31 - "Dazzling & Dreadful" Exodus 40

They have done it. In a wilderness! Six months. White-hot.

And the cloud covered the tent. No ordinary cloud that a sun could peek through. No ordinary happening that a day would start when the cloud went up. No ordinary obedience that a million men would freeze under that cloud. Dazzling Light by day. Dreadful fire by night. 

And we know the end of this story. These Israelites did not make it into the land of Canaan. They did not take care of their souls. I wonder why. This cloud, this fire---tokens of God's Very Presence among them so that they need not ask: Is God among us? But wait, I must ask the same telling question of myself: Am I really taking care of my soul---allowing God to be My Provider, My Glory, the Lifter of my head? 

And God possessed the Tabernacle.  He moved in.  He lives there.  Forever now.
That Shichaneh glory is here forever.  
"Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted.l"  Exodus 40:36-37

I find no better words to express the beautiful invitation to be led in "the midst of the paths of judgment." May our souls not wander. May we not lose our way, lose the way.

PHOTO:  A Colorado Cloud.  Thinking about the tokens in our lives of God's Very Presence.  Longing to allow my God to take care of my soul.  

30 - "You Have A Forerunner" Exodus 38-39

The sacred sanctuary...Moses breathes a sign of relief that all the work of all the designers is done just perfectly. Exodus 39:43. 

Dear Ones and Bristol, The ways in which they went about their work, just marvelous.  We are not hidden people living behind walls, stiff-arming the world.  We are known by God, known in our communities, known for our good.  May we work generously like they did in Exodus:  "Cherubims of cunning work."  Work hard kids! Follow the example of your grandfather---Pops. One of the hardest working men I know. Just don't make it your identity. Make it your goal. 

Used to be they would follow the pillar of light and fire by night.  Now, the shechinah glory entered through and passed into the most holy place, the presence-chamber.  God made Himself visible through light and fire.  Well, we know.  Dazzling light and dreadful fire.  And, we now know what Moses could not do.  Through Jesus, the forerunner, we have been invited to draw near and approach, even boldly, the mercy seat.  This place was made with hands.  Our place is no longer made with hands for God Himself is the true tabernacle and in Him dwells all the fulness of the godhead.  It is truly amazing.  We are invited to come boldly today and always and forever.  Amen. 

PHOTO:  Your Grandmother with a whispered prayer tonight for all of you that you find the Forerunner and do His work. 

29 - "One Thing We Need In A Wilderness is Hope" Exodus 35-37

Do we approach our tasks this way, knowing it is for God?  Wonder why.  They brought so much to build the temple that Moses had to restrain them to stop. Exodus 36:6.  Moses could have kept the profits in his back pocket, his back neighborhood. Could have stored it up, in a wilderness, for the next job. No, The Lord put in their hearts to work, and it stirred them up.  Exodus 35:34 - God put in their hearts to teach how to perform like this.  I mean, who had ever built a tabernacle before?  And the wilderness is not exactly where the best supplies could be found.  Never the mind, they set about to do their exact work.  Whatever God has stirred in our hearts, may we run to do the work out of a debt of love not labor.  Here it is.  The visible testimony of their love of God.  And one day that Love walked this earth, the Living Word.  Word made flesh, and He still tabernacles among us.  

One quote keeps stirring in my heart.  As these craftsmen worked their labor of love, as I work out my labor this very day, may we all hear together that One Thing that a man in a wilderness longs for----"not relief from the misery, although that would be nice, but Hope---Hope of intimacy and Meaning, and Joy forever, in relationship with God." Larry Crabb.  It's a man-made tabernacle but God lives there.  And He tabernacles today inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him than we had yesterday.  May we never stay the same but move on in this wilderness.

The building of the sanctuary begins. The work of called ministers embraced. Do the work God called you to. Exodus 36:1. Used up, laid up not. Their hearts were stirred by God and they answered with their talents. Do the work from your heart!.  

PHOTO:  It's modern day.  The work is the same.  Hard work.  Do the work. zeal!  What work ethic!  What thoroughness! 

28 - "God's Thoughts Are Fixed; God's Dispensations of His Providence are Alterable" Exodus 32-34

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. And he reminded God of how He brought the troubled people out of Egypt with His Great Power and a Mighty Hand. Didn't God already know that? And Moses told God what the people would threaten and say: "It was plain wrong, just evil, that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and now wipe them off the face of the earth. Why is he doing this to us?" So, Moses pleads: Turn your back on this, God. Don't let it happen. Remember your good servants. And then there it is in Exodus 32:14, the answer: "Then, the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened."  

Hey Kids, Are God's thoughts or the determinations of His Mind alterable?  "He can change the outward dispensations of His Providence, or His methods of acting with men" according to Henry's Commentary.  But the thoughts of His Heart are fixed and firm to all generations. Matthew Henry. We understand from our perspective what it means to change our minds.  God dispenses Grace here---no fickle change but He relents His Hand.  May He do so on us this very day.

