Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

There is no greater joy than hearing God speak to us, seeing His vision for a work, then working together we do the work just like God commanded us to do!  Being in God’s Will and doing what He wants is a beautiful place of joy unspeakable, a time in our lives that is full to overflow with of the glory of God in us.  When the work is completed, what is next? Only God knows but He will prepare us for what He knows will be next to grow and mature us on this journey with Him.

I can imagine the elated feelings of joy by all the craftsmen and seamstresses as they present the completed work to Moses to give to God for His Tent of Meeting!  Imagine the parade of servants carrying the work carefully done beautifully and exquisitely, “just as God commanded” them to do, and now lovingly laying it at Moses feet.  Moses blessed them.  God blessed them by giving them the know-how with motivation to do His perfect and pleasing will so that they could grow in their being, their integrity, their love, and faith in Him! 

Exodus 39, The Message

Vestments. Using the blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics, they made the woven vestments for ministering in the Sanctuary. Also they made the sacred vestments for Aaron, as God had commanded Moses.

^2-5 Ephod. They made the Ephod using gold and blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics and finely twisted linen. They hammered out gold leaf and sliced it into threads that were then worked into designs in the blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and fine linen. They made shoulder pieces fastened at the two ends. The decorated band was made of the same material—gold, blue, purple, and scarlet material, and of fine twisted linen—and of one piece with it, just as God had commanded Moses.

^6-7 They mounted the onyx stones in a setting of filigreed gold and engraved the names of the sons of Israel on them, then fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the Ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites, just as God had commanded Moses.

^8-10 Breastpiece. They made a Breastpiece designed like the Ephod from gold, blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. Doubled, the Breastpiece was nine inches square. They mounted four rows of precious gemstones on it.

First row: carnelian, topaz, emerald.

¹¹ Second row: ruby, sapphire, crystal.

¹² Third row: jacinth, agate, amethyst.

^13-14 Fourth row: beryl, onyx, jasper.

The stones were mounted in a gold filigree. The twelve stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve names engraved as on a seal, one for each of the twelve tribes.

^15-21 They made braided chains of pure gold for the Breastpiece, like cords. They made two settings of gold filigree and two rings of gold, put the two rings at the two ends of the Breastpiece, and fastened the two ends of the cords to the two rings at the end of the Breastpiece. Then they fastened the cords to the settings of filigree, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the Ephod in front. Then they made two rings of gold and fastened them to the two ends of the Breastpiece on its inside edge facing the Ephod. They made two more rings of gold and fastened them in the front of the Ephod to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces, near the seam above the decorated band of the Ephod. The Breastpiece was fastened by running a cord of blue through its rings to the rings of the Ephod so that it rested secure on the decorated band of the Ephod and wouldn’t come loose, just as God had commanded Moses.

^22-26 Robe. They made the robe for the Ephod entirely of blue. The opening of the robe at the center was like a collar, the edge hemmed so that it wouldn’t tear. On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. They also made bells of pure gold and alternated the bells and pomegranates—a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate—all around the hem of the robe that was worn for ministering, just as God had commanded Moses.

^27-29 They also made the tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons, the turban of fine linen, the linen hats, the linen underwear made of fine twisted linen, and sashes of fine twisted linen, blue, purple, and scarlet material and embroidered, just as God had commanded Moses.

^30-31 They made the plate, the sacred crown, of pure gold and engraved on it as on a seal: “Holy to God.” They attached a blue cord to it and fastened it to the turban, just as God had commanded Moses.

³² That completed the work of The Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting. The People of Israel did what God had commanded Moses. They did it all.

^33-41 They presented The Dwelling to Moses, the Tent and all its furnishings:

fastening hooks

frames

crossbars

posts

bases

tenting of tanned ram skins

tenting of dolphin skins

veil of the screen

Chest of The Testimony

with its poles

and Atonement-Cover

Table

with its utensils

and the Bread of the Presence

Lampstand of pure gold

and its lamps all fitted out

and all its utensils

and the oil for the light

Gold Altar

anointing oil

fragrant incense

screen for the entrance to the Tent

Bronze Altar

with its bronze grate

its poles and all its utensils

Washbasin

and its base

hangings for the Courtyard

its cords and its pegs

its posts and bases

screen for the gate of the Courtyard

utensils for ministry in The Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting

woven vestments for ministering in the Sanctuary

sacred vestments for Aaron the priest,

and his sons when serving as priests

^42-43 The Israelites completed all the work, just as God had commanded. Moses saw that they had done all the work and done it exactly as God had commanded. Moses blessed them.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Think about it. Did God really need all of these things of beauty to be worshiped?  I don’t think so, but His people needed to learn how to work together to fulfill His will and true purpose—to BE His people—His Chosen who love Him back and will do what He says for what He says is best for each one of their lives. 

Obedience to God keeps us looking up to God with focus on God.  When our eyes look away, our minds wander into areas of thinking and being that are less than God’s best.

It is the same for us!  God gives us a work to do that will grow and challenge us to love more like He loves us.  He gives all so that we will learn to give all to Him.  Joy and peace follow our “yes” to God in obedience—just as God commands us to be.  God is not looking for perfection but in obedience.  God takes care of all the rest when yielded completely to Him.  Yes, we are not perfect but we are perfectly forgiven in Jesus Name.

One last thought…” I have you in my heart”

All that God does and commands The Chosen has meaning and significance for our ministry with God.  The significant thing about this ephod was not the fabric or the colors. It was that the names of six tribes of Israel were engraved on each onyx stone on the shoulder-pieces, according to their birth order. Whenever the high priest wore his special robes, he carried the people on his shoulders before the Lord.

If the church, (God’s People), is to be faithful as a holy priesthood, believers must serve Christ by serving one another and serving a lost world. Jesus said, “I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27), and it’s His example that we should follow (John 13:12–17).

In the high-powered spiritual atmosphere of the tabernacle, it would be easy for the priest to ignore the common people outside, many of whom had burdens and problems and needed God’s help. “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4).

The high priest not only carried the people on his shoulders, but he also carried them over his heart. If we don’t have sincere love in our hearts, we won’t be concerned about the needs of others, and we won’t want to help them. “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). As servants of God, we should be able to say honestly to the people we serve, “I have you in my heart” (Phil. 1:7).

Lord,

You are teaching us your love for people by challenging us to work together with others to fulfill your will and purpose to help others know and follow you, too.  Help us to love each other by sincerely having each other in our hearts, praying for each other, encouraging each other so that lost people will find you through us.  I have you on my heart.  I have your people in my heart.  Thank you, Lord for this message from Your Word and Holy Spirit that teaches us what you really want—for us to love you back and to love others like you love us.  Unconditionally.

In Jesus Name, Amen

What we do and who we are for God and with God is all wrapped in the story of God.  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) God then created man and woman.  “Made in the image of God, He created them.”  That means His creativity is in us!  God gave gifts, talents and abilities to each of His created humans.  We are created with certain abilities to fulfill God’s purpose and plan for His created. 

“Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that God had commanded Moses. Working with Bezalel was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics and fine linen”.

This magnificent Tent of Meeting was created with purpose.  The God appointed priests will not only meet with God but they will be instructed to sacrifice animals “without blemish” as a representative way to take all the sins of the people and place them on these animals. God thought of everything needed to make this happen in the best way possible.  God is the creator of the original Grill Master as we look over the specifications of the tools used for these burnt offerings!  (I know, but think about it!)  A way is made for the act of redemption to happen in the healthiest way possible.  Look at the details.  God is in the details!

