Archive for the ‘Moses’ Category
August 13th, 2010
“Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.’” Ex 18:17-18 (NIV)
Our lives are bombarded with information and endless opportunities to expend our energy. Do you have margin in your life? Margin is the space between your load and your limit. God has designed you to handle a certain amount of His work during your brief stay on this planet called earth. God has given you all the time you need to accomplish His plan.
Moses reached a breaking point due to being overextended and overwhelmed. The masses of people each wanted his time, his attention, and his decision making prowess. Though serving as judge over Israel, Moses failed to exercise proper judgment over his own life.
God came to the rescue by bringing Jethro into Moses’ life. Jethro lovingly spoke into Moses’ life to declare, “What you are doing is not good.” Moses couldn’t see the unhealthy path that he was on. Jethro saw it clearly and succinctly. Jethro was willing to help Moses’ de-clutter his life.
Has your load exceeded your limit? What are you giving your life to that is outside of God’s will? Step back and evaluate your current reality. You may want to ask someone you know and love and trust to help you examine your life. Allow that person to give you feedback on what they see going on in your world. Their perspective could help you see what you are not seeing.
God uses other people to help us walk in obedience to His will. Pray and ask God to bring a Jethro into your life.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
February 7th, 2010
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’”
“And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” Ex 3:11-12 (NIV)
What benefits were available to Moses in the desert that were unavailable to him in the palace? What could God teach Moses in the dusty desert that he could not learn in the palatial palace?
I remember going through a difficult season in ministry and felt led to call one of my mentors. I shared with him that perhaps God was preparing me for my next assignment. I’ll never forget his response. He said, “Stephen, God is always preparing you for your next assignment. However, your next assignment may be right where you are.”
Moses probably felt that way. He likely wondered what God could possibly be up to by allowing him to remain in the desert for forty years. God allowed Moses to experience forty years in the palace to prepare him for the forty years in the desert to prepare him for the forty years of leading the children of Israel to the Promised Land.
God does not waste our desert experiences. God uses those dry times in our lives to reveal Himself in a way that we would not comprehend otherwise. He is always preparing us for our next interaction, our next appointment, our next interruption, and our next assignment.
God will redeem the season you are in. Are you willing to trust God with your life? Are you willing to submit to His prompting?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
January 31st, 2010
“In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out–until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.” Ex 40:36-38 (NIV)
God makes His Presence known. For the children of Israel, God revealed His Presence through the glory cloud. God would guide the Israelites by the visible manifestation of the cloud during the day and fire by night. When the cloud lifted and shifted, the Israelites moved. The Tabernacle was constructed in a way that emphasized ease of mobility. This enabled the Israelites to move when God moved.
As God’s workmanship, where did Moses learn that kind of sensitivity to God’s movement? Did he learn it in the palace during his first forty years on the earth or perhaps during the second forty years of his life as a shepherd in the desert? The burning bush experience obviously made an abiding difference in his sensitivity to God’s Presence.
God is always at work. Are you sensitive to His activity? You can experience God’s Presence moment by moment as you commune with Him through prayer and feed on His Word. You can experience God’s Presence as you maintain a posture of expectation and anticipation. You always find what you are looking for. If you are looking for the activity of God, you will find it.
Recognition of God’s activity is proportionate to your sensitivity.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
August 7th, 2009
“And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” Exodus 3:12 (NIV)
How’s your worship? Is God the object of your affection and the recipient of your relentless pursuit? God wants you to worship Him and no other. God wants you to display your love and affection for Him both in private worship and in public worship.
Moses encountered God at the burning bush. This divine appointment was a life-changing experience for Moses. God provided Moses with the blessing of an Egyptian upbringing and now God is teaching Moses some things in the desert that he couldn’t learn in the palace. God reveals Himself to Moses. Moses comes to know God in His holiness and righteousness. God instructs Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and to bring them to the mountain to worship God corporately.
