Thankful in Light of Our New Covenant – Part 1 of 3

The Israelites didn't have the Holy Spirit available to them in the same way that He is available to us today. In the Old Testament days, the Holy Spirit visited specially appointed individuals. Usually those individuals had to fulfill a special role or convey a prophetic message. To have this kind of personal relationship with God was highly unusual.

Since Jesus, it is possible for everyone to have an ongoing and intimate relationship with the Father. By accepting His gift of salvation, we automatically receive His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our seal guaranteeing that we are God’s people (Eph. 1:13), like the seal made by a king’s signet ring. Once the seal is made, it can’t be broken.

Moses brought the Old Covenant (the Ten Commandments), which was written on stone, to the people of Israel. This Old Covenant was imperfect because it couldn’t make them righteous. It only pointed out the problem of sin in their lives. Jesus brought us the New Covenant, where the law is written on our hearts instead of on stone. This New Covenant also makes us right with God in that He paid the penalty for our sin with His blood.

The New Covenant, which is made through faith in Christ, is not a two-way covenant. It’s not a little bit of us and a lot of God. It’s all God. The Old Covenant, on the other hand, was a two-way covenant. It was all about keeping the law. It was up to the people to keep the covenant, and if they didn’t, curses would follow. In Old Testament days, the priests had to make daily and yearly sacrifices to keep covering not only the sins of the people, but also their own sins. No one was perfect, and no one was without guilt.

In contrast, God Himself takes on completely the requirements and fulfillment of the New Covenant through His Son. Jesus Christ became our one-time perfect sacrifice. He took all that guilt upon Himself and paid the penalty for our sins. When we do something wrong, we don’t have to beat ourselves up about it. He took that punishment for us. The focus is not on our ability to try to do things right all the time, but on Him having made us right.

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Thankful in Times of Drudgery – Part 4 of 5

Passing through a desert in life is hard, going around it in circles is even harder, and hating every step of the way is just unbearable. So, what should a mom do when she feels stuck in time, or forgotten? I can’t say that I have any simple answers. All I can say is that this, too, will pass. It’s only for a time.

A friend of mine once told me that if you can’t change your problem, then change your perspective. So when you find yourself in a dry place, ask God to teach you what you have to learn. Determine to wake up every morning saying, “Good morning, God!” rather than “Good God, it's morning!”

As people of God, we’re not just supposed to survive; we’re meant to thrive! God never intended the Israelites just to survive either. He had a plan for their lives that was meant for good and not for evil. That plan included an inheritance, but they weren’t ready to enter into that inheritance.

Part of that inheritance was entering into God’s rest; a rest from work. This was called the Sabbath day. It was not just another rule. God did not make it up to lord it over them. Since they weren’t allowed to do any work on that day, it taught them to rely on God instead of their own strength. It was also God’s way of protecting them from exhaustion and burn-out.

Yes, God wanted them to be obedient and to depend on Him. But, He also wanted them to have a day to rest, to contemplate, and to recharge. Also, God intended the Sabbath rest to teach them to rest in God’s abilities in the whole of their lives.

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Thankful in Times of Difficulty – Part 2 of 4

Not very long afterwards, while standing on the outskirts of the Promised Land, the Israelites were faced with another test. Now God had previously promised them that the land that they were going to inherit would already be well established. They would live in houses that they hadn’t built with their own hands and enjoy vineyards that they hadn’t planted. Their scouts confirmed that the land was well inhabited and tremendously fruitful. They’d never seen anything like it in all their lives. However, when they saw the strength of the peoples in the land that God had promised them, they lost courage, and they lost hope.

The Israelites lost their courage and hope, because they hadn’t been practicing a grateful attitude. When things didn’t go their way, they would give Moses a piece of their mind. They even threatened to stone him. If they had taken the time to thank God for past breakthroughs, then they would have been more inclined to recognize His protection, His favor, and His power in their lives.

Have your eyes been focused on problems rather than on God’s blessings? Just as eating right and exercising protect your physical health, taking time to thank God for what He’s done in your life will protect your spiritual health. As you practice a thankful attitude on a daily basis, it’ll be easier to notice the silver lining in the dark clouds of difficulty. You might be surprised to find that your difficulties aren’t as bad as you had previously imagined.

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Thankful in Times of Difficulty – Part 1 of 4

How do you handle life when it’s not going your way? Every time in the Old Testament when the Israelites faced new difficulties, they would throw up their arms in fear or despair. Instead of staying focused on God, their problems would cause them to lose peace of mind.  

Soon after crossing the Red Sea, Moses went up the mountain to speak to God. When a few days had passed and he hadn’t yet returned, the people gave up waiting for him and decided to take matters into their own hands. They created a golden calf to be their god. It was the same gold that God had made available through the Egyptians, who gave it willingly to the Israelites when they left Egypt.

They chose to replace the living God with idolatry. What do you turn to in difficult times? Do you turn to things like food, shopping, unwholesome relationships, or anywhere else other than to God, for that matter? Or, is God your only source when you are faced with the storms of life?

Fear is often the root of incorrect thinking and drives people to incorrect behavior. We can learn from the Israelites’ mistakes not to soothe our fears with created things, but to place our faith in the Creator who made everything. God wants to bless us because He’s a loving, merciful Father, but He’s also just. Therefore, we have much to gain or lose by the choices we make. 

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Thankful in Times of Need - Post 1 of 4

When Moses and the Israelites had to flee Egypt, how did they respond to adversity? Perhaps you have heard that story or read it several times and concluded that they were an unthankful and ungrateful people. After all, they had God performing miracles before their eyes. Why should they grumble and complain?

Actually, it’s easier to point out their faults while ignoring our own. In this series, “Thankful in Times of Need,” we’ll take a closer peek into their lives, which will offer us a greater understanding of them and, consequently, ourselves.

The Israelites were excited when they first set out from Egypt. Not only did they gain their freedom, but they won the respect of their oppressors too. God’s favor toward the Israelites was so powerful that they were able to ask the Egyptians for their gold, silver, and clothing (Ex. 12:35&36).

God gave His people a great victory that day without their having to give their husbands and sons to war. How astonished they must have felt at their swift and glorious release. However, these feelings didn’t last long. Soon they found themselves trapped: the Red Sea was in front of them, and the entire Egyptian army behind them. What now? Had God lied? Could He pretend to love them one moment and then abandon them the next?

We all know that the Israelites did make it across the Red Sea as God miraculously parted the waters and dried the ground under their feet. And God gave them another great victory when the sea collapsed on top of the Egyptian army and drowned them all.

With that problem behind them, they now faced a new challenge. On the way to the land that God had promised them, they found themselves in the desert and it wasn’t looking too promising. By their complaints, they must have concluded that the desert was not a place to keep a few million people along with their livestock even if it was for just a short trip to a place called the Promised Land.

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