Lessons from Exodus 34

I haven't posted lately from our Exodus study. I'll try to summarize ( really I will) some nuggets I am marinading in from our current chapter.

Exodus 34
1 The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain." 4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." 58 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 "O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance." 10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. 17 "Do not make cast idols. 18 "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. 19 "The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed. 21 "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. 22 "Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God. 25 "Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning. 26 "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk." 27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. 29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
Observations / Applications:
vs 1 which you broke
it's just a little hhhmmm - God seems to want Moses to remember his anger towards the sin of the people. Don't be unwise Moses remember who you are dealing with and the tendency they have. O how I know this place. I need to have forgiveness in my heart however, I believe it's wise to remember who and what you are dealing with. Lately it seems as if the intent and condition of hearts are being exposed. I believe that part of Gods plan in this is so that we walk forward in wisdom not ignorantly. It is always good to know who we are dealing with. I know this sounds pretty sticky but lets put it this way. If you became aware of someones secret sin life, you wouldn't continue to go to this person for Holy Spirit filled wise council now would you? So this is my thought process on this piece of verse 1 - Moses remember who you are dealing with and approach them in a more wise way.

vs. 2 Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.
What did Moses do to present himself to God? what did his act of consecration look like? I am walking a road of consecration right now and it is painful, messy and often times a little destructive. As God is revealing the deep yuck in my heart, bringing it to the surface so that I no longer live a life with scales over my eyes. Behavior isn't always the most glorifying. I know it's not really supposed to - it's supposed to be painful so that my response will be that of bended knee repentance before a Holy God so that He can consume the ties that bind me and bring healing with freedom to my soul. Consecration so that filling can come - this is my lifes walk right now.
Another chunk that we need to be mindful of is that in this process it is messy so we need to walk with grace, mercy and understanding with those around us - God is working and the killing of the flesh is often bloody.

vs 4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands
these tablets could not have been as big as we always see depicted. But they had to be a heavy. I see a picture here for us that we need to consider the cost in meeting with the Lord at times. Are we willing to go that extra uncomfortable mile in order to spend time with the Lord. Shoot I think about the excuses I hear all the time and looking at this I think really you want to go there with your excuse. A good reminder that yes meeting with the Lord will not often times NOT be easy.

vs 7 Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
This is a piece of scripture that actually helps hold me accountable. I can only imagine the hell that my son will have to live in as this country continues down the path that it has been. To think that the sins of Bobby and I will effect Aaron and he will have to live in the consequences of those sins is a very daunting thought. He already is living in the consequences of our sins from our early beginnings but for us to know better now and add to that. Well let’s just say that this is a piece of scripture that has been used in my life to halt me more times then 100,000,000

vs 8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped
worship here is the act of reverence, a yielded body and heart before God. I’ve been doing a study for the past 4 months or so on the physical / spiritual blend of our acts of praise, worship, and blessing towards God. I am fascinated with the fact that I have gotten it wrong for so long. Until this last little while I never understood the importance of the physical act of worship( raising hands / bending knees / throwing hands etc...) Sure it feels manufactured in the beginning but somewhere along the way something happens in the heart as a result of the physical act.

vs.12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. & vs15 "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
I see this as a piece of wisdom in how we are to live our lives now. Be careful who we get into company with [ Ministry, business, relationships] to see that those that we engage with in these areas that we are unequally yoked how can we not expect them to be a snare. It’s right here in this verse as a warning and yet how often I have been so misguided. Sure we are to be salt but to allow people intimately into your life that you are not equally yoked with is foolishness.

vs14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
I just learned the difference in Jealous and Envy - how did I go 43 years never knowing this.
Jealous: when someone has something that you want as well
Envy: when someone has something and you want it but you DO NOT want them to have it at all.

