Face time with God

I’ve always kind of pictured Moses of the Bible like Charelton Heston from the Ten Commandments. With this limited perspective, it always amazes me just how much more scripture says about Moses than our storybook ideas offer. For most of us, the chapter on Moses seems to close once Israel leaves Egypt – they find themselves at the foot of Mount Sinai and the credits begin to roll, but the Old Testament gives us much, much more…

“Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting’… And whenever Moses went out to the tent… a pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses… The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” Exodus 33:7-11

Some of you have probably never heard that before – maybe you’re double-checking the verses – and, even though I’ve heard and read this passage before, I am still amazed. “You mean Moses actually got to have face-to-face time with God?” It’s like Moses had access to the first super-natural telephone booth to God!? We probably think that’s pretty cool (maybe even unbelievable) because of the fact is that most of us have never had such a privileged relationship with God, and a lot of the people we may have met or heard about claiming to have such experiences may seem a ‘little odd’…

The challenge, and encouragement, I recieved through this passage is that we can, and do, have a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Maybe you won’t ever experience anything quite so spectacular as Moses did, but that real, authentic, relationship is available. Moses was a seasoned professional when it came to time spent with God – you kind of develop that when you’re depending wholeheartedly on God to deliver a nation from a hard-hearted dictator, only to get stuck leading a mutinuous band of whiners through the wilderness for 40 years (God probably heard a lot from Moses – and loved it!) So, where’s your tent of meeting? Not literally, but where (how, when, and what) do you spend your face time with God? Chances are, if we don’t know the place this happens, then we’re likely not having the time needed. I often think of our missed times of prayer or reading the Bible as missed appointments with God – it’s not that he ditched you, you just called in to reschedule, said you’re late, forgot where you’re meeting, or gave the wrong time. Don’t forget the most valuable appointment you have each and every day - establish your where, how, what, and when - and delve into that face time with God.

words of our heart

Had one of those moments today when I let my mouth run unsupervised for a while – a phone conversation with my brother which deserved a follow-up apology. It was almost as if the little-man behind the master controls in my brain went to the washroom, leaving my mouth in charge. He thought to himself, “what could go wrong in the 2 minutes I step outside?” Our mouths need no such opportunity… 

I hate when my words get me into trouble. I believe it’s especially common for communicators who enjoy expressing themselves verbally. It does not take much to get our tongues flopping and lips flapping – and we wonder why we always feel as if we’ve tripped ourselves…

A passage from Proverbs 17, which I read the other day, came to mind…

“A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.” Proverbs 17:7-8

The gospel of Matthew 12:34 writes, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks,” and our words, unchecked and uncensored, are often the best indicators of what is stored up in our hearts. We, and all those who hear us, can take a quick reading on our ‘heart condition’ rather quickly just listening to the outpouring of what’s stored inside.

 

pharaoh, pharaoh…

Reading through the plagues of Egypt in Exodus – God allowed, even orchastrated, some pretty horrible things to plague the people of Egypt. I never thought much of the widespread panic that must have consumed the land for the weeks (maybe even longer) that Moses and Aaron were instructed by God to command Pharaoh to “let my people go!” What struck me as odd was Pharaoh’s reaction, for in the children’s ”Prince of Egypt” and Charlton Heston’s ”Ten Commandments” Pharaoh was simply a egotistical jerk, but scripture portrays him as this bi-polar dictator who was unfortunate enough to come against the God of Israel.

Shortly after Moses first requested to let the people of Israel go, Pharaoh, Moses, and Aaron get into a bit of a rythym regarding the plagues of Egypt… Moses says “let my people go!”, Pharaoh says “no!”, a new plague worst than the previous follows, Pharaoh repents and calls Moses and Aaron to pray for him and Egypt – agreeing to let Israel go, Moses prays for Pharaoh, then God hardens Pharaoh’s heart – he changes his mind to release Israel, and the whole cycle starts again… Kinda strange, huh? If you were king and someone told you God was angry with you, and proved it with signs of gnats & locusts swarming every inch of the ground, record sized hail beating down your crops and livestock, and darkness which blanketed Egypt for 3 days, wouldn’t you listen?

What I found interesting is that the scriptures repeatedly say, “but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them [Israel] go.” It never says, “Pharaoh was just a plain stubborn jerk, so he kept Israel as slaves!” No, God hardened his heart… why? Exodus 11:9 offers some explanation saying, “the LORD has said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you – so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.’” … 

Sometimes we so quickly brush aside the clear things of God within our lives as circumstance, luck, or within our own dominion of control. No glory, no recognition, and no acknowledgement is given to God - we adopt a mentality of, “I’ve got this under control.” Pharaoh was a man who had ever excuse, every opportunity and clue to acknowledge the power and presence of God in his life (he even had two really persistant brothers telling him to his face), and yet he hardened his heart towards God. 

Hard hearts miss out on the miracles of God - Instead, they mount up as calamities beyond our control. May Pharaoh be a wake-up call to acknowledge the LORD’s power and presence within our lives…