Whispers of Grace
Walking with God is filled with mountaintops and valleys. Join passionate yet flawed Jesus-lover and mother of four Julie Colbeth as she delves into the Scriptures with a refreshingly honest perspective that will bring hope and encouragement to your day.
Whispers of Grace
Golden Calf - Part 4 of 4: Failure & Judgement
The Life of Moses- Episode #28 🤥 Can the story of Aaron and the Israelites at Mount Sinai transform our understanding of failure, responsibility, and redemption? Join us on Whispers of Grace as we promise to unravel these profound themes through this iconic biblical narrative. We'll explore the shocking moment of idolatry and Moses' bold reaction to this betrayal, using it as a lens to examine the intense emotions of righteous anger and the consequences that follow. This episode challenges us to reflect on our own responses to failure and the complex nature of human wrath versus divine justice.
Unpack the layers of personal responsibility as we scrutinize Aaron's response to the golden calf incident. His attempt to deflect blame onto the Israelites forces us to confront our own tendencies to avoid accountability in times of moral testing. By highlighting the importance of owning our choices, we encourage listeners to resist the allure of the easy path in favor of maintaining integrity, even when external pressures mount. Through Aaron's story, we are reminded of the enduring value of standing firm in righteousness amidst adversity.
Finally, we shift our focus to the balance of God's judgment and mercy. Using a courtroom analogy, we examine the necessity of justice in maintaining divine goodness. With insights from the book of Lamentations and Romans 6:23, we reflect on the painful yet hopeful aspects of divine punishment and compassion. Moses' intercession for Israel becomes a powerful mirror of Christ's atoning sacrifice, urging us to embrace the incredible gift of salvation with gratitude. Learn how our failures can become vessels for God's strength, leading us to live a life that glorifies Him.
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for women to be encouraged by God's Holy Word. I'm your host, julie Colbeth, and I am overjoyed to dig into the Bible with you today. Kia ora, friends, and welcome back to Whispers of Grace. I am overjoyed, as always, to be here with you and to have a chance to dig into these scriptures as we finish up our Mount Sinai series. How we respond to the failure of others and how we respond to our own failures and sins says a whole lot about us. Are we quick to make excuses? Are we slow to make excuses? Are we slow to apologize? Do we point out the failures in others but give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, or do we give all the grace to others and yet judge ourselves too harshly? In today's text, we are going to take a look at Aaron's response for leading Israel into idolatry, and we will also see Moses's response to Israel's sin, even though he wasn't there. He wasn't a part of it. He was up on the mountain with God. Today we are going to see what happens when Moses comes down the mountain, sees what's happening with Aaron and the Israelites and the golden calf and the judgment that God doles out, and there is so much to glean in this as we dive into the justice and judgment of God and looking at our own hearts. There's so much here, so let's get right into it. I'm going to read from Exodus, chapter 32, verse 15, and this is the New Living Translation.
Julie:Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. These tablets were God's work. The words on them were written by God himself. When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses it sounds like war in the camp. But Moses replied no, it's not a shout of victory, nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.
Julie:When they came near the camp, moses saw the calf and the dancing and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it, and then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water and forced the people to drink it. Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded what did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them, don't get so upset. My lord Aaron replied you yourself know how evil these people are. And they said to me make us gods who will lead us. We don't know what happened to this fellow Moses who brought us here from the land of Egypt. So I told them whoever has gold jewelry, take it off. And when they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.
Julie:Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted All of you who are on the Lord's side, come here and join me. And all the Levites gathered around him. Moses told them this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says him. Moses told them this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone, even your brothers, friends and neighbors. The Levites obeyed Moses' command, and about 3,000 people died that day. Then Moses told the Levites Today, next day, moses said to the people.
Julie:So Moses returned to the Lord and said oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. But now, if you will only forgive their sin, but if not, erase my name from the record that you've written. But the Lord replied to Moses no, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. Now go lead the people to the place that I told you about. Look, my angel will lead the way before you, and when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins. And then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshipped the calf that Aaron had made. Upon the people because they had worshiped the calf that Aaron had made.
