Proverbs 3:11- My son do not despise the Lord’s Discipline or be weary if his reproof for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Discipline is never an easy thing to give or one to receive. I hate receiving discipline because I tend to beat myself up over the problem than getting over it. I have the weight of the world on me and feel like it is crashing down on me. God disciplines those he loves. Have you ever been caught in your sin? Maybe it was brought up some how and it just grabbed your attention? Maybe there was calamity due to the sin in your life? Whatever the case may be God allows us to get caught, God allows us to have the guilt, and God allows us to suffer in order for us to get past that point where we can grow in him. I know when I have children I will need to discipline them. They will not be perfect and I will not be a perfect parent but if I truly love my children I will correct them and guide them in the ways of the Lord, no matter how hard it is.

Do you love the Lord’s discipline? I have to think about this because the answer is, I should love that he loves me enough to discipline me, but I hate getting in trouble. I hate having to make corrections in my life. Why, because it shows that I have flaws and am a sinner. It shows that I do not have it together. God loves us and he already knows that we are wretched humans who make stupid descions and choose sin over him sometimes. Have you asked for the Lord’s dsicipline to be prominant in your life? It is a hard thing to ask because we will be stretched and sometimes hurt but the reward is way better. We will be closer to God. I pray that you desire the discipline of the Lord as I learn to too.

God bless,

PJ

Exodus 36 

Our story of Exodus now shows the making of the tabernacle. It may seem like Scripture is repeating itself because the same information was given to Moses by God on how the construction of the Tabernacle should be. We are reading how Bezalel and Oholiab is following the word of the Lord. They first were mentioned in chapter 31 about how they will be filled with the Spirit and be able to be the craftsman for the Tabernacle.

The camp of Israel was working together on this project for the Lord. If they were not working on the actual building and construction of the Tabernacle, they were giving.

When to say enough

I love when I see people going out of their way for others. It is a great thing to see when the church body comes together and gives for a cause. This last summer we saw some big fires hit Southern California. I was touched by how the churches around Southern California came together and helped the many different families that lost their homes. Israel came together and offered a free will offering to God and gave the supplies and gold and silver for the construction of the Tabernacle, God’s dwelling place. The people brought these gifts every morning because they wanted to give to the Lord and help out as much as they could. It turned out that they gave more than what was needed and Moses had to make an announcement to have them stop giving. This is something that is unheard of today, “Stop giving.” We normally wonder way people are not giving enough. It is easy to get caught up with a cause and give a one time donation but what about continually to the Lord. Israel gave to the Lord unconditionally. Do you give to the Lord? We can give to the Lord in many different ways. We can give financially to the work of the Lord. We can give our time to serving God in all that we do and help out in ministry or volunteer somewhere. We can give our materials, just like Israel was giving. More importantly have you given your heart? I know people that would help out and give of their money but their heart was not given over to the Lord. What they do is very short term. 2nd Corinthians 9:6-7 says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” God cares about the condition of the heart. I encourage  you to be so giving that the church could come back and say that is enough just like Moses had to.  

Last night at Day 7 Pastor Greg shared his personal testimony. I have been attending Harvest for over 9 years now and it was amazing to hear Pastor Greg’s story. It was nice to piece it all together after all those years. We are truly blessed to have a Pastor like Greg. After listening to the message it was encouraging to know God has given each of us a story that is ours. We are able to use this and build the gap with people and share how Christ has changed our lives. I encourage everyone to watch the message that is archived at www.Harvest.org and to know your story and use it for God’s glory. It will change lives!

Exodus 34

 In chapter 32 we saw Moses come down from Mt. Sinai and in outrage threw down the tablets that had the 10 commandments written on them. Moses was so mad that he just threw what God commanded and they broke. Now as we see God wanting Israel to move on in their journey but before they do it was time for Moses to get the 10 commandments written on the two new tablets of stone.  God tells Moses to prepare two tablets and then make the journey up the mountain one more time. The same decree went out to all of Israel for them to consecrate themselves and for nothing to touch the mountain. If you read chapter 19 you can see the similarities. The cloud descended upon the mountain and the mountain shook.

The Proper Attitude before an Almighty God 

As God was passing before Moses, Moses said, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfastness love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children. And Moses bowed low the ground in respect for the Lord. When we come to the Lord we need to always have the proper attitude. We need to know that we are going before an almighty God. We are talking with a sovereign God.  Moses knew that God was gracious and merciful and bowed low before him. We sometimes do not have the proper attitude before God, yeah we do not bow before the Lord, but we sometimes do not take it seriously. God does love us and he does give grace and mercy. God also does not mess with sin. What is on your mind during the time that there is public worship? What goes on when your read the Bible? What goes on when you sit in for Bible study? Do you have the proper mindset? I always need to have my heart prepared because if I do not I will take for granted what God has done for me.  

