April 10, 2010

The Bible says that the Lord knew Moses face to face!  Deut. 34:10.  I always thought of it the other way around (i.e., Moses knew God face to face), but I even checked out Exodus 33:11: So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

It seems that Jesus expects this kind of open-faced knowing from us as well. What do you think? I saw it here in this Scripture:
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’  then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’  But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’   Luke 13:23-27

What does it take for the Lord to know us?  He certainly put an emphasis on that here.  And it wasn't just about being in the same vicinity and having the same nationality.  Obviously, the Lord knows everything, and He of course know us inside and out, as He made us and is omniscient and omnipresent.  So what does it take for the Lord to know us?  I want to know!  I want to make it through that narrow gate!

I try to stick with the Scripture reading of the day (there's so much in them!), but when I picked up my tea to go warm it up again, the Lord reminded me of these verses:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

We might start out so afraid of God, like Moses (Exodus 3:6), that we won't even show our face.  We're not going to get to know God like that!  But the Lord's saying, "Where are you?  Open up!  Why are you hiding?"  Like He did with Adam and Eve.  If we allow fear, shame and the need to belong (thank you, Eldon, for that great teaching!) to keep us from showing our face to God, we'll remain foolish, because how will we overcome those issues if we will not receive instruction?  If the Lord's saying "I do not know you," it's because we're too proud to let Him in.  If we're going to go through His gate, He's going to first have to come in through ours.

Jesus said to those of His nation who would not believe in Him:  "See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” Luke 13: 35 

I'll never forget the day I realized, with a huge shock, that God saw everything about me! I had spent my life deperately trying to hide from Him, in spite of the fact I'd called myself a Christian for most of it.  I was in the middle of a rather wretched fight with my husband, and it was going nowhere.  I felt so hopeless.  Suddenly, the Lord revealed where I was at.  I remember falling onto the floor and weeping uncontrollably when I realized that God saw through my defenses.  I decided then that I had to stop hiding from the Lord behind the masks and walls I had built around myself to protect me from hurt, real or imagined.

Even though I had gotten revelation, it took years before I was willing to totally lay down the things that I used to shield myself from others and from God.  I was so expert at creating defenses that most of them were hidden even from myself.  I'm still not sure they're all gone, but at least now I am willing to be shown, either by the Lord or a person that He might speak through.  The more I reveal myself to Him, the more He reveals Himself to me. 

Have you ever seen a child, who, by covering her eyes, thinks she is hiding from her parent?  I have!  A child quickly figures it out, but it is funny when they first do it.  We are like that with the Lord, and yet how slowly we come to the reality that we must not try to hide from Him.  He can see us anyway.  And the great truth is, that He loves us, so much more, than we love our own little children.

It is wisdom to uncover the face of our heart when we go to the written Word, for in it we will find Christ, if we will only open our eyes and let Him see us.

March 9, 2010

Have you ever heard the term "spiritual pride"?  I understand that people use the term to mean "proud over their spirituality" or something like that, but it seems to me that pride is anything but spiritual!  Satan fell by being proud, didn't he? 

Remember the reading from February 26?:  "But when He [Jesus] had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." Mark 8:33    No matter how "spiritual" we think we are, if we're in pride, we're not walking in the Spirit.  If we're arguing with Jesus, we're taking sides with the devil!  Satan is a spirit, but he became carnal by being proud.

All human beings have spirits, whether they walk with Christ or not, and all spirits are not of God!   Does this change your point of view about non-Christians?  About spirituality? 

If you can get a handle on the truth that pride originates in your spirit, it will revolutionize your Christian walk!  [Bonus:  there's a reason humility isn't listed in the Fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23.  Humility is an attitude or position of the spirit, and it is your free-will choice;  it takes humility to "walk in the Spirit" in order to bear fruit.]

Moses and Jesus both demonstrated, through their words and actions, what it is to be humble.  They were submitted to God.  "Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth." Numbers 12:3  He had an intimate relationship with God.  Jesus is the Son of God, and the most spiritual of all wouldn't you say, and He prayed, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." Mark 14:36 

The readings today show both Old Testament and  New Testament examples of how pride is a spiritual issue, what the outcome is, and how to avoid it.  In Numbers 11, God had just transferred some of the anointing Moses had onto seventy of the elders, and they prophesied.  Although Joshua expressed some concern over this, Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!" 11:28-29  I'm thinking some pride was exposed by this turn of events, for it wasn't long before Aaron and Miriam rose up in criticism of Moses saying, "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?  Has he not spoken through us also?" 12:1-2  Miriam must have instigated it, as she was the one who was disciplined.  Do you think perhaps the Lord was giving a strong warning to those who had received the Spirit, not to walk in pride over it?  How does this pertain to us?

