Moses

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woman sitting outside

Imagine forsaking your way of life to answer a call, pouring your life into following God, however He leads, only to learn, at the end of a long, difficult journey, your efforts will eventually come to naught. Those people you prayed for will turn away from God. Those relationships you fought for will fall apart anyway. That ministry you built and nurtured and grew from nothing but a vague idea will die completely.

Some 3,500 years ago*, God called a meek shepherd to leave his way of life in Midian to accept a monumental task—to free God’s people from centuries of oppression. After some hesitation, this man, named Moses, agreed, successfully liberated the Israelites, and led them to the land God promised them.

But this wasn’t just a rescue mission. Through Moses, God was changing worldviews and revealing His heart and will to the world.

Moses’ life is an example of surrendered obedience. Though he never entered the land God had promised, when his time on earth concluded, he could look back over all the lives he’d touched and imagine, with confidence, the legacy he’d leave.

Except that wasn’t exactly what happened. Though he did leave a legacy, I suspect it wasn’t what Moses had hoped for. As he was about to die, God said, in essence, “Everything you’ve worked for, everything I’ve called you to, will fail. The people I loved, provided for, and protected are going to rebel against Me.” (Deut. 32)

They would enter the Promised land as God had promised, and in response, the people would reject their Creator. God knew this, before He led them out of Egypt and drew them near.

Because God’s faithfulness is never dependent on our actions.quote from post.

Nor is our ministry dependent on results. That said, regardless of how things end, during our lifetime, or even for generations to come, God’s will prevails. We saw this, quite clearly, through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and we’ll see it again when He returns to earth to reign for forever more.

As we wait, we’re called to be faithful. To focus on Him and His will done in and through us. That is and always will be enough.

More than enough.

Though it had to sting, to hear his life’s work would soon deteriorate, Moses could die in peace, because he’d done as God had commanded.

When we do the same, and daily step out in faith and surrendered obedience, we can call it a win, regardless of the results of our efforts. And despite what may feel like a huge loss today, we can celebrate knowing in the end, Christ triumphs.

Let’s talk about this! Are you tired? Has something you’ve worked for turned out different than you expected? How might focusing on the faithfulness of God instead of the often faithlessness of others help you stay focused and encouraged? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, because we can all learn from and encourage one another!

For those who live local, join me for two great events! Live teaching of Wholly Loved’s Becoming His Princess Bible study (Register HERE), and one of our Fully Alive Conferences. You can find out more and click through links to register HERE.

You can snag your free copy (ebook) of the study HERE.

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We all have ideas of who God is. Some of those ideas are grounded in truth, others are assumptions we’ve made or are based on random things we’ve heard throughout our lives. When discussing who God is, I’m often amused by mankind’s adherence to their assumptions–as if they have the right to determine who God is and how they will relate to Him.

Pause to contemplate that for a moment. Then ponder the following questions:

Who do you believe God is?

What do you base that belief on?

Now pause to consider others’ assumptions about you. Which assumptions tend to be the most accurate? I suspect those that are based on things you yourself have revealed.

Why would God be any different?

What I’m saying is this:

Everyone has an idea on who God is, what He has or hasn’t done, and how He wants mankind to relate to Him. But having an idea doesn’t make it so. If we want to truly know God, we will take time to learn what He has to say about Himself. The Bible is God’s revelation to mankind. Through it, God has removed the uncertainty, has brought clarity to confusion, and has shown mankind exactly who He is, what He has and will do, and how we, His creation, can have a vibrant and ever-growing relationship with Him.

© 2010 Martin Alan Grivjack Photography Martin Alan Grivjack PhotographyToday a sweet friend, Ava Pennington, author of Daily Reflections on the Names of God, talks about one aspect of God’s character–glory–and a man who was not content to formulate his own ideas about who God was. Nope. He went straight to the source.