vs 19 "The first offspring of every womb belongs to me
20. Redeem all your firstborn sons.
I need this reminder that Aaron is the Lords. This is timely for me as I am struggling so much with him these days. Of course I know that all children belong to Him and we are only on loan with them. But this verse came at the right time as I so often take him back from the Lord. He is yours Lord NOW FIX HIM!!!!!! (please ;0) )

vs26 "Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.
I am reminded once again to bring the first of everything in my life to the Lord. He gets the best of me and all that I have. It belongs to the Lord. My tithe, my time when I get up, my task and duties, my desires, my all - as I walk in this truth I am seeing that all things really do line up without it being this painstaking plan that we can often make it. Give the first to God and the next step just seems to happen, make sense, be energized, etc..

vs 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water
I have been on a 2 year journey of understanding a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. The first year I stumbled through it with many wrong motives. Many failed attempts but what I am learning is that I just needed to continue to do what God requires. I am learning the power of God that is unleashed during these times of dying to the flesh and fixing it with the act of prayer for another person, a circumstance - whatever it may be at that time that I am praying and fasting for. O how I wish I would have understood the power of this piece of God earlier in my walk. A friend said this most profound statement,
" God tells us to fast, prayer, and give in private. However people do not have any problem praying and giving with wrong motives yet they allow the knowledge that they have of fasting with wrong motives keep them from it their entire walk walk with the Lord" this is a most accurate statement. At least it was my story that's for sure. Fasting is one of the most misunderstood privileges we have in Christ and yet I'm not surprised, Satan knows the power it unleashes and he will do WHATEVER it takes to keep us from doing it. I could go on an on about this one but I told myself I was only going to post snippets of each nugget I got from this chapter.

vs 29 he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. & vs 33b 34 35 , he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
Does my face show the glory of the Lord when I have communed with him. It needs to. My desire is to stay put until I am different. Each time we are with Jesus it should change 'us' a death should take place and a new radiant life should be brought to the surface. I love that it says each time he spoke with the Lord he took of the veil. A reminder to always go before the Lord in complete honesty and transparency ( as if God doesn't already know - duh!)

so there are my main nuggets that I'm working through in this chapter. Just be thankful I only gave the snippets or you would have been here about 2 hours or so. I pray you read something that prompts you this day to dig into and find a nugget for yourself. I promise you God has one for you. Just ask Him and He will give.

always remember to
keep chasing righteousness!!!!

Words I wish I would have wrote

There is nothing I could write myself this day that would be better then this message. If you have ever been blessed to have seen the Spirit of God working through this man, you will be effected greatly by this message. If you have no idea who he is, well guess what you're still gonna be affected by this message. My only other words to you would be to check out his ministry. God is doing a powerful, cross doctrinal work of the Holy Spirit that is effecting thousands for the Kingdom of God.

Here's a message from Nick:

LIFE WITHOUT LIMBS- NICKS NOTE:

Recently, I went to a well-known Southern California theme park with some of my friends who were visiting from Australia. The ride we went on was a tour bus that took us around the park and in and out of some pretty spectacular attractions. Since we were the first to board, my friends and I saw every person who got on the same tour bus. Immediately, I noticed something about each person that I found pretty interesting. I was intrigued by the faces of the people getting on because every person showed a different emotion. I noticed that some faces had smiles from ear-to-ear with great anticipation and excitement, while others had a look of determination, actually pushing their way on to be sure they got the “best seat on the bus”. But honestly, it was seeing children laughing and clapping their hands in candid zeal and eagerness of the ride that really caught my attention and made me laugh the most. The pure delight these kids expressed just before going on a new ride was contagious to me. It made the ride seem so much more exhilarating to me! Later on as I reflected on this experience, I wondered how people, young and old can be in the same situation, like going on the same ride, yet to some it is an exhilarating and breath-taking adventure to be enjoyed, while to others it brings out a selfish determination that seems to ruin the moment for others, and even for themselves.
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5I believe that our perception begins with our attitude – the attitude we harbor in our hearts. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9 We can get so caught up in the details of daily living and “fighting for our rights” that we forget to simply enjoy life and be thankful for God’s goodness. Everyday, we have a choice to either be angry at something, or be thankful for the experience of it. Our heart attitude will strongly influence our perception, which then determines the way we think, feel, act or react. Will you let God determine the attitude of your heart today? “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.” Jeremiah 24:7 Remember, there is a purpose to every stretch of our earthly journey. Even in the midst of a bad time, I want to challenge you to simply thank God for who He is and what He has done (Psalm 123:3, 136:1). He is so worthy! Whatever life situations you are anticipating or experiencing, just know that all things must come to pass, but His mercies endure forever. So, get excited, hold on, and enjoy the ride!! “…for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.” Psalm 130:7 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever!” 1 Chronicles 16:34
Nick Vujicic
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/about-life-without-limbs.php

