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sunofone -> RE: Why not eat? (7/4/2008 9:16:39 AM)
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Today at 6:18am, bobbys43 wrote:
This is probably one the many times I will say something stupid, but hey that's me.
After reading this exodus of God's people from Egypt I can not help but see that I would have been just like the the people. Complain,complain,complain.
Set free but always wanting more. fed but wanting something better, a land called my own but is this as good as it gets,ect......
He supplies my needs but the fool I am just can not be truly satisfied.
bobby
I don't think this is stupid at all,in fact it's stupid when we look at it with a us vs them attitude.
I know I grew up perplexed as to how they could have God show up in such miraculous ways and yet still serve other gods.I understand them better,when I consider myself,what I do when times get tight.
I look at how I get doubtful,how I panic,how I eat the seed that he's given me in tough times rather than honor him with it.
I saw something in this story if you will,for the first time in my Christian life,and we're talking nearly thirty years here.I saw how Moses told Pharaoh that they had to use some of the flock and herdstock for sacrifice and worship to God,and until they got there,they would not know how much they would need to do this,so they could not leave a hoof behind.
Later,just after God had fed them manna for the first time,they went into a battle against the Amalekites and defeated them,yet we hear nothing of the plunder/spoils they won from this victory.
All we hear is that that they continued to eat this manna.In fact they were doing like any of us would with this manna,they were finding creative ways to cook it,so it wouldn't be as monotonous to eat.
They later complained that they were losing their appetite,and could only remember the pots of meat,and onions and leeks they had in Egypt.They desperately wanted meat in their diet,so again God provided quail into their diet,which killed those who complained for meat to God.
I began to see so much in this story beginning with the obvious and extending to the not so obvious.I saw how God miraculously provided for them,but I also saw how they had the willingness to leave the herd,livestock,and children alone when they were hungry.
They did not touch what was holy unto God,and to themselves.I saw how God provided them a foreshadowing of Jesus through manna,and how he again referenced this manna in several places throughout scripture,however conspicuously hidden in Malachai 3 when he said he would open the windows of heaven and pour them out a blessing that there would not be room enough to receive it.Again referring to the manna that would never run out,that you could never gather more or less than was needed.
I saw how before God instituted a tithe,or firstfruit mandate on them,he blessed them with his provision,yet they were already tithing and giving him a firstfruit offering before it was commanded and I doubt they even realized it.
I began to see that in all my life I never honored God with my resources,finances or otherwise.I tithed for about twenty of the thirty years of my Christian life,but I never honored God with my finances before.
I saw how blatantly disrespectful,and dishonorable I've been in my giving to God,in my recognition to his provision,in my attitude towards his finances and resources he's placed in my life.I saw that all of my life that I had the nerve to receive from God his blessings and give back to him what I thought I could afford to give him.
Many years when I did not purposely give him anything at all.I saw how God could put a thousand dollars in my hand,and I spend it down to the last one hundred and maybe give some of my last onehundred to him.Perhaps ten,twenty five dollars of it.
To top it off when I ran out,or even low,how I would look to him to provide me more so that I could continue to repeat the cycle allover again.
I though about how this plays itself out in reality.So God began to show me some real life examples of my unacceptable regard for his provision in my life.I thought about raising a child who reaches adulthood and still lives under your roof,and that child works and when he gets paid,will go out and buy what he wants to buy,give where he wants to give and grudgingly give you what is left over.
This same child will then continue to eat your food sleep under your roof,and have the nerve to ask to borrow money from you to put gas in his car or whatever until he gets paid again.
I've done this to God,in fact that's all I've ever done to God even when I was tithing and giving offerings to the church. This has forever changed me.I promised from that day forward to give purposely and take God's off the top first,before I pay anybody including myself.
I thought about how I don't operate with the sense that God gave an animal.
I don't think like the ant who works in the summer to store up food for the winter,I don't plan to save when times are plenteous,for times of lack.Instead I spend all,and when lack comes I whine and complain to God for more.The nerve!
I began to see how I like Israel try to store up manna,I don't take enough for today,and look for fresh manna on tomorrow.I want to store up manna from yesterday for tomorrow.
At first I didn't make the connection,until God showed me Jesus saying that we are to pray give us this day our daily bread,and then it hit me.I've never done this either.
I take manna/revelation that God has given me and store it up as doctrine/truth and it becomes spoiled and dead,but I don't care.It's a truth that I have and I don't let it go.So that when God would desire to give me a fresh word or expand my revelation he can't.because there's no room for fresh manna.
I feel I don't even need it,I'm still to busy eating off of the old spoiled manna instead of the fresh daily manna.I now know that nothing is for keeps,what he gives me today is ready to be discarded tomorrow for fresh bread.
I want to hear what he is saying to me daily,then I don't get trapped in my own doctrines,or doctrines of men.I instead stay current and in the flow of what he is saying today.Now I' growing/maturing.
There's so much more but I know this is already a long post.I'll share more later.
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