How did God respond? Read on, and you’ll see. 🙂

But before you do, I want to announce the winner of last week’s give-away. Laurean Brooks, congrats! You won a copy of The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman, written by Carole Brown. I’ll be contacting you soon. 🙂

Excerpt from Daily Reflections on the Names of God: A Devotional, by Ava Pennington

Published by Revell Books, 2013                      

Are You Ready?

Glory

 

Exodus 33:12-23

“Give to the Lord the glory his name deserves” (I Chronicles 16:29 GW).

 

How intimately do you know God? How intimately do you want to know Him?

Moses knew God in a way few other people knew Him. It’s possible for us to know God in a similar way simply by making the same request Moses did. He asked the Lord, “Let me know Your ways that I may know You” (Exodus 33:13).

After God said He would go with Moses and the people, Moses still was not satisfied. He made a bolder request of the Lord: “Show me Your glory!” (Exodus 33:18). Instead of becoming angry with Moses, God granted his request, causing His glory to pass by him.

What is the glory of the Lord? It is the combination of all His attributes. When He passed Moses in the cleft of the rock, God proclaimed His goodness, graciousness, and compassion. God’s glory is who He is. It is impossible to separate His glory from His character and His ways.

As we read God’s Word and spend time with Him in prayer, He opens our spiritual eyes to see His glory in ways we had not previously recognized. Are you ready to see His glory?

 

Lord God, I want to know Your ways more intimately than I have,

that I may know You.

 

Have I become complacent in my relationship with the Lord?
How will I look for Him to show me His ways today?

Daily Reflections on the Names of God:

Every name of God revealed in the Bible shows us something about his character and his ways. This book offers readers a wonderful opportunity to spend time each day getting to know God more intimately. This insightful guide to the names of God provides 366 life-changing, personal devotions for new Christians and longtime believers. As readers explore 122 names and attributes of God, they will discover something special about who God is, who they are, and how they relate to others. Includes a Scripture and name index for easy navigation to favorite verses. Now in paper.

Ava Pennington is a writer, Bible teacher, and speaker. Her newest book, Daily Reflections on the Names of God: A Devotional, is endorsed by Kay Arthur, founder of Precept Ministries International.

Additionally, Ava is co-author of Faith Basics for Kids. The first two books in the series are Do You Love Me More? and Will I See You Today? She has also written numerous articles for magazines such as Today’s Christian Woman, Power for Living, and Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse.

Ava also teaches a weekly, Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class of 175+ women. She is a passionate speaker and teacher, and delights in engaging audiences with relevant, enjoyable presentations.

For more information, visit her at www.AvaWrites.com

To purchase Daily Reflections on the Names of God, visit:

AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, or CHRISTIANBOOK

livingbygracepic.jpLet’s talk about this. At the end of her devotion, Ava encouraged us to ask ourselves some great questions:

Have I become complacent in my relationship with the Lord?
How will I look for Him to show me His ways today?

I’ll answer first. I seem to go up and down in my relationship with God. The “downs” are usually the result of unchecked busyness, and this to my own detriment. I can only be busy and spiritually neglectful for so long before my heart begins to dry out.  I’ve found life is so much better, so much richer, more peaceful and fulfilling, when I connect with and stay connected to my Savior. What about you? Join the conversation in the comments below or at Living by Grace on Facebook. 

Oh, and don’t forget about our daily acts of kindness challenge! 🙂 Each day find some way to make someone else’s life a little better.

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Today’s post is a repost from Jimmy Davis’ blog, Cruciform Life. Many of you may be struggling this holiday season. You long for the joy of Christmas, but life’s burdens are wearing you down. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one and this is your first Christmas without them. Maybe you’re fighting illness, or a plummetting bank account. Whatever your struggle is, God sees you. He loves you and He’s promised to be your Abba Daddy.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Jimmy Davis

Yep, here I am again. In one of those “rock and hard place” seasons, wondering how to be refreshed in the desert. And then I was reminded today that God and I have had this discussion before. So here it is, from my old blog over three years ago. Reading this encouraged me to keep my eyes on Jesus, even and especially when I’m feeling “stuck.” A good reminder during Holy Week.

