Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wednesday in the Word

Today we had a wonderful Wednesday in the Word!! The day started off with our Noon Day Bible Class. Class was well attended and the dialogue was dynamic! I taught the same lesson in both classes, so I will give you a synopsis shortly.

These past few Sunday School lessons have really been a blessing to both the pastor and people of BBC! Today's lesson was taken from Numbers 20:1-13. This is a great story with valuable insight for leaders everywhere. Moses and Aaron had led the people to Kadesh. When they arrived there, the congregation of the Lord began to complain and criticize the leadership because of a lack of water. You would think that after all of the miracles the people experienced, they would not have complained, but this is exactly what they did. In essence they blamed their lack of faith of Moses and Aaron's ability to lead. Why do people put their inadequacies on you?

Moses really blessed me with his next move. Remember, not only is Moses frustrated because of the murmuring of the people, but he is also grief stricken over the death of his sister. However, I like what he does, verse 6 says, "And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them." When things got too much to bear, they removed themselves from the situation. This is good advice for all of us. There are times when we need to remove ourselves from the presence of the assembly to get a fresh perspective on what is going on. Now they didn't just remove themselves from the assembly and take a break. When they left, they went into the tabernacle and fell on their faces. Getting into God's presence gives us a renewed spirit and a refreshed mind.

God tells Moses to take the rod and gather the people and speak to the rock and it shall give water to the people and their beasts. Moses takes the rod, gathers the people and then makes mistake #1. He begins to speak to the people. God did not instruct him to tell the people anything. He tells them to listen up and calls them rebels and then makes mistake #2, he suggests that he and Aaron are the the ones that are performing this miracle, and then he makes mistake #3, he strikes the rock not once, but twice. Moses allowed his frustration to get the best of him, and that caused him to act out of the will of God. How many of us, have allowed our feelings to make us act contrary to our character and the codes and conduct of Christ? The amazing thing is, even though Moses acted wrong, the people still got the water that they desired. Thank God that our problems don't prevent God from providing for His people!

God then tells Moses and Aaron that because of their disobedience and their failure to sanctify God in the presence of the people that they would not be permitted to enter into the Promised Land. You mean after all they had been through with these people grumbling, complaining, murmuring, challenging, disrespecting, and lack of faith and trust in God, that it was Moses and Aaron that didn't get to go in? This tells us that we cannot be driven by our emotions and feelings because they can cause us to miss out in the very thing that God has promised us. What is an even bigger slap in the face is that the people who caused all of the emotions still got to go in. We are to be God driven and not emotion driven!!

Bible Class was really off the chain! Today we looked at Romans 9:30 - 10:4. This was a very interesting portion of scripture. I was always used to hearing this Romans 10 passage read during revival services, but never took the time to do an in depth study on it. Wow, I've been really missing out! This passage is packed with powerful and pertinent points! Israel did not have full understanding of God's provided righteousness through Jesus Christ. As a result of this, they went about to establish their own righteousness. This is where many Christians find themselves today. God's provided righteousness requires nothing of us but to believe it. This confuses many people as they seek a works based religion that will allow them to have badges of honor on their chest. When seeking your own righteousness, you cannot or will not submit yourself unto God's righteousness.

The last verse we studied says that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. The Law did not and could not of itself provide righteousness before God for us. But Christ fulfilled the Law by keeping it perfectly during His sinless life and then gave His life in payment for the penalty of sin and the broken Law. The Law then pointed to Him as the Source of the God-provided righteousness it could not supply. So in closing, ITS ALL ABOUT JESUS!!! It got real hot in church right then and I had a Sunday Morning felling on a Wednesday night!! It is our job to lift Jesus up for all to see. How to reach the masses, men of every birth. For an answer, Jesus gave the key. He said and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men unto me!!

I forgot to add one thing to my laundry list for the week. Yard Work!! UGH!!!!!! God Bless!!!

4 comments:

Pastor Rev. Ray E. Owens said...

The Wednesday Word is back, Glory to God, wish I had been there.

Owens

Rev. Barney said...

It's good to know that the fire has been re-kindled. You are God's man!

Ronald said...

It got good to me while I was reading it! Teach/Preach on Pastor.

Ronald

Pastor Lance A. Mann said...

Spoon, another example of providing the people of God with a consistent diet of sound biblical teaching. Glad you got your fire back Doc.

Lance