The Standard of Beauty

 This is something I think about constantly. What IS the standard of beauty, WHO establishes it, WHY do we even have one?! And when it comes down to it, what is my standard? Where do I find my own beauty, and how do I embrace it? As a 23 year old woman living in the U.S., this is not. easy.

What I continue to find, is that there is no reason why it shouldn't be easy. The reason it isn't is because of the society we live in, and our failure to prioritize correctly the values we hold in our lives. My number one priority is my relationship with Christ. Without it, and without Him, I am nothing. I can't focus, I can't achieve any semblance of a task, and I hate everything. But when I am grounded in Him, and spend my time with the Savior, I find myself feeling a whole swarm of things: joy primarily, peace amidst chaos, love, warmth, and even.... beautiful. So here I go.

Here in the U.S., we believe beauty is......

A symmetrical face, perky pouty lips, tan skin, highlighted hair, and, most importantly, a very thin and toned body. Here's reality.......

A menagerie of sizes, shapes, and colors. Personally, I find this faar more beautiful than our culturally-concocted stereotype of what beauty looks like. God did not make us all tall, thin, and tan. He made us so extremely different. But the fact that we've created this idea that there is a box within which beauty remains tears women down on a daily, nay, hourly basis. Myself included. What I am continuing to learn, however, is that America does not define beauty. Nor does Victoria's Secret, nor the women in my life, nor even the guys I date. My beauty is defined by God and God alone. And the most beautiful thing in women, I feel, is not outward. The most beautiful thing in women, I feel, is the fact that every single one of them, of us, is different. Courtney is quiet and brilliant, our friend Sanni is loving and vibrant, my sister is hilarious and kind, my mother is full of life and song and love. Every woman in my life is entirely different from the others, and it's the most beautiful thing I can think of. And most importantly, Christ dwells within each and every one of them. Christ's inexplicable beauty and majesty shines so brightly through them that they are astoundingly and breathtakingly beautiful. 

The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord.

Psalm 45:11

So this is what I've learned. The Lord does not make ugly things. He makes incredibly beautiful things, and it is not our job to define that beauty. He already has. What we need to do is discover our beauty, accept it, embrace it, thank God for it, and let it shine. We need to not compare ourselves constantly to other women, because we are not them and we are not going to be them and there is a fantastic reason for that. God made me Ariel. No one else can be Ariel, and that is a wonderful thing. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14

My prayer is that you will know how beautiful and precious you are. That you will see Christ's light and magnificence within you. I pray you won't allow this society to determine your beauty and value for you. Beauty means something entirely different in other countries, it meant something entirely different one hundred years ago, and it will mean something entirely different in one hundred more years. But there is one definition that is lasting and permanent. There is one who will always find you breathtakingly beautiful, and He is the one you can always find solace, serenity, and warmth in. Turn your face to our Savior when you want to be told you're beautiful. His answer will forever be: 

"All beautiful you are my darling. There is no flaw in you" 

Song of Songs 4:7

I love you and your beauty

Ariel

Marine Mindset

Well 'sup. I'm not Ariel or Courtney. I'm Ariel's younger brother Travis. I'm not really into the whole flashy, photo implementing, all over the place style like she is, so yeah. So, God kinda threw it in me to write this, and to write it about exactly what it's going to be about, and for you. And by you, I mean YOU! As in specifically, 100% you. Not the person I saw today while walking outside, or who I went to work with. It applies to them, but this is for YOU. Whether or not I know you. One of my favorite musicians, Aaron Weiss of mewithoutyou, told a story. “A farmer once had a horse. One day it ran away and when he told the neighbor, the neighbor retorted with 'Oh, that's terrible!' But the farmer said 'Who knows what's good and what's bad?' and remained content. The next day, the horse returned with a herd of horses. The neighbor said 'That's fantastic!' Again, the farmer responded with 'Who knows what's good and what's bad?' The next day the farmer’s son was out riding a horse and broke his leg. Again, the neighbor was sad over the misfortune, however the farmer, still, said 'Who knows what's good and what's bad?' and remained content. The next day, the military came with a draft, however due to the boys broken leg, they were unable to enlist him. As always, the farmer remained content.”

Everybody's had struggles in life. Every single stinkin person. Some worse than others, but never make the assumption that what you're going through has never happened before, that no one else has had it as bad as you, or that you're going through it alone. If you're anything like me, at some point every single one of those thoughts has passed through your mind. There are plenty of instances in the Bible where God places his disciples and other people in some of the hardest and most trying struggles imaginable, and He helped them every step of the way and even gave plenty of them GREAT rewards afterward. The best instance that comes to mind is Joseph. His brothers tried to kill him, he was thrown in jail even though he did nothing wrong, and after staying completely faithful to God, became the ruler of Egypt. Huh. Kinda did a 180 there.

 <<(Me saying goodbye to Ariel before I leave to for SOI in California)

“Joseph's master took him and put him in prison...But...the LORD was with him...and gave him success in whatever he did.”

Genesis 39:20-21,23 October 12(the date this was preached on in my devotional)

A few months ago I went through the toughest 2 months I have ever endured in my entire life: School of Infantry for the Marines. Beyond the hikes, the training, and the sleep deprivation, people didn't exactly answer my faith and Christian lifestyle with open minds. That last part was easily, and surprisingly the hardest part. Though they said they were Christians (who am I to judge, though) they made jokes about it that affected me more than they thought, and didn't exactly make my faith feel welcome. At one point, they even told me they hated me for wanting to go to church, throwing in a couple more cuss words, as well as telling me to perform some not so possible or favorable acts to myself. It just so happens, however, that immediately before I went to SOI (School of Infantry) my wonderful sister, Ariel, gave me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received: a Devotional with a passage for every day of the year that goes in depth on each. Through it, God has spoken to me more than I ever thought possible. I can't help but feel like that book was made for me. Without it, I would never have made it through SOI. I read it every single night, and almost every night's passage was about God helping us through turmoil. God was telling me every single day, as I was dying physically and losing all motivation, that He was with me, that He loved me, that He knew what I was going through, and that I would grow in faith from it. Always, always, always telling me, “Travis, keep your head high, show your faith with pride, and know that I am carrying you every step of the way, and with Me in your heart you will NEVER fall, and never experience more than you can endure.” 

“He guarded him...like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on it pinions. The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him.” Deuteronomy 32:10-12 September 30.

I was constantly called a bible-thumping Christian, and at first I thought “heck, no!!” and took it as an insult. Turns out, the heck it is?! I WANT to have a resounding faith, and to be known as “that God obsessed Christian” in the group, because I am!! He carried me through SOI, meeting me halfway so that I'd have to work, and test my faith, and every day He reminded me that He's doing this for reasons unknown. On top of the fact that, in the end, my faith will become that much stronger (which it has) and I'll want to pursue Him that much more. So of course I love Him, and I want people to know that! I can't imagine what SOI would've been like without that devotional. I did my best to keep God in my heart, and my faith is twice what it was before I left.

So what I want, is for you to take that last sentence from the paragraph before last, the one where God spoke to me, and replace my name with yours. Because what He did with me, He WILL do with YOU! He's just that amazing, and loves you that much. Awesome, isn't it? Don't ever think for a second that He's not working with you, or that what you're going through is too much. I can tell you from first hand experience, NO. No. No. No. No. Whether you need this now or later, everyone needs to know this. I'll probably have to come back and read this at some point to remind myself.

God will test you, and He will put you through trials, and you will wonder where He is. Tell “lucy”(you know who that is) to “SHUT THE FRICK UP!!” and know that God is your Father, teaching you to ride a bike. You'll fall and get bruises and all that good stuff, but as long as you know God's with you, He'll pick you up, smile with pride as fathers do, and you'll become one of the best bike riders in the neighborhood. God loves you, and will absolutely, 100%, positively, no matter what, forsake you. Please, don't ever forget that.

Travis

“It was good for me to be afflicted.”

Psalm 119:71 October 1

“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of His servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.”

Isaiah 50:10 October 7

“...dying, and yet we live on.
2 Corinthians 6:9 October 11

 

“Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave.”
1 Kings 8:56 October 23

 

    Yeah, just a couple of the AWESOME things from this book!!!

     And one of my favorite quotes from it...

 

“Said the Robin to the Sparrow
'I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.'
Said the Sparrow to the Robin
'Friend, I think that it must be

That they have no Heavenly Father

Such as cares for you and me.”

A Testimony: Courtney

   When I began writing this I dubbed myself, “an Isaac.”

   I wasn’t sure what to write, wasn’t sure that I really even had a story to tell at all. I heard this sermon a couple of years ago about how everyone is either an Abraham (a person of great faith), an Isaac (an average guy), or a Jacob (black sheep, prodigal son, that sort of person). I was an Isaac and the important thing was (as the purpose of the sermon preached) that I was content with my story, and therefore the life that God has gifted me. The day I finished my first draft of this post, I had three separate encounters that led me to see the perspective of three friends of mine on my life and journey of faith. I guess now I’m not so sure that I am an Isaac. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. 

---

   Most testimonies that I’ve ever heard or read are fashioned a lot like a story. There is a beginning, building action, the big climactic event of distress, the turning point, and a happy ending with Jesus. But I’ll be honest from the get-go  –  mine isn’t like that. I know that people say you’re not “born a Christian,” and maybe they’re right. But I can’t honestly remember a time when I didn’t believe and desire to follow the basic facets of Christianity.

   I was born into a family that went to church regularly, always provided me with a Bible, and encouraged me to pray daily. I gave my life to Christ and was baptized when I was nine years old, and I understood what all of that meant. I knew that I sinned, that I needed to be forgiven, and that Jesus gave his life so that I could be. I revered and worshiped God for that.

   My progression as a Christian was a very steady thing. As I aged and matured, I gained a deeper understanding of what it meant to truly follow Jesus and of the significance of His death and resurrection. Although at one point my family stopped encouraging me in the spiritual ways that they had in my youth, it was the first time that I saw (through hindsight) that it was me who wanted these things, not just my family wanting them for me. I asked to go to church, I prayed on my own time, I read the Bible to myself. It was no longer a family activity with parental support, but something individual and personal.

   I never experienced that one, epiphanous moment that many have – the moment when everything clicked into place. There were many individual moments drawing me closer to the Lord. Like a yo-yo I would be pulled in and then I would let myself back out. But no matter how many times I rolled down that string, the Lord was always there to bring me back up. And the falls have been shorter and shorter every time. 

     I’ve mostly struggled with the same root problems for as long as I can remember. Depression has been one of the worst, and simultaneously one of the best. It sucked, and it still sucks on days that it gathers strength inside of me again, but it has served a great purpose. So I’ve learned to welcome the trial for what I can gain from it.

   My first serious bout of depression was . . . well, middle school in its entirety. For a lot of reasons. So I went to therapy and took anti-depressants and placed bandaids over a thousand wounds that would never heal without stitches. My counselor was great, and I appreciate everything that she did for me, but ultimately her help was only enough to keep me from bleeding out until I could make it to the hospital. The problem was – I didn’t know I needed to go there, and neither did anyone else. So I learned how to change the bandages myself and kept moving forward, bleeding slowly but surely.

   The first truly divine experience that I can recall clearly occurred when I was in 8^th grade. We were doing this thing at youth group called SLAP – sing loudly and praise (or maybe it was pray?). It was the first time I actually felt the presence of God. And now that I’m trying to type this out I’m realizing that there aren’t even words to describe it. It’s electrifying, but in a gentle way. Powerful yet soft. Like this one huge juxtaposition – infinite righteousness, grace, and love dwelling in sin, rejection, and misery by choice. An incredible kind of love.  

   A few years later I was in a tough spot and nothing seemed to be able to help me. All the stuff I thought I had dealt with had actually been slowly simmering in the background and I watched as it began to boil at full force. My closest friends were all leaving me for college, a boy had left me heartbroken, changes were happening in my family dynamic that were uncomfortable. I felt alone. The depression I didn’t realize I was still struggling with resurfaced. I felt abandoned. I felt used. I felt belittled. I felt lost. I felt inadequate. I felt jealous. I felt embarrassed. I felt dead inside.

   
   Giving it all to God was not something that I had been familiar with at that point. Knowing that “Jesus saves me” doesn’t always translate to “I can lay every single pain and struggle I have on the cross”. But with the help of a book called The Shack, many conversations with my best friend’s mother,  and realizing for the first time that God would (I knew he could do anything) speak directly and personally to me through other people, I was able to realize that I was okay. That I would be okay. That Jesus could unlock me from the mental torture chamber I had created for myself.

   It has been a very slow process of healing, and something I honestly think I’ll wrestle with for the rest of my life. I discovered how much I was loved and accepted in Christ. I began to understand that I was worth something no matter what anyone else said or did to me. I started to see that the Lord would always provide for me (if not in the way I expected or thought I wanted). But that didn’t mean that my life was then after sinless, easy, and void of a depressive mentality. Not a bit. 

