pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Moses


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Lead

Reading​: Exodus 17:1-7

The Israelites have Moses as their leader.  He was sent by God to free the people from slavery in Egypt and to lead them to the Promised Land.  Through the signs and wonders it is clear that God is with Moses.  As the people begin this journey, the memories of slavery are surely still in their minds.  Yet they grumble and complain pretty guickly against Moses when their needs are not met.  They are free, yes, but they have been promised a new homeland.  They envision arriving, not being tested out in the desert.

Initially, Moses was a very reluctant leader.  In fact, he tried to talk God out of choosing him.  But Moses did accept the position and has been a good leader.  He has grown into the position and has worn the title well.  Even though Moses’ patience is tried now and then by the people, he functions well as their leader.  He deals with the daily decisions, hears the daily cases and complaints, and continues to lead.  So it is natural for the people to go to Moses when there is no water to drink.  When the people have a vision for the Promised Land, it is hard to die of thirst out in the desert.

Moses, as leader and intermediary to God, intercedes on the people’s behalf.  God responds to the people’s needs by making water flow from the Rock at Horeb.  God provides and Moses continues to lead.

Almost all of us are leaders.  For some it is with our families, for some it is at our jobs, for some it is on our teams, for some it is where we volunteer, for some it is in our circle of friends.  As leaders, we try and set the example and try to lead in a way that brings honor and glory to God.  And at times, like with Moses, the ‘people’ will complain or grumble to us as the leader.  May we each follow Moses’ example, hearing the people and then going to God for the solution.  We can choose to lead by following God’s voice and direction, or we can try to lead on our own.  Things worked out pretty good for Moses.  May we also choose to lead wherever we are planted with God out in front.


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Being Moses and Elijah

Reading: Matthew 17: 1-9

Jesus meets Moses and Elijah up on the mountain.  These two men represent the Messiah, each in their own way.  Moses is the first great deliverer of his people.  He led them out of the bondage of slavery and guided them to the Promised Land.  Along the way Moses brought them the Law and guided them as they learned to live as the people of God.  Jesus fills these roles as well.  It is Jesus who freed us from the chains of sin and death, bringing us freedom.  It is Jesus who shows us the way to our promised land – life everlasting.  It is Jesus who gave us the example of how to live out the meaning of the Law, to live according to God’s ways, living as a servant to all, loving all we meet.

Elijah is the great prophet of God.  Elijah spoke the word of God to the people and also demonstrated God’s power again and again.  Elijah spoke truth to those around him and was often unwelcomed or lived as an outcast.  Jesus also spoke the word of God to the people.  The power of God certainly flowed through Jesus as well, revealed in the many He healed and restored to life.  Jesus was not always popular either; as a prophet He spoke truth as well and at times Jesus was not welcomed, at other times He was despised by the religious authorities.  In the end, it was this group that crucified Him.

It makes sense that Jesus would meet and talk with Moses and Elijah.  He was and is both deliverer and prophet.  In the same way that Jesus fills these roles, we too must fill these roles in our own way.  Many in our lives need to be delivered – there is much that holds us captive and that binds people today.  Many in our lives need to find the freedom brought by living as a child of God – the peace, contentment, and joy found in Christ.  Many in our lives need to hear the prophetic word of God to bring hope and promise and healing to their broken lives.  We are called to follow Jesus Christ’s example to help accomplish all of this.  We are called to be a humble servant and to graciously love all we meet.  Through us, we allow the same light of Christ that shone at the transfiguration to shine out into people’s darkness, guiding them to the only hope, to the Savior of the world, to Jesus Christ.


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Into the Cloud

Reading: Exodus 24: 15-18

Many years ago my wife and I were in Switzerland.  One day we planned to go up into the Alps to see Jungfrau up close and personal.  Jungfrau is a rugged and beautiful mountain.  So we found the little mountain train and rode up the line.  It was a glorious summer day in June.  However, when we got to the small town nestled high up in the Alps, the clouds had settled in around Jungfrau.  I have a lovely picture of a very thick cloud to show what Jungfrau looked like that day.

In our passage today, Moses is not on vacation but is answering God’s call to ‘come up the mountain’.  Aaron and Hur are appointed to settle disputes while Moses and Joshua are gone.  The elders are told to wait for Moses to return.  A cloud descends on the mountain as Moses heads up.  On the seventh day God calls Moses into the cloud.  Stepping into the cloud, Moses enters into God’s presence.  Moses converses with God for a period of forty days and forty nights.  Moses emerges from the cloud filled with knowledge and empowered to lead.