Today I chose it and I pray tomorrow I will make the same decision.

The ever resonating conversation these days seems to be the difficult times we are in and the understanding that we will continue to head down this path. There doesn't seem to be any debate about the fact that our Lord is sifting us, exposing the weeds from wheat. Teaching us how to walk the harder more blessed road. Each day I pray that I will see everything that comes my way as from the Hand of our sovereign Lord Jesus. Knowing that if it irritates me, good. If it makes me praise Him, good. If I get angry, good. If I feel blessed, good. Each thing is meant to show me and often times others the true nature of my heart. So once again make His Hand in my life real by showing me my complete dependence on a Holy Risen God. Now sure it would be so great to write this if I was in constant victory, but well, no sense lying since I'm on this path of truthfulness. It's crazy hard but today I chose to praise Him. Thanking Him for odd interruptions. Knowing that His narrow road is the blessed road.
I picked up one of my little devotionals earlier and was taken to holding my breath, as I read the following words.

The Road Is Steep

"Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it"

Matthew 7:14

You are a chosen vessel to Me, so do not be filled with filthy lucre. Be undefiled by the lusts of the flesh and untarnished by the pride of life. Be wholesome, humble, simple; for simplicity and a spirit of humility befit one who serves the Lord.

Pride lifts you up. It exalts self rather than Christ. Humility brings down to the level of service, and you are not to be worshiped , but to serve.

You are My treasure. I delight in you when, and only when, you are fully yielded to Me with no thoughts of personal ambition or achievement. If you wish for anything, wish for more of My nearness. If you long for anything, long for more of My place, and My righteousness and more of My love. I will not occupy second place, and My Spirit will leave and impure vessel. Just as sin has no place in heaven, I will not dwell in peace in a heart that harbors evil.

So put away all that defiles you, just as you would cast away an evil-smelling, filthy rag. teach others,a s well, how to maintain mental wholesomeness, and how to experience inner cleansing through confession and rejection of all that offends the Holy Spirit.

Tolerate nothing that dulls the perception of My presence. Cut off, purge out, plead the blood of Christ, use every avenue available to you to rid your soul of sin. Never be satisfied with half measure. Never be deterred by satisfaction with the progress already achieved. Know that this is only the beginning.

Holiness is arrived at by no low road. The road to holiness is narrow and steep and exceedingly lonely. There is no other road.

"It is the way the Master went,

Shall no His servant tread it still?"

Praise and Thanks for this day.

Holy Lord Jesus Father God in Heaven~ I come to You this day Lord thanking You with lifted hands and heart for all that You are Lord Jesus. For being sovereign and seeing everything from both sides of the rod, intricately placing every single thing in alignment with Your pre-ordained purpose. I praise You Jesus for Your kindness that leads us to repentance, where bondage is broken in healing and a life of restoration is possible. I praise You for providing and making provisions according to Your plans and not my own. I praise You for being a place of refuge that is covered in love, peace and tenderness. I praise You for hands to serve, feet to walk, eyes to see, and a mouth to speak. Thank You for Your strength that You give to bear the load that You have placed in my path. I praise You for this difficult season knowing that it will produce a purer heart before You if I but surrender to Your complete work. I look to You and Your promises and keep my eyes fixed there and not on the difficult circumstances that surround me. For You O Lord are worthy to be praised. I thank You for difficult circumstances with people knowing that in it You bring wisdom to know truth of others and it brings wisdom in moving forward. I thank You for teaching love for all. I thank You and Praise You for Your Word: the power and wisdom that it brings. Thank You Lord Jesus - praise You praise You praise Your Holy Name~ AMEN

Where there is a lie - there is no God!!!

