Exodus 19:3-6 "As Moses went up to meet God, God called down to him from the mountain: “Speak to the House of Jacob, tell the People of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. If you will listen obediently to what I say and keep my covenant, out of all peoples you’ll be my special treasure. The whole Earth is mine to choose from, but you’re special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” Today's episode talks about how important it is to listen to God and keep His covenant if we want to be His special treasure, and who doesn't want that? It also talks about how God shows us little and sometimes big signs that He is there in it with us. We just have to be on the lookout for them! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
I Am Treasured (Identity Series)
Exodus 19:3-6 "As Moses went up to meet God, God called down to him from the mountain: “Speak to the House of Jacob, tell the People of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. If you will listen obediently to what I say and keep my covenant, out of all peoples you’ll be my special treasure. The whole Earth is mine to choose from, but you’re special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
One of my friends sent this verse in a Facebook messenger chat. Her mother just had heart surgery, and she is in the hospital with her, waiting for her to recover. Her mom’s levels were all elevated, and she needed to go onto a breathing machine. I am sure my friend was worried for her mom, and I am sure the mom was worried too. I met this woman in my mentoring group. We went on a retreat together. Everyone in our mentoring group picks a word and mantra for the year. This is just a way to help keep us focused on where we want the year to go and help us remember what is important to us throughout the year when things get busy. Life can happen so quickly sometimes that we don’t live it intentionally; we just get swept up in it and almost go on autopilot. There can be so many people or things calling our time, and it can get hard to prioritize if you don’t have a focus and/or you don’t prioritize.
This is why we pick a word and mantra and try to say it every day. I was going to say that we do say it every day, but I am sure we forget sometimes, or at least I know I do, especially on the weekends. However, even if I don’t say it everyday, I know I have one, I have it memorized and so when I have to make a decision about something I can think about that word and mantra in my head and then the decision is easy because usually only one aligns with my focus for the year.
My friend chose the words “Be Still” this year. It’s funny how when we pick a word, God helps us grow into that word over the year. It’s the same with you, even if you didn’t pick a word. If you have a desire in your heart or have prayed for help to grow in a certain area, God will help you. When we pick a word, it not only reminds us of how we want to grow over the year but is also the filter with which we look at the year. Let me explain what I mean. If my friend’s word is Be Still, then her focus is on being still and how she can learn to grow in that. So, when she is reading her Bible in the hospital next to her mom, and she gets the Bible verse above, she then looks at this experience in the hospital as a reminder to be still.
God is amazing! If we are looking, if our eyes and ears are open, he will give us little signs, and sometimes big signs, that He is right there with us in all of our situations or circumstances. This bible verse in the hospital was a little reminder from God to my friend just to Be Still and know that He was taking of it all for her. If you are aware that God does this, if you are on the lookout for this, you will see that He is doing the same for you. God is not just doing this for some of His children. He is sending us all signs that He is there with them. The problem is that if we don’t know that He is doing this, we don’t notice them when we see them. Let’s start being on the lookout for these messages from God, letting us know He is in it, all of it, with us!
I love how today’s verse begins with God reminding us what He has done for us in the past. It says, “As Moses went up to meet God, God called down to him from the mountain: “Speak to the House of Jacob, tell the People of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me.” This is a great reminder that God is a miracle worker. He saved the Israelites from Egypt in a miraculous way. Also, it wasn’t just one miracle. It was miracle after miracle. He did all those signs to convince Pharaoh to let them go. He parted the Red Sea so they could pass, then He rolled it back to destroy their enemy. He miraculously provided manna for food every single morning. He rained down quail on them when they complained about not having meat to eat. It was miracle after miracle.
When we are struggling, we need to be reminded of all God can do. There are many times when we are in a situation and can’t see a way out. We have $500 worth of bills and $200 in our bank account. That math does not add up, and we know we will be unable to pay our bills. And yet the math also did not add up when Jesus only had five loaves of bread and two fish, and there were over 5,000 people to feed, and yet He fed them all with plenty to spare. When our loved one is in the hospital or on hospice and the doctors tell us there is nothing to do, we need God to remind us of what He has done in the past, so that we can have hope that we don’t have to worry because even if there is nothing the doctors can do, there is ALWAYS something our God can do. I love that God knows we need this reminder, even before we do. He is so good!!
The second half of this verse is, “If you will listen obediently to what I say and keep my covenant, out of all peoples you’ll be my special treasure. The whole Earth is mine to choose from, but you’re special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” This is also great because it reminds us that we are special and we are treasured. God could choose any person on the entire Earth, and yet He is choosing you. If we listen obediently to what He says and keep His commandments, then we will be set aside. We will be His holy nation. How great is that? I love that this translation says we will be His special treasure. What would you give to be God’s special treasure? I feel as though I would give anything to be considered God’s special treasure. God is giving us the instructions, and although they seem easy, they can be harder than they sound.
The first thing it says is to listen obediently. It can be hard to listen if we aren’t hearing Him. This means we need to spend some time listening to what God is telling us. Let’s all stop for a moment and see when we could do this? When could we make time, even if it's just 5 minutes, in our day to sit quietly and listen to God? Could you spend 5 minutes sometime in your day sitting quietly with God if it meant you got to be His special treasure? God is asking us to keep His covenant, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and love your neighbor. Can we do that? What is one thing we can do to love others more? God doesn’t just mean your neighbor next door. He means, how can you love everyone, even those you don’t like?
That is something to spend some time pondering. Is this dislike, this hatred I have in my heart for others, worth not being counted as God’s special treasure? If you have a hard time loving others, take that to God. Spend some time talking with God and asking Him to help you through it. God wants us all to be His special treasure. We don’t have to be perfect or follow Him perfectly; we just have to really want to be His special treasure with our whole heart, and then listen to Him, and He will guide us there. He wants it for us more than we want it for ourselves. We just have to give Him permission to work within us and then let Him gently guide us there!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask you to show each one of us where in our day we can spend some time with you. I ask you to show everyone that we all have the time, even if we are very busy. Show us that you can talk to us anywhere, in the shower, in the car, while they are drinking coffee, while they are doing housework, anytime we are willing to listen, you are willing to talk. Lord, we thank You for always reminding us of all You have done in the past at the perfect time. Lord, we are sorry we always forget and are so grateful when we need to remember that You are there. Lord, thank you for loving us. Thank you for treasuring us. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you have not signed up for mentoring yet, you can click on the link below or head over to my website, Walkboldlywithjesus.com. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed week!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email, “My children, all I tell you to do know that you can. My spirit empowers you. It puts my words into your mouth so that you can reach the hearts of others. It's not you. It is my spirit empowering you to say what I wish you to say.”