Exodus 3 - I will be with you.

Verse 1 - "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro ...............and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb."

Notice how God prepares us ahead of time for the work He calls us to do.

Moses was "tending the flock" - he was taking care of and protecting the flock of Jethro that was entrusted to him. He was leading "the flock to the far side of the desert" - he had or was gaining experience of serving the needs, protecting, and leading the flock entrusted to him on a long journey. He would finish his journey, leading them to the end of the journey to a mountain called Horeb.

Sound familiar to what God was about to call him to do?

It doesn't appear Moses saw the similarity. How many times has God called me to do something that I felt unqualified to do? When I look back, I can see events that have happened, jobs I had, and skills I had used - now God was asking me to use the experiences and skills for His will.

In verse 12 God says, "I will be with you." He is with you. He is with me. He prepares us for the journey, and He goes with us. He never leaves me alone. Thank you, God.

Romans Chapter 8 (read it)

Verse 28 is very popular. Why? Three words for me - ALL & HIS PURPOSE.

God is a "detail god". He is concerned with EVERY detail and circumstance in our lives. There is no coincidence with God. No luck. Nothing unexpected.

The question to ponder is - "Does someone knowing you that well bring you comfort or uneasiness?"

The good news is there is no wrong answer to that question. If you answer "comfort", then you know that comfort comes from our Abba Father. If you answer "uneasy", the same thing - your uneasiness is proof that God is at work in your life.

So, He uses ALL things - in, around, and affecting our lives - to work on some character issue that needs addressed.

Why? HIS PURPOSE - to get me closer to His will for my life, so I can bring glory to Him. As a follower of Christ Jesus, there is no better place than to be in the center of God's will.

Verse 28 should bring us great comfort!

Romans 7:21

"So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me."

Mention the words spiritual warfare, and you may get quite a few strange looks from people, even Christians. The Christians who recognize this term, and use it in conversation - tend to be labeled as "over the top", "crazy", and/or "weird".

Why?

We all have a spirit. Our spirit will live forever - either in heaven or hell. God wants us to be obedient to His word. Satan (i.e. the devil) does not. Satan wants us to do things our way, without consulting or reverence to God. Satan wanted to be God (Isaiah 14:12-15). He tempts us to do the same. Sometimes his temptations are subtle, others definitely not.

TV shows would often show a person struggling over a tough decision as having a small angel on one shoulder, and a small devil on the other - both making their case as to why you should side with them. This is how I need to view Satan's desire to tempt me to do "the next wrong thing" that is disobedient to God's word. Satan is real, and he is looking for any chance to tempt us to turn from God. A weaker Christian, one drowning in sin; is a Christian not being the beacon of light they need or are called to be.

1 Peter 5:8 - "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour."

By recognizing the devil and temptation is real and ever-present; I can not get caught off guard.

Romans 6

Three verses (or partial verses) stick out to me:

(My last view blogs have been about certain Bible chapters I am reading daily as part of a journaling effort with my church - Charter Oak Church - Greensburg, PA. You can the comments on how these passages are impacting others at www.charteroakchurch.blogspot.com.)

1) Verse 8 "if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also LIVE with Him."
2) Verse 10(b) - "the life he lives, He lives to God."
3) Verse 19(a) - "you are weak in your natural selves."

If I am to "live WITH Him", to me that means I need to bring Him along in everything I do - my thoughts, my actions, my job, my life principles, my relationships - I run everything by His authority. In doing so, I "will live my life TO God".

I am "weak in my natural self" - my natural self is to not spend time with God, be selfish in life, live life for me. BUT - if I read His word daily, pray/communicate with Him often, worship collectively with other Christians, learn and apply biblical principles (via the small group) with the support of other Christians - then I am NOT alone in my natural self. Therefore, I am strong - strong in Christ.

Psalm 150 - Praise

A Psalm of praise. Pretty simple.

The only thought that jumped out at me is "when we are in valleys and struggling, our ability to continue to praise Him is an act of faith".

How do you get greater faith?

Praise Him during the difficult times in our lives.

When I look back, it is the "trying times" where God did His greatest work on my character and spiritual development. That requires a praise - HALLELUJAH!

Me a masterpiece?

A couple things hit me with Psalm 139.

Verse 13 - "You knit me together in my mother's womb"; and verse 15 & 16 - "When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be".

1) God surely has a purpose for my existence.
2) How can you ever support abortions? From Gods lips - life starts in the womb!

Finally, this Psalm wonderfully describes the omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (everywhere present), and omnipotent (all powerful) God. I recently read "The Shack" (highly recommend it), and I think this Psalm has greater meaning for me because of it. I have limited God in my life, in my thoughts, and in my prayers.....He is the Creator! He took a blank canvas and created a masterpiece - with the world, with you, and with me. I may often feel unworthy, ugly, or failing - but God sees a masterpiece when He looks at me.

Thank you Jesus!

Thankfulness

Psalm 100: 2 - "Enter His gates with thanksgiving"

Since God is God of all the universe, in control of everything, creator of it ALL; then every area, situation, church, house, car, building, etc. I enter - belongs to Him; so I am entering HIS gates with what? Am I always thankful? Do I show others with how I act/respond that I have a joyous and thankful heart, due to my salvation in Christ? The answer is NO!

Yes, we are sinners, probably incapable of showing 100% thankfulness.

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).

This verse always speaks to me that God is watching our effort. The results will come with more practice, but our effort to improve must be there.This is one area of my life that I really need to improve. Deep-down, I am so thankful for everything my relationship with Christ brings me. I just do not show it, especially to non-believers. I think my personal testimony might be more impactful if I would allow my joyous and thankful heart to show.

Psalm 23

This popular Psalm, read at funerals, offers comfort that the Lord is with us and protects us (The Great Shepherd and His sheep), ONLY if we can say "The Lord is MY shepherd". If we have not accepted His saving grace and claimed Him as our Savior, this Psalm does not apply. That is is really tragic when you think about funerals you may have attended where there was no evidence that the deceased had a relationship with the Lord.

To add to the meaning of this Psalm, I read The Message translation.

"God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side.

Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies.

You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.

I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life."

I love the thought of God chasing after me, to have a relationship with me, to shower me with His love. If I would only chase after Him, to have a relationship with Him, to shower Him with my love; - how incredible that would be.

I have some chasing to do.

Serenity Prayer

Everyone knows this...probably.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."

Good stuff..but it becomes great stuff when you read the entire prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr.

It concludes with:

"Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He would make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next."

Can't add anything to that. As I said.....great stuff!

New Year's resolution: EGR

Are you an EGR giver or receiver?

What is EGR? Well, in Rick Warren's book, A Purpose -Driven Life"; EGR stands for extra grace required. You know...there is that person who's personality and behavior just rubs you the wrong way to the point that you want to smack them. The person needs extra grace.

Up until my recent family vacation to Palm Springs, I thought I was only an EGR giver to other people. This probably wasn't true, but I thought this to be the case. Well......no longer.

Let me briefly give the scenario. My wife and I planned to take a long (2 week) family vacation this year (2008) to Palm Springs, CA. We managed to make it all the way to December without "losing it" due to a lack of vacation. So, we go away just before Christmas to experience our long-awaited trip. One of the special activities my wife wanted to experience was a "whale watching tour on the Pacific Ocean". The first attempt at this cruise was shortened to 30 minutes because of the excessive winds made the ocean unsafe for our journey. We were given our money back. We rescheduled 5 days later when the weather was perfect. We are out on the boat and we come across a massive school of dolphins. It was incredible. They were everywhere...jumping, swimming along side our boat.....it was incredible and beautiful. My wife was "soooooooo" excited.

Then I hear, "my camera memory card is saying full". So....me to the rescue. I thought I would be able to go in, change the pixel size, and create more room for several more pictures. Well, here comes the EGR moment. I stumbled to a screen that said format memory card. I opened it thinking I would see what I needed to click on to create more room on the memory card. It re-formatted the memory card.....and all of my wife's pictures up to this point on our vacation (200+ photos) were deleted!

Can you say, "grounds for divorce", or "jump off the boat and drown yourself"? I, in a 2 second 'menu screen blunder'; sucked all the excitement and joy from my wife's face. I was sick. There were no "do-overs". They were gone, and I was a goner.

At this point, my wife did what I did not think would happen. Through all her disappointment, anger, and complete disbelief - she offered me grace. She said, "Rich, I am so upset; but I know it was an accident." She told me she loved me. I now understood what it means to be an EGR receiver.

So...what is the point to this long blog: whether an EGR giver or receiver, know that true grace comes from God. My wife's relationship with Christ enabled her to give me grace when it was not deserved. So.....in 2009, I am going to give God's grace to all who don't deserve it. I am going to pray that when I do not deserve it, someone will offer it to me. If we all do this, 2009 will be a very special year where God's grace is everywhere!

God's grace is our "do-overs". His Son died in our place so we could have a "do-over" on life - with the chance to live life eternally with God. Be the ultimate EGR receiver....accept Christ as your Savior and experience His grace. I was reminded of how that feels during my vacation.

Happy New Year to all........and to all.....God's grace and peace.