Julie:So this is a big section of scripture dealing with the recompense that is handed down for this golden calf incident. It's so important that we have these recorded bits because it shows us the result of all of this sinfulness and how it was handled. There's so many important things that we can glean from this, so we're going to start in verse 19. It said that Moses's anger became hot when he saw what was happening. He was incredibly angry, and it said that he took the tablets and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Now, this is not the first or the last time that we'll see Moses act in anger, because remember all the way back when he was angry with that Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave, he killed him and hid him in the sand. Now this is a long time ago, but we've seen Moses's anger before and here we see him enraged at the sin of Israel and breaking the stone tablets, and later we're going to see him strike the rock out of anger. So Moses has an anger problem that he's obviously working through rightful anger and all these instances.
Julie:But what to do with that anger? There is this thin line between a righteous anger, like Jesus turning over tables in the temple, and the wrath of man. But here, in this instance, I think that Moses breaks this physical record of the law to signify that Israel had broken the law of God. And that image of Moses smashing these sacred tablets that were written by God, it would stick with Israel. I know it would stick with me. If you ever saw somebody get really angry, it sticks with you. So this picture, I think that it would be stuck in their mind, these broken pieces of the Testament, they would testify to Israel's broken relationship with God and their broken promises. So I think there's more than just rage here, and God doesn't punish him for this. So I think that this is just a picture of what Israel is actually doing. They're breaking God's heart, they're breaking their promises, and their relationship with God at this point is affected.
Julie:So after this happens in verse 20, it says that he took the golden calf. Moses takes the calf, he burns it up in a fire, he grounds it to powder and then he scatters it over the water and makes the children of Israel drink it. So Moses completely destroyed any trace of their little craft project that turned into a deity. He didn't want any piece of it to remain, and in doing this, moses showed how easily this little golden statue could be destroyed. It was not an eternal, all-powerful, enduring God that could part the seas and bring the plagues. It was just a feeble work of man's hands that could easily be overpowered and destroyed, and Moses made sure that this defiled gold couldn't be used again for any purpose.
Julie:Interestingly enough, this strange act of grinding this idol up to pieces and having Israel drink it it's very similar to something from Numbers 5 that's called the water of bitterness. Such an interesting little thing in the book of Numbers. So this water of bitterness is something that would be drunk by a wife that was suspected of unfaithfulness, so something that would be done in the temple with a priest and a married couple, and if the man suspected his wife was being unfaithful he could bring her to the priest. The priest would make this little concoction, she would drink it and if she was guilty, it says it's kind of like her womb would rot almost, or she wouldn't be able to have children, and if she was proven innocent, nothing would happen. She would feel fine and go her way. But it's interesting because here Israel has been completely unfaithful to God and they're being forced to drink this kind of water of bitterness that is laced with the gold of their sin. So, very interesting way they're being punished, and this is just the beginning of what's going to happen here. So in verse 21, it says and Moses said to Aaron what did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?
Julie:Now, this is such a good heart searching question because it causes Aaron to consider what made him completely compromise his role and it reveals where he was weak and where he was willing to bend. What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them? What happened to make you compromise? What happened to make you compromise? And Moses's question here it also emphasizes that Aaron's failing didn't just affect him, but it brought sin upon the entire nation of Israel. It is so important to notice how our sin affects the people around us. Even when we don't think it does, when we think it's something that's inside of our own hearts or that no one sees, it does affect others Because our failings, they run over into the lives of others our family members, our friends, our co-workers.
Julie:Sin corrupts and often we don't understand the effect. Here in this passage we can see it blatantly. Here in this passage, we can see it blatantly. And Aaron's response here is just unbelievable. Aaron says don't get so upset, my Lord. You yourself know how evil these people are. And they said to me make us gods who will lead us. We don't know what's happened to this fellow Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt. So I told them whoever has gold jewelry, take it off. And when they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire and out came this calf. It sounds like a story that your toddler told you, right? But this is a grown man and much less the leader of Israel. This is what he's saying to Moses. Aaron is basically telling Moses chill out. Aaron is basically telling Moses chill out. He's so flippant with this massive sin that he just publicly committed. And then comes the blame shift. As old as Eden. Right, it wasn't me, it was the people. You know how bent on evil they are.