Made to travel!  Although the Tent, Altar, and the rest was made of heavy gold, silver and bronze, it was made to travel well in the wilderness!  The precious metals kept the wood from warping and rotting.  The grate of bronze was kept from rust and decay.  (Not like my grill of cheap metal!) 

The Tent of Meeting would be the forerunner of redemption until Jesus would come to be the perfect sacrifice and redeem us once and for all.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1 

Let us keep Jesus in mind as we read the details from God for His newly rescued People…

Exodus 38, The Message

The Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering

^1-7 He made the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering from acacia wood. He made it seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high. He made horns at each of the four corners. The horns were made of one piece with the Altar and covered with a veneer of bronze. He made from bronze all the utensils for the Altar: the buckets for removing the ashes, shovels, basins, forks, and fire pans. He made a grate of bronze mesh under the ledge halfway up the Altar. He cast four rings at each of the four corners of the bronze grating to hold the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and covered them with a veneer of bronze. He inserted the poles through the rings on the two sides of the Altar for carrying it. The Altar was made out of boards; it was hollow.

The Washbasin

⁸ He made the Bronze Washbasin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women’s work group who were assigned to serve at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

The Courtyard

^9-11 And he made the Courtyard. On the south side the hangings for the Courtyard, woven from fine twisted linen, were 150 feet long, with their twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and fastening hooks and bands of silver. The north side was exactly the same.

^12-20 The west end of the Courtyard had seventy-five feet of hangings with ten posts and bases, and fastening hooks and bands of silver. Across the seventy-five feet at the front, or east end, were twenty-two and a half feet of hangings, with their three posts and bases on one side and the same for the other side. All the hangings around the Courtyard were of fine twisted linen. The bases for the posts were bronze and the fastening hooks and bands on the posts were of silver. The posts of the Courtyard were both capped and banded with silver. The screen at the door of the Courtyard was embroidered in blue, purple, and scarlet fabric with fine twisted linen. It was thirty feet long and seven and a half feet high, matching the hangings of the Courtyard. There were four posts with bases of bronze and fastening hooks of silver; they were capped and banded in silver. All the pegs for The Dwelling and the Courtyard were made of bronze.

* * *

^21-23 This is an inventory of The Dwelling that housed The Testimony drawn up by order of Moses for the work of the Levites under Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that God had commanded Moses. Working with Bezalel was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics and fine linen.

²⁴ Gold. The total amount of gold used in construction of the Sanctuary, all of it contributed freely, weighed out at 1,900 pounds according to the Sanctuary standard.

^25-28 Silver. The silver from those in the community who were registered in the census came to 6,437 pounds according to the Sanctuary standard—that amounted to a beka, or half-shekel, for every registered person aged twenty and over, a total of 603,550 men. They used the three and one-quarter tons of silver to cast the bases for the Sanctuary and for the hangings, one hundred bases at sixty-four pounds each. They used the remaining thirty-seven pounds to make the connecting hooks on the posts, and the caps and bands for the posts.

^29-31 Bronze. The bronze that was brought in weighed 4,522 pounds. It was used to make the door of the Tent of Meeting, the Bronze Altar with its bronze grating, all the utensils of the Altar, the bases around the Courtyard, the bases for the gate of the Courtyard, and all the pegs for The Dwelling and the Courtyard.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

My favorite commentator, Warren Wierbe, explains the significance of each created tool of redemption made from God’s specifications.  He writes,

“Unlike the golden altar of incense in the Holy Place, the bronze altar was a place of bloodshed and death, for “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).

If a sinner could manage to enter the tabernacle courtyard and wash in the laver, that wouldn’t save him, nor would he be forgiven if he entered the Holy Place and ate the bread or burned the incense. The way into the presence of God began at the bronze altar, where innocent animals died for guilty sinners. In short, the bronze altar takes us immediately to Calvary where the Son of God died for the sins of the world (Matt. 26:26–28; John 1:29; 3:14–16; Rom. 5:8; 1 Pet. 2:24). 

Each morning, the priests were to offer a burnt offering on the bronze altar, a picture of total dedication to the Lord. As believers in Jesus Paul says we must offer ourselves each day to God in dedication to God as “living sacrifices.”  This daily act of obedience leads us to knowing God and His perfect will for our lives. 

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  Romans 12:1-2 NLT

Yes, God is not only in the details, He “delights in the details” of our committed lives to Him.  The Psalmist who knew God writes,

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24, NLT

Lord,

You are simply amazing!  You have already thought it all out!  You are in every detail of life because you created life.  You are in every detail, smallest to largest, of our lives.  That’s why we come to you with all that is concerning us, troubling for us, and confusing to us.  You are the Creator of all and in all so you have all the answers! 

You love us beyond our thinking so it is hard at times to think that the Lord of all would be interested in our lives in this way—but you are!

Thank you for saving us from sins that break us. Thank you for picking up all the broken pieces and reshaping us into what you intended for us all along as your child of promise.  Thank you for being in every detail of my life.  I am forever grateful for all you have done, are doing and will do in my life.In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

It is a great day of rejoicing when we clearly see God’s vision for what HE wants.  When we understand God’s perfect will and live to accomplish it; we experience His peace and joy in all circumstances.  Knowing and believing God is in it, nothing holds us back from accomplishing what He tells us to be and do under His guidance.  Why?  Because we have also been set free from the bondage of sin, fully forgiven by Jesus who took our place of punishment.  With humbled gratitude for what has been done for us, we do all for God’s glory!  All this begins by offering ourselves to God.  (Romans 12:1-2)

Imagine Bezalel working away in his makeshift workshop in the wilderness as he puts the collected gold in the fire, molds it to God’s specifications and fashions it into beautiful works of art for the Tent of Meeting with God!  What must he be thinking as he works hard, led by Moses, to fulfill every detail of God’s design.  On top of all that, we must not forget that as he uses his God-given talents, shaped by his work in Egypt as a slave, Bezalel now works to accomplish God’s will as a free man!  Gratitude to God makes everything we are and do turn out beautifully!  This is what God is showing me through this passage today. 

Believe and be free.  Only then will God’s Word make sense in our lives. 

Exodus 37, The Message

The Chest

37 ^1-5 Bezalel made the Chest using acacia wood: He made it three and three-quarters feet long and two and a quarter feet wide and deep. He covered it inside and out with a veneer of pure gold and made a molding of gold all around it. He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. He made poles from acacia wood, covered them with a veneer of gold, and inserted the poles for carrying the Chest into the rings on the sides.

⁶ Next he made a lid of pure gold for the Chest, an Atonement-Cover, three and three-quarters feet long and two and a quarter feet wide.

^7-9 He sculpted two winged angel-cherubim out of hammered gold for the ends of the Atonement-Cover, one angel at one end, one angel at the other. He made them of one piece with the Atonement-Cover. The angels had outstretched wings and appeared to hover over the Atonement-Cover, facing one another but looking down on the Atonement-Cover.

The Table

^10-15 He made the Table from acacia wood. He made it three feet long, one and a half feet wide and two and a quarter feet high. He covered it with a veneer of pure gold and made a molding of gold all around it. He made a border a handbreadth wide all around it and a rim of gold for the border. He cast four rings of gold for it and attached the rings to the four legs parallel to the tabletop. They will serve as holders for the poles used to carry the Table. He made the poles of acacia wood and covered them with a veneer of gold. They will be used to carry the Table.

¹⁶ Out of pure gold he made the utensils for the Table: its plates, bowls, jars, and jugs used for pouring.

