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A Salvation Song (Exodus 15:1-21)

9/26/2023

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Do you ever wake up singing? Perhaps you had a great day the previous day, or maybe you were in a season of great joy and success. Whatever the cause of your rejoicing, a song spontaneously bursts from your lips. Children do this effortlessly, as they create melodies and sing lyrics that may not rhyme but express their sheer delight in whatever they're singing about. As God's people, we need this childlike singing not only in our theology but also in our practice. That's precisely what we see in Exodus 15. The Israelites' present hope was anchored in the LORD, who worked salvation in the past and would display His great glory and power among them in the future.

God's Work in Past Salvation (v. 1-12)

The song bursts onto the scene with a victorious battle cry: "I will sing to the LORD for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea" (v. 1). After witnessing the LORD's overthrow of Egypt, it becomes clear who won the war—the LORD, the "man of war" (v. 3). God is the Divine Warrior who fought on behalf of Israel. There are numerous words and phrases throughout Scripture to describe Him, and "man of war" is a powerful name that signifies His willingness to enter the ring and fight for His people. Our culture doesn’t jive with this sort of language, but we need a God who can actually defend us. The Faithlife Study points out that this Divine Warrior motif reverberates throughout the Bible (see Deut 28:7; Neh 4:20; Isa 42:13; Zech 14:3).

The Israelites, or at least the genuine believers among them, clung to God as their strength and song because He became their salvation (v. 2). The proper response to God's work in our lives is faith, and the natural outflow of that faith is expressed by rejoicing in and glorifying God: "This is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will exalt Him" (v. 2). Throughout the song, we see expressions of worship interwoven among the works of God (v. 2, 6, 11, and 18). It's almost as if Moses couldn't narrate the story without sporadic outbursts of praise and worship! He tells the story, and he gives the glory.

We, too, have a song to sing. We who are in Christ have a God who fought to the point of death to bring us salvation. Notice that Israel's present hope—"the LORD is my strength…this is my God"—stems from His work in the past. We have a present hope today rooted in the finished work of Christ on the cross. The Father chose us and sent His Son to rescue us. By the Spirit, we have been regenerated and brought to new life. That’s all God! Tell the story and give Him glory! God did a mighty work against a mighty foe! Who is like the LORD among the gods? Who can do what He does? None! Not Buddha, not Muhammad, not mindfulness, not self-worship. All idols are obliterated.

God's Work in Future Salvation (v. 13-21)

God's past work leads to present faith and hope in God's future work. Notice the shift. God has guided the people out of Egypt and toward God's holy abode. They are a people headed to the land promised to Abraham. The inhabitants of the promised land have heard of God's glory against Egypt, and they "trembled," "pangs seized them," they all "melted away," 'terror and dread" fell upon them, they were "still as stone" (v. 13-16). Why such a response? Because of the greatness of God's arm. God's mighty hand struck and destroyed Egypt, and His arm would lead them through to the promised land as well.

The power of God gave the Israelites great confidence. The inhabitants of Canaan would face their Divine Warrior until the Israelites passed by. God Himself purchased Israel, would bring them into the land, and would one day plant them on His mountain, where His presence would abide among Israel. This land was God's chosen sanctuary and was established by His hands. Moses knew that the LORD would reign forever, and this was the final line of His glorious song. The Divine Warrior was also their Divine King.

Like the Israelites, Christians today have present faith and a future hope. If God did all of this for the Israelites, many of whom eventually rejected Him, how much more will He do this for those who truly trust in His Son and are His adopted children (Eph. 1:5, Rom. 8:15-16)? If the believing Israelites had hope in Christ, whom they had not yet seen or fully grasped, how much more should we hope in Christ, knowing the power He displayed on the cross as He obliterated sin and death at the cross before rising again with power? We also have the book of Revelation, which gives a clear, authoritative, faithful glimpse into the future work and hope of God. We have something to sing about each and every day. We know that the LORD will bring us home, and He will reign forever and ever (v. 17-18)!

Reflection Questions:
  • In what has God proven to be a "man of war" in your faith walk? How does that strengthen your faith today?
  • What are some specific ways God has worked in your story that cause you to praise Him and rejoice in His power? What are words you've used to express that joy and worship to God?
  • How does God's past work and present power give you assurance for the future?

Prayer Points:
  • Pray for remembrance. Ask the Spirit to bring to your remembrance God's mighty work in your salvation.
  • Praise God with your words. Write a song, pen some prose, or simply pray some words of worship and rejoicing to God.
  • Remember Christ's coming. Plead the promise of Christ's second coming to God in prayer. Ask the Spirit to bring to mind passages of hope and security in the second coming of Christ.
Photo by Luis Quintero: https://www.pexels.com/photo/monochrome-photo-of-woman-singing-2774575/
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Faith, Obedience, and the Power of God (Exodus 14:15-31)

9/16/2023

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Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you knew the path of obedience but continued praying? Sometimes we know precisely what God wants us to do, but we persist in prayer as if we expect a new answer. God has made promises and issued calls in our lives, but we sometimes mistakenly believe He might alter them if we persist in prayer. I am not attempting to discourage prayer, especially persistent prayer. However, occasionally we mistake persistence for procrastination. When God is actively working on our behalf, we need to pray, take obedient action, and observe His powerful work.

Moses's Faithful Obedience

Moses cried out to God after the Israelites grumbled against him in fear of the Egyptians (Ex. 14:11-14). God summoned him to faithful action, requiring a fundamental step toward obedience. This step didn't demand genius or expertise on Moses' part. He simply had to lift up a staff, stretch out his hand over the water, and divide the sea. Those last three words should slow us down a bit. Divide the sea. Still, the action took great faith because it was impossible for Moses to accomplish in his own strength. How could waving a stick over water possibly part the sea? With man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.

God's work against Egypt required Moses's faithful obedience. God hardened the Egyptians’ hearts, leading them to chase the Israelites and enter the sea to their doom. God did this so He could get glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen (v.18). This faithful obedience didn't require great wisdom, strength, or insight. Yet, it did require Moses to trust his mighty, powerful, and all-wise God. God's mission was glory, and God's means was Moses.

The Presence and Power of God

Notice God's presence in this scene. The Israelites were afraid, and impending doom seemed inevitable, but the Angel of God—perhaps even Jesus himself before taking on human flesh—was among them! He stood before them and then moved behind them, along with the pillar of cloud, shielding and guiding them throughout the night! How comforting is the presence and power of God and His Angel? How much more amazing it is to know that God is with us, even when his call to obedience seems impossible. When we are His and we walk according to His will, we never will be left alone to fend for ourselves.

This night became unforgettable for those Israelites. Moses obeyed God and stretched his hand over the sea. The Lord and His miraculous power over creation brought a strong east wind and made the waters of the Red Sea (Heb. Sea of Reeds) wall up and form an area of dry ground for the Israelites to walk upon. This was no leisurely stroll! The Egyptians were still in hot pursuit, and the Israelite people still needed to move with haste as Egypt's Army pursued them with horses, chariots, and horsemen.

God’s Glory and Power on Full Display

Just around 6:00 a.m. or so, during the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the Egyptians and sent them into a panic. What in the world was happening?! What was God doing among the Egyptians? Why were they so panicked? He was winning the battle. He clogged (Heb. bound) their chariot wheels, though it likely wasn't mud since the ground was dry. This was the power of God! The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians” (v.25).

After the Lord got Egypt where he wanted them, He commanded Moses to stretch out his hand again over the sea. We can imagine that it was much easier to obey God this time since he had just seen the waters part and the Egyptian Army sent into disarray. This time there was a great reversal. The waters began to flow like normal. No wall. No wind. No work. Just water. Yet our children's Bibles and Sunday school memories don't serve us too well. The Egyptians didn't just drown because the water returned. No, “the Lord shook off (threw) the Egyptians into the midst of the sea” (v. 27; see ESV footnote). The Egyptians were like those annoying sticky plants that cling to your clothes when you're out for a walk in the woods. God shook them off to keep them away from Israel.

God's Glory and Our Hope of Redemption

Israel won because God won! Egypt lost because God fought the battle! The glory doesn't go to Moses or the Israelites. Israel walked on dry ground while Egypt drowned in the waters of judgment! Israel saw God's wonders and rejoiced. Egypt saw God's wrath and received the full cup. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians (v. 30). As the Egyptian bodies washed up on the seashore, Israel remembered the promises of God. They saw his mighty works firsthand. His great power drew them to fear him, and they believed in the Lord and Moses that day!

The Lord's work in this great Exodus points to hope for Christians today. Jude 4-5 teaches that Jesus, our only Master and Lord, saved a people out of Egypt. “The LORD” in Exodus 14:30 is the three-in-one God we worship. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked together to rescue Israel from Egypt. This is why Jude can attribute this work to Jesus. God has the power to rescue us as well. He can rescue us from any sin, any trial, or any temptation. The powerful God who showed up in Egypt shows up as a very present help in our time of need today (Ps. 46:1). A mighty fortress is our God! Take your trials to him and trust him to fight for you! Greater is He who is at work in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Reflection Questions
  • How can we discern between persistent prayer and obedient action in our lives? How do fellow believers in our local church help us with this discernment?
  • How does Moses’s obedience help us to obey God when He calls us to seemingly impossible tasks?
  • How does God’s presence and power in Egypt help us trust Him more today?
  • How can we apply these truths about the presence and power of God practically in our lives today?

Prayer points
  • Thank God for His continued presence. Thank Him that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is in us to help us bear spiritual fruit and put to death the deeds of the body.
  • Praise God for His glorious work in rescuing us from the greater enemies, sin, and death. Glorify God for His power displayed against Egypt, and glorify Him for doing the same to sin and death in our lives. 
  • Ask God to give you strength to obediently do His will. Confess your inability and fear (if applicable), and ask God to give you the desire and strength to live obediently for His glory.​
Photo by Ricky Esquivel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/ocean-wave-splashing-on-dock-1683492/
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God Knows the Way (Exodus 13:17-14:14)

9/6/2023

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Parents can often foresee danger and protect their kids from getting injured. Kids grumble and complain that they don’t have enough freedom, and that our boundaries are too restrictive. Yet, skating down the driveway toward a main road could prove deadly. A fall from a flimsy branch can lead to a shattered arm. A slip on the icy sidewalk might land them in the emergency room. In it all, we know the consequences of dangerous decisions, and we try our best to shield them from serious consequences.

Sometimes, we put our children in challenging situations to protect them. We know if they don’t apply themselves in grade school, they could grow up to be sluggards. If we give them every comfort they desire, they’ll become pleasure-seeking adults who might end up addicted to entertainment. If they never have to push through an assignment that frustrates them, they may never wrestle with the difficult passages of Scripture. Like us, our children almost always want comfort, but we know the easy path often rolls out the red carpet and then pulls the rug from underneath us.

God Plans Our Path

God often brings us through hard places to protect us from a destination that would ruin us and prepare us for places that require more of His preparation. In Exodus 13:17-18, God planned for Israel to go to Canaan, but not by the easy route. He led them “around the way by the way of the wilderness” to preserve their hope. Yet, as we will soon see, even on this rough path, God left provisions on the way for His people. 

As they went, the Israelites had a log to sweeten bitter waters, manna to eat every day, water from a rock, and God fighting for them. God prepared all of this ahead of time, perhaps hundreds or thousands of years before they even set foot on their journey. His aim was to keep them from war with the Philistines and to get glory over Pharaoh and Egypt (13:17, 14:4).

Similarly, God orders our steps and numbers our days—even the difficult days. This can be disorienting when we are in the moment, but it can also comfort us because He is not surprised by the hardship. He prepares beforehand to help through it. Though we don’t see Him with our physical eyes, the God of the pillar and fire is the God leading our way today.

Through the Holy Spirit, we have the full presence of our three-in-one God with us at every moment. He leads us by the Word of God. He encourages us through the people of God. He convicts us through the truth of God. He comforts us with the love of God. He is real and He is with us right here and right now, groaning on our behalf when we have no words (Rom. 8:26). The same Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness just prior to His ministry sometimes leads us to the wilderness to prepare us for the calling God has placed on our lives.

God Walks With Us Through the Hard Places

God led Israel on a difficult journey into the wilderness. They went the long way to Canaan, and as they traveled, they looked up and saw Pharaoh with his dreadful army. They were filled with great fear and cried out to the LORD while at the same time blaming Moses for their calamity. They ultimately blamed God for bringing them to a grave in the wilderness, even wanting to turn back to serve the Egyptians in peace rather than die at the hand of Pharaoh. They knew they were in a pinch and their faith was weak.

Yet, as they went, they had God’s powerful presence. Christ Himself was present, possibly in the pillar of fire and cloud, leading Israel and remaining with them throughout their journey (Jude 5). 1 Cor. 10:9, in warning against grumbling like Israel, also mentions that they put Christ to the test in the wilderness. He took them on a tough route that looked impossible to overcome, but He was with them the whole way. He preserved the lives of those who believed in Him and didn’t reject Him in faithless rebellion.

Perhaps God is leading you on a difficult path. If not now, you’ve endured trials before. Remember that God doesn’t leave His children without hope and help. He is present with us through faith. In His fiery, glorious presence, God met Moses, and in the same way, He also met Israel. In the wilderness, God seemed far, and improvement seemed impossible, but He was with them and He still with us. Christ is God with us.

Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we don’t have to be afraid because God will work for us today as He worked among the Israelites. He collects our tears in His jar, and He fights for us. Christ ended the power of sin and death over His people at the cross. One day He will decimate all sin, suffering, and death completely and eradicate the whole universe of the far-reaching effects. We need to remember Christ’s finished work when we are facing trials and remind ourselves that “Those whom Christ brings into a wilderness he will not leave nor lose there, but will take care to lead them through it.” This is the blessed hope we have in Him!

God Shows Mercy Even in the Hard Places

God brought Israel on a hard journey to protect them from a harder journey. War with the Philistines would’ve been too much for the fleeing nation. After wearing down Egypt, He would not only get an easy victory, but Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the rest of the world would know that God is the LORD (14:4). God’s glory over Egypt would actually serve to protect Israel later as those nations would also know and fear the power of the LORD when He fought on their behalf. This story has God’s mercy written all over it!

God also showed Israel mercy by reminding them that they would never fight alone if they trusted in Him. If God could destroy the mighty Pharaoh and his mighty army, He could also wipe out their enemies in Canaan. If God could devastate the greatest military on the planet without Israel uttering a single whisper or wielding even one sword, there’s nothing too hard for the LORD (14:14). They were secure in their journey, and God was letting them know long before they saw the first military threat in Canaan.

Sometimes a path of travail protects us from a seemingly easy journey that would have ruined us. Think about how many times you could have wrecked your life, but God led you on a different journey. You know the situations that leave you reeling and thinking to yourself, “What if I had left me to myself?”. This doesn’t mean we don’t face hardships or make trainwreck decisions. But God even uses our mistakes and failures to build contentment, avoid folly, and dodge useless tragedy later on.

Usually, we only see one path that makes sense to us—an easy path that just makes sense. However, what if the “easy” path actually leads you down a path to destruction? What if, like Christian and Hopeful, in The Pilgrim’s Progress you walk the easy path that led others into a pit of destruction? What if you tread lightly and then as night falls you fall into a trap? What if the lush grass of the easy path causes you to fall asleep and not continue the journey toward Christ? God often uses trials of various kinds to build perseverance, character, and hope for a harder, deeper place of suffering. All of this gives us a longing for eternal hope (Romans 5:3-5).

God knows the way, and He sent the Way, the Truth, and the Life to guide us on our pilgrimage to the promised land.

Discussion Questions:
  • How do trials and tough seasons protect us from dangers that we don’t know about or foresee ahead of us?
  • How can we, as a group (and as a local church), remind one another that we aren’t alone in our trials and suffering? List at least three ways and commit to applying them this week.
  • In what ways have you personally been guided down difficult paths that have ultimately been for your good and God’s glory? How did you feel in the midst of it, and how do you feel about it now?
  • When thinking about the Pilgrim’s Progress illustration of straying from the right path by choosing the easy one, how do you see this temptation show up in your life? In what ways does it seem easy to walk with the world rather than walk with God?
  • As a group, what are some ways we can cultivate more earnest conversations about our trials and sufferings with one another? How does reading, singing, praying, and living life together help suffering Christians persevere.

