Bible

Exodus 35 – Give What You’ve Been Given

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When I was a kid, I used to play a game called “hot potato.” The object of the game was to pass on what was passed to you as quickly as you could, without dropping it. If you dropped it or held on to it, you lost.
There is a spiritual principle in this that can be seen in Exodus chapter 35. Everything needed to build the tabernacle (the place of God’s presence) had already been given to them by God. God provided all the materials needed through the Egyptians before they left Egypt. (Ex. 12:35-36) Even the skill needed to make things from all this material was given to them by God. (Ex. 35:31,34-35.) They just needed to give it all back to God.
The bottom line is this: God freely gives us everything we need to do everything He wants us to do. (James 1:17) (2 Peter 1:3) But the key ingredient is something that only we can provide…a willingness to give back what He has given. (Ex. 35:5,21,26,29.)
God’s complete provision, coupled with our complete willingness to give, produces accomplishments which further His presence and glory where we are…and in the world at large.
Jesus told His disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:8) If we are to foster the presence and glory of God in our lives and in the world, we must freely give what God has given us.
You have been given everything you need to do all God wants you to do. The question is…are you willing to give it away?

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 34 – What Are You Bringing To God?

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Sometimes things just stick out to me when I’m reading Scripture. It’s as if, in the midst of all that’s there, one thing jumps off the page and gets my attention. It may be insignificant or inconsequential to others, but it floors me.
That happened as I read Exodus chapter 34. There are many important things in this chapter, like God proclaiming His name to Moses. (Ex. 34:6-7) But in the midst of all that’s in this chapter, this phrase jumped off the page at me:
“No one is to appear before Me empty-handed.”
What a powerful statement! I hadn’t thought about this before.
We are to bring something to God each and every time we come to Him. It could be our possessions, our ambitions, or the people we love. It could be any number of things, but when we come to God we are to bring something to Him that we’re willing to surrender to Him.
And the most important thing we can bring to God is ourselves! We need to offer up our whole self…internally (Ps. 51:17) and externally (Rom. 12:1). Our total submission to His will and way is more pleasing to Him than anything else we can bring.
In short…when you come to God, what He wants most from you is…you!

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 33 – Time With God

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Have you ever wanted to be with someone so much that you took advantage of every opportunity to be with them? Maybe you felt this way when you were dating. you were so much in love, you wanted to spend as much time with them as you could…even if no one said anything!
Have you experienced this? Do you remember?
This is a picture of Moses’ relationship with God, as seen in Exodus chapter 33. Here we find Moses speaking to God as you would to a close friend. (Ex. 33:11) You see Moses wanting God to stay with him, and not leave him. (Ex. 33:15) You also see Moses speaking of feeling special because of his relationship with God…as if Moses wants to show God off to others. (Ex. 33:16) Finally, you see Moses wanting to know God more intimately. (Ex. 33:13,18)
When someone feels that way about us, it thrills us. I believe God feels the same way when we intensely desire to be with Him. To have a heart that says to God, “Be very close and real to me. Teach me how you see and do things. Show me who you really are.”…this is pleasing to God.
I admit that I’m not always that intensely passionate about wanting to be with God. I want to get there, but I can’t make that happen on my own. (Matt. 19:26) (John 15:4-5) So I need to ask God to build my desire and hunger to be with Him in a more consistent and intimate way.
How about you?

