I Know You By Name

In Exodus 33:11, we read how God would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Continuing on, in Exodus 33:17 (TNIV), we read that God says to Moses, "I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a very popular TV show called "Cheers." It took place in a bar in Boston. The theme song for the show included lyrics which said that the bar was a place "where everybody knows your name."

Well, it's the same in heaven, and it's the same with God.

There are over 6,000,000,000 people in the world right now, and God knows the name of every single one of them. He knows my name. He knows your name, too.

That's an incredible thought, isn't it? A lot of people have a hard time believing it. Lots of people think that God may know the names of a few spiritual giants in the world, but that there's no way that He could know their name, or much less care personally about them.

But He does.

God knows your name, just as He knew the name of Moses. He knows your name and He cares about you. He wants to build a meaningful and personal relationship with you, friend-to-friend and name-to-name.

Do you want it, too? Will you let Him do it? God knows your name, and He's waiting to hear from you.

Face To Face

In Exodus 33:11 (TNIV) it says, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend."

Wow! That is a powerful message packed in to just a few words. God spoke to Moses. Face to face. As one speaks to a friend. It is impossible to have a bigger or better or more satisfying relationship than one which is a friendship with God.

And the good news is that it can happen to you. Moses was a human being, just like you and me. And he was a very imperfect person. He had a temper. He murdered an Egyptian. He and the Israelites frequently complained about the way God seemed to be treating them, and the direction in which they were headed.

But God loved Moses anyway, despite all his faults, and God had a very close relationship with him, despite all his sins and errors and mistakes.

It's the same for us. God wants to have a relationship with you. A very close relationship. A face-to-face relationship. Like two close friends. He wants you to talk to him, and He wants to respond to you and, as He says in Jeremiah 33:3 (TNIV), " ... tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

There is no relationship here on Earth that can match a friendship with God. He is waiting to speak to you, friend-to-friend. Are you pursuing this friendship with Him?

Following The Crowd

Exodus 23:2 (TNIV) drops a small-but-heavy bomb on us, particularly those of us who like to follow the crowd and reap whatever popularity or acceptance that may come with it. The verse says, "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong." Short, not sweet, but to the point.

The verse here is specifically talking about lawsuits, justice, mercy, and not following the crowd so as to pervert justice. However, this also can apply to other areas of our lives.

Following the crowd is always a popular thing to do, because there is safety and security in numbers, and most of us are insecure people. Think of the crowd at a football game. When we cheer along with 60,000 other people in a football stadium, then we become one, big, blended voice. Individual identity is lost, but acceptance from 59,999 other people is gained. And we crave acceptance.

That is why it is so easy for many of us to deny justice or to do wrong, for the sake of gaining acceptance from the crowd or the majority of the people that we do life with. It's why a teenager will drink or have sex, in order to try to become more popular with his or her peers. It's why we may discriminate or repress those who are different from us in race, color, or ethnicity, because we want to preserve the power of the majority to which we belong. It's why a group like the Ku Klux Klan could terrorize minorities for so long in the South. It's why the Nazi Party was able to rise up in Germany in the 1930s, oppressing and killing Jews as the German people stood by and did nothing to stop it. The crowd was doing wrong, severe wrong, but almost everyone was content to just follow along and not oppose what was happening.

If following the crowd means that you will do wrong, or pervert justice, then don't do it. There may be a short-term price to pay, and the price may be a significant one. But remember that God is watching, and that He is a just God. If you oppose wrong, and do not pervert justice, and do not follow the crowd, even if it costs you plenty, then God will see it and God will bless you for it.

Meet You Where You Are

One of the most amazing things about God is that He is willing to meet us wherever we are. He is willing to come to us.

In Exodus 19:20 (TNIV), we see this very thing happening: "The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain."

God went to where Moses was. God called Moses. God was proactive in His relationship with Moses. It's the same for you and me. God's love for us is so great that He is willing to descend to wherever we are, in whatever state we are in, and to meet us there, just as He did with Moses. God calls us, just as He did with Moses. But once God descends to us and calls us, then it is our responsibility to answer, and to go to Him.

God is ready to descend to where you are, and to meet you. He is calling you. Will you answer? Will you go to Him? He's waiting for your response.

Good and Evil

The story of Joseph and his brothers is a familiar one. The brothers hated Joseph and his dreams and his coat of many colors, wanted to kill him, but sold him into slavery instead. Joseph rose above his condition, but nonetheless was thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit. After 13 years languishing in a jail cell, he was freed, and became the most powerful man in Egypt after Pharaoh. His wise planning saved Egypt during 7 years of famine, the same famine which caused his brothers to travel to Egypt in search of food. Joseph later revealed himself to his brothers, and also was reunited with his father, Jacob, before his father died. After Jacob's death, Joseph's brothers feared that he would now extract his revenge on them for their past cruelty to him. But it wasn't so. Instead, Joseph told them in Genesis 50:20 (The Message), "Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now - life for many people."

You may find yourself in the same position as Joseph. Perhaps others - be they family members, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, church members, or other associates - have treated you very badly, and have caused you a world of hurt and pain. Perhaps the wound has been a very deep one, and is one that has lasted for several years. Know this: God can use your hurt and your pain and your injustice and your anguish and your sorrow for His good. He use use the evil of others for your good, just as he used the evil of Joseph's brothers to accomplish great things in the life of Joseph.

This is a very difficult lesson to understand, and it can be very confusing. Why would God permit us to suffer greatly in order to accomplish a later good? I don't know why, but I do know that He does it. Frequently. He did it with Joseph, and He may do it with you. If He is doing such a thing in your life, allow Him to continue His work. One day it will all make sense, and God will bless you abundantly for persevering through your trial, and creating good out of evil.

