- araratchurch
- Aug 27, 2022
- 3 min read
“And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.”
Exodus 40:33 NKJV
It’s ubiquitous; that drawer, that closet, even that garage, of shame. You know the ones: drawers, attics, closets, cabinets, all hiding projects started, but never finished.
For me, it used to be (I say, used to be, as I finally threw it away) a white sleeping gown that I started, but never could bring myself to finish. One sleeve was half on, the other completely missing, all the edges were unfinished. It mocked me every time I looked at it. There was just something about it; I just couldn’t finish it. Now mind you, there was a time when I sewed most of what I wore. But there was just something about that project. I had to put it away for some reason and could never bring myself to drag it back out.
When I was a young girl (stay with me here; I’m not free-associating), we drove from Atlanta to Chattanooga once a year for our dental appointments. Yes, I know. But there was a good reason for it. You see, we used to live in Chattanooga (Daisy), and my parents had made good friends with the dentist there. So, when we moved, we continued to go (for several years) to Chattanooga for our yearly visit. Well, as we were making that drive, just before entering into Chattanooga, we would pass this house with an incomplete stone facing. Now, when I say it was incomplete, I don’t mean that there were a few stones missing, or that it wasn’t edged out properly. I’m talking about a little over half of the house did not have the stone facing and you could see the bare under work. Year after year we would drive past it and nothing changed. It was obviously being lived in; but there it stood, a monument to unfinished work. I can only imagine what might’ve happened to stop the work; but whatever it was, it stuck. So, each time we went, I
waited to see it, that trip’s “Big Chicken,” and it wasn’t pretty.
Jesus, in speaking of discipleship, offered this question:
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?”
Luke 14:28-30 NKJV
Of all the things we might begin and not finish, one of those things cannot be our Christian walk.
“Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”
II John 1:8 NKJV
We must be able to say what the Apostle Paul said, just before being martyred:
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
II Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV
Today we see that Moses finished the work of the tabernacle. As we have discussed, the people gave and worked as if they were in ideal circumstances rather than wandering around in the desert. We certainly know that the Lord was with them. But bear in mind, if Moses had staggered at God’s plans to build the tabernacle, the people never would have been able to do what they did. And, if he had gotten too tired to finish, what would’ve happened to the work?
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
Philippians 1:6 NKJV
The Lord does not leave us incomplete. Remember, He is the Author and Finisher of our faith! Therefore, no matter what we are going through, no matter how dire the straits, let us—by the grace of God—finish well.
For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:
Finish what you start.
- araratchurch
- Aug 26, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 15, 2022
“He set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water there for washing; and Moses, Aaron, and his sons would wash their hands and their feet with water from it. Whenever they went into the tabernacle of meeting, and when they came near the altar, they washed, as the Lord had commanded Moses.”
Exodus 40:30-32 NKJV
Surprisingly, until the mid-1800s, doctors would go from doing things such as dissecting cadavers to delivering babies without washing their hands. We can hardly believe that this was the case! How did they not know they needed to wash their hands? Well, up until this time, many thought that it was actually the odors of things (miasma) that spread a disease or an infection. Now, I don’t imagine that any of them went from one task to another with hands visibly dirty or bloodied; but, they probably thought that wiping their hands off was sufficient. They had not yet learned about germs and that these germs spread infection. It would be an Hungarian medic (Ignaz Semmelweis) who would make the connection between high childbirth mortalities and unwashed hands.
We’ve just been through a pandemic where handwashing was brought back into focus. And, I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that this is not an exhortation about handwashing. But it is an exhortation concerning the need to be cleansed.
Before we come to the Lord, we are burdened down with our sin; its ravages are woven through every aspect of our lives. But thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, we are regenerated into a new creation. We are given a clean spirit!
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Hebrews 10:19-22 NKJV
However, when we are washed from our sins by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we do not experience a brain or memory washing. We remember everything we ever did that was wrong. We remember every hurt we experienced at the hands of others. Every failure, disappointment, grief, and hurt are ready to be reconstituted in the theater of our minds. And, the enemy of our souls seeks to re-infect our lives with all that has ever happened to us, or all we have ever done, by bringing it up for our consideration.
What I have just shared could be very discouraging if we thought there was no way to escape the hidden treachery of our past, tucked away waiting to be manifested through our ways of being, doing, and thinking.
Thanks be to God that He has provided a way for us to overcome the influence of the carnal (or unchanged) mind by way of His word. As we focus our hearts and minds on the word of God, and walk in obedience to it, that word cleanses us and reinforces us against the enemy within: our own predispositions and experience.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,”
Ephesians 5:25-26 NKJV
Today we see that Moses,
Aaron, and Aaron’s sons, made sure they were clean (as the Lord had instructed them) before they came into the Presence of the Lord.
Bear in mind, they were living in the wilderness, and as such, had limited access to water. Even still, in obedience to God, this washing would occur before they approached the Lord.
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:8 NKJV
The above scripture is only one of many in which the word of God tells us to cleanse ourselves and to approach the Lord with holy hands. Yet, we know that in ourselves, we don’t have the cleansing agent to make (keep) ourselves clean. But, what we do have, is the ability to APPLY the word of God (like hand-sanitizer) to our lives. Said differently, we cleanse ourselves (stay clean) by applying God’s soap, His word, through our obedience to it.
This world is a dusty, dirty, wilderness. It may seem that you are sometimes trying to stay clean in a cesspool. But remember, the Lord has provided a way for us to be cleansed from all our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. Having accepted His blood as the remedy for our sin, we must walk in obedience to the word of God, thereby staying truly clean, and not just wiping off our hands.
For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:
Stay clean.
- araratchurch
- Aug 25, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 15, 2022
“Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished. And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings:”
Exodus 39:32-33a NKJV
Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Alabama. Due to a an illness-induced fever, she lost her sight and hearing before the age of two. But, if you know her story, you know that the rest of the story is not the tragedy one might expect. Surprisingly, not only did she learn to read, write, and speak, she graduated college, wrote several books, and was responsible for founding several organizations.
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl born in 1929. She spent two years in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She died in a German concentration camp in 1945. During her time in hiding she wrote an insightful diary that would impact the whole world, even to this day.
The above two examples show that a situation does not have to define you, nor need it result in a paralysis of initiative. Indeed, the deep pressing of circumstances can bring forth fragrant oil in our lives.
The Bible is full of examples of great things done in the crucible of adversity. One of these Bible over-comers is the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament. Interestingly, he wrote four epistles while under house arrest in Rome. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon were written during this time. The impact of the insight, instruction and encouragement found in these “prison letters,” cannot be measured.
There is a tendency to want to shut down when in the midst of adversity. It’s nearly like all of our strength and energy is directed toward focusing on the trouble. But paralysis, in the face of adversity, only makes things worse.
Today we see that the children of Israel, having immediately responded to the instructions given by God through Moses, have finished the work of the tabernacle. We learned earlier in this journey how their giving for the tabernacle was in such excess that further giving had to be prohibited. Now we see that these willing givers, are also willing workers, producing in a situation of adversity (wandering in the wilderness), what others could not have done, given all advantages.
We have a decision to make when facing adversity. We can assume the fetal position and meditate on our dreadful plight; or we can understand that the God on the mountain, is the same God in the valley. As such, we can allow Him to strengthen us to produce more in adversity than others produce in good times.
For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:
Be productive regardless of your circumstances.