Julie:Moses fully understood the evil complaining rabble that he was leading, but he understood that it was his job to restrain the evil tendencies of Israel, not to encourage them or to stand by and watch them run wild. Proverbs 14, 12 says there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 29, 18 says where there is no revelation, no message or attention to the voice of God, the people cast off all moral restraint and they become wild and ungovernable and anarchy reigns when there is no vision, no leadership, no message from God. And we see the truth of that played out perfectly in this situation, because without leadership and instruction and what is good and right, human hearts will run to whatever seems right in our own eyes, just like in the Old Testament times of the judges. But here we see Aaron. He decided that it was just too hard to stand up for God in the midst of this resistance, so he just rolled with it and soon he found himself at the epicenter of the idolatry. He actually became the pioneer for idol worship in the season for Israel, instead of the spokesperson for God. So because of this fear, because he wasn't willing to resist the mob, it tells us in verse four in the same chapter, that Aaron fashioned the gold with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. So the reality is that he had asked for the gold, he melted it down and he had taken time to craft a pagan deity. Aaron literally made this idol with his hands. It took him time, he was intimately acquainted with every stroke and detail because it was his own workmanship. And yet in this moment he denies any involvement and he lies to cover his weakness. He says that the calf just walked out of the fire. He's trying to insinuate that it was some kind of a miracle and it was out of his hands.
Julie:In Deuteronomy, chapter 9, verse 20, it's a parallel passage to this section it tells us that when Moses was interceding on the mountain for Israel, he was also interceding for Aaron, because God was so angry with Aaron for this failure that he would have destroyed him. But because Moses intercedes, aaron's life was saved would have destroyed him, but because Moses intercedes, aaron's life was saved. Aaron, he messed up massively and he tried to wriggle out of the consequences by telling Moses to chill out. He tries to get out of it by blaming the people and then finally he acts like this calf just created itself. Aaron, he used every guilty ploy available to hide from what he had done. Aaron, he used every guilty ploy available to hide from what he had done. He was guilty and probably ashamed, or he was seriously deceived, but either way, we have all seen humans respond this way.
Julie:Haven't we Done something massively terrible and then not want to take any responsibility for it? This incident that we're reading about is a very important one, is such a human story. This is all of us, just like Aaron, we don't like to take the harder road of righteousness. We don't want to stand against a mob. That's hard and it's dangerous. We don't like to take responsibility for our sins and misjudgments, and we certainly know what it's like to compromise under pressure, whether people can see it or they don't, and whether it's an outward example or it's just in our hearts. This is a God-given opportunity for us to examine our own hearts through the lens of this story, because it is so easy, effortless, really to blame the circumstances or the people around us for our own sinful behavior or a bad temper. I'm very much including myself in this too.
Julie:Sometimes we blame everything but ourselves without even thinking too hard about it. It is easy to blame the traffic, or the consistently rude co-worker, or the car trouble, or the cranky children, or the hormonal teenager, or the manipulative parent, or the bad weather teenager or the manipulative parent, or the bad weather, or the financial hardships, or the boss that is terrible at his job, or the lack of sleep, or the impossible professor, or the spouse, or the system or society, and on and on and on and on. It's effortless to blame these things for our bad attitudes or for our snapping at our families or our roommates, or for making poor life choices. These things push us and we all have to decide how we're going to respond. Now don't get me wrong. These normal human things are difficult and they certainly impact our moods. Some of these things can wound us very, very deeply and can take years to heal from.
Julie:I am not trying to say that the pain in your life is small and inconsequential and you just have to get over it. That's not at all what I'm saying. What I am saying is that these things are not directly responsible for our choices. Our choices are our own. We all choose how we're going to react in the midst of difficult things and we need to own those choices. When we get stressed out, when we're pressed, when things are taken away from us, how do we respond? Those choices are ours Because we're going to experience thousands of difficulties in our lives and so often they come in seasons, huh, like one after the other, buffeting us like waves. You're just in a season of difficulty. We're one thing after the next, and we shouldn't be surprised, because Jesus promised that in this world we're going to have tribulation. We're going to have difficulty and troubles. We live in a fallen world that has been ravaged by sin. We should not be surprised when difficulties come our way, ravaged by sin. We should not be surprised when difficulties come our way and we get to choose how we're going to respond to this broken world with its broken people.
Julie:We can choose to be reactionary Reactionary people that are constantly being emotionally dragged around by the circumstances around us. That's a lot of us. We're controlled by our circumstances because we're reacting to an evil world. It's easy to monologue about how disappointed we are by political parties and prime ministers and pastors and churches, or we can choose to act differently. We can choose to act in a wise way that is not shaken by the failures of man and those around us. We can choose to act in a wise way that is not shaken by the failures of man and those around us. We can choose to act in a way that's not undone by the sins of others. Our reactions can be tempered with faith in an unshakable God who sees everything.
Julie:We can choose to take time to breathe and recenter ourselves in the midst of these storms and trust in God over and over and over again, sometimes moment to moment. We can choose prayer instead of retaliation. We can choose stillness instead of over-functioning to distract from the emotional tornado in our hearts. That's a lot of us, right. Keep busy and you don't have to think about all the tornado in our hearts. That's a lot of us, right. Keep busy and you don't have to think about all the stuff in your heart. We can choose to slow down and think instead of jumping into something without counting the cost. These are things that we can grow into and we love to make excuses for our reactions and our weaknesses, just like Aaron.
Julie:But we need to take some time and consider this great question that Moses posed to him what happened that caused you to sin? It is vital for us to see our own failures and to claim responsibility for them. We need to own it. When we screw up, we need to recognize what caused it. It is healthy and necessary practice to ask ourselves where we compromised and how we could have chosen to act differently. If we don't dissect the why in our sin, then we don't know where we're weak and we're going to continue to walk into dangerous territory unaware of how deeply it affects us.
Julie:Now, aaron, he had made massive mistakes, but he could have looked back at the situation and his leadership choices and realized how anxious he got when Moses was gone and how desperate he was to please the people, and how quickly he relied on his fleshly intellect to simply create a new God when the old one was too unpredictable for him. Aaron could have learned how weak and unfocused he was under pressure. If he would have only been brave enough and humble enough to own his mistakes, he could have blossomed under the refining experience instead of hiding from his true nature. And maybe he did, we don't know. It's not recorded in scripture. We can only see what his initial reaction is here with Moses, but some of the best leaders have made the biggest mistakes and learned from them.
Julie:We need to allow the irritations and frustrations of life to bring us straight to Jesus and ask what are you saying to me through this difficulty? Because if we're willing to ask that question, he will speak to us. He will reveal things to us that we couldn't see any other way, and when we come to him, desperate, that is when he is happy to meet us. Scripture says that God rewards those that diligently seek him, and he loves to lift up the humble. God can't change you if you won't take an honest look at your tendency to blame, shift or hide beside someone else's shortcomings. We have to be brave enough to admit our mistakes and the part that we play in our bad attitudes. We need to face our weaknesses and let Jesus be our strength as we lean on him in these moments so many good things to think about and to really press into. And as we jump back into our text, we're going to see the severity that is taken when dealing with Israel's sin, Because Moses steps back in as the true leader. Where Aaron buckled, moses is going to step up. Moses shows himself as an uncompromised leader here that brings justice and does it with a humble heart. So back into our text here.
Julie:Verse 25 says that Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies. So he stood at the entrance of the camp and shouted all of you who are on the Lord's side, come here and join me. And only the Levites gathered around him. And then Moses tells them that they have to go all throughout the camp of Israel and kill all of the people that have been worshiping this idol, and it doesn't matter who they are. The Levites obey Moses' command and 3,000 people die that day.
Julie:Now there are many of us that read this section and we cringe internally. We want to skip over these sections and not linger on the thought of such a violent act being condoned and much less directed by God. So let's just take some time to pick it apart and walk through it. So verse 25, it tells us that the people were unrestrained in their worship of the idol. So the idea behind this verb in Hebrew is a loosening to be uncovered or bare.
Julie:And in some translations it says when Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies. So it seems that the people were engaged in some sort of religious prostitution, which was so common for that time period. Not only were they worshiping an idol, but they had become shameless and thrown off all sense of propriety. This wickedness had to be stopped before it infected all of Israel. So Moses immediately draws a line in the sand and splits the people by loyalty and he says whoever's on the Lord's side, come to me. And sadly, the only tribe that responds is the tribe of Levi. Out of 12 tribes that had just seen the miracles of God for months and his amazing power, only one tribe chose to stand with God instead of the golden calf and their brazen worship. Look how quickly and thoroughly sin corrupted these people. It's unbelievable how easily we can be deceived. So, at Moses's command, the Levites grabbed their swords and execute 3,000 people that were blatantly partaking in the pagan worship. So these were probably the ringleaders the most flagrant in their sin, because after this, more are going to die from a plague. But there was no special treatment shown for friends or for family. Anyone who chose to blatantly stand with a golden calf was killed immediately.
Julie:So now we come face to face with it, this righteous judgment of God and the death of all these people, and, like I mentioned before, there's so many of us. We crinned and we want to skip this section. But one thing we need to understand is that the judgment and justice of God is absolutely essential to his goodness. I'm going to say that one more time the judgment and justice of God is absolutely essential to his goodness because he wouldn't be a just judge if he didn't punish sin. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. It's that simple. The payment for sin is always death. This was seen in the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. Sin always requires recompense. Sin, the opposite of righteousness and goodness. It comes at such a high cost because it goes against the created order and it introduces nothing but pain and separation from God. So just to flesh this out, I want us to consider something.
Julie:I don't know if you've ever been called for jury duty, but imagine that you're a juror in a court case where three innocent victims have been murdered and it's your job to listen, day after day, to witnesses and family members talk about how this terrible act has altered their life and caused so much pain. At the end of all the weeks of testimony and proof, there was absolutely no doubt to the guilt of this person on trial. The weeks of testimony and proof there was absolutely no doubt to the guilt of this person on trial. They even have the murder weapon with fingerprints on it and a time-stamped video and eyewitnesses. It finally comes down to the time of sentencing and the judge says you're free to go, just don't do it again. Can you imagine the outrage? That would be absolutely horrible and that judge would be removed because he wouldn't be concerned with the safety of the public and he couldn't be trusted to punish crime. At this point he would become a worthless puppet. If he had no passion for justice, his job would make no sense, and God is not like that. He is a good judge that is committed to truth and justice. He is a good judge that is committed to truth and justice.
Julie:The book of Lamentations can give us a little bit more perspective on the judgment of God. It addresses the pain and the reality of this recompense for sin. It's written by the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote the book as he watched Babylon invade and destroy Jerusalem, which was his home. It broke his heart to see Israel punished, but they were being punished for their idolatry and for walking away from God. So this is long after the days of Moses, but it helps us to understand what's happening here, because Jeremiah, he saw the death and the destruction and he wrote the book of Lamentations as like a funeral dirge. So listen to this, because you can really hear his pain, but also his perspective, even though he's living it in the middle of the pain, watching it happen. Listen to the pain and the perspective. This is from chapter three in Lamentations. This is a couple of little sections.
Julie:I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord's wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light. Indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and my bones have been broken. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness, like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape, and weighed me down with chains. Even though I cry out for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has barred my way with blocks of stone and made my paths crooked, like a bear lying in wait or like a lion in hiding. He's dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. He has broken my teeth with gravel and trampled me into the dust. I have been deprived of peace. I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I said, my splendor is gone. Gone and all that I hoped from the Lord.
Julie:I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope Because of the Lord's great love. We are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness, I say to myself. The Lord is my portion. Therefore, I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the one who seek him. It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust. There may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him. And then at the bottom he says let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord.
Julie:So this incredible passage of scripture shows us how deep the pain is. Yet Jeremiah understood that this pain was a punishment, but his compassion and his unfailing love would bring his heart back to Israel, that this affliction would not last forever. But it reinforces what Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We need to remember that we deserve nothing less than death for all that we have done. The payment for sin is always death, and hopefully this can fill our hearts afresh with gratitude and a deeper understanding of what we have been saved from, because, just like our Savior, jesus bore the judgment for our sin.
Julie:Back in our text here in Exodus 32, 32, we're going to see this exact heart reflected in Moses. He understands the judgment of God, but he asks for compassion, for forgiveness. He steps in as the intercessor once again to ask God to bless Israel, to turn his face towards them and to not wipe them out. So Moses goes back on the mountain to speak with God and he says yet now he's speaking to the Lord if you will forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of your book, which you have written. He says, lord, please forgive them, but if not, take my life as a ransom. Blot me out of your book. I don't want to be a part of it anymore. If you're going to take them out, take me out too. And it is such a stark contrast here because Moses responds so differently than Aaron did. Moses offers to lay his own life down for a sin that he wasn't even a part of, he didn't commit. He wasn't even around when it happened, yet he was willing to be blotted out of God's book.
Julie:Moses's willingness to sacrifice his own standing with God shows us his immense love and dedication to Israel. It also reinforces this man's humble heart. He knew who he was and he knew what he was called to Israel. It also reinforces this man's humble heart. He knew who he was and he knew what he was called to do. I want to leave you with this shining example of humility Moses. He didn't hesitate to willingly lay down his life for a sinful people because he knew his God. He had just spent 40 days in the presence of God on Mount Sinai, fellowshipping with God, and that clear picture of God is what helped this man to remain humble, to be willing to take on the offenses of others into his own life, even though they weren't his. He had the heart of our Messiah. He had the heart of Jesus, because he was so tightly fellowshipping with God, the Father.
Julie:This week for school, one of my daughters had a class performance, and this term they're studying service, so they had all the parents come in and all of these year four kids planned this little event. So the teacher really wasn't very involved. She let them plan it all. So there was tables and chairs, there was tablecloths on all the tables. Each table was themed. They had made placemats that were laminated for each of us made bookmarks with our name on them, and they performed songs and dances. We sang together. They made a video of all the things that they're thankful for.
Julie:And this whole presentation, along with this beautiful morning tea, was just all of these sweet little year four kids expressing their gratitude and thankfulness to their parents for all the things that we do for them. And I just thought this is so much work for these little people and her teacher was telling us how hard it was for them to do all of these things, like to create everything in this room took them so much time. But she said that it had just given them so much joy that they did it with overflowing hearts. And truly, my daughter was so excited for weeks and weeks and weeks to bring me into the special room, sit me in my special little seat, show me all the things that she had made and perform and feed me and give me drinks. She just was so excited. And my daughter's teacher was saying it's because they are so excited to show you these things that it hasn't even been work to them, even though it was literally a lot of work that they had done. But she said that they did it with such a thankful, joyful heart. Now, this thankfulness and this proper heart is what we need to have for God Sometimes, when we hear messages like this and think, oh okay, I have to own up to my mistakes and I have to do this better and that better.
Julie:We make this checklist in our mind of all the things that we feel like we have to do better and it becomes a work. It becomes a ladder that we're trying to climb up to Jesus, to be good, to be on our best behavior. But that is not it at all. Here we see it in Moses. He spent 40 days with God and then he came down and dealt with this very hard situation in such a humble, godly way because he had spent time with Jesus. When we spend time with Jesus intimately, when we are quiet and we let him speak to us and speak to us through so many different things, we take the time to hear his voice and spend time with him.
Julie:We don't want to hold on to our pride.
Julie:We don't want to defend ourselves for our bad behavior. We desire to be humble. We want to admit our faults, because that means that God can cover them, that he can be our strength. When we know our God, we can be vulnerable with him and when we trust in our God, we can be vulnerable with other people and he so deeply loves us and wants us to come to him, wants us to be like Moses and admit our fault and just fall face down before him, because in our weakness he can be strong. Face down before him, because in our weakness he can be strong. So I hope that you can take all of these thoughts today and know that our just God, he wants to use all of the failures in your life, all of the disappointments. He wants to bring beauty from the brokenness and he wants to allow that brokenness to unlock his great strength in and through us, so that we can be more of a picture of him in this earth, that we can glorify God. But it is his work in us that he does. So I would encourage you to allow him to do his work, as we humbly submit to him and come to him in all of our failures, knowing that he's the answer for everything you
