Test lwcf_crd_mgz_essentialconnectionsample_pdf | Seite 12

Weekend > 7/5
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Read Exodus 33:12-17.
ave you ever gone through
a maze? It’s confusing! It
causes you to ask, “Where do I go
now?” and “Who knows the way out?”
It’s full of unexpected twists, turns,
and surprises around every corner.
The older we get, the more
confusing God’s ways and life’s
journey becomes. Our search for who
He is and what He wants us to do can
sometimes seem like a maze. We have
questions, so we make a decision and
choose a path to follow. We find those
answers around the corner, but run
into another fork in the path where
more questions await—and so on.
Enter today’s Scripture passage.
Even when he didn’t understand
God’s ways, Moses still surrendered
and sought God out, saying, “Please
teach me Your ways!”
This is the same kind of prayer we
need to pray daily. Each day presents
a new twist or turn, an unfamiliar
path to follow, a new decision to
make. Don’t you want to know that
the Person who knows the way
through the maze is guiding your
steps? For Him to teach you His ways,
you have to actually know Him.
Many people don’t know God
because they aren’t seeking Him or
spending time with Him every day.
The “maze” of seeking Him may
seem overwhelming at times, but He
is not unattainable or unknowable.
He desires to have a deep, authentic
relationship with you—one in which
you will seek Him and say, “Show me
Your ways, and I will follow!”
H
12  |  jul 2009  ec  magazine
hink back to when you were a kid. Do you remember the times your
dad, grandfather, a teacher, or some other male figure in your life walked
into a room? I’ll bet some of them carried a certain authority and presence with
them wherever they went. Did you have respect for those men? Did you want to
be near them?
Read through Exodus 33:18-23 and carefully consider verse 19.
� What do you think Moses meant when he asked God to show His glory?
�  Why is it that he couldn’t see the
face of God and live?
He said, “I will cause all My
goodness to pass in front of
�  Do you ever desire to feel the
you, and I will proclaim the
presence of Father God more?
name Yahweh before you.
�  Think back on the men you’ve
I will be gracious to whom
respected or had a close bond with
I will be gracious, and I will
in life. Do you think God desires to
have compassion on whom
have a close, intimate relationship
I will have compassion.”
with us as His children?
—Exodus 33:19
Moses wanted to fully know God and spent time in His glorious presence. In
today’s Scripture passage, Moses’ relationship with God appears vital and
intimate. Moses seemed to be very comfortable with God, so much that he
simply asked God what he’d been dying to ask: to see God’s glory. God didn’t
hide from Moses or ignore his request. He answered Moses and chose to honor
Moses’ request, but in His own way and in His own time.
The point? God desires to have an intimate relationship with you. He wants
to display His glory, as much as you can handle, and allow you to know more
and more of His character. Think about it like this: God originally created the
relationship between a father and his child to be a deep connection. Some
of you have the kind of dad that you now experience that kind of connection
with, and others of you don’t. No matter what kind of dad you have, God the
Father desires to show Himself clearly to you. He wants to know you intimately
and have the kind of relationship with you that a Father has with his son or
daughter. But you have to be willing.
How is
God like
a Father
in your
life?
2
w
Personal Space
Tuesday > 7/7
Need a
second
chance?
M
aybe it was a collectible,
expensive electronic, or
family heirloom. Think back to when
you broke something very valuable—
something that belonged to someone
else. How did the owner react? Was
he or she angry or upset with you?
How did you react? What would you
have done differently if you could do
it again?
The L ord said to Moses
,
“Cut two stone tablet
s
lik
the first ones, and I wi e
ll
write on them the wo
rd
that were on the first s
tablets, which you br
oke.”
—Exodus 34:1
Read through Exodus 34:1-4 and
focus in on verse 1.
�  Do you recognize that these tablets
were the Ten Commandment s?
�  Because you know this, how valuable
do you think they were to God? Why?
�  Why do you think God gave Moses
a second chance to redeem himself
after he broke the tablets in anger?
�  What does this teach you about
God’s forgiveness in your life today?
For what do you need forgiveness
and a second chance?
The tablets were important to God
because He made them as a physical
reminder of what it meant to live
according to His ways. He had an
important message for the Israelites,
but Moses broke the first set of
tablets in anger. God could have
cursed Moses, struck him dead, or
replaced him with another leader.
But, instead, He gave Moses a second
chance and asked him to create two
new stone tablets. This also says a lot
about how God the Father treats us as
His children when we mess up. We’re
going to mess up, but He doesn’t
reject us or give up on His plans
for our lives. He is a God of second
chances. Even for you.
3
How well
do you
obey?
Are you
abusing
His grace?
Wednesday > 7/8
It really did hurt him more
than it hurt you.
A
s a child, you probably experienced discipline in some sense, right?
Most of us have—whether that was a spanking, being grounded, sitting
in time-out, or something else. And, normally, when you were disciplined, it was
because you did something wrong. How do you remember feeling after you were
disciplined? Did you want to go and mess up again? Were you sorry for your actions?
Then the L ord passed in front of him and proclaimed:
“Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious
God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.”
—Exodus 34:6
Today, read through Exodus 34:5-9 and take a careful look at verse 6.
� Make a list of the characteristics used in this passage to describe God.
� What stands out to you the most?
�  Have you seen God act in any of these ways in your life? How did that make
you feel? What did it teach you about His character and His plan for your life?
�  What is God’s attitude toward sin?
For you, the word “father” may make you cringe, or it may bring back sweet
memories of a close relationship with your dad. Either way, this passage of
Scripture screams, “God is our Father!” So, what does that actually mean?
God first told Moses that He was compassionate, gracious, faithful, loving,
forgiving, and merciful. But He went on to say that He wants our holiness,
which means He won’t ignore our sin. He is definitely a Father of forgiveness
and second chances, but He can’t and won’t overlook when we choose to live in
opposition to His standards.
Does that sound like a dad to you? Sure it does! We often think of God as this
grandfather-figure with a long, white beard, sitting on a rocking chair in heaven,
just waiting to strike us down if we mess up. But that’s not the true picture of
God’s character. His character is to love, forgive, and bless us for our obedience
and faithfulness.
ec  magazine  jul 2009  |  13