Week 32 Day 3
Pray:
Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Ex. 33:1-20 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said I know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Reflect:
God spoke to Moses “as a man speaks with his friend.” This does not mean God and Moses were “buddies.” In this same passage, God told Moses that he could not see his face and live. The way in which God communicated with Moses was similar to how friends talk to one another, even though it was not a relationship of equals. How does one speak to a friend and how might this apply to a conversational relationship with God? Friends speak about what is on their hearts and minds. God told Moses what he intended to do. God let Moses in on what was important to him and how Moses would be a part of his plans. God told Moses what was most valuable to him and how he wanted Moses to hold to and communicate those values to others. Friends speak honestly about their relationships and even their disappointments, but they do so in a redemptive way. God was direct with Moses in regard to his periodic lack of faith and his overt disobedience. Even so, God did not cast Moses off because, in spite of Moses’ shortcomings, he was a “friend of God.” Friends deal with each other directly. They do not need an arbitrator or middleman. Moses often served as the spokesman for God to the people, but God spoke directly to him. Of course we are not Moses, but what opportunities do we have to experience God like he did? Because of Jesus, the final mediator, we can go directly to God ourselves. We can communicate with God as friends do, directly, one to one. Because we have the written word of God, we can know what God values and wants done in the world. We do not have to guess. We can read, understand, and join him in what he is doing in and around us. God’s way of dealing with each of us in going to be unique in some ways, but in other ways it will be the same. He will not speak to us in a way that is out of sync with what is clearly written in Scripture. If you want to know the will and ways of God, then know the Bible. Do not look for some “mystical, emotional” direction as you read it. Read it in order to understand and apply it to your life. Read it to see who God is, how he works, and what he wants. You have what even Moses did not have – the completed Word of God. Friends do the “work” to understand each other. God has spoken to you already. Now do the work to understand what he has said. Know his word for yourself.
Pray:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.