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“Moses said to the Lord, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.'” Exodus 4:10 NIV

The fourth excuse I want to look at is the excuse of ‘I’m not good with words’. I believe you can group ‘I have never spoken in front of people’ with this excuse as well. Both are part of an excuse that revolves around the fear of being the person that everyone is looking at as you stumble over words trying to communicate what you mean. This could be when you are talking to someone important and/or talking to a large group of people. Either way, this fear is real but it can be defeated with help from God.

As we look at the account of Moses and his conversation with God, we see him try and use this excuse. God had already told Moses what he was to say and He promised Moses that the elders would listen to him, but Moses was still scared and gave God another excuse. At this point it feels like God is getting frustrated with Moses and reminds Moses about Who gave Moses his mouth in the first place and then tells him to just go. God wasn’t giving Moses an ‘out’ any longer.

When I read verses 10-12, I picture a frustrated parent who wants their child to do something that they know they can do because the parent will be there with them making sure that they are successful. Of course, earthly parents want their children to do something less scary than talk to the Pharaoh of Egypt. God doesn’t always want us to go and do magnificent things, sometimes what He wants is small but may feel big to us.

I remember the first time I was asked to give a sermon at church, I was scared and tried to refuse to do it. The congregation wasn’t that large but it felt large when I would think about having to stand up there and speak. Also, I didn’t have a clue what words I was to be speaking, I had never written a sermon before. However, God had been working in me for a while because there was this part of me that wanted to talk to people about God but I didn’t know what words to say in those moments.

I muddled through that moment and all of the moments that followed when leaders asked me to speak in their absence and over time I stopped relying on myself to come up with the words and began relying on God to give me the words. Now when I write a sermon, this blog or when I was writing the book, my practice is to ask God to give me the words that He wants a person to see or that a person may need to hear. I have notes when I speak so that I don’t forget what I believe God wants me to say and if He places something in my mind while I am speaking I try my best to communicate that as well. Anything is possible if we let God help and guide us.

Heavenly Father, please be with each one of us and help us as we hide in fear from the things You have asked us to do. Whether they are small things or large things, please guidance us to listen to You and know that we don’t have to feel alone in any moment because You are always right there with us. In Jesus’s precious name. Amen

“What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Exodus 4:1 NIV.

The next excuse I want to look at that Moses tried to use with God is the excuse of ‘the people are not going to listen to me.’ The individuals that Moses is referring to are the people he grew up with, including his family that was still in Egypt. Some of the people knew Moses and had known him since he was a child and Moses seemed afraid that they would not believe that he had spoke with God.

This could have been a legitimate concern for Moses had God not already given His answer to this objection before Moses could even say it. In verse 18 God tells Moses that the elders of Israel that he is being sent to see will listen to him. God is already working in them to prepare them to listen to Moses. As God lays out more of the plan, He tells Moses that He wants them to go to the king of Egypt and ask if they can leave Egypt to go on a 3-day journey. Before Moses can say anything God tells him that the king of Egypt won’t allow this unless God intervenes, which He said He is going to do.

Moses does not seem to be convinced that the people will listen to him or take what he is saying seriously because he gives this excuse to God even after everything that God has already told him. It feels as if Moses is still thinking that he has to rely on his own power and gift of persuasion to fulfil what God is asking him to do. Moses has not accepted yet that God is the only One who has the power and the persuasion needed to make this happen, Moses just needs to be willing to be the vessel.

Eventually Moses agrees to go to Egypt but it was a long argument to get to that point. I feel like we are the same way at times with God. He asks, prompts or directs us to do something and we forget that it is God who is going to do the miraculous parts of what He is asking. We simply need to be willing to be the vessels that He uses. So if you feel like God has been working on you about doing His will, I encourage you to step back for a minute and look at your response. Are you trying to fulfil the task in your own power?

“Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Exodus 3:13 NIV

The second excuse I want to look at is the excuse of “I don’t know enough information to do what is being asked of me.” We see in this verse that Moses tried to use this excuse with God. It seems as if Moses was afraid of looking like a fool standing there without an answer if they started asking him questions.

