Jesus Loves You and Me

"I praise you because I am wonderfully and fearfully made."  Psalm 139:14a

I went to a dog show in Ft. Payne, Alabama.  It wasn't a show for professional handlers, although one trainer and his dogs put on an impressive performance.  But I was more fascinated by the variety of dogs and the looks of pride and affection on the faces of the dogs' owners.  There were dachshunds, poodles, beagles, border collies, labs, and dogs of many other breeds as well as some dogs with a probable mixture of ancestors.  There were long haired dogs and short haired dogs of all sizes and ages, from puppies to old timers with gray hairs in their muzzles.  They came in different colors--black, brown, reddish, golden, white, and all sorts of mixed colors.  And I thought how we have a God of infinite variety.

One dog was carried in a sling, and another was rolled in a baby stroller.  Most were on leashes.  Regardless of their mode of transportation, the look on the owner's face told you that each dog was super special and very greatly loved.

Our God has also made people in different sizes, shapes, and colors.  He has made each one of us super special, and He looks at us with tremendous love and overwhelming affection.  I hope you will bask in how much He loves you and how special He thinks you are.

Father, it is so true, as the song says, that "Jesus loves me.  This I know.  For the Bible tells me so."  Thank You.  Thank You.  Thank You!  Amen.

The Aroma of Christ

"When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.'  Acts 4:13

Moses went back to Mt. Sinai, and God wrote the Ten Commandments on two more stone tablets.  He gave the Israelites a second chance to obey Him.  Have you ever needed a second, or third, or fourth, or fiftieth chance?  Do you know anyone right now to whom you might give another chance?  The Christian life is a matter of beginning again over and over.  When we sin, if we repent, God forgives us and wipes our slate clean, giving us a brand new beginning.  What a gracious, merciful Heavenly Father we have!  May we be as gracious and merciful to the people in our lives!

Moses asked God if he could see His glory.  God didn't allow Moses to see His face, but He hid Moses in a cleft of a rock and passed by, partially revealing His glory.  Moses wanted to be as close to God as he could possibly be, to see God more clearly than he had ever seen Him before.  Is this one of your goals--to become as close to God as you possibly can and to know Him better and better?

When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two new copies of the Ten Commandments, "his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord."  Acts 4:13 tells us this concerning a time when Peter and John were brought before the Jewish authorities to be questioned, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."  II Corinthians 2:15,  "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."

At a conference the attendees had free time in the afternoon, and one of the men elected to visit a rose garden in the vicinity.  When the attendees came back together for the session that night, one of them said, "I know where you have been.  You visited the rose garden this afternoon.  I can still smell the roses."

Does God's glory shine through us as it did through Moses after he had spent time with God?  Do people see a difference in our lives because we have been with Jesus?  Is there the sweet aroma of Christ in our lives wherever we go and whatever we do?

Father, may people sense a difference in our lives because we belong to You.  Amen.

Our Mediator

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men...."  I Timothy 2:5-6a.

The Israelites had vowed that they would obey God on several occasions.  But, before Moses had come back down the mountain, they asked Aaron to build them an idol.  Aaron didn't hesitate.  He told the people to bring him their gold earrings, which they did.  Scripture says,  "He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.  Exodus 32:4a.  Yet when Moses confronted him, Aaron blamed the people as though he had no choice in the matter, saying, "You know how prone these people are to evil.  They said to me, 'Make us gods who will go before us.....So I told them, "Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off."  Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.'"  Exodus 32:22b-23a, 24.  That's not exactly the way it happened.  Aaron yielded to the temptation to change the truth in an attempt to make himself look better. From time to time we face that same temptation.  Do we always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth regardless of the consequences?
     Moses was so angry about the idol that he broke the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments.  Yet when God threatened to destroy the people, Moses interceded for his fellow Israelites.  Moses acknowledged the immensity of their sin but asked God to forgive them.  So God relented and did not destroy the people.
     We, too, have a Mediator who asks God to forgive our sins.  I John 1:1b says,  "We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."  My husband, John, was a lawyer, and this was  one of his favorite verses, because an advocate is someone who pleads our case.  John won some of his cases and lost some of them, but he was convinced that Jesus would never lose his case, nor ours.

Father, thank You that Your Son, our Savior, intercedes for us on the grounds that He has already paid the penalty for all our sins.  Thank You for forgiving us because of His sacrifice.  Amen.

The Golden Calf

God said,  "You shall have no other gods before me."  Exodus 20:3

The Israelites were at Mt. Sinai.  God had promised to speak to them there.  His presence was accompanied by a thick cloud which covered the mountain, thunder, lightning, fire, smoke, and a very loud trumpet blast.  The whole mountain trembled violently.  What an awesome sight that must have been.

Moses went up on the mountain.  God instructed him to return to the Israelites and say to them,  "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession."  Exodus 19:5a.  When Moses told the Israelites what God had said,  "The people all responded together,  'We will do everything the Lords has said.'"  Exodus 19:8.

God spoke the Ten Commandments from the mountain to the people.  The first commandment was "You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them."  Exodus 20:3-5a.  God reiterated that command in Exodus 20:23, saying,  "Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver of gods of gold."  When Moses told the people all of God's words and laws, they responded with one voice,  "Everything the Lord has said we will do.”  Exodus 24:7.  Apparently they felt certain they would obey God.

But even before Moses came down from the mountain the people went to Aaron and said,  "Come, make us gods who will go before us."  Aaron made an astounding reply.  He told the people to bring him all the gold earrings they had.  When they did, "He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.  Then they said,  'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up.'"  Exodus 32:4  To add insult to injury, the next day the Israelites sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings to this golden calf.  They had been so sure they would obey God, but look at them now!

Rather than criticizing Israel for their disobedience, we need to remember all the times we thought we would be obedient and then we yielded to temptation.  The law was given to prove to all people that they were unable to keep it and needed a Savior.

Father, I know how sinful I am, how I have disobeyed You many times.  Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior so our sins could be forgiven.  Amen.