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Exodus 33 – Show me your Glory…

Feb18

Good evening y’all. Happy Mid Week 🙂 Today we are looking at Exodus 33.

One thing I realized as I was reading this chapter is that, we can get close to God as much as we want. He has given an open invitation. The choice is ours. When we seek Him in all sincerity of heart, humility and honesty, we will surely find Him

Moses approached God in humility and sincerity of heart. I particularly love his statement in verse 13 where he said, ‘… if you are pleased with me teach me your ways…’

“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”(Exodus 33:13 NIV)

Moses wanted more of God. He wasn’t content with what he had seen and experienced of God. He wanted to know more. He was sincere in his pursuit of God. How hungry are we for God? Are we content with the little we’ve seen of God or do we desire to know him on a face to face level like Abraham, Moses and Jacob did? One thing I know is God won’t hide Himself from us if we truly desire to know Him more. He will come and reveal himself to us.

Jeremiah 29: 13 says “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”(NIV)

Deuteronomy 4:29 says “but if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul “(NIV)

Moses wasn’t willing to go if God wasn’t going to be with him. It was God or nothing at all. He wanted God’s presence. He understood that as long as they had God’s presence with them, everything will be fine. He wanted to know Gods plan. His desire was to please God. He wasn’t willing to do anything or take any step outside of God’s will. He wasn’t content with leading the people in his own knowledge, rather he depended on God.

“Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”(Exodus 33: 15-16 NIV)

Are we moving without God? We need His presence to guide and direct us in all we do. That’s why the book of Proverbs says we should trust God and not lean on our understanding as He knows everything. He knows the beginning from the end. He already knows what lies ahead of us. I once heard someone say “our future is God’s past”.

“With all your heart
you must trust the Lord
    and not your own judgment.
Always let him lead you,
    and he will clear the road
    for you to follow”.                                
            (Proverbs 3:5-6 CEV)

Moses asked to see God in all of His glory and God answered him.

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“Then Moses said, “I pray that you will let me see you in all of your glory.” The Lord answered: All right. I am the Lord, and I show mercy and kindness to anyone I choose. I will let you see my glory and hear my holy name, but I won’t let you see my face, because anyone who sees my face will die.There is a rock not far from me. Stand beside it, and before I pass by in all of my shining glory, I will put you in a large crack in the rock. I will cover your eyes with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back. You will not see my face”.(Exodus 33:18 -23 CEV)

Isn’t it amazing the kind of conversation God and Moses had? I am tempted to say I’m jealous of their relationship. But the truth is, are we willing to pay the price to get that close to God? Are we ready to give up all the things that are not pleasing to Him in order to truly see and encounter Him or are we content with what we think we know of Him?

Moses’ goal was to seek God and do his bidding. He really wanted to be pleasing to God. We should also ensure that pleasing and doing God’s bidding is our ultimate desire: it should be the reason for which we are living

I pray we all desire to know and experience God on a personal level like Moses did. Amen

Thanks for joining today.

Have a blessed evening 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Exodus 32 – The Golden Calf….

Feb17

Good afternoon y’all. Today we are looking at Exodus 32. Here we see the Israelites pester Aaron to make them a graven image.

Ok, what first got my attention was verse 1 where the Israelites were asking Aaron to make them a ‘god’.

“When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32: 1 NLT)

I thought to myself: is this not the same Israelites God appeared to on the mountain, the same ones God spoke loudly to and gave all the commands and they all responded we will obey.

“Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded”. (Exodus 24: 3 NLT)

Now, fast forward 8 chapters and they are already asking for a new god!. Seems to me these people never truly understood or knew God. Their encounter with God was shallow; it was just on the surface. Perhaps that’s why they asked Moses to speak to God on their behalf in Exodus 20:19.
They were too lazy and didn’t want to do the required to get closer to God. After all God had done for them, I’m amazed at verse 1.

Before we judge the Israelites, lets take a closer look at our own lives. Sometimes we too behave like the Israelites. We’ve seen God do miracles; seen Him show His mighty power, yet our understanding and knowledge of Him is limited to just those things. We are shallow in our in our understanding of who God truly is, so when trouble or temptation comes, we start to waver and look for alternative solutions. That’s exactly what the Israelites did. Just because Moses was gone for forty days and they had not seen him they decided they needed another ‘god’:they were so quick to forget all that God had done.

Are we shallow or deeply rooted in christ? Do we truly know this God or we are only interested in the things we can get from him? I’m reminded of Colossians 2: 6-7 and Luke 6: 46 – 48

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness”.(Colossians 2: 6-7 NLT)

“Why do you keep on saying that I am your Lord, when you refuse to do what I say? Anyone who comes and listens to me and obeys me  is like someone who dug down deep and built a house on solid rock. When the flood came and the river rushed against the house, it was built so well that it didn’t even shake. But anyone who hears what I say and doesn’t obey me is like someone whose house wasn’t built on solid rock. As soon as the river rushed against that house, it was smashed to pieces”. (Luke 6: 46- 48 CEV)

If all we know of God are the miracles He does for us, then what happens when He stops doing miracles and He is silent?  Does that mean we shift camp, move to a different base and find the next best thing that works miracles? Doesn’t that imply we are only with God for the benefits we can get and not because we genuinely love and want to serve Him?

Lets read on….

Aaron, oh Aaron….I’m speechless…. like this is a dude who dined with GOD himself in Exodus 24. Dude has seen God work miracles through him. I’m asking myself with all that Aaron saw of God was it that He still didn’t understand God? Or could it be that He never even knew God? He was just doing what Moses asked him to do. Does this mean it is possible to encounter God and remain the same? Aaron was so quick to agree to the Israelites suggestion; he didn’t even think twice about making the golden calf. I guess it just shows how we can deceive ourselves to thinking we know God when in fact we do not know Him at all. May God help us!!!

I pray we we will be deeply rooted in Christ and when temptations or trials come our ways, we will be strong enough to discard them and stand on God’s word. Amen.

Thanks for joining today.

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***