June 30, 2024 • 38 mins
The Life of Moses- Episode #24 🔆 What if we told you that recognizing yourself as merely an instrument in God's hands could transform your entire approach to life and worship? Welcome to Whispers of Grace! Today our discussion is rooted in Exodus 20:22-26, where we explore the significance of attributing all glory to God and examine the concept of "Glory Thieves" who mistakenly seek recognition for themselves.
Journey with us as we delve into the themes of idolatry, altar construction, and humble worship. We'll uncover God's specific instructions to the Israelites about building altars from uncut stones and maintaining modesty during worship. Drawing on rich insights from Matthew Henry and Paul's teachings in Romans, we challenge ourselves to recognize how idolatry can subtly infiltrate our lives, urging us to seek validation in all the wrong places. This part of our discussion will truly make you question where you may be placing undue importance on worldly recognition.
We wrap up by focusing on the teachings of Jesus from Matthew, chapter six, highlighting the importance of inner devotion over outward appearances. With personal experiences and biblical stories like that of Nadab and Abihu, we underscore the serious consequences of seeking attention in worship. Drawing on the allegory of Aslan's claws from "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," we encourage deep introspection and humility, reminding ourselves that true fulfillment and freedom come from God's love alone. This episode will leave you inspired to stand aside and give all the glory to God, steering clear of becoming a "glory thief".
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:19):
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sHoly Word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.
(00:39):
I am so excited to be here withyou today and I wanted to let
you know about a really fun newfeature that we have on the
podcast.
You can now directly send me atext.
So if you click into thepodcast description where it
tells you what the episode isabout, if you scroll to the
bottom, there should be a littlelink that says send me a text,
(01:03):
and you can click on there andthe messages actually come right
into the podcast host sitewhere I can read them.
So I would love to utilize thisspace for questions about
content or comments aboutepisodes or requests or more
information or really anythingthat you guys have on your
hearts.
So if there's something thatyou want to hear more of or a
(01:25):
topic that you'd like to talkabout, please send me a message.
I can review these questions atthe beginning of each episode.
Or if you just want to pop inand say hi from your region or
your country, I would love toshare that too at the beginning
of episodes, so we can start tobuild a bit of a community where
you as listeners can feel moreconnected to one another as a
(01:48):
group, because there are peopleliterally all around the world
that tune in and listen to this.
So I thought it would be anawesome opportunity for us to
come together and, honestly, itwould be great for me to hear
too, because I do this for you,so I'd love to learn what you
want to hear more about and justhear your voice.
So I'm so excited for this and,as we get kicked off today for
(02:10):
what we're going to be talkingabout, my pastor at my church
right now likes to give thislittle analogy about a paint
brush at service.
That I always think is soeffective, and I've heard a few
other pastors use this indifferent ways, but it's so
applicable today.
So it goes that you don't cometo a painter who's just painted
you know your home thisbeautiful new coat of paint and
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say hey, where's your paintbrush?
And pick up that paintbrush andlook at the paintbrush and say,
wow, paintbrush, you've donesuch a wonderful job of painting
this house.
It's really fantastic.
What a wonderful.
You've done such a wonderfuljob of painting this house.
It's really fantastic.
What a wonderful job you'vedone.
That's silly, right?
We don't actually thank thepaintbrush.
We know that it's the painterwho is responsible for painting
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the house.
So to think about even praisingthe instrument that was used in
painting the house seemsridiculous and silly.
But that is essentially whatwe're going to be talking about
today.
This episode is called GloryThieves because so often we, as
that paintbrush, can steal theglory away from God, even though
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we are just his vessels, we'rejust the tools that he's using.
It's so, so easy for us tostand in the way of what he's
doing or to take the praise andthe glory.
So that is what we're going tobe talking a little bit about
today.
So we are back in Exodus,chapter 20, at the end.
We went through the 10commandments last time and this
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time we're only going to begoing through a few verses at
the end of Exodus 20, verses 22to 26.
And these little verses have somuch packed into them.
We're actually going to hitthree topics, but they're all
very related.
So first we're going to talkabout idolatry, which is
worshiping something besides God, and then we're going to merge
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into talking about theIsraelites, how they were
instructed to build altars, dirtaltars with uncut stones that
were used to worship God.
It says that if a tool is usedto shape the altar then it is
profaned.
There is no mark of man to beon God's altar.
And the third thing we're goingto talk about is when the
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priests serve at the altar.
There must be no fleshindecently exposed, so there's
no flesh of man that shoulddistract from the worship of God
.
So as I read through thislittle section, just kind of
keep your mind on those littletopics as we go through.
This is Exodus, chapter 20, 20,verses 22 to 26.
(04:48):
Then the Lord said to Mosesthus you shall say to the
children of Israel you have seenthat I have talked with you
from heaven.
You shall not make anything tobe with me Gods of silver or
gods of gold.
You shall not make foryourselves An altar of earth.
You shall make for me and youshall sacrifice on it your burnt
(05:11):
offerings and your peaceofferings, your sheep and your
oxen.
In every place where I recordmy name, I will come to you and
I will bless you.
And if you make me an altar ofstone, you shall not build it of
hewn stone, for if you use yourtool on it, you have profaned
it.
Nor shall you go up my steps tomy altar that your nakedness
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may not be exposed on it.
So three little mentions ofthings to do and not to do Make
no idols.
When you make altars, make themof dirt and uncut stone.
And lastly, no flesh shouldglory in his presence.
This is when he's talking aboutyour nakedness not being
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exposed.
But when we look at these threetopics, they really beautifully
weave together.
So he starts out this littlesection as so often he does.
God says thus you shall say tothe children of Israel you have
seen that I have talked with youfrom heaven.
So God once again reminds theIsraelites you've seen me.
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The Israelites have justexperienced God at Mount Sinai,
the thunderings and thelightnings and the smoke and the
fire and all of thesemanifestations of God's presence
.
They've seen it and all of themiracles.
But God is still reminding them.
He says remember how I'verevealed myself to you, I've met
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you, I've provided, I've walkedwith you through disappointment
.
And every time that God saysthis, I think it's important for
us to notice how often Godreminds us to remember.
We need to remember, toremember.
It's so vitally important andGod starts so often in this
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place with remember, rememberwhat I've done, remember who I
am, because this, right here,friends, is the key to humility.
When we remember who God is andwhat he's done, and the gravity
of that really hits us, itreally humbles us, which is what
we're going to be talking about.
(07:25):
So, starting to talk aboutidolatry, it looked very blatant
in the days of Moses.
There was idolatry everywhere.
Everyone had idols.
If you've ever seen ancientEgypt, idols everywhere.
Idol worship was so prominentin the days of Moses and there's
still idolatry today in manyparts of the world, in Hinduism,
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in Buddhism and in lots ofother religions.
There are tangible idols thatpeople place and worship.
They bow down to them, theythink of them as gods, and there
are many, many things that webow down to and worship and
don't even acknowledge it.
We are going to dive into thistopic very deeply when we get to
the golden calf a little bitlater in the book of Exodus, so
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I'm not going to go into it toodeep.
But as I was studying andthinking about this, I ran
across just this little commentfrom Matthew Henry, who is a
Bible commentator, and he wastalking all about idolatry and
how it affects us.
But this little statement.
He was talking about howstrange it is and how we're so
easily drawn into idolatry, andhe just says our peculiar
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addictedness to idolatry and theparticular sinfulness of that
crime.
It's true, we are addicted toidolatry and it is incredibly
sinful because it's lettingsomething take the place of God,
worshiping something as thoughit was God.
Even if it's meant to be arepresentation of him, it will
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never properly reflect our God.
Paul talks a lot about this inthe book of Romans.
I'm going to read to you alittle bit from chapter 1,
verses 21 to 25.
Paul says For although theyknew God, they did not honor him
as God or give thanks to him,but they became futile in their
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thinking and their foolishhearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise, theybecame fools and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God forimages resembling mortal man and
birds and animals and creepingthings.
Therefore, god gave them up inthe lusts of their hearts, to
impurity, to the dishonoring oftheir bodies among themselves,
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because they exchanged the truthabout God for a lie and
worshipipped and served thecreature rather than the creator
, who is forever blessed.
Amen, and that's it right there, at the end of the statement.
Idolatry is worshipping andserving a creature rather than
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the creator, putting somethingin the place of God, and that
something can so often beourselves.
We can worship ourselves overGod so often because our human
spirits, they long forrecognition, for respect, for
appreciation, for validation.
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We want to be noticed andrespected and praised and, if
you're really honest withyourself, these things rule our
hearts so often.
I have had such a hard monthstudying for this because I feel
like, in studying it andpraying about it and asking God
to reveal it in my heart, he has.
(10:43):
And it has just been sodepressing to notice how often I
say or do things because I wantto be validated or I want to be
noticed or I want to berespected or recognized or
praised.
It's just, it's so sad howfrail and insecure we can really
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be in and of ourselves andcreate ourselves an idol that
takes the place of God.
And it just caused me to thinkabout the Westminster Confession
, because I think this is such abeautiful statement of faith
that I run back to consistently.
The Westminster Confessionaddresses the question what is
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the chief end of man?
So what is our purpose.
What are we living for?
And this is what they said toglorify God and to enjoy him
forever.
That is our purpose.
That's the chief end of man.
That is what we are here.
That is what we are living forOne, to glorify God, to bring
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him glory, and number two, toenjoy him forever.
This seems simple, but we getin the way all the time.
And when I read this passage inExodus, it just hit me how clear
it is.
Back in Exodus, chapter 20,verse 24, it says An altar of
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earth you shall make for me andyou shall sacrifice on it your
burnt offerings and your peaceofferings, your sheep and your
oxen.
In every place where I recordmy name, I will come to you and
I will bless you.
So he says.
When you make an altar, itneeds to be simple, it needs to
be made of earth.
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And then he goes on in verse 25and God says and if you make me
an altar of stones, you shallnot build it of hewn stones, so
no stones that have been shapedby a tool of man, for if you use
your tool on it, you'veprofaned it.
So this simplicity of dirt andstones, it reminds us that what
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God has already created.
It brings him glory that whatGod has already created.
It brings him glory Just assimple as the dirt and the
stones, because God put hishands on those things and
created them and they'rebeautiful just the way that God
made them.
But we always feel like we haveto improve on the things that
God has created.
Now I'm not disparaging theartistic side that all of us
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have, because God has put thatinto us as well, where we love
beauty and we love to create andinnovate, and those are
beautiful aspects of the heartof God.
And God is not against beautyand creating to this the
tabernacle and the temple.
They will be beautiful andornate and the spirit of God
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will empower skilled artisans tomake these beautiful places of
worship.
So God is not against artistryand imagination and creativity.
That is not what we're saying.
What God is against isdistracting away from him,
because when the tabernacle andthe temple were built, god gave
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very specific plans as toexactly what they should look
like, down to every single cubitand the decoration and the
color and the thread to be usedand the metals to be used.
God gave a perfect plan for allof those things, because
they're actually a picture ofwhat's going on in heaven.
God has a plan for the way thathe wants to be worshiped and
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viewed by us, and we shouldnever get in the way of what
that plan looks like In thinkingabout this, about how just the
simple dirt and stones were holyand fit for use as an altar.
It reminded me of when Mosescomes to the burning bush in the
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desert If you remember, we wentover this long ago.
But God tells him do youremember what he says?
He approaches the bush and Godsays take off your sandals
because the place where you'restanding is holy.
And there's lots of speculationas to why this could be.
But one of my favorite thingsto think about is that he was
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connecting with hiscreatureliness, with the fact
that he was a simple createdbeing, connecting his feet back
to the dust that he came from.
There's so much humility andacknowledgement of God's supreme
power and of Moses'screatedness in that simple act
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and taking away that piece ofdead animal probably it was a
piece of leather on his footjust removing that man-made item
that was standing between Mosesand the earth because he was
standing on holy ground.
There's so much beauty anddepth to that simple little
story and that's a lot of whatwe're looking at here, with
these dirt and stone altars.
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This reminds me again a lot ofPaul in first Corinthians,
chapter one, 1, verse 17.
He says this for Christ did notsend me to baptize but to
preach the gospel, and not withwisdom and eloquence, lest the
cross of Christ be emptied ofits power.
So in this verse Paul istelling the Corinthians when I
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came to you, when I shared thegospel with you, it wasn't with
all of this worldly wisdom whichhe had, because he was a
well-trained man who couldreason with the best of them,
and I'm sure he was eloquent aswell.
But he said he didn't come withall of this wisdom and
eloquence.
Why he says so?
That the cross of Christwouldn't be emptied of its power
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.
He didn't want to substitutethe fine words of man for the
power of the gospel.
He continues down in verse 27and says but God chose the
foolish things of the world toshame the wise.
God chose the weak things of theworld to shame the wise.
God chose the weak things ofthe world to shame the strong.
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God chose the lowly things ofthis world and the despised
things and the things that arenot to nullify the things that
are, so that no one may boastbefore him.
It is because of him that youare in Jesus Christ, who has
become for us the wisdom fromGod that is our righteousness,
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holiness and redemption.
Therefore, as it is written,let the one who boasts boast in
the Lord.
So he's encouraging theCorinthians here to understand
that we didn't bring anything toGod.
We weren't wise and wonderful,we were foolish, and God uses
those foolish and lowly thingsto bring him glory.
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I want to read to you just onemore little section.
This is from 1 Corinthians,chapter 2, verses 1 through 5.
And so it was with me.
Brothers and sisters, when Icame to you, I did not come with
eloquence or human wisdom, as Iproclaimed to you the testimony
about God, for I resolved toknow nothing while I was with
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you except Jesus Christ and himcrucified.
I came to you in weakness, withgreat fear and trembling.
My message and my preachingwere not with wise and
persuasive words, but with ademonstration of the Spirit's
power, so that your faith mightnot rest on human wisdom but on
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God's power.
Paul was trying to create analtar of dirt and uncut stones
to lay the foundation of faithfor the Corinthians.
He didn't want it to be basedon Paul's words or the fact that
he was so convincing andeloquent and amazing.
His message was going to besimple, and not with persuasive
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words, but with a demonstrationof the Spirit's power.
Words, but with thedemonstration of the Spirit's
power, so that their faithwouldn't rest on a human wisdom
but on the power of God.
So this is exactly what we'retalking about here.
The faith of these Corinthiansbelievers needed to be founded
on the simple gospel, on thetruth that is there, that is so
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sweet and perfect in itssimplicity, and he knew that
there was nothing that he couldadd to it.
Now, again, to give you somebalance, later on, in 1
Corinthians, paul also says thathe does speak wisdom, and he
goes on to say that there isdeep spiritual wisdom to be
taught and observed by matureminds.
So he's not saying that hethrew out wisdom altogether, but
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he's saying when he was sowingthe seeds of the gospel, when he
first encountered them, he knewthat it wasn't going to be
because he was so wise orwonderful, but it was going to
be the moving of the spirit ofGod that touched hearts and that
simple truth was going tochange lives, a time and a place
for all things.
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But God, when he is worshiped,it needs to be in his timing and
in his way.
We get in our own way so often,and Jesus knows this.
God knows this, and this is whywe're constantly encouraged to
stop looking at ourselves and tolook to him.
(20:23):
In Matthew, chapter six, jesusis talking to his disciples.
This is a part of the Sermon onthe Mount Be careful not to
practice your righteousness infront of others, to be seen by
them.
If you do, you will have noreward from your father in
heaven.
So when you give to the needy,do not announce it with trumpets
, as the hypocrites do in thesynagogues and on the streets,
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to be honored by others.
Truly, I tell you they havereceived their reward in full.
But when you give to the needy,do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,so that your giving may be in
secret, and then your Father,who sees what is done is secret,
will reward you.
So these are red letters in myBible.
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This is the words of Jesustelling us to be careful not to
practice our righteousness to beseen by others, not to be glory
thieves not to steal from thoseeven the good things that we
would do to receive glory andadmiration for others to think
well of us.
He warns us against that.
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Our flesh, it looks for anyopportunity to draw attention to
ourself, whether that'spositive or negative attention.
I don't know if you've everseen a kid that thrives on
negative attention.
I had one of those and shedidn't care whether it was
positive attention or negativeattention.
So she did something reallygood and she got applause and
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praise.
Or if she did something really,really naughty and just
received, you know, punishment,but there was still attention in
it.
Those kids that are the onesthat you know throw the fruit
bowl down the stairs and smashthe grapes into the carpet and
draw on the walls and cut allthe hair off of their dolls and
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poke babies in the eye and peeon their brother and sister's
toys and steals their mom'smakeup and rubs it all over
their body and into the rug andrips every piece of clothing out
of the closet and throws itinto a pile on the floor.
These children, it's thenegative attention, because even
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if you're upset, even if you'redisappointed and angry, you are
still focusing all of yourattention on this kid, so this
was her way to get attention.
And don't we do the same thing?
How often we like to complainabout our ailments or our issues
or the way that people haveharmed us?
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We love attention, whether it'sgoing to be for positive things
or for negative things.
There's different kinds ofpeople.
Some people love that negativeattention they can get the shock
and awe factor.
Or some of us, we go for thesympathy vote.
We just want people to feel badfor us, to think about us, to
look at us.
This is just the way it is.
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And then there's those of usthat are the straight A students
that are just looking for theaccolades of mom and dad and for
everybody else to look at usand say what a good job that
we've done.
Else to look at us and say whata good job that we've done.
However you slice it, whateverkind of a person you are, we all
love the attention and we lookfor opportunities to draw
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attention to ourselves.
And this is why thesescriptures that we're reading,
what we're talking about, is soimportant, because God is
telling us God was tellingIsrael then that there is no
flesh to glory in the worship ofGod.
1 Timothy, chapter 2, verses 9and 10, says this, and I want
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women to be modest in theirappearance.
They should wear decent andappropriate clothing and not
draw attention to themselves bythe way they fix their hair or
by wearing gold or pearls orexpensive clothes, for women who
claim to be devoted to Godshould make themselves
attractive by the good thingsthat they do.
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Now that's in the New LivingTranslation, and I really,
really love the way that ittranslates this because it's
true.
This is talking about womengathering together with
believers in church.
Do we go to be noticed, to drawattention to ourself?
Do we spend way too long doingour hair and makeup and thinking
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about how our shoes go with ouroutfit, or are we concerned
about the good things that we doand being devoted to God and
letting those things be ourwitness?