Prayer Points:
  • Thank the LORD for his wise plans. Confess that you often think you know best, but He is the all-wise God whose plans are perfect. Thank Him for not leaving you to your own ways.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of His presence in your suffering. Pray that the Spirit would give you a real sense of presence in your dark days and trials. Pray that He would give you moment-by-moment reminds of Scripture, the peace of God, and joy. Ask for eyes to see and ears to hear God’s Word.
  • Thank God for His mercy in the hard places. Thank Jesus for going to the hardest place, the cross, on your behalf. Thank the Father for mercifully showing you His power in and through the difficult journey. Thank the Holy Spirit for His merciful conviction and assurance of God’s love in tough times.​​
Photo by DANIEL AKASHI: https://www.pexels.com/photo/desert-58535/
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The Passover: The Lord's Feast Day For Us

8/19/2023

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Think back to Sunday, August 22, 1993. What do you know about that day? Perhaps nothing at all. Most of us were alive, but we have little to no recollection of that day unless it's a birthday, anniversary, or a significant day in our life stories. Now think about July 4th, 1776. What do you know about this day? How do you know it? Why does it stick in your brain? Though you weren't alive then, you probably know important people, places, and names from that epoch in America’s history. We memorialize significant days so we won't lose sight of the weightiness of those days.

We need spiritual memorial days, too. God magnifies Himself in life-altering ways, but everyday life often pushes those memories to the back of our minds. When our hands are in a soapy sink full of dishes or we’re moving car parts down the assembly line, we can lose sight of the mighty days of God's power. We may not feel prone to wander, but we know we're prone to forget what God has done for us. This is one of sin's impacts on all of our lives.

The Passover is the LORD’s Day 

There's much to be said about the Passover, but as we journey through Exodus 12, one phrase practically leaps off the page: "It is the LORD’s Passover" (12:11). The Passover belongs to the LORD, and for good reason! He was poised to strike Egypt with their version of the shot heard around the world. This day marked the downfall of Egypt's gods because God executed His judgments on them, reiterating "I am the LORD" (12:12). Can you imagine if Taiwan raised up enough military power to overthrow China’s regime?

Beneath the surface of the Passover lies something deeper than mere military triumph. Similar to many preceding signs and wonders, God drew a distinction between Israel and Egypt. However, there's a marked difference in God's instructions. The LORD vowed to claim the firstborn of people and animals throughout Egypt. Israel would only be spared if they displayed blood as a sign on their doorposts and lintel. In essence, failure to obey God's Word would lead to the loss of their firstborn sons, subjecting them to God's just wrath. Notice that His wrath is just even in punishing Israel.  They, too, required a substitute.

Some speculate that the Israelites might have faced judgment for aligning with Egypt's idolatries, and we need not look beyond ourselves to recognize the alluring temptation of assimilating with the prevailing culture. However, even if none of the Israelites had engaged in idolatry, they were still descendants of Adam, and since "in Adam all die", they were subject to God’s just judgment apart from a substituting sacrifice (1 Cor. 15:22). Once again, God's mercy toward His "firstborn son" shines through, much like the initial rays of sunlight after a tempestuous storm (Ex. 4:22). Truly, this is a reason to celebrate with a feast!

The Passover is Israel’s Feast

The Passover held such significance that the LORD commanded a perpetual feast "throughout [their] generations, as a statute forever" (12:14). Every year, an entire week was dedicated to rest, purging of leaven, and congregating to worship God as Israel commemorated His wondrous work among the Egyptians. This Feast of Unleavened Bread involved consuming bread without yeast, which prevented it from rising.

The focus on unleavened bread seems to extend beyond the texture of soft, airy bread and delve into the broader concept of God's people. Leaven, or yeast, often carries negative symbolism in Scripture. During the Exodus, waiting for the dough to rise would have impeded the Israelites' progress. Subsequently, leaven was prohibited in Israel's sacrifices to God and was not permitted for consumption in sacred spaces (Lev. 2:11; 6:17). In Amos 4:5, sacrificing with leaven exemplified Israel's disobedience and disregard for God's Law.

Much like sin, leaven permeates all the flour it touches. It takes time to rise, and once it infiltrates the flour, its presence becomes evident. This is why Jesus cautioned His disciples to beware of the "leaven of the Pharisees" (Matt. 16:6). In 1 Corinthians 5, the Corinthian church was instructed to discard the old leaven of sin and embody the purity of God's unleavened people (vv. 6-8). This mandate applied to both personal actions and the excommunication of unrepentant sinners from the church. Paul similarly cautioned the Galatians against the influence of "a little leaven" of legalism, as it can ruin the whole lump (Gal. 5:9).

The Passover Foreshadowed Jesus’ Day 

LORD willing, it will soon become more evident that the Passover foreshadows the day of Jesus’ great shedding of blood. It was then that the universe witnessed the Lamb who bore the sins of the world (John 1:29). For now, though, let us recall that the Passover carries a significance beyond being a festival for only Israel to remember God's actions on their behalf. We, too, can contemplate God's work within the context of the Passover. Even in the days of Exodus, people need the blood of Christ to be liberated. The author of Hebrews states it well when he says, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb. 10:4).

In essence, the Passover exemplified their present forgiveness while simultaneously pointing to the ultimate Substitute who would bring them forgiveness once and for all. Beyond the blood on their doorposts, those Israelites required faith in the Savior whose blood "proclaims a better message than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:24). They needed blood that proclaimed their innocence and freedom before a holy God, and only Jesus’ blood can make us innocent.

They were in need of the blood of Jesus, just as we are. The Passover indeed stood as a remarkable act of mercy in its time. Nevertheless, it is the once-for-all merciful action of Jesus that granted forgiveness to the faithful Israelites back then. And that very act of mercy is what the world urgently requires today. Israel’s anticipation was fixed on the most significant Passover of all, while we now look back upon it. In the words of Shai Linne, they were saved on credit, and we’re saved on debit. Yet we all behold the same Lamb of God who is worthy of our heartfelt worship and allegiance.

Reflection Questions
  • How does understanding the Passover as a symbol of forgiveness and redemption in the Old Testament deepen your appreciation for Jesus' role as the Lamb of God in the New Testament?
  • In what ways does the concept of leaven in the Passover connect to the idea of sin and its influence in our lives? How can we apply the principle of removing leaven to address sin in our own hearts and our local church? What are some specific ways the gospel confronts the leavening in our hearts?
  • As you reflect on the Passover, how did it celebrate the present mercy of God toward Israel? How does it point us to a future Savior. How do we hear the Passover’s echo in the new testament?

Prayer Points
  • Thank God for His justice and mercy. Thank God for His justice in not sweeping sin under the rug—both the sin of oppressors and those who are oppressed. Thank God also that He extends mercy to those who will repent and trust in Christ.
  • Celebrate in the presence of God. Take a few moments to smile and rejoice in your salvation in the presence of God. Enjoy Him in adoration for His power among Israel and Egypt as well as in your own life.
  • Ask God to bring the gospel to the forefront of your mind. Seek the Lord’s help in keeping the gospel always before us, especially when we are under the weight of affliction and oppression.

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/traditional-jewish-matzo-4034017/
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God’s War on Our Idols (Exodus 7:14-10:29)

8/15/2023

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Far too often we miss our idolatry. We are often blind to the ways that cultural idols have crept into our lives. Sometimes we unwittingly welcome cultural idols 0into our lives without any resistance at all. John Calvin once wrote that the human heart is a perpetual idol factory. Timothy Keller in his book Gospel for Life gave this list of contemporary idols:
  • Power
  • Approval
  • Comfort
  • Control
  • Helping (“people need me”)
  • Dependence (“I can’t survive without you”)
  • Independence
  • Work
  • Achievement
  • Material
  • Religion
  • Individuality
  • Irreligion
  • Racial/Cultural
  • Inner ring (a desire for belonging)
  • Family
  • Relationship
  • Suffering (embracing unnecessary drama)
  • Ideology
  • Image

Keller then organizes them into four overarching categories: power, approval, comfort, and control. We may not worship a pantheon of idols who oversee the sky, the grass, and fertility, but idols are everywhere in our culture.

God Hates Idols

Idolatry can be simply defined as placing other gods before our God (Exodus 20:1–3). This definition may evoke visions of people bowing before statues or totem poles. As we delve deeper into the book of Exodus and Egypt’s culture, we learn that people indeed believed in sky gods or pestilence idols for protection. We even see people bowing in total submission to Pharaoh who was considered to be a keeper of order between heaven and earth. All of these instances illustrate idolatry, but the scope goes beyond them.

Tim Keller's list reveals that we tend to prioritize many things over the LORD, and such a course of action carries devastating consequences. A recurring theme in Exodus 7–10 is the declaration, "You shall know that I am the LORD" (Exo. 7:17; 8:10,22; 9:14,29; 10:2). Knowing the Lord inevitably drives us to set aside our idols and worship Him. Whenever we place something above God, it's evident that we lack a true understanding of Him. This displeases God because He despises idolatry.

As we read about the signs and wonders God worked in Exodus, we have to avoid the modern Western tendency to overlook our own idols as we mock at the idolatry of Egypt. Were God to show up and judge America today, He could bring plagues and pestilence that would shatter our idols as well. As we understand God’s war on Egypt’s idols, we need to realize that God wars against our idols as well. 

Idols and Desolation

At times, we find ourselves toying with idols. We pay lip service as we recognize these idols and our struggle against them. Yet, we allow them to persist. Although we recognize our battle with them, we hesitate to eliminate them completely. Sometimes God steps in, letting us experience the utter devastation that idols bring. To borrow from the Egyptian servants, there are moments when we are left ruined and obliterated due to these idols (Exo. 10:7).

How does this manifest in our everyday lives? We pursue power or control, only to realize that we can't even master ourselves. We bow down to the idol of relationships, only to face betrayal and abandonment. We invest our hopes and efforts into our work, only for someone else to outperform us and get the promotion. We fervently embrace a political or theological ideology only to bulldoze some of our most cherished relationships. The examples are too numerous to count, and we’ve all felt them.

If we're not careful, these idols can deceive us to the point of hardened hearts. Instead of being moved to repentance, we stubbornly cling to our sinful ways. We offer worldly sorry, uttering phrases like "just this once, forgive me" (Exo. 10:17). Deep inside, however, we harbor a reluctance to part ways with our idols. This is undoubtedly a sorrowful and unsettling predicament. It’s a reminder that being church people doesn’t mean we can’t be “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:12-13).

Jesus is greater than idols

The gospel's great news is that Jesus arrived and shattered our idols. We fail to realize that idols are cruel masters. They dangle promises of life, joy, hope, and peace, only to forsake us when we need them most. When we're in the heart of trouble our idols offer no assistance. They always fail to deliver on their promises. Just as Egypt's magicians and idols couldn't shield Pharaoh and his nation, our idols likewise cannot shield us from God’s just judgment on our sin.

But Jesus can. He did. He will. 

Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross to annihilate our idols. He became a plague on our behalf, sparing us from the plague of his wrath. He bore the curse so we wouldn't have to. After slaying our idols, he paraded them in a triumphant celebration (Col. 2:15). This is the power of our Savior. This is the work of our God!

Although Pharaoh never repented, we still have the chance to. If you're already in Christ, repentance has been granted to you through faith. God has equipped you with all you need to live a life of faith that continuously obliterates idols. In His strength, we can labor every day to worship Him instead of idols. This isn't reserved solely for the super-spiritual Christians either—it's for all of us. If you're in Christ, you are an idol slayer. You're demolishing the cultural idols hidden within your heart. By His grace!

Start demolishing the idols in your own heart before you focus on everyone else’s. Examine Tim Keller’s list and identify the idols you might be concealing. Add to that list any idols that may be lurking below the surface of your heart. Confess your sin and put it to death (Rom. 8:13). Don't play with idols—crush them! God is waging war against idolatry in our lives!
Photo by Wendelin Jacober: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wrecked-home-furnitures-interior-1411392/
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God's Power in Signs and Wonders (Exodus 7:1-13)

8/4/2023

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As children, we sometimes hear the story of Moses and the plagues without the context of Exodus 3-6. We read of a baby boy lifted from a basket and adopted into Pharaoh’s family, meeting God at the burning bush, and immediately bursting into Pharaoh’s palace making demands. Yet there's a lot missing when we read Exodus that way. We miss God’s preparation of his prophet, Moses. We also lose sight of the plan and purposes of God in the plagues.

God’s Purpose

Throughout the previous chapters, we've learned of God’s plan to free the Israelites and work mightily in the presence of Pharaoh. In chapter 7, God reiterates his purpose in this way: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, lay my hand on Egypt and bring my people out of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” (paraphrase of v. 3-5). 

The Exodus became one of the most monumental acts in the history of Israel. When the Israelites spied out Jericho, Rahab said that all the inhabitants of the land melted away before them because they heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. (Jos. 2:9-10. In Israel’s songbook, they sang that “In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt… He struck down every firstborn in Egypt. (Psa. 78:12, 51) The early church recounted the Exodus in their global gospel mission speaking of Moses as the man who “led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. (Acts. 7:36). Even Jude powerfully states that it was Jesus who “saved a people out of the land of Egypt” (Jude 5). 

The immediate purpose was that Pharaoh and Egypt could know that God is LORD. Yet, the greater purpose is that the world, including you and I, could know the power of the LORD, the God of Israel. We must ask ourselves this question: Do I know Him? This is one of the greatest questions we can ask ourselves. Apart from a true knowledge of God and His knowledge of us, we have no hope of eternal life (John 17:3).

God’s Prophet

As we’ve already seen, God prepared Moses to be the prophet who would speak “as God” to Pharaoh (v. 1). Aaron was like a prophet of Moses, but God gave ultimate prophetic authority to Moses. He and Aaron had spent time in God’s presence and, at the right time, “did just as the LORD commanded them” (v. 6) 

Though some will try to argue against a historical Moses and Exodus, we’ve already seen a genealogy as well as the specific ages of Aaron and Moses at the time of the Exodus. Moses is two-thirds of the way through his life, and now it’s go-time! We have no good reason to doubt the historical reality of an event that echoes throughout all of Scripture. Not only should we believe that the Bible is faithful and has no errors, but we should also trust that God penned these details as historical truth for His people through the ages.

Is God preparing you for something in this season? Some of us are still in the firs third of our lives. We may be in Egypt learning the ways of the world around us while consciously feeling the urge to separate and be with the people of God. Others of us are in the middle third of our lives, arguing with God that we are not strong enough or suited for the job He has called us to. Yet still, others of us are in the final third of our lives doing precisely what God has prepared us for. We may not spend literal 40-year periods or thirds of our lives in these seasons, we should seek the LORD for His guidance in the season we’re in.

God’s Power

The obedient prophet and his brother went before the face of Pharaoh. He met them with a challenge, “Prove yourselves,” just as God told them he would (v. 9). The proof is in the pudding—or the staff in this case! 

At first, it seems as though Moses and Aaron lose the fight against Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers. Aaron threw down his staff and it turned into a serpent. This was incredible! Then the wicked magicians of Pharaoh did the same by their secret, occult, arts. Just like the cross of Christ, all hope seemed lost in that moment. If they can do the same as God’s prophet, how does God win? Yet, “Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs” (v. 12)! God allowed them an inch of satisfaction to harden Pharaoh’s heart, but He would win this battle. Just as the LORD told them, Pharaoh didn't listen because his heart was fortified in disobedience.

The signs and wonders Moses and Aaron displayed point us to the power of God in the gospel (Rom. 1:16). This mighty power was on full display when Jesus rose from the dead on the third day (Rom 1:4). God powerfully redeemed Israel from Egypt and this redemption foreshadowed his glorious work to redeem us from sin and death. The book of Revelation shows even greater signs and wonders than these being poured out on all who reject God’s Son and Kingdom in the last days.

We, too, deserve to face such judgment from (Rom. 3:23). Our great hope against facing the wrath of God is the One who took the wrath for us (Isa. 53:4-6). As we will soon see, all who are not for God are against Him, yet God will shield His people from wrath, even as they live in the midst of great acts of judgment. In Christ, we may face tribulation, but we will never be on the receiving end of God’s fierce wrath. Ah, what a relief it is to be in Jesus!

Reflection Questions
  • How did the LORD’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart help make the LORD known in Egypt and throughout the world? How is this challenging to our view of God? How does it bring you comfort?
  • How does the power of God in Israel give you hope today amid your trials and difficult circumstances? In what ways does God’s power in Exodus point you to the gospel?
  • How is God at work in your life right now? If you’re not saved, do you feel God drawing you to Himself? If you’re a believer, how do you sense God preparing you to fulfill your calling? If you’re confident that you’re fulfilling your calling presently, how do you see God’s power at work in your life and relationships?