God demands our worship. God deserves our worship. Spend some time in private worshiping God for who He is. Express your love to God by praising Him. Make a commitment to take your private worship to church. Join other believers in public worship. Seek to express your love to God with fellow believers in worship just like you do in your private worship. God alone is worthy of your worship and your praise!
Assess your worship. Is your private worship consistent and persistent? Do you draw near to God? How’s your public worship? Are you joining other believers in a weekly celebration of God’s Presence? Do you give God your best in your expression of worship?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
(This devotional was originally posted in ‘07 or ‘08. I’m taking a break from writing for a season of personal renewal.)
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
July 28th, 2009
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” Ex 3:11 (NIV)
Who am I? Why am I here? These two basic questions are innate in every human being. We long to know who we are and we strive to discover why we are placed on this planet called earth. Our security is proportionate to our understanding of our identity.
God allowed Moses to experience forty years in the palace and then forty years in the desert. God wanted Moses to learn some things about his personal identity through a desert experience that he could not learn in the palace. God was preparing Moses for the purpose of delivering the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The burning bush encounter was a life changing experience for Moses. The encounter enabled Moses to come to know God in a personal way. God revealed His holiness to Moses and then unveiled His plan for Moses to embrace.
As you can imagine, Moses could not visualize himself as the deliverer of the children of Israel. They had been slaves for over 400 years. Moses began making excuses and tried to deny his usefulness to God. Moses began to focus on what he lacked and missed the reality of God’s ability to do the extraordinary through ordinary people.
Have you ever doubted your usefulness to God? Have you ever tried to convince God that you are not fit for His plan? God is not impressed with our abilities or our inabilities. God is not limited by our limitations. Are you willing to yield to God’s control and allow Him to have His way in your life? God is willing to take you through a desert experience to prepare you for His assignment.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
(This devotional was originally posted in ‘07 or ‘08. I’m taking a break from writing for a season of personal renewal.)
Follow me on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stephentrammell
May 30th, 2009
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” Ex 3:11 (NIV)
Who am I? Why am I here? These two basic questions are innate in every human being. We long to know who we are and we strive to discover why we are placed on the earth. Our security is proportionate to our understanding of our identity.
God allowed Moses to experience forty years in the palace and then forty years in the desert. God wanted Moses to learn some things about his personal identity through a desert experience that he could not learn in the palace. God was preparing Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The burning bush encounter was a life changing experience for Moses. The encounter enabled Moses to come to know God in a personal way. God revealed His holiness to Moses and then unveiled His plan for Moses to embrace.
As you can imagine, Moses could not visualize himself as the deliverer of the children of Israel. They had been slaves for over 400 years. Moses began making excuses and tried to deny his usefulness to God. Moses began to focus on what he lacked and missed the reality of God’s ability to do the extraordinary through ordinary people.
Have you ever doubted your usefulness to God? Have you ever tried to convince God that you are not fit for His plan? God is not impressed with our abilities or our inabilities. God is not limited by our limitations. Are you willing to yield to God’s control and allow Him to have His way in your life? God is willing to take you through a desert experience to prepare you for His assignment.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
May 17th, 2009
“And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” Exodus 3:12 (NIV)
How’s your worship? Is God the object of your affection and the recipient of your relentless pursuit? God wants you to worship Him and no other. God wants you to display your love and affection for Him both in private worship and in public worship.
Moses encountered God at the burning bush. This divine appointment was a life-changing experience for Moses. God provided Moses with the blessing of an Egyptian upbringing and now God is teaching Moses some things in the desert that he couldn’t learn in the palace. God reveals Himself to Moses. Moses comes to know God in His holiness and righteousness. God instructs Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and to bring them to the mountain to worship God corporately.
God demands our worship. God deserves our worship. Spend some time in private worshiping God for who He is. Express your love to God by praising Him. Make a commitment to take your private worship to church. Join other believers in public worship. Seek to express your love to God with fellow believers in worship just like you do in your private worship. God alone is worthy of your worship and your praise!
Assess your worship. Is your private worship consistent and persistent? Do you draw near to God? How’s your public worship? Are you joining other believers in a weekly celebration of God’s Presence? Do you give God your best in your expression of worship?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
February 10th, 2009
“Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.’” Ex 18:17-18 (NIV)
Living in a fallen world has immediate and progressive challenges. Sinfulness and selfishness dominate our culture. We live with an immense amount of pressure to perform at home, at school, at work, and at play. Our lives are bombarded with information and endless opportunities to expend our energy.
Do you have margin in your life? Margin is the space between your load and your limit. God has designed you to handle a certain amount of His work during your brief stay on this planet called earth. God has given you all the time you need to accomplish His plan.
Moses reached a breaking point due to being overextended and overwhelmed. The masses of people each wanted a piece of him. They wanted his time, his attention, and his decision making prowess. Though serving as judge over Israel, Moses failed to exercise proper judgment over his own life.
God came to the rescue by bringing Jethro into Moses’ life. Jethro lovingly spoke into Moses’ life to declare, “What you are doing is not good.” Moses couldn’t see the unhealthy path that he was on. Jethro saw it clearly and succinctly. Jethro was willing to help Moses’ de-clutter his life.
What is overwhelming you right now? Has your load exceeded your limit? What are you giving your life to that is outside of God’s will? Step back and evaluate your current reality. You may want to ask someone you know and love and trust to help you examine your life. Allow that person to give you feedback on what they see going on in your world. Their perspective could help you see what you are not seeing.
God uses other people to help us walk in obedience to His will. Pray and ask God to bring a Jethro into your life.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
April 27th, 2008
“And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” Exodus 3:12 (NIV)
How’s your worship? Is God the object of your affection and the recipient of your relentless pursuit? God wants you to worship Him and no other. God wants you to display your love and affection for Him both in private worship and in public worship.
Moses encountered God at the burning bush. This divine appointment was a life-changing experience for Moses. God provided Moses with the blessing of an Egyptian upbringing and now God is teaching Moses some things in the desert that he couldn’t learn in the palace. God reveals Himself to Moses. Moses comes to know God in His holiness and righteousness. God instructs Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and to bring them to the mountain to worship God corporately.
God demands our worship. God deserves our worship. Spend some time in private worshiping God for who He is. Express your love to God by praising Him. Make a commitment to take your private worship to church. Join other believers in public worship. Seek to express your love to God with fellow believers in worship just like you do in your private worship. God alone is worthy of your worship and your praise!
Assess your worship. Is your private worship consistent and persistent? Do you draw near to God? How’s your public worship? Are you joining other believers in a weekly celebration of God’s Presence? Do you give God your best in your expression of worship?
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor
February 27th, 2008
“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” Ex 3:11 (NIV)
Who am I? Why am I here? These two basic questions are innate in every human being. We long to know who we are and we strive to discover why we are placed on this planet called earth. Our security is proportionate to our understanding of our identity.
God allowed Moses to experience forty years in the palace and then forty years in the desert. God wanted Moses to learn some things about his personal identity through a desert experience that he could not learn in the palace. God was preparing Moses for the purpose of delivering the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The burning bush encounter was a life changing experience for Moses. The encounter enabled Moses to come to know God in a personal way. God revealed His holiness to Moses and then unveiled His plan for Moses to embrace.
As you can imagine, Moses could not visualize himself as the deliverer of the children of Israel. They had been slaves for over 400 years. Moses began making excuses and tried to deny his usefulness to God. Moses began to focus on what he lacked and missed the reality of God’s ability to do the extraordinary through ordinary people.
Have you ever doubted your usefulness to God? Have you ever tried to convince God that you are not fit for His plan? God is not impressed with our abilities or our inabilities. God is not limited by our limitations. Are you willing to yield to God’s control and allow Him to have His way in your life? God is willing to take you through a desert experience to prepare you for His assignment.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor