Moses

This Week’s Scripture: Exodus 3:1-7:6

Today’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 6:1-13; 6:28-7:6

My thoughts: The Isaraelites were so discouraged and fearful that they couldn’t hear what Moses was telling them. God hardened Pharoah’s heart. Pharoah wouldn’t budge on the request to free the Isaraelites from the land of Egypt.

Moses wondered what he was to do because Pharoah as well as the Israelites weren’t listening. God made it known to Moses he was only being asked to deliver the message to the Israelites and the request to Pharoah. He, God, would free the Isaraelites and be their God. He would perform miraculous signs and wonders through Moses and Aaron before Pharoah to carry His plan to completion. This was so that the Egyptians would know that it was God who freed the Israelites.

I had a lot of “what ifs” to keep me wondering if the commitment of writing and posting day after day on a blog was really going to touch anyone for Him. What if only a few people read the blog? What if I spent a lot of time reading, studying, and writing and no one listens? For eight months I have had no idea how many people have visited my blog. People have commented in passing so I am aware of some people using the site. Friends have mentioned that they have had difficulty posting comments. So I entered my email address. I welcome and am encouraged by the email conversations I have received regarding the daily posts.

Amidst my discouragement God made it clear to me that the blog was not about me and my feelings. Surprise! He is only asking me to do the daily posts. He will do the rest, the touching of hearts of those who come. Further, I have a lot to learn about Him so He will be teaching me as I spend time writing the posts! Now that is exciting!

I clearly heard that He is God and I’m not. Now, I know that and you know that but sometimes we expect ourselves to do it all. We don’t need to. We just need to “be still and know that [He is] God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV).

I shared my story this week with the hope that it may be an encouragement to someone else. When you feel small and inadequate, God sees you and knows you. God loves you and wants you to trust Him. He “will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus”
(Philippians 4:19). I have learned to not hesitate to step out of a comfort zone. He will be there for you!

Meet God in His Word daily. You don’t want to miss what he has to say and even more so, what he has to say TO you. Reading His Words builds faith and is a reminder that He is the same yesterday and today and forever
(Hebrews 13:8 NIV). He took care of Moses and the Israelites in their time and He will take care of YOU now.

I hope you will read the rest of Exodus, the story of how God freed His people from Egyptian bondage through the ministry of His chosen, Moses. There is so much more about Moses we could talk about. I chose to talk about Moses’ struggles with his limitations because I also let my inadequacies get in my way at times. But we can rest in what we know, God is good…all the time!

Think on this week’s Verses. Memorize your favorite.
“…My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)

Job answered God: "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans.”
(Job 42:2 The Message)

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all."
(Proverbs 3:5 The Message)

“…be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV).

Pray using your own words: Be thankful for God’s patience when you lose the strength of your faith to trust in Him. Ask Him to help you listen and keep on track with who He wants you to be. Ask Him to help you know in your heart that He will give you all you need; that He will make your imperfections perfect for what He is calling you to do.

Blog Comments: I would enjoy getting a conversation going for those visiting this site. Thank you for persevering through the security process for posting your comment. Security is in place to keep out spam. You can also send me email by clicking on the connection in the right column.

Moses

This Week’s Scripture: Exodus 3:1-7:6

Today’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 5

My Thoughts: Moses, though reluctant, obeyed and carried out God’s plan with the help of Aaron. We can see the close relationship God and Moses had through their conversations. Although God wasn’t happy about Moses’ reluctance to follow through, He gave Moses what he needed to carry his part of God’s plan through.

I had no idea in mid August where or what I would bring to our reading and thinking. One morning I wanted something different than my usual devotional to start the day. I spotted The Story on my shelf which I had begun reading earlier in the week. I noted a bookmark where I had left off and opened to the page. It was Moses’ story. As I read I began to see my own self in Moses. My struggle with feelings of inadequacy yet my desire to do what I felt I was to do. I began to see how God was working in my life as a result of a slice of Moses’ story.

The thoughts that went through my mind as I read about Moses seemed like a good start for my blog. I have been sharing my thoughts in this week’s blog. It occurred to me that if Moses gave me life lessons then I could discover more life lessons in the lives of other people in the Scriptures. It sounded like a plan was coming together for my blog and one I was excited to plunge in to.

It is exciting when something pops out at me as I read God’s Word. It’s usually words I need to hear and think about. Other people have mentioned the same thing happens to them. Have you heard that you should, “meet God in the scriptures?” What I have described is how God speaks through the scriptures. They are His words. Read the daily passages with me and let me know what thoughts or Scripture God puts on your heart.