   It was a constant battle to remember and apply those things, as well as new ones that I came upon. I’ve had my fair share of really bad mistakes and running in the complete opposite direction from God. And I’ve had to learn painfully and slowly that even though Jesus could break the chains every time I bound myself with them, a lot of the time he would give me the key and sit with me until I unlocked myself. 

   BUT I had found something that worked. Something that really, truly, long-term worked in 1) improving my quality of life and 2) displaying God's love. Through all of this and some other things along the way, I developed a passion for Christ-centered counseling. Because I truly believe that it works. I’ve seen my life, and the lives of many people around me, receive healing transformation in Jesus. Depression, anxiety, relationship problems, alcoholism, sexual problems, abuse, addiction, mourning – these are the things I’ve seen God’s love heal. The Gospel is where we can go and lay our burdens to rest, and in return we are comforted and set free. 

These experiences have sparked a desire in me to share this kind of therapy with anyone who wants to listen, anyone who wants to try something new when nothing else is working, and in anyone who knows that this is the way but doesn’t know how to get there. If you’re interested in hearing more, for any reason, feel free to respond in the comments below, or send us a private Facebook message or email. I would love to chat with you about it! 

-Courtney

When God Puts Me In Check

  As noted in our "about" section, I work for the elderly.

    You should know that I love it.

  So I take one of my clients to church on Sundays. We go to the church he's gone to for the 10 years that he's lived here. It is an incredibly traditional church, which I am no longer accustomed to. Growing up my parents loved them, but I personally haven't gone to one in over 10 years. Just tend to gravitate to the more contemporary style. Nothing wrong with either preference.
   You should know, however, that I tend to be incredibly arrogant and somewhat pompous. Here were my thoughts upon first entering this less than 100 member church that doesn't use musical instruments when worshiping and singing hymns:

• These people must be legalistic and pious
• This church will not teach me anything or help me grow in my faith
• I'm going to hate this

   And this is how I imagine God reacted to my over-sized head:

"Ima put that girl in CHECK"

   Here's the thing: when I worship, I dance and hop and shout and (guaranteed every time) cry. This church is not the place for any of that (well, minus the crying). So the Lord pulled down this giant projector screen in my me-filled brain and displayed in bright lights and giant letters,

"You REALLY mean to tell me that you can't worship me without guitars and drums and hopping all over the place Ariel? You mean to tell me you can't worship me solely with the voice IIII gave you?"

So, I piped down, took a seat, and said, "Sorrrryyyyyy", to which God of course said,

"It's ok baby. Happens all the time."

"So God, you obviously know better than anyone, seeing as how you made me and all, how to teach me things. Will you teach me how to worship you here? Will you help me look past the prejudices I hold, and feel your presence here?" And, of course, God replied,

"Shyooooot girl. I thought you'd never ask! Buckle yo seatbelt!!"

(God talks to me like this sometimes)

So now, I would like to make for you some new bullet points of what I found out about this church. I realized these bullet points quite literally upon my first day there with my client, and they have only been reinforced more and more every day I've gone since:

• The people at this church are more the example of what a Christian family, community, and church should be than any other I have ever seen
• I have learned and grown from this church IMMENSELY 
• I. Love. Going there.

The people there are so entirely consumed with love for one another and for Christ. They ALL welcome me by name, check constantly on my client to make sure he's doing well, pray for one another, support one another, and strive to live for Christ. These people are some of the most beautiful people I have ever met.

Now, about the worship. Boooooy has the Lord proved me wrong!!! So this church sings purely hymns and they sing them purely a cappella. When this church sings, it is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. Sometimes I don't even sing just so I can listen to the pure resonance of beauty filling the room.  This past Sunday was pure awe-inspiring. I have no words to explain to you the magic that was cast in that chapel that day. I cried the whole time and was filled to bursting with the Spirit of the Father. And I knew at that moment that God had responded to my prayers. I had known for a while at that point that God was teaching me through that church, that He was with me while I sang to Him, and that my heart was growing for those people, but it was during that morning that I knew I was completely worshiping without instruments, without dancing, without hopping and shouting. I'm not saying those are things we should not use or do when praising. But what I learned is that I can worship and praise and glorify quietly also, with just the strings God tuned so delicately within my throat.

