Salty Zebra

 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”  Exodus 20:2-3  In today’s passage ( Exodus 20 ) we read about the law that God gave to the Israelites. This was intended to teach them how to live rightly as well as to show them their sin ( Galatians 3:19 ). Until God told the Israelites that they were to observe the Sabbath, for example, they were not held accountable for it. But once they knew, they knew. Now they were aware that what they were doing was wrong in sleeping with another man’s wife, taking their neighbor’s tool, or not quite telling the truth when testifying. And alongside them, we too are now aware. The Law was given that we might see and know our sin for what it is. So that we could see our desperate need for Jesus and our hopelessness without Him.  Through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, when we believe in Him we, too, are dead to sin and alive in Ch...

  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”  Exodus 19:5-6  I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, the Creator of heaven and earth. I have the privilege of speaking with Him from my home. I do not have to go to a special place. I do not have to be of a special genetic lineage. No, I have His Holy Spirit inside of me, and I may speak to Him as I’m making breakfast, as I’m folding laundry, as I’m sitting, quietly before Him. I can pray to God from inside an MRI machine, or on the road while we’re driving. But, does familiarity breed contempt? Am I too familiar with God?  I wonder this at times. I wonder if I should be kneeling when I pray like they do in the movies or in picture books, but Jesus didn’t always kneel ...

Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Exodus 18:17-18  Have you ever gotten yourself so into your routine that you don’t even notice it anymore. You piled on one more thing and one more thing and before you know it your “simple” 17 step system is bogging you down far more than you realized. Perhaps it came from an, “I gotta do it” mentality. You come across a responsibility and feel like it’s yours, so you add it on. They even make sense in your mind. You gotta take a shower. You gotta fix breakfast. You gotta do the dishes and the laundry and clean the kitchen and the bathroom and balance the checkbook and pay the bills. You gotta lead the Bible study and serve as a greeter at church on Sunday and help out with the Women’s Tea and lead the kids’ class on Wednesday night. Before too long, these gottas will drown you! But, what are...

  As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset.   Exodus 17:11-12  The stage is set. The Israelites are deep in the wilderness. Their camp is set. The flocks and herds are watched over. But in the distance comes the sound of something different, something they weren’t expecting. The Amalekite army was approaching, and they were on the warpath! No one knows what caused the Amalekites to attack Israel. Maybe they had heard about what happened in Egypt and were intimidated by them. Maybe they knew that the Israelites saw Canaan as their promised land, and they believed the war was on its way to them. In any case, what we do know is that they took the initiative to come out to meet the Israel...

  Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”  Exodus 16:4-5  Manna wasn’t just provision for the Israelites, it was a test. Both the Israelites and God were being tested here. Let’s look at how.  God had led them out into the desert, why? He hadn’t taken them somewhere that they could easily access the things they needed, like flour for bread. There was no grocery store on the corner. He brought them out to the wilderness where they would be required to rely on Him. God’s provision and wisdom were being put to the test. Would He be able to provide food for a million people? Every day? History says that He did. He provided for them in a way that they had never expected,...

  “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”   Exodus 15:2  Music is my heart language, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If there isn’t music going on around me (and that’s rarely the case), there’s music in my heart. It’s not uncommon for a song to be on repeat in my mind when I wake up, or to accompany me in the night. I get the Israelite’s response to what God had done for them. Ephesians 5:19-20 feels like it was written for me, and my brothers and sisters who experience the world through music like me: “Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   How do you respond in faith to what our LORD has done for you? When the Spirit quickens within you, shining a light on God’s grace and merc...