Stay close to God as Moses did. You can be assured that when God asks you to do something, He will give you exactly what you need.

Scripture I am thinking on today: Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Proverbs 3:5 (The Message)

Pray using your own words: Thank God that you can trust that He will give you what you need; that He will guide and direct you on the right path, His path. Ask Him to help you find your place to use your gifts to honor Him. Ask Him to help you give up controlling your life on your own and learning to rely more on trusting Him.

Blog Comments: There are many thoughts to consider in the scripture passages we are reading. What message did you receive while reading today’s Scripture? Please email or leave your comments today.

Moses

This Week’s Scripture: Exodus 3:1-7:6

Today’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 4:14-31

My Thoughts: God was not pleased with Moses’ hesitation and his request that someone else be chosen to do what God was asking of him. God was patient with Moses and offered an alternative. Aaron, his brother, would go with him and do the talking. Moses would follow through on God’s plans.

I’m sure that God was not pleased with my hesitation over His plan of providing a place for people to come together online to read and study scripture. God has been patiently working through my self-doubts, exploring other directions in my writing and my mind over heart dilemma.

My heart wasn’t at peace during the time I was away from devotional writing. I was searching for something but didn’t know what was missing. The light turned on one morning when I realized that God was what was missing. I enjoyed my quiet time in scripture and the thoughts that flowed as I wrote about what I learned during time with Him. I realized that I didn’t have or want an alternate plan for my writing. The desire to do it my way melted away. I would follow through on what I knew was God’s plan. He was waiting and is giving me what I need to follow through.

I don’t know how long I will be writing this blog and I still struggle to keep going through my time that frequently gets crunched. This evening I had planned to sit and work on this entry. However I ended up spending time with my 14 month grandchild. Now that is always a wonderful welcome interruption! I have no doubt that God didn’t mind that our time was put on hold. Usually this time of night my mind is signed off but He is guiding my thoughts as always. As Moses discovered, nothing gets in the way of His plans.

Scripture I am thinking on now: Job answered God: "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans.”
Job 42:2 The Message

Pray using your own words: Do you sense God asking you to join Him in His work? Thank God for giving you the gifts that you have. Ask Him to help you find your place to use those gifts to honor Him. Ask Him to give you the strength and courage to step out of your comfort area and be willing to be flexible through your day.

Blog Comments: There are many topics to consider in the scripture passages we are reading. What message did you get while reading today’s Scripture? Please email or leave your comments today.

Moses

I am looking forward to spending time with Moses this week!

This Week’s Scripture: Exodus 3:1-7:6

Today’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 3:1-4:13

My Thoughts: I have no doubt that Moses had a heart that wanted to obey God, but his mind wouldn’t let go of his imperfect speech. He kept focusing on his limitations over and over. He lost the strength of his faith. God gave him signs of His power and still Moses felt he would fail God. Moses was agitated and fearful and at the same time His heart seemed heavy realizing he had to meet God’s expectations. Yet Moses could not get beyond himself to go to Pharoah to ask him to let the Isaraelites leave Egypt.

I have experienced the same mind vs. heart dilemma as Moses. There have been times when my heart wanted to do what God was asking of me and the words rehearsed in my mind made me feel powerfully inadequate.

Instead of being sent to confront Pharoah, I have felt challenged to do this Scripture blog. My mind kept me focused for some time on the knowledge I lacked as I studied and pondered over the scriptures to arrive at a daily post. I kept pressing on, in spite of my self-doubts, as I felt a strong desire in my heart to keep it going. I don’t know when it happened, but God led me to understand that what He wanted was simpler to do than I had envisioned. He was asking me to meet Him in His Word daily and invite someone else to join us. He will be there and He will lead us through.

No matter where we are on our journey through the Scriptures, we can help each other grow in our faith and in our relationship with God. Who do you know that you might invite to join us?

I have learned that God is so much bigger than I allow Him to be in my life sometimes! I need to let go of myself. I can trust God to give me what I need for Him to work through me to accomplish what He wants.
Moses learned this long before me!

Scripture I am thinking on now: “…My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

Pray using your own words: Allow God to be bigger in your life! What do you sense God asking of you? What inadequacy do you feel? What keeps you from being or doing less than what God desires of you? Ask God to help you work through your imperfection and strengthen your faith
to trust in His power.

Blog Comments: What message did you get while reading today’s Scripture? Today’s reading has many topics to consider. Please email or leave your comments today.