God And Second Chances Analysis Religion Essay

We are looking at the 3rd chapter of Exodus and the first 12 poetries. We will one time once more look at a adult male in whom we have antecedently explored many of the nooks and crevices of his early life. His name is Moses.

Over to Derek.

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This Moses is the Hebrew who was found as a kid in a basket by the girl of Pharoah, raised in the castle and knew merely wealth and prestigiousness. Moses, raised as an Egyptian. Moses, likely instructed in the spiritual heritage of Egypt. A religion that we have discovered caused 1000000s of cats to be embalmed and treated as Gods. Moses, noted by one antediluvian historiographer to hold been trained in the art of war. Moses likely led Egypt ‘s ground forces against the Ethiopian ground forces and defeated them. Moses, a BIG Man in a BIG COUNTRY.

But the scene we see today has changed improbably. Moses is now a broken adult male, a wanted adult male running from his yesteryear and concealment from his hereafter. Moses sits on the rear of a desert, turned aside by wonder and instructed by the voice of God. Moses after all is a liquidator, a fleeting, a little adult male with a really narrow position. What NEED would God hold of such a adult male? But, yet, God tells Moses that He is directing him to Pharoah and I quote, “ to convey the Israelites out of Egypt. Look at Moses ‘ answer in verse 11: “ Who am I, that I should travel to Pharoah and convey the Israelites out of Egypt. ”

Make you cognize what this is? This brush in the wilderness between a God who needs nil and a adult male who needs everything. An brush between a God who wants to utilize everything that Moses is n’t, to turn out who He, God, is. An brush between a God who wants Moses and Moses who wants nil more than to travel about the concern of his suffering life.

What we have here is a God minute. Yes, A God minute. One much like what countless others have experienced since clip began and what you excessively can take clasp of today. God wants to make his will and his mission together with you.

Besides note, that the mission portrayed in this God Moment is a God sized mission. Bigger than Moses, Bigger than the State of Israel, bigger than the desert Moses hides in or any desert he may happen. It is the mission he was born for. This is a undertaking God has been cooking up even before Joseph was sold to the Egyptian Potiphar and began this whole 400 twelvemonth odyssey of these people called the Israelites.

This narrative and Moses ‘ response over and over once more to God in Chapter 3 and in the undermentioned chapter point out some things that we must understand about how we can make the will and mission of God together better.

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But we ‘ll ne’er make it if we think it ‘s all over for us. We ‘ve blown it with God.

That ‘s the subject that we want to undertake as we look at the life of Moses and his brush ‘s with God.

Over to Derek once more.

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A Nineteenth Century adage provinces: “ The bird with the broken wing ne’er soars every bit high once more. ” That has ne’er been true. The beginnings was a adult male called Hezekiah Butterworth surely non the Word of God.

Turn the powerful searchlight of Scripture onto that statement and it goes up in a whiff off fume. Think about it. Abraham, Jonah, Peter and John Mark are merely a four of Bible people who told prevarications, said that they would make things that they ne’er did, blatantly disobeyed God and walked off from mission chances. And yet each 1 had another opportunity.

If birds with broken wings could ne’er wing I doubt that you would n’t be listening to me right now. Because we are hold failed to populate up to the criterion that our God sets.

It may sound unusual but God seems to prefer birds with broken wings. It ‘s as if He says that your really failing will measure up you for Him to utilize you. Because when He does, you will gain it was n’t down to your endowments and gifts but to His ability. No affair what your yesteryear may hold been, the hereafter is brighter. God specialises in utilizing broken winged people. This is His preferable program.

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The apostle Paul understood the broken wings thought, merely his image was clay pots. He wrote, “ We have this hoarded wealth in earthen vass, so that the exceling illustriousness of the power will be of God and non from ourselves. ”

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The clay pot is a mention to our organic structures.

I guess that some of us are delicate Chinas.

We break and bit easy. We show the glue Markss of past accidents or sloppiness.

Others of us are a heavy ball of clayware.

Not really attractive but boy are we utile. There ‘s nil of much value about us than what we can make in some country. We do n’t wish our expressions or personality really much.

Still other people are like clay that has n’t been fired in the kiln. We are still being moulded and shaped for usage. And some of us a mouldier than others.

To state you the truth, it is n’t the status of the pot that ‘s so of import. It ‘s what ‘s on the interior. What ‘s a few clefts if others see Christ ‘s presence indoors better through us? .

