Strength For The Journey

[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Exodus 13:17-22 John 10:4 Psalm 32:8

God Leads His Own

Exodus 13:17-22

The route God chose was not by an easily traveled road but was a detour through the wilderness. The other road led through a populated area; it was easier and much more traveled, but in His wisdom, God chose the long road for the Israelites.

On this long route there were no highways, no bridges, no resources to supply their needs and no signs to direct their paths. In fact, it took them two years to reach Kadeshbarnea, which was on the southern extremity of the land of Canaan. But even this teaches us that God chooses the way His people should go. There is a very important lesson to be learned from this incident. We should not only realize that God chooses the way, but we should recognize that it is for our best if we respond to His direction.

When God began to lead them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, Israel's walk of faith really began. They were to move when the cloud moved, and they were to stay when the cloud remained stationary. They were to depend totally on the Lord for leadership.

Just as the cloud went before the Israelites, the Lord goes before those who are His own. The Bible says, "When he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice" (John 10:4).

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Ps. 32:8).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference

Released From Bondage!

Exodus 14:5-9, 21-31

Just as the crossing of the Red Sea completed the deliverance of Israel from Egypt in order that they could begin their journey toward the Promised Land, so also when a person trusts Christ and has complete salvation, he is to progress in his Christian walk.

The crossing of both the Red Sea and the Jordan River illustrate what was accomplished for the believer in the death of Christ. At the Red Sea there was separation from Egypt; at the Jordan River there was an entering into the place of rest.

The place of rest for the believer is referred to in Hebrews 4:9,10: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."

For the believer the death of Christ not only separates him from this present evil world, but it also makes him spiritually alive and seats him with Christ.

What a glorious truth this is! We are on the resurrection side. We have much more than the forgiveness of sin; we have been associated with the risen Christ so that we may be united with Him forever and live the heavenly life.

He who was dead is now alive! And this same Jesus indwells the bodies of believers in order to live His life in them (1 Cor. 6:19,20). What a glorious privilege is ours!

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Exodus 15:1-7 Exodus 15:22-27 Ephesians 1:11 1 Corinthians 10:11 Hebrews 3:7-8

From Singing to Complaining

Exodus 15:1-7,22-27

In the Israelites' song recorded in Exodus 15, the word "Lord" occurs 11 times, and various personal pronouns referring to Him occur more than 30 times. So it is clear that the song was sung to Him and about Him. All the honors of the victory were reverently laid at His feet.

In this song of assurance and praise, Moses is not mentioned once. This indicates that the Israelites now had complete confidence in the trustworthiness of God. Only three days after the Red Sea experience, however, the Israelites were grumbling against Moses and against God.

Why such a change of attitude in just three days? They had overlooked the fact that the cloud had led them in this direction, and since God was leading them, He would supply their needs.

When the people murmured against Moses (v. 24), they were actually murmuring against God. Every complaint against circumstances, every grumbling about the daily trials of life is directed against the One who "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11).

Although the Israelites did not have this verse at the time, they had seen enough of God's work to know that He did not make mistakes and that He could perform anything necessary to provide for them.

And remember, what happened to Israel is to serve as an example to us (1 Cor. 10:11).

"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness)" (Heb. 3:7,8).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Exodus 16:11-36 Job 23:12

Feeding on God's Provisions

Exodus 16:11-36

As the manna fell in the wilderness for the Israelites, each person was to gather what he needed.

The Lord instructed, "Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents" (Ex. 16:16).

The Bible records that the Israelites "gathered every man according to his eating" (v. 18). From these statements we see that there was personal responsibility to gather the food that each one needed; some gathered more, others gathered less, but each was to gather according to his particular need.

Think of the parallel this has for our feeding on God's Word. Each one must gather spiritual food for himself. A believer cannot live on another person's experience.

Testimonies are interesting, and it is wonderful to have a pastor who preaches good messages, but a believer cannot live on those things alone. Each Christian must gather his own spiritual food according to his own need.

If each one is feeding himself individually, then the testimonies and messages of others will be of encouragement to him, and he will be of much encouragement to others.

How much appetite for the Word of God do you have? Do you come to the Word with a hungry heart to learn all you can in order that you might know God better? The more we learn about Him, the more we will want to learn.

"Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference

Life to All Who Drink

Exodus 17:1-7

The water flowing from the rock indicates the provision for life. The psalmist said, "Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed" (Ps. 78:20).

The smitten rock pointed to the smitten Christ who paid the penalty of sin. The gushing streams of water picture the gracious supply of life through the Holy Spirit.

God smote His Son and raised Him from the dead, thereby sending forth the life-giving stream, but man must come and drink.

Although Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of sin for all (1 John 2:2), only those who personally receive Him as Saviour have forgiveness of sin and eternal life (John 1:12; 5:24).

When God provides, He provides abundantly. When God provided water for the Israelites, the psalmist said, "He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river" (Ps. l05:41).

Concerning the life that the Lord Jesus Christ provides, He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

This coincides with the way Jesus compared the Spirit to the abundance of running water (John 4:14; 7:37,38). So the rock in the wilderness prefigured Jesus Christ.

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference

Delegating Responsibility

Exodus 18:13-27

As I have studied the Word of God concerning leadership, I have come to certain conclusions about spiritual principles of good leadership. These principles can be applied not only by leaders of organizations but by Sunday school teachers or by anyone with responsibility.

First, God uses people to do His work. When He has a job to do, He calls an individual to do it. Remember, however, that it took Moses a long time to become prepared for his task, and it sometimes takes leaders today a long time to be prepared for their tasks.

Second, when the task becomes too much for the one person God originally called, He calls others to work with the first individual.

Third, God holds the first individual responsible for the work done by the other individuals. This principle applies especially to the spiritual aspects of the work.

This principle was particularly evident in Moses' leadership. Even though responsibility and authority could be delegated to others, he was still directly responsible before God.

God knows what work He wants accomplished, and He gives individuals responsibilities in order to accomplish that work. The only way that God's work can be done effectively is for individual believers to know what God wants them to do.

"But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him" (1 Cor. 12:18).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Psalm 19:7 Exodus 19:16-25 Exodus 19:1-8

Preparing to Give the Law

Exodus 19:1-8, 16-25

Exodus 19 and 20 record an event that was a great turning point in the life of the Israelites as well as all mankind. These chapters record the giving of the Law by God through Moses to the nation of Israel.

Exodus 19:1,2 says, "In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount."

God fulfilled His promise to Moses. When God had called Moses at the burning bush in the wilderness of Sinai, He said, "I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain" (3:12).

Moses and the Israelites were now at Mount Sinai, thus fulfilling God's promise to him. At Mount Sinai the covenant by which God would deal with them for about the next 1500 years was given.

In other words, this covenant remained in effect until the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified at Calvary, thus changing the order of God's dealings with mankind.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (Ps. 19:7).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Romans 5:20 Exodus 20:1-17 Exodus 20:18 Colossians 2:9 Galatians 3:24

Law Reveals Need of Grace

Exodus 20:1-17

The Mosaic Law was not given to produce salvation. The purpose of the Law was to help people see how far short they had fallen of God's righteous demands so they would cast themselves on the grace of God.

Even during the time of the Law, grace was made available through the specified sacrifices for sin. These pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the sacrifice for sin.

But because Jesus Christ came and offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin, the Law is no longer needed.

According to Romans 5:20, the Law was given so that God could reveal more of His grace: "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."

When the people gathered at Mount Sinai and heard God speak, they became frightened and "stood afar off" (Ex. 20:18). This is also the result of today's preaching of the Law apart from the context of the grace of God.

Law set forth what man ought to be; grace sets forth what God is. We behold the face of Christ in the Holy Scriptures, and we see who God is by beholding Christ, "for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9).

We know and understand what Christ has done for us as we study the Scriptures and see Him revealed in even the Mosaic Law.

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Exodus 32:1-18 Psalm 118:8

Trust in God, Not Man

Exodus 32:1-18

Aaron and Hur had been left to look after the affairs of Israel while Moses was absent. Joshua, Moses' servant, had gone partway up the mountain with Moses, so he was not with the people at the time of this sin.

But while Moses was on the mountaintop speaking to God face to face, the people wanted some likeness to worship as a substitute.

The people were never allowed to see God face to face, but they knew He was on the mountaintop because of all the evidences they saw. But they wanted something they could feel with their hands, something they could see.

The religion of the natural man demands something he can perceive with his eyes. That is why so many people today--even Christians--go after things that are earthly. They need the security that is provided only by what they are able to touch and see.

The Israelites were no different; they wanted a god they could see. Moses was gone, and because their eyes had been on him rather than on God, they wanted an image.

Perhaps this is why God took Moses away from them for a time. God not only wanted to talk to Moses face to face, but He also wanted to reveal to the Israelites that they were not really trusting God as they thought they were.

What a lesson this is for believers today! Our trust should be in God, not in man.

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" (Ps. 118:8).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Exodus 32:19-35 Numbers 1:46 Exodus 32:26 1 Peter 3:15

Stand Up for Jesus!

Exodus 32:19-35

The people were terror-stricken and awed by the irrefutable power exercised by Moses. He stood, one man against more than 600,000 soldiers (Num. 1:46), and commanded that those who were guilty of this sin be put to death.

