Setting Boundaries--Exodus 19: 10-12

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Humankind hates boundaries.  To them they, represent a lack of freedom.  Every boundary screams, "No!"   My children today do not like that word; neither did My chosen, Israel, in the days when I was leading them through the desert to their Promised Land.

On the day that I chose to meet with Moses on Mt. Sinai, in the wilderness, just 3 months after they had made their historic exit from Egypt, I set up boundaries for all the people except Moses.  I asked him to set up a boundary all around the perimeter of the mountain.  If anyone entered the restricted area, or even touched the border of the mountain, there would surely be consequences:  they would die!  

Now, don't misunderstand My heart; the boundaries were not set up to keep them away from Me.  On the contrary, I wanted them to draw near to Me, but spiritually close, not physically close.  You see, I desired for them to love Me by surrendering to My words and obeying what I said.  I desperately wanted My people to experience a special kind of freedom that can only be found in obeying Me.

It is so easy for you to think about My people, associating their desire to draw physically near to Me with their love and reverence for Me.  However, I was asking them to squash their own desires and feelings (what they wanted to do), and obey My voice instead (19:5).  To obey My words, they would have to make a conscious effort to submit themselves to My desires.  That kind of surrender shows Me their love, not running past My boundaries so that they could feel good.  

The same is true for you, My precious one.  When you ignore My sign saying that something is a "Restricted Area," running ahead with your own plans to meet your own desires, you are making an "Unauthorized Entry."  When you do that, you are walking in disobedience, and there are always consequences, whether you notice them or not.  

My boundaries are to protect you, but they are also to test you.  The boundaries I have set before you are not necessarily boundaries that I set for everyone.  I know what areas of your life need My protection and what areas that I need to test you in, so that your faith may be increased.  To enter where I have said "No!" is no freedom at all; it is disobedience that will lead you to bondage.  

Heed My sign, precious one, for what lies beyond it is a danger for you.  Walk the other direction, and you will be obeying My voice and keeping My covenant with you.  In this alone is your freedom. 

 

I AM . . . The God of the Impossible--Ex. 6

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I purposed to use My servant Moses long before he became My servant.  My plan included 40 years in Egypt, followed by 40 years in Midian, but even that would not completely prepare him to be My servant in the  impossible ministry assignment that I was calling him to.  Between his 40 years in Midian and his Egypt assignment, Moses would have many questions and moments of unbelief.  The fear of Pharaoh and of what I was asking him to do, would cause him to want to run away from his calling.  It was in those "in between days" that I would teach Moses what it meant to be a servant.

Can you hear it in his questioning and unbelieving words?  This is what he said to Me:

• "Who am I to do this?"  (Ex. 3:11)
  
•  "What if my brothers ask who told me to come set them free?"  (Ex. 3:13)
  
•  "What if they will not listen to me?"   (Ex. 4:1)
  
• "What if I can't speak the words out?  You know I am slow of speech and slow of tongue!"   (Ex. 4:10)
  
• "Don't send me; send someone else!"  (Ex. 4:13)
  
• "Why did you bring harm to Your own people, and why have you sent me to help them?  I knew I wouldn't be able to do this.  I told You I wouldn't!"  (Ex. 5:22)
• "My people have not listened to me, so why do You think Pharaoh will?"  (Ex. 6:12)
• "I am not a good spokesperson.  My lips are unskilled.  Pharaoh will not listen to me . . . EVER!"   (Ex. 6:30)

Moses really only had one problem to overcome--his unbelief in Me!  Moses looked at Pharaoh, and then he looked at himself and his people, and he considered the task I gave him to be impossible.  And he was right!   His unbelief, and the  discouragement he felt when he did what I told him, to no avail, clearly show Me what I see over and over again when giving these difficult assignments to My children--that they are more impressed and have more clearly in their sights the problem, not Me.    You see, Moses looked a Pharaoh and was more impressed with what Pharaoh could do than what I could do.  Moses was not even glancing in My direction; he only saw the problem, Pharaoh.

When I give an impossible assignment, it is to teach one thing--that I Am the God of the impossible and that I am to be  trusted, Me alone.  I am utterly faithful to bring about what I say I will do.  It is up to My servants to put their faith in Me, not in  themselves and what they can do on their own.  They must even put the responses of their family and friends aside, and listen only to Me.  It is up to My servants to look to Me alone, not to the circumstances that I have allowed, for in doing so, they will experience fear instead of having complete trust  in Me.

Do you see that you have done this same thing?  I have given you an assignment that is bigger than you, bigger than your ability, bigger than the "helpful tips" others can give you.  But it is not bigger than Me!  Your trust and faith in Me has been growing over the years, but this assignment before you is to help you learn that you need ME!  I want to strip you of your self-reliance and self-sufficiency.  For My plan to be accomplished, you must surrender yourself to Me.  If you do not, then you are tying My hands, and My plan will fail.  I am waiting for your full surrender.

The Sovereign Purposes of Affliction--Exodus 1

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Does it seem that I am far from you when you walk through the dry and parched desert of affliction?  The truth is, I am right there.  I was there for Israel, and I am there for you, too.  When life makes the least sense to you, you can be sure that I am at work, both in your circumstances and in you.

I sent Israel to the land of Egypt, during the time of the great 7 year famine over the entire land.  Joseph was already there, set in a position of power and authority, and he kept the clan of Israel alive so that the line of Messiah might be spared.  But Joseph didn't come to be in Egypt by pleasant circumstances.  He was afflicted by his own brothers, and then sold into slavery. That is what brought him there.  But never lose sight of the fact that I allowed the events.  Why?  Because My purposes would be brought to fruition in just this way.  Joseph grew up in Me as he walked out these heart-wrenching days of despair and anguish.

After his death, the ever-growing and strengthening nation of Israel had worn out the favor of the Pharaoh.  Fear and dread caused Pharaoh to put the Israelites to hard physical labor, not because they had done anything wrong; he did it simply because of his own pride.  Israel, My shepherds-by-trade were forced to become common laborers who would build the cities and memorials in a country that was not their own.  But no matter how difficult Pharaoh made it for My chosen people, no matter how harsh their affliction became, the plan of man would never, could never, overcome My great plan for a nation and the seed that would lead to My own Son.

For hundreds of years, My children toiled in impossible circumstances under the weight of terrible affliction.  But in that very affliction, I caused them to multiply immensely.  I kept them safe from intermarriage in Egypt that would have polluted the bloodline of Christ.  I held them safe and secure in My hand the entire time, preparing them for what would come next in My plan.  In their affliction they became the nation of Israel.  THAT was My goal.

How are you viewing the affliction, test, or trial I am allowing in your life right now?  Do not be discouraged in your desert, for I am the Conductor of this symphony in your life.  While it may sound loud and dissonant, with clanging cymbals and staccato and shrill notes, understand that I write the music.  Surrender to My will, and I assure you, the melody will become more pleasant to your ears.  Your posture in the desert should be the same as in the fruitful plains--kneeling in My presence.  It is there that you will see My face.

Are You "Baking" every day?

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Do you bake every day?  I know I don't, even though I much prefer baking to cooking!  Today's blog has everything to do with baking, but not the kind that you and I are thinking about right now.  

While reading in Ezekiel 46 I came across a "family recipe,"  one that is as old as eternity past.  It is not your ordinary kind of recipe, but one that will produce the sweetest aroma you can imagine, and it reaches to the highest heavens!

As God is concluding His instructions for His chosen people through the prophet Ezekiel regarding the Millennial Temple and the ministry to be carried out in it, He speaks to Ezekiel about the daily sacrifices that will take place in the future.  Ezekiel 46: 13-15 describes the sacrifices as daily . . . morning by morning . . . a continual burnt offering.  On the surface it sounds like the offerings God spoke to Moses about when the very first temple (the Wilderness Tabernacle) was being initiated.  How strange to think about that offering as one that will also be taking place in the Millennial Reign of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, after tribulation!

As I pondered this sacrifice, my thoughts turned to the here and now.  Was there a way for me to offer this kind of sacrifice to God . . . now?  I went back and read the verses again and the Spirit began to open my eyes to this passage's relevance to me today.  This is what He showed me.

The first and most important sacrifice is the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb, without which I have no reason to offer a sacrifice to God.  Jesus is the focal point of my worship, worship which should be happening every single morning, on a daily basis.  With my eyes firmly fixed on the altar of His sacrifice, the old rugged cross, I can see Christ the Lamb as who He truly is, and I also can see myself in light of the that, humbled in my sin and need of Him daily. 

Now I will be able to bring God my proper and true worship, the grain and the oil.   When you "moisten the fine flour" of the Word of God, which is the truth God has given us,  with the "oil" of the Holy Spirit, you only have a sticky, gooey dough.  But when you bake it in an oven (Ezek. 46: 20), you create bread,  baked daily, as you bring the right ingredients together!

Our daily life is the oven in which the bread bakes.  Even as the priests took the flour and the oil, mixed them together, and baked them outside of the temple, so we, the chosen, royal priesthood, are to take the flour (the Word) and the oil (the Holy Spirit) and mix them together. . . daily, morning by morning, for a continual offering!  As we take that "dough" out into our earthly walk, it bakes in the heat of this world and becomes bread.  This bread is the fruit of our walk, which others can then partake of!  This is true worship!

John 4:23-24 says this:

"But an hour is coming, and NOW IS, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in SPIRIT and in TRUTH; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him MUST worship in SPIRIT and in TRUTH."

Isn't it time for the body of Christ to begin to take BAKING a little more seriously?  Make a plan for yourself.  Determine that you are going to mix up a batch of dough every morning as an offering to the Lord.  Then take that dough out into your daily life, and watch how it bakes!  It is time to feed the hungry, but we cannot feed them if we are not, in our own lives, mixing up the batter of the Word and the Spirit and sticking the batter into our lives.  We cannot feed Christ to the world if we are not baking bread!