The Lampstand

^17-23 He made a Lampstand of pure hammered gold, making its stem and branches, cups, calyxes, and petals all of one piece. It had six branches, three from one side and three from the other; three cups shaped like almond blossoms with calyxes and petals on one branch, three on the next, and so on—the same for all six branches. On the main stem of the Lampstand, there were four cups shaped like almonds, with calyxes and petals, a calyx extending from under each pair of the six branches. The entire Lampstand with its calyxes and stems was fashioned from one piece of hammered pure gold. He made seven of these lamps with their candle snuffers, all out of pure gold.

²⁴ He used a seventy-five-pound brick of pure gold to make the Lampstand and its accessories.

The Altar of Incense

^25-28 He made an Altar for burning incense from acacia wood. He made it a foot and a half square and three feet high, with its horns of one piece with it. He covered it with a veneer of pure gold, its top, sides, and horns, and made a gold molding around it with two rings of gold beneath the molding. He placed the rings on the two opposing sides to serve as holders for poles by which it will be carried. He made the poles of acacia wood and covered them with a veneer of gold.

²⁹ He also prepared with the art of a perfumer the holy anointing oil and the pure aromatic incense.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Although Bezalel oversaw the construction of each item for the tabernacle, Moses personally saw to it that every piece of furniture and every utensil was anointed and placed where it ought to be. God could not and would not dwell in the tabernacle unless everything was done according to the pattern He showed Moses on the mountain (See Exodus 25)

We must listen to those who have been with God as we work together to fulfill what He has given us to be and do.

Look at the significance of The Altar of prayer.  The priests were warned not to use this golden altar for anything other than burning incense (Ex. 30:9), for there are no substitutes for prayer. No amount of sacrificing can take the place of true praying. The golden altar wasn’t a place for making bargains with God or trying to change His mind. It was a place for adoring Him, repenting of sin of self, and praying, “Your will be done.”  The priests will come to represent God’s People at the Altar of prayer. 

We do not need a representative today!  Jesus tore down the curtain between God and mankind when he paid the price to redeem us and set us free forever!  Jesus came to earth to be the Way, the Only Way, the new way to fulfill the commands of God to mankind.  As Jesus’ disciples watched Him pray to God and leave the conversation with peace, they asked Him to teach them how to pray.  You see, pray, that communion with God, seemed to have gotten lost over the centuries and became a mockery of priestly pride. 

Oh how it must have pleased Jesus for his followers to ask for this teaching that clarifies this precious time with God with the right words to say with humble heart. 

“Jesus He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Luke 11, NKJV

Today, because of what Jesus did for us, we come to God in Jesus Name.  Acknowledging God as holy opens the door, asking for His will brings us to His throne with attentive listening, asking for forgiveness in His Son’s Name begins His work of holiness in us, asking God to deliver from evil shows His power over all and in all.

Yes, friends, prayer is important to our relationship of knowing God and truly believing what He says is right, good and pleasing for life with Him. It is knowing that in the Name of the One and Only who saved us from own selfishness, God has our best interests in His heart.

One last thought…Since there was no way to let in natural light from the outside, the gold lampstand was the only source of light available in the Holy Place. Without it, the priests could not have carried on their various ministries.  Today, Jesus is the Light of the world, “in Him there is no darkness.”  Without Jesus, we cannot be and do what God wants us to be and do.

Lord,

Thank you for being our Light, guiding our path, showing us the Way to you and all you have for us.  I love you, Lord, with all my heart, mind and soul.  To you be the glory for all that is good in my life and in the lives of those around me.  To you be the glory for sustaining us, providing for us and protecting us from evil’s desires to lure us away from you. Thank you for your love and forgiveness.  Help me to love and forgive others like you love me.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!

We have been involved in the work of God’s church all of our lives but there is one thing that has never happened in my lifetime.  Never did we hear, stop bringing your offerings, we have more than enough to do what God has given us to do!  Have you?  There might be instances where a manmade goal is set and that goal met but we do not turn down offerings on top of that goal, right?!

When God’s people set their minds to do exactly what God has asked them to be and do in the ways He has designed and commanded with eagerness in their hearts to obey, there will always be enough—more than enough!

Exodus 36, The Message

“Bezalel and Oholiab, along with everyone whom God has given the skill and know-how for making everything involved in the worship of the Sanctuary as commanded by God, are to start to work.”

^2-3 Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab along with all whom God had gifted with the ability to work skillfully with their hands. The men were eager to get started and engage in the work. They took from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the Sanctuary. The people kept on bringing in their freewill offerings, morning after morning.

^4-5 All the artisans who were at work making everything involved in constructing the Sanctuary came, one after another, to Moses, saying, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing this work that God has commanded us to do!”

^6-7 So Moses sent out orders through the camp: “Men! Women! No more offerings for the building of the Sanctuary!”

The people were ordered to stop bringing offerings! There was plenty of material for all the work to be done. Enough and more than enough.

The Tapestries

^8-13 Then all the skilled artisans on The Dwelling made ten tapestries of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric with an angel-cherubim design worked into the material. Each panel of tapestry was forty-six feet long and six feet wide. Five of the panels were joined together, and then the other five. Loops of blue were made along the edge of the outside panel of the first set, and the same on the outside panel of the second set. They made fifty loops on each panel, with the loops opposite each other. Then they made fifty gold clasps and joined the tapestries together so that The Dwelling was one whole.

^14-19 Next they made tapestries of woven goat hair for a tent that would cover The Dwelling. They made eleven panels of these tapestries. The length of each panel was forty-five feet long and six feet wide. They joined five of the panels together, and then the other six, by making fifty loops along the edge of the end panel and fifty loops along the edge of the joining panel, then making fifty clasps of bronze, connecting the clasps to the loops, bringing the tent together. They finished it off by covering the tapestries with tanned rams’ skins dyed red, and covered that with dolphin skins.

The Framing

^20-30 They framed The Dwelling with vertical planks of acacia wood, each section of frame fifteen feet long and two and a quarter feet wide, with two pegs for securing them. They made all the frames identical: twenty frames for the south side, with forty silver sockets to receive the two tenons from each of the twenty frames; they repeated that construction on the north side of The Dwelling. For the rear of The Dwelling facing west, they made six frames, with two additional frames for the rear corners. Both of the two corner frames were double in thickness from top to bottom and fit into a single ring—eight frames altogether with sixteen sockets of silver, two under each frame.

^31-34 They made crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of The Dwelling, five for the other side, and five for the back side facing west. The center crossbar ran from end to end halfway up the frames. They covered the frames with a veneer of gold, made gold rings to hold the crossbars, and covered the crossbars with a veneer of gold.

^35-36 They made the curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. They wove a design of angel-cherubim into it. They made four posts of acacia wood, covered them with a veneer of gold, and cast four silver bases for them.

^37-38 They made a screen for the door of the tent, woven from blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen with embroidery. They framed the weaving with five poles of acacia wood covered with a veneer of gold, and made gold hooks to hang the weaving and five bronze bases for the poles.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God appointed Bezalel and Aholiab to direct the work, for without leaders there would be chaos, but He called for craftsmen to volunteer to assist them.  We are born with different abilities, and at conversion we received different gifts from the Holy Spirit, to be used for the good of the church and the glory of God. (See Romans 12) “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).  Called of God, God provides resources and people to do his perfect will yet today, in our time. 

The Israelites built a tent that long ago turned to dust, but we’re helping to build a “dwelling place of God in the Spirit” that will glorify God eternally.  Paul explains that because of Jesus we are all one in Him.  Our bodies are the temple where God now dwells if we allow Him to come in. 

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”  Ephesians 2:19-22

Jesus is more than enough for us. 

