Exodus 40:16 “Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him.”

This phrase is repeated continually throughout Exodus chapter 40.

Moses had been with the Lord and received instruction. Detailed instructions. Instructions about how the tent of meeting was to be set up and how the priests were to be prepared to be filled with God’s glory. And Moses was faithful to obey all that God said.

God gives us itstructions as well, in His word. Am I always faithful to fulfill God’s instructions? Do I see His words in scripture and obey, or do I treat His commands as mere suggestions? On a most basic level, do I love my neighbor? Do I care for widows and orphans? Do I obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings to witness or share what God is teaching me? Or do I give in to human emotions of fear and timidity?

When Moses completed the work of the Lord, what happened? Verse 34 tells us, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” God desires for us to be faithful and complete our assigned tasks as well so He can fill us. And fill us. And fill us. Again and again.

When God gives us a task to do, do we work diligently? Do we follow His specific, detailed instructions? Do we go to work immediately to get the job done without getting derailed and putting it off? (Sorry to bring that up, procrastinators.) Let’s learn to move when He says move and not put it off.

Think about the time it took to gather all the materials to build the Tabernacle. They had to acquire wood and ore and prepare them for the supports of the temple. Consider the time it took for the artisans to cure the hides, weave the fabrics, stitch the curtains, and plan, mold, and carve all the hooks and articles and lamp and basin and altar. How long did it take to build it? It was a huge task.

When God gives us a big task, do we approach it with a spirit of faithfulness and excellence? Or do we rush through? Perhaps we get overwhelmed and want to bail on the job before it is complete. On the other hand, we don’t need to rush the job and be the first to the finish line. We need to be faithful. We need to exercise commitment to whatever God has called us to.

Romans 12:1-3 tells us, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Do we run our best race? Do we handle the things of God as diligently as we would preparing and training our athletic child to get that college sports scholarship? Do we do “everything heartily as unto the Lord”? (Colossians 3:23) Are we running in a way to receive the Prize? (1 Corinthians 9:24)

We live in a microwave generation. Everything seems to be obtained or accomplished in an instant. Things that take an extended amount of time and effort challenge us. We don’t like disciplining ourselves to lose weight over time, to develop muscles slowly and diligently doing the reps each day. We want to be able to lift the heavy weights today without the repetition and effort. We don’t like those long-term Moses assignments. We want to get it done, make progress, and quickly move on.

We must realize that with God the lesson may be in the journey. God may be more interested in who we become through His assignment than He is with getting the job completed. What is He making in us? He is making pure and holy vessels designed to be filled with His glory. Be home to His glory. Display His glory to the world. Let’s chose to be a Moses today and do “everything just as the Lord had commanded.”

“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Psalm 121:1-2  I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.

Just four years ago, my life looked very different, things were not perfect, but “I” could manage it. I was doing my own thing, training for my 3rd triathlon it was April 2017. I loved the feeling of strengthening my body, pushing it to its limits. Training was something I did 6 days a week no matter what, or no matter where. And in that was much pride. Yes, I loved the Lord, I spent time with Him. But, He knew there could be more, He could see what I could not.

One spring morning, I woke up with a case of poison ivy. This was nothing unusual, I have had it every year since I was a child. But, as much as I remember, I had never had it on my neck. But this day I was looking in the mirror at this red streak of bumps across my throat, itching like crazy. So, I got out my tubes of itch relievers, and began to rub it on my neck. As I was rubbing, I felt a small knot in my neck beneath the skin. Just a passing observation, no big deal. After several days of this it seemed the knot was growing. A couple of weeks later I made a doctors appointment.

By the time I saw him, you could see the lump in my throat. He sent me straight to get a cat scan. Two days later wanted to see me, that got my attention. He wanted me to see a surgeon and have this removed immediately. From then until I saw the surgeon, it tripled in size, now the size of a golf ball. But, after seeing a thyroid surgeon and radiologist that specialized in this, they determined it was benign, and decided to not do surgery. I saw another doctor who used iodine to shrink it to a third it’s size. But, in the meantime, my thyroid quit functioning. I was very weak, tired, didn’t have the strength to run or workout at all. After a year, I finally got back to exercising again slowly trying to get back to where I had been, but every time I did something happened to set me back.

In July 2019, I was getting in my car to go to church, as I sat down, pain shot from my hip, to my foot. I had never experienced anything like it. I ended up laying flat in the floor all day. From there it was chiropractors, doctors, injections, treatments, massage, anything to get relief, but it never lasted. I had numbness in my leg and foot. Months at a time I would rest my back. My husband had to do all the vacuuming and mopping, I couldn’t lift anything. After one last treatment, we all realized it wasn’t working. At the end of the 10 week of rest, I and my husband got Covid. 