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 32 – Crossing the Line

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In Exodus chapter 32, Aaron and the people cross a line when they try to replace God with a golden calf. The moment they decide to build the idol, they cross the line from being servants of God to trying to be sovereign over their circumstance.
Then Moses comes close to crossing that line when he switches from asking God what to do to telling God what to do. (Ex. 32:32) God responds by reminding Moses that He is God and would do what He chose to do. (Ex. 32:33-34)
There are at least three reasons we sin and move from servant to sovereign:
  • We get impatient. You can see this in Exodus 32:1. In this day of cell phones and instant messaging, we are not good at waiting. When God seems to be taking too long, we let ourselves imagine the worst and begin to do things ourselves. When this happens, we need to get control of our thinking (2 Cor. 10:5) and patiently wait on God. (Ps. 46:10)
  • We think we should know all the details of what God is doing. You see this also in Exodus 32:1. We want to be completely in the know, but God doesn’t always work that way. (Isa. 55:8) We must learn to live by faith and not by sight. (Heb. 10:38)
  • We become too casual and familiar with God. Though God goes out of His way to pursue us, have a relationship with us, and call us His friend, we must never forget that He is not like us. His is the “Holy Other.” He is pure, powerful, and righteous; exhibiting not just love but wrath. We must never lose our awe and reverence for God.
It is so easy to subtly cross the line from servant to sovereign. May God make us aware when this happens and help us to turn back to being humble servants.

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 25-31 – Follow the Instructions

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You read the words…”Some assembly required.” You open the box and find several pages of instructions. Do you follow the instructions to the letter, or do you think to yourself, “This doesn’t look that hard,” and discard the instructions?
Some people follow instructions better than others. Some will follow instructions unwaveringly, because they believe they were given for a reason…even if they can’t see that reason at the time. Some will ignore instructions and do it their own way…questioning the reasons for the instructions and seeing them as an impediment to quick results.
In Exodus chapters 25-31, God gives His people very specific instructions on how they are to construct the tabernacle and everything associated with it. God expects His people to follow these instructions to the letter…even though they have no way of understanding all the reasons behind the instructions.
These chapters remind us that as believers, God gives us specific instructions for building our lives, and we are called to follow those instructions, whether we understand the reason or not. If we follow the instructions, we will be shining and meaningful living tabernacles in the midst of a dry and dusty wilderness. If we don’t follow God’s instructions, we will be disjointed and confusing structures that look no different than everything else around us.
We need to take a deep breath, slow down, and carefully follow God’s instructions. It may be hard to see in the beginning, but In the end you’ll understand the reason and be glad you did.

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 24 – The One Thing God Wants

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The mark of a true relationship is not found in the things two people do together. Nor is it found in the things they accumulate and share together. The mark of a true relationship is found in the quantity and quality of the time they spend together.
God’s desire is that we have a personal, growing relationship with Him. He wants us to move beyond a shallow and superficial relationship, to a relationship of depth and intimacy. This comes when we spend both quantity and quality time with Him.
Exodus chapter 24 give us a picture of the relationship God desires to have with us.
Relationships are not built and deepened by two people “touching base” occasionally. Deep relationships take on-going time. God calls Moses, not only to come to Him, but to stay with Him. (Ex. 24:12) Moses was with God six days, before God spoke to Him. Then Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights just being with God.
Like Moses, God calls us to approach Him. (Ex. 24:1-2) (James 4:8) Then, God wants us to have intimacy with Him by seeing Him as He really is. (Ex. 24:10-11) (Matt. 17:2) And finally, the more clearly we see Him, the more His glory will settle on us…and the more people will see Him through us. (Ex. 24:15-17) (John 3:30) (Phil. 2:15)
God already has rule, reign, and riches. The one thing God wants more than anything else is a relationship with us. And He’s chosen not to demand or force this, because true relationships must be born out of free will.
The desire of God’s heart is to be with you. Is the feeling mutual?

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 21-23 – Rules and Regulations

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At first glance, Exodus chapters 21-23 seem to be a running list of ancient rules and regulations. So the tendency is to skim through these chapters as if they aren’t that important.
But rules and regulations are important for many reasons…
  • They help identify a group of people.
  • They unify a group of people.
  • They protect a group of people.
  • They promote the prosperity of a group of people.
The rules and regulations God calls us to follow are important for the same reasons. They are not a means for God to exercise control over His people. (He already has control.) They are for our betterment, whether it feels that way or not.
The key is to not get so hung up in the rules and regulations that you pay more attention to the rules than the rule giver. Our focus should be more on worshipping God than worrying about rules. So the latter part of these chapters (Ex. 23:20-33) reminds us that…
  • Worshipping God is our first and ultimate priority.
  • True worship involves obedience.
  • Worship produces results. Sometimes the results are immediate and sometimes they are slow and progressive.
The bottom line is that God’s rules and regulations are important, because God is important. Worshiping and obeying God are two sides of the same coin. You can’t worship God fully while obeying Him partially.