As always, I love you

Ariel

Exodus 21-40: Sabbath

   Everyone needs a little rest. According to the Bible, 1/7 of our waking time should be restful.

   The Sabbath is something that has been on my mind a lot this week. I heard a sermon once about how the Sabbath is . . . well, a real thing. It's a Biblical directive that we should allot time for resting. Just like we should honor our father and mother and not murder people and have no other gods or idols. I think it's interesting how we ascribe so much importance to the 10 commandments . . . and then kind of ignore that whole Sabbath thing. Or maybe I'm wrong in thinking a lot of other people besides myself don't consider that commandment as being of equal importance to the rest. 

---

   Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. Exodus 20:8-11

   Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. Exodus 23:10-12 

   You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you.  Exodus 31:13-17

   The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27

   There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest. Hebrews 4:9-11
           

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   My thoughts on the meaning of the Sabbath: It doesn't have to be Sunday; I think the importance is an exchange of 6 days work for 1 day rest. What constitutes "work" and "rest" is probably different for everyone; resting doesn't have to mean sitting in a chair and staring at the wall all day . . . but I guess maybe it could for some people. Keeping the Sabbath "holy" seems to mean that worship or some kind of intimate time spent with the Lord is involved. 

   These are the problems I have with it:

A. I don't get enough stuff done in the other 6 days of the week, so the 7th day is for overflow.

1. What am I saying? That the world just ends if I don't do all of these things I feel like I have to do? That my influence and impact in those things is that important? Thinking through it makes me feel a little arrogant and a lot that I'm just kind of forgetting that God runs the show. Clearly he thinks 6 days of work is sufficient, so why am I trying to say otherwise? 
2. Why am I not getting enough done in those first 6 days? Am I not managing my time well? Am I wasting time with frivolous or pointless things? Do I have too much on my plate? Am I over committed and overextended? Are my priorities in line? Doing a lot of stuff or trying to be super-wife or super-achiever is cool, but realistically I have a finite amount of resources and time. 

B. What do I even find restful?

• Okay, that sounds weird. But I've been noticing that things I thought were relaxing aren't doing it for me anymore, if they ever did in the first place. 
• I spend all week in go-mode, and then I don't know how to stop or I feel weird stopping. OR I spend all week resenting go-mode and end up having empty days - no work, no rest. It's kind of dumb, isn't it? I want to rest, so I stop working but don't rest? I mean, come on Court, really? 
• I anticipate the next day or even the next week a lot. So I spend my free day thinking and planning and analyzing and scheduling. That is not restful. 

   So . . . what am I going to do about this?

   I don't know.


   Step 1: Get my husband on board. It's helpful to have an accountability buddy in stuff like this. Also, it would probably be good for him to expect that I won't be doing much on Saturdays (my Sabbath day). 
   Step 2: Try not to do any work on Saturday if at all possible. Clean and study and run errands and write serious things and all that kind of stuff on the first 6 days. In the future, avoid making commitments that require me to do things I consider "work" 7 days a week. 
   Step 3: Experiment with things that seem potentially restful.
   Step 4: Prayerfully adjust. In fact, prayerfully do the previous three steps because I have no idea what I'm doing here. 

   
   Thoughts? Suggestions? 

~ Court

American What?

   

 Seems lately every time I turn around I hear someone talking about this; the Christian American. Whenever they tell me their definition of such a person and the negative connotation they associate with it, I always say, “I know! That’s why Court and I have this blog!” We’re not trying to chastise, or correct, or pass judgement on anyone. On the contrary, I've been quite the definition of this myself many a time. What our goal here, essentially, is to understand how, as Americans, we are to live our Christ-centered lives. 

The question I found myself asking, well, myself, before we started this endeavor was, “Am I an American Christian, or a Christian American?” (Note in these two titles appear to be an adjective and a noun, respectfully.) SO, do I identify as an American woman who practices Christianity, i.e. a Christian American, or do I find my identity in something else? Yes, I’m proud to be an American. The fundamentals this country was founded on are beautiful, and I am incredibly blessed to live in a country where I can even write this blog freely and unafraid. BUT, my identity goes much further than where I place my citizenship. My identity, and praise God for it, is found just there, within the heart of God. I am a Christian, a woman sold out to God, who will do anything for Him, and who happens to live in America. I am an American Christian.

