Lessons From the Life Of Moses

I know that the last post I wrote has a few things I gleaned from studying about Moses. That was really more of just a "what we have studied in school" kind of post. This is the "here's what God has shown me post". We (as in the human race) are a bunch of idiots. I know, I should not be surprised.

Moses was raised in Pharaoh's palace. So he would have received a life of luxury while his kinsmen were doing hard labor. He killed an Egyptian and fled to Midian. While in Midian he is called by God in the burning bush. You might think that Moses, seeing this bush that was ON FIRE but not being consumed and hearing the voice, would immediately be willing to do whatever God asked. Yet, he reacted with

"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11)

Not only that, but Moses throws these at God as well

"If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" Exodus 3:13
"But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'" Exodus 4:1
But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue."
Exodus 4:10

Remember this is not some hick from the sticks we are talking about here. This is MOSES! Why do we as humans feel the need to question God or doubt Him when He speaks? "Wait a minute," you may be thinking. "You don't know my situation. I'm not big/strong/smart enough for what God is asking. I don't have the education/training/resources needed to do what He is asking. Who would ever listen to me anyway?"

Maybe that's true. Maybe, just maybe, God is calling you to do something that is beyond you. That way, you don't get credit for it. He does. Think about it for a minute: He called a shepherd boy who liked to play harps to slay a giant, become a mighty warrior and then go on to become a king.(1 Samuel 17-2 Samuel)He called Gideon, who was hiding in a winepress at the time of his calling, and used him with an army of 300 to defeat an army of over 100,000! (Judges 6-8) He gave the people of Israel their land without them even having to go into battle. All they had to do was march around!! (Joshua 6)

What praise we could give to God if only we would do less doubting and more serving!

Jesse Tree Update

I have not posted anything about our Jesse Tree in a few days. Here is what we have been reading about:

Abram was told to count the stars and told that his descendants would outnumber them.


God told Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. God provided a ram caught in the thicket


Jacob had a dream about a ladder stretching from Heaven to earth.


Jacob gave Joseph a tunic of amny colors. Joseph had a dream about eleven stars, the sun and moon bowing to him. (Mark was the odd ball who painted the picture)


Moses was called by God from the burning bush


God spared the first-born of each Israelite household when He saw the blood of Passover lamb on the door of the house.

We watched the movie Joseph, King of Dreams and talked about the differences between it and the real Bible story. The boys also talked about the differences in it and Little Joe (Veggie Tales movie)

What Is the Chief End Of Man?

I have to confess a little something. I had never heard the word "catechism" until maybe a year ago. As a matter of fact, it was when I was flipping through my first Veritas Press Catalog. They had all these books about teaching your child the catechism. Which I had lived a long time without learning and never thought I was missing out so hey, why bother, right? Only, for some reason my mind kept creeping back to learning about it. So I started looking online at some reformed websites. They all recommend teaching the shorter catechism to children. There is even one called Child's First Catechism that you can teach to really young kids. Well, anyway, I like my set-up the way things are so I am just fine not adding something to it. Or, is there a little something missing? We open our school day each morning with Bible study. But are they really getting it? Do they truly understand the "big picture"? Am I thinking about it too much?
A month or so ago we had a long-range planning committee after church one night. Mark had to work that night, so guess who was there representing the youth: yours truly. Our pastor asked for us to think up goals for the new church year. I would really like to see our church grow. (not the normal Baptist kind of growth-nickels and noses. I mean really grow-spiritually. I would like to see us grow closer as a church family, that kind of thing) So I have really been thinking how to achieve those goals. Here is my master plan: get rid of our Sunday School Material. At least for a little while. Teach the adults and youth basic Biblical doctrine. I know that might sound kind of weird, but there are way too many people who don't know simple Bible truths. Even some (ok, most)of our teachers could use a refresher course. Have the children learn the catechism. Well, see my idea was originally to not tell anyone, just present it at the next meeting. Not knowing if Mark and the pastor would a.)like the basic concept or b.)mind that I was volunteering them to design the new material. Seeing as how I am also trying to work on my own self at getting closer to God, and a seeing how a submissive wife would not volunteer her dear hubby for something without first asking if is it okay, I thought it might be a good idea to talk to Marko about it. He somewhat liked it, but said, "You can't put that about the children learning the catechism" I said "Why not?" (ok, maybe I'm not that submissive!!) He said, "Well, that is like a Reformed-R-Us kind of thing, and we are just not a reformed church." Ah, point well made. He also suggested that I run the idea by the pastor before the meeting so that he has time to process it. (or reject it straight out)
So, that still leaves me with the feeling that I need to learn the catechism myself, and teach it to my children. So we started it last week. We are taking it slooowly One question per week. Our question last week was What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. We even found a CD on Rhapsody of a guy singing the catechism. I have said for years that Samuel can learn anything if it is set to music. (not kidding, he can sing this)Well, by Tuesday he was in his room doing a puzzle and singing "What is the chief end of maaann? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him fuurrever."
Can you really think of a better example of glorifying, or enjoying God?