Category Archives: Proven Path Ministries

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Eating Confession

 

 

I have an eating confession.

I am sitting here at the computer after consuming a plate of pancakes and sausage at pretty much bed time. I enjoyed every bite… every bite that is except the last one. 

That last bite passed my lips and slid down my throat and landed in my stomach like a brick.

Then on top of that brick landed a pile of condemnation and whispers of “oh that was disgusting” 

and “I can’t believe you just ate that this late”

and “wow, your jeans are already tighter” 

and “that’s really gonna help that swimsuit look” 

and “didn’t you just pay money to help you lose weight… well you just threw that money out the window with that plate”

 

The real confession…

The first thought that passed through my mind in response to the whispers was to go to the bathroom and make myself throw it all back up. There was a day not that long ago when that is exactly what I would have done… that… or I would have taken some stuff to make it come out the other end.

I know the dangers of this, but even so, it is still my first thought on how to handle this ick that now sits in my body.

I knew I should have just had a glass of water, but I saw the pancakes and the sausage… and I did eat. So then my minds solution is to make what went down come back up.

Stupid flesh.

Obeying it only feels good in the moment… it never feels good when the moment has past. Then your own thoughts on how to fix the ick usually put you in an even ickier place… oh the endless cycle of condemnation that comes when you obey your fleshly desire. 

So how do I fix the ick…

Tonight I confess.

I repent of choosing to obey my flesh rather than what I know is beneficial for my mind, body, soul, and spirit.

I drink a glass of water.

I choose to not make matters worse by purging myself.

I begin anew tomorrow.

Yes, I am thirty-five years old and this thought process is still a struggle. But I have victory in and through my God… because tonight I will not make myself throw up nor take something before bed that will kick in when I wake up… I will just trust my God and His forgiveness and His grace and His mercy for they are new every morning.   

 

 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

All of Life is a Test

 

Life has been a little crazy here lately…

If you have been with me long you have read of our attempt to sell our house… and after having it on the market for a year we chose to take it off the market and refinance.  We decided that God obviously wanted us to stay here for a little while longer.

Well the house has been off the market for about eight months and two Saturday’s ago our former realtor calls and says she is on top of our mountain showing houses and the lady with her was wanting to know if we were still interested in selling our house…

Of course we said, Yes.

                 She wanted to see it right then.

At this point my husband is getting ready to go on night shift and I am at the ballfield with our girls. This showing is coming right after a teaching engagement I had, and my mind and heart had been focused on preparing lessons not cleaning our house.

The house was a wreck.

The rugs hadn’t been vacuumed in days so dog hair was every where. The floors had not been mopped in forever… we had been running crazy for the past month and plus I had been sick. Laundry was on every clean flat surface. The tub and the closet were full of dirty clothes and towels, not one bed was made, the sink was full of dirty dishes, my husband counted eighteen pairs of shoes scattered through out the house…

I mean it was bad.

               But I said, “sure it’s a mess, but go right ahead”

The following Monday we got the call that they wanted to see it again.

So that night I cleaned the house. But I did not get into the frantic crazy clean that I had put myself through when in it was the market for a year… I just did what I had planned on doing that Monday anyway just to get things caught back up from the backburner place I had put it on. I realized that if they wanted to come back after seeing it the past Saturday anything I got done would be an amazing improvement 🙂

So me and my girls head out for lunch while this couple checks out our house again.

After lunch we head to Book-a-Million so my Shelby can use a gift card that she has had since Christmas and while we are searching for a book we get the call.

I suppose that the others in Books-a-Million probably thought we were crazy invaders from outer somewhere because I am on my knees in the middle of the store floor giving my thanks and praise to my God and my girls are jumping up and down and holding hands as they sing “they want our house! they want our house!”

Boom out of no where life gets flipped and change enters the equation of life once again.

And in this change comes the opportunity to choose to trust in the Word of God or not… 

The moment the news of the house selling settles down I begin to doubt…

     what if we pack our whole house up,

                       find a place we absolutely love, 

                              and then they back out and decide they don’t want the house… 

Oh ye of little faith.