Exodus 33

Have you ever done something that you should not have and you got in trouble for it? When you first get into trouble it seems as though you will never get past that point. The whole world is crashing on you and your big mistake. Once you move past that initial shock it is time to move past it. It is time for Israel to move past their issue. We will see that they will literally move from the Sinai area and into the promise land (or at least try). It is cool to see God’s grace because he could have said, “You guys will not get into the Promise Land, because you messed up.” Instead he gives them another chance. The only problem is that God cannot go before them because he would consume them, instead now an angel will lead the way. All of Israel took this to heart and started to mourn. Separation from God is the ultimate punishment. Israel knew this and they knew they needed God but now they see the consequence of their sin . 

Moses was Lucky

We see that Moses had a tent that he went to meet with God on a regular basis. This tent was outside the camp and Moses would enter and the pillar of cloud would descend at the entrance. In verse 11 shares about how the relationship between Moses and God was. It says, “The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friends. As we read later in the section that no man could see God’s face and live so Moses did not see God’s face, but we know that Moses was able to talk with God. No man during this time was able to speak to God like Moses was able to, if they did they would die.  

Not only was Moses able to speak to God, he actually was able to see the backside of God. There are no words to describe what this must have been like but Moses was able to have favor in the eyes of God. Only a few other men in the Old Testament were able to do this, Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and Ezekiel (1:28). Moses was a man of prayer and talked with God and was confident that God would listen to his requests. The amazement that must have been seen by Moses was something that would never leave his mind. He was truly a blessed man to be used by God but to have that type of relationship with him. 

Moses was able to have a chance to talk with God. He was able to be close and personal with the Almighty. We have this opportunity now too. It is true, we do not deserve it, we are unworthy but those who are a child of God can. I am a child of God because I have been forgiven of my sin and now am considered righteous. Hebrews 20:19 tells us that we can have confidence to approach God. God knows us by name, like he knew Moses. God cares about us (1st Peter 5:7). I am so thankful that I can approach my God. I encourage everyone to be able to do the same thing

Exodus 32

Moses had been up talking with God on the mountain for about 40 days. We have read all the details that God shared with Moses regarding the building of the tabernacle in the last few chapters. While Moses was up there talking with God, Aaron was left to be in charge of the people. Remember there was about 2 million Israelites that Aaron would have to watch. Because of the idle time the people started to get restless. 40 days is a long time to be away. The people started to wonder what happened to Moses. They started to start wanting to take things in their own hands.

Forgetting the Great Gift

As Moses was gone, the children of Israel went to Aaron and said, “Make us gods.” They were wanting Aaron to make them an idol to worship. Aaron listened and took all the gold from the people and melted it and then made a calf.  This calf was an Egyptian god named Apis. This god was considered to be a manifestation of Ptah, the creator god of Egypt. This god was a calf/bull image that the Egyptians would worship. After the idol was made they took it a step further and said, “These are the gods that brought us out of Egypt!” How sad, they are neglecting that the true God, Yahweh, brought them out of Egypt. Forgetting his constant provision for them, forgetting His leading hand. They took matters into their sinful hearts.

God’s wrath and the Punishment for sin  

Moses was told to go back to the camp and take charge of the rebellious people. God told Moses that he could kill them all for their actions but Moses intervened and said, “no.” Moses went back and was shocked by what he saw. He took the two stones that had the commandments on them and broke them. The whole camp was singing and dancing around this golden image and worshipping it. They were proclaiming that this man made thing brought them to where they were. Moses asked Aaron what happened and Aaron responded with, “The people gave me their gold and I threw it in the fire and look what popped out, this golden calf.” Aaron was guilty because he should have been the one to make a stand for what was right and for the Lord but he did not. OH Aaron, what a missed opportunity.

Moses then said, “Who is for the true Lord, stand by me.” It was a choice of whom you will serve. The sons of Levi stood up and stood by Moses. They were commanded by God to kill those who would not follow after the Lord. Three thousand men and people fell that day because of the result of sin. 

Today

We may not have a golden calf that we dance around but we have our own times of not worshipping the true God. We tend to take for granted, just like Israel, his daily provisions, his protection, and most important his salvation which is through Jesus Christ. We may have had a great time with the Lord and grew and maybe there are some slow times in our life. We become idle in our Christian walk and we wonder what God’s will is for our life. Usually idle time equals trouble because I can think of all the idle time I had and how I have found myself in some kind of trouble.  Joshua 24:15 says, “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in who land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We have a choice to serve the Lord with all our heart or choose the to please sin. Romans 6:6 says, “We know that our old self, was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” We do not have to choose sin. The sin nature died with Christ. I desire for sin to be killed in my life so that it will not erupt in my camp.  Choose this day whom you will serve!