37th Week Exodus Intro - Chapter 4 (Click on Title for Video Intro)

 

Click on Title for Video Introduction

Monday, Exodus Intro

Exodus Intro

Mindy Strayer

April 21, 2008

THOUGHT

The Greek word for Exodus is departure. Departure means to go away; leave, to die, to vary, as from a regular course, to diverge from normal, or expected.  God called Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The book of Exodus is a recording of the events leading up to that time and then God’s guidance in the lives of the Hebrew people after their departure. 

As with any book in the Bible, we will be able to draw parallels between the people of the nation of Israel and ourselves.  As we read this book we can ask ourselves if there are particular areas of our own lives where God is calling us to leave, or perhaps to change our course, do something unexpected, or even something that needs to die in us, never to return. 

Departing from something, even if it is a good thing, is not easy. At the very least, it takes some effort on our part. And, there will always be new challenges that we face when we travel a different path.  I am grateful to God that when He calls us to depart from something or somewhere, He always has a new place for us to depart to. And He will be faithful to supply us with all of the strength and power that is within Him to get us there.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we lift You up and praise Your name. We give You thanks for all of the many blessings in each of our lives. Teach us more about Your ways as we read the book of Exodus. Lord, soften our hearts that Your Word might rest within them. Strengthen our faith that we may be bold in the work that You have given us to do while here on earth for the building up of Your kingdom. We love You, Lord.  AMEN

Tuesday, Exodus Chapter 1

Exodus 1

Verse 17

Mindy Strayer

April 23, 2008

Verse 17:  The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

THOUGHT

Satan had a plan to destroy God’s people through an order by an Egyptian king. He thought that he could use these two women to go against God and to cause the death of innocent lives. He misjudged the faith of these women. Satan’s plan was stopped because two nurses decided that obeying God was their top priority. Fearing the Lord is the sum of all wisdom, and as shown in this example, prevents us from falling into Satan’s trap of using us to carry out his evil works.

What if these midwives had not been women who feared God? This whole situation reminded me of the sin of abortion in the world today. Abortion, an evil act of Satan, is being carried out by a people with professions closely related to the midwives in this chapter. Clearly these professionals do not understand what it means to fear the Lord. If they truly feared Him, they would not disobey His commandment that we are not to commit murder of a life that is being knit together by God in their mother’s womb. This story also reminded me that sometimes our leaders, whether in our government or work environment or wherever, are people that do not know the Lord our God. Their words, actions, and attitudes can be Satan at work, using them to carry out his evil plans, preventing their fellow workers from doing good works. 

We, as Christians, have to recognize that when we face strife in our environment, we have the power and authority to call on the name of Jesus and speak words of truth from God’s Word over those situations. We do not have to have a bad attitude, or a worrying heart, or forget that God can use everything and anything and work it out for good. Those whose intentions are for selfish reasons or evil will be judged by God. Pray and be patient. Follow in the ways of the Lord and wait for God to work it all out.

PRAYER

Lord, we give You the highest praise! For You are so worthy. You are great, and so we greatly praise You. I pray for each Salt Shaker a deeper, closer relationship with You.  Knowing You is where we find  our wisdom for when we get to know You, You pour out Your blessings of wisdom into our lives.

Continue to speak Your Word into our lives in each challenge that we face and in each blessing that we are gifted. Lord, we rejoice in the challenges that come our way because it seems that those are the times when Your Holy Spirit is the loudest and our relationship with You grows closer. Remind us that we can face our challenges head on, keeping a joyful attitude, trusting in You to see things through, and not compromising our Christian values. We love and adore You. AMEN

Wednesday, Exodus Chapter 2

Exodus 2

Verse 11

Mindy Strayer

April 26, 2008

Verse 11:  One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.

THOUGHT

One day, when Moses was at an age of maturity to where he would have been able to appreciate the seriousness and realities of life, God showed him what was happening to the Hebrew people. God waited until Moses had grown up. We are not given a specific age, and I do not think that it is important. Don’t all of us “grow up” or mature at different times? I think that sometimes God holds back from revealing things to us because He is waiting for us to mature to a point where the things that He reveals will cause us to act. God gives us a level of maturity where we are less apt to not just let things fly by not even giving them a second thought, or feeling some strong emotion where all we do is complain to others and then just let the issue sit there. Perhaps He makes a revelation when we come to a point in our faith when our emotions don’t control us, but the Holy Spirit does.

New spiritual revelation can be proof that we are “growing up” spiritually speaking, because we are able to see things a little more like how God sees them. The revelation of the harsh treatment the Hebrew people were enduring had a profound and life-changing effect on Moses which tells me that God’s timing of his revelation was perfect. What did Moses do with that revelation? Unfortunately he did not act wisely. He did not do right by killing the Egyptian. But, thankfully we have a God who is able to take even our mistakes and use them for good. 

God was able to use that choice, that event, to develop Moses into the leader that He wanted him to become.  God can and will use our mistakes. Our mistakes do not change God’s calling on our lives. I thought that this was another good example of God’s sovereignty and how God uses timely revelation to help develop our spiritual character.

