Your Most Important Job: Worship!

Posted on 2013/03/03 by Shawn Thomas

Several times in Exodus (7:16, 8:1, etc.) God told Pharaoh: “Let My people go THAT THEY MAY SERVE ME”. His call to His people was NOT just to “go”; the purpose of their deliverance was that they might go to serve Him. Of what would this “service” consist? In Exodus 5:3 God had said that they were to go into the wilderness and “sacrifice to the Lord our God.” So the “serving” that Israel was to do was to worship God.
This helps illuminate New Testament passages like Revelation 22:3 where it says of heaven, “His bond-servants shall serve Him.” Continue reading →

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“What Is It?”

Posted on 2013/03/02 by Shawn Thomas

It is interesting that when the people of Israel first saw the manna God gave them in the wilderness, they asked: “Man hu?” (Hebrew) — “’What is it?’” And of course, Moses’ answer was: “‘It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.’” (Exodus 16:15)
What may be instructive to us from this text is that sometimes we as God’s people may not recognize the provision God has made for us.

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Pursue Faith

Posted on 2013/03/01 by Shawn Thomas

Included in the Apostle Paul’s final admonitions to his disciple Timothy in I Timothy 6 was a charge in :11 for him to “pursue … faith.” To “pursue faith” means to put one’s self, in God’s leadership, in situations where one has to trust God. Unfortunately, the tendency most of us have is to do the opposite:

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The Warrior on the Hill

Posted on 2013/02/25 by Shawn Thomas

When Amalek came to fight against Israel in the wilderness, Exodus 17:9 says that Moses told Joshua, “Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” It is instructive to us that Moses did not see it as “cowardly” for him to stay out of the physical battle, and to station himself on the hill with the staff of God. He knew that the calling down of the power of the God for the battle was crucial.

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Cultivating The Fear of the Lord

Posted on 2013/02/24 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 119:38 says: “Establish Your word to Your servant, as that which produces reverence for You”
The “fear of the Lord” is one of the most important qualities we can possess. Scripture tells us that it is the beginning of wisdom, and produces purity, and all kinds of other benefits for us. It is not a “craven fear”, but a respect for the presence of God, and a sense of accountability to Him. How do we cultivate this in our lives?

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Better Riches

Posted on 2013/02/23 by Shawn Thomas

In I Timothy 6, Paul commands Timothy in :17 to “instruct the rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches.” He then goes on to exhort them “to be rich in good works.” This is a better kind of riches which we can have as our ambition to obtain.

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Turn My Eyes From Vanity

Posted on 2013/02/22 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 119:37 the Psalmist prays: “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways.” This verse admonishes us: if we are going to be “revived” in the ways of the Lord, one of the crucial things we must gain control of is our eyes. He prays: “Turn away my eyes from vanity.” Everything in our lives is to be subject to the Lordship of Christ — even the things we look at.

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A Doer’s Prayer

Posted on 2013/02/21 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 119:34 the writer prays: “Give me understanding, that I may KEEP Your Law”! The understanding of God’s word that we are to seek is not merely for intellectual enlightenment or academic achievement.

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Grant Me Your Law

Posted on 2013/02/20 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 119:29 the Psalmist prays: “graciously grant me Your Law.” It should be challenging to many of us that when he makes his request to God, he asks for His Law. When many of us ask God to “graciously grant me” something — if we were honest, we would admit that it is rarely the words “Your Law” which follows!

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A Day’s Portion Every Day

Posted on 2013/02/19 by Shawn Thomas

In Exodus 16:4, God instructed the people of Israel regarding the gathering of the manna that would feed them during their wilderness journey: “The people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.” God did not give the people a week, or a month, or a year’s worth of manna in advance, but each day, the food they would need for that day. And He specifically said that this was to “test” them. It was a test of their faith and obedience.

This Exodus experience has meant much to me the past few weeks, as I have faced resigning a full time pastorate due to health issues. At first the thought of what was happening to me, all the issues involved, and hurdles we faced, seemed insurmountable and overwhelming.

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