I think all of us, if we'rehonest, can say that we have
gotten far too caught up in ourown appearance more than once.
It's true, because we thinkabout our perception, how others
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are going to think of us.
Do we look haggard and tired orlike we haven't spent any time
on ourselves?
We want to look a certain way,we want to be perceived a
certain way, but here in FirstTimothy, we are encouraged to be
modest in our appearance, notto be dressing, to be drawing
attention to ourselves, but tobe focused on our devotion to
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God and let that be theattractiveness about us.
Again, this is not saying thatwe should never buy nice things,
that we shouldn't wear jewelry,that we shouldn't wear makeup.
I think that that's anoverreaction and an exaggeration
of the heart of what this issaying.
It's saying don't do thesethings to draw unnecessary
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attention to yourself.
God delights in beauty.
So don't hear this and bediscouraged about being
concerned with beauty, becauseGod also enjoys beauty.
But we have to consider ourheart's intent.
Now, the ultimate example thatI could think of in the Bible
when we're talking about heart'sintent, now, the ultimate
example that I could think of inthe Bible when we're talking
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about heart's intent, isdefinitely the story of Nadab
and Abihu.
These men lost their lives overthis.
I'm going to give you just alittle insight as to what's
happening here and then I'mgoing to read you a couple of
scriptures.
So in this passage of scriptureit's recording when the
priestly ministry actuallybegins.
So when they build thetabernacle, which is going to be
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their movable tent of worshipthat they're going to carry
around with them in the desertas they're wandering.
This is when it all firststarts, when the priests are
ordained for ministry, when thetabernacle is set up, when the
fire of God first first comes.
This is that time.
So I'm going to read to you alittle bit of that story from
Leviticus 9, verse 22.
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Then Aaron lifted his handstoward the people and blessed
them and, having sacrificed thesin offering, the burnt offering
and the fellowship offering, hestepped down.
Moses and Aaron then went intothe tent of meeting and when
they came out they blessed thepeople and the glory of the Lord
appeared to all the people.
Fire came out from the presenceof the Lord and consumed the
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burnt offering and the fatportions on the altar, and when
all the people saw it, theyshouted for joy and fell face
down.
So here we see the priestsbringing the offering onto the
altar and God consuming it withfire.
All of the people see this.
It says that they shout for joyand they fall in their faces.
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So at this point all eyes areon the work that God has just
done.
He has just proven himself inanother big way and shown his
pleasure for the obedience ofthese men.
And here's what happens next.
This is from the beginning ofchapter 10.
Aaron's sons, nadab and Abihu,took their censers, they put
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fire in them and added incense,and they offered unauthorized
fire before the Lord, contraryto his commandment.
So fire came out from thepresence of the Lord and
consumed them and they diedbefore the Lord.
Moses then said to Aaron thisis what the Lord spoke of when
he said among those who approachme, I will be proved holy in
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the sight of all the people, Iwill be honored.
And Aaron remained silent.
So Aaron's sons two sons, nadaband Abihu actually lose their
lives right in the middle ofthis worship service.
That's happening when everybodyis filled with joy and falls
down on their face.
These two men step out of line.
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It says that they put fire intotheir censers and they add the
incense and they offer anunauthorized fire before the
Lord.
So this is something that hehad not commanded them to do.
Now, there's a thousand reasonswhy they may have done this.
This was their first day on thejob, sure, but they had been
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given such strict instructionsas to how God was to be
worshipped.
This was not a simple oversight,this was a choice.
Maybe their emotions got thebest of them.
God is answering by fire.
All of Israel is bowing downand praising God, and they just
wanted to be more a part of it.
So they're thinking let's offersome incense to the Lord.
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It could have been from joy,they could have been excited and
just kind of forgotten thatthey don't get to do whatever
they want as priests, but thatthey are representatives of God
and that he has given them aspecific way to be worshiped.
And they offer this incense andGod immediately.
He answers by fire and he takestheir lives.
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It could have been that thesemen were kind of missing out on
the spotlight, because so farit's been Moses and Aaron that
are kind of doing the big jobs,and maybe they're standing off
to the side and didn't feel likethey were a part of it.
And they wanted to be part ofworshiping God too, and so they
offered this incense and justthought it was going to be a
small little sacrifice.
Either way, it says in thescripture that fire came out
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from the Lord.
It consumed them because theyoffered unauthorized fire that
was contrary to his command.
So this was different than whathe had asked them to do and it
was putting the focus on them.
It was not putting the focus onGod.
God was having his moment here.
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He was having a moment with hispeople, with his children.
He was showing them that heaccepted their offerings.
It was such a moment with hispeople, with his children.
He was showing them that heaccepted their offerings.
It was such a beautiful moment.
And then that flesh of manstepped in for just a minute.
That flesh wanted that gloryand stepped out of place for
just a moment, and it was aserious offense.
God is so serious about hisglory being guarded and when
(31:07):
eyes are on Jesus, you never,ever, ever take them off of
Jesus and put them on you.
We are just so very good atstealing God's glory in overt
ways, and sometimes in covertways, that we don't even see
where we're taking the attentionthat is due the Lord and we're
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putting it somewhere else.
I've been thinking just how doI distract from what God is
doing?
I can distract away from whatGod is doing by forcing my own
timeline instead of waiting forGod's, by talking too much, by
(31:49):
overthinking situations, bystriving for what I think I need
, by manipulating situations orrushing ahead to offer the
incense that, I think, is best.
In needing attention and praisefor my good deeds, I can become
a glory thief.
(32:09):
It's sad, but it's true.
We all have the ability tobecome glory thieves, to come in
and steal those things that aredue to the Lord and to take
credit for them.
The word says that every goodand every perfect gift is from
above.
It's from the father of lights,it's not from us.
(32:30):
Anything good that we canproduce is because of Jesus.
He is due all the glory and allthe honor and all the praise,
and I don't want to get in hisway by manipulating a situation
or by talking over him oroverthinking or striving or so
many of the things that I can doto get in his way.
(32:52):
I want to give him free reignto have his way, to be glorified
and to fall to the background,to not need to be acknowledged
for when I do a good job or forwhen I do something for someone
else, but to happily fade to thebackground, to be content in
that, not just content to bejoyful to be forgotten, to be
(33:14):
joyful to let Jesus shine, tolet him be noticed and not us.