PRAYER

Lord, we give You thanks for the revelation that comes to us by the reading of Your Word. We trust You for the development of our character and the plan that You have for our lives. Help us to make wise decisions and to be prompt to obey when You move in our hearts. We Love You, Lord. AMEN

Thursday, Exodus Chapter 3

Exodus 3

Verse 11

Tanya Ruden

April 28, 2008

Verse 11:  But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

THOUGHT

I was listening to Casting Crowns this morning on my commute.  I am not sure if you have heard the song - Who Am I - but it basically has this premise from verse 11. I have included the lyrics. I am not as computer advanced as Bart to include the actual song, but hopefully you can get the gist from the lyrics.  You can listen to it on YouTube.  

Sorry, I have digressed, but how often do we ask God - Who am I? What is my purpose? Why me?  Crystal had a preschool program last night, and one of her songs was how God made her special, a part of his creation. We are all a special part of God’s plan, and we all have a specific part to play.

So many times I am sure we feel like Moses.  Who am I that you have called me to this purpose? I do believe that as we lean on God and become closer to Him we feel more comfortable in whom we are.  We feel more comfortable serving in a specific capacity, but then God challenges us out of our comfort zone.  We need to feel these callings and step up to the calling.

We all know how Exodus ends. So often we say, “God I am no Moses, why have you called me to this?”  At the beginning Moses was just a guy who actually made mistakes, and his life took turns that were different than expected, just like us? We all can be a Moses.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, Who am I? I am Your special child that You love unconditionally. You see all my good times and bad, and You still love me. What an awesome feeling. Thank You for that unconditional love. You have called each of us to a specific purpose.  May we hear Your calling and discuss it with You, share our fears of Your calling, share our excitements, but never say no and not listen. Keep our ears open and our hearts open to listening to Your calling and doing Your purpose, no matter how “out there” it may seem. AMEN

Who Am I lyrics-See Below  Song by Casting Crowns

Exodus 3

Who Am I, that the Lord of all the earth

Would care to know my name

Would care to feel my hurt

Who Am I, that the Bright and Morning Star

Would choose to light the way

For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am

But because of what You’ve done

Not because of what I’ve done

But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading

Here today and gone tomorrow

A wave tossed in the ocean

A vapor in the wind

Still You hear me when I’m calling

Lord, You catch me when I’m falling

And You’ve told me who I am

I am Yours, I am Yours

Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin

Would look on me with love and watch me rise again

Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea

Would call out through the rain

And calm the storm in me

I am Yours

Whom shall I fear

Whom shall I fear

‘Cause I am Yours

I am Yours

Friday, Exodus Chapter 4

Exodus 4

Verse 13

Tanya Ruden

April 30, 2008

Verse 13:  But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

THOUGHT

There are so many things in this chapter.  We need to have a Bible study so we could discuss them. So I guess I will have a one sided discussion, and you can ponder what I say.  I am not sure it will be real profound, but I will share some things that come to mind as I read this chapter.

The first thing I was thinking - Would I have reacted as Moses did in verse 1? Would I have thought this through like Moses and asked God some more questions?   Or would I have said “Yes, Lord” and run off?  Or would I have said “Yes, Lord” and huddled in my house crying and become overwhelmed? I have to admire Moses’ thinking – ‘people are going to think I am crazy’.  (This would be like the guy preaching on the street corner from the Bible that everyone thinks is crazy)  Moses had to be wondering if he was going to earn the people’s trust and create some credibility for himself.  I wonder

if I would have been naïve enough to think God would open everyone’s heart to listen to me so that everything would go smoothly?

Second - I think it is so important to be honest with God. It is OK to pray to God and ask questions.  One example being like verse 13 where we ask God – ‘can someone else do it?’  Tell God your feelings and fears.  He is the only one who can calm them and reassure you. God looked at Moses.  He could have given him a pep talk about how he can do it or he can answer the prayer with a “Yes, take Aaron as your back up.”  This helped ease Moses’ mind and still completed God’s plan.  We need to share with God in prayer all the concerns of our heart. I think it took courage for Moses to ask this since God called him to do this.  Many of us will be called to do many things.  It is OK to talk with God about our concerns/fears.  He is our best friend and the only one who can answer your prayers and bring you peace.

Third - I ask myself how I would have reacted if Moses was my husband.  It states he picked up his family and left to go to Egypt. I think back then that wives just did what they were told by their husbands.  However, if that would have happened today, and Alan said we were leaving to go to Marcus and free the Ruden’s because God was calling him to do it, would I have the faith to support and follow? I pray I would and would feel the same call.  However, part of me thinks - are you crazy, the kids are in school, where will we live, why can’t your sister/uncle do it? God calls us to support our spouse. I would think if they were feeling God’s call, you would also feel it, and it would help you be supportive. I hope we could all support our spouse as Moses’ wife did.

In conclusion - think before reacting.  Be honest with God in prayer and support your family!

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, it is so exciting to study Moses.  He had quite an adventure in his later life. I pray that all us Salt Shakers learn from his actions.  May we learn to react to God’s calling.  May we learn to be honest with You when You speak to us.  Help us be willing to listen.  AMEN