Exodus 34:28-35 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights;
he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the
words of the covenant, the ten commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses
came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand,
when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his
face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of
Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to
come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of
the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward
all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that
the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking
with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the LORD
to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out,
and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the
children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone:
and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
I love to watch people. I mean, I really love to watch people. When my wife and
I go places I enjoy just sitting and watching people as they pass by. You can tell
a lot about a person by just looking at their face as they pass by. Everything from
the position of their eyebrows to the corners of their mouths are a determiner about
the person. Now granted, this is not an exact science and I don’t mean for it to be,
but have you ever stopped to check your face.
So many times when we are out places I see everything from two friends walking together
or a whole group and they are often laughing and cutting up and seem to be having
a good time. I don’t know these people but probably, in most cases, they are lost
and have no hope of spending eternity in Heaven with the Lord but yet they seem so
happy. They laugh and joke and just seem to be really enjoying life. I remember an
incident several years ago involving our family. We were eating dinner at a Sonny’s
BBQ on the east coast and were just enjoying our time together as a family. As is the
case with our family we were laughing and giggling and basically oblivious to the
people around us. Suddenly a lady, who was exiting the restaurant, came up to our table
and with a pleasant smile on her face she said, “You have a happy family.” To my wife
and me that was a great compliment.
With our ministry we are privileged to be in a different church just about every week.
Churches that have good Pastors, that teach and preach the word of God. Churches where
people are being saved and lives are being changed by the Lord. Yet, I notice something,
many times, in these great churches and it is the face of the people. These are people
that claim to be saved, have eternal life, a home in heaven, they will one day see the
Lord, and the great truth that this world is not our home but we walk around with a face
that looks like we’ve been eating sour lemons. Why is that?
In Exodus 34 we read about Moses coming down from the mount and having spent time with
God. Moses had been communing with God and receiving all that God wanted him to receive
during this time together. Moses had no idea that his time with God was having an affect
on his face. When Moses came down the people feared him because his face shined with the
Glory of God. Did Moses know this? No! He only learned this when someone told him. That
means it show up on your face when you’ve been fellowshipping with God. I have often
wondered; are we really spending the time with God we should be? Moses spent forty days
with God and then came down. It was evident to the people that he had been with God.
Does my face radiate to the people around me the fellowship I’ve had with God?
Here is something I find interesting in this passage as well. Moses didn’t know how his
face shined from having been with God until the people told him. Therefore, this wasn’t
a fake, put on your church face, fool the preacher, fool the people thing this was
something real. I believe that God’s people need to check their faces and see if it
is real. Maybe the reason the world doesn’t want our message is because they don’t
want our long sad faces. Let’s get a face lift and lift the corners of our mouths and
show the world we are the happiest people alive because we’ve spent time with God.
Exodus 40:12-15 And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. And thou shalt put
upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may
minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt bring his sons, and
clothe them with coats: And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint
their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for
their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their
generations.
Sometimes God's word has a way of just reaching up and grabbing you by the
heart and saying, "Pay attention right here." Well, that is exactly what
happened to me recently as I was reading through this passage during my
daily devotional reading. I was preparing to preach in a Christian school
one morning when this passage seemed to come alive. As I was reading this
passage, three things suddenly leaped off the page at me.
God told Moses to bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tabernacle
and wash. The first thing I saw was their need for cleansing. Aaron and
his sons were about to embark on an incredible work for the Lord. They
had been selected by God to perform the office of the priesthood. I was
reminded that Jesus destroyed the work of the Levitical priesthood and
instituted the priesthood of the believer upon His death. Now, I have a
responsibility as a believer to maintain a proper cleansing. We can not
approach a holy and righteous God such as ours if we are not clean. So
many people try to administer the office of the believer priest while
being just at Zechariah (Zechariah 3), standing before the Lord in dirty
garments. We live in a time of moral decay. Values are minimized while
sin is maximized. Holiness is mocked while carnality is praised. Separate
living is no longer defined by, "What does God's Word say about this thing?",
but rather, is defined by, "Well, my pastor doesn't think this is that bad."
We are obsessed with the flesh. The Bible verse, "I will set no wicked thing
before mine eyes (Psalm 101:3)," is for the guy next door; I have it all
under control. Why are Christian men falling? Not just preachers, but deacons,
Sunday school teachers, bus captains, and your average man in the pew are all
becoming casualties to the lust of the flesh. Why? Because we have forgotten t
his one very simple aspect of our relationship with the Lord - "our cleansing."