Trusting in God’s sovereignty is easy from the pew… it’s a little harder from the kitchen 🙂

Many plans are in a man’s heart

But the counsel of the LORD will stand

Proverbs 19:21

Here is the thing… what if we do pack the whole house up and find a place we absolutely love and then they decide they don’t want our house and back out of the contract… if that were to happen would I be willing to stop and believe…

Whether for correction,

or for His world,

or for His lovingkindness,

He causes it to happen.

Job 37:13 

Either I believe in the sovereignty of God or I don’t. Either I believe the Word of God is indeed the word of God or I don’t…  the Word of God is either just another title for the Holy Bible to me or it is indeed the God breathed syllables of life.

How I obey it, trust in it, seek it, rely on it, treasure it… shows how I really feel about it.

Will I trust Him in all of life… or just pull from His book when it suits me?

All of life is a test.

Will I choose to trust God in the pew and in the kitchen.

Will I choose to believe in His sovereign will and plan even when the little things in life don’t make sense and don’t go the way I seemed so sure they would go?

Will I seek His will in the little every day things or just call on Him when I think “I can’t handle this one” 

Today I choose to trust Him

    with the unreturned phone calls,

    with the delayed dates set,

    with the overslepts and completely forgots

   with the packed the whole house up and they just backed outs

   and

   with the returned phone calls

   with the quickly confirmed dates set 

   with the up on time and out the door and remembered it alls

    with the moving everything out and in to the new place God has planned for us… 

I choose to trust God with it all… when I don’t like it and when I do. I will submit to His will and His authority and His purpose and His plan and I will seek Him in His Word to help us make sense of it all along the way.

Because He is good.

Always.

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

What’s In A Name

 

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,

for the LORD will not leave him unpunished

who takes his name in vain.  

Exodus 20:7

 

What exactly does it mean to take the LORD’s name in vain?

We seem to all be united on the fact that using God’s name, any of His names, as a curse word is taking His name in vain. However this was not an issue when God delivered this commandment. The children of Israel then, and still most of the Jewish people and nation of Israel today, so reverenced the name of God that they would not speak it or attempt to even write it out in its entirety. In most Jewish letters and writing you will see the name God written out as G-d.  

So, with this in mind, let us dig a little deeper into this third commandment and see if we can discover exactly what it means to take the name of the LORD in vain. To begin let’s look at the Hebrew translation of the word “vain.” Vain in the Hebrew is shawv and it means desolating; evil as destructive, ruin, guile, uselessness, false, lie, lying and it is from the Hebrew word sho which is an unused root meaning to rush over. Now with this knowledge let’s read this third commandment again, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…”

Oh precious one is it sinking in?

You shall not use the name of God to desolate another.

    You shall not use it for evil in any way.

          You shall not speak lies about the name of God.

                You shall not rush over the name of God.

                        You shall not make the name of God useless.

Have you been guilty of taking the name of the LORD your God in vain?

Let’s dig even deeper.

Let us look at the Hebrew word for name. In the Hebrew the word name is shem. Have you heard this word before? Shem was the name of one of Noah’s sons. Shem is the son through which Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David and yes, Jesus was born.

The word shem means conspicuous position, an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality, honor, authority, and character. In the Bible names are very important. Someone’s name defined who they were, their character, and their position in life. Many times a child would not be named until the parents could tell who he would be, or they named him according to who they desired him to be. A name mattered. It should still matter today.

So my friend, do you see how very vast this command is? It is so much more than just using God’s name as a curse word. It is lying about His character and position by our use of or lack of use of His name. If we do not trust in His name, we take it in vain. If we consider His name as useless, we take it in vain. If we do not trust in the character of our God as defined to us by His names, we take His name in vain. If we rush over His name, not considering Him our strong tower, our refuge, our help, our salvation, our hope… we take His name in vain. If we doubt Him, we take His name in vain.

The Ten Commandments booklet I shared about earlier states that “Many who have heard much about God carelessly assume they know Him- that they have an acceptable relationship with Him. Yet they have never learned really to respect Him. They demean and degrade Him by flippantly using His name in everyday conversation. They unwittingly announce to all who hear them that respect for God is simply not important to them, even though they may believe He exists.”

Oh precious one, spend some time today learning His names.

                    Read through the Psalms and see how often they call attention to the name of the LORD.

If you are indeed a Christian, then you carry the name of Christ and your actions in this name either bring honor to God or blaspheme His holy name. Oh my friend, represent Him well, for He is worthy. Let His name be lifted higher and higher and higher.  

