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What on Earth Am I Here For?
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Saturday, September 13, 2003
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Moses had 120 years to offer to You. He didn’t live all of them for You, but at the age of 80, he became 100% sold out to You. I pray that from today forward, my life will be 100% sold out to You. I pray that You will so fill me with the Holy Spirit that everything that I am and have will glorify and honor You. I pray that as Moses set aside the pleasures of sin for a season, in order to enjoy eternity with You, that I may do the same. Use me this day to glorify and honor You with everything I am and have. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Verses*
Hebrews 11:23-29
23It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid of what the king might do.
24It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. 27It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt. He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. 28It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
29It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned. 29It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.Reflecting on Moses' Life
What do you see in Moses’ life that is similar to and different from your life?
Digging Deeper For Spiritual Growth
According to the author of the letter to the Hebrews what role did faith play in Moses’ parents hiding him at birth? (11:23)
According to the author of the letter to the Hebrews, what role did faith play in Moses life, and how was it demonstrated? (11:24-28)
According to the author of the letter to the Hebrews, how did the people of Israel respond to the faith demonstrated by Moses, and exercise their own faith? (11:29) According to the author of the letter to the Hebrews, how did the people of Israel respond to the faith demonstrated by Moses, and exercise their own faith? (11:29)
Just Do It!
Moses’ life is summed up by the author of the Hebrews as a life of faith! While that statement is most certainly true, remember that it was on 1/3 of Moses life that was a life of faith. For the first 40 years of his life, Moses enjoyed all the benefits of royalty. He was raised as a “Prince of Egypt” in the Pharaoh’s household. His life must have seemed perfect from the perspective of any outside observer. Yet, Moses never forgot his heritage. He never forgot that he was an Israelite by birth. Eventually, that heritage brought him to walk among his people. Ultimately that heritage led him to a rash act that sent him into the wilderness as a fugitive for the next 40 years of his life.
In the second 40 years of Moses’ life he tended sheep. It had been a crisis at the end of the first 40 years of life—his committing murder!—that had moved him from the highest rung of the ladder of society, to one of the lowest. The Egyptians hates shepherds. That part of Moses that had grown up in Pharaoh’s household must have loathed his mundane and socially reproachable occupation. Yet, dutifully he watched his father-in-law’s sheep. In some ways Moses was a “baby sitter” for 40 years. After all, what is shepherding if not baby-sitting? For the most part shepherding is just being there, showing the sheep were to get food, water, and keeping them safe. Occasionally, it was necessary to scare away a wild beast, or fight off robbers—so shepherding could be a perilous occupation, but for the most part, shepherding is baby-sitting. What better preparation for the final forty years of his life—sheperding the people of Israel—than shepherding a bunch of sheep. As one person put it, “After forty years of hearing sheep go, ‘baaaaa, baaaaa,’ it was probably not all that challenging to hear a million people go, ‘waaaaah, waaaah.”
But in that last 40 years Moses became a friend of God. He spoke with God face to face as a man speaks with a friend. Moses became a great leader—an incredibly great leader. And Moses fulfilled his responsibility before God and humanity, by bring the Israelites to the very border of the promised land.
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Moses’ reminds us that anyone—ANYONE—can do great things if they let God be their guide. Moses couldn’t speak well. He didn’t like being in front of people. He was quiet and reserved, and yet God provided him a “mouthpiece”—his brother Aaron, amazing power direct from him and the resolve to continue on no matter what. Now it’s our turn. It doesn’t matter if we haven’t lived up to God’s potential or purpose in our lives so far—today is a new day. It’s never to late to live the rest of our lives in the name of Jesus! In the same way as Moses did, we can turn our lives over to God and live 100% for Him from here on out. No time is a better time than now, to leave the past behind and live today to God’s glory. Moses, gave up the pleasures of sin—for the moment—so he could enjoy the reward of faith for eternity! What a bargain, and it’s available to each and all of us as we turn our lives over to God and let Him live through us! |
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