At seventeen years old, Joni Eareckson Tada unknowingly dove into shallow water and had her whole life changed in a moment. She became a quadriplegic, no longer able to use her arms or legs. At that point she could have given up on life and rejected God. Instead she opened her heart wider and embarked on a path of passionate service. Through the pain, struggle, sense of inadequacy, and relentless challenges, Joni followed God’s call on her life.
Over the next four decades this woman of faith learned to paint beautiful pictures by holding a brush in her teeth; she has written books, hosted a radio program, founded an organization to help people with disabilities, served on the Disability Advisory Committee for the U.S. State Department, and spoken at conferences around the world. Imagine what the world would have missed if Joni allowed her “limitation” to stop her from following the extraordinary call of God.
Think about an area of your life where you tend to focus more on your limitations than God’s ability to work through you. Consider asking God for encouragement and seek His leading in this area.
The above is taken from The Story: Getting to the Heart of God’s Story, pages 31 and 35.
1. How did Moses see himself and his abilities, and how did God see Moses? (Exodus 4:10 – 12; The Story, pgs. 46 – 47).
2. How is Passover (Exodus 12:1 – 24; The Story, pgs. 51 – 52) an ancient sign pointing to the death of Jesus on the cross as the final Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world?
3. While this story has many obvious displays of God’s wrath, we also learn a lot about God’s goodness. List the ways this story shows God’s goodness.
4. When Moses asked for God’s “official” name, God replied: I AM WHO I AM. Why do you think God identified Himself that way? What is the significance of that name? What does this name for God tell us about him?
Moses saw himself as very inadequate to do the job that God was asking of him. He even used the excuse that he had a problem with his speech. So what did God do? He said, use Aaron to speak for you. It is amazing how God uses, like with Abraham, the most ordinary people to do His most extraordinary.
Oh my gosh! The whole passover story points to Jesus! The slaying of the perfect lamb to cover the house and the people are saved. Just as the slaying of the most perfect Lamb of God and how His Blood has saved us from certain death - we have God's promise that we will live eternally because we are washed in his blood at the foot of the cross.
I know I have the ability to see the Israelites through a historical perspective, but my goodness, from the parting of the Red Sea, to water coming from a rock, providing a flame at night to guide them and a cloud for the day, and still the people complained that they were better off as slaves! They were hungry and God gave them manna, they wanted meat; as is told in Numbers 11:18-20, “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord." You can just hear God's frustration when he says he will give them so much meat that it will come out of their nostrils! Yet he loves them, forgives them and keeps giving to them.
"God is not God's name. That's right. The God of the universe has a name, but "God" isn't it. "God" is what God is. "Human being" is not your name, "Human being" is what you are. You also have a name. Whether it is "Barbara" or "Ken" or "Tom" or "Debbie", you have your own personal name. So does God. "I am" is the English translation of the meaning of God's personal name. The English transliteration of God's personal name is YHWH. YHWH's name means "I am that I am." (1996-2012 The Church of Yahweh)YHWH's name, the "I AM", reveals the fullness of His being. All of His nature and attributes are embodied in His name. He is the all and everything.
ReplyDeletePoint to Ponder...
At seventeen years old, Joni Eareckson Tada unknowingly dove into shallow water and had her whole life changed in a moment. She became a quadriplegic, no longer able to use her arms or legs. At that point she could have given up on life and rejected God. Instead she opened her heart wider and embarked on a path of passionate service. Through the pain, struggle, sense of inadequacy, and relentless challenges, Joni followed God’s call on her life.
Over the next four decades this woman of faith learned to paint beautiful pictures by holding a brush in her teeth; she has written books, hosted a radio program, founded an organization to help people with disabilities, served on the Disability Advisory Committee for the U.S. State Department, and spoken at conferences around the world. Imagine what the world would have missed if Joni allowed her “limitation” to stop her from following the extraordinary call of God.
Think about an area of your life where you tend to focus more on your limitations than God’s ability to work through you. Consider asking God for encouragement and seek His leading in this area.
The above is taken from The Story: Getting to the Heart of God’s Story, pages 31 and 35.
ReplyDeleteQuestions to consider...
1. How did Moses see himself and his abilities, and how did God see Moses? (Exodus 4:10 – 12; The Story, pgs. 46 – 47).
2. How is Passover (Exodus 12:1 – 24; The Story, pgs. 51 – 52) an ancient sign pointing to the death of Jesus on the cross as the final Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world?
3. While this story has many obvious displays of God’s wrath, we also learn a lot about God’s goodness. List the ways this story shows God’s goodness.
4. When Moses asked for God’s “official” name, God replied: I AM WHO I AM. Why do you think God identified Himself that way? What is the significance of that name? What does this name for God tell us about him?
Moses saw himself as very inadequate to do the job that God was asking of him. He even used the excuse that he had a problem with his speech. So what did God do? He said, use Aaron to speak for you. It is amazing how God uses, like with Abraham, the most ordinary people to do His most extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! The whole passover story points to Jesus! The slaying of the perfect lamb to cover the house and the people are saved. Just as the slaying of the most perfect Lamb of God and how His Blood has saved us from certain death - we have God's promise that we will live eternally because we are washed in his blood at the foot of the cross.
I know I have the ability to see the Israelites through a historical perspective, but my goodness, from the parting of the Red Sea, to water coming from a rock, providing a flame at night to guide them and a cloud for the day, and still the people complained that they were better off as slaves! They were hungry and God gave them manna, they wanted meat; as is told in Numbers 11:18-20, “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord." You can just hear God's frustration when he says he will give them so much meat that it will come out of their nostrils! Yet he loves them, forgives them and keeps giving to them.
"God is not God's name. That's right. The God of the universe has a name, but "God" isn't it. "God" is what God is. "Human being" is not your name, "Human being" is what you are. You also have a name. Whether it is "Barbara" or "Ken" or "Tom" or "Debbie", you have your own personal name. So does God. "I am" is the English translation of the meaning of God's personal name. The English transliteration of God's personal name is YHWH. YHWH's name means "I am that I am." (1996-2012 The Church of Yahweh)YHWH's name, the "I AM", reveals the fullness of His being. All of His nature and attributes are embodied in His name. He is the all and everything.