Jesus' disciples seemed to have had the same problem.  They'd been singled out to walk with Jesus day by day, and He had told them many things in private.  I think they began to see themselves as very spiritual, so much so that they wouldn't receive a serious warning from Jesus.  "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you," said Peter.  And all of them said the same, even though Jesus had just told them they would all run off.  He gave Peter, James and John the chance to "keep awake and pray,"  but it seems that they were overwhelmed and went to sleep instead. 

Pride does not watch and pray, but humility does.  Pride falls into temptation, humility falls on its face before God.

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble." Proverbs 11: 2

February 3, 2010

Wasn't it cool how the Scripture readings coordinated today? I love the contrast between Moses and the religious leaders of Jesus' day. Jesus said that "they sit on Moses' seat; therefore do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach." Matthew 22:2-3

Later in the chapter, he said more that described Moses: "The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." vs. 11-12 Moses was serving the people so much that his wise father-in-law advised that he delegate some responsibility. Then he demonstrated humility and took the advice. Exodus 18:19-25 Jesus also was a great example of these principles.

There are times we have to recognize our God-given limits. Yes, we are to function in His power and strength, but as you can see, it is not given to us to do everything in the Kingdom as an individual. We need other people to help. If we could do everything ourselves, then there would be no need for the Body of Christ to function. Even Jesus, who is God and could certainly do everything Himself if He wanted to, has made us His Body, and He's delegated authority and expects us to carry out our functions faithfully.

January 27, 2010

Jesus told us to be humble like a child: that is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4. Moses was humble, but he made God angry when he told God to "please send someone else," even after God said He's put the words in his mouth and had given him signs to show. Exodus 4:12-14 (I'm struck by how the Lord didn't recind the call, just made a provision for Moses' weakness.)

I've had the Lord tell me to do many things I just knew I couldn't do, and yet He was there helping me when I stepped out. Of course, there have been many, many times I didn't step out because of fear and unbelief.

Apparently, the greatest humility is to take God at His word and obey, no matter how crazy it seems, and no matter what anyone else thinks of you.

January 26, 2010

Today's readings really spoke to me of God's compassion. Powerfully! In the face of how the world is slandering God (e.g., the movie Legion), I think we'd better get to know Him a whole lot better! Hold on to your faith!

Why did Jesus say "You faithless and perverse generation?" when the disciples couldn't cast out a demon that was tomenting a boy? He said they couldn't cast it out because their faith wasn't even as big as a mustard seed. Matthew 17:17, 20. Why was their faith so small?

I saw something today I hadn't seen before. I think they had all forgotten that God was all about deliverance. They forgot He was compassionate. They had forgotten their nation's deliverance in the past. They weren't on the same page with God.

In Exodus 3:7-8, God said to Moses: "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey."

God came down then, and then He came down in Jesus. Why? Compassion.

Jesus was teaching Peter that they were under religious oppression, and that as long as they were, He would provide--e.g., the tax. But Jesus did more than just alleviate the temporary suffering. His mission was to set everyone free from the oppression. He released people from spiritual bondage, from Satanic oppression. "The children are free," He said. Fact. vs 26 We can't be free on the outside if we're not free on the inside.

Psalm 22 is such a moving prophetic expression of the sufferings of Christ on the cross, so that we could be free. He entered in to our oppressions and bore them Himself. "In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them." vs. 4 David knew and trusted in God's deliverance, and so did Jesus.

The Proverbs 5 section reminds us that sometimes the oppression we suffer is because we were disobedient. But that doesn't mean God won't deliver us, it just means we need to repent first.

If we're lacking in faith to trust God for deliverance from oppression, or unable to help others get free, we need to meditate on the Scriptures once again and rediscover God's heart of compassion and His track-record of deliverance. He hasn't changed.

God will again "come down" to set His children free from what is working up to be the most horrendous, tyrannical oppression ever to be seen on earth. Jesus Christ WILL come again and do away with the oppressions of evil forever. Have faith in God!
 
Let's not be a "faithless and perverse generation."