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 20 – Get Off the Bench

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When I was in the eight grade, my father insisted I be on the basketball team. I think he was worried about a son who spent most of his time indoors drawing and listening to music. But I was lousy at sports. I was not competitive, I was uncoordinated, and I hated it!
It was nice to be a part of the team, but when it came to really getting into the game, my fear would kick in and all I wanted to do was retreat to the safety of the bench. I knew I was missing something good, but I couldn’t seem to leave my comfort zone in order to experience it.
In Exodus chapter 20, the Israelites receive an unbelievable invitation to meet and talk with God, but they declined it out of fear. (Exodus 20:18) They chose to sit on the bench, rather than experience God’s fullness…“As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.” (Exodus 20:21)
Today, God invites you and me to meet with Him in His Word, in prayer, and in obedience. He invites us to approach Him and walk in the mystery of His ways. But we often sit on the bench and let the preacher or some other leader do that. Like the Israelites, we’re afraid of what God may require of us, or how it might change us. So we sit on the bench, secretly wishing we had the courage to get in the game.
The good news is the invitation is still open and we still have the ability to answer the invitation. (2 Timothy 1:7) We just have to get off the bench!
God, help us to launch into the mysteries of following You, rather than the paralysis of sitting on the bench.

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 19 – Treasured Possessions

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As a boy, the bottom drawer of my chest of drawers was reserved, not for clothing, but for an eclectic collection of my most treasured possessions. There I kept things like special comic books, cool rocks, action figures, and other odd items important to a young boy.
The things we treasure reveal a lot about who we are and what’s important to us.
In Exodus chapter 19, God tells the Children of Israel that out of all the nations of the earth, they are His treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5) He doesn’t say “instead of the other nations,” because the other nations are His desired possessions also. (Exodus 19:5) But out of all the nations, Israel is his treasured possession.
God gives them this distinction because, like the things in my bottom drawer, the nation of Israel was to reveal who God was to everyone who saw them. They were to be priests revealing God to others. (Exodus 19:6)
What do these words, spoken thousands of years ago to a group of freed slaves in the dessert, have to do with us?
As followers of Christ, we too have been freed from our slavery. We’re still in the dessert, but God is bringing us to Himself and a place of rest. He declares that we are His treasured possession (1 Cor. 6:20) (Eph. 2:10) and his priests. (1 Pet. 2:9)
And we have this privileged position as treasured possessions for one purpose…to reveal what may be known about the One who set us free. (1 Pet. 2:9) We are a treasured possession who are to reveal our treasured possession…Christ.
When others look at your life and the things you treasure, what does it tell them?

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Exodus 17-18 – A Better Way

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It’s humbling when someone sees you struggling to do something and shows you a better way to do it.
This happens with Moses in Exodus 17-18. There, Moses is trying to be the sole settler of disputes among the people Israel, and his father-in-law not only points this out, but points Moses towards a better way.
Perhaps Mose wanted to do things himself, because he felt he didn’t have to the the time or energy to…
  • Dissect and communicate what came naturally to him.
  • Deal with people who didn’t think or see things the way he did.
  • Instruct, train, and follow up with those he trained.
  • Wonder if those people would do the task well…or at all.
Like Moses, Jesus had to deal with all of the above. It certainly would have been easier for Jesus to do things Himself, but He knew that easier would not have been better.
Jesus poured three years of His life into twelve men, teaching them to do His work. The didn’t always get it. They didn’t always do things well. At the end of their training, there were no guarantees they would be faithful to carry out the mission given them.
But Jesus knew the long term benefits to both the “trainees” and those they trained far out-weighed the short-term time and effort to train them. It wasn’t easier. It was better.
Taking the time to train is always better than just doing it yourself. Moses learned this lesson from His father-in-law and the disciples learned it from Jesus. The question is, will you and I learn the same lesson and pour ourselves into others?

 

Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.