My husband has heart and kidney issues, I was very afraid for him. One night, as I was giving him a breathing treatment, I was praying for wisdom, fearing for his life. I cried out for mercy, and strength to take care of him. The next day, he began to take a turn for the better. 

At the same time, I had been in a crisis with my Daddy. He had a heart attack last January, followed by a fall in June. He ended up in the hospital, then to rehab. While in rehab he got Covid. Back to the hospital, then home with hospice. He was bedridden, we had to use a lift to get him out of bed. We were able to care for him at his home for 3 months, I’m so thankful for that time with him. I was praying God would do a miracle and heal him, but he wasn’t healed. While I was at home with Covid, we had to have him moved to a nursing home. It broke my heart.
This was the end of October.

On November 9th, our oldest son, his wife and 3 children moved to Bozeman, Montana, 1852.1 miles away, a 27 hour drive. Never since our grandchildren came into the world, had we been away from them more than two weeks. I thought that was the way it would always be. I was wrong. I grieved the loss. No more birthdays, ballgames, piano recitals, I wouldn’t be there for grandparents day at school. I grieved it all, for days at a time I cried. I fell into the trap of self-pity, and the enemy loved it! He fed every self-pity thought, and I went deeper into despair.  

I went to the Lord,  asking why? I had loved Him, served Him, followed Him. Why did He allow all this. I was stripped of my health, my husband’s health, my Daddy, my family. We had major problems at work. It was all caving in. I felt completely vulnerable, afraid of what would come next. All the things I had put my hope and trust in were gone.

I was now facing back surgery.

On February 1, 2021, I got up and ran to My Father, My Heavenly Father. I cried for answers. I needed hope, I need help, I need direction, I needed Him!

“Call upon me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things you know not!” Jeremiah 33:3. And He answered me. Psalm 139:6-7 Angelia, I have beset you in behind and before, and laid My hand upon you. Where could I go from His Spirit? Where could I flee from His presence? He was with me. He always was. He saw every tear. He knew every pain. He felt it too. Because I am His child!

The Holy Spirit comforted me, strengthened me, and gave me perfect peace that day. No one else could ever have given me that! The next day, as I went to sleep before they operated on me, my last thought was, Angelia, I’m going to do exceedingly, abundantly, more than you could ever ask for or imagine. And He has. I’m able to walk again, and stand without pain, still healing, but so much better.

Through the stripping away, I’ve found what only God can give: peace in the storm. No matter what I face, He has been there. But it only came when I surrendered it all to Him. I said, “Lord all of this is Yours. I’m so blessed, what You choose to remove is for my good. I live for You, beneath Your wings I take refuge, until the disaster has passed!” (Psalm 57:1)

I have heard, when God is all you have, He is all you need. And it is true. In every storm lift up your eyes, He is there!

The other day my precious, Jesus-loving friend sent a group-text to me and several of our momma friends. She wanted to share a verse from her daily Bible reading and hoped it would be an encouragement to all of us. She shared Leviticus 22:24…! (I’ll let you look it up.) 😉 We got a good giggle, not to mention the joking that followed for some time… and then we encouraged one another to press on.

It’s early March and I’m wondering today if you’re sticking with your commitment to read the Bible through this year. I know right now it’s tough because maybe you’re still pounding through Leviticus, or not quite sure if you can count anymore Numbers. Perhaps you’ve chosen a reading plan that has you rolling your eyes or scratching your head at Job’s longwinded friends. I want to encourage you to press on.

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) Even Leviticus…?!? Even Leviticus. 

The time you’re spending in the Scripture right now is profitable. Plodding through passages that seem to be so irrelevant or out of reach, sometimes boring — or embarrassing, the Scripture is training you. Be corrected. Be instructed. See the hand of Almighty God at work…even in the Numbers. Look for the hints of what is to come. See the foreshadowing of the Messiah, of who Jesus will be and what He will do. Watch for those things that God makes provision for within The Law that have connections with your favorite Bible stories and characters. (Hint: Mine is Ruth. See Leviticus 19:9-10.) And all the while, hear the voice of Moses as he sits down to teach the children who grew into adulthood while wandering the wilderness one last time.

Press on. Keep reading. Keep studying. And on occasion, text your friend about “the warp or the woof.” (Leviticus 13) 😉

We’ve all heard the saying, Stick and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Well, I think it’s safe to say, that’s not at all true. Words hurt deeply. We’ve all been there. Gotten heated and said something in haste we wish we could take back. Or in true social media fashion, we take to the keyboard and let out our frustrations and unleash them on the platform of our choice. Or on occasion we’ve even taken a passive-aggressive approach and said something in “jest” ever to be certain to throw in the, “I’m just kidding” phrase. Let’s all be honest and raise our hands here. Lately though, in true Psalm 139:23-24 fashion, God has had me searching my soul regarding my speech. God’s word has so much to say about this topic.

Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” Man, that one truly convicts me. If I were standing in the presence of the King of my heart, would I still speak the same or would I take a moment and word it so as not to offend the King? If I would do that for Jesus, shouldn’t I do that for my friends and family or even a stranger?

Proverbs 12:18 – “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”  Our tongues have a lot of power, and that is confirmed in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” When I read these verses, I almost want to weep. When I reflect on my days as a young mom, I remember the times I lashed out at my babies because I was stressed and at my breaking point. I often apologized later and told them that Mommy said some mean things that she shouldn’t have said, but the words were out there. I prayed that God would speak truth to their hearts and help me to do the same. That he would be the healing balm to mend their spirits.  

Now when I mention all the above instances, I know the word tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So if you are someone who has struggled with the same things as me, don’t let yourself live in guilt over it. I think the Lord would have us confess it, forget it, and drive on. I know I try not to obsess about the past but instead give it to God and try to be better going forward. I also don’t want to make anyone feel as though they have messed up so much that it’s just hopeless. God can make all things new. Even relationships that could have been damaged because of our words. I would encourage you today though, if God brings someone to mind that you may have hurt or offended, go to them and make it right. God will bless your obedience in that. I do think that God desires all of us to examine ourselves and our speech and ask him to set burning coals on our tongues at times because we are a people of unclean lips. (Isaiah6:5)   

Sticks and Stones may break our bones and words can truly hurt others. Let’s start fresh today and let our words be like honey, not like a thrashing sword that wounds.  

Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” Acts 10:4

As I flipped the pages of the gold dotted pages I noted how pretty this shiny spring Bible study book is. It is mostly black with a pop of gold. Faith and Fire are melded together and this study is pretty, but to my sometimes struggling self it is hard. I’ve noted questions I have, written plenty in the margins, and find myself repeatedly having to take a break, walk away and ponder for a hot minute, or ten

I’d written this statement, “Elijah means ‘Yahweh is God,’ what are people saying about you in your absence?” as one I’d been pondering.

I think about this a lot and in the days of late I’ve really been pondering it. 

I was at work and doing just that when I heard a conversation. I tried not to listen and made an attempt to walk away. A little feeling of panic welled up within me, I don’t like to hear people talk about other people. I feel responsible if I’m hearing it and do nothing. I looked around for a way of escape, afraid I would hear something I shouldn’t. I was trapped. I had a time-sensitive task before me. I wondered if I could shove cotton balls in my ears. I looked side to side, no cotton balls. Nothing with which to dull my sense of hearing. My panic was escalating and was manifested in irrationality. I’d have to sit, quickly finish the task, and hope I didn’t hear anything I would be responsible for.

“You know her. Annie. Annie Persons.” I continued with my calculations, head bent. I thought to myself. Nope. I don’t.

“Yeah I do but I hadn’t seen her in a while.”

“Well you know Annie Persons is old, she kinda real old. You remember? She used to just stand in a corner over there or somewhere and pray. She’d be praying all the time. “

The conversation turned from the Annie Persons person but I was stuck, struck really. There are many ways one can be remembered in life. Epitaphs as numerous as the souls to whom they are attached, but here I’d just heard an epitaph like I’d never heard. An epitaph that I ain’t even gonna lie, I was a little jealous of.

The conversation turned from the Annie Persons person but I was stuck, struck really. There are many ways one can be remembered in life. Epitaphs as numerous as the souls to whom they are attached, but here I’d just heard an epitaph like I’d never heard. An epitaph that I ain’t even gonna lie, I was a little jealous of.

She stands and prays. “She’d be praying all the time.” I didn’t know Annie Persons from Adam’s House-cat but I knew this about her, she prayed. And evidently she prayed without ceasing. She was truly known for her prayer life.  The shiny spring Bible study book question, came back to me, 

“What are people saying about you in your absence?” 

Truth is I figure they’re talking about how I look or what I make, maybe my circumstances or my family. Most likely they’re talking about what I wear or if I’ve got it all together or not, the state of my housekeeping, the state of my finances, if I’m funny or not so much. I figure they’re saying I’m alright, nice, or I serve or write or I’m married to a weatherman, but I can guarantee you I’ve never once thought they were talking about my prayer life. Based on my choices and behavior one would think folks spend an infinite amount of time studying my outward appearance, where I am gonna each lunch, or the study habits of my offspring. I have neglected to remember and to behave in such a way that serves as a reminder that I am called to be set apart and in essence marked by that very thing, a life of prayer.

Here I was overhearing a conversation about a person marked by prayer and it had never crossed my mind that in my absence that is what I want to be known for. It was those slight pangs of jealousy that made me realize that.

I was glad that there were no cotton balls to be found and that in the end my proximity and preoccupations forced me to sit and to listen, to overhear what was being said in the absence of another and to reevaluate exactly what it is I want people to remember and to talk about in my absence.