There will be times in our lives when we feel as if God were in a cloud.  In the ordinary days of our faith, we can sense that God is near and in those sacred moments can feel as if we were in the palm of God’s hand.  But at times we feel as if God were distant or were shrouded in a cloud.  In these times, there is a scariness about stepping into the cloud, into the unknown or unseen.  But just as God called Moses, He too calls us to trust in Him and to faithfully walk forward in faith, knowing that God will guide our steps.  Of course, we know that God is never distant or gone.  It is only that at times we feel this way.  In those times of doubt and fear and uncertainty, may we step boldly into God’s presence, as Moses did, trusting God to transform and empower us as well.


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Choice

Reading: Deuteronomy 30: 15-20

As the Hebrews stand on the edge of the Promised Land, they face a whole new life.  It is a life unlike any they have known or heard about.  It is a life that contains options, choices, freedom.  All of the stories they heard as children were of slavery in Egypt and of God’s redemption.  As slaves, the people had to follow Pharaoh’s orders or they died.  Even when God redeemed them and Moses led them out of Egypt, they were ‘free’ but we’re very dependant on God.  They wandered for forty years in the vast desert, dependant on God for everything.  On the occasions when they tested out freedom, like when they built and worshipped the golden calf, the consequences were dire.

What lay ahead was the land of milk and honey.  The land would provide their food.  The toil of their own hands would also play a role in what seemed to produce the crops.  Instead of being the only people isolated together in the desert, now rheyb would live in and amongst many different tribes.  Each of these tribes brought and offered choices.  Who to fight with, who to intermarry with?  Who to shun as outsiders, whobto kneel beside at the altar to an idol?  The Hebrews entered a new land flush with choices and freedoms.

We too live in a land flush with choices and freedom.  We too live as aliens amongst many different tribes.  Not only this, but we live in a world of tolerance and acceptance.  The ‘just do it’ and do whatever you need to to find success mentalities are poor examples of these good ideals.  And to add to this, the list of what our culture idolizes is long.  It is a tough time and place to be a devout Christian.

Each day, we too face the choice that Moses presented to the Hebrews: choose life through God or choose death through the world.  When we choose God, we are choosing the narrow road.  Our choices are not unlimited but are bound by God.  All of our choices and decisions must be filtered through lens of ‘What is God’s will in this’?  How we speak, act, and do must also be aligned with God’s will.  When we choose life through God we are choosing life in Christ.  When our choice is Jesus and we choose to declare Him the Lord of our life, we hand it all over to Him, surrendering all that we are.  When we choose life in Christ, we are choosing to become slaves to His love, hope, mercy, compassion, …  And what a life of freedom it is!  There is a choice to be made.  What is your choice?


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Walk

Readings: Micah 6:4 and Matthew 5: 1-2

When one reads these verses together, there is a connection that forms between Moses and Jesus.  The concept of going up the mountain is sprinkled throughout both men’s stories in the Bible.  Moses often meets God on the mountain – it is there that he receives his call and it is where he commonly interacts with God.  For Jesus, the mountain is often where He goes to pray, to connect personally with God.   Some of the time Jesus also teaches from the mountain, as is the case today.

There is also a parallel in the idea of teaching from the mountain.  God taught Moses, who in turn taught the people, from the mountain.  In our passage from Matthew, we see Jesus in this same role – teaching from the mountain.  With both Moses and Jesus we see God being actively engaged with helping the people grow in their faith.

This process continues today.  God continues to be active in our world, teaching us in the mountaintop experiences, in the valley trials, and everywhere in between.  God continues to teach believers through the words of the prophets, disciples, and apostles.  God continues to be active in our lives through the presence of the Holy Spirit, leading and guiding believers.  God continues to be active by taking individuals like you and me, sending us out into the world to share the good news with others.

At times we learn slowly and at other times in sudden and moving revelations.  At times the Holy Spirit gently nudges and quietly whispers – at other times the compassion to act or the conviction of sin hits us like a sledgehammer.  At times we inch into service at a glacial pace and at other times we burst into action.  It is a process.  It is a journey.  May you be blessed on your walk today.  Whether on the mountaintop, in the valley, or somewhere in between – be blessed as you bless others today!


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By Faith

Reading: Hebrews 11: 29-40

“By faith” they walked through a sea, by faith the walks of a mighty city simply fell down.  By faith the giant was slain, by faith three hundred routed the thousands.  By faith touching the hem of a garment brought healing, by faith a man walked on water.  By faith the people of God have done things that would have been impossible otherwise.  Each and every time someone trusted fully in what God was calling them to and the miraculous occurred.

These stories are not stories of someone getting a wild idea and then asking God to make it happen.  Each is the story of how God spoke into the heart of a faithful follower.  Each is the story of a person hearing or sensing the voice or nudge of God and being willing to trust enough in God to lead them to respond by faith.  One can only assume there are thousands upon thousands who heard or felt God leading them as well but instead ignored it or refused the call.  We know this because we each are one.