Now here ‘s the hang-up. Some of us are merely broken China. And what do you make with China shattered into excessively many pieces? You discard it. And that ‘s what some of us do with ourselves. “ My life can ne’er hold value of all time once more, ” we say. “ Like Humpty Dumpty who had a great autumn. . . I can ne’er be put back together every bit good as new. ”

I meet people who feel beaten-up by life. The clefts are demoing. Some are victims of fortunes. ‘Things have merely ne’er worked out. ” Some are captives of character. It ‘s a temperament thing. “ I ‘m merely non an attractive sympathetic personality. ”

Whenever I talk about God I ‘m acutely cognizant that my words are lost on a batch of people. They hear what is said but filter the words through a ‘thinking ‘ grid which makes it different for them. So, the sense joy and peace in believing that God wants us to cognize and be gripped by merely gets corrupted. The manner we think about ourselves stops us loosen uping in God ‘s love and credence of us. These negative feelings suck the energy right out of you.

You do n’t wake up in the forenoon and state, “ It ‘s good to be alive. ” You groan. “ Merely another twenty-four hours of. . . nil much. ”

You are about to larn that God is a God of 2nd opportunities. He can take us organize the ordinary to the extraordinary.

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Moses can assist us larn how.

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He surely can.

I remember listening to an edition of ‘From our Correspondent ‘ on BBC wireless. The letter writer was explicating how a babe miss left on a rubbish shit had been adopted by a affluent household and was being treated like a princess.

Some thing similar of class had happened to Moses. When other Hebrew babe male childs of his age were in danger of decease at the manus of the Egyptian Pharaoh, he had been plucked out of the Nile and was brought up by and Egyptian Princess who used Moses ‘ ain female parent as the nurse.

At 40 he had a major life-shattering failure. Labelled a ‘killer ‘ he ran for his life into the back terminal of the desert. 40 old ages of obscureness follow. Looking after his father-in-laws sheep. And so one normal, ordinary, desert twenty-four hours, nil was normal of all time once more.

Exodus 3:1- to 12 revolves around a DAY, a BUSH, a NEED, and a CALL. This was his turning point.

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“ Now Moses was be givening the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came t Horeb, the mountain of God. ”

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This was the twenty-four hours when God would interrupt a 40-year silence. Pause and allow that drop in. God has n’t spoken one time in 40-years to Moses. Not a word worth stating. Nothing. No intimation that anything was traveling to be different. The dark before he saw no meteor flash across the sky with a cloud formation spelling out his name. No angel tapped him on the shoulder and said, “ Pay attending tomorrow because you ‘re in for something particular so do n’t lose it. ” It was merely your common, ordinary, garden-variety day-shift looking after the sheep.

Merely another twenty-four hours at the wilderness office in the shadow of Mount Horeb. The Sun came up, the sheep grazed. Moses chalked off his 14,600th twenty-four hours as Jethro ‘s helper shepherd.

That is the manner God works. Without even a intimation of warning He speaks to ordinary people on ordinary yearss. You may be catching a coach, learning a category or at the kitchen sink making the rinsing up. But that ‘s your twenty-four hours. That ‘s your everyday. . . that ‘s your Mount Horeb. It may be that on such a normal standard-issue twenty-four hours God will step in and do things different. You would ne’er hold guessed it when you rolled out of bed that forenoon. God does n’t necessitate a P.R. Man or a membranophone axial rotation to signal his entryway. Do n’t look for some superb aura to come over you. Do n’t anticipate an angel. God works by merely stepping into an ordinary twenty-four hours and says, “ Let ‘s make something together. ”

Let me go through on a utile rule for you here. This was an ordinary but busy twenty-four hours for Moses. It ‘s a rule that runs right through Bibles.

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Jesus confirmed it when He said, “ whoever can be trusted with really small can besides be trusted with much. ”

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Moses was a busy hard-working adult male. He proved to be a dependable shepherd of sheep, so he could be a dependable leader of people. Gideon was called by God when working, David was looking after sheep when God called him. If we sit around waiting for God to make something particular with our lives we may wait for of all time. No. We need to be about all the things that we should be about.

If you ‘re frustrated in church life and want more from God. That ‘s good, maintain desiring it. But what are you making that comes to manus right now?

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“ The angel of the Lord appeared to him in fires of fire within a shrub. Moses saw that though the shrub was on fire it did non fire up. So Moses idea, ‘I will travel over and see this unusual sight – why the shrub does non fire up. ‘ ”

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The 80 year-old-shepherd was kicking his heels in the desert and a shrub ignited. It was n’t particular looking shrub. The Hebrews word merely means a ‘thorny ‘ shrub. The desert had 1000s of them. Moses was funny because the shrub was n’t firing up but firing on. There was no 1 about and had n’t the foggiest thought that God was in the shrub and acquiring is attending.

