Hello Exodus!

This quarter we are studying Exodus, and this past Sunday we covered chapters 15-18.  The problem for me was that last week was Easter so we didn't have class, AND I haven't taught one single lesson yet this quarter and needed to do a quick review!!

(Now before you think that I'm a giant slacker and have been putting the load onto Bill, I did teach the entire month of February AND there was a ton of work to do before I left for Israel in mid-March!!  But I'm back in the saddle again so WATCH OUT!)

Ok, QUICK review:  The nation of Israel was in Egypt because of God's provision for them through Joseph.  To make a long and fabulous story short, what began as 12 tribes and 70 descendants grew to be a nation of an estimated two million!  Then over time the Egyptian rulers grew to distrust the Israelites and so they enslaved them and worked them ruthlessly and treated them cruelly, but God raised up Moses and called him to go before Pharaoh and ask for His people to be released.  Pharaoh repeatedly refused and that resulted in a series of plagues that ravaged the nation and eventually took the lives of every firstborn.  EXCEPT for the Israelites, who God protected and spared and blessed!  So Pharaoh finally relented and released the Israelites, who followed the pillars of cloud and fire to the edge of the Red Sea (not the Dead Sea, inside joke!).  God then parted the sea for them to pass through, killed all the Egyptians who followed them, and then led them into the desert.  WHEW!

This is where we pick up in our study and the events of chapters 15-18 continue the theme of "Hardship followed by the Hand of God."  So far we've seen:

• slavery - deliverance
• plagues - protection
• no direction - pillars of cloud and fire
• trapped beside the Red Sea - parted and delivered

Now we see:

• bitter water at Marah - wood that freshened it
• desert heat - an oasis at Elim with 12 springs and 70 palms
• hunger - manna and quail
• thirst at Horeb - rock that gushed water
• battle with Amalekites - victory
• Moses' stress and peoples' dissatisfaction - delegates to help

Something that we see repeatedly in the Israelites is (1) a lack of faith, and (2) complaining.  Before I go any further I'd just like to say that I am NOT passing judgment on them!!  Think about their conditions:  two million of them traveling through the desert with all their worldly belongings AND kids AND livestock AND all the possessions they had plundered from the Egyptians.  It is HOT and they are on FOOT and they are in the middle of the DESERT with NO FOOD and NO WATER.  Bless their hearts, I'm getting grumpy just thinking about all that!!

Something I WILL say is that we do the very same things sometimes, and we can graciously learn from their mistakes.  Each time they had a trying situation, God was there.  His glory was revealed in the pillars of cloud and fire that were constantly before them.  His provision was seen in His answers to all their complaints.  His grace was lavished in His patience with them.  Every trial they encountered was designed to test THEM so God could prove HIMSELF.  In every challenge He proved that He was faithful to them and could provide exactly what they needed WHEN they needed it.

A couple of specific things I liked in this lesson were the effects that grumbling and complaining have.  Individually, it takes out focus off Him and on to our circumstance, which grows bigger and scarier the more we focus in on it.  Collectively it's like a virus that spreads discontentment throughout the entire group, and we've all seen the troubles that can cause.

Another thought I had was about manna and how it's like grace and mercy:  it comes down from God, it's new every morning, we can't store it up for later, and everybody gets the exact amount they need!  And we need to gather it and feed on it early in the morning before the heat of the day's busyness comes along.

This lesson was titled "Tested Devotion" but we expanded on that to include dedication, faithfulness, fidelity, reverence, commitment, love, sincerity... As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, it would be a good idea for us to occasionally look back and trace the hand of God in our lives so we see all the places we've been and all the ways He's been there and provided for us.  It's also important to memorize His word and His promises to us so we won't get discouraged and lose heart.  Some of our favorites were:

Rom 8:28 - He works everything for our good
Jer 29:11 - His plans are to give us hope a future
2 Tim 1:7 - He has given us a spirit of power and love
1 Cor 10:13 - nothing happens that He doesn't provide an escape
Philippians 4 - the entire chapter!
James 1 - trials make us stronger, He gives us wisdom
John 16:33 - Jesus has overcome the world
Deut 31:6 - He will never leave us
and of course my favorite verse,
Rom 15:13 - He fills us with joy and peace as we trust Him

He proves Himself faithful EVERY SINGLE TIME, so when the trials come our way that test us, remember His promises and TRUST that He will provide for us!

Stretch or Settle? (Mark 1-8)

In studying the life of Jesus, it's interesting to notice what people saw in Him.  The Son of God stood right in front of people and did some pretty incredible things: cast out demons, healed the sick (fevers, diseases, leprosy, paralysis, physical deformities), raised people from the dead. calmed the storm, walked on water and fed the multitudes. And if that wasn't impressive enough, he gave His 12 disciples the power and authority to do the SAME THINGS.  And yet nobody REALLY understood Who He was or why He came.

His disciples knew Him as an amazing Guy who did amazing things, and when they finally started to figure out that He was the Son of God and the promised Messiah, they began to think from an earthly perspective instead of an eternal one.  When they envisioned their Messiah, they focused on the Deliverer of Israel.  Jesus would be their ticket to power, position, and a new way of life!

The Pharisees knew Him as a troublemaker. A lawbreaker.  A blasphemer.  He was a commoner who didn't fit their preconceived notion about the Messiah, who surely would have embraced the religious establishment and shunned everyone else, ESPECIALLY Gentiles. Jesus was a threat to their power, position, and their privileged way of life.

But God knew Him as His obedient Son, Who was willing to do WHATEVER He asked.  He went to places that others didn't expect.  He did things that surprised people.  He taught people, especially His disciples, things they didn't/couldn't understand at the time because there was a bigger plan.  There was a bigger plan for His life.  There was a bigger plan for the disciples' lives. And there is a bigger plan for OUR lives.

How will God know US?  Will He know us as His obedient son or daughter, who is willing to do WHATEVER He asks?  Will we willing to go to unexpected places?  Will we let Him surprise us?  Will we be faithful in our trials and be willing to learn some hard lessons in life, even though we don't understand?  Will we trust that God is working out a bigger plan?

One of my favorite books is "Good to Great in God's Eyes" by Chip Ingram, and he writes that life-changing steps of faith always involve RISK. We're often faced with a decision that pits comfort or convenience against obedience to God's call.  If we choose the risky steps of obedience a lot of people will think we're crazy, so we risk our reputation too.  But if we're not willing to take the risky steps, there's no opportunity for our faith to grow, there is no power or joy or intimacy with God, there are no opportunities for miracles in our lives, and we ultimately displease God.  So do we settle for life on a spiritual merry-go-round that goes in circles and never really goes anywhere?  OR do we let Him stretch us and ride with the wind in our hair on a spiritual roller coaster??

I think y'all know which ride I pick ;)