So since my reprove has been painful lately, you get to share in the potential conviction of it for your own life. O how I love the power of a blog. I get to be completely honest and no one can interrupt me. ;0) - I just gave one of those creepy, slightly dark sided robust laughters(hahahah)! yes and if you pictured it correctly I was stirring the pot at the same time - really I was!!!

so here it goes......

If you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you were being deceived, would you want that deception exposed so that you could live a more victorious life in Jesus?

Well guess what YOU ARE - WE ARE and the sooner we go to bended knee before the Author of Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him, " what Lord show me - turn over stones - remove the scales from my eyes, ears, mind, and heart" The sooner we begin to live in the blessing and promises of God more abundantly.

Here is a GIANT AHA!!!! moment as of late:
Honesty - I have always pretty much prided myself ( which should have been my first clue) on being an honest person. Honest to a fault of giving many a very critical attitude towards me. I've always figured if people are gonna ask me then I have to tell the truth. I expect honesty in all my relationships and have lived according to the principle, 'where there is a lie - there is no God'. So you can imagine how I reacted when the Lord showed me that I am not a truthful person. When this conviction came to me it was very painful because God began to show me many times where my words were slightly slanted to either protect someone I was talking to because it would be uncomfortable in that moment, make things easier for myself, or just because I thought it sounded better my way. As I began to allow ( key part of this work) God to show me my lying tongue, I was so heavy hearted. Physical anguish to my heart broke me to tears and some how in the repentance of this sin I began to feel a sense of healing and joy. To spare you as the reader from the details, although the details are what brings me such reward, I will edit this greatly. I know this is the work God is doing in me and my story will not necessarily be others. I have become to aware of my words. Daily I ask God to guide me in all I say. Now let's just be real here for a moment, those around me are most likely thinking I'm slightly touched, as my speech seems to be rather slow these days. It's pretty funny actually but what it is - is that I am so much more aware of what I am saying. I must say having people think I'm touched is pretty fun. ;0) - - I have become so much more aware of others and their words of untruthfulness. I just need to be very careful how I respond to this. Let's just say I have responded pretty badly at times and am aware that I have traded one sin for another. How like "the great deceiver" this is to do to us. I am hopeful that at the end of this refinement God will have changed me so to unrecognizable to my former lying self.

This is what I see and some are things God should me in myself.
* Do you say the things people want to hear to make yourself look better? to be liked?
*Do you not say the whole truth and therefore never giving the other person the opportunity to grow. All you do is enable them to stay stuck. You know what's funny / sad about that one is by not being honest with people they don't grow and then we sit around and get frustrated that they are not growing. How crazy backwards is that !
* even in fun not so anything conversations, do you add things or delete things to make the story more interesting.
* Do you say your spouse feels a certain way to bring validity to something when they have no knowledge of it at all - or even maybe it's another person and it's just that you want to make your point sound better so you use someone else of higher respects name.
* are you not honest because you're to embarassed to tell the truth

Feel free to add to the list. All I know is that I am so very thankful of reprove and the healing power that comes from repentance. I chose to write about this because it's freeing and sure I could keep this private however, I am more terrified of the enemy trying to find another way to trip me up by keeping it private. Expose it and it thwarts his work - AMEN for that.
So my orignal statement is still true - honesty is my main thing - I'm just so very thankful that now I am living a more pure of heart truth with that.