Post by Les on Aug 20, 2023 11:16:51 GMT -5
Finding Open Spaces By: Tom Felten
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.
Exodus 33:11
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Exodus 33:1–4, 7–11
In his book Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson writes, “We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. . . . Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn’t He lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered those wide-open spaces of the past, and how can we get them back?” Swenson says we need some quiet, fertile “land” in life where we can rest in God and meet with Him.
Does that resonate? Seeking open spaces is something Moses lived out well. Leading a nation of “stubborn and rebellious” people (Exodus 33:5 NLT), he often withdrew to find rest and guidance in God’s presence. And in his “tent of meeting” (v. 7), “the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (v. 11). Jesus also “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). Both He and Moses realised the importance of spending time alone with the Father.
We too need to build margin into our lives, some wide and open spaces spent in rest and in God’s presence. Spending time with Him will help us make better decisions—creating healthier margins and boundaries in our life so we have the bandwidth available to love Him and others well.
Let’s seek God in open spaces today.
Reflect & Pray
Why do you need margin in your life? How will you build some space into your schedule to spend time with God?
Jesus, help me to seek some quiet moments with You each day.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Moses spoke with God “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11). God highlighted this privilege when He rebuked Aaron and Miriam and said “with [Moses] I speak face to face” (Numbers 12:8). But Moses wasn’t the only person to have such a deep friendship with God. Abraham too was called “God’s friend” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23 ). And now, because of Christ, this privilege is ours also. Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants . . . . Instead, I have called you friends” (John 15:14–15).
K. T. Sim
Exodus 33:1-4
King James Version
33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
Exodus 33:7-11
King James Version
7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.
Exodus 33:11
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Exodus 33:1–4, 7–11
In his book Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson writes, “We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. . . . Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn’t He lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered those wide-open spaces of the past, and how can we get them back?” Swenson says we need some quiet, fertile “land” in life where we can rest in God and meet with Him.
Does that resonate? Seeking open spaces is something Moses lived out well. Leading a nation of “stubborn and rebellious” people (Exodus 33:5 NLT), he often withdrew to find rest and guidance in God’s presence. And in his “tent of meeting” (v. 7), “the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (v. 11). Jesus also “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). Both He and Moses realised the importance of spending time alone with the Father.
We too need to build margin into our lives, some wide and open spaces spent in rest and in God’s presence. Spending time with Him will help us make better decisions—creating healthier margins and boundaries in our life so we have the bandwidth available to love Him and others well.
Let’s seek God in open spaces today.
Reflect & Pray
Why do you need margin in your life? How will you build some space into your schedule to spend time with God?
Jesus, help me to seek some quiet moments with You each day.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Moses spoke with God “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11). God highlighted this privilege when He rebuked Aaron and Miriam and said “with [Moses] I speak face to face” (Numbers 12:8). But Moses wasn’t the only person to have such a deep friendship with God. Abraham too was called “God’s friend” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23 ). And now, because of Christ, this privilege is ours also. Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants . . . . Instead, I have called you friends” (John 15:14–15).
K. T. Sim
Exodus 33:1-4
King James Version
33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
3 Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
4 And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.
Exodus 33:7-11
King James Version
7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.