At the end of the day, myfriends, we need to be coming to
God to get our fulfillment andour acknowledgement, because
he's the only one that we reallyneeded from, and he calls us
friend, he calls us beloved.
(33:37):
He says that we are his chosenpeople.
We are so special and preciousto him we don't need to earn our
place.
He's already got us secure.
So many of us, I think, arestriving to please God because
we feel like we need to earn hislove.
We can't, there's nothing thatwe can do to add to the love
(33:57):
that we have right in this verymoment from God.
There's nothing that you can doto add or take away from the
love of God, nothing that youcan do to add or take away from
the love of God and thatfulfillment that we seek the
acknowledgement from others.
It's because we don't reallybelieve what God says about us.
We need somebody else to say ittoo.
So let me challenge you thisweek, as we set off, really
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search your heart and find outwhere those weaknesses are,
where you feel that you need tobe seen and observed and
acknowledged and thanked andpraised, and figure out why it's
there.
And so often this work isreally, really, really difficult
for us to do.
(34:42):
I've been reading my kids theChronicles of Narnia and one of
my favorite pictures in theVoyage of the Dawn Treader,
there's a character named Ustasand in the beginning of the book
he's just a horrible crankybrat and he finds this dragon's
treasure and he takes some of itand it actually turns him into
a dragon he can't free.
(35:03):
He's just stuck in thisdragon's body and as he's a
dragon he learns to be helpful,to be part of the group.
It's kind of changes who he is,but he can never free himself
from this dragon skin that he'sstuck in.
And then in the story he meetsAslan, who is a great lion, who
is a picture of Jesus in thesebooks, and he needs Aslan to
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come and use his claws to freehim from this dragon's skin.
So there's this scene whenAslan comes to him and it says
that he uses his claws to tearoff this dragon's skin.
And it's funny because Ustas isa dragon, right.
So he's got these claws andthis fire and he's constantly
clawing at himself trying to getthe skin off and there's
(35:50):
nothing he can do.
He's stuck.
He needs the claws of Aslan tocome and free him from his flesh
.
And this is exactly what Jesusdoes when we come to salvation.
He is the one that frees us.
But so often we get stuck againand again and again we put
ourselves back into this prisonthat we've been freed from.
(36:12):
In needing the approval ofothers or in needing praise or
acknowledgement, we putourselves back in these cages
and we don't need to be there.
But so often we need the clawsof Aslan to come and show us our
own hearts, to show us what'sreally there, because we are so
often blind to our motives, toour deep heart motives of why we
(36:35):
do things.
So maybe that can be a helpfulpicture to you as you consider
these things.
And I would encourage you letthose claws of Aslan go deep.
And I would encourage you, letthose claws of Aslan go deep.
I don't know about you, but I donot want any part of my flesh
to glory in God's work.
I want to stand back from thataltar.
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I don't want to put my tools onthose stones and think that I
can make them more precious.
So just one more thing I wantto encourage you before we wrap
up remember to remember where westarted at the beginning.
Here is where I think we needto end.
God encourages them to remember.
(37:16):
We need to remember who God isand what he's done for us,
because it corrects our heartsand it brings a true humility
where we don't need to be thefocus.
We remember how weak we are, weremember our flesh and we
remember what he's done and hislove, and it corrects us, it
helps us to see him well.
(37:36):
So, my friends, as we walk intothis week, as you walk into the
rest of this day, I pray thatGod would allow these truths to
settle on your hearts and thatwe would never be those glory
thieves, but we would standaside and give him all the glory
that is due his name.
Thank you.
Kia ora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sHoly Word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to Whispers of Grace.
(00:39):
I am so excited to be here withyou today and I wanted to let
you know about a really fun newfeature that we have on the
podcast.
You can now directly send me atext.
So if you click into thepodcast description where it
tells you what the episode isabout, if you scroll to the
bottom, there should be a littlelink that says send me a text,
(01:03):
and you can click on there andthe messages actually come right
into the podcast host sitewhere I can read them.
So I would love to utilize thisspace for questions about
content or comments aboutepisodes or requests or more
information or really anythingthat you guys have on your
hearts.
So if there's something thatyou want to hear more of or a
(01:25):
topic that you'd like to talkabout, please send me a message.
I can review these questions atthe beginning of each episode.
Or if you just want to pop inand say hi from your region or
your country, I would love toshare that too at the beginning
of episodes, so we can start tobuild a bit of a community where
you as listeners can feel moreconnected to one another as a
(01:48):
group, because there are peopleliterally all around the world
that tune in and listen to this.
So I thought it would be anawesome opportunity for us to
come together and, honestly, itwould be great for me to hear
too, because I do this for you,so I'd love to learn what you
want to hear more about and justhear your voice.
So I'm so excited for this and,as we get kicked off today for
(02:10):
what we're going to be talkingabout, my pastor at my church
right now likes to give thislittle analogy about a paint
brush at service.
That I always think is soeffective, and I've heard a few
other pastors use this indifferent ways, but it's so
applicable today.
So it goes that you don't cometo a painter who's just painted
you know your home thisbeautiful new coat of paint and
(02:34):
say hey, where's your paintbrush?
And pick up that paintbrush andlook at the paintbrush and say,
wow, paintbrush, you've donesuch a wonderful job of painting
this house.
It's really fantastic.
What a wonderful.
You've done such a wonderfuljob of painting this house.
It's really fantastic.
What a wonderful job you'vedone.
That's silly, right?
We don't actually thank thepaintbrush.
We know that it's the painterwho is responsible for painting
(02:55):
the house.
So to think about even praisingthe instrument that was used in
painting the house seemsridiculous and silly.
But that is essentially whatwe're going to be talking about
today.
This episode is called GloryThieves because so often we, as
that paintbrush, can steal theglory away from God, even though
(03:17):
we are just his vessels, we'rejust the tools that he's using.
It's so, so easy for us tostand in the way of what he's
doing or to take the praise andthe glory.
So that is what we're going tobe talking a little bit about
today.
So we are back in Exodus,chapter 20, at the end.
We went through the 10commandments last time and this
(03:39):
time we're only going to begoing through a few verses at
the end of Exodus 20, verses 22to 26.
