All Glory to God

Bible:

Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him.

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. Numbers 20:6-13 ESV

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! Psalm 115:1 ESV

Reflection:

Many years ago Helen Keller, a young girl who was both blind and deaf, wrote a story called “The Frost King.” It was a beautiful story, and an amazing feat for a girl who was only ten years old. However, there was a problem. “The Frost King” was very similar to another story that had been read to her about a year earlier. Helen said she was innocent of stealing someone else’s story. She was very young and probably didn’t mean to do anything wrong, but stealing someone else’s work in this way is called plagiarism. Plagiarism can get people into serious trouble–in writing college papers, publishing stories for newspapers, writing books, or even in making songs. The people who have the ideas first want to get the credit for them.

Moses did something like plagiarism. When the people were angry and upset and demanded water, God promised to give them water from a rock again, just as he had done before. He told Moses to speak to the rock. But Moses was so angry and frustrated with the people that he hit the rock with his stick. Much worse, he claimed that he and Aaron were the ones who brought water to Israel! Only God can bring water out of a rock. Moses shouldn’t have claimed that he could do it himself. God had to punish Moses for not giving God the credit and the glory by not allowing him to bring God’s people into the promised land.

God still does amazing things through his people, and we need to remember to give God the credit when that happens. We might work hard and do well in school, for instance, but our ability to study, our good health, and our teachers and parents are all gifts from God. We shouldn’t take all the credit ourselves. Especially when God brings people into his church through our love and witness, we shouldn’t act as if we did it ourselves. Only God the Holy Spirit can change people’s hearts and lives, and we only share God’s love with his help. Most importantly, we can’t become God’s people because of the good things we do. We are sinners, and we needed a Savior to forgive our sins. Jesus did everything we needed to bring us to God, and he gets all the credit!

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all the good things you do for us, especially sending our Savior Jesus. In His Name, Amen.

Source:

http://helenkeller.yottadot.org/frost_king.htm

Not Without God

Bible:

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.”

When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah. Number 14:26-31, 39-45 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:6-9 ESV

Reflection:

Does you mom or dad try to fix things that are broken around the house? Some parents are really good at this, but others are not. In fact, some parents are very bad at fixing things and often end up making everything worse. They would be much better off if they got some help from somebody who is good at making repairs. There’s a funny poem about a father who doesn’t do a good job of fixing things. Part of it says:

“there’s a faucet in the basement that had dripped one drop all year, since he fixed it, we can’t find it
without wearing scuba gear.”

The people of Israel did something even more foolish. They tried to go to war against the people of the promised land without God’s help or promise. They thought they could win the war all by themselves, even though Moses had told them that they wouldn’t be able to. God had said that these people would never enter the promised land, and that only their children would be allowed to. But they didn’t listen, and so they were defeated in battle.

We also need God’s help to enter his kingdom. We can’t do it by ourselves, but sometimes people try to. They think that by being good and doing the right things they can earn God’s love and a place among his people. But no one can do that. The good news is that God sent Jesus to open the way for us to be God’s children. Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins and bring us to God. We never have to try to earn God’s love, but we can be very happy that he gives it to us freely through Jesus.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take away our sins and bring us into your kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Source:

http://poetryhood.weebly.com/humour.html

An Appeal to God’s Promises

Bible:

But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.” Numbers 14:10b-23 ESV

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds. Psalm 57:9-10 ESV

Reflection:

Do you know what a bond is? A bond is a legal document that promises that someone who owes someone else money will pay it back. A bond is a little like an IOU. You might write an IOU to your friend if you borrow some money. If you forget to repay your friend, he or she might show you the IOU to prove that you owe them the money. A bond has more power legally than an IOU, and is used for a lot more money. There’s a saying that talks about an honest person and says that the person’s word is as good as a bond. That means that this person is completely trustworthy. If he or she promises to do something, there’s no need for a legal piece of paper. You can count on that person to keep whatever promise is made.

God was very angry with the people of Israel. They didn’t trust him to bring them to the promised land and even wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt after he had so powerfully freed them. He threatened to send them a terrible plague, and even worse, to stop calling them his people. But Moses pleaded to God for them. He reminded God of his promises to call them his people and bring them to the promised land. He told God that the other nations of the world would see how he had turned away from them and would think that he wasn’t strong enough to save or help them. Moses knew that God is faithful and trustworthy. He could appeal to the promises God had made, because God’s word is as good as his bond. God heard Moses’ prayer, and forgave the people. But he also had to punish them. The people who complained would not see the promised land. The people of Israel would have to wait for a long time, until all the older people who complained had died. Only their children would reach the promised land.

We can always count on God’s promises because he is completely trustworthy. Our sins make us unworthy to come into his kingdom, but he sent Jesus to die on the cross so our sins could be forgiven. He promises that everyone who believes in Jesus becomes one of his people, and will live with him in his promised new world forever. God sends us his Holy Spirit to help us stay faithful to him, and to keep us trusting in what Jesus did for us.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being a God who keeps your promises, and for making us your people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Overflowing Generosity

Bible:

Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord‘s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more. Exodus 35:4-9, 36:2-7 ESV

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.” II Corinthians 9:7-9 ESV

Reflection:

George Bailey was a very good man. He was always helpful and generous, and always put the needs of other people ahead of his own. Almost everyone in his town loved and respected him. But one Christmas George needed some money very badly. When his friends found out, they all helped him and gave him what they could. He ended up with much more money than he needed. People were generous with him because of the love and generosity he had always showed them.

God’s people Israel were invited to bring gifts so that the tabernacle for God could be built. They weren’t required to bring anything; they were just to give if they wanted to. But they remembered all the love and care God had shown them since he had brought them safely out of Egypt, and God’s love and generosity toward them made them feel loving and generous toward God. Like George Bailey’s friends, they brought much more than was needed for the tabernacle. Moses had to tell them to stop bringing their gifts!

God has also been incredibly loving and generous to us. Every day we have new blessings of love and care from him. His greatest blessing was to send Jesus to be our Savior. Because of Jesus we know that we are God’s people forever and that he will always help and bless us. God’s love helps us love him back, and to want to be generous with our gifts. The Holy Spirit gives us cheerful hearts that make us happy to give to God and to other people for Jesus’ sake.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you’ve given us. Please give us generous and cheerful hearts in response. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Source:

Capra, Frank, dir. It’s a Wonderful Life RKO Radio Pictures, 1946. Film.

Fading Glory

Bible:

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.”

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him. Exodus 34:1-2, 29-35 ESV

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. I Corinthians 3:7-13 ESV

Reflection:

Marty built a snowman in the backyard one winter day. It was the best snowman he had ever built. It was huge and tall and round. It had a hat and a scarf, stick arms holding a broom and a shovel, a carrot nose, stone eyes, and a rocky grin. Marty was really proud of his snowman. But a few days later the weather started to get warmer. The sun shone brightly, and the snowman started to melt. Marty knew that his snowman would get smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared. He decided to keep the curtain in his bedroom closed so he wouldn’t have to watch his snowman melt.

Moses did the same thing with the people of Israel. When he came into the presence of the holy God and received the law from him, his face shone with God’s glory. Moses’ shining face made all the people afraid to come near him. Moses called the leaders of the people to come close, but after he talked to them, he covered his face with a veil. His face shone from talking to God, but it would not keep on shining. The glory of God’s law would fade away, and that’s what Moses was covering.

In Jesus, we have something even better than the holy law of God. God’s law is glorious and perfect, but its glory is only for this life. It will always condemn people because no one can live up to it. God’s law can’t save anyone or give anyone life forever with God. But we have the sure promise of living with God always because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus’ death brought us the forgiveness of our sins, and when he rose again he won eternal life for us. The glory of Jesus is much greater than the glory of Moses, and it will never fade away.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for bringing your glory of forgiveness and love and eternal life to us. Amen.