Moses had just been in the very presence of God, and no one was able to resist his authority and power.

As the people viewed the threatening cloud on the mountaintop above them, revealing God's presence, they could offer no resistance, and 3000 were slain because they had repudiated God.

Every person must have been weighed down--some with remorse for their sin, others with dread that the wrath of God would destroy even more of them.

They undoubtedly remembered the awful voice of God they had heard about six weeks earlier, specifically prohibiting them from making any graven images.

They had been quick at that time to say they would do everything God commanded, but they had committed a terrible sin. They had not feared God as they should have.

May those of us who know Jesus Christ as Saviour determine within our hearts to fix our eyes on Christ and to serve and honor Him, regardless of the apostasy that is everywhere about us.

Remember Moses' searching question: "Who is on the Lord's side?" (Ex. 32:26).

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Pet. 3:15).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Philippians 3:10 Exodus 33:12-23

Desiring to Know God Better

Exodus 33:12-23

Having succeeded in receiving several answers to his prayers, Moses then evidenced his greatest boldness in what he requested of God. Moses said, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory" (Ex. 33:18).

Moses had been so encouraged by God's answers to his prayers that he sought for the ultimate. The one desire that burned within Moses was to know God better. There is a tremendous need for each believer to have this same desire.

God is spirit, so no one is actually able to see Him. If a person could see God, he would be unable to stand the awesomeness of His glory. Thus, even Moses was able to see God only by what He is and by what He does.

In effect, God was telling Moses, "I can't show you My face, because if I did, you would not live. But I will show you My goodness, which reveals who I am and what I do." God was going to reveal Himself to Moses by showing His grace and mercy to him.

As the believer walks in close communion with God, there is always the desire to know Him better. If this is not the desire of the believer, something is seriously lacking in his spiritual life.

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" (Phil. 3:10).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference

Reflecting God's Glory

Exodus 34:1-4,26-35

Moses was changed when he came down from the mountain. Earlier, he had asked to see the glory of the Lord, but when he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of stone, he did not know "that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him" (Ex. 34:29).

Moses did not realize that his face reflected the glory of God. This was proof of the closeness between Moses and God, and it revealed to those who saw him that he had truly been in the presence of God's glory.

"When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him" (v. 30).

Moses still did not realize the extent to which his face reflected the glory of God. He was not glorious in his own eyes, but he was in the eyes of others.

Every day before you go out to meet the world, spend some time with God by reading His Word and talking to Him in prayer. Spending time in His presence will bring the sunshine of heaven to your face, and others will observe this in you throughout the day.

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).

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[nChrist]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference Haggai 2:4 Numbers 10:1-13

Moving Ahead!

Numbers 10:1-13

The 11 months at Sinai had brought about many changes in the life of Israel. The people had arrived at Sinai a fugitive and unorganized people; they left a well-organized nation, molded into a commonwealth of 12 tribes. All was beautifully ordered.

Moses had spent the first 40 years of his life being trained in the courts of Pharaoh as a possible successor to Pharaoh. As such, Moses was trained in organization, and the writings of Josephus assert that he was the general of the Egyptian army."

He learned all that would be necessary to lead the greatest nation on earth at that time.

Moses used all the knowledge he had accumulated in leading the Israelites. It was not, however, the unaided genius of Moses that God used. God leads through minds competent to receive and transmit His teaching.

In Moses' case, his mental abilities were used to transmit to the Israelites an order of organization that was second to none. What Moses had learned in the world was translated into use for the glory of God.

The Israelites left Sinai as a mighty nation in battle array. They had been furnished with a code of laws, including sanitary regulations, which have been a model for civilized peoples of the world.

They had also been provided with a system of sacrifices that continued for centuries. These sacrifices prophetically pointed to the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ for believers.

"Be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts" (Hag. 2:4).

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[airIam2worship]

Author: Theodore Epp
Source: Strength for the Journey
Scripture Reference

Reflecting God's Glory

Every day before you go out to meet the world, spend some time with God by reading His Word and talking to Him in prayer. Spending time in His presence will bring the sunshine of heaven to your face, and others will observe this in you throughout the day.

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).

AMEN Brother, how wonderful to know, that we can get close to God and be in His presence. His love will shine upon us and through us

[nChrist]

AMEN Brother, how wonderful to know, that we can get close to God and be in His presence. His love will shine upon us and through us

Sister Maria,

There are hosts of lost people in the world. Oh, how I wish that they could just experience the love and peace of GOD. This world doesn't have anything in comparison to offer. We can pray that their hearts will be softened and they will accept JESUS CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOUR.

Love in Christ,
Tom

Psalms 23:2 NASB  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.