Really Good News

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:7-15, 4:1-17 (day five) Exodus 4:11- The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”

Scripture always holds two things together (God’s act of creation and His sovereign providence). Some theologians believe in “Deism”. It’s a theological view separates them. In other words, they believe that God created the universe and everything in it. Then, He withdraws like an absentee landlord to allow the world to run its own course.

You can’t read the Bible very long without coming to a very different conclusion: Jesus’ answer to the disciples in John 9:3, Romans 8:28, and God’s response to Moses. God reassures Moses of His power, provision, and presence. (all-together and at the same time) He is not distant or removed from any circumstance or issue we encounter. He makes the same promises to us today, and that is really good news.

 

Have No Fear!

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:7-15, 4:1-17 (day four) 

Question:  Is faith greater than fear?  If your answer is yes…at what point did Moses place his faith in God?  In our Re:Verse passage this week, Moses is afraid of the assignment God has given him.  Moses comes up with every excuse he can think of to try to get God to choose someone else for this task of delivering the children of Israel.  If we go to Hebrews 11, we find that Moses demonstrated faith when he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He also had faith when he left Egypt, not fearing the king, trusting in the unseen one.  It was on the mountain of God that Moses began to know and understand the God he had placed his faith in.  He was afraid of the responsibility of being the deliverer of Israel, but his faith in God who promised to be with him overcame his fear.

Question: Is your faith greater than your fear?  When God gives an assignment, He promises to be with us.  Have no fear!

Burn

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:7-15, 4:1-17 (day three) 

“Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses.”  God’s anger is never an end in itself.  Rather, his anger always moves creation towards what he desires.  It burns away impurity, it renews, it opens up a new possibility of life in the face of the present circumstances for those who will come to their senses.  God’s anger toward Moses opened up the possibility for Aaron to join this enterprise, and as a result, Moses did not run away.  He accepted his assignment from God.  And the rest is holy history.  Face it: God gets angry with you.  He does.  Maybe he’s angry now.  But that’s not the end.  It’s just the beginning of his moving you to a new life of confident action if you won’t run away.

Equipping the Called

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:7-15, 4:1-17 (day two) The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 4:11

Best not to argue with the Lord. Do we really believe that if we are called by the Lord, that he hasn’t thought of how to use us to accomplish the task? In this instance the Lord provides Moses’ brother Aaron to aid in the plan to free the Israelites, the scripture also says that God’s anger “burned against Moses.” 4:14 Are we so proud, fearful, or untrusting that we would risk God’s anger?

Queen Esther faced a similar moment in her call to action. Her Uncle Mordecai reminded her that the Lord would indeed free his people whether she accepted the assignment or not. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews WILL ARISE FROM ANOTHER PLACE…Esther 4:14a

Get on board. Stop making excuses. If he has clearly called you out to be a part of his kingdom building then roll up your sleeves, grab that staff, and march into Pharaoh’s  court.

I Can

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:7-15, 4:1-17 (day one) 

“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ “–3:11

Familiar place for me.  Insecurity.  Inadequacy.  “I can’t do that.”  “I don’t know how.”  I know these words all too well.

A few years before, Moses probably wouldn’t have verbalized self-doubt.  He was brash and self-confident.  Then, life collapsed.  A very public fall from grace and a criminal record and the loss of all he had.  Forty years in the desert at a blue collar job had done its job.  He learned humility.

Confidence is the second lesson of the spiritual life.  (Humility is always the first) Once God teaches us to say, “I can’t” (in my own strength), He teaches us to say, “I can” (if God will be with me).

It is a turning point.  For Moses.  For us.  “I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”–Philippians 4:13.

Christian soldiers

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day seven)

“I will put enmity between you and the woman”–v 15.

“Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”–2 Timothy 2:3

It has been eye-opening for me.  Reading Genesis 3.  Reflecting on it.  Realizing that when sin came into the world God DECLARED WAR!  No other choice for a holy God to make.  And no option for His sons and daughters than to join Him in the conflict.

It has been a strange comfort to me.  The tension I feel, I am not “making it up”.  The opposition is real and so is His call  to courage.  Neutrality is no virtue, not in this eternal struggle.  Jesus didn’t look for a safe place.

My take-away this week is what the Lord told Joshua.  “Be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law that Moses gave you.”–Joshua 1:7.  We are in a war! May the Lord give us courage.

Out of Hiding

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day six)

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God…” Genesis 3:8

This is remarkable, only moments before if they had recognized God’s presence they likely would have run to him, but not now. It had to have been a very peculiar feeling, fear and shame, feelings they only experienced now since their eyes had been opened by the Knowledge of good and evil. The serpent promised they would become like God, but truly they became alone out of fear. They weren’t made to experience either, nor were we.

Notice though what God does almost immediately.

“But the Lord God called to the man and said to him…” Genesis 3:9.

Grace is God finding you and bringing you out from the shadows. He triumphs over your fear; he brings you out of hiding. That’s the good news of God!

Believing God’s Word

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day five) 

“Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” I read this week that “the first evil act was to call into question the Word of God”. What separated man from God was ultimately unbelief.

This week I was again reminded of the importance and priority of learning, studying, and trusting God’s Word. In God’s Word we find salvation, freedom, and joy. Through God’s Word we understand best, “Who God is”, and “What is He like”. It is no small thing to read (each week), study (individually and in small groups), and worship around (the promises and hope) God’s Word. I am grateful for a church that intentionally presses its people deeper into God’s Word. (Re:Verse, graduate gifts, worship and music, are just a few of the ways)

God’s remedy for restoring His relationship with man answers the sin problem in its first form.   Believe!!  Mark 16:16, Romans 10:9-10

 

Who is in Control?

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day four)

This week begins a new Re:Verse study entitled Faith>Fear (> ‘is greater than’).  In our reading this week, in verse 10, Adam tells God that he was afraid.  There had been no fear until Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit.  Sin brought fear.  As a result of man’s sin, we now have fear of evil, fear of pain, fear of not having enough, fear of relationships, fear of death…and on and on the list goes.  Fear can invade every aspect of our life.  At its heart, fear is the loss of control.

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they thought they could be like God…knowing good from evil.  They thought they could be in control.  When we realize we do not have control of a situation, we are afraid.  Our only way to conquer fear is to turn to Christ in faith.  We look to God to be in control rather than ourselves.  Wasn’t that God’s plan all along?

Killjoy

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day three)

“Where are you?”  From Genesis to Jesus, God comes looking: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”  God seeks because men are lost.  But this is no tender tearjerker.  We are willfully lost.  We fear, but we don’t fear God.  That is, we don’t fear him out of the recognition that he’s good and we’re not.  Rather, we fear him because he’s out to ruin our hard-won independence.  And that kind of fear will pave the way to our death.  When God says to you, “Where are you?”–and he will indeed say that to you–which fear will rise up in you?