February 9, 2010— God is the God of Details

Today’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 25:1 through Exodus 28:43

Today’s stop on our journey shows us something important about the nature of God; when it comes to giving He wants our hearts to be right. In verse 1 of chapter 25, the Lord tells Moses to tell the people “whose hearts are moved to bring their sacred offerings.”  This tells me that the attitude of the giver is equally if not more important than the gift.  It’s really not a gift if we don’t have a choice.  We wouldn’t have thought a thing about it if in today’s reading God had said to the Israelites “bring Me all your valuables; we’ve got a holy sanctuary to build!”  But he didn’t; He was giving instructions to build the most holy place, a place worthy of God’s presence and He not only wanted quality materials he wanted their attitudes and hearts to be right.

Let that sink in for a minute.  The atmosphere of the project was just as important as the physical materials.  How many times have you worked on a project/committee/event that was exciting and definitely something that could glorify God, but selfish attitudes made the whole experience a negative memory?  Then on the flip side, how many times have you worked with a group who didn’t care who got the credit and saw God take the project to a supernatural level that only heaven will reveal the impact on the Kingdom?

If attitude was the first ingredient in this project then obedience was the second.  In verse 8 of that same chapter God says, “You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you.”

E-x-a-c-t-l-y… for those of us who aren’t that great at details and numbers, the word exactly can cause sweaty palms and constant second guessing.  I’m sure Moses had to refer to his notes many times to get God’s plan perfectly executed.  

Three words—willing-heart, exactly, and obedience? If you think about it when Jesus came to earth as a man he obediently and exactly followed God’s plan  with a willing-heart!  From everything I’ve read about the Tabernacle every detail points to our coming Savior—Jesus Christ!   Lord, help us to obediently and exactly follow you with a willing heart! 

Amen and Amen!

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Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 29:1 through Exodus 31:18

February 8, 2010—A Second-Hand Experience

Today’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 22:16 through Exodus 24:18

As I read this week-end’s reading, I thought it was very interesting that the Israelites did not want God to speak directly to them (Exodus 20:19).  This was right after God gave the people the Ten Commandments.  I wonder how different things would have been if the Israelites would have chosen to hear directly from God.  I see a similarity in today’s world.  If there were two options to being a Christ follower and you could choose, which one would you pick?

1. Be in constant communication with God so that you know His ways, His thoughts, His Word and His desires
2. Get a onetime list of all the dos and don’ts and follow that list each day

The Israelites definitely chose option 2. I think they thought it was the easiest way. But before we’re too hard on the Israelites, don’t many of us just want to go to church on Sundays and have the pastor “hear from God” and give us an executive summary. Let’s go one step further, don’t we sometimes want a pastor, teacher, friend or even a stranger to pray for us or someone we love, before we even whisper a prayer to God for ourselves.  

Dear Lord help us to never settle for a second-hand experience with you!  Holy Spirit, draw us to your Word each day!  Jesus, Make us more like you!  Amen and Amen!

Here is my favorite rule in today’s reading:  “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see.  A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the  truth.”   ~Exodus 23:8

Could we open the Bible to this page and have all of our politicians swear to live by this scripture?  **I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t resist 

Have an Amazing Week!  Let’s Have a First-hand Experience with God!

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Tomorrow Scripture Reading:  Exodus 25:1 through Exodus 28:43

February 6-7, 2010–Open Blog Week-end

This week-end’s Scripture Reading: 

Saturday-Exodus 16:1 through Exodus 19:25

Sunday-Exodus 20:1 through Exodus 22:15

Hello Everyone and Happy Week-end!

Whether you’re snowed in or need to be in three places at once, I hope you find some time this week-end to spend with Moses.  You definitely don’t want to miss the next two day’s readings!  Please take a minute and share a comment if you can!

I would love to hear from you!  If you don’t feel comfortable leaving a comment, just send me an email at iblgod@cox.net.  It would be great to know your name, where you live, praise reports and prayer requests.  If you are on Facebook, send me a friend request and let’s get acquainted!

Praying that you have a week-end of spiritual and physical restoration!

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February 5, 2010—Stand Still…No, Get Moving!

Yesterday was my one year anniversary of becoming a blogger.  Click here to visit that first post.

Today’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 13:1 through Exodus 15:27

This is just too funny!

Moses told the people “Don’t be afraid.  Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.  The Egyptians you see today will never been seen again.  The Lord himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm.” (Ex. 14:13-14)

The very next sentence…

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?  Tell the people to get moving!” (Ex. 14:15)

There is a time to stand still and stay calm.  AND there is a time to get moving.  I wonder when we get to heaven and ask God some of our “why” questions if He will say, “the problem was, you wouldn’t get moving!”

