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Weekend > 7/5<br />
U 1<br />
teach me<br />
Your Ways<br />
Moses said to the Lo r d ,<br />
“Look, You have told me,<br />
‘Lead this people up,’ but<br />
You have not let me know<br />
whom You will send with<br />
me. You said, ‘I know you<br />
by name, and you have<br />
also found favor in My<br />
sight.’” —Exodus 33:12<br />
Read Exodus 33:12-17.<br />
Have you ever gone through<br />
a maze? It’s confusing! It<br />
causes you to ask, “Where do I go<br />
now?” and “Who knows the way out?”<br />
It’s full of unexpected twists, turns,<br />
and surprises around every corner.<br />
The older we get, the more<br />
confusing God’s ways and life’s<br />
journey becomes. Our search for who<br />
He is and what He wants us to do can<br />
sometimes seem like a maze. We have<br />
questions, so we make a decision and<br />
choose a path to follow. We find those<br />
answers around the corner, but run<br />
into another fork in the path where<br />
more questions await—and so on.<br />
Enter today’s Scripture passage.<br />
Even when he didn’t understand<br />
God’s ways, Moses still surrendered<br />
and sought God out, saying, “Please<br />
teach me Your ways!”<br />
This is the same kind of prayer we<br />
need to pray daily. Each day presents<br />
a new twist or turn, an unfamiliar<br />
path to follow, a new decision to<br />
make. Don’t you want to know that<br />
the Person who knows the way<br />
through the maze is guiding your<br />
steps? For Him to teach you His ways,<br />
you have to actually know Him.<br />
Many people don’t know God<br />
because they aren’t seeking Him or<br />
spending time with Him every day.<br />
The “maze” of seeking Him may<br />
seem overwhelming at times, but He<br />
is not unattainable or unknowable.<br />
He desires to have a deep, authentic<br />
relationship with you—one in which<br />
you will seek Him and say, “Show me<br />
Your ways, and I will follow!”<br />
Monday > 7/6<br />
God wants to know you.<br />
Think back to when you were a kid. Do you remember kthe times your<br />
dad, grandfather, a teacher, or some other male figure in your life walked<br />
into a room? I’ll bet some of them carried a certain authority and presence with<br />
them wherever they went. Did you have respect for those men? Did you want to<br />
be near them?<br />
Read through Exodus 33:18-23 and carefully consider verse 19.<br />
What do you think Moses meant when he asked God to show His glory?<br />
He said, “I will cause all My<br />
goodness to pass in front of<br />
you, and I will proclaim the<br />
name Yahweh before you.<br />
I will be gracious to whom<br />
I will be gracious, and I will<br />
have compassion on whom<br />
I will have compassion.”<br />
—Exodus 33:19<br />
Why is it that he couldn’t see the<br />
face of God and live?<br />
Do you ever desire to feel the<br />
presence of Father God more?<br />
Think back on the men you’ve<br />
respected or had a close bond with<br />
in life. Do you think God desires to<br />
have a close, intimate relationship<br />
with us as His children?<br />
Moses wanted to fully know God and spent time in His glorious presence. In<br />
today’s Scripture passage, Moses’ relationship with God appears vital and<br />
intimate. Moses seemed to be very comfortable with God, so much that he<br />
simply asked God what he’d been dying to ask: to see God’s glory. God didn’t<br />
hide from Moses or ignore his request. He answered Moses and chose to honor<br />
Moses’ request, but in His own way and in His own time.<br />
The point? God desires to have an intimate relationship with you. He wants<br />
to display His glory, as much as you can handle, and allow you to know more<br />
and more of His character. Think about it like this: God originally created the<br />
relationship between a father and his child to be a deep connection. Some<br />
of you have the kind of dad that you now experience that kind of connection<br />
with, and others of you don’t. No matter what kind of dad you have, God the<br />
Father desires to show Himself clearly to you. He wants to know you intimately<br />
and have the kind of relationship with you that a Father has with his son or<br />
