Category: News

Remember Everything

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day…

     Ex. 16:4

Read Exodus 16:1-36

What is it?

Evernote? Post It? Stickies? Moleskine? iCal appointments? Exchange Diary meetings? Each of these serve the purpose to remind us. We have invented more ways to remember and yet seem more and more prone to forget.

It has been a month since the people of Israel left the Red Sea (the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. Exodus 16:1).  They saw an amazing deliverance. Up to this point in their history as a people group, they had never been so overwhelmed by a miraculous act of grace and redemption.

A month later what is their complaint? God did not want them to be happy. Their belief is that they were happier in the “good old days.” They were happier when they were in Egypt. They may not have been free, but they were fed. Even the very name of Manna or “what is it” implies forgetfulness. They forgot what the lash of Pharaoh really felt like. They forgot the wonder of the Redeemer.

Often times we are just like this, our present predicament supposedly outshines the promises of God.

You know the worst thing in the world is to be forgotten, to have people forget you, to have people forget who you are, to have people forget you were coming.

But this is the image of grace. A God who has been forgotten, suffered the anguish of oblivion still pursues us and desires a relationship with us. That is what sin is, forgetfulness of the saving and sustaining grace of God.

In the midst of our forgetfulness, Christ comes to us. He declares “I am the bread from heaven.”(John 6:41).  Hear the savior say, “Though you forget me I will not forget you. I will redeem you. I will sustain you. I will provide for you.” Today remember that God has not just provided for you in some distant past event, but every day he sustains you. The antidote to grumbling is remembrance. The Lord remembers you. Let this transform you.

Is. 49:15

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.

Bathed in Blessing

Exodus 14:22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Read Exodus 13:17-15:21

Have you ever been to a baptism service? What is the largest number of baptism candidates you have seen? One? Two? Ten? Twenty? This passage we just read is the largest baptism service the world has ever witnessed. Paul tells us, “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,”(1Cor. 10:1-2)

1. How do we get every spiritual blessing?

What does baptism mean? It literally means to be bathed. Rediscovering redemption means exploring what it means to be bathed in blessing. God tells Pharaoh that Israel is His firstborn son, and ‘I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.”(Exodus 4:22-23a)

One the beauties of redemption is the concept of adoption. Adoption carries with it at least three main concepts, if not more.

Adoption means access. If a person tries to run towards the prime minister unannounced the prime minister’s security detail will most probably tackle them before they reach their objective. Rewind this whole situation and now have the person running towards the prime minister be his son or daughter. Now the protective detail will no longer tackle, it will aid and even grant access. Sonship or daughterhood grants us access.

Adoption grants us an incomparable inheritance. This inheritance is of greater value than any gold spoils we may take from Egypt.

Thirdly adoption grants us security. We are kept safe from any dangers, toils, or snares that Pharaoh may try to throw our way. You can hear God saying to Pharaoh, “If you mess with my son you mess with me.”

2. Why do we get every blessing?

In Harry Potter, when Harry asks Dumbledore, “Why can’t the bad guy touch me?” Dumbledore explains, “Because your mother gave her life for you. Because your mother sacrificed her love for you. That’s the strongest magic there is. That puts a power on you evil can’t deal with.”

There is no more powerful narrative structure; there is no more incredible moral beauty than that. To not just read about somebody else doing that for somebody else, but to know Jesus Christ came to earth and did that for you, to get you eternal glory and love, that will change the center of your life. The waves of the Red Sea did not come crashing down on you, all the breakers and waves came down upon the Jesus and guarantee your adoption. His rejection on the cross guarantees our adoption. Jesus giving up his inheritance guarantees our inheritance.

Today if fears assail, remember you are adopted. If you are worried about finances and provision, remember you are adopted. If you are anxious about tomorrow, remember you are adopted. Your Father will care for you.