I tried to use that excuse in regards to writing the book. During the time that I was disagreeing with God about the idea of writing a book, my fear was that I didn’t have enough knowledge about the subject to effectively write something that would even make sense. I was relying on my limited amount of knowledge and not on the endless amount of knowledge that God possesses.

When Moses asked God “what shall I tell them?”, God gave him an answer. We find that answer in the next verse. God’s answer to Moses was “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you” Exodus 3:14. God gave Moses the answer of ‘you have Me and I have all the information you need.’ God showed Moses that He, God, would give him the answers to anything that he was being asked.

God reveals Himself to us when we submit to His will and rely completely on Him. Again, I didn’t have any audible revelation from God saying He was going to give me information, but I had a peace about what to write. When I stopped worrying if I knew everything and began relying on God to give me the information, the words flowed. When I was stumped about what to write, I believe God showed me where to look for the information.

So, today, I encourage all of us, myself included because I am still working on this, to not worry about not having all the answers. Instead I pray that we would rely on God. When we are willing to rely on God, He will help us because He does have all the information. He has all the answers we need.

Heavenly Father, as we looked at another excuse today, I pray that we continue to grow in our walk with You. Please help us to not spend a great deal of time focused on this excuse when it comes into our minds. Help us to come to You as quickly as we can, release those thoughts and move into a position of reliance on You. Thank You for always being there for us, Lord. In Jesus’s precious name, Amen.

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 NIV

I have talked about being willing before and the idea of saying that you are willing to do something and the actual act of doing it being two different things. Over the next several days, I want to look at some of the excuses we tend to use when we are not ready or not willing to be obedient to God and His calling. The first excuse is that ‘I am not good enough to do what is being asked of me.’

Moses gave God several excuses about why God should pick someone else to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. In the verse for today Moses asks God “Who am I,” Outside of some nerves, I believe that Moses felt like he wasn’t good enough to do what the Creator of the world was asking him to do. I know that I have felt that way at times, and one of those times was when I wrote my book. I didn’t feel like I had any authority or specialized education to write a book that could influence people if they read it.

I was right in that I had no authority or specialized education to write the book but what I did have, was God. I believe that God led me to write the book and I rest now in the fact that God has the authority to have people who have no specialized training or education do things that society would not dream of having them do.

In the next verse, which is not listed above, God tells Moses that he won’t be alone. God says, “I will be with you”. Leading God’s people out of Egypt was not dependent on Moses and his ability to convince pharaoh or his ability to be a leader to thousands of people, it was ALL dependent on God and His ability, which is far greater than anything we can ever imagine.

When I felt led to write my book, I gave God this exact excuse. I asked Him, ‘who am I to write a book?’ and although I did not audibly hear God say that He would be with me during this adventure, I knew in my heart that God would not ask me to do something and then leave me as I was doing it. It took some time for me to abandon this excuse because I was scared, scared that because I didn’t have special training I could write something that was wrong and that I would not be taken seriously.

What I came to realize is that no matter what God is asking me or anyone else to do, once you are willing to actually do it, you discover that God doesn’t leave you alone in the task. He did not leave Moses alone to face Pharoah and He will not leave us alone. He knows we don’t have the ability or power or persuasion or strength to do what He is asking us to do by relying only on ourselves. If God has asked you to do something, He will provide the strength, power, resources and anything else you need to get it done for you. The main thing you need to have is the willingness to obey Him.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;” 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV

I like this verse because it reminds me that God is always with me since He lives inside of me. When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit came to live in my heart. This brings me comfort knowing that God is always with me and that there is no where I can go that God will not be.

I also realize when I read this verse, that I am to take care of my body because it is a gift from God and the Holy Spirit is living inside of it. Now, I am the last person to lecture anyone about nutrition and exercise, so in regards to treating our bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit that they are, I am going to say that I am trying to change what I put in my body and how much I move my body on a daily basis. I also believe that when we talk about watching what we put in our bodies that it is not simply food that can be destructive.

The entertainment we watch, the music we listen to and the influences we allow in our lives are as important to the protection and nurturance of our bodies as food, water and exercise. Again, within those areas, there are changes that I am trying to make so further protect my mind from the enemy having any influence over me.

