Today's Thought

Today’s thought from Exodus 22-24

 

The people of Israel have been in bondage to the Egyptians for hundreds of years and likely at this point much of what they do must look very Egyptian. While scripture doesn’t specifically say this I think it can be inferred from the context and what we know of Gods nature that he wanted there to be nothing that would take their eyes off of him and the relationship he was trying to restore with his people.  While on the mountain God is writing their social, political, and religious law all over for the them again.  Leaving nothing for there to be discussion over.  Do not be mistaken this is not the founding documents of a democracy.  This is wholly a kingdom, established by God, for God, and with the glorification of God and the dominance of his people within the land in mind.  God means business.  He is setting up this people as a nation; he demands their loyalty, service and obedience.  For which he will richly provide for them, prosper them, keep them well, etc…  Depending on where you stand on the God thing, you could look at this passage of scripture and say what a benevolent God that wants his people to be protect and prospered, or you can read this and say what a dictator, God is, demanding everything and leaving nothing for the people to decide.  So which is right?  The answer is both; the perception of God is personal. And so is the choice to follow him, It is now as it was then.  I am sure there were people in that culture that saw it both ways then as we do now.  God is constant, and that is undeniable.  We are the variable.  Will we love, honor, respect, obey, follow, worship and bless the God that has so richly provided for is, or will we resent him for perceived rules and obligations that may seem at surface level to restrict.  I think if we look openly at this passage as well as others we see that the rules aren’t really restrictive, the burden isn’t heavy and the reality is that if we would simply follow as we are asked, there is a tremendous life available to us just in following, but we know that in following faithfully Gods abundance is poured out on us.  I don’t know why we struggle so with this but we aren’t alone in our struggle.  (unfortunately)

 

If we look at what God has laid out here as opportunity for faithfulness rather than regulation, our perspective and following will be very different.

Have a great day

Rob

 

Today's Thought

Today’s Thought from Exodus 19-21     

 

Well I have been terribly lax in my reading and writing the last two weeks so I am going to try and get back on track here, business is a lousy excuse.

 

What an incredible relationship Moses had with God, think about it for a moment, a verbal, and not only that but being in the presence of God on the Mountain.  I am guessing this is where the phrase “Mountain top experience” comes from.  What believer wouldn’t be in awe of an audible audience with the God of the Universe?  God gives Moses the commandments by which the people of Israel are to live.  Chapter 19 verses 14 -25  what an incredible picture that must have been,  Mount Sinai,  the trembling of the mountain, the billowing smoke, the lightning, the thunder, and then God’s Voice coming through all of it.  How could anyone not be awed by this moment in time, how could anyone doubt, how could anyone fall away after experiencing what the people of Israel were experiencing.  But even one chapter later, God knew and understood the hearts of his children and knew that they would struggle in their continued faithfulness.  He specifically tells Moses that “You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from Heaven:  Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold…...”  Now if you know the story at all coming up you know that this is exactly what they did.  WHY?  How much evidence do we need to know God is the God that he claims to be?  Are we all that different today?  We know all of the wonder that is God. We have access to the story unparalleled in history and yet we regularly worship at other idols.  Our entertainment, our jobs, our investments, our relationships, etc… looking to any one of them for the answers and the solutions to our troubling times.  How far do we have to be from the mountain before it has no effect on our lives?  Sometimes I think we only have to turn around and all of a sudden even though the mountain is directly behind us it has no affect on us.  When we cannot identify God in our plans and in our lives it isn’t because God isn’t there, it is because we aren’t including him.  Regardless of the problem(s) we face. God has demonstrated thousands of times that he is interested in the smallest of our daily details, down to the very food we eat and water we drink for life itself.

 

Make sure your plans include God, and when you plan, face the mountain, not the desert.

Have a great day.

Rob

 

 

Today's Thought

Today’s thought from Exodus 16-18

 

Look at all that is going on in these three chapters.  Moses is having a family reunion, the people are dissatisfied with the food, or amount of food they have, they complain about lack of water, and they want Moses to solve all their problems and quarrels.  I thought I have busy days but Moses schedule and burden was ridiculous.  This was all to obvious to others who were close to him.  His father-in-law comes to visit and while he was thrilled to hear all about the great things that God was doing through Moses and for the Israelites, he immediately recognizes that Moses is in a no win situation for his own health, the health of the community and the relationship with his family.  Something that should be obvious to Moses but isn’t.  There are similar problems in these chapters to issues that Moses has already had to deal with.  One indication here is that even though none of these problems is overwhelming for God, they just might be overwhelming for Moses and the people if there isn’t a better way to manage time and issues.  We are talking about thousands upon thousands of people bringing their disputes before Moses.  And while Moses and Aaron are communicating what God wants the people to do and what is expected from the nation, we are talking about one or two men who are making all the decisions for thousands.  So Jethro convinces Moses to divide up responsibilities, duties and decision making into manageable chunks and place responsible, upright people in positions to make decisions over their areas. 

