Day 22
Reading: Ex. 17:1- Ex. 20:26
Walking with God will bring one to places where one is forced out of the comfort zone. I have found myself many a time in places where I needed water. Biology tells us that the human body is 70% water. A season without water is called a drought which leads to a famine. Many today are experiencing a famine because they went through a drought and didn't realise the need to learn to seek God for water in life. Only He can quench the thirst for life. God is the Living Water. His water is never ending!
The challenges of life teach us to rely on God who alone is able to supply water for a living. The children of Israel soon saw Moses use his rod to strike the rock for water. Horeb was a place of encounter. A place where Moses met God. It was a desert a dry place. thus the children of Israel did need water however it was the manner of the cry that angered Moses. Moses felt they tempted God. The Hebrew word connotes that they were throwing down a challenge to God. They were basically questioning if God had the capacity to provide water. Moses was annoyed and rightly because these people had seen 10 plagues showing the power of God; they saw the Red Sea part and they were feeding on manna yet they questioned if God could supply water. However, many times as believers we do tempt God when we forget His power and that He is more than able to. How many times have I faced challenges and cried to God in a manner that has forgotten the past testimonies?
Life is warfare and not fanfare a leader once shared at a birthday party. I have never forgotten that statement because of the profundity of it. The children of Israel were soon introduced to battling an enemy. Amalek means ones who saps, strangles, exhausts, or laps around you taking the life out. The first battle was against those who would seek to sap the life out of children of Israel. The Amalekites were a stubborn people. Notice that as long as Moses held his hands up high victory was certain. To win against the sapping exhausting spirit one must maintain a lifestyle of prayer and worship with hands lifted to God alone. The Lord asked Moses to keep reminding Joshua of this victory so that Joshua would never tire of war. Moses then revealed a name of God as the Lord the Banner. God is our banner in all places we walk and as a banner is held up high, hold the Lord up high and victory will be certain.
Jethro Moses' father-in-law visits Moses bringing to him his wife and two sons. We don't know when the second son was born as we know that when Moses went back to Egypt he had one son. Jethro listens to the testimony of the defeat of Pharaoh. He then offers Moses advise teaching him the principle of delegation in leadership to sustain the longevity of the leader. A good leader listens to counsel seeking wisdom knowing that one doesn't know everything. The experience of others is a greater teacher than experience.
God has declared that if I keep His commandments and walk in obedience I will be a special treasure.The word used here in Hebrew also means storehouse. Walking in obedience to God will make His special storehouse replete with repositories of His glory, grace and goodness! God has called me to be His priest and to walk in holiness. We His people are to be priests interceding for the world we live in and expected to be a holy nation. Lord remove all that is impure in my life.
God desires to meet with His people. However, we must be consecrated to meet with Him. May I continually live a consecrated life ready for divine encounters. God advises Moses of the boundaries and conditions that the children of Israel must keep when He comes to meet with them. This encounter was to give the people a perspective of God that was much more than the God who brought plagues.
The lightenings, thunderstorms and the sound of a trumpet blowing must have been a scary sight to behold. In the midst of flashes of lightning to hear a trumpet, I don't know the decibels of the trumpet but it must have been very loud announcing the coming of the Lord. God descended with fire to met His people. May God descend with fire to meet with me in all that concerns me. Moses spoke and God answered him. Imagine the trepidations of the others as God spoke. The children of Israel had seen God act, had been told of God meeting their forefathers however this was a highlight meant to forever be imprinted on their hearts and minds. Moses is then instructed to bring Aaron to meet with God. God is already showing the people His line of authority and expected the people to keep it. In this encounter, the Ten Commandments are given to Moses.
The people feared so much that they relegated themselves to hearing God through a man. Moses assures them that the purpose of the whole encounter is to bring the fear of God into their lives. This encounter was a test.During this test, they muted a channel of God speaking to them and instead chose a man. They blocked the channel of God speaking to them. How many times have I blocked the channel of God? How many believers today are dependant on a man to hear God yet God desires to speak to us continually.
God instructs Moses and the children of Israel to never make an image of Him. He gives instructions of an altar to be raised to give offerings to Him. The altar of God was to be a place of divine encounters. A place of divine transactions for life. May my life be an altar of God!!
Memory Verse: Ex. 19:5
Decree:
Father, I receive Your love for me. I repent of not walking in the fear of God. I decree that I will walk in the fear of God all the days of my life. Let my life be consecrated to God alone. All that I am and have I yield to God and surrender all to Him. Lord, may I be an altar offering you praise and thanksgiving continually. I decree that I will walk in the ways of God. I decree that I am obedient to the Word of God. I decree that I am the special treasure of God. I stand as a priest holy before God. I decree that from today I will manifest the blessings of being a special treasure of God in Jesus name. Amen.
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