This is frequently God ‘s method. He comes to us in the ordinary, mundane fortunes of our lives. He on occasion does something wholly extraordinary. But frequently he burns a shrub. He does something which makes you believe, “ is that a happenstance? ” Not every unusual happenstance is God talking. But God may usual an unusual event to catch our attending. When you and I come across highly unusual things go oning to us, halt and inquire, “ are you stating something to me in this Lord?

I preached a sermon old ages ago about what the Bible says about our tempers and how to better manage them. A figure of old cassettes were being re-cycled and by a unusual series of circumstance a cassette with this message got into the custodies of a lady with no church connexions but worry about her tempers. It started a hunt which within hebdomads led her to the Saviour and now many old ages of service for Christ.

In World War Two there was one subsister from a bombing mission. He asked the Chaplain, “ Why me? ” The Chaplain replied, “ Let ‘s state you were lucky. ” That was non plenty for him. His ungratified wonder eventually led him to the Saviour.

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Mark it down: things do n’t ‘just go on ‘ .

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Ours is non a random whistle-in-the-dark existence. We have a God who plans and has intents for our lives. You ‘re walking your Canis familiaris one forenoon and as you see the Sun rise you think, there ‘s a design here, I reckon there must be a interior decorator behind it. ” It starts a hunt and your life alterations. Never doubt it! The God who loves you uses minutes like this. He does n’t hold to shout down his word from heaven at you. He uses His Book the Bible, He uses the people you bump into, He uses events in your life. Through the blending of those unusual events He says, “ Listen to me. Heed this combustion shrub. Pay attending and I will utilize you. ”

Honestly, in this rushed, frenetic universe of ours that does n’t go on really frequently. But all that is needed is a muted spirit and a listening bosom. Moses possessed these, hence he heard the voice of God.

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“ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the shrub, ‘Moses, Moses! ‘ and Moses said, ‘Here I am. ”

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One of the most of import words there is “ When. ” Moses followed-up on what he saw. It is n’t easy to acquire people to make that. Bushes burn, autos crash, illness happens, people meet, nice things happens. . . and we shrug it all off chalking it up to coincidence. God says: “ what ‘s it traveling to take to carry you to halt? ” Moses did merely that, and when he did he came face to face with his fate.

But it was n’t until Moses turned aside that God spoke. Moses thought a shrub was talking. He said, “ Here I am. ” In Hebrew that is one word: “ Moses! Moses! ” And he replies, “ It ‘s me. ”

What happens following is refreshfully demilitarizing. 40 old ages before he would hold hauled out his sketch and said, “ I ‘m your adult male. You want something done, you ‘ve come to the right individual. ” But now he ‘s had 40 old ages of obscureness and in a quiet voice he says, “ I ‘m here. ”

Believe it or non, that ‘s all God wanted to hear. God is non impressed with you. He knows you excessively good. But He will look into out your openness to hear from Him. When God speaks He is looking for a simple recognition.

“ ‘Do non come any closer, ‘ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the topographic point where you are standing is holy land. ‘ ”

God was non stating the shrub was holy but that the topographic point was. Why take off his places? Did he hold dirty pess? Probably, after all he is in a desert. But more than that, seemingly, God saw this minute as so holy that He wanted nil between him and God ‘s land.

Without vacillation Moses did exactly as he was told.

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“ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your male parent, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ‘ At this Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. ”

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Expression at that list, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Do you believe of them as the heavy-hitters? Do you see them as Bible aces? Do a survey on their lives and you will see that they had ‘broken wings ‘ excessively. Had it non been for the grace of God there would be nil worth retrieving about them. So God is stating, “ I ‘m the God of work forces who have failed, merely like you Moses. ”

‘This Is Your Life ‘ has been a popular telecasting show for many old ages. You know the format. A wing voice says, “ Remember me ” and so some event from the yesteryear is mentioned. Moses had tried to bury the past but now a tidal moving ridge of emotion reminded him. “ Yes, I am portion of a people with a long history back to Abraham but in bondage at that place in Egypt. I tried to alter things and it did n’t work. ” He felt like a burnt out shrub, if you know what I mean.

If you look back with letdown and so look at you present fortunes and think there ‘s no hereafter. . . I want you to take note:

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“ The Lord said, ‘I have so seen the wretchedness of my people in Egypt. I have heard them shouting out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their agony. So I have come down to deliver them from the manus of the Egyptians. ”

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Linger on this for a minute. If you of all time doubt the bosom of God for His ain consider these words, “ I have so seen and heard what is go oning in Egypt. I am concerned and will deliver. ” God knows precisely where you are and best of all He ‘s touched by it. Never think: “ God does n’t care. He acts below the belt. ” God says: “ I know what I am making. I know the force per unit areas. Trust me! ”

Keep in head, Moses is still in impersonal at this point. A voice is coming out of the shrub and now he is all ears. He ‘s ne’er watched ‘The Prince of Egypt ‘ film so he has no thought what is coming next.

“ God knows what ‘s go oning back at that place. I ‘ve heard it excessively: it ‘s awful is n’t it, but nil that I can make about it. ” Suddenly Moses hears words which are high electromotive force.

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“ So now, Go. I am directing you to Pharoah to convey my people the Israelites out of Egypt. ”

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“ What did you state? Sending me! ”

My imaginativeness works over-time on this scene. “ Moses, 40 old ages ago you were a all right looking shrub but within 48 hours at that place was nil left but a burnt out shrub. But when the fire is the fire of my presence it will maintain combustion and ne’er burn out. And I ‘m here to put you on fire! ”

What does it take to measure up as a shrub that God will utilize? You have to be sere and thorny, dusty and dirty.

You have to be ordinary, but you have to be ignitable non an cosmetic shrub. The truth is any shrub will make every bit long as God is in the shrub.

That ‘s what He ‘s stating to Moses: “ I want you to fire for me. You are a desiccated old shrub. You can offer me nil! And that is all I want. ”

There are some lingering lessons that burn bright through all of this. There are three common errors we old shrubs can do.

( 1 ) We run before we are sent.

That is a major error. 40 old ages before the brush at the shrub Moses was fire-up and ready for action and lost the secret plan. This job is caused by strength to make what God wants but to make it in our ain strength. Sometimes we ca n’t wait, sometimes we do n’t wait.

( 2 ) We retreat after we have failed.

Having run before we were sent, e now go down a mouse hole to creep away from of all time making anything worthwhile once more. This job is prompted by insecurity. We hate being a failure so better non seek.

Intensity causes us to run before we are sent. Insecurity causes us to withdraw when we have n’t met our criterion.

( 3 ) We resist when we are called.

That ‘s brought approximately by the feeling of lower status. That is decidedly non the same as humbleness. Moses was n’t merely low as he began to reason with God ‘s call. He felt inferior, and that boundary lines on neuroticism.

You may hold received the call of God and said, “ I ‘m non worthy! ” Yet all God asks of any of us is that we be available and ignitable. Because of these misinterpretations we have missed chances. All God is waiting to hear you say is, “ I ‘m here, irritants and all, merely an ordinary shrub. ” You do n’t hold to experience up to the undertakings. You stand still and step out numbering on Him.

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Amy Carmichael wrote this:

“ Give me the love that leads the manner,

the religion that nil can depress,

the hope no letdowns tyre,

the passion that will fire like fire,

allow me non drop to be a ball,

do me thy fuel, fire of God. ”

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Any old shrub will make, but God must fuel the fire. Moses after 40 long old ages is now 80. He is experiencing inadequate.

Do n’t do yourself FEEL INADEQUATE. God understands our failings, but He besides knows His many great strengths.

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“ I am non good plenty to make such a thing! What did I of all time do to merit this? ” says Moses in 5 different ways.

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There is a narrative about a husbandman who was continually optimistic and rarely discouraged. He had a neighbor who was merely the opposite. One twenty-four hours the optimistic husbandman decided to set his pessimistic neighbor to the trial. He bought the smartest, the most expensive hunting Canis familiaris he could happen. He trained him to make things no other Canis familiaris could make. Then, he invited the pessimistic neighbor to travel duck runing with him.

They sat in the boat, hidden in the duck blind, and the ducks started winging in. Both work forces fired their guns and several ducks fell into the H2O.

“ Travel and acquire them! ” ordered the Canis familiaris ‘s proprietor.

The Canis familiaris leaped out of the boat, walked on the H2O, and picked up the birds one by one.

“ Well, what do you believe of that? ” The pessimist said. “ He ca n’t swim, can he? ”

What makes us react most frequently with an alibi for non being able to make whatever it is we might be asked? Is it our deficiency of self-pride? Is it our cognition of ourselves so good that we know beyond the shadow of a uncertainty what our restrictions are? Or is it that we have a wont of go throughing the vaulting horse when it comes to taking duty for the demands presented to us.

Give in, Give Inch! This is God we ‘re speaking about, and who are we to be reasoning about what God wants us to make!

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As we finish this programme, earnestly and profoundly see what God WANTS to make WITH you. Remember He is the God of the 2nd opportunity.

You have been listening to Good News Broadcasting where we take the Hebrew Bible and let it to talk to our twenty-four hours and age. . . the Word of God is ever up to day of the month.

You have been listening to Dr. Derek Stringer.