Rock of Ages

Bible:

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” Exodus 33:17-23 ESV

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Psalm 32:1-2 ESV

Reflection:

More than 200 years ago in England a curate named Augustus Toplady was out walking by some rocky cliffs when a thunderstorm broke out. He was able to find refuge from the pouring rain in the cleft of one of the cliffs. From his hiding place he waiting until the storm was over, and while he waited he thought about how his hiding place in the cleft of the rock was a lot like Jesus. This gave him the idea for a hymn, and he began to write the hymn “Rock of Ages,” which begins: “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.”

Augustus Toplady would have known the story of how Moses wanted to see God’s glory. God knew that Moses would not be able to survive if he saw the glory of God, because Moses was a sinner, and a sinner would be destroyed by God’s holiness. So God hid Moses in the cleft of a rock, and he also covered Moses so that he would not be hurt by his glory. Moses was only able to see just a little bit of God’s glory from the back, but even that was an incredible privilege.

When God came to us in Jesus, instead of covering us, he covered his own glory in the human person of Jesus. In Jesus we come to know all of God’s glory and love. Not only that, but Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins. Because of Jesus, our sins are forgiven and our sinfulness is covered. Jesus is like a rock that we can hide in, safe from God’s anger and judgment and safe in his love.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for being my rock, covering my sin and keeping me safe with God. Amen.

Source:

http://officialrockofages.com/Pages/Story.htm

God’s Ambassador

Bible:

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Exodus 33:12-17 ESV

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” Matthew 1:21-23 ESV

Reflection:

Have you ever heard of an ambassador? An ambassador is someone who goes to another country and represents his or her own country there. One famous ambassador for the United States in the past was a woman named Shirley Temple Black. When she was a little girl, she had been a famous actress, but when she grew up she became interested in political work. She was sent by the United States to the country of Ghana, and then later on she became an American ambassador to Czechoslovakia. In her work as an ambassador she spoke for the needs and interests of her own country in a way that the other countries could understand and respect.

Moses was kind of an ambassador for God. God had called him to lead the people of Israel to the promised land. God had been present with his people in a special way until they worshiped the golden calf. Then God had said he would no longer go with his people in that way. Moses was very upset about this and pleaded to God for Israel. God told him that he would be present with Moses. If Moses had God with him, he could lead the people of Israel. He could speak to the people for God in a way they could understand. God would be with his people by being with Moses.

Many years later God sent Jesus, the promised Savior, to his people. Jesus was also an ambassador for God. He spoke to the people for God. But Jesus wasn’t just an ambassador. Jesus was God himself. In Jesus, God was once again present with his people in an even more special way. God was with his people in Jesus then, and he continues to be with us today and always through Jesus. Jesus’ love and forgiveness that he won for us on the cross brought us back to God, and we can be sure that he will never leave us.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for being God with us and for us. Amen.

Source:

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/shirley-temple-politics-103371

No Excuses!

Bible:

And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Exodus 32:21-24 ESV

Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you. Psalm 143:1-2 ESV

Reflection:

The sink in the bathroom of Calvin’s house was leaking, and Calvin thought it would be a good idea to fix it. He got some of his dad’s tools and went to work. But Calvin really didn’t know anything about fixing a sink, and he ended up with a huge mess of water spraying everywhere and flooding the bathroom. His angry father soon came into the bathroom. Calvin tried to lie to his father. First he said that the spraying water had started all by itself. Then he said that his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, had done it. Finally he said that big, bug-eyed aliens with tentacles had come and caused the problem. Each of these reasons was sillier than the one before. None of them got him out of trouble with his dad.

When Moses asked his brother Aaron how he could have allowed the people of Israel to get so out of control in singing and dancing to an idol, and how he could have made the golden calf for them to worship, Aaron told a lie that was just as foolish as Calvin’s lies. He said that he had taken the gold and thrown it into the fire, and that the calf had come out of the fire all by itself. How silly! It was an excuse that wouldn’t fool anyone.

