Posted on January 23, 2009 at 3:17pm.
Grumbling seems to be a theme here in the middle of Exodus. First the Israelites grumbled about being trapped between the waters and the Egyptians - delivered. Then they grumbled about not having good water - and the water was treated and provided. Then they grumbled about food, and thought they would starve to death - bread and quail fell from heaven. Then they grumbled about water again thinking they would die of thirst - and the rock is struck and water flowed. What does this say about grumbling? Does the squeaky wheel really get oiled? Do we just wear God down, like our kids do sometimes, and just give in? That can’t be it! I don’t think it was their grumbling that moved God to action, but perhaps their desperation, and recognizing their need for Him was the greater message. Our grumbling is the expression of dissatisfaction of where we are, it’s our nature. Sometime it has to get pretty bad, before we scream for help. May our grumbling move us to see our need, our desperate need for Jesus. He is there with forgiving arms, just a-waiting for us to get to the end of ourselves once again.
Posted on January 22, 2009 at 2:17pm.
There is usually a country station playing outside my office, and right now the song “I saw God today” is playing. I have seen God a lot lately. A week ago I was in Cuba, surrounded by pastors, almost a thousand in total. These men and their families traveled long and hard to be together, for encouragement, and for the strengthening of the church in Cuba. I saw God in their eyes, in the expression of their speech, their touch, their prayers. I saw God make connections with people who would have otherwise never met, bringing just what was needed to the weak and discouraged. And I saw understanding, comfort, and most of all hope unleashed as these men and women saw God too. I saw God, alive, at work, present, current, fully engaged in his people, and in me. And the beauty of our God is that He is cross cultural - I saw God today, in the voice of a man who is striving to live for Jesus and do what is right, in the pursuit of a couple to find a place to serve the church, in the generosity shown to a man down to his last dollar, and in a woman who has had nothing go right for a real long time, but still trusts in Jesus. I saw God today. And it was encouraging.
Posted on January 21, 2009 at 9:53am.
Was reading in Exodus this morning, and arrived in the amazing account of the Israelites crossing the sea, and their affirmation of God, and the songs that pour out from that experience. 15:11 “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Caught up in the intervention of the Divine in their most desperate place, and God delivered, and they worshipped. But in the same chapter, they traveled for three days without water and they began to grumble - what are we to drink? What is it about our humanity, that in all of our intelligence, and the ability we have not to forget when we have been wronged, that we can so quickly and easily forget when we have been blessed, redeemed, rescued, delivered? I have had those moments in life where God literally rescued and delivered me, and I knew it had absolutely nothing to do with my strength, but was undoubtedly solely - Him, and then three days later have wondered, and grumbled, about my daily needs. I am choosing today to remember, to recount, to build an altar of remembrance that has a lot more to do with the truth of our history, than the shortsightedness of my faith. Care to join me?
Posted on January 11, 2009 at 10:26am.
I had an amazing privilege today. You have babies, and you pray and pray, and then pray some more that they would fall in love with Jesus, knowing full well that it is still their choice. As parents you strive to create an environment where they are captured by Christ’s grace - but still, every parent knows that we must die to control - for it is not ours. It has been wonderful for us to be a part of a church where Jesus is preached in real life, and our girls have both become followers, which I am grateful for every day! But today was extra special, our youngest, Megan served on a worship team, and we had the privilege of leading in worship together. What a treat. I feel lavished upon, and today, my Megan Joy has brought me mega joy! Thanks Lord!
Posted on January 8, 2009 at 3:47pm.
Ever wonder if you have been forgotten, or if God has somehow allowed you and your pleas to fall through the cracks? I have been hanging out in Exodus of late, and was reading this morning about Moses and the burning bush. I forgot that he was just a shepherd doing his job when God spoke to him. Let me remind you what God said to him, among other things. . . “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard them crying out . . . and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them . . ” There is a heap of hurting in our congregation; marriages tanking, relationships strained, fear and insecurity that are rippling out from the economic landscape, as well as the ongoing battles we all face every day in being obedient to Christ. These verses remind me that God SEES, and HEARS, and is CONCERNED, and desires to RESCUE. A corporate message to Israel, that I am taking personal. That’s truth we need to cling to, truth we need to embrace.