Secondly, Moses was commanded to dress Aaron and his sons in the holy garments
provided by God for the work of the priesthood and to anoint them with oil and
to separate them. This showed me their consecration. I am reminded of the
awesome God we serve and that He is not a casual God, but a great, mighty,
and majestic God. You would not sit down to a nice meal with the President
of the United States dressed in your t-shirt and Levi jeans. Why then do we
attempt to worship a three time holy God with such an attitude? We must realize
that God had a particular decorum in which the priest was to dress to perform
His work. We too should dress like godly men and godly women in every aspect
of our lives. We should attire ourselves in that which reflects our relationship
with God, not the world. The priests were also to be anointed with oil. This
reminded me of our anointing with the Holy Ghost of God. Most people have no
idea of how to live in the power of the Spirit. Even though the Bible tells us
to be filled with the Spirit, we often are nothing more than filled with the
flesh. I have learned this true fact in my ministry. I can do the work of
the ministry, and the power of God and the Holy Spirit of God be nowhere around.
We need men and women, boys and girls, teens and young adults to crave the power
of the Holy Spirit of God. Not this mess we see on TBN and these other Hell sent
programs, but real Holy Ghost sent revival of the Spirit. People should be
sensitive to the needs of those around them-- be it spiritual, physical, or
emotional needs. The Spirit filled man can sense all these needs.
Thirdly, Moses was told to establish an everlasting priesthood. This reminded
me of the commitment they had to do the work. This is a bad word in America
today - commitment. This was a God appointed position that was going to last
forever. We have an eternal commitment as the children of God and that is to
be faithful to the work of the Lord. We need soul winners. We need prayer
warriors. We need people that when the going gets tough, they don't quit, but
they hunker down, and they work their way through all the muck and the mire to
get to what God wants them to do. We have too many on again/ off again
Christians sitting in our pews. When are we going to step up, do what we
know to be right, and stop making excuses for our lack of commitment. I am
surely glad Jesus wasn't as non-committed as most people are today; otherwise,
we might not have the opportunity to be saved today.
Today let's think about our cleansing, consecration, and our commitment. If
need be, maybe right now you need to go to the door of the tabernacle and receive
those things you need to do your work today.
Philippians 4:6-7Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
It's 7:30a.m.and I am sitting staring out the window of our travel
trailer at the parking lot of the church where we are currently staying
for a few days in between meetings. I am looking at our calendar and
for the next few weeks there seems to be more open dates than scheduled
dates. I am now beginning to wonder what is going to happen. My family
is functioning all around me doing their normal daily duties but it is
my job to make them feel secure and that all is well in the Abbott
household.
Sound familiar to anyone? One thing that seems to be evident in many
people today is the tendency to worry. Why is that? One reason, because
we may have had our souls saved, and have been given a new spirit, but
God has yet to fix my wretched flesh. How do I battle with this bothersome
character trait in my life? I have learned that we all have the capability
to worry, but it is how we handle and deal with the worry that determines
our ability to live by faith. We preachers are great at telling others
how they ought to do things, but in reality we are just like them, and we
to have to learn some lessons along the road that we might continue to
grow as well.
As Paul writes to the church at Philippi, he makes an interesting statement
in verses 6 and 7 of chapter 4. Our King James Bible reads, "Be careful
for nothing." Does that mean that I should just live my life without care
and just load my family in the truck and drive to the next town and say
to the first Independent Baptist Church I find, “We’re here!”? Does that
mean that the average person should just go and do whatever he thinks he
ought to do without regard to cost, life, or influence on others? The
answer is an obvious NO. What does Paul mean by the phrase, “Be careful
for nothing?” The Greek word that is translated careful is also used
18 other times in the New Testament to describe taking care, giving
thought, or giving care. It is literally to be anxious over something.
Paul writes this in such a way that the Greek reader would understand
not only was he not to worry about the things he could not control but
he was telling him to stop doing it completely. How do we stop worrying
about these things that come along, or worrying what may take place if
something doesn’t change?
Notice the second part of the verse, “But in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
What is Paul trying to tell me in this part of the verse? Literally, quit
worrying and start praying and thanking God for my situation. Have you ever
tried to pray in this situation? I know these verses and have quoted them
many times to other people when counseling them about worry, but now it is my turn.
I picked up my Bible, and I went to be alone in my truck. (When your home is
490 square feet it is often hard to find a quiet place to be with the Lord.)
I read some other passages in my Bible and then I began to pray. At first, it
was tough because I wanted to ask the Lord for a full schedule and to meet the
needs of these open weeks, but I wanted to do as Paul was commanding the
Philippians and give thanks for where we are, what we are doing, and tell God
that I am willing to trust Him to open the doors that need to be opened. As I
prayed, I began to have a better understanding of verse 7, “And the peace of
God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.” I hadn’t scheduled one meeting, nothing as far as our current
situation had changed, but suddenly I had the peace of God, which I can’t explain
to anyone, that everything was going to work itself out.