Two Ears, One Mouth

It's time to chill.

James 1:19-20 (TNIV) tells us, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because our anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

It's often said that God gives us two ears, and only one mouth, for a reason. We need to listen twice as much as we speak. It's one way to defuse the anger that burns inside each of us. Sometimes the oldest advice is still the best advice.

No Doubt

Doubt blocks blessing.

That's the lesson of James 1:5-8 (TNIV), "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Those who doubt should not think they will receive anything from the Lord; they are double-minded and unstable in all they do."

James pulls no punches here. If you want wisdom, then ask for it, and believe that you're going to get it. Don't doubt. Don't sit there and think that your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, or that God's not up to it today, or that your request isn't near the top of God's "To Do" list today. If you want to receive wisdom from God, if you want to be blessed by Him, then believe that it's going to happen, and that He's going to do it. If you don't have this faith, then your doubt will block God's blessing in your life.

This world is filled with too many people who pray to God, but don't really believe that He's listening, or that He's going to respond, or that He's going to provide. It's pretty easy to understand why this ticks God off. If you wanted something from me, but deep down you didn't trust me or believe me or have faith in me to provide it for you, then I, too, wouldn't be very enthusiastic about giving it to you.

Asking and expecting go hand-in-hand. Ask God for something, and expect that He's going to provide what you need, and you'll get exactly what you expected. God's provision.

Asking and doubting also go hand-in-hand. Ask God for something, but doubt that He's going to provide what you need, and you'll also get exactly what you expected. Nothing.

If you're doubting, then don't expect to receive anything from God.

If you're believing, then expect to receive generously from Him.

It's your choice.

Cry Out

Lamentations 2:19 (The Message) is a heart-wrenching verse. It says, "As each night watch begins, get up and cry out in prayer. Pour your heart out face to face with the Master. Lift high your hands. Beg for the lives of your children who are starving to death out on the streets."

This verse begs the question: who do you cry out for?

Who is it that moves your heart? Who is it that stirs your soul to its very core? Who do you weep for? Who do you fight for? Who do you spill blood, sweat, and tears for? Once again: who do you cry out for?

Perhaps it is an unsaved family member or friend. Perhaps it is a certain group of people who have been denied justice or equality or civil rights or human rights. Perhaps it is the people of a certain country or race or ethnicity or tribe. Perhaps it is the homeless. Or single mothers. Or orphans. Or AIDS victims. Or war refugees.

There has to be someone, somewhere, that you cry out for in prayer.

Bill Hybels wrote a great book called "Holy Discontent." In it, he describes "holy discontent" as "a personal 'firestorm of frustration' that, although sparked by that which is terribly wrong, can catalyze fierce determination to set things right."

That is what Lamentations 2:19 is talking about. In it, the writer (probably Jeremiah) is calling out for extreme action, in the form of earnest, heartfelt, middle-of-the-night, no-holds-barred prayer cries to God, begging for the lives of children starving to death on the streets.

When was the last time that you did that?

When was the last time that you put it all on the table before God? When was the last time that you had tears in your eyes and a desperation in your voice when you approached His throne? Who was it that you were intervening for?

This crying out in prayer, this anguish of the soul, it moves God. What anguishes you will also anguish Him.

If you've never done this before, then get started now. Find your own personal area of "holy discontent." Cry out for redemption or justice or peace or healing or deliverance or blessing for those who have touched your soul. Cry out in prayer. Pour your heart out face to face with the Master. Lift high your hands. Let the tears stain your cheeks. Move God. Do it now. The people that you are crying out for need it. And so do you.

Fear

There is fear all around the world. Just look at the news headlines every day. All we read about is war, disaster, and terrorism. Things seem to be going from bad to worse. The Middle East is a powder keg. People are on edge everywhere. What do we do?

King David was a man who understood such anxiety. Remember that he lived on the run and had to hide in caves for 10 years to avoid being killed by King Saul. This fear and anxiety, and the antidote to it, seem to be on David's mind in Psalm 23:4 (TNIV) when he sings, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." David echoes the same lyrics in Psalm 27:1 (TNIV), "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" David also sings the same song of hope in Psalm 56:11 (TNIV), "In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere human beings do to me?"

We need to have the same attitude as David. When faced with fear and anxiety in his life, he trusted God to comfort him and to be with him, even in the darkest valleys of life. David's trust and faith were in God, not in himself. He relied on God's strength, not his own. Fear, anxiety, and despair will always be lurking around us. We cannot defeat them by ourselves. But when we rely on God's rod and God's staff, and His light and His salvation, then we will conquer them.

Firestorm

Proverbs 15:1 (The Message) may be the hardest verse to obey in the entire Bible. It says, "A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire."

I fail at this all the time. Someone says something nasty to me, and I blast right back at them. It's human nature. Someone stings you, so you sting back. Dog-eat-dog. An eye for an eye. A tongue for a tongue.

But Proverbs 15:1 tells us to do differently. It tells us to respond to anger with gentleness. This is hard to do. Very hard to do. Extremely hard to do! I resist doing it. But do it we must. When we respond to anger with more anger, it "kindles a temper-fire." And fire chars, burns, and kills, whether it's a person or a relationship. Many relationships end, or are never the same, because of a temper-fire started by a sharp tongue. Words can kill. I know. I've been on both sides of it.

The next time someone yells at you, hurts you, insults you, or in any other way cuts you down with damaging words, do your best to remember the advice of Proverbs 15:1, and try not to respond in like fashion. Speak softly, respond gently, and you may be able to douse the fire.