At Mount Sinai
19:1-2 The Israelites left Rephidim.[h] Then two months after leaving Egypt, they arrived at the desert near Mount Sinai, where they set up camp at the foot of the mountain.
3 Moses went up the mountain to meet with the Lord God, who told him to say to the people:
4 You saw what I did in Egypt, and you know how I brought you here to me, just as a mighty eagle carries its young. 5 Now if you will faithfully obey me, you will be my very own people. The whole world is mine, 6 but you will be my holy nation and serve me as priests.
Moses, that is what you must tell the Israelites.
7 After Moses went back, he reported to the leaders what the Lord had said, 8 and they promised, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” So Moses told the Lord about this.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud and let the people hear me speak to you. Then they will always trust you.” Again Moses reported to the people what the Lord had told him.
10 Once more the Lord spoke to Moses:
Go back and tell the people that today and tomorrow they must get themselves ready to meet me. They must wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the day after tomorrow, when I will come down to Mount Sinai, where all of them can see me.
12 Warn the people that they are forbidden to touch any part of the mountain. Anyone who does will be put to death, 13 either with stones or arrows, and no one must touch the body of a person killed in this way. Even an animal that touches this mountain must be put to death. You may go up the mountain only after a signal is given on the trumpet.
14 After Moses went down the mountain, he gave orders for the people to wash their clothes and make themselves acceptable to worship God. 15 He told them to be ready in three days and not to have sex in the meantime.
The Lord Comes to Mount Sinai
16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud covered the mountain, a loud trumpet blast was heard, and everyone in camp trembled with fear. 17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had come down in a flaming fire. Smoke poured out of the mountain just like a furnace, and the whole mountain shook. 19 The trumpet blew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.
20 The Lord came down to the top of Mount Sinai and told Moses to meet him there. 21 Then he said, “Moses, go and warn the people not to cross the boundary that you set at the foot of the mountain. They must not cross it to come and look at me, because if they do, many of them will die. 22 Only the priests may come near me, and they must obey strict rules before I let them. If they don’t, they will be punished.”
23 Moses replied, “The people cannot come up the mountain. You warned us to stay away because it is holy.”
24 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go down and bring Aaron back here with you. But the priests and people must not try to push their way through, or I will rush at them like a flood!”
25 After Moses had gone back down, he told the people what the Lord had said.
The Ten Commandments
20:1 God said to the people of Israel:
2 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.
3 Do not worship any god except me.
4 Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. 5 Don’t bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. 6 But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.
7 Do not misuse my name.[i] I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.
8 Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. 9 You have six days when you can do your work, 10 but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. 11 In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That’s why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.
12 Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.
13 Do not murder.
14 Be faithful in marriage.
15 Do not steal.
16 Do not tell lies about others.
17 Do not want anything that belongs to someone else. Don’t want anyone’s house, wife or husband, slaves, oxen, donkeys or anything else.
The People Are Afraid
18 The people trembled with fear when they heard the thunder and the trumpet and saw the lightning and the smoke coming from the mountain. They stood a long way off 19 and said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we will die!”
20 “Don’t be afraid!” Moses replied. “God has come only to test you, so that by obeying him you won’t sin.” 21 But when Moses went near the thick cloud where God was, the people stayed a long way off.
Idols and Altars
22 The Lord told Moses to say to the people of Israel:
With your own eyes, you saw me speak to you from heaven. 23 So you must never make idols of silver or gold to worship in place of me.[j]
24 Build an altar out of earth, and offer on it your sacrifices[k] of sheep, goats, and cattle. Wherever I choose to be worshiped, I will come down to bless you. 25 If you ever build an altar for me out of stones, do not use any tools to chisel the stones, because that would make the altar unfit. 26 And don’t build an altar that requires steps; you might expose yourself when you climb up.[Footnotes:
17.1 Rephidim: The last stopping place for the Israelites between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai; the exact location is not known.
