Incredible Journey Exodus 19

Incredible Journey

 

I recently read the book Unbroken, which now has been made into a movie.
This incredible story about a POW that had once been an Olympic runner is moving and inspiring.
The family relationships from his devoted mother to his dedicated brother endear you. The undying quest to be in the Olympics drive you to want to be your best, and the heart that leads him to survive his captors while encouraging those around him inspire you to dig deep and give more daily.
If you asked him if he would do it all again to be the man it made him, I am guessing he might not jump up and tell "YES". He paid a high price for the things life taught him.
We don't know where God is leading us, but He is leading there with purpose and intentionality.
It's not our job to guess what might be coming in the future and try to get ready, we can't know. It is our job to do our best at what God puts in front of us today. Each day had enough trouble of its own. God holds our plans and He will see us through it. We put all we have in His hands and do our best. When we fail, we own it, learn and move on with His help.


Exodus 19:4
⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

This image of God inspires me and comforts me more than any other.
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Did you know that when Eagles teach their young to fly they carry the young out of the nest on their wings, catching them as they learn when necessary until they are ready to fly on their own.
Each child is different, some take off sooner than others, some need more support.
He bears us on His wings, and in other places in scripture he protects under the shelter of His wings.
I love His wings!!, they are right there whenever I need them, just beneath me. He won't let me fall.

 

Cool Tidbits from Exodus 19

Think about Moses;
1.Born in Egypt to slave parents
2. Spent his young years in Pharaohs household as a Royal
3. Fled to Midian and spent 40 years as a shepherd until he had a dramatic encounter with God
4. Returned to Egypt with his estranged brother Aaron to lead the people out of captivity
5. Back to the wilderness leading hundreds of thousands of Israelites and following God (most of the time begging God not to slaughter the whole bunch of them for disobedience, while they whined about the conditions)
6.Wandered with the Israelites for 40 years as God prepared them to enter the promised land
7.Hands the torch of leadership to Joshua and dies while looking at the land of promise only from a distance, but never entering himself.

Now think about how God has led you so far. Trust Him to prepare you, lead you, and give you what you need. We can't be ready for what we don't know, but we can stop worrying and wearing ourselves out trying to be perfect and start trusting that He knows what where we are going.

Dig Deeper

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.^[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he^[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

In the rest of Chapter 19 we see how God reminds Israel that He is holy. They are not to take encounters with a Holy God lightly.

The fact that we can enter God's presence freely, because the blood of Christ consecrates us, is an amazing gift, not to be taken lightly. God is Holy!!!

God also reminds Israel that the laws he gives them are from Him not Moses.

Enjoy Exodus 19.

Exodus 19 New International Version (NIV)

At Mount Sinai

19 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. ² After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

³ Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ⁶ you^[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. ⁸ The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹ and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. ¹³ They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”
¹⁴ After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”
¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain^[b] trembled violently. ¹⁹ As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.^[c]
20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up ²¹ and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. ²² Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”
²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”
²⁴ The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.”
²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.