LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SABBATH

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20:8-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the end of last month, I wrote a message titled, “A Matter of Rest", and there was some excellent feedback from the readers. One asked the following, a very good question:

Isn’t the Sabbath on Saturday and, if so, why does the majority of Christian churches worship on Sunday?

The inquiry challenged me and so I did a little digging. This is what I found out.

First of all, we need to remember that back in biblical times, the days were observed slightly different to what we observe today. For then, each day actually began at sunset and would extend 24 hours until sunset the next day, far different from our midnight to midnight days.

Second, the scriptures clearly point to the Sabbath, the seventh day designated as a day of holiness and rest by God as being on Saturday with the day starting at sunset on the sixth day, a day we know as Friday.

In support of this consider this passage from the closing verses of Luke, chapter 23, and the opening verses of chapter 24:

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Vv.23:50-56, 24:1-3

Preparation Day was the day before the Sabbath and we read where Joseph and the "women who had come with Jesus from Galilee" went to the tomb where Jesus was placed. In John’s Gospel, we also know that Nicodemus was in this group (19:39).

Leaving the tomb, we know that the women quickly returned home to prepare spices and perfumes to later anoint Jesus’ body.

Why the rush?

Because in accordance with God’s commandment, there was to be no work done on the Sabbath and these women were obviously obedient because the scriptures tell us they “rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment." It wasn’t until the end of the seventh day, "on the first day of the week, very early in the morning” that the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

The first day of the week was Sunday and the women go to the tomb early in the morning only to be shocked in finding the tomb empty. Jesus had indeed risen from the grave as He said He would and this major event on the Christian calendar is celebrated by Easter sunrise services, traditionally observed annually on Easter Sunday morning. This marries up with what we know about church worship services today for they are held on Sunday for the most part but this doesn’t disprove that the Sabbath is Saturday because it can’t be disproved. It is the day the Lord calls for believers to rest and keep holy.

And so what do we do with this?

I think the important thing is to make sure we rest and keep the day holy, no matter if we choose Saturday as our day of worship as the Jews did or Sunday, in honor of the day Jesus was resurrected, a day also called “The Lord’s Day” by many Christian believers. In support of Sunday, many scholars also believe the origin came in the New Testament as Jesus’ disciples gathered regularly on the first day of the week to break bread. Thus the early Christian church saw that day as set apart for fellowship and worship thus establishing the first day of the week as the holy day of worship and rest.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a large number of Christians who don’t hold either weekend day as sacred. The pervasive attitude seems to be that anything goes on Saturday or Sunday after worship with many people allowing other events to even override attending church at all, events like kid’s sports or traveling away from home (there are always churches to attend, no matter where we might go, right?).

Friends, it’s time for us to stand up to the world’s ways where there is no consideration to keep one day holy and free from work, a day when they can just rest and recharge physically, mentally, and spiritually. God said to stop working one day every week. Let’s go back to basics and honor the commandment as they did in biblical times.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

WATCH YOUR WORDS!

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name." Exodus 20:7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The first three of God’s commandments are centered on one very important word: worship.

The first commandment tells us who we should worship, He being God and God alone.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

The second commandment tells what we aren’t to worship.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Vv.4-6

And this brings us to the third of The Ten Commandments which deals with how we worship God (or sin against Him) with our words.

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name." Exodus 20:7

Indeed, in this command, God makes it crystal clear in regard to how we are to speak about Him. Point blank, He demands that we "not misuse” His name. Period.

And yet, I’m afraid too many believers violate this command in the way they live. Here are a few ways that happens.

1. Profanity.

When we curse in the name of God, we misuse His name.

Plain and simple.

Usually, there’s a “d” word that follows God (I’m sure you may have heard it once or twice...or even used it yourself), sometimes as directed to a person or object or just simply said to express some wonder in a thing that has happened. No matter the application, swearing by invoking the name of God is disrespectful and sinful, definitely not holy or of God Himself. Anyways, it’s not like anyone has the authority to command anything, whether damning or otherwise. And frankly, I can imagine He is incensed every time someone does it.

2. Swearing an oath by using His name.

Have you ever heard someone say this:

"I swear to God!"

