Would you make the trade?

Garth Heckman 

The David Alliance

 

BAM - watch them every Tuesday night on our Facebook page. This Week the Jezebel Spirit… and not just women have it. 

 

August Friday and Saturday 16th 17th End times conference at HillSpring Church sponsored by The David Alliance, 

 

I take blood pressure medication… Yes, I have high blood pressure. But not because I have a bad heart or high cholesterol or plaque in my arteries.. actually they look great, clear as a bell… but my heart is enlarged… my atrium is to big… and thats where we are going today. 

 

Hey ever read scripture and get a heart check? When they were looking to find out why I had high blood pressure it was a little bit of a riddle until they took a sonogram of my heart… which was a great day because I led my Muslim Doctor to Christ… story for another day.  But they did all kinds of tests checking my heart…. When I read scripture I get heart checks like that… and here is one today for us. 

 

Exodus 32:7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”

 

WE can see 3 things clearly here in scripture regarding Man, God and Those greatly used by God.

 

  -1 Men can do stupid things…. Israel created their own God.. a golden statue… This is after their current God (YWHY- the true and real God) just led them out of Egypt, spit the read sea, drowned their enemies, gave them gold, jewelry, food and booty in their exit… but hey, you know… its just not good enough. Yes we all can do stupid things… and quite regularly for some of us.

 

  -2 God can get mad! We see in scripture where Jesus gets mad. He turned over tables, he cussed out the pharisees and sadducees. He threw over tables, he swung a whip around chasing people out of the temple. 

Which means… we can get God mad. Thats a thought we should reflect on… maybe a later podcast. But here in Exodus we see God wants to wipe out the nation of Israel and start over. 

Wow… Im not saying that it sounds like God is pouting… but, well… this is an extreme response in my mind… which leads us to the 3rd things we see in this scripture.

 

  -3 Moses is given an amazing offer. God says I will make you the father of a great nation… First just let me wipe out Israel. Next I will give you the ability to impregnate some women… I guess right?  Your family tree will grow and grow and grow and you will take over from where the other generation blew it….

How many would jump at that opportunity. But maybe one of the most impressive and most humble and maybe one of the most “God responses” in scripture… Moses says

11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”

14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

Moses could be handed an amazing future, an amazing legacy, an amazing story… I am sure it would have fed just about anyones ego… (yeah God, Im so much better than those sinners… kill’em all and lets do this) But not Moses, his heart was for the salvation of those people. 

What dream, goal hope would you trade to see more people come to Jesus… 

I am some day going to own 2 or 3 corvettes… at 58, a 63 split window and a 68 removable hard top or T top. Would I trade those dreams for more people to come to Christ? Would I trade my future dream home and cars and guns and boats and the ability to spoil my parents and my kids… would I trade all that to see more people come to Christ….

But don’t miss the point… these “people” are a pain in the butt to Moses… they cause him nothing but trouble, they whine, they complain, they don’t follow rules or Gods word… they want a different leader than Moses… would you give up your future promise for those people?

You know the people that drive you crazy… they talk behind your back, they gossip, they want nothing more than to see you fail, fall and fizzle out. They revel in your loss… would you give up your dreams for those people to come to Christ? 

HEART CHECK… lets put that at the top of our prayer list….