The Solution for the Church Today is the Manifest Preseence of the Lord

Scripture: Exodus 33:19-23

And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

Insights: Yesterday we learned Moses asked the Lord to allow him to see His glory.  Beloved, I believe this kind of prayer is a kind the Lord loves to answer.  He desires for us, as His children, to grow in our love relationship with Him.  As a result of this desire He moves heaven and earth for us to know Him better.  Think about it for just a moment.  He wanted a relationship with us so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross of Calvary in order to pay our sin debt.  What an amazing display of His heart’s desire for us.  Notice in today’s verses the Lord granted Moses His request and placed him in the cleft of the rock and then passed by and revealed His glory to Moses.  God manifested His presence in order for Moses to know more completely who the Lord God is.  Beloved, I believe this aspect of our verses this week truly demonstrate the solution to the churches problem today.  We need to get our focus so much on Jesus that all of the other stuff that fights for our attention and devotion become insignificant and inconsequential in comparison to the glory of the Lord.  I am so grateful the Lord offers such a relationship to us.  My we take advantage of His love and grow in Him as we strive for intimacy with the Lord.

Questions:

1. Have you come to the place where you understand it is all about your relationship with the Lord God and nothing else?
2. Are you willing to fight for that kind of intimacy with the Lord when there are so many things that try to steal your affections?

Prayer: Father, grow me in Your grace and help me to solely rely on You and You alone for all of my hearts desires.  Because what my heart needs to desire is You and You alone.  May my life reflect Your glory.  Amen.

The Solution for the Church Today

Scripture: Exodus 33:17-18

The LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name." Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"

Insights: Today and tomorrow will follow the same pattern as Monday and Tuesday’s Thoughts by Scott.  Let me lay the groundwork today and tomorrow drive the point home.  Think back with me over Moses life for just a moment.  He saw the burning bush that did not get consumed.  He watched his staff turn into a snake and then return back to a staff when he picked it up by the tail.  He watched his hand turn leprous and then be healed.  He watched the Lord perform ten plagues.  He saw the fire by night and the cloud by day.  He walked on dry ground through a sea that had parted.  He observed the same sea come crashing down on the armies of Pharaoh.  He tasted the water the Lord had made sweet.  He ate the manna from heaven.  He had walked up the mountain and spoken with God at least two prior times before this conversation.  He carried the two tablets on which the Lord had written ten of His commandments.  We could write of even more exploits Moses had experienced in his walk and journey with the Lord.  I write about all of these events to emphasis the reality that Moses had seen and observed the very glory of the Lord on many occasions.  Yet, when he was before the Lord on this occasion he felt the confidence and conviction that it would be appropriate to ask the Lord for another gift.  Moses’ request was to see the glory of God.  In other word, he wanted to see even more of God’s glory than he had previously known.  Beloved, tomorrow we will expound this thought, but I want you to know that we have already been given the glimpse of the solution for the church today.  May you, like Moses, ask for the Lord to change your desires to wish for Him and His ways.  I pray the Lord will grant this request in all of our lives.

Questions:

1. Of what are you desirous?
2. Do you have the same kind of confidence that Moses had in making your petitions before the Lord?

Prayer: Father, I pray I desire You more than Your blessings.  You are my all in all and I desperately need You.  Let my heart seek after You and You alone.  Amen.

The Downfall of the Church Today is the Blessings of the Lord

Scripture: Exodus 33:2-3

"I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way."

Insights: For the faithful few that made it through yesterday’s Thoughts by Scott, let me throw you into a tail spin.  The downfall of the church today, in my opinion, is the blessings of the Lord.  Now, before you stop reading my blog and cast me out as a heretic, let me explain.  In today’s verses we see that God has offered His blessing to be on the children of Israel.  He was going to send an angel before them into the Promised Land and drive out all the “ites” of the land.  God was going to give them the land of milk and honey.  In other words, God was going to bless them with all of His blessings, BUT He Himself was not going to go with the people.  I fear that most churches in America have gotten to the place where they want the blessings of God more than they want GOD!  In the verses we discussed yesterday, however, Moses cries out and says (in Scott’s vernacular), “No way God, if You don’t come with us, then don’t send us.”  There has been a “joke,” which is more like a bad commentary on Baptist life that goes back as far as I can remember that goes something like this, “The Holy Spirit could leave the average Baptist church for 50 years and no one would notice.”  In other words, our dependence on the Holy Spirit has become an after-thought and not a necessity.  We want His blessing and approval, but we don’t want Him meddling into our affairs.  Beloved, these statements are a horrific personal assessment of the church.  It is my prayer that FBCBG does not fall into that kind of category.  Rather I hope and pray we are like Moses and the verses we read yesterday.  If God does not go with us, then don’t let us move one inch further.  Let me encourage you to seek the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Let Him be first and foremost in your life and do not settle for His blessings without His presence being manifest.

Questions:

1. Are you more desirous of the blessings you can receive from the Lord rather than the Lord Himself?
2. Do you even recognize when the manifold presence of God is absent from Your life?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I forsake You for the blessings You provide for me.  Let me experience Your grace and let me be wholly aware of Your presence and activity in my life.  Amen.

The Downfall of the Church Today

Scripture: Exodus 33:14-16

And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. "For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?"