It’s interesting to me that anyone would use this phrase because it implies that a person wouldn’t believe the person unless they invoked the name of God to back them up. And think about it. How many people have actually went to God and asked His permission to use His name in this way before doing so? It’s rarely done, if ever.

At its core, this is simply just a blatant misuse and abuse of the name of God, and as we see in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 19, it’s a sin against the very Word of God Himself.

"Do not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord." v.12

These are legitimate words that flow from the very mouth of the Lord Himself, a command which demands that no one should swear falsely in His name.

When God says, “Do not”, He means don’t do it and yet believers today seem to feel they have the liberty to do otherwise.

3. When we teach falsely.

This is a matter of absolute, critical importance because there are many self proclaimed believers in our world who claim to be teachers. Some of them are indeed faithful servants of the Lord who He speaks through to the education and edification of others. But then there are also the false teachers out there, ones who would skillfully twist God’s word or even preach only the parts that might support their agenda, which is really Satan’s agenda when we get right down to it.

Jesus warned His disciples to watch out for false teachers.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15

The Apostle Paul would follow suit as he helped spread the Gospel and the Christian church outside of Israel.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Today, the issues still exist as churches support social sins that the Bible speaks against. Still others will only preach and teach prosperity to their congregants, proclaiming a Lord who wants His people to have everything they want without any discussion of the sin that makes mankind an enemy of God and the Hell that awaits anyone who refuses to place their belief in Jesus as Savior.

These false teachers, masquerading as pastors and ministers, do nothing short of dishonoring and discrediting the Lord they claim to represent. They work overtime to get believers to trusting in doctrines that are unbiblical and downright untrue, taking advantage of Christians who refuse to spend enough time in the Bible to see how they are being absolutely deceived.

Friends, when it comes down to it, ministry and discipling others are serious matters that no one can afford to get wrong. Any teacher must allow the Lord, the entirety of His infallible Word, and the power of the Holy Spirit to dictate what they say to others. For it’s the only way that the truth will be known and God will be honored properly.

4. Saying we’re on a mission from God when we aren’t.

Do you remember the classic movie, "The Blues Brothers"?

In the film, there’s a scene where the two musicians, Jake and Elwood, come to the Lord while visiting a church. From that point on, they were determined to put their band back together and raise enough money to save the Catholic children’s home where they had been raised.

After their church epiphany, Jake and Elwood would tell people that they were on a "mission from God" when asked what they were up to but as we see in the movie, they still resorted to sin to try and achieve their purposes.

They, like others today, will seek to invoke God’s name to justify their actions when God really hadn’t had anything to do with them for we know that God isn’t dictating anyone to sin. That’s the work of the devil.

So with all this, and in closing, some questions:

How well are you honoring God with the words you use?

Is He being exalted or insulted by the things you say, especially when you invoke His name?

I know there was a time in my life when I wasn’t in the Lord. I was in the military, knowing all the curse words and when to use them. But when I was born again, everything changed. I truly became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and that included realizing that I was accountable for the words I said.

And so I changed to where, I can’t stand profanity now. I don’t like to hear others curse and that goes for the shows and movies I watch. The Lord gave me an increased sensitivity for honoring Him with the words I use and He can do the same for you if you allow Him to do so.

My prayer today is that you would do just that out of obedience to His third commandment.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

WHO OR WHAT DO YOU WORSHIP?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments."

Exodus 20:4-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we saw God giving His people the first commandment and it was straight to the point.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

The bottom line was that there was one true God and He expected to have His people’s full devotion and attention. This line of thought from the Lord segued nicely into the second command, one at the center of today’s message:

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them."

Ask yourself this:

Has anyone in the history of humankind ever seen God with the exception of Jesus?

The answer is a solid “no”.

It was true during the time of the Old Testament Israelites during and after their exodus from Egypt as they arrived at and took custody of Canaan, the land God had promised them.

And so if no one has ever seen God, how in the world could they ever develop anything in His likeness to worship?

The truth is that they couldn’t but they could create substitutes “in the form of” things in the world, and indeed they have.

You remember that while Moses was up on Mount Sinai getting these instructions, the Israelites were using what gold they had to fashion a calf and then were giving it their worship, much like what they had seen first-hand during their Egyptian captivity (Exodus 32).

