Exodus 15:22-17:16
Grumbling vs. Asking It’s all in your words and your tone of voice. Have you ever noticed that it is not necessarily what you say or what you ask for, but how you ask, that impacts your success? What would the Israelites have done if they had not had Moses to intercede for them? They grumbled and quarreled against Moses and asked the question that would not die (even for 40 years!!) “Why did you bring us out of Egypt?” Moses had to have an incredible love for God and for the Israelites to be able to continue to have compassion for these people! He warned them that they did not grumble against him, but against God – and yet, he petitioned God on their behalf. And God responded. His response is summed up in Exodus 15:26 “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees …” God wanted a response from them – other than grumbling and quarreling. For 40 years, God forced the Israelites to rely on Him for survival – for food and water. And instead of being thankful and asking when they were in need, they grumbled. The grumbled to the point of wanting to stone Moses!! But Moses relied on God. He trusted God and interceded for the people. He knew that he was not in charge and that all of the power and strength came from God – he could do nothing apart from God. Sound like Jesus? Jesus has to have had an incredible amount of love for God and us to be able to have compassion for us when we are unlovable. Do we continually test God? Are we grateful or do we grumble against our leaders? If so, we grumble against God. Do we quarrel with each other? Do we ask nicely or do we demand to have our way? God’s response and His desire for us is the same as His response and desire for the Israelites: “Listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees …” think about it...
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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As people we all tend to ignore God unless something bad in our life has happened and we come running to him. When we are finally okay we just go back to being normal. How do you think this hurts God's feelings as well. It feels so great for Him to see that we need him but when we turn around and just use Him i think it breaks His heart. We should not only be with God when we are sad but when we are happy!! We should be thankful towards Him for our happiness!!!! and keep on staying in His arms...wont that make him so happy!!! It will also make us happy to have Him in control of our lives. Just imagine your so happy and you express that with God and let him take that happiness farther..you'll be EXTREMELY happy. You will wow the people around you.
ReplyDeleteI think that lots of us try to short cut God like the Israelites did in the desert. We sometimes we think were smarter then God even in simple things, like when the people kept the food God had given them fo the next day and then it was filled with maggots and odors. It's not a big deal but is not what God had told them to do. It shows that even in simple things that God knows what is right and we should obey him even if it seems pointless. Braden
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of the time we think either we're smarter than God or we just think that our way is better so we don't even take the time to try his way. A lot of the time it comes down to patience and trusting him, and if it is his will, it will be ours.
ReplyDeletei really agree with emily. We tend to just call on God when things get bad. We should always rely on God no matter what the situation. I think it is really importany to have a good relationship with God all the time.
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