Oh Father,

I carry the name of Your Son. I am Yours. Might I never forget that You are holy and holy is Your name. As I am coming and going in this life may I honor Your name. Let me not disgrace Your most glorious name. Let me never forget that I represent You and I do not want to represent You wrong. I might be the only Bible that another reads and I want to accurately deliver Your truth.

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

Idol Worship

 

You shall not make for yourself an idol,

or any likeness of what is in heaven above

or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:4

 

As we take a look through history and even as we look around us today we see the evidence of why God delivered this commandment. The false gods of Egypt then, the false gods of the other nations of the world then, and even now, require an idol.

Those who worship them build altars in their homes, in their yards, in their cities, they set up shrines and they design even hand held objects to take with them where ever they go and then they bow down and worship before this image that they themselves had to make.

I homeschool our children and this past school year we studied ancient Egypt. One of the things we learned as we studied their culture, religion, and government was how they treated their idols. The priests had to bath the idol, they had to bring food to the idol, and they had to move the idol. They had to do everything for this so called “god”.

Why would they think that a god who could not even feed or bath himself, a god that they have to carry, would be worthy of their worship and could deliver them in a day of distress?  

Isaiah 44:20 tells us that “… a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?'”

Oh how our hearts can deceive us!

Notice also in this verse, that this one could not deliver himself. This one who bowed down before the works of his hand could not make himself see the foolishness in it all. To his deceived heart it all made perfect sense. It is indeed true that all of mankind has exchanged the truth of God for a lie and we have bowed down and worshiped created things instead of our Creator (Romans 1:25).

However, our Creator God’s love for us remains. He tells us in Isaiah 42:16, “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know; in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone.” God has no desire to leave us undone, no desire to leave us holding a lie in our right hand. He wants us to be sanctified in His truth.

He distinguished Himself from all other gods by the giving of His law. Isaiah 42:21 says that “The LORD was pleased for His righteousness’ sake to make the law great and glorious.” He would show us His omnipresence by making us aware that He did not need an idol to remind us of His presence and power.

He lets us know in this commandment that He is a jealous God. As a matter of fact He goes so far as to say that His name is Jealous (Exodus 34:14). Let us remember that He has said He will not give His glory to another and He will not have His praise given to any graven image (Isaiah 42:8). 

When our God chose to show Himself to us, when He chose to allow us to behold His glory, He did not use a temple, an altar, or a graven image. No precious one, our God displayed His image in the person of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4, Hebrews 1:1-3).

The Word, the great and glorious Law of God became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw the glory of the Lord, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The image of our God would not be made of wood or stone and He would not be fashioned by the hands of man. He would have inherit power. He would indeed be able to bath Himself, feed Himself, and carry Himself around. He would not be dependant on any man, for Hw is the One through who man was created (John 1:3).

Oh Father,

Thank You for being a jealous God. Thank You for making me aware of Your omnipresence. How awesome it is to know that there is no where I can go to flee from Your presence (Psalm 139:7-12). Thank You for Your great and glorious law, Your Word of truth, which separates You from all other gods that are seeking my heart. The world is full of idols, full of things of empty promise, that are wanting me to trust in them, to bow down to them, to fear them, but I bow before You alone. Oh Father, and because You are indeed a jealous God, You will let me know when my heart has turned from You. You will keep me from being deceived unto death (Job 36:7-11). Keep me, my God, in Your lovingkindness. 

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Slowing Down

 

Slow never killed time. It’s the the rushing and racing, the trying to catch up, this is what kills time — ourselves.

Why in the world do we keep wounding ourselves?

Life is not an emergency. 

And this, this is the only way to slow down time:

When I fully enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention, I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here.

Weigh down this moment in time with attention full, and the whole of time’s river slows, slows, slows.

In this space of time and sphere, I am attentive. I am aware. I am accepting the whole of the moment, weighing it down with me all here.

~Ann Voskamp

I read these words and I breathed deep. This is something I fight often. This feeling of “rushed”. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have heard my husband say, “Nicole, slow down“

I will get myself in a tizzy, my stomach tied in knots, my fingers just wiggling, and my mind racing, as I try to remember what I need to get out the door in order to accomplish all that I feel must be accomplished this particular day. I can’t enjoy the present moment because I can’t get the fear that I will forget something that will be needed to take care of that moment up ahead.

