There Is Wisdom In Listening To Your In-Laws

Cool story here. I always thought it was God who directly gave the wisdom to Moses to delegate his work. It probably was God who gave the wisdom, but who did He send it through? 

Exodus 18:13-26 (NKJV)

13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.

14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

16 When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.

18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.

19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.

20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.

21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.

23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”

24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

Teamwork

We must have good support and we have to be good support for people. Here’s a nice example:
​Exodus 17:8-13 (NKJV)

8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Does Life Really Suck?

​Exodus 16:3,8

And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.“
Can these Israelites really be complaining about the life they have? They have just seen first-hand His outstanding miracles. The pillar of clouds and pillar of fire, the fire barrier, and the parting of the sea. How can they be complaining?

When I complain about life, and I do, I’m not really blaming the world or world system am I? I’m just being ungrateful to God, because He provides all things. And I’m not having the faith to see where God is bringing me in and through what I’m facing.

Lord, thank You for Your reminder again. Sorry for all the times that I have complained or compared. Help me really look to Your face again everyday.

A Call And a Choice

Deuteronomy 30

A Call to Return to the Lord

“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lordyour God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. ² If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, ³ then theLord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. ⁴ Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. ⁵ The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!

⁶ “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! ⁷ The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. ⁸ Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

⁹ “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. ¹⁰ The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

The Choice of Life or Death

¹¹ “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. ¹² It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹³ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹⁴ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

¹⁵ “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. ¹⁶ For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹⁷ “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, ¹⁸ then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Chosen Ones

Israel

 

we are God’s chosen ones.

just like the Israelites.

God gave so much to them.

blessing upon blessings.

mercy and grace upon mercy and grace.

but He also commands them to obey Him.

these days i’m reading of a time when the Israelites have disobeyed God one too many times.

even after warnings.

 

it reminds me of someone.

me.

i have been chosen.

i been given blessings upon blessings.

yet, i fail to grasp the ultimate holiness that i’m supposed to reflect in my life.

how do i reflect Jesus if i am the way i am in public?

how do i reflect Jesus if i am the way i am in private?

 

i keep wondering why these Israelites just fail to obey God.

it’s so so clear that they should.

yet, they don’t see it.

then i reflect on myself.

i’m not a bad example of a weak human myself.

 

 

What A Fun Story Bro

1 Kings 18

 

i was reading this today

and i challenged myself to give you a summary of what happened.

 

 

The starring of this story is a prophet called Elijah. In the story before this, he prayed for God to stop the rain. So of course the King was not happy. Three years later (I’m thinking the king must really dislike Elijah by now since a drought of three years probably killed much of the people), God said something like “go meet King Ahab.” So Elijah did and King Ahab said “oh you troublemaker of Israel, is that you?” Elijah responded, “I’m no troublemaker, you and your family are the troublemakers here. You refused to obey God and worshiped those… Baal things instead.” Then on top of a mountain, Elijah challenged 450 Baal prophets and 400 Asherah prophets in front of all of Israel. Here’s a good part, Elijah probably had to shout this to the huge crowd “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” The people were completely silent. It probably pierced their hearts just like it’s piercing yours. Elijah then challenged the prophets to cut a bull up and lay the pieces on wood for a sacrifice offering. Elijah will cut up a bull too and offer it up as sacrifice. Except, they can’t burn it, they need to call to their god to set it on FIRE. Elijah said “the god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” What a daring challenge. 850 prophets vs one. First team to go was the Baal/Asherah team! They prepared the bulls and placed it and did their ceremony. They called on the name of Baal from morning till noontime! No reply. So they danced and hobbled around the altar they made. Also no reply. This was also the best time for a perfect accidental spark for fire. It was a three year drought season meaning everything was DRY, NOT only that, it was noontime! But nothing. At this Elijah started making fun of them. He was really some bastard actually haha. Listen to what he has to say. Verse 27: About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!” WHUUUUUUT. What a way to mock people’s gods. Daydreaming?! It’s like saying “your god is a lazy old fat man who sits on the couch eating chips and waiting for the advertisements to end so that he can continue watching HIMYM”! Relieving himself?! HAHA! That one was the ultimate god-mocking kick. Maybe your god is taking a dump bro! Anyways, laughter aside, the prophets took his advice seriously (seriously?!?) and started shouting louder and also did what they would normally do: they started to cut themselves with knives and swords until blood gushed out. Since there were alot of prophets… I’m imagining there was a lot of blood all over.. ewwww… They “raved” all afternoon till evening, still “no sound, no reply, no response.” So Elijah flexed his muscles and cracked his knuckles, stepped forward and called to all the people “come over here!” So all the people crowded around him as he made his altar with 12 stones to represent the tribes of Israel. He also dug a huge ditch all around his alter, big enough to fill three gallons of water. He put his cut bull pieces on the wood. It was evening, so no chance for the sun to light up the wood and he said “fill up four large jars with water and pour the water over the offering and the wood.” After the people did what he asked, he asked them to do it again. And then he asked them to do it the third time. By that time, the ditch was filled with water too. So then Elijah went up to the altar and prayed “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” Immediately, yes immediately, a fire from God flashed down from the sky and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up all the water from the trench around the altar! Then all the people fell face down to the ground and said “yes! This is God! The Lord is God!” And Elijah and the people killed all the prophets of Baal. After that, a thunderstorm came. Elijah asked his servant to tell King Ahab to hurry home on his chariot or he will get trapped by the storm. And King Ahab hurried away. After praying on the mountain, the Lord gave Elijah special strength and he ran (away from the thunderstorm of course) and even ran ahead of King Ahab’s chariot! Wow.

 

talk about superpowers.

that was awesome.

 

 

i hope you learned some lessons from this though.

 

Have a great day ahead.