And these little verses have somuch packed into them.
We're actually going to hitthree topics, but they're all
very related.
So first we're going to talkabout idolatry, which is
worshiping something besides God, and then we're going to merge
(04:04):
into talking about theIsraelites, how they were
instructed to build altars, dirtaltars with uncut stones that
were used to worship God.
It says that if a tool is usedto shape the altar then it is
profaned.
There is no mark of man to beon God's altar.
And the third thing we're goingto talk about is when the
(04:26):
priests serve at the altar.
There must be no fleshindecently exposed, so there's
no flesh of man that shoulddistract from the worship of God
.
So as I read through thislittle section, just kind of
keep your mind on those littletopics as we go through.
This is Exodus, chapter 20, 20,verses 22 to 26.
(04:48):
Then the Lord said to Mosesthus you shall say to the
children of Israel you have seenthat I have talked with you
from heaven.
You shall not make anything tobe with me Gods of silver or
gods of gold.
You shall not make foryourselves An altar of earth.
You shall make for me and youshall sacrifice on it your burnt
(05:11):
offerings and your peaceofferings, your sheep and your
oxen.
In every place where I recordmy name, I will come to you and
I will bless you.
And if you make me an altar ofstone, you shall not build it of
hewn stone, for if you use yourtool on it, you have profaned
it.
Nor shall you go up my steps tomy altar that your nakedness
(05:33):
may not be exposed on it.
So three little mentions ofthings to do and not to do Make
no idols.
When you make altars, make themof dirt and uncut stone.
And lastly, no flesh shouldglory in his presence.
This is when he's talking aboutyour nakedness not being
(05:54):
exposed.
But when we look at these threetopics, they really beautifully
weave together.
So he starts out this littlesection as so often he does.
God says thus you shall say tothe children of Israel you have
seen that I have talked with youfrom heaven.
So God once again reminds theIsraelites you've seen me.
(06:20):
The Israelites have justexperienced God at Mount Sinai,
the thunderings and thelightnings and the smoke and the
fire and all of thesemanifestations of God's presence
.
They've seen it and all of themiracles.
But God is still reminding them.
He says remember how I'verevealed myself to you, I've met
(06:42):
you, I've provided, I've walkedwith you through disappointment
.
And every time that God saysthis, I think it's important for
us to notice how often Godreminds us to remember.
We need to remember, toremember.
It's so vitally important andGod starts so often in this
(07:04):
place with remember, rememberwhat I've done, remember who I
am, because this, right here,friends, is the key to humility.
When we remember who God is andwhat he's done, and the gravity
of that really hits us, itreally humbles us, which is what
we're going to be talking about.
(07:25):
So, starting to talk aboutidolatry, it looked very blatant
in the days of Moses.
There was idolatry everywhere.
Everyone had idols.
If you've ever seen ancientEgypt, idols everywhere.
Idol worship was so prominentin the days of Moses and there's
still idolatry today in manyparts of the world, in Hinduism,
(07:47):
in Buddhism and in lots ofother religions.
There are tangible idols thatpeople place and worship.
They bow down to them, theythink of them as gods, and there
are many, many things that webow down to and worship and
don't even acknowledge it.
We are going to dive into thistopic very deeply when we get to
the golden calf a little bitlater in the book of Exodus, so
(08:07):
I'm not going to go into it toodeep.
But as I was studying andthinking about this, I ran
across just this little commentfrom Matthew Henry, who is a
Bible commentator, and he wastalking all about idolatry and
how it affects us.
But this little statement.
He was talking about howstrange it is and how we're so
easily drawn into idolatry, andhe just says our peculiar
(08:31):
addictedness to idolatry and theparticular sinfulness of that
crime.
It's true, we are addicted toidolatry and it is incredibly
sinful because it's lettingsomething take the place of God,
worshiping something as thoughit was God.
Even if it's meant to be arepresentation of him, it will
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never properly reflect our God.
Paul talks a lot about this inthe book of Romans.
I'm going to read to you alittle bit from chapter 1,
verses 21 to 25.
Paul says For although theyknew God, they did not honor him
as God or give thanks to him,but they became futile in their
(09:15):
thinking and their foolishhearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise, theybecame fools and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God forimages resembling mortal man and
birds and animals and creepingthings.
Therefore, god gave them up inthe lusts of their hearts, to
impurity, to the dishonoring oftheir bodies among themselves,
(09:38):
because they exchanged the truthabout God for a lie and
worshipipped and served thecreature rather than the creator
, who is forever blessed.
Amen, and that's it right there, at the end of the statement.
Idolatry is worshipping andserving a creature rather than
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the creator, putting somethingin the place of God, and that
something can so often beourselves.
We can worship ourselves overGod so often because our human
spirits, they long forrecognition, for respect, for
appreciation, for validation.
(10:22):
We want to be noticed andrespected and praised and, if
you're really honest withyourself, these things rule our
hearts so often.
I have had such a hard monthstudying for this because I feel
like, in studying it andpraying about it and asking God
to reveal it in my heart, he has.
(10:43):
And it has just been sodepressing to notice how often I
say or do things because I wantto be validated or I want to be
noticed or I want to berespected or recognized or
praised.
It's just, it's so sad howfrail and insecure we can really
(11:04):
be in and of ourselves andcreate ourselves an idol that
takes the place of God.
And it just caused me to thinkabout the Westminster Confession
, because I think this is such abeautiful statement of faith
that I run back to consistently.
The Westminster Confessionaddresses the question what is
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the chief end of man?
So what is our purpose.
What are we living for?
And this is what they said toglorify God and to enjoy him
forever.
That is our purpose.
That's the chief end of man.
That is what we are here.
That is what we are living forOne, to glorify God, to bring
(11:47):
him glory, and number two, toenjoy him forever.
This seems simple, but we getin the way all the time.
And when I read this passage inExodus, it just hit me how clear
it is.
Back in Exodus, chapter 20,verse 24, it says An altar of
(12:09):
earth you shall make for me andyou shall sacrifice on it your
burnt offerings and your peaceofferings, your sheep and your
oxen.
In every place where I recordmy name, I will come to you and
I will bless you.
So he says.
When you make an altar, itneeds to be simple, it needs to
be made of earth.
