Exodus 16

cspain03
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Exodus 16 Jul 1, 2014 12:41:35 GMT via mobile donp likes this

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Post by cspain03 on Jul 1, 2014 12:41:35 GMT

Good morning everyone. I know we don't have a prayer call schedule, but please remover to keep everyone in continual pray, WR don't always know what someone else is going through, and even when we do, we should pray for each other.

Ok, so I think we are all getting to the point we are being tested in some way, if you recall the surrender fast reading from yesterday, the enemy sees the progress we're making and knows the desires of our hearts to grow and strengthen our relationship with God and thus wants to bring about frustrations and convince us we don't have time to continue to be dedicated on this journey - dont be fooled or led astray, stay committed and trust in God through the frustrations and distractions. God is ever faithful, even when we may feel alone in this fight/journey of life.

So, from today's chapter, these verses stood out:
33 Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come."
34 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony for safekeeping.

I think this is a great reminder of our need to store God's blessings for "safekeeping". A lot of the times there are specific things that we can physically place in a jar to have to show the generations to come how God blessed us, but there things that we need to keep in the forefronts of our minds and intentionally share them with those who come after us (those who become new members of the Body of Christ). We never know what will be the piece of encouragement that someone else needs but they'll never get it if we don't remember/hold on to what God's done for us and share it with others. I know I can be hesitant to do a lot of sharing because I don't want to seem boastful or proud or like I am bragging/doing something for attention, I want to remain humble but I also have to find the balance of giving credit where credit is do and a lot of that comes with delivery. It's not about bragging or putting up a facade like everything is always good all the time, but it's about being open an honest about what God has brought you through and how it's that much greater of a blessing because we didn't deserve it then (and we don't deserve it now).

The Israelites spent all this time doubting and complaining and questioning their deliverance because the process was hard/harder than expected. They wanted to to go back to Egypt because they had more comforts there (despite being enslaved) - it didn't make sense to them to leave what they knew, even though it was slavery, to press forward and trust God for greater because that process was hard. Why die in the desert when they could have died in Egypt

Well I would rather die getting to where God wants be to be than be stuck in a bad situation and die there...but even that mentality isn't correct! Why not just trust God to be the provider that He says He is, and that He's shown Himself to be?!?! Why not trust God to give you exactly what you need and not lead you astray? Why not trust that God will be faithful to you if you remain obedient to Him?!!? Cause it's HARD! lol It's hard to step outside of the situation and remember He just parted the Red Sea and destroyed your enemies because you're so focused on the fact that you're hungry and your don't have some of the comforts that you used to have. How often do we find ourselves in similar situations. We quickly forget all that God has brought us through when the current situation we're in is hard. THAT'S WHY WE NEED A REMINDER OF GOD'S POWER AND PREVISION! We each need our "jab of mana" to carry with us a reminders of what God has done - how He's made ways out of no way and rained down blessings from Heaven to provide for us, just like His word says.

What's in your jar?!?!?

Love y'all!

Last Edit: Jul 1, 2014 12:54:30 GMT by cspain03

donp
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Exodus 16 Jul 1, 2014 23:08:40 GMT cspain03 likes this

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Post by donp on Jul 1, 2014 23:08:40 GMT

Court, you make good points.

Initially what grabbed my attention was started in verse 2 with the children of Israel's murmurings.

Just this morning, I found myself in an irritable state ready to complain about how much work I had to do AT WORK! I felt myself comparing today's workload to that of the rest of my week's days thus far. I didn't think about how smooth-sailing the rest of my week had been, nor that I was able to get off early yesterday ... only that I was in the moment with lots to do.

In verses 7 & 8, Moses tells them that their murmurings weren't against him, but against God. Wasn't it God who blessed me with a job to get up and go to? Didn't he know my capabilities when I was hired? Isn't He ultimately the one orchestrating His purpose for my life? So the immediate lesson for me was that I wasn't just complaining ... my complaints went against God's design for placing me there. Hmmm. Isn't that something to think about.

