Show Me Your Glory

As it often happens I was so moved today as God allowed me to see a glorious nugget of truth about parenting, well about leadership actually.  And as it often happens, to those who have the “Gift of Exhortation” I want to share this great experience with others! To encourage, so please hear it as that ~ “encouragement”

I am a mom, but more than that I am a Christian.  So as I have been doing this awesome job (that I do not deserve) God has given to me in raising these three beautiful children for His glory; I think I have done some things right, (I hope) and some things wrong (I know).  And if you are like me in whatever it is that you are doing for the Lord, you want to do more of the right; and make right more of the wrong!  I hope you can make sense of that!

I love as I get into God’s Word and when I actually allow God’s Word to get into me, He speaks to my heart, often it is amazing truths about how awesome He is, in ways I have not stopped to ponder on before, and many times I am shown something that I need to change, and it is not always pleasant or easy, but I am always thankful.  This time it was both!

I am not a Pastor, but if you are, this might be for you in that area of life.  You are a Moses to your congregation, and to your family…your wife and your children. 

I am a mom, so, I am a Moses to my 2 sons, Jake and Josh, and to my daughter, Bree.  One day I will be Moses to my grandchildren, if the Lord blesses (and I hope He does). 

I also am a Moses to others that God has given me the privilege to lead.  It might be the children and young people I minister to and have influence over.

I am a Moses to the other women in our community and in our church who look to me for direction and as an example.  And whoever you are, you are a Moses to someone. Is it your co-workers?  Is it your children? Your neighbors? People you have in your sphere of influence? In small and big ways we are all Moses to someone?

So as you look at this portion of scripture with me, keep in mind that you are a Moses to someone.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.  And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.  And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.” Exodus 34:1-8

And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (v 27-28)

 “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.”  

Moses didn’t realize that he was shining, but the Israelites definitely saw it! Aaron and the others had to tell Moses.

“And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded.”

They could see the glory of God in his face!

They now had a new respect for him, a reverence because they knew he was different, what made this time different?

And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

So with the God-given authority and humility, Moses proclaims to the people what God wants them to do…

 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,

Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,

And they really want to do it, he says “whoever is of a willing heart”, he doesn’t lay out the guilt trip, he is not trying to twist any arms…he doesn’t have to.

“And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.

Because the people could see with their own eyes that God had changed Moses they respected his instruction. They were more than willing to bring everything above and beyond what was needed as an offering.  Moses was legit, They could see the glory of God in his face!  They knew his words were God’s words!

And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.

The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

And then God gave abilities to them, He equipped them. (gifts)

And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;”

Moses did not need to prod them, he did not have to remind them of the need for them to give…they had been stirred in their hearts by God through a man who they could see God in! They brought above and beyond what was needed, and it looks as though they were not going to ever stop giving to the Lords work!

“And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.”

The Israelites had to be told to stop giving for now, but they had to be restrained….if Moses hadn’t they would have given and given.

When I had first read this I thought of churches being instructed by their Pastors in the subject of giving, serving, exercising their spiritual gifts…etc….

I thought if more Pastors were experiencing TRUE WORSHIP, you know the kind that God actually showed up for; that more believers would see that they were changed by their time spent in genuine worship/fellowship with the Almighty God!  I remember back when God wrote the 10 Commandments with his own finger, and then  God told Moses what the people were doing, and how God was going to deal with them, Moses asked God to have mercy on them, not to destroy them.  Then when he saw their sin himself Moses got mad, and he lost his temper…he reacted in the flesh to the peoples sin.  Ok, so Moses isn’t perfect and neither are our Pastors…but I do think that there is something to be learned here. 

I asked earlier…What was so different in the 2 experiences Moses had with God.

So here is the “nugget”…and I think it really is a bit more than a nugget.  After Moses went through the whole thing when he came down with the Ten Commandments the first time and there was the huge idolatrous orgy going on, smashes them to pieces in his anger, and God tells him to get two more stone tablets and head back up the mountain, Moses asks God for a sign…a sign of God’s grace.

“For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.”

And God in His infinite love for Moses, His friend, answers… “And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”

 And Moses asks the question of all questions…“And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” (way to go, Moses!!!)

Show Me Your Glory

“And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.  And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:  And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:  And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”

WOW!  It takes my breath away to imagine this scene! What a mighty God we have!  He is so great that all of His goodness would kill Moses, so He put him in a safe place and covered him with his hand while he passes by!!!

Again Moses had God’s presence with him the whole time, 40 days to be exact, standing with him moving around him as God gave him the words to carve into the stone, how much time Moses must have spent on each and every letter.  But it wasn’t that that made him shine, it was that he saw the Glory of God, not all of it, but enough that it rubbed off on him.  God’s glory (or at least the results of it) was shining from Moses, you could see the evidence of his time spent with God just by looking at him!  He was different! 

So I thought about that and I thought about how many sermons Pastors have preached to encourage their people to give to the Lord’s work.  How many different “methods” have they concocted, to get people on board with giving? And still the people are unmoved…  Now I am not saying that we are to expect our Pastors to stop teaching on giving, tithing, serving, etc…but I am asking us to look at this example of what worked for Moses and ask if that would perhaps work today.

Ok, let’s not stop there.  I am a mother.  One of my greatest desires as a mother, as a parent is to see my children serving the Lord in obedience to the Word , in giving of their time and talents and resources with a willingness of the heart. Sure I can force them to DO anything I want…but what I want, and what I am sure you want is also what the Lord wants, and that is for them to want to serve Him,  desire wholly to live a life for Him!   So, when I instruct them as I am told in scripture to do…what do they see when they look at me?  Do they see Mom, or do they see God’s glory in Mom because she has been with God, really been with God? If I ask God to show me His glory, am I ready? Do I mean it? It WILL bring about TRUE WORSHIP.  Others will know, others will see.

Show Me Your Glory

Have I spent time today in true worship with God?  Have you? Was He even there? Did He see my worship, or your worship as genuine humble adoration of the “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

God’s own words about himself as Moses is on his face worshipping Him! (Ex. 34:6-7)

“And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.” Exodus 34:8

Show Me Your Glory