Prayer Points
  • Seek God’s mind. It can be tough to discern God’s purposes in the face of persecution or trials. Ask God to reveal His mind to you through His word. Ask Him to help you obey even when you don’t understand.
  • Pray for patience. Sometimes God doesn’t work in ways that seem efficient in our eyes. Pray for patience and trust as you continue to walk by faith. Ask the Spirit to help you discern specific ways He’s helping you grow in this season.
  • Rely on His power. As you share the gospel, do the work of the ministry, or live out your calling in everyday life, thank God for His power in you. Confess your weaknesses, and express your inability to change hearts. Seek His strength and power for every moment.
Photo by David McEachan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-pyramid-on-dessert-under-blue-sky-71241/
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Redemption and Reliance

7/29/2023

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Unfulfilled dreams remind us just how tiny we are. We sense a call and decide it’s time to take action. We put one foot in front of the other as we step toward obedience, but we end up stepping in a hole and rolling an ankle—maybe that’s just me! The sense of independence and strength flies away like a flock of birds at the sound of a shotgun. We stagger to our feet only to wonder, “Is this really what I was meant to do?”. Whether it’s marriage, parenting, ministry, or fill-in-the-blank, most people have faced a moment where life doesn’t seem to make sense at all.

However, God does some of His most powerful work when we realize we are powerless. Jesus made this point when He told His disciples, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Moses and Aaron learned this early in their redemptive ministry, and we need to learn it in our everyday lives as well.

The LORD at Work
After Pharaoh outright rejected Moses and made him a stink to the Israelites, Moses cried out, asking God why He made things worse instead of rescuing the Israelites. Things had gone from bad to worse, but God had a plan: “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand, he will send them out, and with a strong hand, he will drive them out of his land” (Exo. 6:1).

Moses and Aaron were instruments in the hand of the redeemer, but YHWH is the hero of this story, and He made that clear early on. Four times we read “I am the LORD” (Exo. 6:2, 6-8). YHWH is here to take action. The covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remembered His covenant—though He had never forgotten it—and came to give the promised land to Israel. “I will” reverberates throughout God’s speech with unspeakable power and glory (Exo. 6:6-8). I will deliver you from slavery! I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment! I will take you to be my people! I will be your God! I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I will give it to you—I am the LORD!

Slow down and re-read those words. Let the power land on you. The Almighty God, El Shaddai, is now making Himself known as YHWH. He is not only the powerful, discerning, law-giving protector. He is also the self-existent, covenant-keeping, redeeming God. As Boaz came and bought Ruth and Naomi’s freedom when they had no next-of-kin, so YHWH came to be the redeemer (Heb. go’el) who would carry the burdens of poverty-stricken, sin-sick people like us (Ruth 4:9-10, 13). In all of His redemptive work, He had a clear purpose: to make Himself known (Exo. 6:2, 7). Jesus came and redeemed us with the same glorious goal in mind (John 17:3).

Weary People
We might expect that such words be met with a hearty amen and awe-inspiring worship. Yet, how often do the burdens of life keep us from reverent awe and joy? Perhaps even now as you peruse the contents of this devotional, your heart isn’t singing with praise to God. Maybe you’re too burdened, too distracted, or too worn down to fully appreciate the LORD’s words to Israel. The Israelites struggled because their broken spirits and harsh slavery were too heavy (Exo. 6:9). Perhaps like the Israelites, you struggle to believe God’s Word simply because you’re beaten down and worn out.

There’s good news for you. Christ came for weary, heavy-laden people (Matt. 11:28). Even when we meet God with apathy, fear, and unbelief, He doesn’t stop working. Just as God told Moses and Aaron to keep going and not lose sight of their mission, so He sent Christ to rescue His sinful enemies to reconcile us to God (Rom. 5:6-11). Weary saints, come to the cross of Christ! Lay your burdens down at His feet and rejoice with genuine hope that you are freed from bondage to sin and death. In Christ, you can truly say, “Pharaoh No! You cannot hold me back!”

Pastors and church leaders, there’s a specific lesson in the lives of Moses and Aaron. Many days we are overworked. Our labor is often overlooked. Our burdens are forgotten. Our frustrations and failures are broadcast for all to see. Yet, God is relentless in carrying out the plans He has for His Kingdom. 

When we are at our wit’s end, we stop relying on our own knowledge and lean on the wisdom of God. When we are ignored, we recognize that our eloquence is unable to change hearts (1 Cor. 2:1). When we feel that our lips are “uncircumcised” and wonder how anyone would listen to us, God has us right where we need to be (Exo. 6:30). In these moments, we can rest in two powerful words, “I will”. When we can’t do what God has called us to do, His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Leaders, we must strive to be people who find power in God’s sufficient grace. He will establish our ministries and give us the validity we need to be effective (Exo. 6:14-30).

Reflection Questions
  1. Is your relationship with the LORD growing and thriving? Or is it shriveling and languishing? How is God at work in your struggles? 
  2. How has Exodus 6 encouraged you to trust the LORD in your trials? 
  3. How can we pray for and support our leaders in the challenges they face in ministry? What are some gospel encouragements you can offer our leaders this week?

Prayer Points
  1. Confess your prayerlessness to the LORD. Ask Him to give you a greater desire to know and trust Him, even when times are stressful and difficult.
  2. Seek God's perspective on your trials. Beyond asking Him to deliver you, ask Him to show you specific ways He is at work in you and your circumstances.
  3. Worship God for His power and promises. Celebrate His power over the world and our leaders. Rejoice and receive His gracious promises. Thank Him for being the faithful, covenant-keeping God of His people today and of our forefathers in the faith.
  4. Ask God to strengthen our leaders for ministry. Specifically, pray for our pastors as they prepare to preach the Word, lead the congregation, and guard us from evil influences. Pray for their devotional lives and their families, knowing that they can't faithfully minister to us if they don't first know the LORD and lead their homes well.





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Photo by Guy Seela : https://www.pexels.com/photo/clouds-over-dune-on-desert-17183002/​
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Faithfulness Is Never Failure (Exodus 5)

7/22/2023

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Have you ever tried a diet or exercise plan that promised fast and easy results? It’s not hard to find a 30-day weight loss program touting everyday people with real success as a result of their plan. Unfortunately, about four and a half days after you decide to go all in, a basket of chips at the Mexican restaurant has you wondering if one “healthy” snack bar and 800 calories of “meal replacement” shakes can sustain your ravenous appetite for another 26 days. The promo material for your 30-day quick fix didn’t prepare you for the fatigue, gnawing headache, and “hungry enough to eat the grass in my front yard” feeling.

We are often promised success without struggle. When the suffering comes, we say to ourselves, “If I had known it was this tough, I wouldn’t have done it”. If we don’t quit, we t least wish we had prepared ourselves to suffer before getting into the situation. Thankfully, God prepares us for the pain and the promise. Just as God prepared Moses for his success and suffering, God prepares us beforehand for the tough days ahead. Yet like Moses, we also convince ourselves that suffering means we have failed, and God hasn’t kept His word.

A Rough Start

Whether it’s due to pride or negligence, we often get ourselves in tough situations because fail to follow clear instructions. Alec Motyer points out how Moses chose a different path than God had laid out for him.  Notice the contrast:
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Pharoah’s response probably would have been the same, but it seems that Moses’ approach added fuel to the fire (Ex. 5:2). Pharaoh’s arrogant, sinful, and bewildered response seems to have made Moses change his tune, but it was too late (v. 3). Even in his correcting his request, Moses adds to God’s words the threat of pestilence and sword. Pharaoh remained unfazed.

The Burden Worsened

Pharaoah, annoyed and angry, convinced himself that the Israelites were “idle” (v. 4-8). To counter this so-called laziness, Pharaoh increased the Hebrews’ labor by forcing them to find straw to make their bricks. This meant that the Hebrew slave force had to do more work in less time. In it all, Pharaoh’s wicked and unmerciful response didn’t catch God off guard (Ex. 4:21).

Pharaoh’s persecution meant that the Hebrews were “scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble and straw” (v. 12). This brings to mind Acts 8:1 where “there arose…a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles”. In Acts, the scattered church spread the gospel. In Exodus, the scattered Israelites were loved by God and perhaps given an avenue to later plunder the Egyptians (Exo. 12:35-36). Man meant evil, but God meant good.

Pharaoh unflinchingly placed the blame on the Israelites and their desire to go and sacrifice to the Lord (v. 17). The Israelites were “in trouble”, and the elders rebuked Moses and Aaron, saying, “The LORD look on you and judge because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (v. 19-21).

The Call In Question

The consequences of Moses’ actions reached the people of Israel, and they were deeply grieved because their lives were endangered. Moses, too, fell flat on his face—or so it seemed. Hadn’t he told God this wouldn’t work? Didn’t he tell God that the Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to him? Why on earth would God set him up to fail like this?! 

Moses and Israel were on the brink of a major breakthrough.

In this moment, Moses accused God of “doing evil” (Heb. ra) to the people who were “in trouble” (Heb. ra) (v. 19). God sent them to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh immediately began “doing evil” (Heb. ra) to them (v. 22-23). Moses used the same Hebrew word, ra, to accuse both God and Pharaoh of harming the Israelites. In Moses’ mind, he had shown up and done what he was told, but Israelites were further from freedom than before he left Midian. In the face of tribulation, Moses acted like Adam, his forefather: “The command You gave backfired, and now everything is worse!” (see Gen. 3:12).

We ought to see a reflection of ourselves in Moses. We feel the pressing need to be a better parent, spouse, or employee. We sense that God calls us to engage our loved ones, friends, and neighbors with the gospel. We eventually step out in faith to do what God commands, and we end up flat on our backs like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football. We reason with ourselves that we should’ve stayed in our comfort zone. We vow that if God wants us to risk our comfort, security, and sanity again, He’ll have to send an angel in a dream. We blow our tops and blame Him for messing everything up. 

All of this happens because we have the wrong definition of success. 

Faithfulness Is Never Failure

Instead of punishing Moses in His just wrath or answering him in a fierce storm (see Job 38:1-7), God answered more gently and mercifully than Moses deserved. We don’t hear God’s tone, and we don’t get a full sense of His outward expression in the conversation, but God’s tenderness shows up profoundly in HIs gracious response.

Instead of thundering at Moses in a frightening display of glory, “God said to Moses…”. God spoke. He said, “You shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land” (Exo. 6:1). God reserved His strong hand and punishment for the idolatrous Egypt and their leader, not Moses. Pharaoh wouldn’t only let the people go, he would drive them away after seeing what God’s acts of judgment. God already told Moses that success wouldn’t happen on day one. Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened and He would do signs and wonders, even the killing of his firstborn of Moses’ household (Exo. 4:23).

When we define success on our own terms, nearly all suffering and resistance will derail us. We need God’s definition of success, and that’s found by looking to His promises. We need to constantly behold the cross where hardship and holiness met to bring ultimate success to the Son of God as He came to free His people from sin and death once and for all.

Reflection Questions
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  • How do you respond when situations don't work out as smoothly as expected? Do you get anxious, angry with God, or have another response? Why?
  • What is your definition of success? How does this definition confirm or conflict with God's definition? What are some biblical passages that can help you better understand God's definition of success?
  • How can Christ's finished work on the cross shape our view of success in the face of suffering? How does our future hope of eternal life empower us to press on in the faith even when we feel like failures and want to quit?

Prayer Points
 
  • Worship God in your suffering. What areas of your life seem out of control or make you feel like a failure? Before you lament or ask God to change your circumstances, worship Him in it. Proclaim His goodness, faithfulness, and holiness.
  • Ask God to teach you His definition of success. Whatever your general or specific callings are, ask God to redefine your definition of success. Pray for the Spirit to prompt you with Scripture passages to help you do this.
  • Glory in the cross. Reflect on the work Jesus did for you on the cross. Praise God for His mercy and patience toward you in your sins, fears, and shortcomings. Worship Christ for His faithfulness to die on the cross for your sins. Glorify the Holy Spirit for giving you spiritual eyes and ears to see and believe the gospel.

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Obey God Fully (Exo. 4:18-31)

7/15/2023

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Children remind us of our human weaknesses. From a child's perspective, a chore that should only take five minutes seems to take fifty minutes. Instead of just starting, they agonize in paralysis. This always makes things worse. I've seen the same struggle in my heart when God is calling me to simple yet costly obedience. After some whining, debating, and griping, God patiently stirs me to obedience. Rarely do I find instant success, but I always find freedom in obedience. Even after moving forward, I find that I often still need to be prodded in the right direction. A Divine nudge is often just what I need to stay on track. Moses found himself in a similar place near the end of Exodus 4.

Fits and Starts (v. 18-23)

Moses spent a lot of time excusing himself from doing God's will before he took the first step of following God. Moses spoke to his father-in-law Jethro about taking his family back to his brothers to “see if they [were] still alive” (v. 18). Jethro sent Moses forward in peace, perhaps not knowing the full extent of what Moses would be doing there. Whether this was due to cowardice or not, Moses took the first step in obeying God.

Upon leaving, Moses 'took the staff of God in his hand' (v. 20). The LORD reminded him of the “miracles” in His power (v. 21). This miraculous power would not change Pharaoh's heart or make the mission easier, but it was a tangible reminder of God's power for the mission. Moses would request that Pharaoh let Israel, God's firstborn son, go to serve and worship Him. However, God planned to harden Pharaoh's heart and eventually pour out His just wrath on Pharaoh's firstborn son.

Sometimes God doesn't make a difficult calling easier for us. We grumble, whine, and retort, and He graciously says, “No, child. You're going to do what I sent you to do. My presence and power will be with you.” We see difficulty and think there's no way out. Yet, as Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) wisely reminds us, we should “think not much of a storm upon the sea when Christ is on the ship.” Despite our feeble faith, when we go forward with the presence of God, we have no reason to fear. The mustard seed of faith is enough, and God moves the mountain for us. Oh, how sweet it is to follow God's call in full faith!

Partial Obedience Is Disobedience (v. 24-26)

In Exodus 4:24-26, we encounter one of the most perplexing passages in all of Scripture. It's as if we had a bumpy takeoff, the flight gradually smoothed out, and now a storm threatens to send us pummeling into a cornfield somewhere in the Midwest. A jarring phrase grips us and demands our attention: “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to put him to death” (v. 24). After all we've just worked through, why on earth would this be happening? It seems that Moses refused to circumcise his son.

As we've often seen in Exodus, God used a woman's actions to bring forth His glory and move His mission forward. Moses, the “bridegroom of blood”, isn't the hero in this situation (v. 25-26). This is the mercy of God. When Moses didn't step up to the task, Moses' Midianite wife circumcised his son and spared his life instead. This, too, is the mercy of God. Despite an intense encounter with the Holy God, God spared Moses's life—or perhaps the life of his son. God dealt graciously with Moses, and He often does the same for us. God shows us mercy because Jesus is a “merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” who accomplished forgiveness on our behalf (Heb. 2:17).

Moses' half-hearted obedience to God met the wholehearted grace of God. Lamentations 3:33 reminds us of this truth: “[God] doesn't afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men.” He doesn't delight in casting off or causing grief, and He loves to show compassion to those whom He grieves through discipline. God's pruning is painful, but He binds up our wounds with care. When He restores us, He “rejoices” in doing us good and brings restoration with all His heart and soul (Jer. 32:41). Remember that you're a dearly loved child of God when you are under His disciplining rod.

Fear is a False Prophet (v. 27-31)

God had prepared Moses to obey Him even in the small details, and now He was pleased to move the mission forward. He called Aaron to meet Moses at the mountain of God, and Aaron gladly met Moses with a brotherly kiss. In contrast to Moses' back-and-forth, Aaron readily listened to all that God commanded Moses to speak to him. Next, they gathered Israel's elders, and Aaron spoke the words the LORD gave him through Moses. The elders then witnessed the signs of God—the serpent staff, the leprous hand, and the bloody Nile water. Upon seeing these miracles, 'the people believed' (v. 31). Upon hearing that the LORD came to rescue them and indeed saw their affliction, they 'bowed their heads and worshiped' Him (v. 31).

What a powerful scene! After all the wrestling, debating, and questioning, Moses was wrong after all! God said, “They will listen to your voice” (3:18), but Moses’ fear said, “They will not believe me or listen to my voice” (4:1). So often, fear proves to be a false prophet! We envision a future reality based on a present fear, and God repeatedly proves us wrong. We need to listen and trust our faithful, covenant-keeping God far more. We need to heed the words of David Clarkson (1622-1686) who said, “If [God] is willing to promise, he is willing to perform.”

There is far more ink spilled laying out Moses’ fears and inadequacies than on the receptive meeting with Israel’s elders. What an overwhelming picture of success and God’s faithfulness! We should always be quick to remember this as we go forward both in our general and specific callings. Jesus said, “I will be with you always until the end of the age” (Mat. 28:20), and He won’t back down on that promise. God cannot lie, and He never fails. 

Reflection Questions
  1. When faced with tasks that seem overwhelming, how do the gospel and the faithfulness of God help you move forward in faith?
  2. In what ways have you experienced God stirring and guiding you towards obedience, even when you initially question His call?
  3. Where do you see fear showing up in your life? How can you confront and overcome the false prophecies your fear lays in front of you?

Prayer Points
  1. Thank God for stirring you to obedience. Thank God for the numerous times He has stirred you to obedience. Ask Him to give you a heart that is sensitive to His Word.
  2. Confess your half-hearted obedience. Confess and ask for the grace to repent of half-hearted, faithless obedience. Pray for the faith to obey God fully.
  3. Seek God’s peace in your fear and anxiety. Cast your anxieties on the Lord and ask Him give you the peace which surpasses understanding. Acknowledge to God that this doesn’t mean your situation will be easy, but that you’re willing to rest in His presence and power.

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Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cold-dark-eerie-fear-207985/
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God's Mercy in Our Weakness (Exodus 4:1-17)

7/7/2023

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As a father of four girls, chore time comes with its fair share of groaning and complaining. Far too often, chore time turns into, “It’s too much! We can’t do it!”. My logical side kicks in, and I tell them to do one thing at a time, and eventually the whole room will be clean. That’s met with more excuses. I then say, if you start cleaning, I’ll help you. Even that’s met with more excuses. Eventually, the chores get done, and the excuses vanish into thin air 5-10 minutes after they put for the effort. 

Excuses, Excuses…

After receiving his calling from the LORD, Moses had many valid excuses—from a human perspective at least. Let’s look at his first excuse: “[The Israelite slaves] will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say 'The LORD did not appear to you'" (v. 1). Forty years prior, some Hebrews rejected him after his heroic attempts to take justice into his own hands. What would change forty years later? If you’re a close reader, you probably noticed back in chapter 3 that God said, "... and they will listen to your voice" (3:18). Like Eve in the face of the serpent, Moses had heard and believed the exact opposite of what God clearly spoke.

His next excuse hits a lot closer to home for many of us: "I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue" (v. 10). He's basically saying, "God, I'm not a great public speaker... and I have a heavy tongue." Whether Moses had a speech impediment or simply didn’t feel up to the task, he expressed that God had chosen the wrong man. Some scholars even think Moses criticized God when he said, "I've never had a good mouth, not before or even after we've spoken" (v. 10; paraphrase). If God knew Moses wasn't a good speaker, why would He choose such a guy for this massive task?!

His final excuse isn't quite an excuse but rather a plea to get out of the situation altogether. Depleted and weary, Moses finally gives up debating and dialoguing with God and kindly asks the Lord to send someone else" (v. 13, emphasis added). Despite God's signs and sovereign power, Moses just can't seem to accept this weighty task God has given him.

If we look closely enough, we might be peering into a mirror as we read this passage. What is your greatest fear as a Christian? Are you afraid to evangelize because you'll be ridiculed in front of a friend or family member? Do you fear taking a bold stance because you'll be canceled and shut down by the influential people in our society? Are you fearful of persecution? Is failure in ministry what keeps you up at night? Like Moses, we all have fears, and they make us feel inadequate for the work of God. We, too, wrestle with God and tell Him what we can or can't do. Oh, that we would trust Him more!

Extravagant Mercy

God had every right to take the call away from Moses and give it to someone else, but in light of all his excuses, God poured out His infinite mercy on Moses. When Moses questioned whether the people would listen, God gave Moses three powerful signs. These signs foreshadowed the power He would display in the presence of Pharaoh. Moses' staff turned into a snake, his hand became leprous, and the Nile's water turned to blood. The LORD was powerful over the dangers we fear in this life—especially things that could harm us, like deadly animals, disease, or lack of clean water.

When Moses's weak speech made him feel inadequate, God responded yet again with mercy! As he did with Job, God questioned Moses: "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?" (v. 11). In other words, God said, "I know your mouth because I made your mouth!" Then, in Great Commission fashion, the LORD told Moses, "Therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak" (v. 12; compare this with Mat. 28:19-20; Joh. 16:12-15). Instead of punishment, God promised Moses His presence!

After this, Moses ought to have surely trusted God, right? He didn’t. Instead, he asked God to please send someone else. At this, "the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses" (v. 14). God was perfectly and righteously angry with Moses. At this moment, He could have poured out His full fiery wrath on Moses' unbelief and arguing. Instead, God brought Aaron, Moses' well-spoken brother, with a glad heart to assist Moses in fulfilling this mighty call. God would still teach and speak to Moses, but now Moses would be "as God to [Aaron]" (v. 16). Aaron wasn't Moses' replacement, for Moses still kept the staff (v. 17). But Aaron would prove to be both a mouthpiece and a menace in Moses' life and ministry (Exo. 32:1ff).

As it was with Moses, so it was with David, Jeremiah, Peter, and Paul. God calls weak men to His work, and He shows them the mercy and grace they need to press forward on His mission. The man God uses isn't the one with the most grit, bravery, discipline, or zeal. The woman God uses isn't the woman with the most industrious, witty, nurturing spirit. Rather, God uses weak people to shame the strong in order for His glory to shine through (1 Cor. 1:27). We see this vividly in the story of Moses and Israel as God frees them from Pharaoh's grip.

Mercy for Us

Thanks be to God that He showed mercy to Moses. And we owe Him more thanks for showing mercy to us, too! As we've already seen, we stutter and stammer. We argue and debate with God. We hide behind our fig leaves as we fear failure. We wait for the big shots to come and speak for us. Yet in it all, God has new mercies for us every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). His steadfast love endures forever. His grace powers our lives as we live out His mission.

The greatest mercy we have ever seen is found in these few short words: "I am with you." The LORD said it to Moses (v. 12). Our Lord said it to the Church (Mat. 28:20). The Holy Spirit applies it to our hearts (Tit. 3:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11). God is with us because of His mercy, and He displayed His love and desire to walk with us and our neighbors by sending His Son to die on the cross. What a glorious picture of our merciful God!

Reflection Questions:
  • What excuses do we often make when faced with God's specific calling or general calls to obedience?
  • How does the gospel help us overcome our doubts and trust in God's promises and power?
  • In what areas of our lives do we need to rely more on God's mercy rather focusing on our inabilities?
  • How can we support and encourage other believers who struggle with fears and reluctance to live out God’s mission in their lives?
  • What steps can we take to build a deeper relationship with God and rely on His presence in our lives and mission?

Prayer Points
  1. Confess your fears to God. As you reflect on things you’re afraid of, confess them to God and ask Him to replace your fears with faith in Him.
  2. Rejoice in God’s mercy. Spend a few moments celebrating and rejoicing in God's mercy toward you. Rejoice not only in the mercy shown through the gospel but also new daily mercies God is giving you.
  3. Seek and follow God’s call in your life. As you read the Bible, pray, and reflect on Moses’s calling, ask God to show you clear, specific ways He wants you to live out the great commission. Even if you don’t sense a response or a profound sense of calling, pray for specific ways to obey God’s Word today.

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Photo by Julia Volk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/dry-plants-on-shore-of-calm-reservoir-5273095/
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The LORD Who Lives Forever (Exodus 3:13-22)

6/30/2023

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There is currently a mutiny underway in Russia. The Wagner group, which once offered protection, is no longer trustworthy in supporting the nation's leadership. Russians in the path of the Wagner group are in a tough situation. Should they trust this militia to take over the government and bring positive change to the nation? Or Is this a power-hungry group looking to step in and usher in a reign of terror worse than Putin's? There is a great level of uncertainty about who will come out on top and ultimately rule Russia. Russians can only wait and see.

The ancient Hebrews found themselves under a similarly abusive regime, though redemption was like a distant fantasy for them. Egypt oppressed the ancient Israelites and they often lofted deep cries of grief up to God. An answer would soon come, but could they trust that it was truly a work of God? Could an Egyptian mutiny spring up that would change their lives for the better? Or could an uprising only make their lives worse?

The God Who Is

After God met Moses in the burning bush and received his call to redeem Egypt, he had a question for God: "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" (Exo. 3:13). Despite Moses’ “if”, this is a valid question. There may have been a hint of fear or hesitation, but there also seems to be some humility in the question. Did Moses genuinely want to know the name of God? Was he showing humility in realizing that he needed a higher authority than himself? We may never know.

God patiently answered Moses in a loving yet revelatory way: "I AM WHO I AM" (v. 14). He told Moses to relay to the Hebrews that "I AM" sent him. Moses should tell the Israelites that "the LORD (YHWH) the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you." (v.15). YHWH comes from the same Hebrew root as “I AM”, and is commonly written as Yahweh or Jehovah in English. The Old Testament writers wrote YHWH throughout the Old Testament at least 5,000 times, and our translations use LORD to indicate when YHWH is used.

Though Moses asked for God's name, it isn’t necessary to assume that the Hebrews didn't know God's name. We have reasons to believe that the Israelites knew the name of God, for they "began to call upon the name of the Lord" all the way back in the days of Seth (Gen. 4:26). This would make Moses’ question much more genuine. Yet, even if the people didn't know the name of the Lord prior to this revelation to Moses, they soon would call on the name of the LORD. YHWH is God's name forever, and He chose to be remembered by that name throughout all generations (v. 15).

What's In a Name?

Names carry less weight today than they did in times past. A name captured the essence or heart of a person, and knowing God's name was vital in a culture full of pantheism and polytheism. Puritans like Matthew Poole, Lewis Bayley, and Thomas Boston found much significance in the name "I AM WHO I AM":

  • "I AM" points to the reality of God's being. He simply "is". He was what He was. He is what He is. He will be what He will be. But He always will be.
  • "I AM" also reminds us of the necessity of God. It is necessary that God exists in order for everything else to exist.
  • "I AM" draws us to the eternal nature of God. He has always existed and He will always exist.
  • "I AM" directs us to the certainty of God's nature. He will never change, nor will His promises or His words ever fail to come to pass.

YHWH in the Flesh

As we look further in the Scripture, we also see the name and essence of YHWH applied to Jesus. Here are only a couple of examples:
  • Jesus called Himself "I AM". Jesus said to His Jewish opponents, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (Joh. 8:58). This caused his opponents to pick up stones to kill Him because they felt that He was blaspheming God's name.
  • The early church taught that Jesus is "I AM". The author of Hebrews explcitly taught that Jesus is God, especially in Hebrews 1. One passage he cited to teach us about the deity of Jesus is Psalm 102, which repeatedly addresses the LORD (YHWH), His throne, and His work in creation. This passage is directly applied to Jesus to show that He is one with YHWH in His creation, rule, and reign.
  • John the Apostle saw the eternal Christ in His vision. In Revelation 1:8, we don't see the name YHWH, yet we see Jesus say, "I am the Alpha and the Omega... who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty". This is the meaning of "I AM WHO I AM". In His essence, Jesus is YHWH.

The unity of God is on full display as we see Jesus at one with His Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Faithful, Living God

After God revealed Himself to Moses, He called Moses to rally together the elders of Israel. God commanded Moses to let them know that the faithful, covenant-keeping God of their forefathers—YHWH—had seen what they were going through and came down to rescue them and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. This land was currently a full of different people groups who worshiped other gods and were soon to receive the just judgment of God for their idolatry.

God would soon send Moses and the elders with a message: "The LORD... has met with us; and now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to our God" (v. 18). Keep these words in mind for later. God also reminded Moses that Pharaoh would harden his heart and refuse to listen. The LORD would work signs and wonders to force Pharaoh to let the people go, and on their way out, the women of Israel would plunder the Egyptians as they moved on toward freedom. YHWH would crush the greatest nation in the world through a weak yet faithful man, a group of women, and no military violence. Only He can get the glory for something so incredible!

Reflection Questions:

  1. Why is it significant that God revealed His name and HIs essence to Moses and Israel? How can our knowledge of God’s name shape our private and public worship today?
  2. How does the meaning of God's name, "I AM WHO I AM," impact our worldview? In other words, what are some ways that having faith in a living God can set us apart from people who worse false gods or profess no faith at all?
  3. How have you struggled to desire God’s call to evangelize and spread the gospel? What are some of the “If I...” questions you ask God when you’re fearful or reluctant to obey Him?
  4. How can the lessons from God's intervention in rescuing the Hebrews and choosing a faithful but weak leader like Moses help us see the work God can do through us? How have you seen God use other weak people for His glory?
  5. How does the knowledge that Jesus is intimately and eternally one with YHWH help you trust Him more? How can that knowledge of Jesus be useful in evangelism and in answering objections or questions about the gospel?

Prayer Points:
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1. Pray for God to remind you of His name and essence (v. 13-15) Pray that God would give you a deeper appreciation for who He is and has revealed Himself to be. Thank Him that He has given us intimate knowledge of Himself through His Word.
2. Ask for faith in the Word and promises of God (v. 16-17). The ultimate promise of God is that He will rescue all who trust in Christ. Pray that God would help you believe the gospel more deeply every day. Ask also for the Spirit to prompt you of other promises of God as you go throughout your day.
3. Confess disobedience and pray for a submissive heart toward God (v. 18-22). Like Moses, God has laid out His plans and His way for us. We should confess times when we pursue our own way or attempt to do God’s work according to our preferences and standards. Ask for a heart that submits to the rule and reign of Christ in any and every aspect of life.

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Photo by Felix Mittermeier: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-constellation-2832084/
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The God Who Came Down

6/23/2023

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Nero has been known as one of the cruelest, most wicked, and most arrogant leaders this world has ever seen. Stories of his murderous tirades, sexual exploits, and pompous hedonism abound. Some scholars consider them true, while others consider them exaggerations or retellings of myths with Nero as a substitute to ruin his name and tear down his character. Regardless, the name Nero carries a deep connotation of evil.

Pharaoh displayed a similar attitude. In just two chapters, we witness the Pharaoh's pride and negligence of his nation's history. His fear led to the harsh enslavement of the Hebrews, a nation whose forefather had previously saved Pharaoh’s ancestors during a global famine. He attempted to kill them at birth and ordered them to be drowned in a river. What hubris and wickedness were on full display!
Faced with such corruption and pomp, was there any hope for the Israelites? Would they be able to sing freedom songs about the LORD’s deliverance, or would they be stuck in Egypt forever?

The Fire In The Bush
About forty years after Moses went on with his life in Midian, his’ life was changed forever. He was out tending to his father-in-law’s sheep in the wilderness—a place he and the Israelites would soon spend a lot of time. He went out to Mount Horeb, and there the "angel of the LORD" appeared to Moses in a bush that was burning yet not consumed by the fire (v. 2). What a strange sight this was for Moses. Could you imagine a brushfire where the brush was still green and never burned?

God’s messenger called out to him by name, "Moses, Moses!" (v. 4). Moses' response was very different from Adam and Eve's, though (Gen. 3:9-10). As Isaiah would one day respond to God’s call, Moses said, "Here I am," and then proceeded to move towards to the LORD (compare with Isa. 6:8). God warned him not to continue drawing near but instead to take off his shoes, for he was standing on holy ground! When Moses realized who he was dealing with, he was afraid to look at God and hid his face (compare with Isa. 6:2).

From the bush, the LORD revealed Himself as the living God of Moses’ forefathers (Mat. 22:32). God told Moses that He had seen, heard, and known the affliction of his people because of the suffering inflicted upon them by Pharaoh. Just as Moses saw the affliction of his people and defended them some forty years prior, so God moved to bring rescue. Yet, God’s vengeance was perfectly just and wholly righteous. God then promised Moses that He would deliver Israel into a "good and broad land…flowing with milk and honey" (v. 8).

God’s Revelation For Us

Many writers, from the ancient church to today, believe this was a Christophany—an appearance of Christ prior to him coming in the flesh. If not a Christophany, we know for sure that Moses met the LORD here, and God called him to a life of ministry beyond anything he could imagine or muster up in his own strength (v.6-7). Moses felt inadequate for the call God had placed on his life: "Who am I that I should go and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (v. 11). Wouldn't we all feel that way in the presence of God? It’s very similar to Isaiah’s “Woe is me!” speech in response to encountering God’s holiness and glory in a vision (Isa. 6:5).

God’s revelation to Moses is a special revelation for us today, too. We see some profound truths about God that should draw us to worship, conviction, and wonder:

The LORD is willing to draw near to His people. God came down (v. 8) to meet with Moses. He called Moses by name (v. 4) and referred to Israel as His people (v. 7). He saw, heard, and knew their suffering. He was near to them in that suffering. Later, Jesus would come down at the right time in human flesh to lay down His life for His own people as well as people from all the nations who would come to trust in Him. After He ascended to the throne in heaven, He sent His Spirit to be in and among us so we could draw near to God through Him.

The LORD is holy. God commanded Moses to take off his shoes because in His immediate holy presence, even the ground becomes holy. When people encounter God, He often reminds them of His holiness, which is fearful for sinful people (see Jos. 5:13-15 and Isa. 6:3-5). When Gabriel prophesied about Jesus' birth, he said, "...the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God" (Luke 1:35, emphasis added). Even the demons acknowledged that He was "the Holy One of God" (Luke 4:34).

The LORD is the God of the living. The LORD described Himself as "the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (v. 6). Jesus later quotes this passage to make the point that His Father is the God of the living and not the dead. This points to the eternal life that comes with being His people (Mat. 22:32).

The LORD is a faithful, covenant-keeping God. God’s mention of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reminds us that God keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and pours out His steadfast love on those who love and obey Him (Dt. 7:9). We are later reminded that Christ ushered in a new covenant that is not of the letter of the law but of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6). If God is faithful to keep the old covenant, which was inaugurated with the blood of animals, we can trust that He will be faithful to give us the promised eternal inheritance through the redeeming blood of Jesus (Heb. 9:15).

The LORD is powerful yet gracious. God had the power to bring His people out from under the bondage of Pharaoh, and yet when Moses questioned Him and protested his inadequacies, God was gracious with his weakness, saying, "I will be with you" (v. 12). He also assured Moses that he would have a sign—a promise to worship on the mount Horeb where he met God that day.

God Came Down
The story of Israel isn't just that God came to His people. Israel's history foreshadows the coming of Jesus who came not only to His people who rejected Him but also to the whole world. Even in Moses’ calling, we see foreshadows of God’s call for His church. As the LORD called Moses to usher in His kingdom by bringing Israel out of Egypt, so has He called His Church to snatch people from the fires of judgment and bring people out from bondage to sin by proclaiming the gospel. In Moses’ commission and in the Great Commission, the LORD makes a promise: "I will be with you."

Reflection Questions
  1. How does the encounter between Moses and the LORD in the burning bush reveal God's willingness to draw near to His people and be with them in their suffering? How does this help you in your suffering?
  2. How does Moses’ encounter with the holiness of God compare to our experience of God today? When have you encountered the holiness of God in your spiritual walk with Him?
  3. Why is it important that God is a faithful, covenant-keeping God? In what ways have you struggled to trust God’s promises?
  4. How does God’s faithfulness to Abraham and Israel give you assurance today? How could you use Exodus 3 to encourage someone struggling in their faith?
  5. When have you felt inadequate to do the work God called you to? How does God’s grace and mercy toward Moses help you in times of weakness?

Prayer Points
  1. Thank God for His willingness to draw near to you. Spend some time praising God for drawing near to you through the coming of Christ and the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit.
  2. Reflect on the holiness of God. Ask God, through His Word and Spirit, to remind you of His holiness. Spend a few moments in silence simply appreciating and feeling the gravity of His holy presence.
  3. Confess your weakness and rest in Him. Reflect on areas of weakness in your walk with God. Think specifically about marriage, parenting, work, relationships, and other areas of your life. Acknowledge your weakness to God and ask Him to empower you to live out the Great Commission. 
  4. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of His presence. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that God is with us. He is the Spirit of Christ in us. Pray that He would remind you moment-by-moment, day-by-day of His presence.
Photo by Francesco Ungaro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/flames-wallpaper-97492/
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Our Failures Are In God's Plan

6/14/2023

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Too often, we try to take things into our own hands. We see a leak, grab the wrench, and four hours later, we're calling the plumber or our father-in-law to come and fix the problem. What could've been a quick fix for the right person becomes a frustrating nightmare of a problem that costs us time, energy, and more money than we'd like to spend.

Some of you learn quickly not to get in over your heads. Others of us have to keep hearing the same lecture over and over again because we're hard-headed. Moses can resonate with those of us who are slow to learn. His first passionate outburst is on full display in Exodus 2:11-15.

Moses' Passion
At forty years old, Moses decided to go out to his people and look upon their burdens. Imagine the grief he must've felt to see his flesh and blood relatives subjected to the horrific evils of Egyptian slavery. As he watched, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew who was "one of his people" (v. 11). The English doesn't fully convey it, but the Hebrew root word "nakah" carries with it the idea of beating someone to inflict injury, sometimes even to death. In what seems to be a mixture of passion, justice, and rage, Moses looked one way, then another, and he "struck down" (nakah) the Egyptian in defense of his relative. To cover up what he did, Moses buried the man's body in the sand.

For centuries, biblical interpreters have debated whether Moses was in the wrong or not. Opposing Moses' actions, Alec Motyer, a well-known scholar and lover of the Old Testament, says, "Humanly speaking, we would say Moses promptly got it all wrong and set God's [program] back by forty years." In defense of Moses, John Calvin said that he "was armed by God's command.” Acts 7 sheds light that at least Moses' motives were to "defend the oppressed man" and avenge him (Acts 7:24-25). Hebrews 11 seems to show that Moses did this to "be mistreated with the people of God" rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin and the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:24-26).

It seems that Moses' desires were good, but his actions went too far. Yet, even if we take the stance that Moses was justified in the killing, we ought not to take it as a command or example for us to follow. Rather, Paul later calls us to "never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God" (Rom. 12:19). His "heart" (Acts 7:23) was set on forsaking his Egyptian rights to suffer with Israel, something that points to Jesus forsaking the riches of heaven to become poor for those who trust in Him (2 Cor 8:9).
 
Moses' Detour
The next day, Moses saw two of his Hebrew brothers fighting, and he asked the one in the wrong, "Why do you strike (nakah) your companion?" (v. 13). The Hebrew aggressor then asked, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" (v. 14). Uh-oh. What Moses thought was his big secret had already spread and would soon have Pharaoh coming for his neck—something he'd already escaped once! Moses was afraid because his murder had been made known, and he fled to Midian after hearing that Pharaoh was after him.

What a mess Moses was in! Yet it's hard to fault him for his passion

.As a black man, it's tough to fathom what it must've felt like for a free slave to see an enslaved African in America. Oh, what grief and anger a Jew must've felt toward the Nazis! The consequences of Moses' violence led him to a forty-year detour. Unlike Joseph, his actions got him in trouble, but just like Joseph, God was up to something.

God meant it all for good. In Midian, Moses found a wife, Zipporah, and had two sons. He found a father-in-law, Reuel (also called Jethro). He learned to shepherd as he dwelt among a people described by Philip Ryken as "a tribe of desert nomads." If you look ahead to Exodus 3, you'll even see that God used the wilderness in Midian to prepare Moses for his next season of ministry in the wilderness with Israel. What gracious providence God was working out in the life of Moses during this forty-year wilderness detour in Midian!

God's Preparation
Zooming back out, we see that in those forty years, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel still groaned under slavery, and they cried out to God for help! Close your eyes and imagine a mother and a father crying out to God as their young children slave away making pyramid bricks for a wicked king! They needed rescue.

As always, God was at work behind the scenes, preparing His hero to lead Israel out of Egypt. Their cry came up to God, and like a father who rushes to rescue his injured, God rushed in to save the day! The covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob "saw the people of Israel—and God knew" (v. 25). He didn't just know factually. He knew intimately.

Just as God knew the suffering of Israel under the weight of the harsh Egyptian taskmasters, He also knew our suffering under sin. We were under a cruel master who controlled our hearts and actions, but God came down to us through His Son and made a way for us. By His Spirit, we received new hearts and a new master, one who is gentle, lowly, and righteous! The God who heard is the God who hears today. The covenant-keeping God of Israel keeps His new covenant that was ushered in by the blood of Christ. Cry out to Him for help! He knows.

Reflection Questions
  1. How have you seen righteous passion in your heart spill over into unrighteous actions?
  2. Do you think Moses was in the right to avenge the Egyptian for his actions?
  3. How have you seen God work behind the scenes in your life despite some big mistake you’ve made? How did you feel while you were in the midst of the situation?
  4. How does the gospel remind us that God truly knows our sorrows?
  5. How does the deep knowledge and care of God help you love and trust Him more, especially in moments of trials and suffering?

Prayer Points
  1. Pray for eyes to see. Ask God to help you recognize the oppression occurring in the lives of people in your community. Weep with those who weep as they face the burden of injustice.
  2. Seek both zeal and self-control. Pray that God would grant you zeal for righteousness and justice, while also providing you with self-control. When you experience righteous emotions, pray that Satan would not exploit them for evil purposes.
  3. Express gratitude to God for His grace, despite your shortcomings. Thank Him that even when you fall short, He is merciful and gracious towards you. In His presence, reflect on times when you deserved punishment and suffering but received mercy instead.
  4. Pour out your heart to God. If you are weighed down by trials, sin, or hardships, cry out to God. As you pray, acknowledge God's faithfulness to those who are in Christ. Be still and know that He is God.
Photo by Laura Meinhardt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lone-house-in-the-wilderness-16102240/x
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The Hero's Shadow (Exodus 2:1-10)

6/9/2023

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Every great story introduces a protagonist. Often, the protagonist proves to be the most heroic and memorable character of the story. In God's big story, the main character shows up in shadows and types long before we meet him face-to-face. We've already seen His shadow once in the person and work of Joseph. We're about to get another glimpse of the Hero in the face of Israel's heroic leader.

A Hero is Born (v. 1-2)
Our hero (lowercase, of course) shows up in a sticky situation. He's a "fine" child from the tribe of Levi, and his mother loved him so much that she couldn't bring herself to kill him. Instead, this brave woman and her husband chose to hide the precious child. For three months, the baby went undetected, and we can only imagine how he was cherished during those three months!

The child's parents were people of faith, and hiding this baby was the fruit of their trust in God Almighty. Hebrews 11:23 gives us some insight into their reasoning for hiding him. One reason, of course, is that he was a "beautiful" child. Yet there was another, much deeper reason they hid the baby. By faith, they were not afraid of the king's edict! It would have been foolish to have the baby boy out in the open for everyone to see, but even hiding a baby for three months was risky business!

Who would have known that their faith would lead to the salvation of their nation and pave the way for the world's Hero several thousand years later?

A Hero is Rescued (v. 3-6)
Though our hero has shown up, he too needed a Hero. That's precisely how his story start. Many elements of his life foreshadowed Jesus, whose story we constantly sense as we read the history of redemption. The child's sister even got a firsthand glimpse of God's powerful working. Imagine seeing your parents' faith answered by God in such a tangible way!

The baby was hidden in a "basket," but don't miss the glorious Hebrew connection here. This same Hebrew word was translated as "ark" in Genesis when God called righteous Noah to rescue his family and the animals. The ark was covered in pitch (also on Noah’s ark!) and sent down the Nile River where he would be rescued by none other than Pharaoh's daughter, who showed "pity" for this Hebrew child. It was God's amazing plan to send this Egyptian girl to part the reeds and rescue this child, and one day God would part the "sea of reeds"—the literal Hebrew translation of the Red Sea—to rescue Israel!

Just as Noah's ark foreshadowed the rescue of this dear child, so this baby's rescue foreshadowed another water rescue—one that would take place in a much greater body of water in a much grander way in a few decades! By God's powerful hand, this baby boy was rescued by the daughter of the king who would one day try to destroy him and his people.

John Piper says, "God can do more in five seconds than we can do in five hours or months or years," and it's because God is always at work behind the scenes in millions of ways to get His glory. We pray and trust God because we know that He is always at work for our good and His glory.

A Hero is Raised Up (v. 7-10)
After this water rescue, our hero's brave sister suggested that his mother nurse him. What a brilliant plan—and it worked! This allowed the child's own blood family to raise him and it even provided additional "wages" for his mother. This small reward for faith is a subtle hint that God would later plunder unsuspecting Egyptians. Being with his family also meant that the boy grew up as a Hebrew among Hebrews, perhaps hanging out with Aaron and Miriam for a few years.

Our young hero's parents passed down their faith, and it eventually became his faith, too. Hebrews 11:24-26 reminds us that by faith this child would grow up and refuse to be an Egyptian. He was so aware of his Hebrew lineage that he chose to be reproached by his adoptive family rather than seek comfort. He passed up the "fleeting pleasures of sin" that could have given him an easy life (v. 25). He left behind the treasures, wealth, ease, security, and royalty of being a child of the world’s king to suffer alongside Israel and be a child of Christ the King. 

Why would he do such a thing? Wouldn't it have been wise to seek a position in Egypt like his great uncle Joseph? Couldn't he have done more for Israel if he had fought their oppression by gaining status, becoming king, and legislating change? Perhaps. But that wasn't God's plan! He "was looking to the reward" of his faith—God Himself (v. 26). We too must set our eyes on things above where Christ is rather than on the things of this earth (Col. 3:1-2). Only then can our upward and forward-looking faith bring us to seek God's will, even if we must lose comfort and security for His name's sake.

What’s His Name?
If you’ve read this story, you already know. If you haven’t, you’re probably chomping at the bit! The child God rescued and raised up was named Moses by his Egyptian mother. His name is special because it has two unique meanings. In Hebrew, his name sounds similar to "draw out”, and in Egyptian, his name meant "born." Moses was the baby who should have died, but God had plans for him to escape abortion and be drawn out of the water so he could be used to draw Israel out of Egypt! 

What a glorious picture of God's faithfulness! No matter where you're at in your story, God is up to something good. Even when we are weak and helpless, the Lord is our help (Psa. 46:1).

Reflection Questions:
  1. How have you seen God at work behind the scenes in your life during a difficult trial? How did it impact your faith?
  2. How does the faith of Moses’ family remind us of the importance of our faith and the impacts it can have on future generations?
  3. What are are some ways we can live by faith in everyday, mundane situations?
  4. How does the foreshadowing of Jesus in Moses' story help us see the biblical storyline and plan of redemption more clearly?
  5. In what ways does Moses' courage and willingness to leave behind worldly comforts and security encourage us to do the same? In what ways do you struggle to do this?

Prayer Points:
  1. Ask  for faith to follow God rather than people, even in situations that can remove our sense of comfort, ease, or security.
  2. Pray for a heart that looks to God as our greatest reward rather than the treasures and rewards of this life.
  3. Worship God for His good and faithful working behind-the-scenes for our good and His glory.
Photo by Darya Sannikova: https://www.pexels.com/photo/trees-near-body-of-water-3021140/
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A New King and A Faithful God

6/3/2023

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​Today, as in times past, we are prone to forget the accomplishments and people who came before us. C.S. Lewis dubbed this forgetfulness as "chronological snobbery." Whether we are debating LeBron and Michael Jordan or Tom Brady and Joe Montana, we can also be prone to view our time as greater than times past. Recently, a living pastor was called the greatest preacher since the apostolic age—beyond Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and even Charles Spurgeon!

We see chronological snobbery in the opening chapter of Exodus, too. The new Pharaoh "did not know Joseph" (v. 8). He didn't know the contributions of Joseph and his family back in the old days when Egypt was in a famine. He didn't know how a Hebrew boy ended up ruling the world after tragedy and triumph. All he knew was that there were some non-Egyptians in the land, and he was a big shot who didn't like it. The combination of pride, fear, and power proved deadly for this unnamed "new king," and it led to the slavery of God's people (v. 8).

Enslaved by Pharaoh, Empowered by God (v. 10-14)

The king made life horrific for the Israelites. Notice how their plight is described:

  • Affliction
  • Heavy burdens
  • Oppression
  • Ruthlessness
  • Slavery
  • Bitter
  • Hard service

It’s not hard to imagine that they felt alone in their suffering! Like the chattel slavery in America’s past, we see cruelty and hatred bound together in forced labor with no present path of escape apart from divine intervention.

Yet even in times of oppression, God is not silent. He never sleeps nor slumbers. He's always at work in a million ways that we may never see on this side of glory. With Israel, "the more they were oppressed, the more they spread abroad" (v. 12). God's people are like the garden weeds that have thousands of seeds that spread most when they're agitated by wind, animals, or unsuspecting gardeners! The more persecution presses us, the further we spread.

God was with Israel in their suffering, but He was relatively quiet in His working. So He is with us sometimes. God's withness doesn't fade just because our circumstances are tough. Christ and the Holy Spirit are interceding for us (Rom. 8:26, Heb. 7:25). The Father is ready, willing, and able to help us, though His help may come at a time and in a way we least expect it.

God's Mission Would Not Be Aborted (v. 15-22)

Abortion is one of the most grievous evils of our day. Some in our culture have tried to rebrand it as "reproductive freedom," but we all know it is murder. Pharaoh's tactic to slow down the increase of the Israelites began with abortion—well, close to it. He commanded that all the male children be killed at birth. This sounds horrendous, and it should! Murdering the most helpless and innocent males in the society would indeed prevent the Israelites from joining Egypt's enemies and escaping the land (Exo. 1:10). However, God's plan for His people could not be thwarted by baby killers!

Two Hebrew midwives, probably the lead nurses of a group of midwives, are used by God to save these babies! The unnamed king wanted death, but Shiprah and Puah—whose names will be remembered forever for their faith—cherished the glory of God and made His name known. These two women "feared God" and disobeyed Pharaoh. They didn't fear man who kills the body but rather God who can destroy both body and soul in hell (Mat. 10:28)!

Did they lie to Pharaoh? Many scholars and commentators say they did. Were they shrewd with the king who dealt shrewdly with their people? Perhaps they were repaying the evil king for his shrewdness. Did God give the midwives more vigorous births to prevent the death of the infants? Some speculate this possibility, as well. Regardless of whether they deceived Pharaoh or whether God truly made the Hebrew women more vigorous (remember that God has power over the womb!), He "dealt well" with the midwives, gave them families, and continued to multiply Israel! When you break open a spider's egg sac, hundreds or thousands of tiny spiders will come running out. It was the same way with God's people when Pharaoh tried to break apart their families! God was with them. The serpent who deceived Eve was again at work against the Israelites, but God was making the way for the Serpent Crusher to bruise the serpent’s head. 

Pharaoh's last-ditch effort was to kill the babies by drowning them in the Nile. As we will soon see, not even this could stop God. The greatest kings on the planet have no power to thwart God's plans. This gives us hope today. There is not a president or world leader who can thwart God's plans for His Church. Psalm 2 calls every leader to "kiss the Son or perish" (v. 12). This applies to every president, governor, mayor, or law enforcement officer—whether Democrat or Republican—to submit to the rule and reign of Jesus. They may try to stomp us out, but the more they press, the more we will spread across the globe. Let us go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations because Jesus is with us until the end of the age.

Questions for Reflection:
  • How does "chronological snobbery" impact our appreciation of historical accomplishments? Have you noticed this mindset in your own life?
  • How does the faith of Shiprah and Puah inspire you to fear God and stand up for what is right?
  • How does God's work through the Hebrew midwives offer hope for everyday people like us?
  • How do power, fear, and pride in leadership affect the lives of ordinary people today? Have you witnessed the impacts of such leadership in your community or personal life?
  • Compare this scene in Exodus to the spread of the gospel in the book of Acts and the early church. How does faith in God's power lead to growth among His people?
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Prayer points:
  • Pray for softened hearts for our government leaders, that they may fear and honor God rather than succumbing to pride, fear, and abuse of power.
  • Pray for those who are facing oppression, abuse, and suffering due to corrupt and unjust leaders today.
  • Give thanks to God for His faithfulness and pray for increased faith, especially in times of fear and trouble.
Photo by Diego F. Parra: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pyramids-and-sphinx-statue-in-desert-15127306/
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Exodus: The Epic Story of God's Redemption and Our Salvation

5/26/2023

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Our local church will be working through the book of Exodus. I have been tasked with writing several articles for the church on the book as we work through it. I would like to share these with readers at Dwell With Christ. I hope you enjoy what God is teaching us in Exodus.
Most people love a good story. Opening lines draw us in and hook us quickly. Captivated by the story, we eagerly follow along as more details emerge. The heroic leader and distressed damsel arrive as the villain vainly plots to seize the day. The suspense builds, and our hero must show up and save the day—yet we know it won’t come easy! First, the hardship, then the satisfying victory. We breathe a sigh of relief or shed some bitter tears as the story eases to a close. Oh, how we love a good story!

The Bible is God’s magnificent narrative, and Exodus is a story within the story. Broadly, Exodus is chapter 2 of the Bible's majestic history. We see the connection to chapter 1 with the first sentence: “Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob…” (NASB). "Now" is an important word—though it’s not apparent in most of our English translations. It signals to us that the story is continuing. What God started in Genesis continues in Exodus.

Zooming in, Exodus is the history of a young nation upheld by the promises of God. From the opening sentence, God displays His great faithfulness. The Israelites came to Egypt with Jacob. Who is Jacob? He is the Son of Abraham and the father of Joseph, the Hebrew who saved Egypt and Israel from a great famine (See Gen. 41). Now the story of Abraham’s promised seed is unfolding in Egypt. God previously told Abraham:

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” (Gen 15:13)

The four hundred years were almost finished, and God’s covenant people were on the way out the door. This is where we meet Israel, God’s people. Here we also meet Moses, God’s leader. Most importantly, in Exodus, we meet YHWH (known as Yahweh or Jehovah)—well, we at least learn His name and more of His identity as the covenant God of Abraham. What an amazing opening to an incredible story!

Exodus is the History of God’s Covenant People

Pharaoh and the Egyptians enslaved Israel due to fear and ethnic pride. Pharaoh wanted to control Israel so they wouldn’t get too large, wage war against Egypt, and leave the land (Exo. 1:8-10). The Israelites cried out to the God of heaven, and He listened (Exo. 2:24)! The living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remembered His covenant, heard His people, and “knew” them deeply (Exo. 2:25).

Exodus is the story of God’s rescue. Not only did God hear, but He also acted on their behalf (Exo. 3:8). As God rescued Noah and his family in the ark, so He first rescued Moses in an ark to prepare for the rescue of His people. Not only did God bring Noah and his family through water for salvation, but He also brought Israel through water—on dry land—in order to rescue them! God showed up!

Through this heroic rescue, God’s people were redeemed by God. When God poured out His just judgments on Egypt and their prideful leader, He spared His people from the same judgment (Exo. 12). How did He do this? By providing blood as a covering for His people as they dwelt among the Egyptians in the land (Exo. 12:13). We see a red thread that points straight to Christ, our Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7).

Exodus is the Church’s History

Though the book of Exodus is about Israel’s history, it’s also a story about the Church—God’s chosen people throughout all of history. We see echoes of the Exodus story throughout the whole Old Testament. For example, as God parted the waters in Exodus, so He did for Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha (Jos. 3:5-17;4:1-18; 2 Kgs. 2:5-9; 2 Kgs. 2:12-15). As God brought plagues to Pharaoh, so He plagued the Philistines in the days of Samuel (1 Sam. 4-5). As God raised up a leader to rescue His people from Egypt, so He later rescued His people by the judges and kings. Let this sampling of the countless echoes of the Exodus in the Old Testament inspire you to explore more of this narrative in God’s Word!

We also see echoes of Exodus in the New Testament. As Moses was born under government persecution and escaped, so was Jesus spared from being killed by Herod. As Moses fled from the hand of Pharaoh, so Jesus fled from the hand of Herod (Mat. 2:13-18). As Israel was baptized and brought out of the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:2), so Jesus was baptized and brought out of the waters to begin His ministry (Mat. 3:13-17). As YHWH gave Israel the Law on a mountain, so Jesus gave the authoritative and full teaching on the Law in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7). As Israel was a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, so is the Church (1 Pet. 2:9).

In the last days, we see echoes of Exodus too. Just as Egypt was judged with plagues, so will the unrighteous God-haters be judged in the last days. As the people of God were persecuted by idolatrous Egypt and finally rescued, so also the saints of God are persecuted and finally rescued when Christ returns for His bride. What glorious echoes we see throughout the whole of Scripture!

Exodus is Our History

Exodus is not just a story about Israel; it’s a story for us. Like ungodly Egypt, we deserve to be punished for our sins, and we need to be in a relationship with God. Like Pharaoh, our pride and hard hearts were once set against YHWH, the all-powerful Creator of the heavens and the earth. Like Moses, we are weak, fearful, and make excuses. Like Israel, we doubt God and grumble against the people who were sent to lead and deliver us. All in all, we too are sinful people in need of a Rescuer. We need a Hero.

Through Christ, God rescued us from ourselves. As Israel was God’s firstborn son (Exo. 4:22-23), we were adopted as children of God (Rom. 8:15). Instead of leaving us as slaves to our sins, God sent a Savior and heard our cries of confession and grief as we realized our sinfulness. When our hearts were pierced by the message of the gospel, we believed in Christ Jesus, the Lord, and we were no longer under the cruel and wicked master we call sin. As God’s children, Pharaoh will never reign over Israel again, and neither will sin, death, or Satan rule over us ever again!

How did He do it? Through the blood of Christ, our Passover Lamb. God redeemed us—He bought us with a price—and cast away our cruel master (1 Cor. 6:20). The blood of Christ is on the doorposts of our souls, and Christ looks upon us and says, “Mine, mine! You can never have them again because I paid for them!” We used to make bricks upon bricks to build the kingdoms of idols and idolaters, but now we glorify God in our bodies and build His imperishable kingdom.

Saved for God’s Glory
An inescapable reality about great stories is that the protagonist—the leading character—receives the spotlight and praise. If we aren’t careful, we can mistake the protagonist in Exodus. Is it Israel? Is it Moses? Is it us? Far from it! From start to finish, the Hero of the story is God. From the opening line to the final words, we see the power, patience, and providence of God on full, glorious display. In the words of Leland Ryken, “...the theme of Exodus is very simple—so simple it can be expressed in four short words: saved for God’s glory.” That’s it. That’s the theme. That’s the focus. Rescued and redeemed for the glory of God.
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3 Ways to Pray the Bible

1/31/2023

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I often feel like an asthmatic Christian. I’ll be struggling for air, but I won’t open my airway to breathe in. Once my lungs fill up with the cold, dry air of busyness and self-reliance, I start gasping for air. Ole Hallesby, a Norwegian theologian from the 1900s, wrote that “prayer is the breath of the soul, the organ by which we receive Christ into our parched and withered hearts.” When I am not praying, I’m not breathing.

When I am physically dealing with asthma, I have to slow down, find my inhaler, and catch my breath. Spiritually, though, I will often ignore the warning signs for far too long. I’m either too stressed to think straight, or I think I’ve got my life under control. I’ll either feel as though the world is caving in on me, or I’ll live as though I’m the cornerstone keeping it all together. Prayer keeps me from either extreme, and Jesus’s words in John 15:5 often reverberate through my thoughts when I’m in either place. Apart from Me you can do nothing. Despite my head knowledge of this reality, sometimes my heart just simply doesn’t keep up. More often, my lifestyle and habits crowd out time for prayer. The cares of the world grip my throat like a fierce opponent trying to keep my from taking another breath.

I want to live, and I know that through dependent, earnest, and thankful prayer I can continue to breathe and not starve my soul of its oxygen. On this journey to pray more fervently and more often, I am learning to pray through the Bible. As I reflect on the books, articles, and examples from the Christians in my life, I’ve found at least 3 helpful methods for praying through Scripture. I want to share them in hopes of helping you find more joy and life in your prayers.

Pray (nearly) the exact words of a passage. 

The most straightforward way to pray the Bible is to open to a passage and pray straight through it. The benefit of this method is that we’re praying God’s words back to Him. For example, you could pray Psalm 1 back to God as you reflect on your desire to follow the blessed man, Jesus. Perhaps you could pray through Ephesians 2:1-10 in the first person, starting with, “And I was dead in my trespasses and sins…” and so on. This is a great way to talk to God using His words and His desires for us.

The Psalms are great for praying directly through a passage because many of them are actual prayers penned in Scripture for us to read, sing, and pray back to God. You may need to replace some of the circumstances with your own spiritual or physical circumstances. For example, you may not be under physical threats of violence, but you can cry out, “You are my shelter, my portion in the land of the living… listen to my cry, for I am very weak. Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me…” (Psalm 142: 5-6). The Psalms give words to our worries and pleas for our problems.

Other written prayers throughout the Scriptures are great for this style of praying, too. We can reflect and strive to get our hearts in line with God’s Word as we pray truthful and powerful words from saints throughout biblical history from Moses to the saints rejoicing in the new heavens and earth.

Pray your own words with the Scripture as your guide. 

Another way to pray through the Bible is to allow the Words of Scripture to be your guide.  When Jesus gave his disciples the model prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), He provided a model for prayer. I learned how to pray through the Lord’s prayer from writers and preachers throughout church history. They taught me how to pray through this prayer in a way that could nourish my soul daily and bring my heart in line with God’s will. Rather than just praying through it from rote memorization and mouthing the words, they teach that we can let the various petitions guide us into themes and topics to pray for. 

For example, when we start the prayer “our Father in heaven…”, we can slow down and pray about the fatherhood of God. We can thank God that He is indeed our Father in heaven, greater than any earthly father. If we’ve been living as spiritual orphans, we can pray that we would view God as the Father He is and thank the Holy Spirit for being the Spirit of adoption in us. We can thank Christ that He gave His life for us in order to be brought near to God.  We can pray to be better parents in light of the fatherhood of God. We can even pray evangelistically that God would be the Father of the unsaved people we know and love.  After praying through the fatherhood of God, we can continue by praying that God’s name would be hallowed. Piece-by-piece, then, we work through the prayer until we have reached the end. This can be a short 5-minute time of prayer, or it can extend much further. 

Most of the words in Scripture are not prayers but narratives, wisdom, poetry, prophecies, and epistles. These passages are still useful in prayer, but they may be more useful as prayer prompts than direct prayers. We can pray through these Scriptures, letting the words of Scripture prompt us to pray in light of what we’ve just read. Donald Whitney advocates for this method of praying in his book Praying the Bible, and it has been helpful in my life as well as the lives of thousands of Christians who desire to spend more time praying and seeking the presence of God. 

Pray the broad themes of a passage of Scripture.

If you’re reading through the Bible in a year or walking through narrative passages, you get to enjoy reading through larger sections of Scripture each day. Sometimes those longer sections, especially narratives, parables, or prophecies don’t lend themselves to word-for-word prayer. It might be a little odd to pray, “When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman” (Gen 25:27).  In the rest of this paragraph, however, we see Esau nearly starving to death, Jacob selfishly requiring a birthright in place of bread and lentil soup, and Esau’s folly in a moment of desperation. You could reflect on this passage and notice the themes of wisdom, selfishness, deceit, and desperation (Gen. 25:27-33).

After making a note of these themes, you could pray for yourself and others. In reference to Esau’s folly, you may want to pray for God to give you the wisdom to navigate this life according to His will and not the will of flesh. You might need to repent of selfishness that you’ve seen in your heart lately and thank Christ for His selflessness in going to the cross for you. You could lament the deceitfulness you’ve seen in the world, and ask God rescue a family member who has recently been deceived by false teaching. Finally, you can praise God for being self-sufficient and never desperate like Esau was. You may be drawn to then ask for Him to keep you from despairing of your life so much that you’d give up your faith or making a foolish life decision. 

This method allows you to take the broad themes of the Bible and pray through them as you see their relevance in your life. This pulls more of God’s Word into your prayer life and keeps your prayers fresh.

We Don’t Have to be Bored or Distracted in our Praying

Sometimes our prayer lives are weak and boring because we’ve built a habit of praying poorly. We know how to cry out to God when things are tough. We’ve figured out how to thank God for meals. We can toss up a quick thanksgiving to God when something good happens. But when it comes to digging deeper in prayer, we just can’t seem to figure it out. Jesus’s 12 disciples felt the same way and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1)! Without direction, we can expect to feel like we’re saying the same old things all the time. Perhaps our prayers become boring, bland, and repetitive because we come to God without His Word and His purposes in mind. Donald Whitney puts it like this: “the problem is not that we pray about the same old things; rather, it’s that we say the same old things about the same old things.” 

Let the Word of God refresh your prayer life. Try praying the Scriptures the next time you spend time alone with God.

What are some tips or strategies you’d share with people desiring to grow in prayer?

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-blue-dress-shirt-praying-6860411/

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I Let Life Rob Me Of God’s Word

1/12/2023

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I’m sitting in my comfortable chair, sipping some warm chai tea, and reading Acts 7 on this cool winter morning. This morning I’m fascinated by the way God orchestrates the small details of my life for the good of my soul. One of my closest friends sent me a text of his Bible reading thoughts on Genesis 12, and it read, “what faith it would take to just up and leave to go where God calls you.” He was writing about Abraham leaving the comfort and safety of his home to follow a God he had never known or worshiped. What a powerful testimony of faith! Stephen preached about this same faith in his famous sermon in Acts 7.


The connection between my friend’s Bible reading and my personal bible reading reminds me of a powerful truth from the first psalm. The blessed man delights in the law of the Lord and on it he meditates day and night (Psa. 1:2). Through the everyday habit of daily Bible reading, God brings me genuine delight. The year has just begun, but God has been meeting me here and bringing me joy.

I’ve recently experienced a blend of lament and rejoicing, and I hope to help someone out there who is struggling to read and enjoy the Bible consistently. You have hope, and God is holding out the promise of delight to all who seek Him and meditate on His Word. The God who spoke the Bible works in the hearts of believers, drawing us to His Word and giving us unexplainable joy.

Lament: I Let Life Steal From Me

Adrian Rogers once said, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy”. In C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters, one demon wrote of humans: “Whatever their bodies do affects their souls. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality, our best work is done by keeping things out”. For over a year, God’s Word was mostly kept out of my daily habits and routines, and my soul paid dearly for it. 

I started a new job in early 2021, and work was pretty busy. I often found myself gravitating toward health and wellness podcasts rather than the biblical episodes I used to download. Instead of reading Christian books during the cracks and breaks throughout the day, I read books on sleep and diet. Too often, I gave myself extra time for sleep, jumped straight into a coffee shop meeting or exercise, and then jumped straight into work. Rather than pursuing God and His presence to strengthen my soul throughout the day, I gave myself to working, googling things, scrolling social media, reading weather blogs, and chasing anything else that would distract my soul. C.S. Lewis’s words proved true for me. I was caring far more for my body than my soul, and God’s Word ended up being pushed to the side.

The scariest part about my year is that I hardly noticed that I was starving my soul. My body was languishing. I gained 17 pounds, got COVID, found out I had undiagnosed sleep apnea and insomnia, dealt with intense anxiety, and developed a skin abscess. I truly felt the weight of physical struggles and ailments in 2022, and these struggles took up a lot of my focus because they made my life difficult. But what about my spiritual difficulties? 
 
Last year, I had several spiritual highs which gave me a false sense of spiritual depth. I attended the final T4G conference, served faithfully as a pastoral resident, and took steps toward church planting. Those times were extremely fruitful and good for my soul. God was gracious in them all. He gave me the diligence to preach, teach, and lead in ways that are impossible without his help. 

Despite these blessed times, I lacked the devotional rhythms and ongoing communion with God necessary for the valleys that came between the peaks. I spent far too little time with God. I often neglected time for prayer, Bible reading, writing, fellowship, worship, and discipleship to do less important things. 

Rejoicing: God Gave Back What I Gave Up

God didn’t leave me last year, but He allowed me to starve my soul on a diet of junk food and quick-fix supplements for much of the year. By the grace of God, I finished out the year with a God-given desire to care for my soul in 2023 (Phil. 2:12-13). He got my attention and reeled me back in with a different perspective. Despite my being distant and distracted, Christ was always here. He didn’t let my soul shrivel up like chaff and throw me into the fire. Rather, my Good Shepherd struck my back with His gracious rod of correction and led me back to green pastures and still waters—the Living Water to be precise (Ps. 23:2). He knows more than any earthly parent how to give good gifts to those who ask Him, and I was desperate for His help (Mat. 7:11). 

I spent a short season praying for delight without pursuing it. God graciously sparked my hunger for communion with Him in ways that I couldn’t have imagined at the time. As my soul hungered for the Word, God drew me to the path of delighting in Him. Here’s what God did:

1. God used the Redeeming Productivity Academy. Near the end of 2022, Reagan—the founder of Redeeming Productivity Academy—and several users in the academy posted articles and tips for starting Bible reading plans in the new year. These posts and articles helped me get focused on growth in 2023. 

2. God used year-end reflections. I reflected on 2022 and lamented the state of my soul. After reflecting on my complete failure in setting and keeping the 38 goals and interventions I set last year, I decided to forgo my annual goal-setting and opt for emphasizing daily habits that would help me live the life I need to live in 2023.
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3. God used some of my closest friends. At the end of 2022, three of my closest friends committed to using Bible reading plans—one convinced me to read the M’Cheyne with him again this year. Another close friend stopped using drugs a year ago and began reading several pages of his Bible every day. His life is a testimony of devotion to God. Another friend, who is busy with a full undergraduate load, read the whole M’Cheyne plan last year. These men spur me on daily to read and seek God’s face in His Word. 

A Journey: I Haven’t Arrived

What does all of this have to do with reading Acts 7? I wouldn’t have been reading that chapter without God helping me cultivate the spiritual habit of daily Bible reading. 

He drew me back into the daily spiritual disciplines I had so quickly forgotten. For some, the word discipline screams legalism, danger, and red flags. For others, discipline feels like a spiritual straitjacket that robs people of their true freedom. I view the spiritual disciplines as the gutter guards at the bowling alley. I have a destination, and without discipline, I end up in the gutter. In the words of Don Whitney, “discipline without direction leads to drudgery, but discipline with direction leads to delight.” I thrive when I have discipline and direction because I can find delight in the right place—God Himself.

I want to reiterate that I haven’t arrived. I’m writing this on January 10th. I have 355 days to keep striving in Christ’s strength to commune with him.  I also have 355 days to lose focus and either follow the disciplines for fleshly reasons or lose sight of them altogether. My hope and prayer, however, are that God continues to teach me how to delight myself in Him. Only then will I truly have the desires of my heart (Ps. 37:4).

What about you? Are you delighting in the Lord in this season of life? What is holding you back? How is God at work to draw you back to Himself?

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New Year, Same God

1/4/2023

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I have often uttered the phrase, “New year, new you” in early January. I love it because it’s catchy, and it captures the idea that when the clock rolls over into a new year, I have a new chance to put off bad habits and put on new better ones. I love to plan and set goals, so the notion of a new me in the new year is exhilarating.

As I reflect on the previous 365 days (or 366 on leap year!), I often look back with sadness and negativity. Some people view the world through rose-colored glasses—not me. It’s not that I’m a complete pessimist who can’t see the good in a situation or season. It’s that I often battle seasonal depression, and my year end reflections are often grey and cloudy like the December skies I see when I peer out the window.

Far more often than I’d like to admit, melancholy and self-deprecation haunt my year-end reflections and stimulate me to pursue radical change going into January 1. Have you figured out yet how this could be destructive for me moving into the new year? Self-examination is vital for the Christian life, but only when the gospel is in full view and the lens we use is accurate (2 Cor. 13:5).

Deadly Resolutions

New year goals and habits are deadly when the gospel is missing.

Don’t breeze too quickly past that last sentence. Let me lean in, look you in the eyes, and say it again.

New year goals and habits are deadly when the gospel is missing.

When we only give lip service to the gospel, we may say that we create our goals and resolutions for the glory of God, but if we actually achieved them and stayed true to our words, who would get the credit first in our hearts and minds? Would attaining your goals in the next 365 days cause you to celebrate the goodness and grace of God more?

I’m hoping your answer is that God would get the credit first and foremost. I hope that would be my answer too. But if you’re afraid it won’t be, the Word of God has some encouragement for you today:

”…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.” -Philippians 2:12–13

Work Out Your Own Salvation

At first you may be wondering, “Where’s the hope in this?! If I have to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling, I better get to work!” However, don’t miss the gospel bomb in the passage: “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.”

When Paul says, “Work out your own salvation”, he isn’t calling for Christians to save themselves. Some scholars argue that Paul is calling the Philippians corporately to work out their salvation by pursuing unity. Other scholars argue that the call to work out your own salvation emphasizes the individual call to pursue godliness. The big picture seems clear: putting on the mind of Christ and caring more for others than ourselves is a powerful way to work out our own salvation (Phil 2:3-4).

This is a call to radical obedience. To love others is to fulfill the entire law of Moses (Rom. 13:10, Jam. 2:8). It is the call to love our neighbors as ourselves—the second greatest commandment (Mat. 22:39). It means refusing to be irritable or resentful toward others (1 Cor. 13:5). The call to put on the mind of Christ and forfeit our desires, preferences, and opinions for the good of others is a monumental task.

Who is fit for this work? God is.

God is at Work

As a man who has been able to dunk a basketball since I was in 9th grade, it has been painful to reach my early 30s and not be able to bounce like I used to. I now have fight to get a clean dunk, and if I go a few months without working out, it will take me several weeks of training to be able to dunk again. Yet for many, slamming a basketball through the rim has never been attainable, and no amount of strength or willpower can get them to the rim. Hearing “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” is like trying dunk at 5’2 with a 30-inch vertical.

Not only is it impossible for us to work out our salvation on our own, but we reach the frustration point pretty quickly when we try. Paul knows this because when his eyes were opened to the gospel, he realized that his pharisaical ways were futile with regard to true righteousness. We can only be right with God in and through Christ. He reminded the Galatians that as our faith walk began with the Spirit, it must also continue by the Spirit. We are not perfected by the flesh but by the Spirit (Gal 3:1-6).

Therefore, Paul says to the Philippians, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling… for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2: 13). Christian, our great hope is that God will work in us to both will and work for His good pleasure! This doesn’t mean that we sit back and relax, waiting for the impulse to do good. Not at all! Rather, we strive with all of Christ’s strength to live fruitful and godly lives (Colossians 1:29). Yet, we give Him all the glory because it is He who works and wills the good that we do! This is encouraging and exciting!

For His Good Pleasure

Let us not move too quickly or we will miss a key phrase in this passage: for His good pleasure. God stirs up desires and brings fruit from those good and glorious desires in us for His good pleasure. Far too often, when the road gets rough we can feel as though God is against us rather than for us. Compare this mentality with Romans 8:31.

Our Bible reading plan gets to Leviticus and Numbers and the New Year’s energy has worn off. We yawn and doze as we try to our work our way through the passages. Then we hear the self-pity and mockery. You lousy person! How can you call yourself a saint when you can barely wake up and read the Bible each day! You’ll never reach your goals because you might not even be saved. God despises you because you don’t delight in Him or His Word!

Yet what does our text say? When we are pursuing the love of God and the love of others, it is God who is at work in us to will and to work for His good pleasure. This includes our Bible reading and prayer times! He is pleased to see us complete our Bible reading plan. He welcomes us to the throne of grace in prayer. He rejoices to see husbands love their wives. He gets glory when fathers love and lead their children. He delights to see His saints worship together.

When we believe that God works in and through us for His good pleasure, we have wind behind our sails that allows us to keep pushing when the going gets tough. When the days are hard and we don’t feel like working out our salvation with fear and trembling, God is still at work in us for His good pleasure. He’s not helping us begrudgingly, either! He is ready and willing to help us because our sanctification brings Him glory from start to finish.

God’s Grace in the New Year

In light of Philippians 2:12-13, here are three ways to glorify God as you plan your year and fight to meet your goals:

1. Prioritize obedience to God over personal preferences and goals. Setting goals for our jobs is good if our aim is to work heartily as for the Lord and not for men (Col. 3:23). Developing an exercise habit glorifies God if we are caring for our temple (1 Tim. 4:8). However, if you’re neglecting the time needed to cultivate love for God and others, you should consider prioritizing your spiritual goals first and foremost. It’s not that the others are unimportant. Rather, we are called to work out our salvation with utmost seriousness and reverence for God. Let today’s habits be reasons for rejoicing a million years from now.

2. Pray frequently and fervently for God to work in you. Too often we fail to reach our goals and keep our habits because we simply don’t pray. He have not because we ask not (James 4:2-3). We need to be often asking God to strengthen in order to persevere in our goals and habits. And if He is not granting us success, we may need to search our hearts, goals, and habits to see if God is truly at the center of our plans for the new year. James 4:2-3 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Let us ask for help, and seek God’s help for the right reasons.  ​

3. Praise God regularly when you see success in your life. If we aren’t diligent in developing hearts that look often for opportunities to praise God, we will find ourselves excited as though we achieved righteous works in our strength. Jesus is clear that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). By reflecting on our goals and achievements, we are able to see successes and failures. When we see failures, we can draw near to God in humility and earnest prayer. When we see successes and check off all the boxes, we can draw near to God in praise for His transforming and empowering grace.

As the new year begins, don’t neglect to establish good goals and habits. We are called to make the best use of our time (Eph. 5:18). Set grand goals! But in this new year, fight to obey God, rest in His power, and give Him the glory in your successes! And never forget that He’s working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure and glory (Ps. 115:1).
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A Resurrection Sermon

4/18/2022

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As a pastoral resident, I've been very busy with ministry this spring. I was blessed with the opportunity to preach the gospel on Easter Sunday at Grace Church. If you're interested in hearing the sermon I preached on Easter Sunday, I pray it can be a blessing to your soul. 

You can listen or download the file here.

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10 Tips For Stressful Times

2/4/2022

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10 Tips for Stressful Times

A close friend of mine was recently going through a rough time. Having been through stressful times myself over the past couple of years, I thought it may be helpful to offer some biblical and practical help to overcome anxiety. Here's what I sent him:
  1. Pray and cast your anxieties to the Lord.
    • “...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7)
    • “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Ps. 55:22)
  2. Get some sunlight. Spending 30 minutes in the sunlight does a lot to lift your spirits and sync up your 24-hour rhythm.
  3. Do some relaxing but engaging activities. Some examples are:
    • Read the Bible or a good book
    • Watch a good show or documentary
    • Play games with your kids
    • Warm bath or shower
  4. Spend time with other believers. Fellowship can provide encouragement and a shoulder to lean on.
    • “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
    • “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2)
  5. Break a sweat. Getting some exercise—especially in the sunlight—can help you feel better by increasing the feel-good hormones in your brain and getting rid of some excess energy.
    • “...for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Tim. 4:8)
  6. Limit stimulants. Sugar, caffeine, and simple carbs (like white bread, crackers, and chips) can have a stimulating effect on the body. It’s best to limit these comfort foods when you’re dealing with anxiety and depression. They promise to make you feel better, but they often leave you feeling worse.
  7. Eat good food! Eat colorful veggies, berries and other low-sugar fruits, and nuts and seeds for good fat. Throw in some brown rice, quinoa, or oatmeal to add healthy grains in the mix, too. Eat good quality, lean meats to keep your protein up and get more nutrients.
    • “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” (Genesis 9:3).
  8. Breathe. Taking 3-5 minutes throughout the day and before to take slow deep breaths can help you calm down. Try breathing in through your nose for three seconds and out from your mouth for six seconds. These breaths can be very calming.
  9. Talk with your doctor about supplements to help with stress and sleep.* Adaptogens and nootropics can really help with anxiety and depression. L-Theanine, Ashwagandha, and Tulsi (Holy Basil) can also help stressed out adrenals. B vitamins, 5-HTP, and St. John’s Wort have also been shown to help with both anxiety and depression. Melatonin, GABA, and magnesium (glycinate, l-throenate, etc.) can help with restless sleep. Again, always talk to your doctor when starting new supplements, especially if you’re already taking other prescription medications.
  10. Rest in the Lord. Sometimes we just need to rest. We don’t just need physical rest. We need soul rest too. When Elijah was depressed and wished he would die, God fed him and allowed him to get some sleep before carrying out the rest of his ministry (1 Kings 19:5-18). Rest is a gift from God.

    What are some of the ways you navigate stressful seasons in life? Let me know in the comments!
*DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.​


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Building From Blind Spots: Jonathan Edwards and Slavery

1/9/2022

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At the end of each year, I like to think through priorities, goals, and habits as I prepare for the upcoming year. Over the years, I've stumbled over articles and sermons about Jonathan Edwards's Resolutions. Written when he was approaching his twentieth birthday, these resolutions reflect areas of focus and spiritual growth for young Edwards. As a young-ish guy (I'm 33rd birthday!) I want to be "making the best use of the time because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16), so I decided to embark on a more thorough study of Edwards's lifestyle and resolutions. In God's providence, I stumbled upon Matthew Everhard's Holy Living: Jonathan Edwards’s Seventy Resolutions for Living the Christian Life. Everhard is a pastor with a popular Youtube channel detailing his study methods, reviewing Christian resources, and sharing information from his scholarly studies on the life and ministry of Jonathan Edwards.

A Bit of Tension
As a black Christian in America—and yes, my Christian identity trumps my racial identity—I often wrestle with the tension of early American Christianity and slavery. There is clearly nothing deficient about the gospel or biblical ethics. Unfortunately, the rich theology proclaimed in Christian books and sermons from that era didn't always move from head to heart to hand—especially when those hands held slaves. Sadly, Great Awakening heroes like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield were guilty of supporting slavery either vocally or silently through their actions. I'm not trying to spark the discussion of how slaves were treated by Christian slaveholders, whether they were just products of their time, or if these men were genuine Christians. These are complex discussions that ought not be handled lightly via social media or blogs. For what it's worth, I hope to see both of these men in heaven worshipping the Lord alongside Africans and people from every other tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9).

In Holy Living, Everhard doesn't shy away from this tension of slavery in Jonathan Edwards's life. In fact, he mentions it a couple of times in the opening chapter. I want to zoom in on one specific section where we see Edwards's disciples build upon his blind spots:

"Following his death, Edwards’s legacy continued to rise sharply. His disciples carried on some of his ideas, applying them more courageously than he had in areas of social concern, especially his concept of “benevolence to being in general, ”which meant a love for God and humanity. His son Jonathan Edwards Jr. and his disciple Samuel Hopkins applied their concept of “disinterested benevolence” to race relations and slavery, working toward the abolition of that horrific institution. Like their mentor, they were way ahead of their time. (p. 15; emphasis mine)"

Not Far Enough
Jonathan Edwards thought and wrote deeply on the concept of Christian love and the fruits it bears in the lives of believers. He also taught that all people were created in the image of God—even African slaves. He wrote of the "benevolence of being in general" which emphasized first love for God and then love for other people. Though this teaching didn't shift his practice of slaveholding, it did move and his congregation to receive black and Native American members into their congregation. He would eventually give his life to mission work among Native Americans before passing away from a smallpox inoculation. Though his views and action regarding race and slavery were likely countercultural for his day, we know that Edwards didn't go far enough in renouncing slavery and racism in word or deed. He failed. His whole life wasn't a failure, but he failed to defend the image of God in people who didn't look like him. Like Peter's ethnoreligious blunder in Galatians 2, we could easily say that Edwards's action was "out of step with the gospel" (Galatians 2:14). Perhaps this was a blind spot that was obvious to many in his day and nearly everyone today.

In God's remarkable providence, Jonathan Edwards was an abolitionist—Jonathan Edwards Jr, that is. At least with regard to Edwards's doctrine of benevolence, Jonathan (the younger) and Samuel Hopkins applied the rich theology of their mentor in order to fight against "that horrific institution" called slavery. I imagine young Jonathan looking at Venus, on of the family's slaves, with confusion and perhaps pain in his heart. Perhaps he had wondered why his father taught of benevolence toward all while keeping Venus locked away like a caged bird. Maybe he looked at the society around him and grieved at the atrocities faced by millions of Africans simply used as domestic and agricultural machinery by wealthy Americans. This, of course, is mere speculation. But it is clear that Edwards Jr. was driven by his inherited theology to fight against the ills of racism and slavery.

God is Gracious When We Can't See
Where does this leave us today? I can't speak for others, but I am willing to learn from Jonathan Edwards's life and ministry. I'm willing to learn from both his successes and diligence as well as his frustrations and failures. I'm becoming more willing to bear with the blind spots and folly of pastors and scholars today, too. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't acknowledge sin and unwise action where we see it. It definitely doesn't mean compromising sound doctrine in order to fit in with today's culture. Rather, I want to be more willing to see the good in someone's life and teaching despite being blind in areas that are easy to see. 

Most importantly, I'm reminded that I have my own blind spots. If King Solomon could be blinded by luxurious living and numerous wives, how can I expect to get everything right? If Jonathan Edwards kept most of his seventy resolutions but turned a blind eye to slavery, will the blue light from tiny screens blind me to the distraction and debauchery of our day? If those men can fail, so can I. But there is grace for those who stumble. It is God alone who can keep me from stumbling. He alone can prevent my spiritual legacy from being tarnished by my blind spots and weaknesses. God is light and in Him alone is there no darkness at all.

For more information on Jonathan Edwards and the complex issues of race, see Matthew Everhard's Article "Jonathan Edwards’ Complex Views on Race"

Affilliate Disclosure: I sometimes use affiliate links in my content. This comes at no cost to you and helps me keep writing. Thanks for your continued support! 

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2 Ways To Face Temptation

1/4/2022

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Temptation often meets us in our weakest moments. Maybe you're exhausted from a rough night of sleep, and your spouse says something that triggers a volcanic eruption of anger in your heart. Perhaps you both caught COVID while caring for your newborn child, and there's a civil war brewing in your home. Maybe you're on your phone past midnight and pornographic images begin flooding your thoughts and screen as you scroll. Perhaps you've been wronged by a close friend and feel the need to air your grievances about the situation. The combinations are endless, but you get the point. If we ask the Spirit to open our eyes, we'll see more temptation than we've ever realized.

What do you do in moments of temptation? Many times we are too oblivious to see Satan's snares as we dive headlong into sin. Other times we notice the temptation but simply lack the energy or the desire to fight against it. Still other times we grapple with the tempter seeking to win the upper hand before tapping the mat because his chokehold seems just too fierce. As we grow in our faith, though, we increasingly recognize the temptation, remember our armor, and put sin to death. How is it that we should fight temptation to sin?

No Confidence in Ourselves
Until we are saved, we don't have the new life required to put sin to death "by the Spirit" (Romans 8:13). God may have graciously restrained our sin or given us the natural temperament to abstain from certain sins when we were unbelievers, but we didn't have the power within us to truly fight sin to the glory of God. In fact, we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:17-18). Once we are saved we still sometimes still succumb to sin, but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to actually put it to death. We are given the full armor of God by which we fight the spiritual enemies in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-20).

We all have two choices when we face temptation. We can face it in our own strength using our own resources, or we can be imitators of Christ and fight temptation by the Spirit using the Word of God and prayer. The choice is obvious, but it's not always easy. When you think of fighting temptation, do you think of white-knuckled willpower or prayer-saturated warfare? Thomas Manton reminds us that we fight sin by faith which "[shows] us the truth and worth of heavenly things, and taking God's word for its security, masters our desires and carnal affections."¹

Let's look at two very different scenarios of temptation in the Bible. 

Cain Relied on Himself
Cain was a lot like his mother, Eve. He knew the rules but didn't have the heart to follow through. He heard the truth loud and clear, but the lie held more sway over him. When he and Abel had been making offerings to God, his offering was met without regard. Some speculate that his offering didn't have blood and therefore wasn't acceptable. That may be true. But it's also possible that instead of giving from the first fruits of his crop, he gave God leftovers whereas Abel gave the "firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions" (Genesis 4:4). Regardless of our speculations, one thing is certain: "by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks" (Hebrews 11:4). Cain lacked such faith in God. Perhaps this is why he gave a lesser gift, and it's certainly why his gift was not regarded.

Cain's face fell, and he was exceedingly angry. At this crucial turning point, he had a choice to make: trust God and do well or flee from God and do evil. We can either run to God and heed His voice or run from Him. God gave Cain a solemn warning: "sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it" (Genesis 4:7). At this point, Cain could have repented of his anger and sought the grace to love Cain. Instead, he chose to harbor sin in his heart. Matthew Henry, commenting on this passage in Genesis 4, said, "If sin be harboured in the house, the curse waits at the door, like a bailiff, ready to arrest the sinner whenever he looks out"². In other words, carrying sin in our hearts is like hiding a wanted fugitive in our homes with the S.W.A.T. perched outside waiting to break the door down. God urged Cain to put the sin out of his heart through repentance and faith. He urged him not to listen to his sinful desires and the serpent's crafty lies like Eve did. But he refused to put his anger to death and killed his brother instead.

Jesus Relied on the Word of God
Any casual reader of Scripture will notice that Jesus's encounter with temptation went much differently than Eve's and Cain's (See Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12,13, and Luke 4:1-13). It would be easy to throw our hands up and exclaim, "He's Jesus for crying out loud! Of course the Son of God would do better than Eve and Cain!". However, it's still wise for us to look to Jesus' example as we face temptation of our own. He was alone and hungry after 40 days and nights of fasting—that ought to catch our attention!

Let's look at how Jesus responded to the tempter. Twice Satan questions Jesus' identity, and finally Satan offers him the world if Jesus will bow down and worship him. We aren't given many details, but I am confident that Jesus didn't ponder whether he was really the Son of God. He was sure of His identity and had many Scripture to verify it. I don't envision Jesus pondering whether he would actually bow down to Satan in order to gain something that was already His (John 1:1, Hebrews 1:10-12). He did everything to glorify His Father. Rather than ponder the words of the tempter, Jesus pulled from the storehouse of Scripture in his heart and replied three times with "it is written...". His delight was in the law of the Lord and on God's law He meditated day and night. His confidence was in the Word and worship of His Father. His food was the will of God as revealed by the Word of God. He beat Satan because He wielded the greatest weapon.

How Do You Fight?
If you don't have a weapon how will you fight? As we face temptation day in and day out, we have the Spirit of God at work in us (Romans 8:11). We have the living and active word of God as our sword (Ephesians 6:17). We have the "wartime walkie-talkie" of prayer at every moment (Ephesians 6:18). You can be confident in your victory over sin because God has warned you through examples like Cain (1 Corinthians 10:6). He has placed His Holy Spirit within you to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). As you fight sin, you can cling to these promises. Cling to the gospel hope that He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion. Proclaim boldly that God has a way of escape for you when you're tempted to sin!

Are you feeling defeated by sin today? Are you in a season of fierce and unrelenting temptation? Remember the Word of God. Remember the power of prayer. Live by the Word. Eat the Word. Drink the Word. Hide the Word in your heart. Strike the enemy with the Word. Pray at all times in the Spirit. Devote yourself to prayer. Keep fighting and don't give up! Do it all for His glory by His grace! God is with every one of His people in their time of need! 

Footnotes:
¹ The Works of Thomas Manton Vol. 2, p. 149; text slightly modified into modern English
² Henry, M., & Church, L. F. (1961). Matthew Henry's commentary: Genesis to Revelation. Zondervan Pub. House.

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The Greatest Love Of All (John 15:13)

12/25/2021

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"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" - John 15:13
Merry Christmas! Today is a joyous day of celebration for Christians around the world. For us, Christmas is far more than a winter festival fit for exchanging gifts, feasting together, and enjoying the company of friends and family. Certainly these are blessed aspects of our celebration, but we have something far deeper and more eternity-shaping to rejoice in this morning.

This Advent morning, let's reflect on the love of Jesus for his people. There is a striking truth about Christ's first coming found in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends". At first glance it would seem that this verse has little to do with Jesus' first coming, but that is far from the truth. The very truth of Christ's payment of sin (atonement) through His death necessitates His first coming. For how can one die who is not first born?

In order to show the " greater love", which is truly the greatest love, Christ had to be born and come to die. As I ponder this truth about Jesus's love for his people, I am reminded of a very powerful reality of Jesus’s first coming: Jesus came to die. He knew that if he would show the greatest love the universe has ever seen he would have to take on human flesh and give His life on behalf of sinful people.

Who could show such love? "No one". While the example he gave seems to point to the noble act of a person giving their life for another, even this is no comparison to the work of Jesus in the salvation of sinners. I can give my life to physically rescue my friend from death and still do it from a sense of pride or another false motive. Even with the right motive, I can give my life for a friend, but I can never ransom his life from the wages of sin (Romans 6:23, Psalm 49:7). Jesus's death for sinners is on another level.

He calls us his "friends”. There is nothing in us deserving of friendship with Jesus. In fact, while I was Jesus’s enemy, He died for us—ungodly, wretched sinners deserving of death (Romans 5:8,10). Yet, he calls us His friends, and that’s exactly who we are as children of the Most High God and Heavenly Father. All of this is through Jesus Christ. We have received life and adoption because He came and died for us. But to come and die, He first came in the flesh. 

This Advent morning we don’t just celebrate a man who was born. We celebrate God in the flesh—Jesus who “will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). 

Prayer points:
1. Ask for grace to reflect the love of Christ by sacrificing your comforts and preferences for others.
2. Ask the Lord to teach you to rest in the love and work of Jesus for your eternal hope and joy (John 15:11).
3. Rejoice in the grace and love of God for sinners like you and me.


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Advent Devotional Reading Guide

11/28/2021

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A Small Taste Of The Glory Of Christ

God’s presence brings joy to His people (Psalm 16:11). This devotional guide gives you a small taste of the glory of Christ found in God’s Word. Don’t be surprised if you plan to spend 15 minutes and end up enjoying an hour with God! We were created for this. Our sole purpose in life is to worship and enjoy God forever.

How To Use This Guide

The goal is not to just get through the reading for the day and check the box (wait, there is no box!). Pick a time, pick a place, and maybe pick some people to read with. Early birds, get up and have your coffee with the Lord. Night owls, ditch Netflix and enjoy time with Christ. 

As you read, I recommend the following basic steps (ARMY):
  1. Ask God to prepare your heart and mind to receive the Word with humility.
  2. Read the passage with a pen or pencil in hand. Underline key words and phrases. Take brief notes in the margin or in a notebook, but remember that this is not an in-depth Bible study.
  3. Meditate on a passage or truth from your reading throughout the day. Ask three questions: How does this reading lead me to love God more? How does this reading lead me to love my neighbor more? How does the passage show my need for God's grace to love God and my neighbor?
  4. Yield to God’s will by praying for transforming grace to obey His Word. Confess your sin, trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and consider specific ways to apply the teaching of the passages to your life.
To be honest, you may not feel like doing this some days. Find a believer to read and meditate with. You can keep each other encouraged and accountable as you use this as an opportunity to spur on discipleship for next year!

Before You Get Started

Before you get started with this Advent guide, I want you to take 5 minutes to ask yourself a few questions. I know, I know, you don’t have time to stop and wait, right? But seriously stop and ask yourself these questions:
Why am I doing this? Will God love me less if I fail? Will He love me more if I do well? Is this just something I’m doing to look more spiritual?

If you decide to wake up earlier, stay up later, or give up some time during your lunch break to spend time with Christ, don’t just go through the motions. Remind yourself that the blessed saints are the ones who meditate day and night (Psalm 1). Abiding in Christ will lead to fullness of joy (John 15:1-11). The God of the universe is worth more than any gift you will receive this Christmas.

For a printable version of the guide, click here.

Reading Guide

Jesus, The Eternal Son Of God
December 1: Jesus, the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-3)
December 2: Jesus, the Eternal Word (John 1:1-18)
December 3: Jesus, the Foreknown Savior (Acts 2:23; Acts 3:18; 1 Peter 1:17-21)
December 4: Jesus, the Son of God (John 1:29-34; Luke 1:35; Matthew 14:33)

December 5: Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:22-56)

Sinners In Need Of A Savior
December 6: The Fall of Man (Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-19)
December 7: The Effects of Sin (Genesis 6:1-8; Psalm 14:1-3; Psalm 53:1-3)
December 8: The Wages of Sin (Romans 6:23; Psalm 49:7; Romans 3:23)
December 9: The Requirement of Justice (Proverbs 24:12; Job 34:10-15)
December 10: The Forgiveness That Counts (Mark 2:7; Matthew 9:1-8)


Prophecies Of The Messiah
December 11: Jesus, the Headcrusher (Genesis 3:14-15; Romans 16:20; Hebrews 2:14-18)
December 12: Jesus, the King (Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 2; John 18:33-38)
December 13: Jesus, the Forsaken (Psalm 22:1; Psalm 22:14-18; Matthew 27:45-56)
December 14: Jesus, the Risen (Psalm 16:8-11; Acts 2:24-32)
December 15: Jesus, the Light of the Nations (Isaiah 49:6; Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8)


Themes Of Immanuel
December 16: Joy in Christ (Romans 15:13; Philippians 4:4-7; 1 Peter 1:8-9)
December 17: Hope in Christ (Psalm 39:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
December 18: Peace in Christ (Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 4:4-7; Ephesians 2:11-22)
December 19: The Sacrifice of Christ (John 15:12-13; 1 John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 8:9)
December 20: The Presence of Christ (Matthew 1:23; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3)


Unto Us A Child Is Born
December 21: Mary, the Virgin Mother (Luke 1:26-38)
December 22: Mary, the Joyful Mother (Luke 1:39-56)
December 23: Joseph, the Obedient Earthly Father (Matthew 1:18-25)
December 24: John, the Forerunner (Luke 1:67-80)
December 25: Jesus, the Savior, Is Born (Luke 2:1-38)


For a printable version of this guide, click here.
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Dwell with Christ exists to encourage people from all walks of life to give their lives to fervent devotion to Jesus. For eternity, God's dwelling place will be with man, and we can experience a taste of the eternal glory now on this pilgrimage we call life.
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