I called a preacher that I had met back in February from Texas. I told him that
we would be coming through on our way to San Antonio and just wanted to touch
base and let him know we would be in the area. He said, “I would love to have
you preach but I have been out of the pulpit for the last two weeks and I really
need to preach.” I asked would it be okay if we just stopped by and visited his
services. He was more than happy to have us come by. As we fellowshipped together
by phone he learned about our music ministry and he asked could we sing while we
were there. He used us in the morning service and in the evening service. After we
sang in the morning service he told the people he wanted to take up a love offering
for us and the church gave us a two hundred dollar gift for singing that morning.
When he learned that we didn’t have to be anywhere until Easter Sunday he told us
to just stay at his church until we needed to leave. We had a great week of fellowship
and encouragement. By the time the week was over, God had filled a week in our
calendar for later on this year, but He taught me a great lesson about walking by
faith and letting Him do the worrying.
Maybe you have he same problem of worrying when you ought to be praying. It has
often been said, “If it isn’t worth praying about, it isn’t worth worrying about.”
However, when you pray, pray with thanksgiving for the opportunity to bring whatever
it is before the throne of God and let the peace of God rule in your heart. It works,
I promise.
Mt 9:16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which
is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
When my parents were married they were given a new 8mm video camera as a wedding
gift, and much of my childhood was caught on that camera. There is one old movie
where my dad is teaching me and my brothers how to make a football tackle, and he
is using an old blow up punching bag that had a painted clown on it as the tackle
dummy. He would hold it and then give the command, “Set Hike!” Then one of my
brothers or I would take off and tackle the dummy. I am sure that during these
times we destroyed our clothes with grass stains, rips, tears, and holes in the
knees of our pants. As a boy growing up I had the wonderful privilege of having
a mother that was a seamstress. It was a good thing because raising four sons
that were encouraged to go outside and be boys required a seamstress at times.
One thing I remember is when our pants got a hole in them, she didn’t throw them
away and buy more; she would patch the hole with a denim patch, fold them up, and
put them in the dresser drawer until the next time we needed them. There was
something interesting about the way Mom would patch my jeans.
She didn’t put the patch on the outside of the pants like I saw a lot of guys
pants, but she would place the patch on the inside of the pants. Why? To be
honest, I don’t know and at the time of this writing it is way to late at night
to call and find out, but I have my suspicions as to why she did it the way she did it.
Before Mom would place the patch on the inside of the pants, she would take her
scissors and cut away any loose or frayed edges to make sure that no strings could
be seen after the patch was put into place. She then would cut the patch to cover
the hole, place the patch in place, and seal the patch with a hot iron. The patch
was placed on the inside as to not draw attention to the hole in the knee of the
pants. The frayed edges were cut away so that the patching process would not be
hindered, and the patch was cut to the right size to take care of what needed to
be taken care of--not too much and not too little.
Isn’t that what Jesus is teaching here in this passage? Putting a patch on an
old piece of clothing will not help but will hurt because everyone will see it
and know that something is wrong with the garment. You have not helped the garment
but have made things worse. However, if the garment is patched from the inside and
not the outside and every effort is made to make it look natural and normal, many
will probably never notice that the garment has been repaired or patched.
Recently I was disappointed in something that I read by an older Christian in
reference to a much younger Christian. Apparently, the older Christian had certain
expectations of the younger Christian, and the younger Christian had failed these
expectations. Unfortunately, the older Christian took the opportunity to patch the
rent on the outside instead of on the inside by writing something that many people
were going to read to the detriment of the younger Christian's character. As with
anything that is done in the flesh, it brings a fleshly result. When I asked the
younger Christian concerning his/her thoughts on the subject, the answer was as I
anticipated--one of hurt rather than brokenness or repentance. Here was a great
opportunity for the elder to teach the younger through love and compassion and to
help him/her to see the need for fulfilling obligations and expectations. Can we
meet everyone’s expectations? No, we cannot and will never be able to meet everyone’s
expectations of us. However, when we give our word, we should follow through.
When we say, "I will do it," we should get it done.
I may be missing the entire meaning of this verse, but for the first time in my
Christian life, I believe I have a much better understanding of it and a greater
application for it to my life. When we see things that need repairing, what do we do?
We rush in with our external patch and slap it on there to show everyone we can
fix the problem, but in the end all we have done is made it worse. Some things
need to be handled behind the scene where no one sees it and where the testimony
and character of a person can be best protected. I do find it amazing though,
how some get this type of internal patch while others seem to always get the external
no matter how large or small the rent. I wonder how many people we have lost from
our churches, how many children have been discouraged from serving the Lord, how many
families have just quit trying because no matter what they do or how hard they try,
all they will ever get is an external patch.
The next time you notice a little rent in something, think about this verse. Maybe
what it needs is for someone to take a little time, like my mother used to do as
she patched my pants, and go behind the scene and say something like this, “Hey,
I was disappointed that you didn’t fulfill this expectation, but I want you to
know I still love you and hopefully you will do better next time.” I promise the
hot coals of love will bring repentance much sooner than the cold chill of bitter un-forgiveness.