Jesus in us is more than enough for God to come and dwell and be with us.

Lord,

Thank you for being our more than enough so our relationship with You is secure.  God, the Father, Jesus, the Son and Your Holy Spirit—Three in One—is more than enough for me.  You are my everything.  You are all I need.  I love you with all my heart, mind and soul.  I love our times of quiet communion with each other.  Help me now to live this day for you in praise while giving all glory to you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

When something great is to be done, it always begins with a plan with a design for accomplishing the project.  Where did we learn this way of getting something accomplished for the good of many?  People have learned over centuries of time on earth from God who taught his people how to accomplish a great work—even if you are in the middle of a wilderness! 

God, the owner of all, brings his head foreman, Moses to meet with Him.  God gives the “blueprint” with the exact design and plan.  God, being God, already knows who the skilled among His People will be and tells Moses so he can bring them all together to accomplish the plan.  God also knows what the people have in their tents to contribute to the building of the place of worship where God will come and meet with His People through his appointed priests.  God knows, God told Moses what to do with how to do it, now it’s time for the people to implement the God’s plan and very specific design.  This also takes their minds from whining about eating manna to something much larger than themselves.  Mm.

Exodus 35, The Message

Building the Place of Worship

35 Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “These are the things that God has commanded you to do:

^2-3 “Work six days, but the seventh day will be a holy rest day, God’s holy rest day. Anyone who works on this day must be put to death. Don’t light any fires in your homes on the Sabbath day.”

The Offerings

⁴ Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “This is what God has commanded:

^5-9 “Gather from among you an offering for God. Receive on God’s behalf what everyone is willing to give as an offering: gold, silver, bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet material; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned rams’ skins; dolphin skins; acacia wood; lamp oil; spices for anointing oils and for fragrant incense; onyx stones and other stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece.

^10-19 “Come—all of you who have skills—come and make everything that God has commanded: The Dwelling with its tent and cover, its hooks, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; the Chest with its poles, the Atonement-Cover and veiling curtain; the Table with its poles and implements and the Bread of the Presence; the Lampstand for giving light with its furnishings and lamps and the oil for lighting; the Altar of Incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense; the screen for the door at the entrance to The Dwelling; the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering with its bronze grate and poles and all its implements; the Washbasin with its base; the tapestry hangings for the Courtyard with the posts and bases, the screen for the Courtyard gate; the pegs for The Dwelling, the pegs for the Courtyard with their cords; the official vestments for ministering in the Holy Place, the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest and for his sons serving as priests.”

^20-26 So everyone in the community of Israel left the presence of Moses. Then they came back, every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, bringing offerings to God for building the Tent of Meeting, furnishing it for worship and making the holy vestments. They came, both men and women, all the willing spirits among them, offering brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces—anything made of gold—offering up their gold jewelry to God. And anyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned leather; and dolphin skins brought them. Everyone who wanted to offer up silver or bronze as a gift to God brought it. Everyone who had acacia wood that could be used in the work, brought it. All the women skilled at weaving brought their weavings of blue and purple and scarlet fabrics and their fine linens. And all the women who were gifted in spinning, spun the goats’ hair.

^27-29 The leaders brought onyx and other precious stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece. They also brought spices and olive oil for lamp oil, anointing oil, and incense. Every man and woman in Israel whose heart moved them freely to bring something for the work that God through Moses had commanded them to make, brought it, a voluntary offering for God.

Bezalel and Oholiab

^30-35 Moses told the Israelites, “See, God has selected Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He’s filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and know-how for making all sorts of things, to design and work in gold, silver, and bronze; to carve stones and set them; to carve wood, working in every kind of skilled craft. And he’s also made him a teacher, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He’s gifted them with the know-how needed for carving, designing, weaving, and embroidering in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics, and in fine linen. They can make anything and design anything.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESOND?

Where will the materials come from?  For what God gave them when they left Egypt!  All they needed to do what God said; He had already provided.  There had to be a big “ah-ha” moment for all who realized this when Moses asked for the materials needed.  Can you hear the people murmuring…“Oh, I have that in my tent!” 

Remember, back in Exodus 12, when God told Moses to tell His People to ask the Egyptians for their wealth?  The Egyptians were willing to give anything to hurry the departure of the Israelites!  “The people of Israel had done what Moses had said. They had asked the Egyptians for things made of silver and gold and for clothes. And the Lord had given the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. So, the Egyptians let them have whatever they asked for. And they took the best things of Egypt.”  (Exodus 12:35-36). 

Now it the time for those “best things” to be brought out and used to give glory to God as an offering to all He has done for them!

When we realize that God owns all we have been given, we are more likely to “cheerfully” give back a portion of what He has so generously given to us!  May God stir our own hearts!

Who will do the work of the crafting, sewing and building?  Those who already know how to do this kind of craftmanship design from their past work in Egypt!  (God notices everything about all of us!)  They were already gifted by God and trained in practice to do what God had designed as a meeting place with a pattern for the garments for the priests in worship to Him!  God knew before the people knew what would be needed. 

Friends, God also knows what and who we need before we need it.

“Then they came back, every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, bringing offerings to God. 

What has God said that stirs your heart today? 

What is God asking of us to fulfill what He has doing in our midst?

Lord,

Your Word, along with Your Holy Spirit living in us. stirs our hearts as nothing else can.  We know it is for your glory and our good as you invite us to your work with what you have already given to us to do that work well.  You are amazing.  You are all-knowing.  You are the Great Designer.  You are God and we are not.  When we realize the depth of your love for us, we love each other better still. Thank you for who you are and how you care for each one of us.  All I have was yours to begin with, help me to release what you have given to me when you ask.

In Jesus Name, For Your glory, Amen

As children, we must learn how to control what angers us.  When our outbursts from anger of not getting our way leads to spilled milk or other messes, our parents, with wisdom guiding them, gives us the means to clean up the mess we created.  When we are a part of the cleanup, we think twice before letting our anger take control over us.  This learning takes more than one occasion, but is necessary for growing in God’s ways.  Wise parents help their children fix what is broken inside and out.

Even “righteous” anger must be fixed when relationships and important items are broken.  God will help Moses fix what he smashed when he “lost it” over the behavior of God’s People.  Remember the tablets God engraved with his own finger with His commandments for living in relationship with God and others?  Remember two chapters back when Moses came down the mountain to see God’s People partying and worshiping a golden calf instead of God?  In anger, Moses threw down the God-engraved tablets against the rock and smashed God’s Commandments into pieces! 

Now, God is calling Moses back to the mountain to meet him and fix what was broken.  God is patient.  God’s anger is controlled and we learn that He doesn’t give up on us—even when we make a mess of life. God helps us fix what was broken so we can begin anew in our walk with Him.  His best—nothing less.

Exodus 34, The Message

^1-3 God spoke to Moses: “Cut out two tablets of stone just like the originals and engrave on them the words that were on the original tablets you smashed. Be ready in the morning to climb Mount Sinai and get set to meet me on top of the mountain. Not a soul is to go with you; the whole mountain must be clear of people, even animals—not even sheep or oxen can be grazing in front of the mountain.”

^4-7 So Moses cut two tablets of stone just like the originals. He got up early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai as God had commanded him, carrying the two tablets of stone. God descended in the cloud and took up his position there beside him and called out the name, God. God passed in front of him and called out, “God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn’t ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father’s sins to the third and even fourth generation.”

^8-9 At once, Moses fell to the ground and worshiped, saying, “Please, O Master, if you see anything good in me, please Master, travel with us, hard-headed as these people are. Forgive our iniquity and sin. Own us, possess us.”

^10-12 And God said, “As of right now, I’m making a covenant with you: In full sight of your people I will work wonders that have never been created in all the Earth, in any nation. Then all the people with whom you’re living will see how tremendous God’s work is, the work I’ll do for you. Take careful note of all I command you today. I’m clearing your way by driving out Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Stay vigilant. Don’t let down your guard lest you make covenant with the people who live in the land that you are entering and they trip you up.

^13-16 “Tear down their altars, smash their phallic pillars, chop down their fertility poles. Don’t worship any other god. God—his name is The-Jealous-One—is a jealous God. Be careful that you don’t make a covenant with the people who live in the land and take up with their sex-and-religion life, join them in meals at their altars, marry your sons to their women, women who take up with any convenient god or goddess and will get your sons to do the same thing.

¹⁷ “Don’t make molten gods for yourselves.

¹⁸ “Keep the Feast of Unraised Bread. Eat only unraised bread for seven days in the month of Abib—it was in the month of Abib that you came out of Egypt.

¹⁹ “Every firstborn from the womb is mine, all the males of your herds, your firstborn oxen and sheep.

²⁰ “Redeem your firstborn donkey with a lamb. If you don’t redeem it you must break its neck.

“Redeem each of your firstborn sons.

“No one is to show up in my presence empty-handed.

²¹ “Work six days and rest the seventh. Stop working even during plowing and harvesting.

²² “Keep the Feast of Weeks with the first cutting of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

^23-24 “All your men are to appear before the Master, the God of Israel, three times a year. You won’t have to worry about your land when you appear before your God three times each year, for I will drive out the nations before you and give you plenty of land. Nobody’s going to be hanging around plotting ways to get it from you.

²⁵ “Don’t mix the blood of my sacrifices with anything fermented.

“Don’t leave leftovers from the Passover Feast until morning.

²⁶ “Bring the finest of the firstfruits of your produce to the house of your God.

“Don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ God said to Moses: “Now write down these words, for by these words I’ve made a covenant with you and Israel.”

²⁸ Moses was there with God forty days and forty nights. He didn’t eat any food; he didn’t drink any water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words.

^29-30 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn’t know that the skin of his face glowed because he had been speaking with God. Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, saw his radiant face, and held back, afraid to get close to him.

^31-32 Moses called out to them. Aaron and the leaders in the community came back and Moses talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up to him and he passed on the commands, everything that God had told him on Mount Sinai.

^33-35 When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses’ face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God.

WHAT ELSE DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God wants His best for all of us. When life is messed up by our anger, we turn to God who meets with us to fix what is broken.  How?  He gives us what we need to mop up the mess we have made in our lives.  We meet with Him, learn from His Word, and with the help of His Holy Spirit, we understand that following Him is the best life for us to live.

God is a jealous God.  Why?  Because He loves us and knows what is best for each one of us.  When we walk away from what is best, it breaks His heart because of His great, unending, unchanging, relentless, love for us!  “His compassions, they fail not, great is His faithfulness!”  (One of my favorite old hymns reflecting who God is!)

God sent His best to save us from our sins and to teach the full intent of God’s Commandments to us.  Jesus came to seek out the lost, heal the sick, and show the glory of God to a people who had forgotten who He was.  Jesus, God’s Son then laid down his life for our lives, taking our punishment, redeeming us of all sin, once and for all.  With this act of obedience to God with a love that is hard to grasp but necessary to get ahold of, our mess that we made of our lives is now mopped up. 

Because of God’s Way out, we now have a Way in to all that God has to offer—His help and care.  We just show up, give up, repent of our sins and be saved for life!  We are rescued from our former life that led nowhere to a life of all that God wants us to have, His best life, and is forever!  In this imperfect, messed up world we will have troubles and challenges but now we have the power of God in us to face whatever comes!  How can we say no to the One who loves us, more than we can imagine, beyond our wildest dreams?

We get to choose.  Friends, choose well.  It’s a matter of life or death.  Seriously.

Turning our messes into messages, God’s working His best into in our lives as a testimony to Him, is explained simply by Paul to believers everywhere:

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”  Galatians 5:19-26, NLT

What Paul is saying is that when we live like Jesus we usually don’t need laws to govern that way of life.  No one is going to reprimand us for having too much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control!

Yes, our sins, not in part but the whole, are gone forever in Jesus Name!  Jesus—God’s Best in us!

Lord,

There is so much more to learn and meditate on today from this passage alone.  Thank you for wanting your best for us. Thank you for giving us the tools to fix what is broken as if it never happened.  Thank you for your love, mercy and grace that fuels your patience with us.  Thank you for helping us fix what is broken from our anger, jealousy, envy and lack of love.  Help us to love others like you love us—without conditions.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Remember that first day that you lived in your own home, away from the bedroom you occupied in your parent’s home?  What a day of new found freedom, right?  You revel in no one else telling what to do or where to be or who to report back to about your schedule—until you work for a living to earn that place you can call your own.  We learn quickly, in the first ten minutes, that with freedom comes responsibilities.  We realize at some point, we must clean up our own messes that we make.  We rearrange our own furniture, vacuum, mop, scrub toilets, cook and wash dishes afterward—or not.  The results of living on our own, doing what we want will soon show the growth of our character and the motivation of our heart.  Living free will reflect who you really are when unsupervised.

God’s Chosen were left unattended by Moses, God’s appointed leader, for forty days and nights so God could teach him what to teach His People.  Here is the situation.  God’s People have a new found freedom from slavery—from harsh overseers constantly telling them what to do and when to do it under challenging, impossible at times, circumstances.  With this new found freedom in the wilderness, with not much to do, the sin of arrogance sets in with a side dish of stubbornness.  God has done everything to save them.  His People respond with childish behaviors. 

God’s heart is broken and anger sets in, not for God’s sake but for the sake of His People!  He wants His best for them.  They seek only what they want that will lead to less than what God has in store for them.  They are missing out on what God wants for them—this is where the anger of God comes from when human stubbornness and arrogance seeps into the hearts of His People.  God’s anger is different than our anger.  We get angry because we selfishly don’t get our way.  God gets angry because He knows what we will be missing by walking away from His love, care, provision and protection—in other words—His best for us. 

God tells Moses he cannot be where sin is.  He cannot be with people who arrogantly oppose him and stubbornly turn deaf ears from His message of love, rescue, and protection.

Exodus 33, The Message

^1-3 God said to Moses: “Now go. Get on your way from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Head for the land which I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel ahead of you and I’ll drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. It’s a land flowing with milk and honey. But I won’t be with you in person—you’re such a stubborn, hard-headed people!—lest I destroy you on the journey.”

⁴ When the people heard this harsh verdict, they were plunged into gloom and wore long faces. No one put on jewelry.

^5-6 God said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You’re one hard-headed people. I couldn’t stand being with you for even a moment—I’d destroy you. So take off all your jewelry until I figure out what to do with you.’” So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb on.

* * *

^7-10 Moses used to take the Tent and set it up outside the camp, some distance away. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who sought God would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. It went like this: When Moses would go to the Tent, all the people would stand at attention; each man would take his position at the entrance to his tent with his eyes on Moses until he entered the Tent; 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, stand at attention, and then bow down in worship, each man at the entrance to his tent.

¹¹ And God spoke with Moses face-to-face, as neighbors speak to one another. When he would return to the camp, his attendant, the young man Joshua, stayed—he didn’t leave the Tent.

* * *

^12-13 Moses said to God, “Look, you tell me, ‘Lead this people,’ but you don’t let me know whom you’re going to send with me. You tell me, ‘I know you well and you are special to me.’ If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans. That way, I will continue being special to you. Don’t forget, this is your people, your responsibility.”