"My Presence shall go with you; and I will give you rest." Exodus 33:14.  The original Hebrew left off "with you."  Moses, along with each of us, needs confirmation if this is a promise for the person or the people.  God assures.  He will give rest in the midst of pressing perplexities and he will give rest to the present people, then and today.  I could live with this verse tucked in the pillow of my heart every night.  Sweet dreams.  Sleep in peace knowing His Presence comes; His Rest is real.  Am I really finding rest from the demands of my day as the sun closes Sunday.  What does it look like in my life to be at rest?

PHOTO: Circa 2023. Brooke and her family.

27 - "All In! Attendance At the Throne" Exodus 29-31

 #27 There I will meet with you and speak with you. Exodus 29:42. A new covenant. Here on This Day, I will meet with you and speak with you. To this very day, Christ lives to make intercession for His Church. #60000thoughts #talkingtomyself

Every morning. Every evening. A lamb offered upon the altar. Continual intercession. To this day. Christ lives to make intercession for His church. Every. Single. Day. “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God." Exodus 29:44-46. Must we offer to God the sacrifices of our praise and prayer? Daily. Every morning. Every evening. "All in" in attendance at the Throne of Grace. He is waiting, listening, welcoming, loving. Ever making intercession for you and for me.

There I will meet with you and speak to you.
The old covenant.
Dependent on offerings.
But One was made on your behalf.
Here I will meet you and speak with you.

A new covenant.
He is Here not There.
So what's the point for my life this day?
Changes everything this Word of God.
So if He is Here, can I live like this?

Exodus 29:42 - "There I will meet you and speak to you; 

There also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be my glory."  

He used to be There.  

Now He is Here with us.  

May we find Him.

Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.  Matthew 24:12.  

Isn't that our world today---such decline of morality, true religion.  

So much love grown cold.  

May we be vigilant...watch and wait for He is coming back for me, for you.  

PHOTO:

26 - "Keep the Light Burning" Exodus 26-28

Dear Sons and Daughters, Keep the light burning in your hearts forever.  The lamp enlightens all of us---a light to lighten every step of the way.  And this passage says unto the ends of the earth.  So, listen to this Word of God in whatever you face today.  Keep the light burning in your heart.  Exodus 27:21

Moses went into the midst of the cloud for a very long time.  

Moses experiences utterances too deep for words.

Moses descends and speaks only the things which God told him to specifically say to the children of Israel. 

Never before.

No house had ever existed for God.

This tabernacle, erected by Moses, will be a token of the Presence of God.

Right there smack dab next to their tents in the middle of a wilderness.

No more will they need to ask if God is with them?  He will be right there.

And the tabernacle will move with the tents.

This sacred place made with human hands are simply a "figure of the true." Heb 9:24

And one-day, today, there will be "a gospel-church pitched" by the Lord not by man.

And Christ will enter the Most Holy Place by His Own Blood,

obtaining Eternal Redemption for you and for me.  Heb. 9:12.

No more will we need to ask if God is with us.  He is right here.

Scripture interprets Scripture

PHOTO: 4 guys on a bike in Buena Vista, Colorado. Bob, Luke, Barrett, Britt. It's snowing everywhere even here in DFW. Keep the light burning in your hearts. Always.

25 - "An Angel Goes Ahead of You" Exodus 23-25

Dear Kids,  Something just happened in this hospital bed.1.24.16. There will be much you don't understand.  Pay very close attention when God suddenly shows up.  He did for me today as I stay overnight here in a hospital.  “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says."  Exo 23:20.  You never know when an angel might show up.  Her name today was Barb.  God spoke through her about prioritizing like the ER at a hospital.  Prioritize by proximity and eternity. There are angels ahead of us.

 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land." Exodus 23:30. And this is for us. Listen. Little by little God is working. 

PHOTO:  Angels then.  Angels now.  I stood here a few years ago so moved by the experience.  And yet, here I am at a hospital, moved again.  For it is the One from the Beginning of Time who holds us.

24 - "Looking Bad In The Presence of Love" Exodus 20-22

 #24 God wrote the Ten Commandments not to make us feel guilty but to lift us up to Himself. God wants to write his law on our hearts. We want to write it on our to-do lists. Exodus 20:20. Don’t be afraid. God has come to instill a deep and reverent awe within you. 

          

Not Even A Likeness of An Idol

Not Twitter or Facebook or Ministry or Children

My friend, Larry, once told me that God had Moses write the Ten Commandments, "not to beat you down into self-hatred over never getting it right, but rather to lift you up into the liberating experience of looking bad in the presence of love." We are fully known, accepted, and loved even in the midst. Sinful Sinners. Glorious Messes.

