Promise 65 from Exodus 24:12

Ex. 24:12 - "Now the Lord said to Moses, 'Come to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction'." - God calls Moses up to the mountain to "remain." The literal word is to "be." I would say most people feel a bit uncomfortable around God. They either do not know how to address Him, so like the Israelites they ask someone else to speak to Him on their behalf (20:19), or they feel afraid or ashamed because of their lifestyle, or sins in their lives. Even Christians struggle with their time with God. They either are timid before Him, because they still feel unworthy, or they only make time to download their intercessory list of names or events on God, or maybe they are stuck in a habit, like I was for years, approaching Him as His servant, His armour bearer or His messenger. God loves to spend time with us, but I believe His preference is for us to leave our agendas at the door. Have you noticed in our western cultures that whenever we get a phone call from someone or someone shows up on our doorstep, the assumption is that they want something. There is always an agenda, simply because we don't clear out our schedule to just "be" with people unless its a holiday. We tend to treat God the same way, He doesn't want our agendas, He invites us before Him to just come and "Be" or "remain" before Him. Then... He will hand us something or give us something. The satisfaction of resting in Him, should be enough for us however.

Promise 64 from Exodus 24:1, 10a., 11b.

Ex. 24:1, 10a., 11b. - "Then He said to Moses, 'Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance'... and they saw the God of Israel.... and they saw God, and they ate and drank." God invites us to draw close to Him and worship. God sent an invitation to Moses, Aaron and 72 others to draw closer to Him, yet the instructions are to worship Him at a distance. this seems odd, yet it is the exact message God wants to convey to us. Often times, when we feel distant from God, worshipping Him is the last and sometimes the hardest thing we do. We can feel distant from God in the midst of very difficult trials, or because of sin or shame of sin, or because we tie ourselves to a busy daily schedule where we leave attention to God as left-overs of our time. God is saying to us, "In your distance, worship Me!" It is through making the choice to worship Him that we are drawn closer to Him. We become more and more intimate with Him the more we engage in personal worship with Him. Those 74 men ate and drank together with God. He drew them into a special communion with Him. When we eat and drink of God in worship, we will find ourselves eating and drinking with Him in intimacy. Make that choice to worship in your distance today!

Promise 63 from Exodus 23:31c.

Ex. 23:31c. - "For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you." - It would be much easier if God, in His mighty power, would just smite our enemies or just remove the difficulties in our lives from us. Many people are apt to blame God for not using His power in efforts to spare us or others from our pain. In blaming Him, many turn away from Him. God says that He will put our enemies, and I want to add, life's difficulties, into our hands so that we can drive them out. He empowers us to take care of the problem ourselves, not through our own strength but His. He gives us the authority to deal with the difficulties. Are we going to allow the enemies of our hearts and mind destroy us, even though they have been handed over to us? The enemy has worn us down to passivity through the years, its time to stand up and take our spiritual place as children of the Almighty God and be aggressive toward the enemy of death, deceit and destruction. Its time to stand up and re-claim territory that has been stolen from us in our lives, time to fight for our peace, joy and control over those things that attack us. They are in your hands, let the power of God move through you today!

Promise 62 from Exodus 23:27c.

Ex. 23:27c - "'I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you'." - I just heard a testimony of a church in Iraq who has lost over a 100 of their attenders to death by the hands of evil men. When I read a promise such as this verse I find a divide between the written truth and my understanding. There are a lot of details around the verse that God provides in how He is going to deliver the land to the Israelites. I don't understand why so many christians die each day (one every 20 minutes to persecution). I can only guess because the land around them hasn't been conquered yet. But what I do know is, that it is the character of God to turn the backs of the their enemies against them. Yes, there are battles that take place and there is earthly loss of lives, but in the Kingdom, there is no loss. This is what we must remember. Just think of all the lives that have been saved because God turned the backs of the enemy. Thank you Lord!