17.6 Sinai: The Hebrew text has “Horeb,” another name for Sinai.
17.16 This. . . Lord: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
18.2-4 Gershom: See the note at 2.22.
18.2-4 Eliezer: In Hebrew “Eliezer” means “God has helped me.”
18.2-4 saved. . . Egypt: See 2.1-15.
18.5,6 Mount Sinai: Hebrew “the mountain of God.”
19.1,2 Rephidim: See the note at 17.1.
20.7 misuse my name: Probably includes breaking promises, telling lies after swearing to tell the truth, using the Lord’s name as a curse word or a magic formula, and trying to control the Lord by using his name.
20.23 in place of me: Or “together with me.”
20.24 sacrifices: The Hebrew text mentions two types of sacrifices: Sacrifices to please the Lord (traditionally called “whole burnt offerings”) and sacrifices to ask the Lord’s blessing (traditionally called “peace offerings”).]
Acts 3: Peter and John Heal a Lame Man
1 The time of prayer was about three o’clock in the afternoon, and Peter and John were going into the temple.[a] 2 A man who had been born lame was being carried to the temple door. Each day he was placed beside this door, known as the Beautiful Gate. He sat there and begged from the people who were going in.
3 The man saw Peter and John entering the temple, and he asked them for money. 4 But they looked straight at him and said, “Look up at us!”
5 The man stared at them and thought he was going to get something. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold! But I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, get up and start walking.” 7 Peter then took him by the right hand and helped him up.
At once the man’s feet and ankles became strong, 8 and he jumped up and started walking. He went with Peter and John into the temple, walking and jumping and praising God. 9 Everyone saw him walking around and praising God. 10 They knew that he was the beggar who had been lying beside the Beautiful Gate, and they were completely surprised. They could not imagine what had happened to the man.
Peter Speaks in the Temple
11 While the man kept holding on to Peter and John, the whole crowd ran to them in amazement at the place known as Solomon’s Porch.[b] 12 Peter saw that a crowd had gathered, and he said:
Friends, why are you surprised at what has happened? Why are you staring at us? Do you think we have some power of our own? Do you think we were able to make this man walk because we are so religious? 13 The God that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and our other ancestors worshiped has brought honor to his Servant[c] Jesus. He is the one you betrayed. You turned against him when he was being tried by Pilate, even though Pilate wanted to set him free.
14 You rejected Jesus, who was holy and good. You asked for a murderer to be set free, 15 and you killed the one who leads people to life. But God raised him from death, and all of us can tell you what he has done. 16 You see this man, and you know him. He put his faith in the name of Jesus and was made strong. Faith in Jesus made this man completely well while everyone was watching.
17 My friends, I am sure that you and your leaders didn’t know what you were doing. 18 But God had his prophets tell that his Messiah would suffer, and now he has kept that promise. 19 So turn to God! Give up your sins, and you will be forgiven. 20 Then that time will come when the Lord will give you fresh strength. He will send you Jesus, his chosen Messiah. 21 But Jesus must stay in heaven until God makes all things new, just as his holy prophets promised long ago.
22 Moses said, “The Lord your God will choose one of your own people to be a prophet, just as he chose me. Listen to everything he tells you. 23 No one who disobeys that prophet will be one of God’s people any longer.”
24 Samuel and all the other prophets who came later also spoke about what is now happening. 25 You are really the ones God told his prophets to speak to. And you were given the promise that God made to your ancestors. He said to Abraham, “All nations on earth will be blessed because of someone from your family.” 26 God sent his chosen Son[d] to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins.[Footnotes:
3.1 The time of prayer: Many of the Jewish people prayed in their homes at regular times each day (see Daniel 6.11), and on special occasions they prayed in the temple.
3.11 Solomon’s Porch: A public place with tall columns along the east side of the temple.
3.13 Servant: Or “Son.”
3.26 Son: Or “Servant.”]
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Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie
P.O. Box 4000
Riverside, California 92514-4000 United States
Phone: 1(800)821-3300
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