Numbers 1-20; John 1-15

Over and over again we read these words..."then the Lord said to Moses"...Moses was the pathway that God used to speak to His people...Moses was the people's connection to God. The people were invited into a relationship of Obedience with God. In the Gospel of John we see that God sent Jesus to invite us into an intimate relationship with God. Jesus came and walked among us so that we could know God....what have you learned about God by looking at the Old and New Testament together? What is your pathway...connection to God?

Leviticus 1-27

Sorry that I did not warn you all about the sacrifices in this book and that some of you had a hard time reading it during your lunch break. Lets think about the sacrifices for a moment, I know that we do not do the sacrifices any more. But lets think about what those sacrifices represented. They represented people's thanks and praise to God for the things that were happening in their lives, for the blessing of fruit of the fields, for the blessing of Children, for the blessings of atonement. It was an offering of theirs to God. What do we offer God? What sacrifices is God calling us to make...(a clue...I am not referring to any type of burnt offering in this book)? How have you told God thank you for the blessings in your life? Have you stopped and counted them lately? We are blessed that we have been invited to an intimate relationship with God...what have you done with that invitation? Have you accepted it? Have you denied it? Have you allowed it to change your life?

February 14-23 : Exodus 14-40

So I need to ask for God's forgiveness and yours for I have gotten way behind in this blog! So I thought I would journal on clumps until I catch up...and I commit that I will be caught up by Wednesday of this week!

If we look at these chapters in Exodus we find a theme through out the entire book...God's provision. God provided in times of struggle when the Israelites were crying out for food, God sent bread from heaven, manna. God provided detailed instructions so that there would be no question of what God wanted from His people. In the end of Exodus we can get lost in the instructions, but think about the detail and how important detail is to God. God still cares about the details. Even think about how God created us. God paid close attention to the details, God even created humanbeings to have their own built in airconditioning system so we would not over heat...think about that the next time we are at a summer service and we are all sweaty!

The God who provided for the Isrealites will provide for us today...How is God providing for you?...have you thought to say thank you lately? Or is it just grumbles and complaining that God is hearing from our end?

February 13- Exodus 11-13

When I read this today it struck me that when God told the Israelites to do something to remember it was not to remember a person, it was to remember something God did for them. It was so they would never forget what God had done for them. Why do we do the traditions that we have? What are we trying to remember? How do we remember the mighty acts that God has done for us? Not to create a shrine but to let us never forget the mighty and powerful ways that God has moved and worked among us. What would we want to remember and never forget? What has God done in the life of these churches that we want to make sure that our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren and so on, never forget? When was the last time we celebrated what God was doing in the life of our church? When was the last time we saw God move and work in our lives?

February 12 - Exodus 8-10

It always amazes me as I read through the plagues that God allows to fall upon Egypt that they could go through all of that and still have a hardened heart and not listen to God. Maybe I could have lasted through the frogs...but I hope that I would have listened after that. How many times does God have to prove that He is God before we listen? Pharaoh did not listen or open his heart up to the possibility. How have we hardened our hearts to God's voice? How many times does God have to prove Himself to us before we will be willing to listen and walk in Faith?

February 11 - Exodus 5-7

When I heard the cries of the Hebrew people in chapter 5 to Moses and Aaron, telling them to stop because they are making their lives even harder, it strikes me that sometimes when we are doing what God is calling us to do it can ruffle feathers of people who walk along side us in faith. We need to be open to what God is calling all of us to do, we do need to listen to people and check and make sure we are hearing God right, however we also have to be faithful and do what God tells us to do. If God is calling me to do something, and people are rising up against it, and yet God has shown me in multiple ways and a few have confirmed that they hear the same thing, I have to be faithful to God. Not that long ago our District Superintendent at a meeting told some of us that sometimes we have to take risks in ministry. We pray and hope that those risks will be a success and we wont loose anyone along the way in the process. However, we should be stepping out on faith and being faithful to the tasks that God has called us to, trusting that God will take care of the rest. If we look at the story of Moses and Aaron they do exactly that, they follow God's calling and leading and trust that God is going to take care of the rest. When was the last time you took a step out on faith? How did things work out? How is God calling you to step out in faith today?

February 10 - Exodus 1-4

Whenever I read about the calling of Moses by God, I am reminded that God calls anybody and everybody to do God's work. It does not matter if we cannot talk eloquently or if we are not good and speaking in front of people. It really does not matter what limitations we believe we have, God can use us to do His work if we are willing. We cannot use our short comings as excuses of why we cannot do God's work. The reality is all of us are called to do God's work and be in ministry in the areas we work, play, and live. What do your actions and words say about your relationship with God? How is God calling you? What limitations have you been using as excuses?