 

 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city,

and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.

You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 

Instead, you ought to say,

“If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 

But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16

 

It should have been a sign to me a long time ago that when my stomach knotted up, and my words became harsh, and my patience became short, and my flesh crawled… that this “rushing” was arrogance, that it was indeed evil. But some how I have always managed to ignore the signs.

Even when I received a clear rebuke, a clear warning, “Nicole, slow down”

I would huff and ignore it and continue in my “rush”

I have no clue how many amazing moments I have completely missed, I have destroyed, I have trampled, I have ran over… in my “rush”. How many times have I wounded little hearts in my, “Not now! I don’t have time!”

God forgive me…

                       How thankful I am for His grace, for His mercy, for His forgiveness…

How thankful I am for their grace,

                                                     for their mercy,

                                                                 for their forgiveness… my little hearts (and my big heart)

How thankful I am that He is willing to say, “Nicole slow down” over and over and over and over again.

Life moves so fast…

Today I just want to slow down and be still and know that He is God.

I don’t have to “rush”… I just need to trust.   

 

 

 

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

No Other

 

You shall have no other gods before Me. 

Exodus 20:3

 

Commandment number one: You shall have no other gods before me.

In truth if we were to be judged by the Law of God who among us could get past this very first commandment? How thankful I am that Christ stood in my place. What I see in this commandment is that our God never denies that there are other gods. The word gods in the Hebrew is elohiym and it means rulers, judges, divine ones, angels, godlike one. This is also the same word used for the One True God. However these “little g” gods are not omnipotent or omnipresent or omniscient, they are created beings, not creators.

As a matter of fact in John 10:34 Jesus says that we are gods, “Jesus answered them, ‘Has is not been written in your Law, I said, you are gods’?'” Jesus is quoting Psalm 82:6 “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.'” We are gods because we rule over others, we sit as judges over others, and because we are sons of the Most High.

However, we are not GOD.

Nor will we ever become Gods or attain to God-ship through some mystical process of perfecting ourselves.

We are created beings. We have a Creator.

He alone is GOD. 

This is why God declares in Isaiah 2:22, “Stop regarding man, whose breathe of life is in his nostrils; for why should he be so esteemed?”

This is why the Creator God declares, “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God…” (Deuteronomy 10:17).

We are to place neither man nor any other being before our God. We are not to worship man and we are not to worship any power or supernatural force, no matter how intriguing it may appear. We are not to put our trust in ourselves. We are not to set ourselves up as God. The very desire to do so is what brought upon the fall of all mankind.

 

The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die!

For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’

Genesis 3:4-5

 

Oh precious ones, we may be created in the image of God but we are not “like” God.

 

To whom will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare with Him?

Isaiah 40:18

 

We cannot even fathom the likeness of the glory of our Creator God. He is holy. He is unique like none other. There is none to liken Him or compare Him to. He is God. He is incomprehensible and He will not share His glory with another. He says “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another…” (Isaiah 42:8).

 

So my friend, when we read…

  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,

and we saw His glory,

glory as of the only begotten from the Father,

 full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

 and when we read…

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life;

no one comes to the Father but through Me.

John 14:6

and when we read…

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,

with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

John 17:5 

….what must we know if God has already told us that He will not give His glory to another and we are to have no other gods before Him? There is only one conclusion, for our God does not lie, and He does not contradict Himself in anyway. The one and only conclusion is that Jesus is indeed God.

 

Oh Father,

I worship You. Thank You for taking on flesh and standing in my place for judgment. You knew I had been deceived and You were mindful that I am but flesh. Your love for me is breath taking. I cannot comprehend it no more than I can comprehend all of who You are. You are my God. The God of gods and I desire to honor You and walk faithfully in Your commands. I place no other god before me as I surrender to You in and through Your Son Jesus Christ.

