Can We Change God’s Mind? November 5, 2009

I heard a preacher once say that we could not change the mind of God.  I believe that we can change the heart and the mind of God as we pray.  Otherwise what would be the point of prayer?  How discouraging would that be to pray knowing that God will do what He wants anyways… so why bother?   In Exodus 32, the people had created a golden calf to worship and they gave it credit for getting them out of Egypt instead of worshipping the God of Israel.  God became so angry with them that he said he will “destroy the people and build a new nation.”  He wants to detroy the people of Israel and use Moses kind of like a new Abraham and build another chosen nation.  Wow!  God has made him an offer he can’t refuse (a  little Godfather humor there). 

However, Moses apparently doesn’t feel like he can sit back and let that happen, so he intercedes for the children of Israel.  He could have let it go and began as the new father of the nation.  Instead he prays for God to spare the people despite their sin and he gives a good reason… for God’s glory. 

Exodus 32: 11-13

“But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God.  “O LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?   Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It is with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.  Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.” 

Moses wants God to get the glory for this… that is the ultimate desire of his heart!  He doesn’t want the fame for himself but he wants God’s name to be great.  He is saying ‘God don’t destroy them otherwise how will that make You look?  The Egyptians have seen all the miracles you’ve done, they’ve seen your power, you are now known as the amazing God to set His people free from slavery and You’ve fought for them… don’t destory them and be known as the God who is evil and hates His own.’ 

He reminds God of His promises that were made to Abraham, Isaac and Israel.  He knows God’s promises are real and that God is faithful, He’s just angry… and rightfully so. 

I do believe we can move the heart of God, but the intent of our prayer should be for God to get the glory no matter what.  There’s so much more I could write here about the will of God… maybe more later on. 

Walk Like An Egyptian November 3, 2009

In Exodus 32, we read about the children of Israel and Aaron who steps into a leadership role while his brother Moses is gone.  The people were upset with Moses taking them through the wilderness.  They became more aggitated when he went up on the mountain and never gave them any idea as to how long he would be gone.  They could not understand the reason for the delay.  They did not know how long he would be gone because Moses did not know.  Moses was gone for a total of 40 days.  God’s timing was obviously not their timing.  They did not understand that what they perceived to be the best plan for them, was not what God knew was best for them.  Sounds like me. The delay frustrated them because they wanted an answer immediately.  They felt forgotten and ignored and it was because of their own fear that they were lost for 40 years in the wilderness…. yet God still provided that entire time – they were well-taken care of, well-fed and they were safe. 

They get this bright idea to make an idol for themselves because they are loosing faith in God and they want something tangible to worship.  The let their minds become bogged down with worry and fear and they lose their focus.  Aaron might not have been the instigator here, but he sure didn’t help matters.  He didn’t even try to discourage it.  He told the people to give him their gold jewelry (that they got from the Egyptians) and he would make an idol for them to worship.  He put their gold in the fire, melted it down and using a tool he formed it into a golden calf.  Yep, that’s a real miracle for you!  (hence the sarcasim) Ohhh it’s a golden calf!  Let’s just ignore the miracle that you’re still breathing right now, the fact that you just saw the waters part as you walked on dry land and you’re free from Egyptian slavery!  Speaking of the Egyptians, it’s interesting how the Israelites had just watched God do these amazing things in their lives, then they get impatient when things look slightly discouraging and they immediately go back to following the ways of the Egytians.   The golden calf that Aaron made was most likely similar to the idols the Egyptians worshiped, Apis or Osiris, especially if he put markings on it after melting it down.  Source.

We can be really stupid sometimes, can’t we?  We all have done similar things when we feel discouraged or forgotten by God.  We may not burn gold and make a cow, but we let other things in life take priority in our lives as we forget about God.  They knew God led them out of slavery in Egypt and they knew he was leading them to the Promised Land, but they got impatient and wanted their own way.  They made the idol to “go before to lead them” as if to say ‘we don’t trust this God of Israel anymore, look how long it’s taken us to get to this so called “promised land.”  This can’t possibly be for our good.’  It seems they felt forgotten and ignored by God and the person that was leading them just left not telling them when he was coming back.  They let their fears and discouragement rule their hearts.   

I can’t help but look at the fact that they were taken out of slavery but they were still slaves in their hearts and in their mindset.   They were rescued but not truly free because of their own stubborn mindset – by their own choice.  I have a friend who is a Christian but she lives with a stubborn, “Hebrew slave-girl” mentality.  She could enjoy the freedom and love she has through Christ but she still lives in a mindset of anger, doubt and fear ruling her life.  It’s not healthy and it’s not the plan God has for her.  She refuses to believe that God can and wants to bless her.  I firmly believe her lack of faith and trust stifles her walk with Christ.  It’s the same thing with the Hebrew slaves, they were technically free but still lived with a slavery mentality and went right back to living like an Egyptian!  (And suddenly I’m singing Walk Like An Egytian) lol!  

Platonic relationships with the opposite sex? October 30, 2009

Can a purely platonic relationship with the opposite sex really exist? 

I questioned this for years.  I always wanted to have a good guy friend that was strictly a friend.  Nothing more.  Just a good friend.  All through high school I wanted to have a good guy buddy to talk to, to confide in and just have fun without the worry of whether or not he had feelings for me… or worse… me have feelings for him.
Well… I tried it.  This guy came into my life a couple years ago and he’s awesome.  He’s a great guy, we both felt totally comfortable to be ourselves, there were a lot of in depth conversations, and he’s absolutely hilarious, always made me laugh.  I love being around him, but I’m absolutely not attracted to him… it’s not going to happen.  Ever.  

I can honestly say that my desire to have a close friendship with someone of the opposite sex gets a big FAIL!  This has been tried and done and it went Ka-Poop.  It can not happen.  It seems to me that there is no such thing as a close platonic relationship with someone of the opposite sex.  Someone will always end up falling for the other person… maybe it will be 3 months or 3 years, but it will happen.