In regards to the last part of the verse, it sometimes makes new Christians cringe, “you are not your own”. I understand what could make them feel uncomfortable with that sentence as we are taught throughout our lives to be independent and to not let anyone have that much control over us. My encouragement for anyone who has that reaction to the idea of the Creator of the world having control over you, is to study God’s word, talk your concerns out with mature Christians, and talk to God about it.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us these miraculous bodies and then coming to live inside of them when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is so generous of You to give Yourself to each believer that way. I pray that each one of us take seriously the concept that our bodies are Your temples and we should treat them as such. Help us to listen to Your guidance and change what needs changed in each of our lives. I pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen

“Brothers and sisters, we ask you to respect those who are working with you, leading you, and instructing you. Think of them highly with love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 NIV

I believe our leaders have been chosen by God to becomes ministers. Most of them have attended specialized training or seminary schooling, so that they are educated in the bible and the doctrines of the particular denomination that they are going to preach in. They have worked hard to learn and understand spiritual concepts as well as how to hear from God the guidance that they seek.

A large number of ministers today do not wish to be thought of as being above the people in their congregations. They want to be seen as being ‘one of the congregation’, unfortunately that is difficult for me because the rest of the congregation was not called by God to go into full-time ministry. By accepting that calling on their lives, they became different, they accepted a higher level of responsibility and should be shown the respect that they have earned.

This verse instructs us to think highly of them because of the work that they do. We will not always agree with our spiritual leaders about how they handle a situation but we are instructed to give them the respect they deserve and love them. I heard a wise man once say that it is easy to judge how a leader handles situations until you step back and remember that you didn’t accept that calling to be a leader. It is in those moments that, if you are truthful with yourself, you can appreciate how difficult a job it is to be the shepherd of diverse individuals.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 NIV

I know that life can get boring at times or become mundane but this verse can help us remember that everything we do has a purpose. God placed us here to bring glory and honor to Him as we live our lives. This verse hung on the wall of a friend of mine’s office and she said that it helped her to read it when she was wanting to complain about the path that God had led her down.

In those times when she wanted to complain about the task she was to do or the difficult conversations she was going to have to have, she could look at that verse and remember that WHATEVER she was needing to do, she was to do it so that it brought glory and honor to our Lord Jesus. There is a myth sometimes around Christians that we don’t ever become bored with life, that we don’t feel like complaining about what we are tasked with to do.

That could not be further from the truth. We are like everyone else, we are human and we question things at times. There are times when we don’t want to do things we need to do and we grow weary. However, we are able to go to our Heavenly Father and ask for guidance, forgiveness for complaining and reminders of Who the focus is to be on as we are living life.

I encourage anyone who struggles with complaining about life to hang this verse somewhere they can see throughout their day so they can be reminded that everything we do should be done to bring glory and honor to our Lord Jesus.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18 NIV

I have been writing a lot about peace lately and it mostly has been about having inner peace and keeping inner peace, but today I want to talk about peace that affects those around us. In his letter to the Romans, Paul is laying out the “good news” or the “gospel” for everyone. He talks about how Christians should live, love, worship, and interact with each other.

The Christians in Rome were not being persecuted at the time of Paul’s letter but these reminders of how to live as a Christian are always good to hear. In the 18th verse of Romans 12, Paul reminds them to live in peace. Paul is acknowledging that we can only control ourselves and not those around us, so Paul, in this command reminds us to be responsible and control ourselves.

Controlling ourselves consists of being willing to not be easily offended by things that others say or do around you. I am not saying to ignore wrong behavior, but be willing to pause long enough to not react immediately. In that pause, I believe it is important to ask God for guidance and direction about the situation you are facing at that moment. That pause also allows us to not jump to a reaction and possibly exhibit wrong behavior as well in that moment.

Sometimes living in peace can be hard. If we have been hurt, abused or traumatized, the idea of living in peace can feel harder still. I believe living in peace starts with being at peace inside ourselves. Once we are able to truly have inner peace then the idea of living in peace with others becomes less challenging. Thankfully, God is able to help us each individually with this, if we are willing to ask for that help.