daughter. But you have to be willing.<br />
How is<br />
God like<br />
a Father<br />
in your<br />
life?<br />
2<br />
w<br />
Tuesday > 7/7<br />
Need a<br />
second<br />
chance?<br />
Maybe it was a collectible,<br />
expensive electronic, or<br />
family heirloom. Think back to when<br />
you broke something very valuable—<br />
something that belonged to someone<br />
else. How did the owner react? Was<br />
he or she angry or upset with you?<br />
How did you react? What would you<br />
have done differently if you could do<br />
it again?<br />
The Lo r d said to Moses,<br />
“Cut two stone tablets like<br />
the first ones, and I will<br />
write on them the words<br />
that were on the first<br />
tablets, which you broke.”<br />
—Exodus 34:1<br />
Read through Exodus 34:1-4 and<br />
focus in on verse 1.<br />
Do you recognize that these tablets<br />
were the Ten Commandments?<br />
Because you know this, how valuable<br />
do you think they were to God? Why?<br />
Why do you think God gave Moses<br />
a second chance to redeem himself<br />
after he broke the tablets in anger?<br />
What does this teach you about<br />
God’s forgiveness in your life today?<br />
For what do you need forgiveness<br />
and a second chance?<br />
The tablets were important to God<br />
because He made them as a physical<br />
reminder of what it meant to live<br />
according to His ways. He had an<br />
important message for the Israelites,<br />
but Moses broke the first set of<br />
tablets in anger. God could have<br />
cursed Moses, struck him dead, or<br />
replaced him with another leader.<br />
But, instead, He gave Moses a second<br />
chance and asked him to create two<br />
new stone tablets. This also says a lot<br />
about how God the Father treats us as<br />
His children when we mess up. We’re<br />
going to mess up, but He doesn’t<br />
reject us or give up on His plans<br />
for our lives. He is a God of second<br />
chances. Even for you.<br />
3<br />
Personal Space<br />
How well<br />
do you<br />
obey?<br />
Are you<br />
abusing<br />
His grace?<br />
Wednesday > 7/8<br />
It really did hurt him more<br />
than it hurt you.<br />
As a child, you probably experienced discipline in some sense, right?<br />
Most of us have—whether that was a spanking, being grounded, sitting<br />
in time-out, or something else. And, normally, when you were disciplined, it was<br />
because you did something wrong. How do you remember feeling after you were<br />
disciplined? Did you want to go and mess up again? Were you sorry for your actions?<br />
Then the Lo r d passed in front of him and proclaimed:<br />
“Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious<br />
God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.”<br />
—Exodus 34:6<br />
Today, read through Exodus 34:5-9 and take a careful look at verse 6.<br />
Make a list of the characteristics used in this passage to describe God.<br />
What stands out to you the most?<br />
Have you seen God act in any of these ways in your life? How did that make<br />
you feel? What did it teach you about His character and His plan for your life?<br />
What is God’s attitude toward sin?<br />
For you, the word “father” may make you cringe, or it may bring back sweet<br />
memories of a close relationship with your dad. Either way, this passage of<br />
Scripture screams, “God is our Father!” So, what does that actually mean?<br />
God first told Moses that He was compassionate, gracious, faithful, loving,<br />
forgiving, and merciful. But He went on to say that He wants our holiness,<br />
which means He won’t ignore our sin. He is definitely a Father of forgiveness<br />
and second chances, but He can’t and won’t overlook when we choose to live in<br />
opposition to His standards.<br />
Does that sound like a dad to you? Sure it does! We often think of God as this<br />
grandfather-figure with a long, white beard, sitting on a rocking chair in heaven,<br />
just waiting to strike us down if we mess up. But that’s not the true picture of<br />
God’s character. His character is to love, forgive, and bless us for our obedience<br />
and faithfulness.<br />
12 | jul 2009 ec magazine ec magazine jul 2009 | 13