Details ... Hello?

“And I have personally appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make:
the Tabernacle;
the Ark of the Covenant;
the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement;
all the furnishings of the Tabernacle;
the table and its utensils;
the pure gold lampstand with all its accessories;
the incense altar;
the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils;
the washbasin with its stand;
the beautifully stitched garments—the sacred garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to wear as they minister as priests;
the anointing oil;
the fragrant incense for the Holy Place.
The craftsmen must make everything as I have commanded you.”  Exodus 31:6-11

I was born again when I was given the humbled opportunity to write devotions over fifteen years ago.  However, God has intentionally been with me all my life.  I’m aware of this now, and while I marvel at the plans He has for my life, I love to look back to recognize the level of detail He instructed me with even when I did not even know.  One of those moments is His introducing me to a man who I realize now was my first spiritual mentor.

Rev. Dr. Frederick G. Sampson was a pastor of one of the largest churches in Detroit, and he took an interest in me because my mother had attended there shortly after I started college and a decade before I gave my life to Christ.  He had a gift of simplifying who God was, and while never a member of his church, I would often go to hear him speak.  He was indeed a scholar of God’s word, and his sermons were both meticulously delivered and never boring.  Imagine listening to someone for well over an hour as a teenager and never being bored.  The one thing that I loved about his sermons was the way he ensured a point was not missed by doing this subtle 3-5 second pause after a statement and then saying, “Hello?”  Then he would repeat it again as the congregation roared its approval confirming they did not lose sight of the details being said in the lesson.

God’s attention to detail ensures we can see His path for us.  In the journey of Moses, today’s scripture is from the middle of the 31^st chapter, which is seven chapters past my last devotion.  Why?  The entire 25^th through 30^th chapters is devoted to specific instructions on building the Ark of the Covenant between God and Israel and additional construction.  It is fascinating reading because of the depth and detail of what God wanted.  From types of offerings for the Tabernacle (Side note: my mentor’s church was Tabernacle Missionary Baptist), the materials and measurements of the Ark, the clothing to be worn by priest and its material, and even to the ingredients of the anointing oil, God made clear His intention not only for what was to happen then but also to foretell the future mentioning Joshua and his children prominently in His plans.  Needless to say, this was not haphazard production.  It was God showing His wealth of knowledge and dominion over His Kingdom and people.  The verses today are the culmination of those instructions noting He even blessed individuals with the talents to be used for His will to be done.  Details.  Tons of details.  I can appreciate that thinking how it took me a full day to build an entertainment center the first time.  I thought I knew where something fit without reading the instructions carefully only to find I needed to disassemble it because I missed a detail.  God often gives us instruction through His word, and we might have to correct ourselves because we missed a detail and God taps us on the shoulder saying, “No.  This way.”  As a person who focuses on the big picture, I’m grateful to His level of detail that keeps me focused on Him and His plans as well.

God perfects the imperfections in our lives to ensure His instructions are followed.  We are not always great in following them, but we have someone who intercedes for us in Jesus Christ to straighten things out.  When speaking of the coming of Christ, John The Baptist said:

Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.  Luke 3:5-6 (NKJV)

Thus, while we may make mistakes, we trust in Christ for he is the perfecter of our faith.  Let us focus more on God, His word, and walking closer to Him in our faith.  What instruction might you be ignoring today?  Who can mentor you when God’s instruction doesn’t make sense?  My prayer is we are both sensitive and aware of God’s attention to detail in guiding us righteously.  Hello?  Amen.  😊

Our Journey to Adoption, Part XIV - Instructions

When James and Sarah came to live with us, we all had many adjustments to make. They also had lots of new house rules to learn!

Remember to take your shoes off.

Only eat at the kitchen table.

Wash your hands before and after meals.

Wash your hands before playing the piano.

Be quiet while the pastor talks.

Keep the water in the tub.

Keep your hands off the widows and mirrors.

Only play with toys.

We tried to remember to word as many things as possible in a positive way. Instead of always saying “don’t take your drink out of the kitchen” we would sometimes ask something like “where does your drink belong?” However, we were still constantly giving them instructions and wondered what was too much! They hadn’t grown up in our house to learn all these things gradually along the way over the past 2-3 years.

As Jesus prepared to leave His disciples He had lots of instructions for them (see John chapters 13-17). Unlike us, He is all wise. He knew how much the disciples could handle at once and what instructions He would wait to give them via the Holy Spirit later.

John 16:12-14         ¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

We now have access to the entire Bible filled with God’s instructions! The Holy Spirit guided the prophets and apostles to write down God’s love story for us so we could know how to have and enjoy an intimate relationship with our Creator.

How well do you and I value God’s instructions? Do we pick and choose which ones we think are important? Or, do we seek to understand them all, knowing they are for our benefit and protection?