Now you can ask probably anyone that I have ever worked with and you will find that I am a person who likes to lead the charge, loves the new adventure of creating and leading new concepts to reality.  That hasn’t ever really been a struggle for me, that is where I thrive and where I believe I shine.  But eventually the creating becomes programming and the giving of life becomes maintaining a relevant and meaningful program. And the leading the charge becomes ensuring the long term success.  This is where I begin to disconnect.  If it weren’t for our truly skilled managers who are passionate about their areas of ministry, we wouldn’t have any program running long term.  And now even many of them have to turn over aspects of their fields to others to help them manage and improve.  Surrounding oneself with capable, passionate, and loyal team mates it is one the surest way to guarantee success.  It doesn’t guarantee success alone, but without capable managers and sound decision makers, leadership is drastically limited in its ability to grow to any real long term significance.  There is a lot to cover in these three chapters but for me these chapters clearly show that God is capable of any once or reoccurring problem, (after all, God provided food for the grumblers for 40 years) but we must enlist help to make our leadership effective. 

 

Don’t forget to ask for help

Rob

 

Daily Thought

Today’s thought from Exodus 13 – 15

 

What do we do when reality doesn’t match our perception of God?  Its not rhetorical, what do we do? Here we have the Israelites celebrating over the Lords victory over pharaoh and his army. They have been awed once again by Gods’ incredible power over the natural and the supernatural.  From walking on dry ground to obliterating the Egyptian army, God clearly demonstrates he is in control.  Yet three days later they are in the desert and without water and they begin to grumble.  Now in all honesty who wouldn’t grumble after being in the desert for three days without water?  They in all reality were at a very critical point, but where is their faith in their God.  Probably the same place ours would be.  Oh sure our God can defeat army’s, create plagues, spread wide the rivers for crossing, but provide water when I am thirsty.  Seems a little unlikely.  It was unlikely enough that God chose to use this scenario of turning bitter water sweet to once again demonstrate not only his power over the natural but to show the Israelites that he was concerned for them at every level.  He would protect them not only from their enemies but from nature, etc…  He ask of them “If you listen carefully to the voice of ht Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.”  Then he led them to and provided them with a location that had twelve springs and trees in the desert.

 

Are we really all that different, we see God in the massive and the extreme we see him in the big picture, but how often do we miss him the ways that we are protected, provided for, I truly believe that God is in the details, I do believe that our actions and our walk of faith relate to the way that we interact with our God.  We know that God desires relationship and with that relationship comes communication.  Often we miss the communication because it isn’t what we were looking for.  We are panicked about the encroaching army and don’t often see the open river to safety behind us.  When we trust God he wants our trust in all things, not just the big ones.  He wants our trust over family, over relationships, over finances, over work, over time, etc…  Don’t wait till your near death from thist to start trusting.  The example and the promises have already been given.  Take advantage of the relationship that is waiting for us to take hold of.

 

Have a great day

Rob

Today's Thought

Today’s Thoughts come from Exodus 13-14

 

God in His wisdom took the Israelites out of Egypt in path that would both protect them as well as set up an opportunity to further display his awesome power.  Now having just revealed himself through the plagues, and clearly demonstrating his power and authority, you wouldn’t think that God had anything that he still needed to prove.  And yet in the day he provided a cloud to lead them and a pillar of fire at night.   Yet when Pharaoh’s army crests the hill behind the Israelite nation, they immediately panic. They fall into self pity, fear, and resentment.  They actually vocalize that it would have been better to stay as slaves in Egypt.  We have no idea how patient God really is.  He just saved this nation from destruction while defeating one the greatest empires of the time without the Israelites having to do basically anything and here just a short time later they panic at the sight of an enemy God has already defeated.  God even in our lack of faith, confidence, submission, etc… is still God, still faithful, still, loving, and still very very patient.

 

You know the story, he saves them again. A pattern that must unfortunately be repeated for thousands of years.  Never doubt, we serve a patient and loving God.

 

Rob

 

Daily Thought

Today’s thought from Exodus 10 – 12

          The opening of Chapter 10 sets the tone for what is about to happen.  In order that God is to be glorified and so that His people as well as the world will know that He alone is Lord, an orchestrated series of events continues to play out in Egypt.  Pharaoh’s heart is locked against God’s and he is determined to not be swayed by Moses or the proclamations of his God.  Pharaoh’s own officials recognize long before pharaoh that Egypt is destroyed, and that unless they heed these warnings of Moses, they will likely be utterly brought to ruin. Pharaoh had seen how seemingly acting convinced and repentant would stave off the trials and the plagues.  So he would concede long enough for Moses to revoke the plague and then he would withdraw the offer of letting the people leave.  But Pharaoh’s not willing to be told what to do by his slaves.  It is not until he is so personally affected by the loss of his own child and the children of those he is closest to that he comes to a clearer understanding of the God he is dealing with.  I don’t think anyone could fathom the grief that was felt collectively in Egypt at this time.  The land is ravaged, the livestock are depleted, there is pending famine, loved ones and property have already been recently lost and now the firstborn of every household will perish. 

          God is not one to be toyed with, the very statement doesn’t even seem like it should have to be said, but daily nations and people that have hardened their hearts toward God and knowing his awesome power, the history that is contained in scripture and archives, knowing full well that he is a jealous God. It doesn’t seem to sway people until catastrophic events take place.  Look at Europe and how they have turned from and forgot God, Look at our own very Government and how willingly we remove God at every hand.  Look at a Country like Haiti that embraces voodoo and other false Gods and finds itself in abject poverty, trying anything but God to turn things around.  God allows us to choose whom we follow.  He even creates environments where we can clearly see him at work if we are willing.  Pharaoh, his officials and his people all had a clear view of who and how powerful God is.  Yet look at what it took to bring them to submission, nothing short of, total loss of personal existence.

          How hard will our hearts have to be before we turn to listen to what God is telling us?

Have a good day.

Rob