The Trying Of Your Faith

Date: Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Chapters: Exodus 31-33
Message Title: The Trying Of Your Faith

Hello My Friend, 

Perhaps one of the toughest things to do as a Christian is wait for God, we labor, we pray, we read, we obey, we confess, over and over again, in hopes of that one thing we are waiting for will happen So, what is to come of all this waiting? Perfection. God is perfecting us and preparing us to handle receiving what we have been waiting for. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” - James 1:3-7.

The word sabbath means, intermission of pain or sorrow; time of rest, we all need a time of rest, and that is why God is so passionate about us taking one day from our work and devoting it all to Him. “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” - Exodus 31:13-17.

The sabbath is a great instance of God's favor toward His people, it is a sign that He has distinguished them from all other people, their religious observance of it, is a great instance of their devotion to Him. God, sanctified this day among them, and let them know that He sanctified them, and set them apart for Him. Today, most Christians set aside the first day of the week as the sabbath to God, this is because Christ arose on the first day. By taking one day of rest, after six days labor, we testify that we worship the God that made the world in six days, and rested onthe seventh. In a world that destroys everything that Christ stands for, it's good to know that we are not limited to a particular day of the week, we can have a day of rest any day, thanks to Christ. “Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” - Matthew 12:5-8.

The biggest part of our faith and dedication to God is waiting on Him, when we are waiting for answers it can seem like years, but if we keep looking to Him, even when we do not see Him, we will get the answers we need, and then some. Ninety-nine percent of the time people fall into a mess of trouble because they get tired of waiting for God. Moses was up on the mount for forty days, that's a little over a month, and they were getting tired of waiting for him to come down and tell them what they needed to do next. Instead of waiting, they forced Aaron to make them a god they could see, and began worshiping that. 

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” - Exodus 32:1-5,35.

You see, they wanted a god in their lives, they just wanted one that catered to every need of their flesh, which is still a problem today. God never caters to our flesh because He knows how corrupt it is when we take our eyes off Him. You want to know why everything is a mess and the world is falling apart? It's because so many men of God are afraid to stand up and fight, they cave into pressure instead of looking to God. Aaron knew it was wrong in what he did, and he would latersuffer for going against God. We have no one to blame, but ourselves for the suffering we face for going against God. Moses took the blame for their sin, but God already knew who it was that sinned against Him. “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” - Exodus 32:30-33.

Even the people of the Old Testament knew about the book of life, sin blots our name out of the book of life. One of the challenges as a child of God is to give up sin, and since we all have this flesh that clearly desires things that are sinful, God made another way for our names to be written in the book of life, Jesus Christ. Only through Him can we be atoned of our sin, and get our names in the book of life. “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” - Revelation 3:2,3,5.

After all that came to pass, Moses literally stood face to face with God, he wasn't allowed to see His face directly, but God stood before him and talked with him, one on one. It was then that God told him that He was no longer going to go before them as they traveled to the promised land.“And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” - Exodus 33:12-20.

To be able to stand directly face to face with God, would be the death of us, because that would be when every single thing we ever remember that we did would come to mind, but God's mercy and grace saves us from death. Moses was not a perfect man, he had to daily offer sacrifices to God as well, he just found favor in His sight because he trusted Him, and obeyed Him, and when he messed up he sought forgiveness. God does the same for us, as we live for Him and wait patiently for Him there is nothing that He would not give us, it's just all in His timing. Do not give up on God, He is working on you, preparing you, and perfecting you to be able to receive the very thing you have been waiting for. “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.” - Isaiah 64:4,5. 

Today's Prayer: God, Help me to remember that my labor is not in vain, that my faithfulness to You is critical to the mission You have called me to do. As I remain faithful to You, and wait patiently for You, I know that You are perfecting me and getting me ready to receive what I have been waiting so long for. Thank You, Lord for Your patience with me, and doing agreat work in me. I love You and pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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