Insights: Tomorrow I will expound more on today’s Thoughts by Scott.  Today I wish to lay the foundation for tomorrow’s explanation.  The verses today do not really set the scene, and yet, are pivotal for us to understand what I am attempting to get across.  I believe there is a downfall in the church today.  I think this same downfall can be applied to our everyday experiences.  I believe we are so wrapped up in our wants and desires that we have missed the entire purpose of church and the meaning behind a relationship with Jesus.  In today’s verses Moses is clearly communicating that it is our relationship with the Lord God that makes us different from everyone else in the world.  We, however, have so gravitated toward the things of this world that at times it is hard to distinguish between the world and the church.  As we walk in this gray area it permeates our dysfunction and reveals how fragile our lives really are.  If God’s presence is not central to our lives, then we do not display the very evidence of a life of distinction.  We are called to such a life and we are not showing it to a watching world.  Beloved, tomorrow I will elaborate in more detail what I think has captured the heart of the church, but let me encourage you until then to ask the Father if there is anything for which you have settled as a substitute for Him.  If He reveals anything to you, let me encourage you to repent and seek hard after the Lord God.  Let Him truly be the central and total aspect of your focus and devotion.

Questions:

1. Does your life resemble the church and its difficulties?
2. Are you content to have your life remain in such disarray?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I let everything else in this world take precedence over You.  Do not let me ever be satisfied with the things of this world.  Always stir within my heart a discontent for the sinful trappings of this life and let me have an insatiable hunger for You.  Amen.

God's Provision is Just

Happy Valentine's Day

Scripture: Exodus 12:12-13

'For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments-- I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Insights: We conclude this week with the final aspect of God’s provision and that is His justice.  God was completely just in striking down the firstborn in the land of Egypt.  They had experienced and observed the power of God and yet did not change their lives.  They continued to walk upright and self-dependent.  They believed in themselves and their gods rather in the One True God.  As a result of His incredible mercy he gave them nine chances to repent and they rejected them.  In this final act of judgment God is just in His outpouring of death.  At the very same time, because the children of Israel did believe Him and responded to His commands, they were justly shown mercy.  The same options are available to us as well.  We can either reject the Lord Jesus and His provision of life which is found at the cross of Calvary or we can receive this very same gift.  Pending on which one we choose determines which side of God’s judgment we stand.  We either face the Great White Throne Judgment reserved for all who have rejected Jesus’ gift or we can face the Bema Seat Judgment for those who have been born again in Jesus.  The judgment mediated out at both of these seats of judgment is just.  The issue at hand is what you are going to believe.  You will either believe Jesus or reject Jesus and the choice is yours.  It is my prayer you receive Jesus and receive God’s merciful justice.

Questions:

1. Which side of God’s judgment do you stand?
2. Will you this day receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior and be set free from your sin and receive God’s just mercy on your life?

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace.  I do not deserve Your gift of eternal life in Jesus, but am grateful You look at Jesus’ work and not mine.  Because of Your activity Your merciful judgment on me is just, even when it is incomprehensible to me.  Thank You again for Your amazing love.  Amen.

God's Provision is a Reminder

Scripture: Exodus 12:8-11

'They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 'Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. 'And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 'Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste-- it is the LORD'S Passover.

Insights: The fourth part of God’s provision is His reminder of what He has done for us.  If you will notice they ate bitter herbs and unleavened bread.  The animal had to be burned up and nothing was permitted to remain until the next day.  Every one of these aspects of the meal pointed to the past and the pressing on toward the future.  The unleavened bread represented their forgiveness of sin.  The bitter herb represented their years in slavery to the Egyptians.  The burned up meat represented the fact they did not have to bring this baggage of the past with them into their new future of freedom.  These same realities apply to us through Jesus.  We call these aspects our testimony.  In other words, we are able to tell other people what our lives were like before we came to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  At the same time we get to tell them about what our lives are like now as a result of His gracious life change in us.  We do not have to be weighed down by our past sin, but rather we can walk in the freedom found in Jesus.  This past Sunday I challenged FBCBG to ask the Lord each day for the grace to share the love of Jesus with someone this week.  Today’s verses are a reminder of our responsibility to share Jesus with other people and tell them the good news of our salvation.  May God be brought glory because of your faithfulness to Him.

Questions:

1. Have you told anyone this week your testimony and shared about God’s grace in your life?
2. Are you grateful for God’s deliverance from your life of slavery to sin?

Prayer: Father, open my eyes to those around me today.  Help me be ready to share the good news of the gospel with someone who desperately needs salvation.  Give me the boldness and courage to share the truth with them and may You be brought glory.  Amen.

God's Provision is a Purifier

Scripture: Exodus 12:7

'Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Insights: The third part of God’s provision is His purification of our sins.  In today’s verse we learn that the people sprinkled blood on the doorposts and on the lintel of their houses.  The significance of this act was that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.  God received the people’s sacrifice of the unblemished lamb as an acceptable sacrifice for their sin.  The people displayed their faith in this provision by sprinkling the blood on the doorposts and lintel.  In other words, their obedience to the commands of God proved their faith in His provision of deliverance.  If there was no blood on the doorposts and lintel, then the first born of that household would have died because of their rebellion against the Lord.  The same thing is true for us today in Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross of Calvary in order to shed His blood for our sins.  If we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then His blood literally covers us just as the blood on the doorposts and lintel covered the Israelites sin.  In both of these expressions of love, God is displaying His mercy on us sinful people.  His love is so great for us that He does not wish for any to perish and spend eternity separated from Him; and therefore, He sent His Son to shed His blood for the covering to occur.  If you are of the Beloved of the Lord, then I pray you will display gratitude this day for God’s gracious provision for your life.  May you walk obediently with Him and obey His every prompting in your life just as these Israelites obeyed by placing the blood on the doorposts and lintel.  Have a blessed day in the Lord!

Questions:

1. Has Jesus’ blood purified you from your sins?
2. Have you thanked Him today for His gracious provision of purification?

Prayer: Father, thank You for purifying my life with the blood of Jesus.  May You transform me to such an extent that my life brings You glory.  Amen.