We will, day-in day-out, feel hungrier for something other than God in our lives, at times.                    We'll never fully depend on Him and Him Alone!  So many signposts tell us we are off the tracks.  Do we listen?  Or do we rationalize?  Someone close to me said this week that going to church doesn't make you a Christian and that's oh so true. Since the pandemic hit, there are so many, many Christians who have not returned to church. The context of the conversation was about my father who never darkened the door of a church in his lifetime.  If you don't want Jesus here on earth, do you want him in the afterlife? My dad had a strong sense of morality from what I saw.  Does your morality save you?  No, but where did that morality come from?  10 Commandments draw us up and that makes us want to worship.  

Moses writes the 10 Commandments not to make us feel guilty about the do's and don'ts.                      God gives us This Word to free us up. Exodus 20:20 Moses spoke: Don’t be afraid. God has come to test you and instill a deep and reverent awe within you so that you won’t sin.”

God called Moses to walk up a sinful mountain. He had a big errand for the messenger Moses. The Maker of Heaven & Earth and all above and all below called out to a proud people who were not walking in holiness. God wanted to write His Law on their Hearts; we want to write His Law on our To-Do lists. 

This solemn sermon served this church in a wilderness resounding "to convince the Israelites (and our lives too) of their guilt, and to show that they could not stand in judgment before God by their own obedience. In the law, the sinner discovers what he ought to be, what he is, and what he wants." Matthew Henry. The sermon trumped the law. "In drawing near to God, we must never forget his Holiness and Greatness, nor our own meanness and pollution." MH We are a mean people.

The Israelites were not aware of their own sins ... and God spoke.  No one had ever heard anything like these Two Tablets of Truth. Sounds like God wrote to this day, as our own sins so deface our hearts, nd we do not name what we are doing. We don't name the idols that we wrestle with: Social Media. Children. Ministry. Success. Money. Recognition. Good Things. Anything in the heaven or anything beneath the earth ... or under the sea, anything that flashes the likeness of an idol and detaches us from our Maker. 

Let the manna rain down and expose our own hearts and name what we are doing under the sun that keeps us from a genuine Hunger and Thirst for God.

 Never in history has God chosen to speak like He did through giving Ten Commandments that envelop the intentions and thoughts and motives and demands of our lives. Someone once called it the  "Grand Demand of Love"—-it springs from obedience.  And to obey, may we have no other idols before---none in heaven; none in earth. God was before everything and we owe him everything.  God still speaks to us through His Providential hand, our consciences, His written Word but only two tablets once!  And we all have defaced the tablets.  And we get ourselves in messes.  I sit in a mess I have created today.  And yet, we all have clean slates for the grand demand.  Keep on loving each other.

PHOTO: Bob walking on Santa Rosa Island. 

No other idols in heaven or on earth.

23 - "Detached From Everything That Numbs Your Sacred Hunger" Exodus 17-19

From Rain Clouds Fall Manna - Exodus 17:7

From Lips Fall Teaching Like Rain - Deut 32:2

Just as Jethro's words meant something to Moses, I met a couple of friends several years ago, and their words have fallen on me, gripped me so, changed my life. How does that happen? I had spent much of my life denying the evil within me, denying the pain I feel just about every day. I had given over to way-too-many thoughts that I couldn't see God's Power in five miscarriages and rape and loss of finances and loss of ministry and loss of friends and I could go on. When things go wrong, there's that entitlement within me that says I need a break, deserve better. Enough, LORD. Here are these Israelites in that kind of a boat. God hears their grumblings, mine too. He gives them manna---40 years worth. They couldn't horde it, couldn't hold it over. He forced them to go to sleep at night and trust that it would rain down the next day. He forces you and me to go to sleep this night and trust His Good Hand. Forces us to rest physically and spiritually. God give all of us the desire and power to live on the manna given this day. 

The drama of the first eighteen chapters of Exodus shows the lengths God must go in order to free weak and helpless people from bondage to an evil power greater than themselves.  God will detach you from  everything that numbs your sacred hunger for Him and makes you feel hungrier for something other than Him."  66 Love Letters.  

God's mercy has led me to repentance.  Mercy triumphs judgment.

PHOTO:  Walking the shore in Bridgeport.  Under the Mercy.

22 - "God Fights For You" Exodus 14-16

Dear Kids, the people were terrified. 

"There was no way open to Israel but upward."  

Just like us, they were "troubled on every side."  

Some cried to Moses; some cried to God. 

Henry said let's get above our fears and let them quicken our prayers but not silence our hope. They thought it would have been better if they had died, that's how desperate it can get at times.  Reach down deep.  Move upward.  Stand Still on the inside. "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exo 14:14. Don't ever give up. 

PHOTO:  We never know what we'll face in a lifetime.  This little fella was born into a crazy world and yes, ordained by God.  May all my children cry out to God in their need.  Life isn't about pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps.