Closer Look...

Christianity is not a philosophy nor a way of life, it’s a living breathing relationship with Christ Himself. If we ever forget the ‘friendship’ part, it turns into a boring list of behaviors. We need to remember from time to time what makes it alive…
“Moses said, please let me see your Glory. God said, but no one can see me and live. Look, here is a place right beside me. I’ll put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by”. Exodus 33:18-23
Moses found himself in great personal need. The role of leading the self-willed Israelites had weakened him. But he had been in the visible presence of God more than any other man on earth. The presence cloud of God had actually come down and drifted into the tent to meet with him. When he was on the mountain getting the 10 commandments God descended upon the mountain in the form of a fire cloud. Moses had seen a lot of God. And yet in His moment of need He simply asked to see more. He obviously recognized that great strength flowed into him whenever he got close to God, so in this present time of need he knew what to reach for. He’d learned a ‘more of God’ pattern for empowerment. This time he asked to look God right in the face. While God knew that was more than the human body was wired to handle, He still made a way for Moses to get closer. And yes, it made the difference Moses needed. How long has it been since you’ve asked God for a CLOSER LOOK? ~Verlon

Enough...

We all like to know in advance what is happening. But it doesn’t take long in this adult life for us to realize that’s seldom possible. Life is an adventure. So is our spiritual journey…
“Moses said to God, you tell me to lead this people, but you don’t let me know whom you’re going to send with me. Let me in on your plans. God said, my presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end”. Exodus 33:12-14
Moses had just come down from the mountain and found the Israelites dancing around a golden calf. Though he’d only been their leader for a few months, he was already tired of their wayward tendencies and faithlessness. He found himself looking at God wondering who was going to help him with this assignment. That was code for ‘I’m thinking about quitting’. God’s answer to Moses is one we all need to contemplate for a moment. God simply promised His presence for the entirety of the journey. God didn’t fill in any of the blanks for Moses, nor did He reveal any of the earthly resources that would become available in the future for Israel. He simply promised His presence. But of course, in so doing it meant Moses would never end up in a spot without God’s oversight, God’s leadership and God’s continual supply. For Moses, that was enough! That same promise was given to us. Right before Jesus ascended He said, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age”. His continual presence is ours. The question is, do we believe that’s ENOUGH! ~Verlon

God Is With Us...

Everyone needs to see the favor of God upon their lives. Sometimes this is hard to see, especially when you’re walking through one of those ‘valleys of the shadow of death’. During those times we typically wonder what happened to our favor and we doubt the presence of God in our situation. But He’s there! Truth is, the tough times underscores all the more our need to see God’s presence at work in us…
“Whenever Moses entered the Tent, the Pillar of Cloud descended to the entrance to the Tent and God spoke with Moses. All the people would see the Pillar of Cloud at the entrance to the Tent.” ~Ex.33:9-10
This verse is actually a reflection of the way things were for Israel a few days previous. But now, there was trouble in the camp. It was only days ago that they’d crafted the golden calf and danced in wild frivolity around it. Moses came back down from the mountain, ground up the golden calf into power, mixed it with water and made the people drink it. I’m not sure of the significance of that, but the people were now concerned that they’d done permanent damage to the visible presence of God that used to show up for them. Here’s the point; we all have a greater need we realize to see the Lord at work in our life! It affect our spiritual esteem. Just as Israel had confidence that God’s presence was with them, every person and every church needs to be able to say with confidence, GOD IS WITH US! ~Verlon

Deeper Insight...

Most people soon realize there is more than one way to interpret something. Some perspectives are shallow and meaningless while others are a far better view. But finding the better perspectives isn’t easy. We live in a noisy world distracting world and we have noisy inner desires that pull our perspectives in the direction of our self interests. How can we find the more helpful insights?
“Moses came down from the mountain carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses that sounds like the sound of war in the camp. But Moses said, those aren’t songs of victory or defeat, I hear songs of people throwing a party.” ~Ex.32:15-18
Moses and Joshua had been on the mountain for 40 days getting the ten commandments on tablets of stone. Meanwhile, back at the camp the people had erected an idol of gold and were dancing around it in wild-party fashion. So when Moses and Joshua made their way back to the camp they began to hear the shouts and singing in the distance. Joshua immediately concluded they had been to war and were celebrating their victory or mourning their loss. But Moses had been in closer conversation with God than Joshua. Moses was close enough to hear God say that the people had built an idol for themselves and turned to wild partying. Here’s the lesson; the closer to God we stand, the better perspective we gain. Next to Him is where we see the ‘big picture’ of our life and find DEEPER INSIGHT! ~Verlon

A Silent Heaven...