Sometimes when we are afraid of getting into trouble, we might tell lies like Calvin and Aaron did. We do this because we don’t want to be punished for what we did wrong. Most of the time parents and teachers know when we are lying, and we get into worse trouble than we would have otherwise. It’s always better to tell the truth. When we talk to God, it’s especially silly to lie. God knows everything, and there’s nothing we can hide from him. But there’s another reason it’s really foolish to lie to God. We don’t have to be afraid that he will punish us for our sins. He sent Jesus, who took the punishment for our sins onto himself at the cross. When we know we have done something wrong, we can go to God and tell him the truth. Because of Jesus, we can always be sure that he will forgive us and help us.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Please forgive us our sins for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Source:

Watterson, Bill Weirdos from Another Planet! Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1990. p.81.

Broken Stones and Promises

Bible:

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. Exodus 33:15-20 ESV

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34 ESV

Reflection:

When Mr. and Mrs. Jones got a divorce, it was a very sad and painful thing for both of them. They had promised that they would love each other as long as they both lived, and that they would stay married to each other. But they broke their promises to each other. Not only did they stop loving each other, but Mrs. Jones began to love a different man. Their marriage was over. When Mr. Jones came across their marriage certificate in his papers, he felt so angry and upset about what had happened that he tore the certificate into little pieces.

The way Mr. Jones felt is a lot like the way Moses felt when he came down from the mountain and saw what had happened with the people of Israel. He had just pleaded to God for his people, but now he felt angry and upset himself. Moses was carrying something amazing down the mountain. God had given him two stone tablets with his law and covenant written on them, and God himself had done the writing! But Moses felt so angry about the golden calf that he threw the stone tablets to the ground so that they broke. God’s people had broken their promises to God in the same way that Moses broke the stone tablets.

Many years later God talked to the prophet Jeremiah about the way the people of Israel had broken their covenant with him. He promised that in the future, instead of the old covenant of stone, he would make a new covenant with his people. God would write his law on their hearts. He would forgive their sins and forget about the past, and everyone who belonged to God would know him. When Jesus came, he died on the cross to begin a new covenant with everyone who believes in him. Because of what Jesus did for us, all of our sins are forgiven. We know God, because he sends us his Holy Spirit to help us. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through God’s Word, the Bible, and everyone can know the love of God that comes to us through Jesus.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us into your new covenant, for forgiving our sins, and for teaching us to know you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Anger Like Fire

Bible:

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. Exodus 32:7-14 ESV

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. I John 2:1-2 ESV

Reflection:

When there is a fire, it will burn everything in its path as it gets hotter and hotter. A forest fire can destroy a neighborhood of houses at the edge of the forest if it isn’t stopped. Fire fighters need to respond quickly by digging trenches, clearing brush, spraying water, and sometimes using chemicals to get a fire under control and put it out. In 2014, the Carlton Complex Fire in Washington State burned over 250,000 acres and destroyed 353 homes before it was contained by fire fighters. It started in four different places, and hot winds turned these fires into a terrible firestorm that was very difficult to fight.

God’s people had sinned terribly by making a golden calf to worship, and God’s anger was like a raging forest fire. The people of Israel were in danger of being destroyed by God’s anger. But Moses acted like a fire fighter by pleading to God for them and turning away his anger. He reminded God of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he also reminded God of the good things he had done for the people of Israel by bringing them out of Egypt. Even though the people deserved to be destroyed, God listened to Moses and turned his anger away from the people.

We are also sinful, and deserve anger and punishment from God. But Jesus came to die on the cross for us. When he died on the cross, Jesus took on himself all the punishment we deserve. Because of what Jesus did for us, God forgives all our sins. Jesus is always ready to plead to God on our behalf. His death on the cross is a guarantee of God’s forgiveness and love, and we have God’s promise of life forever with him.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for us and taking our punishment so that we can be God’s children forever. Amen.

Source:

https://www.historylink.org/File/10989