As for present times, think about all the different “idols” that exist in the world, things or people that are adored by large numbers of people. These could include:

Professional athletes.

Television or movie stars.

Singers or other music performers (we even have a show on television called “American Idol”!).

Politicians.

Models.

And in some instances, even ministers, pastors, priests, and evangelists are revered so fervently, you would think they were God Himself 

You know, all this makes me start to wonder how God feels about us and the way we bow down and worship so many other things outside of Him but then I don’t have to wonder too long because I only need to take one look at His word and find out how He feels.

"I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. 

Given this, why would anyone want to willingly inflame God’s wrath, not only upon themselves but generations thereafter?

And yet, countless people violate this command every day, freely extending worship toward idols while lifting other gods before the true God of all creation 

The point God is making is clear.

If you wish to be a person who lives in His favor, then uphold these first two commands and all others to follow, leaving behind the things of this world. Keep your full focus on God and God alone, giving Him all your glory, honor, and praise as you bow down before Him in respect 

Only a fool would do otherwise, intentionally wanting to end up on the bad side of God and placing generations of their loved ones at risk in the process.

In closing, I don’t know where you might stand today but as a reminder, these commandments of God haven’t expired. They are just as valid today as they were well over 2,000 years ago when they were first given to Moses and Israel. So I implore you to identify and do away with any idols that you might have in your life, exchanging them for the joy-filled experience that comes from being cherished by the one true God, the One who deserves our full attention both now and forever 

Amen.

In Christ 

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

NO OTHER GODS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.

Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.

So Moses went up and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them."

Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because You Yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.'"

The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them."

So Moses went down to the people and told them.

And God spoke all these words: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me."

Exodus 19:16-25, 20:1-3

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Three days after God commanded Israel to consecrate and prepare for His coming, He arrived at Mount Sinai with awesome majesty, authority and fanfare. The scriptures tell us "there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.” Indeed, this wasn’t just any ordinary day but one where the Lord was coming to His people with glory and power, with a display that caused "everyone in the camp” to tremble.

With God present on Mount Sinai, we read where “Moses led the people out of the camp to meet” with Him and as they stood at the foot of the mountain," they saw it “covered with smoke” because the Lord had “descended on it in fire”. It had to be quite the spectacle as the Israelites watched the smoke billow up as if it had come “from a furnace” while “the whole mountain trembled violently” and “the sound” of a “trumpet grew louder and louder."

From this place, we see where God called Moses to the top of the mountain and repeated a warning He had given before, saying:

"Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them."

With this, the scriptures tell us that only Aaron was permitted to go up the mountain with his brother Moses after he "went down to the people” and “told them" God’s message.

This set the stage for God to begin delivering His guidance to the Israelites and we see Him begin with an important reminder as He identifies Himself to His people:

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

These words from God were delivered in a format typical of a king who would first recite an introduction that would proclaim who he was and his level of authority. This would then be followed by a statement that would remind the people about something good the king had done for them. Finally, the king would give guidance to his people.

Well, there was little doubt that the Lord was a King but not just any king for He was the King of Kings. He tells His people that He was “the Lord your God." The people knew that this authority was not merely spoken for they had seen it on full display as He had brought great plagues on Egypt and commanded the seas and the clouds. Indeed, He was the One who had delivered them from their oppressive slavery and He didn’t want them to forget that.

His words surely had to activate the memory of the Israelites, beckoning them back to where they had been staring down certain recapture by Pharaoh and his forces as they stood before a great body of water that stood between them and freedom. They had to have recalled how God caused that great sea to separate so that they could walk right through on dry land, a wall of water suspended on either side. They then witnessed how God released those walls of water so that they came crashing down on their pursuers, bring absolute destruction. In one act, a long time enemy had been completely eliminated.

Then, as if this wasn’t enough, this Lord of all lords sent them quail and manna from Heaven so to prevent their starvation as well as water from a rock to prevent their dehydration.

The bottom line was that the people of Israel wouldn’t have made it to this point and time had it not been for God. This remains true for all believers today if they would only look back and remember how the same Lord has been with them through life to bring them to where they are presently.

Well, going back to our passage for today, we see where God had identified Himself and reminded His people what He had done for them. He was now ready to give them guidance, guidance that was known in Hebrew and Greek circles as "The Ten Words" but we know them better today as The Ten Commandments. This would be part of the law for Israel to follow as it was delivered from God to Moses to share with His people at Mount Sinai.

As we will see, the first four of these commandments highlight how the Israelites (and us as well) should live in their relationship toward God while the remaining six carried instructions on how they were to live with one another.

In the opening verses of chapter 20, we see where the first of these commands was simple and to the point.

"You shall have no other gods before Me."

Before any of the other commandments could be respected and followed, this first one needed to be complied with. For God made it crystal clear that He was God, the One and Only God. He and only He had been the Maker of Heaven and earth, the Author of all creation. He had no rival and therefore no one worthy of worship and honor but Him.

These truths have remained the same ever since then and always will.

Going back to the Israelites, they had also lived for a long time within the Egyptian nation which was polytheistic and as look at their history in the Old Testament, we know it will be far from the last time they will be in the midst of people who worshipped false gods. And so, God was driving the point home that He was the only God that the people of Israel were to follow.

Unfortunately, we will see them forget these words from the Lord and sin against Him over and over again, giving their devotion to other gods. What is equally unfortunate is that believers today haven’t learned from the mistakes of the past for we see people giving their heart’s affection and mind’s attention to any number of false gods, just as much if not more than the Israelites well over 2,000 years ago.

If you don't believe this, you’ve lost spiritual awareness and discernment for there are a multitude of “gods” that people choose to worship.

How many people become obsessed with money and/or possessions even though Jesus warned against it (Matthew 6:19-21, 24)?

Or what about the constant quest to fulfill sexual desires, often resulting in lust, another thing Jesus warned of (Matthew 5:27-28)?  

And then there is alcohol, drugs, or worse yet a combination of the two, substances that the enemy uses to drag people into a place of addiction and destruction?

I could go on and on here in mentioning things people ascribe their love to in exchange for God.

How about fame and celebrity, food, television, phones, video games, or even oneself?

The truth of the matter is there are plenty of idols out there who try and demand our consideration and we can usually figure out what we worship by the amount of time we dedicate to something. With this, a quick and thought-provoking question:

What do you invest most of your time in doing?

If the answer is anything outside of the Lord, then it’s time to reassess your life priorities for He expects us to place Him above all other things in our life. Like the Israelites, He has delivered us time after time after time from our life circumstances and the ultimate redemption is still to come after this temporary life is over through our belief in Christ Jesus.

Friends, our Lord has given us His all, and He commands and expects us to give Him the same.

His message is clear.

“You shall have no other gods before Me."

And no, means no.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

CONSECRATION PREPARATION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you."

Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."

After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations."

Exodus 19:9-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message from the opening verses of Exodus, chapter 19, we found God speaking to Moses from Mount Sinai and giving him a message to share with the Israelite people. You’ll recall that the Lord reminded them that He expected obedience in regard to Him and His commands. In response to this, God’s people proclaimed:

"We will do everything the Lord has said." v.8

It’s important to note that this served as a pre-cursor to God delivering His most renowned directives to the people of Israel, guidance that would come to be called The Ten Commandments, but before He could do that He needed Israel to be spiritually prepared to receive. Look again at our verse for today as we continue our study of this chapter:

The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you."

Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."

After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations." Vv.9-15

Here, we find the Lord giving additional instructions to Moses, instructions regarding holy preparation.

"Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people."

Consecration simply means becoming holy, setting oneself apart from the world with a dedication toward God. It’s an action that requires not only commitment but preparation and in the case of Israel, this was to last three days as they washed their clothes and abstained from any “sexual relations”.

From this sanctification calling, there are three important points to glean from this scripture passage:

First, God expects our best.

In the case of the people of Israel, they were to "wash their clothes and be ready by the third day", the day that the Lord would arrive.

While God required that the Israelites be in clean clothes, He also was looking inside them, requiring that they had clean hearts and minds as well. For we see that He calls His people to "abstain from sexual relations" so that they would be completely focused and devoted on Him and not one another. He expected their passion and affection to be directed toward Him and Him alone at this time.

The Lord still calls us to this today, desiring more than anything that we have a greater passion for Him than one another or anything else in the world.

Secondly, God expects our focus.

Focus typically requires adjustment, especially if you want to get a picture that is crystal clear. Think about using a microscope or a pair of binoculars and you’ll get the right imagery here.

From a spiritual perspective, God wants us to receive His message crystal clear and in order to do that, we need to adjust ourselves, eliminating any distractions that might cause us to not understand what He is saying. In regard to the Israelite people, God mandated that they spend three days getting focused on Him. For us, it’s more like a daily expectation for us to dedicate time, the time He has blessed us with, toward Him and His Word.  

Finally, God expects us to be consecrated, to be holy as He is holy. He says so Himself in the Book of Leviticus:

"For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy". 11:44

The world would compete with the Lord for our attention. There is no doubt about that and too often, we choose the world and its ways. This is where sin will lead us but we don’t have to give into that. For the truth of the matter is that we have a choice and when we choose to place our belief in Jesus, our choice is to be to live as Jesus did, to be Christ-like as Christians. When we do this, when we consciously and willingly pass on the world’s offerings, trading them in for what we find in Jesus, then something amazing happens.

We are in the world but we aren’t of it because we have decided to set ourselves apart from it just as our Savior did.

That’s what we gain by consecration preparation and the treasures we gain are of Heaven and priceless.

At Mount Sinai, the Israelites were in the presence of absolute holiness and not even allowed to set foot on the mountain where God was residing. He was in complete control and authority, dictating all terms.

For us, we too enter His holy presence each and every day but unlike Israel, we are allowed to freely come and enter into our Lord’s presence. Jesus made this possible as He drew His final breath and while bearing our sins on Calvary’s cross. There was no longer any separation between God and those who placed their hope in His Son, symbolized by the temple curtain, separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, tearing in two.

Indeed, there are no disqualifiers, no reasons why God will reject us when come consecrated and justified by the precious blood of Jesus. Through Him, we are no longer unworthy to be in God’s presence but now counted as children of God and co-heirs to the Kingdom with Christ (Romans 8:14-17).

Friends, in Jesus, the Lamb who came to take away our sin (John 1:29), we find our way to proper consecration preparation. For He was perfectly holy and always seeking to honor His Father, surrendering and submitting His will for His Father’s. Through His shed blood we are washed clean, our sin stained selves now white as snow.

Of in other words, we are made clean and consecrated before God.

Jesus gave His all for His Father and in turn for us. His loyalty and love were laser-focused self sacrificially and selflessly. As Christians, we are to follow His example each and every day we’re blessed with on this side of Heaven. For when we commit ourselves to this, we will be as our Lord calls us to be, holy as He is.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ARE WE WILLING TO DO EVERYTHING THE LORD SAYS?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on the very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, "We will do everything the Lord has said."

So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord."

Exodus 19:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Three months.

This is how long the more than six hundred thousand Israelites had journeyed since departing Egypt. Since that time, they had endured thirst, hunger, and attack, all with the help of their Lord, before arriving at the "Desert of Sinai" where they set up camp “in front of the mountain", what would be famously be known as Mount Sinai.

After stopping in this place, the scriptures tell us that "Moses went up to God" on the mountain and the "Lord called to him" saying this:

"This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'"

Indeed, as we have followed the journey of the Israelites which began back in the twelfth chapter of this book, we have seen how Lord carried Israel "on eagles' wings" this far to Himself, dividing the Red Sea for their passage and destroying Pharaoh and his army, sending quail and manna from Heaven for food, providing water from a rock, and bringing them to victory in battle against the Amalekites.

Now of interest, this mountain, Mount Sinai, where the Israelites were camping by was one and the same as Mount Horeb, the mountain where Moses had his encounter with God at the burning bush. One mountain known by two different names and it is on this mountain, the place where God called Moses to leadership, where He (God) will make a special covenant with His beloved people of Israel, just as He had made covenants with Abraham, Noah and Jacob prior.

Addressing Moses on the mountain, we find God passing on His requirements for his the Israelites were to live under His authority and these requirements would be the key to Israel’s future. In order to gain the Lord’s blessing and favor, all His people would need to do is obey His commands. If they did, He promised that they would be His “treasured possession".