¹⁴ God said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.”

^15-16 Moses said, “If your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call this trip off right now. How else will it be known that you’re with me in this, with me and your people? Are you traveling with us or not? How else will we know that we’re special, I and your people, among all other people on this planet Earth?”

¹⁷ God said to Moses: “All right. Just as you say; this also I will do, for I know you well and you are special to me. I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Moses said, “Please. Let me see your Glory.”

¹⁹ God said, “I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you; I’ll call out the name, God, right before you. I’ll treat well whomever I want to treat well and I’ll be kind to whomever I want to be kind.”

²⁰ God continued, “But you may not see my face. No one can see me and live.”

^21-23 God said, “Look, here is a place right beside me. Put yourself on this rock. When my Glory passes by, I’ll put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I’ve passed by. Then I’ll take my hand away and you’ll see my back. But you won’t see my face.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The thing that distinguished Israel from the other nations was that their God was present with them, and that’s what Moses requested. His heart must have leaped for joy when he heard God promise to accompany the people and lead them to the place of rest that He had promised. 

Moses was called of God to be the Advocate for His People.  It pleased God that Moses came before him to plead their case, asking for God’s continued Presence with His People. 

Today, Jesus is our Advocate to the Father, God.  Upon believing in Jesus, repenting of our sins, we are to live as redeemed people, God’s children, but with new responsibilities.  We are called to be Christ’s ambassadors (representatives) to the lost in need of a Savior.  In this role, we also have the privilege, coupled with hearts’ desires, to come to the Lord on behalf of others, pleading their case, until they come to Jesus for forgiveness and help on their own. 

Paul explains this role as “reconcilers” like this:

 “…God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, NLT 

Paul knowing his own stubbornness, pride and arrogance before God got a hold of him through Jesus Christ, His Son, also teaches believers how to think in new ways as a representative of Jesus.  Before explaining our responsibilities as reconcilers, he writes:

“Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.”           2 Corinthians 5:11-17, NLT

God gives, it is up to us to receive His gift.  To God be the glory!

God revealed His glory to Moses. The true servant of God is concerned more about the glory of God than about anything else. Moses and the Israelites had seen God’s glory in the pillar of cloud and fire, as well as in the “storm” on Mount Sinai, but Moses wanted to see the intimate glory of God revealed to him personally. God did give Moses a guarded glimpse of His glory and he was satisfied.

When we, as God’s servants are discouraged and disappointed because of the sins of people, the best remedy for a broken heart is a new vision of the glory of God.  God loves showing us His glory in all things of this life as he prepares us for eternal living with Him.  It is up to us to pray and open our eyes with minds fixed on Him.  His glory will be felt, seen, heard with overwhelming love, mercy and grace.  Look up, see it for yourselves.  God’s glory is there for the asking!

Lord,

Thank you for reminding us that stubbornness and arrogance have no place in living in Your Presence.  Forgive us when we think we know more than you.  Yikes.  May all we think, say and do today be pleasing to you, for your glory.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Mom, this is taking forever!  Imagine this being said by your young children with sighs and groans as you teach them how to do a task in ways that will help them later.  Imagine how they draw out the word f-o-r-e-v-e-r and say it in a way that takes forever!  I can still hear their voices even now in my memories. 

We were planting a garden as a family.  It was a lot of fun—in the first ten minutes.  In planting a garden in a new place, it takes a lot of prep work.  First, you must till the soil while taking away the rocks and weeds that you do not want in your garden. Then you hand rake getting the soil ready for seeds to be planted.  If you have ever planted a healthy garden, you know all the rest of the steps.  Our children just wanted to get it done and go back to what they knew best—playing, riding bikes, and being kids without responsibilities.  As parents, we wanted them to learn skills that would last a lifetime. 

(Sidenote:  Today, our oldest daughter and family have a garden that is admired by many and produces enough veggies for the neighborhood where they live! “And the beat goes on…”)

It is time for Moses, the leader of God’s Chosen people to come back down the mountain upon getting instructions from God over the past forty days and nights.  What he comes back to is nothing short of childish behavior, people wanting their own way, reverting back to the ways of the Egyptians—minus the cruel slavery they seem to have forgotten.  “Moses is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r…so let’s build a god we can see.”  Oh my, are we like the Chosen at times?  How quickly we forget God in times of waiting and frustration.  Friends, we must confess, we are just as childish at times.

Exodus 32, The Message

“Make Gods for Us”

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, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what’s happened to him?”

^2-4 So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” They all did it; they removed the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands and cast it in the form of a calf, shaping it with an engraving tool.

The people responded with enthusiasm: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from Egypt!”

⁵ Aaron, taking in the situation, built an altar before the calf.

Aaron then announced, “Tomorrow is a feast day to God!”

⁶ Early the next morning, the people got up and offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings and brought Peace-Offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink and then began to party. It turned into a wild party!

^7-8 God spoke to Moses, “Go! Get down there! Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they’ve turned away from the way I commanded them: They made a molten calf and worshiped it. They’ve sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are the gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”

^9-10 God said to Moses, “I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I’ll make a great nation out of you.”

^11-13 Moses tried to calm his God down. He said, “Why, God, would you lose your temper with your people? Why, you brought them out of Egypt in a tremendous demonstration of power and strength. Why let the Egyptians say, ‘He had it in for them—he brought them out so he could kill them in the mountains, wipe them right off the face of the Earth.’ Stop your anger. Think twice about bringing evil against your people! Think of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you gave your word, telling them ‘I will give you many children, as many as the stars in the sky, and I’ll give this land to your children as their land forever.’”

¹⁴ And God did think twice. He decided not to do the evil he had threatened against his people.

^15-16 Moses turned around and came down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. God made the tablets and God wrote the tablets—engraved them.

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses, “That’s the sound of war in the camp!”

¹⁸ But Moses said,

Those aren’t songs of victory,
And those aren’t songs of defeat,
I hear songs of people throwing a party.

^19-20 And that’s what it was. When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, melted it down with fire, pulverized it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹ Moses said to Aaron, “What on Earth did these people ever do to you that you involved them in this huge sin?”

^22-23 Aaron said, “Master, don’t be angry. You know this people and how set on evil they are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.’

²⁴ “So I said, ‘Who has gold?’ And they took off their jewelry and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf.”

^25-26 Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is on God’s side, join me!” All the Levites stepped up.

²⁷ He then told them, “God’s orders, the God of Israel: ‘Strap on your swords and go to work. Crisscross the camp from one end to the other: Kill brother, friend, neighbor.’”

²⁸ The Levites carried out Moses’ orders. Three thousand of the people were killed that day.

²⁹Moses said, “You confirmed your ordination today—and at great cost, even killing your sons and brothers! And God has blessed you.”

³⁰ The next day Moses addressed the people: “You have sinned an enormous sin! But I am going to go up to God; maybe I’ll be able to clear you of your sin.”

^31-32 Moses went back to God and said, “This is terrible. This people has sinned—it’s an enormous sin! They made gods of gold for themselves. And now, if you will only forgive their sin. . . . But if not, erase me out of the book you’ve written.”

^33-34 God said to Moses, “I’ll only erase from my book those who sin against me. For right now, you go and lead the people to where I told you. Look, my Angel is going ahead of you. On the day, though, when I settle accounts, their sins will certainly be part of the settlement.”

