moses

  • Where You Are Is Preparing You For Where You’re Going

    Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
    ~Exodus 3:1 NKJV

    Where You Are

    Have you ever felt overlooked? Like you were living on the back side of the desert where no one noticed you? Wasting your life, squandering your potential? Do you question your life wondering, what am I doing here?

    There are times in life when you don’t understand your circumstances. The difficulty doesn’t seem to have a purpose. I imagine this is what Moses might have thought when he was tending his father-in-law’s flocks “on the back side of the desert”.

    Moses was born with a purpose and raised to rule. Miraculously drawn out of the water by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was the one boy under two years old spared from the genocide of Israeli baby boys sanctioned by her father. Then, Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace as Pharaoh’s grandson and we know he looked the part because when he ran away to the desert, the girls he protected said, “An Egyptian rescued us.”1

    “As shepherd of his father-in-law’s flocks, Moses gained first-hand geographical knowledge of the territory surrounding the Gulf of Aqabah. Little did he realize that through this area he would one day lead the great nation of Israel.”2

    The Desert Is a Place of Preparation That Produces Purpose

    Moses ended up back on Mount Horeb when leading the Israelite’s towards The Promised Land. In this very spot God used him miraculously to strike the rock and water gushed out.3 Moses also encountered God on this very mountain in powerful ways and was used by God to bring the 10 Commandments to His people.4

    Where Moses Went

    Moses had no clue that this time at the back side of the desert was preparation for his purpose… you have no clue how God is preparing you for your purpose. Like Moses, the place you serve could one day be the area where you lead.

    Where You’re Going

    So, today, choose to see your circumstances as training grounds, not punishment or places of neglect. God hasn’t abandoned you in the desert. Know that where you are, is preparing you for where you’re going.

    Prayer

    Father… I thank You that the desert is a place of preparation that produces purpose. You don’t waste the struggles in our lives but instead, if we submit ourselves to You in the midst of them, You will bring about beautiful things in the desert. Produce Your purpose in me! In Jesus Name…Amen

    • Drawing from the well
    1. Exodus 3:1
    2. Philippians 1:6
    3. Jeremiah 29:11
    4. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
    Soul H2O

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    ENDNOTES

    1. Exodus 2:16-19
    2. NIV Archaeological Study Bible, New International Version.  © 2005 Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. Note on Exodus 3:1 pg. 88.
    3. Exodus 17
    4. Exodus 19-20, 34

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  • Am I Worth Following?

    “Many other people went up with them.”
~Exodus 12:38 NIV

    When you think about ‘following people’ these days doesn’t your mind go right to social media?

    Well, mine goes further back than that.  My brain goes right back to childhood memories when someone would follow me around…in that annoying, copy-cat kind of way, when a kid just wouldn’t give up and mimicked my every move. It used to drive me crazy! I mean…was I really worth following?

    My church is in the middle of a series on Moses.  Each week I’m hearing new perspectives on Moses’ life and the story about the Israelites leaving Egypt. When I was reading the story in my Bible, I re-read something I had made a note on years ago and I think it’s a part of the Exodus story details you might have missed?

    I’m guessing you know God brought the Israelites out of bondage from Egypt through the Red Sea since Charleton Heston or Steven Spielberg’s, The Prince of Egypt taught you that much!  Reading your Bible explains how eventually, the people got it together and entered The Promised Land but…

    [tweetthis]Did you know it wasn’t just the Israelites that left Egypt under Moses’ leadership? [/tweetthis]

    The Bible tells us that

    “many other people went up with them”.

    The original wording makes is clear that there were people of different nationalities who followed Moses and the Israelites, out of Egypt and into the desert.  Scripture doesn’t give us a reason why these people followed the Israelites out of town, but I don’t think it takes rocket-science to figure it out why they were worth following.

    The people would have seen God at work in the miraculous signs and wonders He performed through Moses, all to deliver the people He loved. They would have seen God provide for His people. Who wouldn’t want to join that group? Because of Moses’ and the other Israelites boldness, people were willing to take a stand and follow God’s leading for themselves.

    When I was young I didn’t like people following right behind me; but as I read Moses’ story with fresh eyes, I’m filled with the desire to live a life worth following and I hope you are too!

    Prayer

    Father…Thank you for loving me. I ask that my life would be marked with signs and wonders of Your hand at work so, others will be drawn in and find my life worth following.  Help me to lead a clear, straight path right to Your heart.  In Jesus Name…Amen

    If you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

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    Drawing From The Well - Brown and Blue

    1. Exodus 12:38
    2. Exodus 12:19
    3. John 12:32
    4. 1 Corinthians 11:1, 1 Corinthians 4:16

     

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  • Finding Christ

    cross-and-water1

    “Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood.  He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.”
                                                               Exodus 15:25 NIV

    Have you ever been going through a trying time and wondered where God was?  Well, I have and so have the Israelites. This scripture comes in the middle of the story when the Israelites had just gone through the Red Sea.  They had just broken free of bondage in Victory…only to wander for 3 days without water!   They finally find water and run to drink it, but the water is bitter and undrinkable.  That was enough suffering to make the people forget the miracle of the water parting and want to go back to their old life.  They grumble and complain to Moses.  Moses does the right thing and cries out to the Lord.  Oh, if we always took the time to cry out to the Lord like Moses did—and—wait for Him to speak!  Oh, how different our lives would be!
    God showed Moses a piece of wood.  Moses throws it into the water and it creates a chemical reaction to change the whole body of water.  Seriously?  A piece of wood?  This doesn’t make sense, if you don’t see the cross symbolism.  A piece of wood couldn’t change water in the natural.  God supernaturally used a piece of wood to be a type or foreshadowing of the cross.  Only Jesus can take the bitter sufferings that we face and bring something sweet out of them.  We need God to open our spiritual eyes so we can see how Christ is there, just like the wood was, mighty to save.
    Moses took the time to cry out to God and ask Him to be involved in his problem.  He expected God to show up, and show up He did, providing water in the desert.  Take time today to bring your needs before God.  Open up your spiritual eyes to see Christ in your bitter circumstances and allow Him to give you water!

    open your eyes

    Prayer:
    Father…You see the bitterness of life on this earth and you stand along the sidelines waiting for me to tag you in.  Please open my eyes today to see you working on my behalf!  May I never doubt that you are there, because you are!  You are Mighty to Save!  Thank-you!  In Jesus name, Amen

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