What I feel, and what I’m finding others are noticing, is that “Christian Americans” believe in Jesus, and know who He is, and go to church sometimes, and basically live “good” lives, so that’s that. Content. Nothing more to do. Let’s not talk about our beliefs for fear of ruffling any feathers, and let’s not care what others believe because it’s their life and their choice. To better deal with that, let’s not really believe in hell, so that we don’t feel so bad when we realize so many around us just might be headed straight there because of what they believe. Again, this will offend, so let’s just believe that as long as you live a basically good life, God will cut you a break. Nevermind what His Word says. That’s what we’re going to believe. While we’re at it, let’s delve into sin (just the light-hearted stuff. We’re not doing the bad stuff, like killing or stealing), and seize the day. Carpe diem! It’s harmless right?

“JESUS answered, ‘It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
Luke 4:8

But here are the facts. To live as Christ called us to live is literally the hardest thing we can do. It’s not rainbows and sunshine and “It’s all good. Jesus LOVES you! So keep on doing what you’re doing!”

                                                   It’s.             Hard.

He must be above everything else. He must be our first and true love. He must be our greatest desire. We’re going to be called “Jesus freaks” and “Bible thumpers” in this society. What I’m learning, however, is that compared to what Jesus’ disciples went through (ahem, MARTYRDOM), being called a “Bible thumping weirdo” really isn't all that bad. So WHY do we make it out to be??

“Then JESUS replied, ‘Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’”
Matthew 22:37-38
“And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”
Luke 14:27
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Colossians 3:23

Todays challenge: Meditate on this. Sit, be quiet, and ask yourself, “Am I a Christian, or an American? Do I love God enough to go the distance?” Don’t be discouraged if the answer is no. Mine was no for the VAST majority of my life. Sometimes it still is. The fact is, being a Christian is tough. It’s really really tough. But the beauty of that fact is this: We don’t have to do it alone. We will NEVER have to do it alone. He saved you. He loves you. He wants to hang out with you!! Not just see you every now and then on Sunday and hear from you when times are tough. He literally wants to hang out with you. His creation. His bride. His beloved. The more that sinks in, the more we soak and marinate and bask in His love and promise and truth, then the easier it will get. Come near to Him. He’ll come near to you. That, my friends, is a promise.

James 4:8

I love you always

Ariel

Exodus 5-20: Life Calling and Rituals

   I've got two things to share this week. Neither of which are related to the actual Exodus, which was the high point of our reading this week. I wasn't expecting that, but I think I like it. 



The Call of Moses

   It's useful to look at God's calling on various people throughout the Bible when assessing his call on our own lives. Here are some of the parts I found most enjoyable and thought-provoking about Moses' call.

 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" He said, But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

(3:11-12)

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am." 

(3:13-14)

But Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." Then the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." But he said, "Oh my Lord, please send someone else." . . . "You shall speak to Aaron and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do." 

(4:10-15)

Purpose of Ritual

   Having our lives be representations of the Lord's work in them starts in the Old Testament, not just after Jesus. It's just shown in different ways. While it's easy for modern Christians to treat rituals like they're this taboo or lesser thing, here we are reminded that the Lord gave his people traditions to follow with a purpose:

"When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb . . . And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt."

(13:11-16)

   They also served another purpose. Without Jesus, the people had to prepare themselves to be in the presence of All-Holy God by performing certain rituals (this is one of the many reasons Jesus=Freedom - with His salvation we are no longer required to follow the rituals and Old Testament laws that fulfill this purpose; it's an important thing to remember as we delve more into those laws and look at which are applicable today). But even still these rituals were incomplete. They were incomplete because people even made mistakes in trying to save themselves from their mistakes. The Old Testament as a whole proves to us that salvation-by-merit will never work, because our merit is imperfect. The ritual-system was also incomplete because, ultimately, this method of salvation was insufficient for being permanently in the full-presence of God. Even after consecration, limits still had to be put in place to distance the people from God's righteousness.

The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around . . ." . . . And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish."

(19:10-21)

Moral of the story - God does cool stuff when he calls us to our destiny. Rituals serve a purpose, but we are free from their restraint by the saving work of Jesus Christ.

What do you think about this stuff?
Anything else from this week that you'd like to talk about?
Leave a comment, and let's chat :)


~Courtney


P.S. I can touch on the the two opposing views of the historicity of the Exodus if anyone is interested. I didn't because I had other things I preferred to write about this week. But let me know if you would be interested in reading about that!