Promise 61 from Exodus 23:25-26

Ex. 23:25-26 - "But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days." - These are incredible promises from God. The temptation for man, however is to read these and say, "But I know many faithful believers in Jesus who serve Him and yet have died too early from sickness or who have miscarried or are barren." We have a choice to make; God's will and desire and purposes are revealed to us in this passage. So are we going to choose to base our theology on what He says He will do, or are we going to base our theology on what we've seen happen or not happen? In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says, "and my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Our land, referring to our western lands, are far from serving God and humbling themselves before Him. Our western lands are full of idols that take people's attention away from God. Sickness, barrenness, premature death are what happens in nations who refuse to humble themselves before God. When our statutes say that it is unlawful to mix church and state, unlawful to pray in schools or with patients in hospital, we are very far from fulfilling the criteria that God has set out for healing. Obviously God is bigger than what the evil king of the land is doing to separate us from Him. As His people , God's people, we must press in and stand on His promises. As individuals we must believe that He is and He is the rewarder of those who seek Him (Heb. 11:6) We must lay down those things that distract us and worship God's presence into our land. When we have societies for whom the majority of Christians only pick up the Bible on a Sunday morning and only sing worship songs for 20 minutes during once or twice on a Sunday in church, its no wonder our land is not healed. We need to live in great expectation of our Lord daily, we need to live in praise and worship of our God and King. We need to start our day, end it and live out all the parts in the middle as if everyday was a Sunday. We must give up the notion that we can do things on our own and in our own strength. Its no wonder the people of our nations have so much debt, worry, fear, sadness. Its time to turn back to Him to worship God and to see children birthed into His kingdom., He will bless our bread, nor more poverty, He will bless our water, no one will be spiritually dehydrated. There will be no more miscarriages, new believers will cling to their faith in God, there will be no more bareness, children of God will be popping up all over the place. We need to get on our knees and claim it back for God.

Promise 60 from Exodus 23:22-23

Ex. 23:22-23 - "'Be on your guard before him (angel) and obey his voice ... My name is in him. But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of ... and I will completely destroy them.'" - I don't often think of the role of angels beyond their protective characteristics. They seem to appear in scriptures more often as messengers rather than protectors. Someone last night was just mentioning how she would love to see her angel of protection. I think I would rather see more messengers, because they would be bringing me a great word from the Lord. There are many times when I think I hear my housemate calling my name when I know she hasn't, or I'll hear sentences spoken when no one is around. Maybe I need to pay more attention to them to see which words are to come after I hear my name. Maybe I have more angels around me than I thought, but I just haven't taken time to hear their message.

Promise 59 from Exodus 23:20

Ex. 23:20 - "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." - I certainly accept this promise as I think about the transitions ahead. The most immediate one being from the UK, then to the US for a couple of months then the move back to Kosova. We don't ever have to feel as though we are alone in transition. God promises to prepare our ways. He prepares the hearts of those who will encounter for our meeting, he prepares the places we will stay, He sets us up for success, because He is the one sending us to those places. He will never send us to a place and leave us to our own strength and power to survive there. We just need to be courageous enough to trust in where He is calling us and to step out in that direction.

Promise 58 from Exodus 23:13

Ex. 23:13 - "Now concerning every thing which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.'" - The spoken word is a powerful thing; what we say can bring life or tear down, even to death. What we say can bind the enemy but can also release it, or at least open a door for the devil imp to move in and take a stronghold. If we talk about something too much, let's say, 'how afraid we are of something', then that fear owns us, the enemy uses it as a stronghold in a way that it resides in us. But if we declare, "I have no fear, Christ is my strength, courage, peace, etc..." then that stronghold is broken. If we talk about what the enemy is prone to do, then we give him more attention than he deserves and it just encourages him. I'm not saying that we need to pretend fear, worry, or spiritual attacks don't exist and aren't real, I'm just saying we don't need to be talking about them so much, proclaiming their existence, and speaking them out. Rather in their place we should speak out the words that counter attack; "God is good, He is my strength, He will fight for me, nothing is too big for Him," and just praise and worship Him over those other areas.

Promise 57 from Exodus 20:26-27

Ex. 20:26-27 - "If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sunsets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious." - There are so many unfair things that happen in the this world. So many wrongs done to people, so many victims of horrific crimes, so much injustice. People experience the consequences of wrongs that are done to them for years. No one should have to remain living as a victim once they become one. God, Himself says that He will hear the cries of victims and will be gracious to them. He will not sit there and just listen but He will bring relief to their pain. Justice will be done, peace will be restored. He is a gracious God!