Another part of peace is being able to love others in a genuine way, not the kind of love that is only a show. What I mean by genuine is that you love people the same whether there are others around to see it or not. We all know someone who society has deemed as “unlovable” or “hard to love”. As a Christian, when we should be showing them the same genuine love that we have been shown by Jesus.

Lastly, we are to forgive others and not hold grudges. This is also a part of peace. Forgiveness is not for the person who has offended you, it is for you! Whether the person who has offended you is worried about the offense or not, whether they are sorry or not, forgiveness has implications internally for you as the one forgiving. Hatred does not promote peace, it stops peace from occurring. As we let go of hatred, grudges and begin forgiving, peace will increase inside of us. When we are at peace inside then living in peace that is evident externally is much easier. After all, who are we to not forgive others when Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven.

Heavenly Father, please be with us today. I pray that whoever needs to hear this, hears it, myself included. As Your children we should want to walk in peace and live in peace with each other, so please help us to want that today. In Jesus’s precious name. Amen

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2 NIV

At the time that Paul was writing to the Ephesian church, they were struggling with becoming one, having unity. There were so many differences among the people within the church that they were finding it hard to agree on things like procedure and allocation of funds. Each person was trying to be faithful to Jesus as well as their old way of living at the same time.

Some individuals were more educated in scriptures and believed that they should hold more important roles in the church because of that. Others thought that because they were either Jew or Gentile that they should possess certain gifts from God. Paul was encouraging them to remember that Jesus taught a different way of living, a way that was the opposite of most of the worldly ideas. Being a Christian, both then and now, gives us the opportunity to demonstrate that way of living.

There are 4 characteristics in this verse about how we should live as followers of Christ. We are to be humble, not thinking more of ourselves than we ought to think. We have been taught by Jesus to put others first. We are to be gentle, keeping ourselves calm and trying to avoid conflict when possible. Not interacting with others in a harsh manner, but remembering to control our emotions in all situations.

We are to be patient, not always in a rush to complete activities or for growth to occur. Patience comes through trials, times when we need to demonstrate that patience in order to develop it. We are to bear with each other in love, living life through showing God’s love to others. We should be showing our love through our actions, making sure others are taken care of, being with others and understanding their situations.

Living life demonstrating these 4 characteristics can be hard at times. We are to try and imitate Jesus, who lived life demonstrating these characteristics and more. We may have grown more in one characteristic than another during our walk with God, and that is alright. The idea is to keep growing in all of them, no matter how small the growth is or how large it is, forward movement is best.

How are you doing with these 4 characteristics? Do you feel more comfortable demonstrating one more than the others? I encourage you to look at these today and determine which one you are moving forward in and which one you are struggling with. Then plan some action steps to help you grow in the area you are struggling. Ask God for help determining which area you struggle with and how you should move forward.

“The Lord your God is with you,” Zephaniah 3:17a NIV

Zephaniah lived during a time when Jerusalem had abandoned God. They had decided to worship other gods and even built altars to them. They did not hide this but did it in the open. Just as other prophets had, Zephaniah preached to all of Jerusalem that they needed to return to God. That they needed to stop sinning and begin obeying God again, that judgement was coming.

Even with everything that God’s chosen people have done, the sins they have committed, God still promises to gather all of them back together and restore their blessings. God is ever forgiving and faithful. In the beginning of the 17th verse that is shared above, Zephaniah is telling Jerusalem that they are not alone, that the Lord their God is with them.

How many times have we felt alone in this great big world. Alone in our circumstances, alone in our grief and sorrow. The devil works hard to make sure we believe that we are not ‘good enough’ for God, that we are ‘lost causes’ and that God has given up on us.

This is simply not true!!! With everything that the Israelites did, God was willing to restore them and then be with them. He did not leave them and He will not leave you or me. When we feel alone, I believe it is because we are the ones who have left. We have left God’s side at that point and we are the ones who need to return.

Heavenly Father, please help us to recognize when we have moved away from You. Help us to then return to Your side. Amen