Psalm 25:8-10         Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
⁹ He guides the humble in what is right
    and teaches them his way.
¹⁰ All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Alice

Selfless Fulfillment

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  Philippians 2:3-4

This year, my department did some volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.  It was a lot of lifting, hammering, and performing of laborious work, and after each day, you felt physically spent.  Not a typical day for someone who works in a call center.  However, there was something else that I felt after it was all was done; fulfilled.  It was not because of what I or the team of us had accomplished.  Rather, it was what we were doing in service to someone else.  In this case, it is another family.  What could be better than that?  The spirit within me was awakening, and yes, I felt humbled because I had an opportunity to spend a day out of work giving freely to someone where many do not have such liberties.

Giving of ourselves to God and to others is what we must do as Christians.  It is easy to see ourselves as focused on others.  However when we are caught up in our own lives, do we turn a blind eye to a person in need in lieu of our own ‘stuff?’  Reading Philippians 2, you get an idea of Paul’s heart for new followers of Christ becoming selfless, and he speaks of Christ’s example.  In verses 6-7, he says:

Though (Christ) was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.

He describes one of Christ’s many perfect selfless acts, which is what the life of Jesus should represent to us.  He could have just stayed in Heaven as God, but He chose to serve others as a sacrifice for all sins.  For this, we cannot ignore our own obligation to serve others.  It is woven into us, and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

There is a reason for the saying ‘It is better to give than receive.’  While a worldly view obsesses over the ‘me’ or ‘selfie,’ we know of the righteous path taught by Jesus Christ, the master himself.  After washing the feet of the disciples, Jesus said, “And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15)  So the next time you feel down or depressed, do not fall into the trap of self-doubt and isolation.  Instead, find a way to give to another as Christ has given to us.  How will you respond when conflicted with the needs of you and another?  How can you challenge yourself to give more of yourself to others?  My prayer is that we selflessly give more of ourselves knowing in the end we will find the fulfillment that only a Christ centered life can give.  Amen.

Stop Whining

“And say to the people, ‘Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and  you will have to eat it.  And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty.  You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’”  Numbers 11:18-20

My mom is an amazing woman.  I watched her struggle through getting a Master’s degree away from home while raising me through my first year in high school.  To make things a little more ‘challenging,’ she would be sick some days to the point that she was hospitalized for multiple days and even weeks.  Through all of this, she never complained.  It left quite the impression on me.  I learned never to complain about my circumstances.  That is not to say that I was always content, but whenever I find myself whining over a situation, I remember the incredible blessings God had given me to end up in that situation.  Then, it becomes easier to manage.

We must always focus on those blessings God has given us rather than the complications that may arise from them.  In today’s verses, God is answering Moses, who went to Him on behalf of the Israelites complaining about their food supply.  Here they were having been slaves for generations and both freed and witness to miracles performed by God, and they are now coming to God with . . . complaints about dinner?  It is amusing to read because it seems silly that the Isralites in essence would rather give up their freedom to have steak every once in a while than eat breaded wafers (manna) every day and be free.  But then I thought about it.  We all complain about some circumstance not realizing how God has blessed us to arrive at that moment (Why do I have to do this task for the job that I love?  Why do I have to go to this function for my spouse who is the love of my life?  Why do I have to forgive this person because God forgave me for far worse?).  This is the point.  We should always focus on God's love, grace, and gifts given above the challenges we are presented with because of those very things.

We serve a God of abundance who promises to provide all that we will ever need.  Sure there are times we have problems that we would rather not deal with, but we should never forget the blessings given us that put us in that very position for as Moses told the Israelites, “You ate no bread and drank no wine or other alcoholic drink, but he provided for you so you would know that he is the Lord your God.”  (Deuteronomy 29:6)  What problem(s) can you embrace today realizing the blessings that brought you to it?  My prayer is that we focus on the blessings we have and simply stop whining.  Amen.

Thurs Devo - Order or Chaos?

Do you prefer order or chaos? We often don’t like other people telling us what to do, when to do it, how to do it, etc. However, if there’s no structure and anything goes, then there’s chaos and nothing gets accomplished, people get hurt, property gets damaged, and time is wasted.

After God rescued the Israelites from Egypt and brought them into the desert, He setup an orderly way for them to travel and camp. It freed them to live in peace without chaos.

Numbers 2:1-3a, 10a, 17-18a, 25a, 34     The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.” ³ On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard… ¹⁰ On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard…¹⁷ Then the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps. They will set out in the same order as they encamp, each in their own place under their standard.¹⁸ On the west will be the divisions of the camp of Ephraim under their standard…²⁵ On the north will be the divisions of the camp of Dan under their standard… ³⁴ So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.

The Israelites didn’t need to fight to get a front row spot. God had ordered it so that each group was camped equidistant from His tabernacle in the middle. They each had a set place to camp and a set order for travelling. I would guess that eliminated lots of chaos, confusion, worry, fights. etc.

God is orderly. God doesn’t micromanage, but He does give clear instructions on how to order our lives. If everyone lived by His instructions, there would always be order and no chaos!

How orderly is your and my life?

What logistical or organizational changes might God have us make in order to be better prepared for His service or to more fully enjoy the life He’s given us?

As you and I live according to God’s instructions, what peace and security have we experienced?

Alice