Promise 56 from Exodus 20:24b

Ex. 20:24b. - "In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.'" - We cannot possibly do anything in ourselves to create a God experience, not for ourselves, nor for anyone else. But what we can do is position ourselves to seek after, to pray into and to expect to see where God is working. God says, that He will cause His name to be remembered. We can only remember things that we encounter through our senses; sight, sound, smell touch and taste. God promises that He will create events to be remembered in our lives and as we remember those events, we WILL be blessed. Whether they happen to us or to someone else, we have the opportunity to see them happen again; God blesses us by reminding us of the things only He can do and has done in our lives and the lives of others so that we know that those things are of His character, that He chooses to do those things and that we an ask Him to do those things for us and others in faith that He will do it. So remember the impossible things that God has made possible in our life and others and claim those as you need them.

Promise 55 from Exodus 20:20

Ex. 20:20 - "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.'" - Moses is telling the people, "Fear God, but do not be afraid of God." It seems as though these days we've taken the "Do not be afraid" parts so far that we have forgotten the "fear God" part. Divorce statistics are still about as high in the church as they are outside of it. Sexual immorality is probably as high too but is just hidden more in the church. There is as much idol worship and covetousness from people inside the churches as there is outside. Sin still prevails among many people who consider themselves Christians because they feel they have a "free pass" card they can use each time they sin. The "free pass" that says, "oops, did it again, sorry!" and they slap that on God with a passing breath and they think it's all fine, all clear until the next time they lay the card. What people don't realize is that they are going to suffer consequences of their sin, and it happens while they are alive. Each time we sin we miss out on experiencing the MORE of God. We miss out on His working in us and through us. We miss out on the fullness of His riches and blessings. We miss out on the experience of seeing His Holy Spirit power manifested in us, through us and around us. Sin blinds us from having kingdom vision because, whether we admit it or not, a true Christian will not be able to turn very easily from the guilt and shame of sin. The enemy uses these to plant thoughts into the mind of the child of God who sins, that says, "You do not deserve what God has for you. You are not worthy, you are a terrible Christian, you have given up your rights as children of God." These thoughts then become the focus which replaces the focus on God because we start to believe them. People then withdrawal from God in their hearts and will even go the other way toward sin thinking that "they themselves are hopeless so why try?" This is what we should fear, being separate and distant from our loving Heavenly Father. God shows us who He is through the storm, to draw us nearer to Him, not for us to be frightened away.

Promise 54 from Exodus 20:13-17a

Ex. 20:13-17a. - "You shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness against your neighbor, nor shall you covet your neighbor's house." I just love that freedom that God gives us. All of these promises tell us that we no longer have to strive or compete against one another. Freedom means no more jealousy or "whoa is me" attitudes. Why is that? Because when we are free from slavery, we are free from that orphan mentality we have security in our Heavenly Father. That means we don't need to look to the streets or others to find security, value, love, or honor because our Heavenly Father gives it all to us. We don't have to compete for respect, status, attention from others, we have all the attention, respect and value from our Heavenly Father. Freedom means there is no more loss or lack, He holds it all and is very willing to lavish it upon us. He is our God who is jealous for us.

Promise 53 from Exodus 20:12

Ex. 20:12 - "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you." - Honor is such an important virtue to carry with us. Its easy to honor great parents when they have been loving and kind, but for those who have not had that experience from the parents, it is difficult to honor people who have caused pain. Neither our society, nor do most of our churches, teach on the importance of honoring our loved ones and even those that seem to not deserve it. Our society seems to encourage a victim mentality which says its ok to pick sides and to hate or punish those who have done wrong. As Christians, who are secure in our positions as beloved sons and daughters of the Most High God, the Heavenly Father, we know that God restores us from our hurts from others and keep us securely at His side. We don't have to live with a victim mind-set, forever carrying the offences of others. He frees us to live in that Kingdom culture of honor. When we are in Christ we can honor the unhonorable. Because my parents are great parents, it is very easy for me honor them. I'm always saying, "I'm my mother's daughter!" But it has not always been easy for me to honor others around me who I've felt do not deserve it. God has been transforming my heart to be able to see people as He does. His creation is good, He created beautiful people. Even though people make terrible mistakes and choices in their lives, does not mean that they are any less beautiful in God's eyes. Therefore, they deserve to be honored. Let us try to create a culture of honor, if that takes place, and it is the poor behaviour that is punished not the spirit of the person themselves, then through honor people will feel valued, which will lead to right choices being made thereby making the "prolonged days in the land" God gives us more bearable. Honor someone today, start with your parents!