Each of us that have heard or felt God leading us to do or say or be something are not without faith because we hesitated or were fearful or doubted.  We are human.  Each of us have also had experiences where we did step out by faith, where we did trust in where God was leading us.  In these cases lived were affected and maybe some were changed.  Perhaps our life was one that was changed because we followed God’s lead.

Just as all those who have come before learned and trusted and came to walk with God, we too are learning and building trust and growing by faith in our walk with God.  Just as those such as Moses, Joshua, David, Samuel, Rahab, Stephen, Peter, Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., and many more lived by faith to positively affect our faith and our world, we too can have a mighty impact for the kingdom of God.  May we be willing and trusting servants to answer the call of God and to step by faith to do God’s will.


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Cloud of Witness

Peter, James, and John experience something amazing as Jesus, in transformed state, stands and talks with Moses and Elijah.  For these onlookers, they would have readily identified with the two guests.  Moses and Elijah are two of the great icons of the Hebrew faith.  Peter, James, and John would have grown up listening to stories of how  Moses led the people out of slavery and of how Elijah spoke out boldly.  Both men were (and are) shining examples of how God works through the faithful.

And just when it doesn’t seem like it could get any better, Peter, James, and John are enveloped by a cloud.  Within the cloud is God’s presence.  The three disciples hear God speak as He claims Jesus as His Son and then instructs them to listen to Jesus.  How could the day get any better?!

Perhaps the writer of Hebrews used this story for inspiration as they coined the phrase, ” great cloud of witness”.   In the words of God, spoken from the cloud, we certainly hear Him witness to who Jesus is.  In a similar way, Moses and Elijah are two men who witnessed to their faith in great ways.  Their faith certainly led to eternity in God’s presence up in the heavens.

The idea of a great cloud of witness ties in the faithful since the beginning to the faithful today.  The example and witness of all who have gone before guides us today.  In many ways, their story becomes part of our story.  It is all part of a great legacy.

So the question for us today is this: are we living out our faith and witnessing to others in such a way that we one day will become part of this great cloud of witness?  Ponder it.  Wrestle with the question.  May we each live our faith out in ways that witness to Christ and that builds His kingdom here on earth.

Scripture reference:  Luke 9: 28-34


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Offer Much

As I pay more attention to my diet and as I exercise more, the more my health improves.  As I spend time reading more and more on a particular subject, the more intelligence I gain on that subject.  The more I focus on the care for and feeding of a plant in our home, the more it grows and flourishes.

Moses came down from the mountain after spending time with God.  Each time he came down, his face was radiant.  His fellow Israelites could tell he had been in God’s presence.  The fact that Moses’ face glowed tells us something about being in the Almighty’s presence!  While the most obvious and visible sign was his glowing face, I would guess there were other changes in Moses.  His heart and soul and spirit must have been just overflowing with love and joy.  Maybe he even had a little extra bounce in his step!

I believe the same two observations apply to our faith journey as well.  The more time we spend with God, the closer to Him we become.  The more we follow Jesus, the more we become like Him.  The more we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, the more we hear that voice above all others.  And like Moses, the time we spend in His presence changes us.  It changes us inside and out.  Our disposition and attitude become more positive and it shows in our faces, in our words, and in our actions.  The people around us sense that we are different from all the other people they encounter.

If we want to become more like Jesus and want to know God more, the formula is really pretty simple.  Spend more time working on the relationship.  One last observation – our relationship with the Almighty is just like all of our other relationships – you get out what you put in.  May we offer much to our relationship with the Lord.

Scripture reference: Exodus 34: 29-35


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Patience That Never Ends

Moses come down the mountain with God’s Holy Law as found in the Ten Commandments.  His face is literally radiant from His time with the Almighty.  Trip number one was interrupted by the people encamped at the foot of the mountain when they decided to make and worship a golden idol.  They did so while they could see God’s glory just outside of camp.  It is amazing that His presence could be so close yet they turn to a false god.

In reality we are the same.  Right in the middle of worship, have you ever had an unkind thought about the family coming in late or the song that was selected or the pastor’s message?  In the Holy presence of God one can go directly from saying the Lord’s Prayer to questioning or judging the words used in the morning prayer.  Even while in worship, our lips can bring praise but out hearts are far from God.

The same is often true for other times in our lives.  After a moving morning devotional time, we can get in the car and curse a fellow driver.  After spending a few minutes in awe praising God for the beautiful sunrise, we can turn and yell at our child for getting up a few minutes late.  How quickly we can praise God one moment and absolutely drive Him nuts the next.

And what is God’s response to all this and what does it reveal about God?  He sends Moses down the mountain one more time with the stone tablets.  He forgives us for the zillionth time.  Over and over and over He says, “Close, but… let’s try this again”.  I am so thankful that God’s patience never runs out.  How great is the Father’s love for us!  Imperfect as we are, He loves us anyway.  Thanks be to God!

Scripture reference: Exodus 34: 29-32