 

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

  

Poetry, Proven Path Ministries, Uncategorized

Believe

Believe, Do You Believe

Beauty indescribable in awe at Your sight
Eternal Undivided, bathed in Your Light
Love unconditional, captured by Your grace
Insecurities unraveled strengthened by faith
Everlasting to everlasting my God You shall reign
Victorious all powerful my Christ, the King of kings
Elevated to all authority, all power is in Your hands

Dancing for You, kneel before You, my allegiance You have
Omnipotent, King of glory, I give You all my praise

You are worthy, oh so worthy, the Lamb who was slain
Omniscient, omnipresent, Your lovingkindness forever endures
Undeniable is Your presence every heart has felt You stir

Believe, oh believe, He is the Alpha and the Omega
Elohim, my Creator, Lord of heaven, Lord of earth
Lifted high, drawing nigh, every man to Yourself
Incomparable You alone are the One Living God
Empowered am I through being justified by Your blood
Validated before my Father, by faith in Your love
Every knee one day will bow, every eye one day will see

But blessings, upon blessings, for those who without seeing BELIEVE

**************************************************

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them,

“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails,

and put my finger into the place of the nails,

and put my hand into His side,

I will not believe.”

 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.

 Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said,

“Peace be with you.” 

Then He said to Thomas,

“Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;

and reach here your hand and put it into My side;

and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 

Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 

Jesus said to him,

“Because you have seen Me, have you believed?

Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

John 20:24-29

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

Laying Down the Law

 

Then God spoke all these words, saying,

I am the LORD your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

Exodus 20:1-2

 

The people are assembled at the base of the mountain with Moses and Aaron. Can you imagine the anxious expectation that must be in the air at this moment? They have followed this pillar of fire by day and this pillar of cloud by night. They have listened to Moses recall to them what he has told them the LORD has said, but now all the people will hear from their God. Today they will all hear His voice.

In Exodus 19:4-6 we read how God desires to make this stubborn, rebellious, stiff-necked, grumbling people a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is the purpose of God for the children of Israel. The only stipulation placed on them, “obey My voice and keep My covenant.”

Now this is our God. He is not going to allow this covenant to be delivered second hand. He wants all the people to be aware they are without excuse. He will allow all of them to hear His voice as He delivers the main conditions of this covenant.

We call these conditions the Ten Commandments. These ten commands are the base of the entire Law of God. How fitting that they were given to the people at the base of a mountain. God is showing them this is your solid foundation. This remains a solid foundation for us today as well.    

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;

I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

 not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments,

and teaches others to do the same,

 shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;

but whoever keeps and teaches them,

he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:17-19

This is what Jesus has to say about the Law of God, therefore, we must not disregard these commands. Jesus came to show us how the whole point of God’s Law was to teach us how to love. The Law condemns us because apart from God we know nothing about real love.

Precious one have you ever considered that every commandment given by our God is for our benefit. Obeying the commands of God and practicing love go hand in hand. The Law actually defines love and how we are to walk it out as children of God.

I came across a wonderful booklet on the Ten Commandments online (www.ucg.org/booklets). This booklet shares how, “For love to be meaningful it must be accurately defined and understood… Love is the centerpiece of all the Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments… In Jesus Christ’s own words, ‘abiding in’- or maintaining the practice of- godly love is accomplished by keeping the commandments of God. His example teaches us that obeying and godly love are inseparable. Sin is simply violating love by transgressing the commandments of God. Sin is lawlessness- neglecting or refusing to be bound by God’s rules that define true, godly love.”

In 1 John 5:3 the Word of God declares, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” So for the next couple of weeks we are going to dig into these ten commands of God given at the base of the mountain to the children of Israel one at a time. May we see how they apply to us today as believers and partakers of the new covenant, the better covenant (Hebrews 8:6), in Christ.

Oh Father,

Open my eyes to Your truth. Let me be one who is called great in the kingdom of heaven. Show me Father, how to teach Your Law and obey Your Law in light of the grace and truth that is realized in Christ. Your word says that the Law is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). However Your word also says I am released from the Law (Romans 7:6) in Christ. So show me, teach me what this means, and I will obey and walk in the truth that You reveal to me. 

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

Names of God Series, Proven Path Ministries

Names of God: Jehovah-hoseenu

The name of God that we will be looking at today is Jehovah-hossenu, the LORD our Maker. We read this name of God all through the Scriptures… it’s one of my favorite. This name is different from Elohim, that shows us God as Creator. Elohim shows us how God creates out of nothing… but Jehovah-hoseenu shows us how God takes something and He molds it and shapes it.

Our God is Elohim and He is Jehovah-hoseenu.