(12:29):
And then he goes on in verse 25and God says and if you make me
an altar of stones, you shallnot build it of hewn stones, so
no stones that have been shapedby a tool of man, for if you use
your tool on it, you'veprofaned it.
So this simplicity of dirt andstones, it reminds us that what
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God has already created.
It brings him glory that whatGod has already created.
It brings him glory Just assimple as the dirt and the
stones, because God put hishands on those things and
created them and they'rebeautiful just the way that God
made them.
But we always feel like we haveto improve on the things that
God has created.
Now I'm not disparaging theartistic side that all of us
(13:20):
have, because God has put thatinto us as well, where we love
beauty and we love to create andinnovate, and those are
beautiful aspects of the heartof God.
And God is not against beautyand creating to this the
tabernacle and the temple.
They will be beautiful andornate and the spirit of God
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will empower skilled artisans tomake these beautiful places of
worship.
So God is not against artistryand imagination and creativity.
That is not what we're saying.
What God is against isdistracting away from him,
because when the tabernacle andthe temple were built, god gave
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very specific plans as toexactly what they should look
like, down to every single cubitand the decoration and the
color and the thread to be usedand the metals to be used.
God gave a perfect plan for allof those things, because
they're actually a picture ofwhat's going on in heaven.
God has a plan for the way thathe wants to be worshiped and
(14:26):
viewed by us, and we shouldnever get in the way of what
that plan looks like In thinkingabout this, about how just the
simple dirt and stones were holyand fit for use as an altar.
It reminded me of when Mosescomes to the burning bush in the
(14:47):
desert If you remember, we wentover this long ago.
But God tells him do youremember what he says?
He approaches the bush and Godsays take off your sandals
because the place where you'restanding is holy.
And there's lots of speculationas to why this could be.
But one of my favorite thingsto think about is that he was
(15:08):
connecting with hiscreatureliness, with the fact
that he was a simple createdbeing, connecting his feet back
to the dust that he came from.
There's so much humility andacknowledgement of God's supreme
power and of Moses'screatedness in that simple act
(15:30):
and taking away that piece ofdead animal probably it was a
piece of leather on his footjust removing that man-made item
that was standing between Mosesand the earth because he was
standing on holy ground.
There's so much beauty anddepth to that simple little
story and that's a lot of whatwe're looking at here, with
these dirt and stone altars.
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This reminds me again a lot ofPaul in first Corinthians,
chapter one, 1, verse 17.
He says this for Christ did notsend me to baptize but to
preach the gospel, and not withwisdom and eloquence, lest the
cross of Christ be emptied ofits power.
So in this verse Paul istelling the Corinthians when I
(16:16):
came to you, when I shared thegospel with you, it wasn't with
all of this worldly wisdom whichhe had, because he was a
well-trained man who couldreason with the best of them,
and I'm sure he was eloquent aswell.
But he said he didn't come withall of this wisdom and
eloquence.
Why he says so?
That the cross of Christwouldn't be emptied of its power
(16:39):
.
He didn't want to substitutethe fine words of man for the
power of the gospel.
He continues down in verse 27and says but God chose the
foolish things of the world toshame the wise.
God chose the weak things of theworld to shame the wise.
God chose the weak things ofthe world to shame the strong.
(17:01):
God chose the lowly things ofthis world and the despised
things and the things that arenot to nullify the things that
are, so that no one may boastbefore him.
It is because of him that youare in Jesus Christ, who has
become for us the wisdom fromGod that is our righteousness,
(17:23):
holiness and redemption.
Therefore, as it is written,let the one who boasts boast in
the Lord.
So he's encouraging theCorinthians here to understand
that we didn't bring anything toGod.
We weren't wise and wonderful,we were foolish, and God uses
those foolish and lowly thingsto bring him glory.
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I want to read to you just onemore little section.
This is from 1 Corinthians,chapter 2, verses 1 through 5.
And so it was with me.
Brothers and sisters, when Icame to you, I did not come with
eloquence or human wisdom, as Iproclaimed to you the testimony
about God, for I resolved toknow nothing while I was with
(18:08):
you except Jesus Christ and himcrucified.
I came to you in weakness, withgreat fear and trembling.
My message and my preachingwere not with wise and
persuasive words, but with ademonstration of the Spirit's
power, so that your faith mightnot rest on human wisdom but on
(18:29):
God's power.
Paul was trying to create analtar of dirt and uncut stones
to lay the foundation of faithfor the Corinthians.
He didn't want it to be basedon Paul's words or the fact that
he was so convincing andeloquent and amazing.
His message was going to besimple, and not with persuasive
(18:54):
words, but with a demonstrationof the Spirit's power.
Words, but with thedemonstration of the Spirit's
power, so that their faithwouldn't rest on a human wisdom
but on the power of God.
So this is exactly what we'retalking about here.
The faith of these Corinthiansbelievers needed to be founded
on the simple gospel, on thetruth that is there, that is so
(19:18):
sweet and perfect in itssimplicity, and he knew that
there was nothing that he couldadd to it.
Now, again, to give you somebalance, later on, in 1
Corinthians, paul also says thathe does speak wisdom, and he
goes on to say that there isdeep spiritual wisdom to be
taught and observed by matureminds.
So he's not saying that hethrew out wisdom altogether, but
(19:41):
he's saying when he was sowingthe seeds of the gospel, when he
first encountered them, he knewthat it wasn't going to be
because he was so wise orwonderful, but it was going to
be the moving of the spirit ofGod that touched hearts and that
simple truth was going tochange lives, a time and a place
for all things.
(20:02):
But God, when he is worshiped,it needs to be in his timing and
in his way.
We get in our own way so often,and Jesus knows this.
God knows this, and this is whywe're constantly encouraged to
stop looking at ourselves and tolook to him.
(20:23):
In Matthew, chapter six, jesusis talking to his disciples.
This is a part of the Sermon onthe Mount Be careful not to
practice your righteousness infront of others, to be seen by
them.
If you do, you will have noreward from your father in
heaven.
So when you give to the needy,do not announce it with trumpets
, as the hypocrites do in thesynagogues and on the streets,
(20:45):
to be honored by others.
Truly, I tell you they havereceived their reward in full.
But when you give to the needy,do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,so that your giving may be in
secret, and then your Father,who sees what is done is secret,
will reward you.
