Stuck in Egypt? Let Me Introduce You to Yahweh…

This AM when I read how God reveals Himself to Moses as Yahweh, I smiled & thought, “I want you (readers) to know my Yahweh🤗).

God revealed Himself as El Shaddai to Moses’s forefathers, but it is at this poignant page in history that He introduces Himself as The Self Existent & Eternal One.

At the very moment when His people were in desperate need of rescue, He steps into the scene not only as God Almighty, but as a relational God who loves them SO much that He introduces Himself with a name not yet revealed…the great I AM!

In this hour of great need, when the generations of living under Egyptian slavery had taken its toll, He steps in & declares the most powerful & profound thing.

Before I share His words, I encourage you to pause & ask,

❓What’s MY Egypt?

❓Is there an area in my life where I feel bound with chains?

❓Where is freedom lacking?

❓Where do I need the great I AM to move?

It may be a relationship, finances, a poor habit, a physical ailment, an emotional trauma, a situational struggle…whatever it may be, let me introduce you to Yahweh…Today He declares,

“I am the Lord.

I will free you from your oppression & will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt.

I will redeem you with a powerful arm & great acts of judgment.

I will proclaim you as my own people & I will be your God then you will know that I am the Lord your God who is free due from oppression in Egypt.

I will bring you into the land I swore to give Abraham Isaac & Jacob.

I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!”

Yahweh, step into our “Egypt” as our Eternal Unchanging One Who always keeps Your covenant! Free us from the oppression we face (or allow) & rescue us with Your strong arm!

We seek You not only as God & Savior, but as our LORD. We place all the trinkets we cling to at Your feet…our will, our ways, our attitudes, our priorities, our finances, our relationships…all of it! Remove the pronoun “our” & make it all Yours.

Yahweh, we fix our gaze on You & choose to make room for You to do what only You can do-to come as our Rescuer, Redeemer, Healer & Promise Keeper! As the Self Existent & Eternal One, You will ALWAYS be the Source of all we ever need!

#OneYearBible

January 28th One Year Bible Readings

EXODUS 5:22-7:25

MATTHEW 18:21-19:12

PSALM 23:1-6

PROVERBS 5:22-23

Sometimes God Calls Us to Carry a Message That Makes Way for Misunderstanding

Sometimes God calls you to carry a message that makes way for misunderstanding. That’s where I sat last night. I received a long text filled with “shoulds”  from someone who doesn’t have the whole picture of a situation in my family.

To be honest, I want to do the thing the text said I “should”, but I can’t. I’ve actually begged God to let me take action & in no uncertain terms, He’s communicated a hard & steadfast “No.”

It has to do with one of my sons. I want to come to the rescue. I begged God to LET me rescue. Not only did He clearly communicate “No”, He removed the means to do so to ensure I clearly understand I’m not called to become a counterfeit providence of God in my son’s life.

I don’t want to follow God in this…it feels unfair.

I bet Moses felt that way. He begs God with 5 buts to not make him God’s messenger - to the point of invoking God’s anger!😳

When he finally follows & exhorts Pharaoh to, “Let my people go”, the results aren’t quite what Moses expects.

Pharaoh increases the Hebrews workload by making them find their own straw to make bricks while still having to meet the same quota. 

The Hebrew foremen, whipped for not meeting quota, confronts Moses & his brother Aaron saying:

“May the Lord judge & punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh & his officials. You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us!“

If you jump into tomorrow’s reading, you discover that Moses returns to the Lord to protest once again.

Following God is especially hard when our flesh doesn’t agree & common sense says to do opposite.

Sometimes the Lord calls us to carry a message that may lead to misunderstanding. We aren’t called to explain the why, but to simply follow His lead & trust Him with the outcome.

It may make us look bad, it may cause others to share concern (& this is good because they care, but maybe without all the info?) & sometimes, like  with Moses, it can cause the very people you’re called to save, to suffer a little longer. That feels awful.🥲

Father, comfort our hearts in moments of misunderstanding. We draw near to You knowing that following You will always lead to life, even when feelings say otherwise.

#OneYearBible

January 27th One Year Bible Readings

EXODUS 4:1-5:21

MATTHEW 18:1-20

PSALM 22:19-31

PROVERBS 5:15-21

Sometimes a Blazing Fire is Holy Ground Where We Will Hear God’s Call…We Need Only Listen

Have you ever walked through a fiery season of life, thinking all along that it was persecution only to gratefully discover on the other side of it that it was actually an orchestration of God?

I think it’s easy to declare hardships as persecution - & a lot of times it IS - but sometimes, the Lord uses fires to cause us to pause & hear His voice.

This was the case with Moses. He lives his first 40 in Egypt watching his people suffer as slaves. The injustice becomes too much, however & he is forced to flee after he murders an Egyptian who had beaten a Hebrew slave.

God sees the suffering of His people & decides it is time to act. Moses, unknowingly, is about to become His messenger.

One day, as Moses tends his sheep, he sees the most inexplicable thing: a fiery bush that’s not burning.

He thinks it so amazing that he decides to draw near. And when he does? I can only imagine the shock & awe when he hears God call from the MIDDLE of the fiery bush, 

“Moses! Moses!”

With eyes of wonder & a heart to hear, he replies, “Here I am!”

The Lord tells him to remove his shoes for he is on holy ground. Then He introduces Himself as the God of Moses’s ancestors.

He’s seen the suffering of His people & has come to rescue them, but He needs a helper to lead them to the Promised Land, so He ends with an imperative:

“Now go… Lead my people out of Egypt.”

Moses responds with lots of buts… in today’s reading he interrupts God with, “but who am I… but what is your name?”

Sometimes God not only allows fires, but orchestrates them to grab our attention.

We will experience hard things this side of heaven, things that feel like that burning bush! Sometimes, maybe all the time, God can & will speak through it. We just need draw near & have ears to listen to the call.

Father, when fires spring up in our lives, remind us that we just might be standing on holy ground & like that bush, we may be in the fire, but we will not burn. As we draw near, give us ears to hear You speak from the middle of the fire, reminding us of who we are & Who You are as YAHWEH! Give us courage to reply, “Here I am!” when the Great I AM comes calling…even if it’s from the middle of a burning bush!

#OneYearBible

January 26th One Year Bible Readings

EXODUS 2:11-3:22

MATTHEW 17:10-27

PSALM 22:1-18

PROVERBS 5:7-1