Well, after receiving the words from the Lord, we read where Moses "summoned the elders of the people and set before them” everything “the Lord had commanded him to speak".

How did the Israelites respond?

Here’s what we find in our passage for today:

“We will do everything the Lord has said."

It was an amazing response and one that I’m afraid the Israelites made without really considering the weight of their words.

For everything means everything, right?

Would the people of God really do everything the Lord had told them to do?

Well, we will see where it wouldn’t take long to see that they failed miserably in keeping up their side of the deal with God and as Moses "brought their answer back to the Lord", we know that He already knew that His people were going to disappoint Him through disobedience over and over and over again, despite their vow to do otherwise.

Friends, the God of Israel is our God today and nothing has changed since those days more than 2,000 years ago at Mount Sinai. God has given us His Word in the Holy Bible and He expects us to be obedient to everything He has commanded and called for us to do. And so the question is:

Are we willing to do everything the Lord says?

As believers, there is no other proper response than a resounding “Yes!” and before we doubt our ability to live in absolute obedience, we need to remember that we love and serve a Lord who will give us the strength and wisdom to do anything. All we need to do is fully submit to His will over our own and when we do, the lives we live will be pleasing in His sight.

In today’s message, God came to the holy mountain of Sinai to address His people, telling what He expected of them.

Here in present times, He addresses those who have placed their belief and trust in Him, through the scriptures.

In both instances, the end expectation is the same. For the Lord commands and demands full compliance and submission to everything He has ordered. There is no space for compromise.

And so my prayer is that we all will embrace God’s call to obedience, accepting that we are sinners who fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23) but can do all things through His strength (Philippians 4:13), and this includes the ability to do everything He says.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DELEGATION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"

Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws."

Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to Him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."

Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.

Exodus 18:13-27

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The number of Israelites and their possessions who were traveling on the exodus to Canaan was vast in number. The scriptures tell us that there were about six hundred thousand men besides women and children as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds (Exodus 12:37b-38). To get an idea of just how large this group was, the population number was as large as the total population of the states of Alaska or North Dakota.

Now, imagine you’re Moses, leading this group and trying to keep everyone satisfied. We’ve already seen signs that at least a significant portion of the group lack sincere faith in the God who miraculously delivered them from Egypt. In fact, you’ll remember that those grumblers actually entertained the thought that they were better off when they were under the oppression of slavery in Egypt than being free and under the care of their God. You’ll remember that they even went as far as questioning Moses’ leadership. Indeed, they seemed to be a constant thorn in Moses’ side, driving him to frustration on more than one occasion.

In today’s passage from the closing verses of Exodus, chapter 18, we see where there were also disagreements emerging between the Israelite people, disagreements that required someone to serve as a judge to make decisions and settle issues. We read where Moses was the sole person receiving cases at the time.

Can you imagine being the only one who was resolving all disputes among over 600,000 people?

Truly, it was not a very well conceived plan, too much for one person to handle, especially since Moses had other responsibilities as well. He was only human and there was only so much a single person could do. Burnout was a real possibility, for sure.

It was into this situation that we see Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, coming to the rescue with sound guidance. Older and much wiser than Moses, he advises his son-in-law and Israel’s leader to "be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to Him.” In other words, allow God to be the true Judge because that was the only way to ensure that the right verdicts were issued every single time.

Jethro also exhorted Moses to “teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform” for if the people were properly educated in the Lord’s Word, understanding what He expected, the number of disputes would naturally reduce for there was no debating what God wanted His people to do and how He wished for them to behave.

And then, there was a call to delegation from Jethro as he encouraged Moses to “select capable men from all the people”, men would “fear God”, be “trustworthy”, and “hate dishonest gain”. Once selected, these men could “serve as judges for the people at all times”, appointed “as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.” They would handle “the simple cases” only, bringing only the difficult ones to Moses.

What was the end goal of this act of delegation?

We see the answer in the scriptures for if Moses would do as Jethro recommended and if “God so commands” it, then it would make his “load lighter” because it would be shared with the other judges. This would allow Moses “to stand the strain” and allow the Israelite people seeking justice to “go home satisfied."

In this passage, Jethro sees his son-in-law Moses going down a path that would set himself up for failure and so he quickly does two things.

First, he tells Moses that his concern is valid. The people need to be heard and represented before God. They also needed instructed on the decrees and laws on the way they should live to fulfill their duties.

Secondly, Jethro lets Moses know he can’t succeed in dispatching proper justice by working alone. There just were too many Israelites and he couldn’t possibly handle settling every single disagreement. There were plenty of qualified men who could be enlisted to assist in the matter and all Moses needed to do was delegate authority, dividing the people into manageable divisions and then appointing a judge for each. Doing this didn’t mean that Moses had to surrender the unique responsibility for Israel that God had placed on him. He would still be needed to handle the difficult cases, cases where he could commune with God to deliver the right rulings. Delegation just freed up time for him to lead properly without being completely overwhelmed.

Today’s message should speak to all of us because I think it’s a human tendency to want to do everything ourselves, either unwilling or afraid to share the strain of our responsibilities with others.

Maybe you’re a homemaker who has to do every single chore around the house so it is done just right and find yourself driven to the point of exhaustion every day.

Or maybe you’re employed and can’t seem to find enough hours in a day to complete all your assignments and/or initiatives so you consistently work countless hours of overtime at the expense of your family life and your own physical and mental well being.

In both of these cases and countless others like them, our tasks can become a greater priority than the only One who can help inject a reasonable approach to them, advising and guiding us to get things done right but not at the expense of doing ourselves harm. Unfortunately, by not turning to the Lord, we end up neglecting our spiritual life at the expense of worldly satisfaction or success.

In our scripture passage for today, I think we can thank God for sending Jethro to provide sound and wise guidance to Moses so he would be able to deal with the stresses and strains of his immense responsibility. We should also thank God for speaking to us as well through this Word. For we all need to be reminded about the importance of delegation.

Go back to the prior present day examples and let’s incorporate the matter of sharing responsibilities.

In the case of the homemaker, chores could be distributed to other family members. All you need to do is check to make sure the work is getting done.

On a recent trip to Pennsylvania to visit my youngest daughter and her family, which includes three teenage grandchildren, she shared a system she developed where the kids are helping with the household work. Each of the three have an assigned number and that number is placed on a weekly schedule under a block of chores that need to be done and they are to complete their tasks as assigned. Each week, they rotate to another group of chores from what they did the previous week. It’s effective in that the work gets done but not just by my daughter. It also teaches the grandchildren about responsibility and accountability.

As for the case of the employed worker, they could recognize that they’re overloaded and seek to share portions of their assignment or initiative with other co-workers. By each completing their respective parts of a job task, they can gain collective success. As they often say, teamwork is dream work.

By utilizing the power of delegation, the job still gets done without completely consuming one person’s time and with some space freed up, the person who delegated will have more time on their hands to give attention to their own physical and spiritual well being. In regard to the latter, this could be as simple as an hour for dedicated prayer and Bible study.

Indeed, I think we can clearly see there are many benefits that can be gained when we choose to delegate.

Well, as we return to our verses for today, we read where Moses listened to Jethro and "did everything he said." He "chose capable men from all Israel” and “made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens”. These men then “served as judges for the people at all times”, deciding the simple cases while leaving the difficult ones for Moses to handle.

A situation that was sure to go bad was averted because Moses listed to wise counsel from his father-in-law.

As we apply this message to our lives today, we need to take a serious look at the way we are managing our time every day. Maybe you are feeling stressed to the max every day as you try to burn the proverbial candle from both ends. Maybe someone has expressed a concern to you about burnout as they look at your life from the outside in, seeing things that might be in your blind spot.

In regard to the latter, I have been there and unfortunately on more than one occasion. I am a very driven person and my wife, a modern day “Jethro”, has had to get in my ear, reminding me that I’m just one person and can break under the strain of my responsibilities. Her words were needed because I need to be told that I am not a superhero but rather a human being with limitations. And so, I made some needed changes to the way I worked so to free up more time for my family, myself, and my Lord. When I did, I realized that like Moses, I could still find success and accomplishment by humbly delegating and accepting my limits.

How about you today? Where do you stand on this important matter of delegation?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.