God's Word for Me Today
Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Focus: Change the World!
A note about online study
Introduction to God's Word for Me Today
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, I thank You this day for all the faithful men and women who have gone before me in the faith. As I read about Moses and his struggle to follow You, I am encouraged to know that after the struggle He followed. I thank You that although the disciples of Jesus struggled to follow Him, after Jesus’ resurrection they followed much more eagerly and closely. I know the difference in each case is Your Holy Spirit. Thus, I pray for Your Spirit to be poured out upon me and upon believers everywhere, that we may live as world changers, never being satisfied until every person, everywhere, has had the opportunity to receive You as personal Lord and Savior of all of life. Thank You that I do have opportunity to love You and serve You and by Your grace to be a world changer in my community. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
God's Word for Me Today: Exodus 3:16-22
Today we continue with Moses’ call to follow God and be a world changer, and his struggle to say, “Yes!”
16 "Now go and call together all the leaders of Israel. Tell them, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – appeared to me in a burning bush. He said, "You can be sure that I am watching over you and have seen what is happening to you in Egypt. 17 I promise to rescue you from the oppression of the Egyptians. I will lead you to the land now occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites – a land flowing with milk and honey."' 18 "The leaders of the people of Israel will accept your message. Then all of you must go straight to the king of Egypt and tell him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' 19 "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go except under heavy pressure. 20 So I will reach out and strike at the heart of Egypt with all kinds of miracles. Then at last he will let you go. 21 And I will see to it that the Egyptians treat you well. They will load you down with gifts so you will not leave empty-handed. 22 The Israelite women will ask for silver and gold jewelry and fine clothing from their Egyptian neighbors and their neighbors' guests. With this clothing, you will dress your sons and daughters. In this way, you will plunder the Egyptians!"
Questions for Reflection
When and where does God communicate with you most clearly?
What kind of “heritage” have you received from your ancestors in knowing and following Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?
Questions for Exploration
What are the specific instructions God gives to Moses in this text? (3:16-22)
What does God say will be Egypt’s response to God’s commands? (3:19-22)
What part does Moses play in this text? (3:16-22)
Questions for Understanding
What is God’s purpose in laying out this entire plan before Moses at this time?
How does God identify Himself in this text? What is the significance of this way of identifying Himself to the Israelites?
Questions for Application
In today’s text Moses simply gets to listen to God. Set aside 15 minutes today just to listen to God. You may want to use a bible and spend a portion of the time in Bible reading, since God has spoken most clearly to us of His will through the pages of the Bible.
After spending fifteen minutes or more listening to God—do anything God tells you to do during that time!
The God of the Past, Present and Future!
God tells Moses to tell the people of Israel that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In this way God identifies Himself as the God of the past. He is the God who led and guided Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God tells Moses that the Israelites will believe Him, thus identifying Himself as the God of the present. God is with us in the midst of our daily routine, in the midst of our attempts to be world changers for Him. Then God tells Moses that at first the king of Egypt won’t listen to Moses demands, but ultimately both the king and all the people of Egypt will beg the Israelites to leave, and will load them down with gold and silver before they go. Thus, God is the God of the future! Our God knows the past, and was there! Our God is alive in the present and enlivens every moment by His Holy Spirit! Our God knows the future and will not be caught by surprise by any world event, nor by any action we will ever undertake.
As we go out into the world as witnesses to this amazing God—the God who was, who is, and who evermore will be—what comfort there is to us, and what courage for the task at hand. Jesus told us that as our God, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He promises to be with us in and through all that we are and do. What a promise! When we go out today, not knowing what we will face, God knows. When we consider all the events of the past—successes AND failures---God knows about them. He orchestrated the successes and died to forgive the failures. When consider these great realities the amazing thing is not that people have lived world-changing lives to God’s glory, but that so few have done so. All too often we settle for the status quo, for living the same day over again every day. We change the pages on the calendar as the year moves by, but we forget that the one who created the seasons for our pleasure, is desiring to live and move and give us our being!
As we go out today, let’s go out as world changers. Let’s take courage from God’s call of Moses, a common man who became an uncommon leader by God’s grace. By God’s grace the same “fate” awaits us all!
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