Comments on: March 11, 2010 http://newlife-glastonbury.org/bibleplan/2010/03/11/march-11-2008/ Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:15:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Gordon http://newlife-glastonbury.org/bibleplan/2010/03/11/march-11-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-278 Gordon Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:55:02 +0000 http://newlife-glastonbury.org/bibleplan/2008/03/11/march-11-2008/#comment-278 It seems to me that the heart of what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees was in yesterdays's reading "you have neglected the more important matters of the law- justice, mercy and faithfulness." This is reminsent of Micah 6:8"He has showed you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with you God." It always seems that religeous observance is more attractive to us than fulfilling the real demands of God. Because their focus was wrong, the Pharisees slipped into all the other problems that are mentioned. It is so easy for us to slip into doing what the Pharisees did, and to think that it is all about religeous observance, this is why being a Christian is so tough. It seems to me that the heart of what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees was in yesterdays’s reading “you have neglected the more important matters of the law- justice, mercy and faithfulness.” This is reminsent of Micah 6:8″He has showed you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with you God.”

It always seems that religeous observance is more attractive to us than fulfilling the real demands of God. Because their focus was wrong, the Pharisees slipped into all the other problems that are mentioned. It is so easy for us to slip into doing what the Pharisees did, and to think that it is all about religeous observance, this is why being a Christian is so tough.

]]> By: Eric Stillman http://newlife-glastonbury.org/bibleplan/2010/03/11/march-11-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-277 Eric Stillman Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:14:50 +0000 http://newlife-glastonbury.org/bibleplan/2008/03/11/march-11-2008/#comment-277 It's incredible how, even when God speaks clearly, as He did to Moses, He still causes His will to be worked out in ways that can really test one's faith. God has clearly told Moses that he and Aaron will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, and that God will do miraculous signs to convince Pharaoh. So Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh, and what happens? Pharaoh increases the workload of the people, and God does no miraculous sign. Moses must have felt like such an idiot. Here he is, telling people that God has called him to deliver them from Pharaoh, that God will do miraculous signs, and absolutely nothing happens. In fact, the situation gets worse, all because he trusted God and opened his mouth. Of course, we all know how this is going to turn out, but certainly Moses and the Israelites did not, as you can see by the way Moses compains to God at the end of this passage. Moses is not alone in this. Many of us have done things, convinced it is God's will, only to find things getting worse instead of better. We can either convince ourselves that it must not have been God, and give up; we can wrack our brains trying to figure out why God acts the way He does, or we can trust that God, with His omniscient perspective, knows exactly when the best timing is that will give Him the most glory and increase our faith the most. All I can say, to Moses and to you, if you are in that situation, is "Hang in there, do not give up believing, and you will surely see the deliverance of the Lord." It’s incredible how, even when God speaks clearly, as He did to Moses, He still causes His will to be worked out in ways that can really test one’s faith. God has clearly told Moses that he and Aaron will tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, and that God will do miraculous signs to convince Pharaoh. So Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh, and what happens? Pharaoh increases the workload of the people, and God does no miraculous sign. Moses must have felt like such an idiot. Here he is, telling people that God has called him to deliver them from Pharaoh, that God will do miraculous signs, and absolutely nothing happens. In fact, the situation gets worse, all because he trusted God and opened his mouth. Of course, we all know how this is going to turn out, but certainly Moses and the Israelites did not, as you can see by the way Moses compains to God at the end of this passage.

Moses is not alone in this. Many of us have done things, convinced it is God’s will, only to find things getting worse instead of better. We can either convince ourselves that it must not have been God, and give up; we can wrack our brains trying to figure out why God acts the way He does, or we can trust that God, with His omniscient perspective, knows exactly when the best timing is that will give Him the most glory and increase our faith the most. All I can say, to Moses and to you, if you are in that situation, is “Hang in there, do not give up believing, and you will surely see the deliverance of the Lord.”

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