³⁵ God sent a plague on the people because of the calf they and Aaron had made.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Their leader, Moses was learning from God how to live for God and with each other.  The people could not wait for this learning to take place.  They wanted to get on with life in their own ways. “Let’s skip the steps of growing and get on with our new lives of freedom” they seem to be saying.  Let’s just do what we know.  We think the same thoughts when we are challenged with waiting on God while He grows us from the inside out.  We have little patience for how God prepares the soil of our hearts, getting rid of all that does not belong there.  We want our way and we want it now.  The first lesson God teaches new believers is often, wait, chill, listen, and learn from God in the stillness and quiet of the wait.

Admit it.  We want to party as much as the Israelites!  Growing in God’s ways are hard, tedious, and sometimes we fail.  We don’t like to fail.  It is much easier to go our own way thinking our way is best, thinking we have control—until we don’t.  When tough times come and wise decisions of life or death need to be made, who do we turn to for help?  Do we revert back to childhood with what we knew before God by avoiding our problems altogether, hoping they will just go away? 

Do we act childish in the wait for God’s leading?  Yes, this is the toughest of all.

Why did Israel commit such an evil act at such a glorious time in their history? To begin with, they were impatient with Moses who had been on the mountain with God for forty days and nights, and impatience is often the cause of impulsive actions that are sinful.

Israel didn’t know how to live by faith and trust God regardless of where their leader was. Whether Moses was with them or away from them, they criticized him and ignored what he had taught them.  When we avoid, turn away and reject the steps of growing spiritually with God, we will fall to the plight of Israel in childish behaviors while our faith falters and wilts on the vine of our existence.  Have you “been there, done that”? I have.

Israel’s lust for idols was born in Egypt and still worked in their hearts. Aaron fed that appetite by giving the people what they wanted. Much is being said these days about “meeting the felt needs of people,” but here was a nation that didn’t know what its needs really were.

As leaders, we are tested!

In leadership, the difficult experiences with our people either make us or break us, and Moses was about to be tested. God called Israel “your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,” as though the Lord were abandoning the nation to Moses, but Moses soon reminded Him that they were His people and that He had delivered them. Furthermore, God had made a covenant with their forefathers to bless them, multiply them, and give them their land. Moses intended to hold God to His word, and that’s what God wanted him to do!

Sin is always costly, and Israel’s sin had not only led to the death of thousands of people, but it had robbed the nation of the presence of the Lord in the camp and on their pilgrim journey to the Promised Land.

As believers, we must stay as close to God, draw near to Him, abide in His Presence and He promises to abide in us!  We must be so close that we hear the slightest whisper of His voice.  Be childlike in faith. Avoid being childish in behavior.

Lord,

May we never forget what you have done to save us from our sins.  May we never shun the lessons we must learn from you as we grow in our relationship with you.In Jesus Name, For Y

God does not tell us to be and do something without helping us to achieve what He has told us to do.  God knows us.  God knows exactly what we need when we need it. 

When God made it apparent that He was calling Randy and I to leave Oklahoma to pursue his will and plan for us in another place, He made His Presence known to us in all kinds of ways with each step in the move.  He provided a buyer for our home, jobs that would provide for our family, along with soothing and comforting the family we would leave behind.  God sent us helpers and mentors to make the move and to settle in our new place.  Before we left, God even sent a new, young missionary to our garage sale to obtain all my teaching supplies so she could do God’s will in Russia!  You cannot tell me God is not in the details!  God loves all the details of our lives; His Word says so!  He proves it to us over and over again!

Friends, there are so many ways that God has provided as we follow His leading, day after day, year after year.  Our faith in Him is consistently blessed by God in so many ways, then and now, that there is not enough time to tell you!  Be sure of this truth.  When God says go, go without hesitation. When God says stay, put yourself in park and look up to Him for your next steps.  It is in “park” that we learn the most about Him!

Know this for sure, wherever God guides He WILL provide all we need to fulfill His will for each one of us.  Randy and I are living testimonies of God’s love, mercy and grace along with His provisions and protection.  He picked us up and dusted us off when we fell and created lessons from the failures while giving us more strength for the next step in our journey!  Yes, God is like that!  His blessings are greater still when He is growing His character traits in us.  He blesses us with challenging situations that cause us to lean into his wisdom, insight and understanding and learn from those growth times.

God also provides rest when we need it most.  We need rest.  If God rested, who are we to think we don’t need rest?  God commands rest to Moses as a way to take a breath and allow God to make us holy.  “‘Above all, keep my Sabbaths, the sign between me and you, generation after generation, to keep the knowledge alive that I am the God who makes you holy. Keep the Sabbath; it’s holy to you’”.

Camp on these thoughts—

God sent His Son, a part of Himself, to come to earth to be Son of Man and Son of God.  Jesus showed us how to live and to love, really love— not for selfish gain but because of God’s love for us.  “We love God because He first loved us.”  “Without God we do not know love—or God,” John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, relates to us throughout his gospel about Jesus.

Jesus, Son of God, was without sin.  Jesus, Son of Man, lived among the sinful in need of rescue.  Jesus saw, heard, and felt the real needs of God’s created as He walked in the neighborhoods of Israel.  As Son of God, directed by His Father, He healed, encouraged, loved and led people back to Truth—who is God.  He was the One and Only who could restore the relationship between God and man. 

This same God is directing Moses now with how He will provide for His Chosen as they learn and grow in their wilderness journey. 

Exodus 31, The Message

Bezalel and Oholiab

^1-5 God spoke to Moses: “See what I’ve done; I’ve personally chosen Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. I’ve filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him skill and know-how and expertise in every kind of craft to create designs and work in gold, silver, and bronze; to cut and set gemstones; to carve wood—he’s an all-around craftsman.

^6-11 “Not only that, but I’ve given him Oholiab, son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, to work with him. And to all who have an aptitude for crafts I’ve given the skills to make all the things I’ve commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the Chest of The Testimony and its Atonement-Cover, all the implements for the Tent, the Table and its implements, the pure Lampstand and all its implements, the Altar of Incense, the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and all its implements, the Washbasin and its base, the official vestments, the holy vestments for Aaron the priest and his sons in their priestly duties, the anointing oil, and the aromatic incense for the Holy Place—they’ll make everything just the way I’ve commanded you.”

Sabbath

^12-17 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, ‘Above all, keep my Sabbaths, the sign between me and you, generation after generation, to keep the knowledge alive that I am the God who makes you holy. Keep the Sabbath; it’s holy to you. Whoever profanes it will most certainly be put to death. Whoever works on it will be excommunicated from the people. There are six days for work but the seventh day is Sabbath, pure rest, holy to God. Anyone who works on the Sabbath will most certainly be put to death. The Israelites will keep the Sabbath, observe Sabbath-keeping down through the generations, as a standing covenant. It’s a fixed sign between me and the Israelites. Yes, because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long, deep breath.’”

¹⁸ When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses two tablets of Testimony, slabs of stone, written with the finger of God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God guides and provides people and materials to do what He has commanded Moses to do.  He does that for us.  We need to listen to God before we do anything for God.  Follow His lead!

God provides a time to rest in Him, thinking of Him, thanking God for all He has done.  The Sabbath is a time set aside to “take a breath of holiness” that comes only from God who stopped to breathe after creating the world we live in!

“Yes, because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long, deep breath.”

STOP right now and take a long deep breath in Jesus Name and ask God to give you what you really need—more and more of Him!  Exhale all that is wasteful thinking.  Inhale the breath of God!

Lord,

This is my prayer for all of us who believe on Your Name, lean on Your Wisdom with a desire to live in relationship with You—God, our Father in Heaven.  May we see your glory at work today, notice, and praise you with all that is in us.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!

Who doesn’t love the smell of your favorite fragrances wafting in the air? Good smells draw you in and cause you to stay.  Fragrances are memory boosters of past good times and experiences!  To this day I love the smell of fresh bread, so I make homemade bread.  It’s therapeutic!  It makes me happy and peaceful in my thoughts. The smell of fresh bread reminds me of my Grandma Lacquement whose bread everyone wanted.  I can still see her in my thoughts in a cloud of flour around her huge mixing bowls, hair tied back, in her small kitchen.  I remember church bake sales when people asked first for Grandma’s bread. Her bread sold out in a matter of minutes.  Only then would people look at the other baked goods on the table.  This was a labor of love for Grandma.  She loved making people happy.

God created our senses for pleasure and for protection.  Our senses of smell, sight and touch help us to distinguish between what is good for us and what is not.  Have you ever asked your spouse to “smell this to see if it is bad” when you have already smelled and know for sure it is bad?  Our smelling mechanisms are used in a variety of ways, right?

Dear Friends, God loves good fragrances wafting in the air, too.  He created them!  Now God tells Moses how to mix His created spices and herbs for incense to add to oils to burn.  (No, this is not a commercial for essential oils, but I do use them!)  God speaks to Moses about what is good and what is not.  But most of all, God commands obedience in the way the Israelites are to worship Him in truth. 

This is going to be new for God’s People.  God wants to come and meet with them.  With sweet smelling fragrances, He prepares the environment around the Tent of Meeting.  God wants to be their God, their only God, which is the opposite of the Egyptian way of many gods that generations of God’s People have grown accustomed to in slavery to the Pharoah.   Now they are free, delivered, redeemed to serve only God whose love is limitless.

 Exodus 30, The Message

The Altar of Incense

^1-5 “Make an Altar for burning incense. Construct it from acacia wood, one and one-half feet square and three feet high with its horns of one piece with it. Cover it with a veneer of pure gold, its top, sides, and horns, and make a gold molding around it with two rings of gold beneath the molding. Place the rings on the two opposing sides to serve as holders for poles by which it will be carried. Make the poles of acacia wood and cover them with a veneer of gold.

^6-10 “Place the Altar in front of the curtain that hides the Chest of The Testimony, in front of the Atonement-Cover that is over The Testimony where I will meet you. Aaron will burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he polishes the lamps, and again in the evening as he prepares the lamps for lighting, so that there will always be incense burning before God, generation after generation. But don’t burn on this Altar any unholy incense or Whole-Burnt-Offering or Grain-Offering. And don’t pour out Drink-Offerings on it. Once a year Aaron is to purify the Altar horns. Using the blood of the Absolution-Offering of atonement, he is to make this atonement every year down through the generations. It is most holy to God.”

The Atonement-Tax

^11-16 God spoke to Moses: “When you take a head count of the Israelites to keep track of them, all must pay an atonement-tax to God for their life at the time of being registered so that nothing bad will happen because of the registration. Everyone who gets counted is to give a half-shekel (using the standard Sanctuary shekel of a fifth of an ounce to the shekel)—a half-shekel offering to God. Everyone counted, age twenty and up, is to make the offering to God. The rich are not to pay more nor the poor less than the half-shekel offering to God, the atonement-tax for your lives. Take the atonement-tax money from the Israelites and put it to the maintenance of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial fund for the Israelites in honor of God, making atonement for your lives.”

The Washbasin

^17-21 God spoke to Moses: “Make a bronze Washbasin; make it with a bronze base. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the Altar. Put water in it. Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet in it. When they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the Altar to serve there or offer gift offerings to God, they are to wash so they will not die. They are to wash their hands and their feet so they will not die. This is the rule forever, for Aaron and his sons down through the generations.”

Holy Anointing Oil

^22-25 God spoke to Moses: “Take the best spices: twelve and a half pounds of liquid myrrh; half that much, six and a quarter pounds, of fragrant cinnamon; six and a quarter pounds of fragrant cane; twelve and a half pounds of cassia—using the standard Sanctuary weight for all of them—and a gallon of olive oil. Make these into a holy anointing oil, a perfumer’s skillful blend.

^26-29 “Use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the Chest of The Testimony, the Table and all its utensils, the Lampstand and its utensils, the Altar of Incense, the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offerings and all its utensils, and the Washbasin and its base. Dedicate them so they’ll be soaked in holiness, so that anyone who so much as touches them will become holy.

^30-33 “Then anoint Aaron and his sons. Consecrate them as priests to me. Tell the Israelites, ‘This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.’ Don’t pour it on ordinary men. Don’t copy this mixture to use for yourselves. It’s holy; keep it holy. Whoever mixes up anything like it, or puts it on an ordinary person, will be exiled.”

Holy Incense

^34-38 God spoke to Moses: “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum—and add pure frankincense. Mix the spices in equal proportions to make an aromatic incense, the art of a perfumer, salted and pure—holy. Now crush some of it into powder and place some of it before The Testimony in the Tent of Meeting where I will meet with you; it will be for you the holiest of holy places. When you make this incense, you are not to copy the mixture for your own use. It’s holy to God; keep it that way. Whoever copies it for personal use will be excommunicated.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

After a long day of working in the yard on a hot day, the smell that emanates from my body is pretty disgusting.  Is this the time to go to dinner with friends?  No!  I am not fit for seeing anyone until I clean up.  I bathe and put on fresh smelling fragrances before being with anyone.  Isn’t that pretty much what God is telling His Chosen?  Clean up your thinking and behaving, keep the lamplights burning, and add fragrance to your lives by focusing on Me so I can come near you and meet with you—teaching you with help every day in ways that no other gods or humans can.

I’m reminded of Paul teaching believers what it means to smell good to God with our lives!  Jesus, was the “incense” of our redemption.  He is the One and Only who set us free from the bondage of our sins.  Our sins stink.  Jesus’ cleaned and bathed us in the blood of his sacrifice for us.

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”  Ephesians 5:1

Want to smell good to God—Love like Jesus loves us! 

What is the best example of the way He loves? The death of Christ on the cross, which became an offering and a sacrifice to God for us.  Oh friends, the way that God loves is so different from what we normally see that the Scriptures even use an entirely different word to describe it—”agape”.

As you have heard perhaps many times before, the Greek language included at least four different words which might be translated “love.” Each of them describes love in different forms and to different degrees. For now, center on this agape love.  When Paul tells us in verse two that “Christ loved us” he used the word agape which refers to a giving, sacrificial love, a love that gives without asking for anything in return, an unconditional love that loves no matter what. This is a love that depends entirely on the one who loves and not on the merit or response of the one loved.

A great example is found in Romans 5:8—“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This love is a love that represents “a self-emptying self-sacrifice”, not thinking of self at all but of others.  That’s the kind of love Paul is talking about when he thought about Jesus dying on the cross. On the cross, Jesus freely gave of Himself for our sakes. On the cross, Jesus sought our good rather than His own good. On the cross, Jesus made sacrifices on our behalf. On the cross, Jesus gave without asking or seeking anything in return. 

Jesus told his believing followers to take up their cross and follow Him and love like He loves them.  Living in this way is what smells good to God and makes Him smile. 

I want to make God smile, don’t you?

Lord,

I want my thinking and my behavior to smell good to you.  I cannot do this on my own, only by your power working in me.  I know that the only way to transform my life is to give you my life—all of it.  I’m yours, Lord.  Make me into what you created me to be and do from the very beginning.  Help me to love like you love me.  I want to smell good to you, dear Father.  May even this prayer of humility from my heart be a pleasing aroma to you this morning.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen