Israel had forgotten how hard life in Egypt had been: they had been hard pressed and physically exploited; and they had quickly become discontented with God's kindness in miraculously providing food and water at just the right time.

I am sure we have all heard the expression, “moving heaven and earth”, meaning doing our utmost to succeed at something, whatever the odds or cost. It appears that the earliest recorded use of this expression was in France in 1564 in relation to the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendar. At that time about 10 days were lost from the calendar, which brought to mind for some the time God arranged for a day to be lost, as recorded for us in Joshua 10.

When the spiritual manna stops, we have a choice: to find our own food, and that for others around us, in order to thrive; or risk spiritual starvation. Which will we choose?

Turning aside from the daily round of life is much more difficult these days in our fast-paced and consumeristic society, but it is essential if we desire to hear the Lord’s “still small voice” and His direction for our lives.

Obtaining water in Bible times was time-consuming and tiring. It was time-consuming because a woman would be expected to walk to the nearest well and fill her vessel using a well bucket, and then carry the now full vessel back home, a chore she may have needed to repeat during the day. It was tiring because the woman would have needed to collect the water, possibly in the heat of the day, and then carry the heavy vessel back to her home.

Have you ever made a decision, thinking this was a great course of action, only to find difficulties and problems later on? Perhaps you may even blame God for the situation, when you failed to ask His direction in the first place. This is exactly what happened to the three kings of Israel, Judah and Edom. (2 Kings 3)

Have you ever felt overlooked, or forgotten? I know I have, particularly when I was younger! When we describe ourselves as having remembered something, it is often because it had earlier slipped our mind………….. There are several places in the Bible where God is described as "remembering".

If someone were to ask you for directions because they were lost, would you become embarrassed, shuffle your feet, and waffle some answer or would you clearly and concisely outline the directions they needed to take? Because the person was lost, and they need an urgent resolution to their situation, we would clearly state the directions necessary ('First left past the shops, then right, and right again…..'). Of course, in order to give physical directions to someone who might be lost, we ourselves will need to have first-hand experience of the locality in order to accurately provide the necessary directions.

Jesus came to this world, not just to reveal the way of salvation and perform miracles, but also to model for us the way we were designed to live. We become disciples of Jesus as we follow in His footsteps, and seek to live our lives according to His teachings. Jesus made it clear that the first step, the gateway to entering into a fruitful discipleship relationship with Him, was to "deny self":