Refreshed Between A Rock And A Hard Place

I often feel caught between a rock and a hard place. In fact, some weeks it seems that I merely step from one rock to another hard place, wondering when the tough times will pass so that I can experience those “times of refreshment from the Lord” (Acts 3:20). But God promises to refresh me in and from those places. Strange. I don’t know that I’ve often expected refreshment in, and especially not from, hard circumstances, difficult relationships, or the agony of waiting.

A couple of days ago I was feeling caught in one of those “rock and hard place” days. I came back to the office after lunch, feeling the anxiety building up inside, and was reminded to pray my midday Psalm. The scheduled Psalm was 114 which highlights the power of God as it was displayed through the wilderness wanderings of His people after the Exodus. Talk about some hard places! The Psalm concludes with these verses: “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water” (vv. 7-8).

The psalmist is most likely alluding to those moments when God’s people found themselves on “thirsty ground where there was no water” (Deuteronomy 8:15). The people complained to Moses, Moses cried out to God, and God provided fresh water from the side of a rock (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:2-13). As I meditated on these verses the Spirit seemed to be saying, “You don’t have to wait until the hard times are past to find refreshment. I can satisfy your thirsty heart from the rock and in the hard place. When I am present in those places (and I Am), you can find refreshment for your soul.” I was then reminded that just the week before He had me meditating on Exodus 17:1-7, the time God told Moses to strike the rock and watch the water flow. God told Moses in verse 6, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” The key to the rock providing water was not the pounding of Moses’ staff but the presence of the Standing God.

Not even a moment after the Spirit opened my eyes to see that wonderful truth, He turned my heart toward Christ. I envisioned Him on the cross, standing on that nail in His feet, pouring out His life for me. I thought about the soldier’s spear that made blood and water flow from the side of the Rock of my Salvation (John 19:34). I was filled with new confidence and comfort that my God was present in the hard places in my life, and that He indeed is the One who “turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.”

JIMMY DAVIS loves being married to Christine, with whom he shares the adventure of raising three great kids and a Havanese pup named Charlie. Jimmy earned an M. A. in Christian Education and M. A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. In over 20 years of ministry he has served as a pastor to youth and college students, youth-ministry consultant, church planter, pastor of discipleship, and has taught Bible courses on the high school and college levels. He has also served as a staff writer and associate editor of the Colson Center’s Worldview Church Website, and maintains The Cruciform Life Blog at www.cruciformlife.org.  Jimmy’s first book Cruciform: Living the Cross-Shaped Life was published by Cruciform Press in April 2011.
 
Facebook:  http://facebook.com/cruciformlife
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/cruciformlife
Amazon author page:  http://amazon.com/author/jimmydavis
 
Cruciform book blurb:
 
“What is the Cross-Shaped Life?

It is the vertical life of loving God with all your head, heart, and hands; and the horizontal life of loving others as Christ has loved you.
 
Employing the symbols of the cruciform cathedral and the Celtic cross, Jimmy Davis uses personal stories, both humorous and heart-breaking, to encourage and equip the reader to gain a cross-shaped perspective on how he or she can be an active participant in God’s community-on-mission.
 
Cruciform casts a vision for living as disciples of Jesus who are being shaped by the cross (gospel) into people and churches who share and show the cross (gospel) by living as sons and servants of God. As we embrace the gospel in this way we can live: – in relationship to God as seekers who exalt God; – in relationship to other disciples as shepherds who encourage one another; – in relationship to the resources God has given us as stewards; and – in relationship to those who are not disciples as sowers of the gospel of grace, engaging our neighbors, the nations, and the next generation with cross-shaped words and works. Finally, the Cruciform Life involves growing through cross-shaped spiritual disciplines and cross-shaped suffering, which together enable us to embrace and express the Cruciform Life to God, one another, and the world.”
 
Read the first chapter of Cruciform and more for free here:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/72970555/Cruciform-Press-Sampler-Vol-2

Remember, if you loved today’s post and would like to see it in the top 3 of 2011, FB share it, “like” it, tweet it, or leave a comment.

And have a Merry Christmas!

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Today’s post comes from a dear friend and constant encourager, Eileen Rife. Eileen is the author of the Born for India trilogy. She and her husband conduct marriage seminars in the States and overseas. Eileen’s fourth novel, Second Chance, will be released in February, 2012. Today she talks about heart murmurs and moving from the mundane to the momentous.

Heart Murmurs by Eileen Rife

I remember hearing the words, “heart murmur,” from our daughter’s pediatrician when she was a young child. An immediate alarm sounded in my head, quickly followed by the doctor’s reassurance. “These types of murmurs are typically benign and something the child grows out of. We’ll keep a watch on it.”

True to his words, my daughter did grow out of it. The physical heart murmur, that is. But there was another type of heart murmur birthed in her by God that continues to grow to this day.

A spiritual heart murmur.

In my journey through Exodus of late, I learned more about this type of heart murmur in chapter 35. The children of Israel have just witnessed a reflection of God’s glory through their leader. Moses met with God and the people knew it. They saw it in his countenance, his words, his actions. All of which prepared them for the task before them–building the tabernacle.

Over and over again in this chapter, the writer notes that “everyone whose heart stirred him” contributed to the construction project. Fine brooches, earrings, bracelets, articles of gold, and colorful material and animals’ skins. The peoples’ hearts were so stirred to give, to be a part of something greater than themselves, that they brought much more than was needed. Moses finally had to tell them to stop giving. The New American Standard translation says that Moses “restrained” them from bringing any more gifts.

How is it that a people, stiffnecked and stubborn, as we often see on their journey through the wilderness, are in fine form during this massive undertaking?

I would suggest that the heart murmur created when Moses came off Mount Sinai in meeting with God moved them from the mundane to the momentous. They now had the unique opportunity to be a part of fulfilling a piece of God’s great story.

In reality, they were a part of it all along, but due to their grumbling failed to see it.

So I ask myself: When was the last time my heart was stirred to be a part of something great for God? To be so caught up in a piece of His story that I forgot about myself and put my hand to the task He has given?

Could it be possible that the greatness lies not in the project or results, but in my heart attitude?

The front lines of success are not necessarily places of greatness for God. Often, and I suspect more often than not, greatness blossoms by the bedside of a shut-in. At the sink washing dishes. On the floor playing with a toddler. In the words delivered to a grumpy spouse.

In the mundane, quietly putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next thing.

And all the while, with a heart murmur, rejoicing to be a part of God’s great story.

**Remember, if you loved this post and want to see it in my top three of 2011, FB share it, “like” it, tweet it, or leave a comment.

Restored Hearts:

One brother’s dark secret. Another brother’s scorn. Newlyweds Gavin and Maggie Munsfield return to care for the sick and wounded at The Oasis Compound in Chennai, India, which is still suffering from the recent tsunami. Gavin’s brother, Tim, a successful landscape architect, joins them for the clean-up and rebuilding of the Compound. But Tim harbors a dark past that threatens to destroy his relationship with his brother…and a promising new love. Will family ties be strong enough to bind two wounded hearts, once the secret is revealed? Effectively captures the dilemma of a Christian man coming to grips with the conflict between his sexual attraction struggle and his genuine trust and faith in God. -Dr. Bill Consiglio, Homosexual No More. Lovingly and expertly done. Full of hope. I’ll forever see people through different eyes. -Elisabeth Hewitt Bantz, Secrets of the Heart series. Book Two in the Born for India series. Don’t miss Book One: Journey to Judah.