O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. 
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 
For the LORD is a great God
And a great King above all gods, 
In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also. 
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. 
For He is our God…

Psalm 95:1-7

As we have studied these names we have often looked at God’s relationship with Israel. We have to remember that when God called Israel out of Egypt, He sent them to the wilderness so that He could Egypt out of them.

But there were many who rejected His molding hands… and they quarreled against Him. Sometimes molding and shaping is not a pleasurable experience.

 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’

Isaiah 45:9

But now, O LORD, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Life is so much better when we just submit to the potter’s hand instead of fighting against it. You know when God called us out of the world and into Christ… He still has to get the world out of us. We are new fresh cut of clay in Christ, ready to be molded and shaped.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;

the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

We are the work of His hands. He takes us as we are and then He begins to do His wonders in our hearts and in our minds and in our souls. He begins preparing us for what He has in store for us. He has a work for us to do. He called us for a purpose and He is going to get us ready for it.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

However, whatever good works He has for us…

I believe His number one intent is to conform us into the image of His Son.

For those whom He foreknew, 

He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,

so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Romans 8:29

It doesn’t matter what shape we are in when we come to Him… He is Jehovah-hoseenu. He is the Master Potter, the LORD our Maker, and He is more than capable to conform us and mold us and shape us into His own possession… He is able to make us worthy of our calling. He will accomplish His work in us, and because He will, we will accomplish our work in Him.

who will transform the body of our humble state

into conformity with the body of His glory,

by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Philippians 3:21

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

When God Comes Down

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So it came about on the third day, when it was morning,

that there were thunder and lightning flashes

and a thick cloud upon the mountain

and a very loud trumpet sound,

so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.  

Exodus 19:16

 

As you study through the Scriptures we learn that the third day is very significant to God.

In Genesis it was on the third day that the waters were gathered into one place and the dry land appeared and began to sprout forth life with seed in it bearing fruit.

It was on the third day that Jonah cried out to God from the belly of a fish and God then commanded the fish to vomit him out onto the dry land.

It was on the third day that our Lord arose from the grave victorious.

Here in Exodus it will be on the third day that all the people will hear the voice of their God.

I cannot even begin to imagine the awesomeness of this day. In this account we read that the Lord descended on this mountain in fire. We read that smoke rose like that of a smoke furnace and that the entire mountain quaked violently. All of this on top of a trumpet sound that grew louder and louder.

Then Moses speaks and God Himself answers him with thunder, God’s words to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to gaze and many of them perish.” (Exodus 19:21).

My husband works in a steel mill. His company melts down metals in huge furnaces to produce steel. When the smoke is rising up out of the furnace you can see it from miles away. When water is found in the furnace it will explode with a force that shakes homes for miles around. He has taken me to his worksite to see these furnaces and to watch their power. I watched in awe at these furnaces and could feel their strength, even from the safety of the inside of my husband’s truck. I cannot even begin to imagine the awestruck fear that was upon this people as they stood at the foot of this violently quaking mountain that was so simply because it had been descended upon by the One True Living God.  

The earth quakes when God comes down. What in the world makes us think we could ever stand in His presence? Only the blindness of sin and the pride and arrogance of a deceived heart can make us this ignorant…

God’s warning to the people is not from being power hungry or to show them He’s boss. It is a true warning out of concern for their very lives. This One True Living God was not one of the gods of Egypt that they had grown accustomed to. This God, the I AM, was and is holy.

They could not approach Him and live because they had yet to learn how to approach this holy God. We in our sinful flesh can have no part with this God. He is not the works of man’s hand nor is He a fallen one. He is Elohim, the Creator God.

Our sin separate us from God. Our sin brings His righteous wrath. Sin and holiness do not mix just as water and hot melted steel do not mix. Just as that water in the furnace at my husband’s work naturally brings the wrath of the steel and is consumed in its fury, so our sin naturally incurs the wrath of the holiness of our God and is consumed in His righteous fury.   

Oh, how thankful I am that this holy God, our Creator, made a way… when there was no way.    

Oh Father,

How thankful I am for Your mercy. My sin is ever before You, but in Your mercy You have made a way for those who seek You to find You. Those who submit to You will not be consumed in Your fury, but You have always made a way for Your people to commune with You. Now in Christ we have not come to that mountain that can’t be touched, but we have come to Mount Zion. Let us not refuse Him who is speaking (Hebrews 12:18-29). 

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen