Peek-a-Boo!

My youngest daughter has earned the nickname "Boo." She has, for months, loved playing peek-a-boo and hide-and-go-seek. Nothing seems to bring more giggles of glee as when we find her and go "Boo!" So, the name name stuck. The funny thing is she LOVES to be found... over and over again, and I must say that it is really cute when she does this. I guess part of her joy comes from knowing that her father is seeking her.

Did you know that your Father is seeking after you? Jesus testifies to this to the woman at the well when He tells her that, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:23b) In Exodus, God outlines some of what this looks like. God being God, has the right describe to us what His expectations are when it comes to worship. In my reading this morning, I noticed a couple of things that seems to be prerequisites for worshiping in spirit and in truth.

The first thing I noticed is that God is seen for who He is. God himself describes some aspects of His character; He declares to Moses who He is. Moses responds IMMEDIATELY: "Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. " (Ex. 34:8) Just as Christ tells the woman, truth of who God is is part of what God seeks in our worship. How can we worship what we do not know? God has revealed Himself in so many ways in His word, in His creation, in His Son; do you know Him for who He is?

Secondly, I noticed is that God outlines for Moses and the Hebrews "HOW" they were to come to Him. The cool thing is that He not only lays out what He expects them to do or not do in order to worship Him. After He reveals Himself, He then makes provision for them to be right before Him. In verse 10 of the same chapter, God initiates the covenant with His people, so that, as the NIV renders it, "The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. " How would like to try to guess how to please God, knowing that the wrong methods would result in a non-humorous version of the cartoon I posted yesterday?

Lastly, we see that the people responded with glee. In chapter 35, their hearts were moved for God, and they gave massive amounts of money and materials to contribute to the building of the tabernacle. Over and over in scripture, we see that God is seeking those who will do what it takes to honor God not because it is something they HAVE to do, but because it is something they WANT to do. Are you worshipping Him begrudgingly, or is it something that excited you to pour out your love to Him as He deserves? The result in the end of this book was a Tabernacle was constructed to be able to meet with God, and God's Glory filled the place.

These are some of the things that God is seeking. Do we giggle with glee when He finds us, or do we run from Him and hide in shame?

Good Night, Sleep Tight

For those of you that have read and followed my online musings you will have noticed an absence of blog entries, or at least a deviation from the consistency thereof once present. My work schedule has kept me incredibly busy... too busy. My physical body has been wrought with exhaustion from lack of sleep. Even though my body is physically tired, I often fell short in the necessary rest needed. Often times, I find myself up at night replaying the day's events or waking very early going over the tasks before me in the coming day. My mind does not settle, therefore, neither does my body. Sometimes it is worry that keeps me up (or wakes me up), often times however, it is simply a desire to be done with my list. My personality is task-oriented and so I tend to operate best in a context of completing the tasks I have begun. However, when tasks on my list are incomplete, it causes a restlessness within me that can affect my sleep. It is probably a good thing that I am not a farmer or rancher where tasks are seldom completed or at least they drag out for days.

I have, however, been teetering dangerously in a realm that is not healthy neither physically nor spiritually. I was reminded this morning of this as I read an exchange that took place between Moses and the LORD. The Hebrews had just completed the apostasy of the calf in Exodus 32. God is about to wipe them out, Moses pleads for them, and in chapter 33, God says that He would remove His presence from them and not go with them into the promised land. Again Moses pleads that God not remove His presence from His people. There in verse 14 I found my transgression. The LORD says, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you REST."

The rebuke was strong. The sin is a common one especially found in those who serve vocationally in ministry. Although staying in the Word, I have been so wrapped up in doing "the work of the ministry" I have neglected to find rest in Him and just enjoying His presence. Psalm 4 and Psalm 62 reiterates that in God's presence and that alone do we find rest. Jesus offers the same counsel in Matthew 11.

Please bear with me in my repentance. Oh Lord, I have neglected your gift of rest by neglecting your presence. Please forgive me for not trusting in You alone and trying to go it alone. In the words of your servant I find my plea O Lord, "Then he said to Him, 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?'" (Ex. 33:15-16) AMEN.

I pray that we all rest well tonight.

Until "Life" Do Us Part?

"There is not one marriage in today's culture that is not vulnerable. Why? Because we've allowed the culture to seep into our souls. ... Clearly we can no longer pattern our marriages after the people around us -- if we ever could. Not only does the world not know how to divorce-proof its marriages, it is well on the way to making broken relationships the norm!"

-- Dr. Fred Lowery

Longing For Sinai

I sinned this week. Multiple times. Some of those were even deliberate. Don't you judge me though, you have sinned too. But the sixty four dollar question is, "why?" Why, when we know what not to do, or we know what we should do, do we fail miserably? The Apostle Paul struggled with the same issue and his explanation is recorded in the famous Romans 7 passage. But why do we continue in our sin? I think Max Lucado hit the nail on the head, "Sin is not an unfortunate slip or a regrettable act; it is a posture of defiance against a holy God." While we will not be rid of our sin nature until we are finally in the Lord's presence, we are still called to live holy lives.

So, where do we start? In Exodus 20, just after Moses had descended from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the people were literally trembling from the physical expressions of God's might in the mountain. They thought they were about to die. I can only imagine the what it was like. Then, Moses tells the people what I think we too need to hearken to, "''Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.'" (Ex. 20:20)

Several years ago, there was a slogan that became popular on T-shirts and bumper stickers, "No Fear." This appeared everywhere, and eventually took on many different variations. But I think that if we adopt a variation of this, our world would be a different place... our churches would definitely be different places. We should "KNOW FEAR." Very simply put, we sin, because we do not take God seriously. Sometimes, I wish we could revisit Sinai and remember how big God really is. And yet, God continues to give us demonstrations of His might-- reminders that He alone is in charge. Some people call this global warming. I think it is just God flexing His muscles. I have yet to hear the media make the connection of the gross increase in immorality to the increase in natural disasters. Maybe this would be a good study. Any takers?

I Theenk I'm Gonna Need a Beeger God

In my continuing study through the life of the Hebrew people in the Exodus, I came across a passage that has a lesson we would all do well to learn. I know I haven't mastered it yet. And it seems, the older I get, the more I realize how little I really have mastered it. Oh, when I was in my twenties, I thought I had it figured out pretty well. It is the lesson of theology proper. While there are more complicated definitions, theology is simply defined as the study of God. Not long ago, I used to think that theology was boring and only for people who sit in closed seminary offices. However, I have since changed my mind. A.W. Tozer wrote, in Knowledge of the Holy, that worship of God requires that we think rightly about Him. He says, "The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God." That makes sense really, how can we worship what we do not know? Jesus said the same to the woman at the well.

How great is your idea of God? In Exodus 15, the Hebrews had gotten just a few glimpses of how big a God He really is, and it caused them to worship. If you have problems having reasons to worship Him, then perhaps your concept of God is too small. The fact that we cannot begin to fathom the mysteries of all who God is, is a great place to start. My absolute all time favorite quote still remains, "If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped." (Evelyn Underhill) If we are not in a constant state of being awed by our God, perhaps it is time for us to take the little god out of the boxes we so often put Him in and get a bigger God!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever!
Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 (NASB))