The next thing that jumps out to me is that God loved them so much that He had no reserve in proving Himself to them. Every day, He provided food for them and only required that they take enough for the day. Yet they tried to put it away for later. How is that trusting God?

Interestingly enough to me, we set ourselves up just like the Israelites today ... after seeing the countless, abundant blessings of the Father day after day, we still try to set ourselves up ... just in case. That's not trusting God.

I believe that our Savior knows us so well that He knew we'd be like this but His love even reached us there. The significance of the jar is so that even in our "seeing is believing" state of thinking we can be reminded just how much the Lord loves us.

It doesn't take much effort to think back on the things that Christ has done for us. So why is it that when we need to we never do? I think it's because we don't practice it. We rarely look back at the jars of past triumphs that the Lord designed for us to never forget. So then it isn't enough to just have the jar, but in order for it's purpose to be fulfilled we have to share it because it is hope for future generations and a reminder for ourselves.

dee07
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Exodus 16 Jul 2, 2014 2:30:41 GMT via the ProBoards App

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Post by dee07 on Jul 2, 2014 2:30:41 GMT

Good Point Court, I also think of what's in my jar for generations to come why'd can I offer them and share with them about the blessings and mercy of our God and Creator.

I use to not share my personal successes or achievements but I see how sharing them with my Mentees, childhood friends in SC and family has inspired those around me to connect themselves to a purpose had ultimately to Christ. We all have a jar, a safekeeping, a memory bank of Gods power, blessings and mercy... Let's us all share it for greater kingdom building here on earth.

Now what stood out to me was verse 28 "Then The Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and instructions"

I believe that is a question we all are seeking to resolve. By no means am I perfect or claim to be perfect for I know I am flawed. However, as a man who strives with all his heart to live by Gods commands it isn't easy. I look at this 40 Days of Surrender and see hope of us addressing and resolving the Lords question.

No matter how many times we falter let us all strive to follow his words, his steps and his plan.

Quia
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Posts: 90

Exodus 16 Jul 3, 2014 17:21:21 GMT cspain03 likes this

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Post by Quia on Jul 3, 2014 17:21:21 GMT

Hey loves,

So a couple of things stood out to me when reading this chapter. The first thing is the Stockholm Syndrome. The syndrome is "a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them." Essentially, this means that a person has been in bondage for so long that they don't even realize that it is unnatural. They forget the way things are supposed to be and become comfortable and almost content with their situation, accepting is as normal. This is how we get with our sins. Our sins hold us in captivity and instead of fighting to break free from the bonds, we fall into complacency and mock contentment with them. Here are the verses that led me to this:

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

In these verses, we see that instead of being joyous about being free from slavery, the Israelites reminisce about how they had all that they wanted while in bondage. Our sins get us so caught up that we don't even realize that this is not the way God intended us to live. It was God's plan for the Israelites to be RULERS, A CHOSEN GENERATION, yet they were content with being enslaved because they were able to eat all the food they wanted. There is more to life than pleasing our flesh. We are meant to be on top, but suffer because we let our sins rule.

Here are the other verses that stood out to me:

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

This is a direct illustration of the fact that God is a provider. It's also a test of obedience. I am SO guilty of this. God told them exactly what to do in order to reap their blessing. We see further on in the chapter that instead of following his directions they tried to "help" God out by selfishly trying to collect more, which legitimately makes sense because I'm sure if we were hungry we would want all the extra that we could get. We see that because of their disobedience, the Israelites' extra that they collected rotted and went to waste. We must be mindful not to taint our blessings trying to "help" God.

Post by cspain03 on Jul 1, 2014 12:41:35 GMT

Post by donp on Jul 1, 2014 23:08:40 GMT

Post by dee07 on Jul 2, 2014 2:30:41 GMT

Post by Quia on Jul 3, 2014 17:21:21 GMT

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