Have you ever been completely paralyzed by fear? 

Maybe when we are scared to death and begging God to fix the problem, heal our child, save our marriage, restore our health, sell the house, or put some money in our account; we should be asking, “God, what do you want me to do?” “How do you want me to get moving?”

Don’t get me wrong, our God answers prayer.  I could keep you here for hours testifying to that fact from my God experiences, but maybe it’s ”both/and” kind of thing.  Maybe we need to pray like everything depends on God and “get moving” like it all depends on us!

A few additional highlights from today’s reading:

• Moses did remember to get Joseph’s bones (Exodus 13:19)
• It was really important to God that the future generations knew about the rescue from Egypt (Exodus 13:8, 13:14)
• The Lord will fight for us (Exodus 14:25)
• When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians they were filled with awe before him.  They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.  (Exodus 14:31)  Just like many of  us (I’m at the front of the line) they were singing the right song on the wrong side of the sea.  It’s not faith when we believe after the miracle!
• God gave Israel a standard to test their faithfulness to Him:                                                                                                          If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in  His sight, obeying His commands and keeping all His decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you. (Exodus 15:26)  Lord, show me how this applies to my life today!

 

Dear Heavenly Father, there is so much wisdom in today’s scripture…

Word of God Speak…

Amen and Amen!

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This week-end’s Scripture Reading: 

Saturday-Exodus 16:1 through Exodus 19:25

Sunday-Exodus 20:1 through Exodus 22:15

February 4, 2010—You Just Think You’re In Charge

Today’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 13:1 through Exodus 15:27

I could not help but laugh today as I read Pharaoh’s response to the locusts and the darkness.  He thought he was in charge!  But it was God who hardened his heart after each plague–God was really in charge.  God chose to work in the hearts of the Egyptians in a different way.  “Now the Lord had caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the people of Israel.  And Moses was considered a very great man in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s officials and the Egyptians alike.”  (Exodus 11:3)

Both of these instances were examples of God using emotions to get His will accomplished.  I wonder how many times God has “hardened my heart or someone else’s” to move me away from something or someone that wasn’t good for me.  And how many times He’s made me look better than I was to gain the favor of people He wanted in my life.

The longer I serve the Lord, the less I trust my judgment.  Now I know that we have a part to play, but it is so comforting to me to believe that if I’m in a relationship with Jesus Christ and I desire for Him to be the Lord of my life He will use my emotions to get His will accomplished. 

How is God using your emotions to get His will accomplished in your life?

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Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 16:1 through 19:25

February 3, 2010—God Could Have…

Today’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 7:14 through Exodus 9:35

“By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth.  But I have spared you for a purpose–to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”           ~ Exodus 9:15-16

Let’s try to put ourselves in the Egyptians’ place for a minute.  They did not know how everything was going to turn out; they just knew that since Moses had shown up things had gotten worse.  Do you think the words in chapter 9 verses 15 & 16 were comforting to them?  I don’t think so.  If I were one of the Israelites I would be thinking…

• God if you could have, why haven’t you?
• Who cares if the Egyptians have a purpose? We are tired and weak.  Aren’t we more important than the Egyptians?
• Lord, show your power by getting us out of here, not by sending plagues and making the Egyptians more angry with each passing day!

Now that we’ve finished Genesis, Job and have moved into Exodus, one thing has become very clear to me—God  has the power to do anything, but He only uses his power to fulfill His purpose.  Spreading the fame of God throughout the earth is not like some guy who can’t sing getting on American Idol to have his minute of fame.  Fame in Moses day meant a good name, or a person’s character.  So while it seemed God was being slow about keeping his promise to the Israelites, He was actually showing them His power and character for their sake and the sake of their future generations.

“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”  ~  2 Peter 3:9

I know this is oversimplified, but it seems to me we are here for two reasons:

• To know God
• To cause others to know God

This was God’s focus back in Exodus, let’s remember to spread His fame as we go throughout our day.  With each passing day of our Journey let’s not only “Know Him More”;  let’s cause others to know Him as well!   

Blessings!

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Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 10:1 through Exodus 12:51

February 2, 2010—Everyone Will Know

 Today’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 4:18 through Exodus 7:13

Today’s  passage has had significant impact on my life this past year.  This very spot is where God inspired me to lead our journey through the Word of God in 2010.  In this passage God Himself shares the reward for taking the journey; so that we will know that Yahweh is the Lord! In these three chapters knowing or not knowing God is mentioned three times:

1       After Moses and Aaron first told Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh made a statement that lets us know exactly where he stands:  “I don’t know the Lord…” (Exodus 5:2)

 2      In the second mention of “knowing” the Israelites had their hopes of being rescued crushed by Pharaoh and  the Egyptian slave drivers.  Pharaoh decided that they had too much time on their hands since they wanted to go and offer sacrifices to the Lord. So he increased their quotas and made them find their own straw.  The Israelites confronted Moses and Aaron and then Moses confronted the Lord.  God told Moses to tell the Children of Israel:

• I am the Lord
• I will free you from your oppression
• I will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt
• I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment
• I will claim you as my own people
• I will be your God

Then God shared the icing on the cake:  “Then you will know that I am the Lord your God…” (Exodus 6:7)

 3       In the third and final ”know” God began to reveal additional details of his plan for the rescue: 

•  I will make you (Moses) seem like God and your brother Aaron will be your prophet to the Egyptians
• I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
• Even after the signs and wonders Pharaoh will refuse to listen
• I will bring down my fist on Egypt
• Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites

 Not only did God plan to rescue the Children of Israel, He also wanted to make sure the Egyptians knew who He was:  “When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” (Exodus 7:5)

God wasn’t just rescuing the Israelites, He was introducing Himself to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and teaching  the Israelites that Yahweh** was, is and forever will be their God. 

God could have killed all the Egyptians with one blink and transported the Israelites to the Promised Land using a Star Trek transporter—He’s Yahweh, He’s God, He can do whatever He wants!  But God chose to use it all– the suffering, the plagues, the wanderings in the desert; so that the Israelites, their enemies and everyone who reads the Bible until Jesus comes will know that Yahweh is the Lord!

Could this be one the reasons we go through difficulties in life?  So that our family, our friends, our circle of influence in this generation and others to come will know that Yahweh is the Lord!

Click here for an interesting article on the names of God.  Scroll down until you get to Yahweh–Very Interesting!

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Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 7:14 through Exodus 9:35

February 1, 2010-Send Your Dreams Down the River

Today’s reading:  Exodus 1:1 through Exodus 2:25; 1 Chronicles 6:1 through 1 Chronicles 6:3a; Exodus 3:1 through Exodus 4:17

Wow!  We made it through January!  I’m excited to move on to Exodus, but I just have to say a final word about Job.  A few of Job’s last words are my prayer for all of us as we continue our journey.  Job was speaking to God when he said in Job 42:5:  “I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes.”  I’m sure if we could have interviewed the Israelites right after they crossed  the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they would have said, “Before we left Egypt we had only heard about Jehovah God, but now after our journey we have seen Him with our own eyes!”  Lord, help us to REALLY see You as we relive the Israelite’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

After being in Job for about twelve days and reading lots of dialogue, I thought I was going to drown during today’s reading!  It was sort of like drinking from a fire hydrant!  There are so many full sermons that could be preached from these four-plus chapters— so many practical truths, so many principles to stake your life upon.  I definitely need your help to bring out these truths in today’s reading! 

I have chosen to re-post something I wrote last February about one section of today’s scripture reading.   As I re-read it today, I felt compelled to share it again…

I have many dreams (a.k.a. goals, plans, and ambitions).  I believe many of them are special, God-given dreams.  But what do we do with our dreams when time has passed and we haven’t seen them come to fruition?

Thanks to a  course written by Boyce Teas called “Women in Ministry,” I think I know what to do with my dreams–SEND THEM DOWN THE RIVER!!

Let me explain…

Have you ever heard of a woman in the Bible named Jochabed?  You may not recognized her name, but your probably know her — she’s Moses’ Mom.

If I were Jochabed I would have prayed for my unborn child to be a girl, because Pharaoh, King of Egypt gave an order that every newborn Hebrew boy was to be thrown in the Nile River.  But when Jochabed’s  baby boy was born  and she saw that her son was a special child (Exodus 2:2 NLT) she began to think of a way to get around Pharaoh’s decree.  I know all Moms think their children are special but this Mom believed God and I believe the Lord instilled in Jockabed’s heart a dream of greatness for her son Moses.

So what did Jochabed do with her dream?

• She hid her baby for 3 months.  This would probably be wise advice for all of us, when God gives us a dream let’s keep it to ourselves for a while until He tells us to share it.  Can I be the first one to say that most times I’m more like Joseph (Genesis 37) than Jochabed?  I’ll talk about my dreams to anybody who will listen.
•  Jochabed  made preparations to launch her dream. She didn’t just sit around and fret.  Can I go so far as to say she didn’t even “just pray,”  she put action to her prayers.  She made a plan and got busy.  Exodus 2: 1-4, shows how Jochabed devised her plan:
  • How– made a waterproof basket
  • Where–placed the baby in a basket in the Nile River
  • Why–to keep the baby from being killed
  • When– the baby was 3 months old and too big to keep quiet
  • Who–Jochabed personally put the baby in the water and then had the baby’s sister, Miriam watch over him
• She never let her dream out of her sight. I’m sure the plan was for her and Miriam to continuously watch over this baby 24/7. Jochabed didn’t let negative circumstances distract her; she stayed focused.
• She believed God to make her dream a reality. Jochabed and her husband, Amram were from the tribe of Levi.  The tribe of Levi will later become God’s chosen people to be the priests of the Jewish nation–they believed God!

Can you get in touch with the faith it took for Jochabed to launch that basket in the water?  As Boyce Teas says, “under God’s all-seeing eyes, Moses was as safe as he would have been in his mother’s arms.  Until Jochabed released that child into God’s care the next step in God’s plan could not take place.  When she put the basket in the water Jochabed was no longer in control of her son’s destiny.” 

Until we are willing to release our dream into God’s loving care we can’t expect God to bring it to pass.  What dream do you need to “send down the river” today?

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Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:  Exodus 4:18 through Exodus 7:13

January 30-31, 2010–Open Blog Week-end

This week-ends Scripture reading: 

Saturday:  Job 38:1 through Job 40:5

Sunday:  Job 40:6 through 42:17

Can you believe we’ve been on our journey for a month?

As a teacher, I know that what’s caught is much more important than what’s taught, so I’d like to encourage you to think about what you’ve “caught” this month as you have spent time in the Word of the Living God.  I know many of you are not comfortable leaving a comment, but would it be possible for you to make an exception and share what you’ve “caught” so far?  Another way to phrase this is how has the Word of God changed you this month?

What’s the value of sharing?

1.  When you take the time to speak or write your thoughts it helps you to retain and recall them longer.  This is why the teacher usually learns the most.

2.  If we all share then it will be a review of our month, which will help everyone to retain and recall more scripture and life applications.

Don’t miss the last two days of Job.  I’m going to mark these chapters for review when I think God needs my help in solving problems! 

On Monday we begin our study of the Exodus of the Israelites.  Please invite your family and friends to join us.  Even if they don’t want to commit to reading everyday, have them subscribe to the blog and get it delivered to their email inbox; it makes a great 5 minute Bible Study. 

I hope you have a wonderful week-end!  Harry and I are looking forward to some rest and relaxation with a lot of time spent counting our blessings!

Thanking God for You!

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January 29, 2010—Watch Out, You May Be Seduced

Today’s Scripture reading:  Job 35:1 through Job 37:24

Do you ever wonder why the wicked (godless) prosper?  Do you ever get irritated when someone with no morals, no integrity, no values and no mention of Christ seem to have everything going for them?

I’m raising my hand; I have certainly asked this question before. 

I did some research on the word godless (Job 36:17).  The Hebrew word is rasha.  It means wicked, guilty of sin (against God or man).  This word is used 37 times in the book of Job.

It seems to me that Elihu had some wise words to share, even though his tone was definitely judgmental.  I think he was on to something regarding  Job’s issue with the wicked prospering, especially since it’s mentioned 37 times, that’s almost one time for each chapter.

What was Elihu’s advice?  “Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld.  But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth” (Job 26:17-18).

I really do think there’s a connection between being bitter and sometimes jealous when the wicked prosper and be seduced by wealth.  What is wealth?  My definition:  Just a little more than you have right now.

How do we judge the prosperity of another person?  By physical things, such as houses, cars, clothes, careers, and education.  Sometime we also compare things like spouses, health, parents, friends, ability to have children and the behavior of our children. 

I’m sure Job was observing everything that everyone had and comparing it with everything he had lost and saying, “There’s something wrong with this picture!”

If Ellihu was right, we need to be careful when we start comparing; we don’t have to worry about judgment, God will take care of that but we do have to worry about being sucked into the addiction of pursuing wealth. 

In the New Testament, Paul counseled young Timothy on this same topic:

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”  1 Timothy 6:10

Dear Lord, help us to recognize the seduction of wealth and run from it!    In Jesus Name—Amen and Amen

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This week-ends Scripture reading: 

Saturday:  Job 38:1 through Job 40:5

Sunday:  Job 40:6 through 42:17