Stall seasons are always hard. And yet there are many of them in this life. Whether it’s between paychecks, or between jobs, or between opportunities, we find ourselves in these ‘stalls’. God Himself values these stalls. Even in the 23rd Psalm, while the good Shepherd is walking the sheep through the valley of the shadow of death, He isn’t saying anything, He’s just walking and protecting. But these times make us nervous and sometimes demanding.
“When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, who knows what’s happened to him?” ~Ex 32:1
Israel had seen their share of miracles and profound power in the past few months. And yet as Moses lingered on the mountain for over a month getting the ten commandments from the hand of God, the people got nervous. What happened next revealed their depth of trust in God. And in their case, it wasn’t very deep. After a month of waiting they became impatient and demanding and fashioned their own answer, shaping a god out of gold and danced and partied in wild fashioned around the golden calf. It only took them 30 days to cast off their dependency on God and look for other answers. We all have that capacity. Thus we all need to have our dependency upon God revealed from time to time. God does this in a most careful way by providing A SILENT HEAVEN. ~Verlon

Like Father, Like Son!

It’s easy to forget why we are on this earth and drift back into satisfying ourselves. It’s a subtle and constant temptation to be sure. But we were created to pursue Christ-like-ness. If there is a focus point for all our endeavors, it’s to be like the earthly model, God Son whom He sent for us to observe. But aligning ourselves to God’s ways isn’t merely an inward thing…
“Tell the Israelites, above all keep my Sabbaths…to keep the knowledge alive that I am the God who makes you holy…It’s a fixed sign between me and the Israelites because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long deep breath.” ~Ex. 31:12,17
There is no doubt that God created mankind to need rest. And when we ignore that truth we become sick and frail. So the idea of a Sabbath for reasons of our physical and mental health is an important lesson in maturity. However I am taken by the wording in this verse that connects our Sabbaths to ‘keeping the knowledge alive that God makes you holy’. God wants It to be obvious that we are in His family. The last line even castes the Sabbath as one of the visible activities we engage in because it’s how the God-family does things. God took a Sabbath after His work of creation, Jesus took Sabbaths even amidst His important redemptive work on the earth, so we take Sabbaths as we fulfill our calling too. God isn't rushed nor weary, so we won't be either. We’re in His family so it stands to reason we’d take on His ways. LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON! ~Verlon

Then He Made You...

I suppose each of us has a desire to be more than average. That sense was probably stronger in our youth when we held to our ideals and our dreams. But then this little thing called reality started chipping away at us and like so many others we probably started accepting average outcomes. Some of this is maturity. But sometimes I wonder if this acceptance attitude goes too far…
“See what I have done. I’ve personally chosen Bezalel. I’ve filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him skill and expertise in every kind of craft to create designs and work in gold, silver, bronze gemstones and to carve wood. He is an all-around craftsman.” ~Ex. 31:1-5
I like this verse. It reveals that God uniquely designs people just the way He wants. In this case He wanted to reveal a bit of His glory with beautiful works of gold and silver. So He custom built Bezalel. He gave him the ability to ‘see’ and ‘form’ carvings and castings. In fact, the bible is full of stories of God envisioning things, and then how He created people and called them and helped them discover how to mke His dream into a reality. It might be easy to push back and admire the talented few, but that would miss the point entirely. What if God saw something He wanted to happen on the earth many years ago, then He turned and formed you in your mothers womb? What would that say about the abilities and creative expressions that are hard-wired into you? You have something in common with Bezalel. God envisioned something on the earth, THEN HE MADE YOU! ~Verlon