In the Wilderness: Exodus 8

The plagues continue as we read Exodus 8.
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Frogs everywhere. Outside. Inside. In the ovens and kneading bowls... in beds and squishing under feet... Frogs dying until the entire land smelled of death. The smell alone might have turned others to His truth, but not Pharaoh. The Egyptian leader with a hard heart.

And then there were gnats. Can you imagine? Tiny flying things in all places. Crawling on every living thing. No one was immune, not the Egyptians, not the Israelite slaves, not even Moses and Aaron.

Not until the fourth plague did God give a respite to His own people. They too endured water turned to blood, frogs, and gnats, but the next plague was different.

 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. --Exodus 8:22

I recently read a fiction novel based on the life of Aaron, and I was reminded how difficult this time was for all involved. We often wrap the story up in a sterile Sunday school lesson and forget people were involved. Even though they were Egyptians, they were people not much different than us. They worked, nursed babies, took care of their elderly.  They suffered the consequences of a hard-hearted leader with little control.

Still this is not the end... there's more to come... much more. They must have felt fear rising over what would come next. What their leader's choices would mean for them.

I feel the same way, at times. When I consider our own country's leaders and the nation's moving away from God. I too wonder, What's next? This story gives me hope because all we endure, all we will face in the future, is for one single purpose.

 ...that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

God is working to bring the hard-hearted to a complete and full knowledge of who He is, and who we are in Him. This is the hope for all the world.

Father God, prepare me to endure whatever You bring

to make Yourself known throughout all the earth.

Bless me with the faith to know You now.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 7

Let the plagues begin! Read Exodus 7 today.
No Bible handy? Click the reference above to read on BibleGateway.com.

Did you notice how old Moses and Aaron were? They were octogenarians for goodness sakes! God called Moses and Aaron to lead the people out of slavery long after retirement age. This was no easy task. Facing the disdain of Pharaoh, the mocking Egyptians, the frustration of his own people. Moses, the murderer, and his slave brother Aaron must have been a sight to see. And this was just the beginning.

It took eighty years for Moses to be ready to lead. Wisdom, faithfulness, perseverance take years to develop. The desert was a growing up place for Moses. I wonder if he intended to spend the rest of his life there. 

So let me ask you:

Have you found yourself in a place of growing up lately? Are you growing in wisdom and faithfulness?

Have you made plans to spend the rest of your life in some place?

Is there the whisper of God's call growing louder in your ear?

Have you used your age as an excuse not to move forward? use your gifts? answer the call?

It's true, we may retire after working about half our lives, but there is not a retirement age in God's plan. He calls each and everyone of us to use our gifts to help set people free. This is not the job of those younger or older than us. This is our call, our commission, and we are never past the point of being called.

Lord, remind me all my life is a place to learn about You,

grow in faith, and prepare for the purpose You have for me.

Open my ears and heart to Your call. I don't want to miss it,

no matter my age or circumstance.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 6

The battle for freedom continues: Exodus 6
Open up the Word in your Bible or click the link to read online.

Just before this chapter, Moses cried out to God: Why did You send me? (Exodus 5:22). Nothing seemed to be going right. Moses only saw more trouble, not deliverance.

God answered Moses's complaint:

"...Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.'"

Exodus 6:6-8

I am the Lord. God told Moses to remind the people who He was. I am the Lord. It had been 400 years since God had spoken to His people. In the silence they forgot.

Moses spoke to the people...

...but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

Exodus 6:9

In their present condition, they could not hear what he was saying. A life of slavery breaks our spirits and dulls our ears to the truth of God. Steals our joy and dashes our hopes.

We too live a life of slavery to sin apart from Jesus and I believe many of our worries, troubles, complaints, discouragement, doubts, fears are rooted in forgetting who our God is.

When we let the ways of the world rule our lives, we become blind and deaf to who our Savior is. When we spend more time immersing ourselves in the things of the world, rather than the things of God, we become separated from the reality found in Christ. We begin to believe this is all there is and our eternal perspective is obstructed.

I know my own battle with darkness was because I did not know who my Savior was. I didn't know His power to rule over evil. His power to redeem. His great love for me. Or His eternal timeline.

Can you hear the good news of Jesus? Does it sound like good news? or like a broken record?

Listen up! Listen to Him say to you:

I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens...

I will deliver you from slavery...

I will redeem you...

Don't let the lies of the world steal your hope, your life. Open up your heart afresh to the Spirit. Thank Jesus for opening the Way of life. Praise the Father for His great love and power to restore what's been stolen. Ask Him to bless you with hope and comfort.

Today, remember who He is. Remember who you are before Him. Choose to believe Him and not the lies of the world or the doubts in your heart.

Lord, You are God. You are my Savior. My Prince of Peace.

My God of all Comfort. My Redeemer. Restorer. Rock.

Open my ears and heart to the truth of who You are

and who I am in Christ. Restore to me

the joy of my salvation.

Amen.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 5

The fight for freedom begins: Exodus 5
Read the chapter in your Bible or online by clicking the reference above.

The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, "You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day."

Exodus 5:19

Escape from slavery is a battle. Taskmasters hate to lose their slaves. Not only was it true for the Egyptians and the Hebrews, it's true spiritually, too. Sin hates to lose a soul to God.

At Moses's arrival and Aaron's sharing of the good news that God had heard them and sent Moses to free them, the Israelites believed and worshiped God (Exodus 4:29-31). But when the battle began, and it was clear trouble came with the pursuit of freedom, no one was sure they wanted to be free anymore.

They met Moses and Aaron... and they said to them, "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." Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all."

Exodus 5:20-23

Jesus described salvation as being born again spiritually (John 3:3-7), and every delivery requires labor. Sometimes hard labor.

God is not evil and He does no evil. But He does use evil for His good and great purposes as we saw in the life of Joseph. This is one of the lessons we learn as we grow spiritually. God is not interested in making things easy for us. He's interested in transforming us into the character of His Son, Jesus.

Part of the battle of deliverance has to do with understanding who we've been serving and becoming God's servant rather than the slave of sin. Early in my walk with God, after the joy of making Him Lord of my life, a great battle of fear and anxiety entered my life. It lasted for years...

The enemy was not going to let me go easily. But through a decade long battle of fighting off fear, God revealed unbelief in my life. I did not believe who He said He was. I did not believe His great love for me. I did not believe He was good. Through my battle with fear and anxiety He strengthened my faith and trust in His Word. He brought me to a place of true freedom.

The Israelites were still calling on Pharaoh to take care of their problems: Give us straw. They worried about being "stink" to Pharaoh when really they already were. What they didn't do. What they hadn't learned to do yet, was to call on God for straw. Was to be concerned about how they looked to God. They still had their faith in their captors and not in their Savior.

God will not let us go through life serving two masters. He will use the enemy to open our eyes to the truth and turn our hearts toward Him. If you are perplexed by trouble in your life after coming to know Him, remember, He is working to set you completely free from sin and the stronghold of enemy lies in your life.

When trouble comes, don't seek the salvation of the world. Don't blame Him for bringing evil in your life. Ask Him: What is it you are setting me free from? Where is my unbelief?

Father God, forgive me when I blame You unjustly for the trouble in my life

Open my heart, mind, and eyes to the reality of the battle I am in.

Prepare my heart for the conviction of my unbelief and unfaithfulness to You

and Your Kingdom.

In the Wilderness: Exodus 4

Moses begins his journey toward Egypt: Exodus 4
Read it in your Bible or at BibleGateway.com by clicking the reference above.

At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!"

Exodus 4:24-25

Here's an odd part of Moses's story. One we don't hear much about. One hard to ignore because of its mystery.

Moses obeyed God's call. He packed up his family and headed toward Egypt. But on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. What changed between the burning bush encounter and the journey toward Egypt? Why would God call Moses as a savior for His people and then stop him along the way to kill him?

Our relationship with God is full of mystery. All we can be assured of is His goodness, love, and justice. He does no wrong. So, in all of this strange story there is good. God is not at fault here, but Moses.

Zipporah, Moses's wife, clearly knew the problem, so surely did Moses. He neglected to circumcise one of his sons. Perhaps Moses circumcised their first son, but the practice may have been foreign and offensive to his wife. Maybe she interfered with the second son's circumcision and Moses allowed it. We don't really know the details, but we do know Moses had not been obedient to the covenant established by God with his forefather Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14).

Moses was entering a personal call on his life, but before we can be prepared to fulfill the personal, we must be attentive and faithful to the commands God places on all His people. Before leaving on the journey, he should have taken stock of his spiritual life. Made sure of his faithfulness to the first things before taking the steps toward his personal calling.

It's been my experience, God does not call us to personal ministry until we are faithful in the small things, the basics. Following His general way in the world through faithfulness to His Word and prayer, will lead to His calling you to begin using your personal spiritual gifts. The specific works He created you for.

His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. ..."

Matthew 25:21 ESV

Zipporah quickly took care of the matter threatening her husband's life. Then she did something to make the story even more odd. She took her son's foreskin and touched Moses's feet saying: Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me! Her bridegroom, her husband, brought a bloody covenant into her life, but it was one which saved the life of her husband and therefore her entire family. Could they have survived away from her family out in the wilderness between Midian and Egypt?

But here's even a greater mystery. God's people have a Bridegroom of Blood too. Jesus. Our Savior. Our Bridegroom. Shed His blood on the cross so we might be forgiven all our sins. In Him, we no longer have to fear the wrath of God for neglectful sins of omission or unconscious offenses. The Holy Spirit will certainly bring sinful failures to our attention through conviction, and we will not be free from the consequences of willful sin, but we do not have to fear death.

On your journey of faith, be attentive to first things first, the little things, so you will be prepared to hear the greater call God has for your life. The personal call using the spiritual gifts unique to you. And no matter how far your faith journey takes you, continue to be mindful of the basics: Time in His Word. Prayer. Trusting obedience. 

Lord, my relationship with You is filled with mystery,

but I recognize when I don't understand something or am offended by Your way,

the problem is with me and not You. Thank You for being my Bridegroom of Blood

who cleanses my sins by Your sacrifice. Grow me to boldly and faithfully

pursue acts of faith, both corporate and personal.