So these are red letters in myBible.
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This is the words of Jesustelling us to be careful not to
practice our righteousness to beseen by others, not to be glory
thieves not to steal from thoseeven the good things that we
would do to receive glory andadmiration for others to think
well of us.
He warns us against that.
(21:29):
Our flesh, it looks for anyopportunity to draw attention to
ourself, whether that'spositive or negative attention.
I don't know if you've everseen a kid that thrives on
negative attention.
I had one of those and shedidn't care whether it was
positive attention or negativeattention.
So she did something reallygood and she got applause and
(21:51):
praise.
Or if she did something really,really naughty and just
received, you know, punishment,but there was still attention in
it.
Those kids that are the onesthat you know throw the fruit
bowl down the stairs and smashthe grapes into the carpet and
draw on the walls and cut allthe hair off of their dolls and
(22:13):
poke babies in the eye and peeon their brother and sister's
toys and steals their mom'smakeup and rubs it all over
their body and into the rug andrips every piece of clothing out
of the closet and throws itinto a pile on the floor.
These children, it's thenegative attention, because even
(22:34):
if you're upset, even if you'redisappointed and angry, you are
still focusing all of yourattention on this kid, so this
was her way to get attention.
And don't we do the same thing?
How often we like to complainabout our ailments or our issues
or the way that people haveharmed us?
(22:54):
We love attention, whether it'sgoing to be for positive things
or for negative things.
There's different kinds ofpeople.
Some people love that negativeattention they can get the shock
and awe factor.
Or some of us, we go for thesympathy vote.
We just want people to feel badfor us, to think about us, to
look at us.
This is just the way it is.
(23:14):
And then there's those of usthat are the straight A students
that are just looking for theaccolades of mom and dad and for
everybody else to look at usand say what a good job that
we've done.
Else to look at us and say whata good job that we've done.
However you slice it, whateverkind of a person you are, we all
love the attention and we lookfor opportunities to draw
(23:35):
attention to ourselves.
And this is why thesescriptures that we're reading,
what we're talking about, is soimportant, because God is
telling us God was tellingIsrael then that there is no
flesh to glory in the worship ofGod.
1 Timothy, chapter 2, verses 9and 10, says this, and I want
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women to be modest in theirappearance.
They should wear decent andappropriate clothing and not
draw attention to themselves bythe way they fix their hair or
by wearing gold or pearls orexpensive clothes, for women who
claim to be devoted to Godshould make themselves
attractive by the good thingsthat they do.
(24:22):
Now that's in the New LivingTranslation, and I really,
really love the way that ittranslates this because it's
true.
This is talking about womengathering together with
believers in church.
Do we go to be noticed, to drawattention to ourself?
Do we spend way too long doingour hair and makeup and thinking
(24:42):
about how our shoes go with ouroutfit, or are we concerned
about the good things that we doand being devoted to God and
letting those things be ourwitness?
I think all of us, if we'rehonest, can say that we have
gotten far too caught up in ourown appearance more than once.
It's true, because we thinkabout our perception, how others
(25:04):
are going to think of us.
Do we look haggard and tired orlike we haven't spent any time
on ourselves?
We want to look a certain way,we want to be perceived a
certain way, but here in FirstTimothy, we are encouraged to be
modest in our appearance, notto be dressing, to be drawing
attention to ourselves, but tobe focused on our devotion to
(25:27):
God and let that be theattractiveness about us.
Again, this is not saying thatwe should never buy nice things,
that we shouldn't wear jewelry,that we shouldn't wear makeup.
I think that that's anoverreaction and an exaggeration
of the heart of what this issaying.
It's saying don't do thesethings to draw unnecessary
(25:48):
attention to yourself.
God delights in beauty.
So don't hear this and bediscouraged about being
concerned with beauty, becauseGod also enjoys beauty.
But we have to consider ourheart's intent.
Now, the ultimate example thatI could think of in the Bible
when we're talking about heart'sintent, now, the ultimate
example that I could think of inthe Bible when we're talking
(26:09):
about heart's intent, isdefinitely the story of Nadab
and Abihu.
These men lost their lives overthis.
I'm going to give you just alittle insight as to what's
happening here and then I'mgoing to read you a couple of
scriptures.
So in this passage of scriptureit's recording when the
priestly ministry actuallybegins.
So when they build thetabernacle, which is going to be
(26:32):
their movable tent of worshipthat they're going to carry
around with them in the desertas they're wandering.
This is when it all firststarts, when the priests are
ordained for ministry, when thetabernacle is set up, when the
fire of God first first comes.
This is that time.
So I'm going to read to you alittle bit of that story from
Leviticus 9, verse 22.
(26:56):
Then Aaron lifted his handstoward the people and blessed
them and, having sacrificed thesin offering, the burnt offering
and the fellowship offering, hestepped down.
Moses and Aaron then went intothe tent of meeting and when
they came out they blessed thepeople and the glory of the Lord
appeared to all the people.
Fire came out from the presenceof the Lord and consumed the
(27:20):
burnt offering and the fatportions on the altar, and when
all the people saw it, theyshouted for joy and fell face
down.
So here we see the priestsbringing the offering onto the
altar and God consuming it withfire.
All of the people see this.
It says that they shout for joyand they fall in their faces.
(27:40):
So at this point all eyes areon the work that God has just
done.
He has just proven himself inanother big way and shown his
pleasure for the obedience ofthese men.
And here's what happens next.
This is from the beginning ofchapter 10.
Aaron's sons, nadab and Abihu,took their censers, they put
(28:02):
fire in them and added incense,and they offered unauthorized
fire before the Lord, contraryto his commandment.
So fire came out from thepresence of the Lord and
consumed them and they diedbefore the Lord.
Moses then said to Aaron thisis what the Lord spoke of when
he said among those who approachme, I will be proved holy in
(28:27):
the sight of all the people, Iwill be honored.
And Aaron remained silent.
So Aaron's sons two sons, nadaband Abihu actually lose their
lives right in the middle ofthis worship service.
That's happening when everybodyis filled with joy and falls
down on their face.
These two men step out of line.
(28:49):
It says that they put fire intotheir censers and they add the
incense and they offer anunauthorized fire before the
Lord.
So this is something that hehad not commanded them to do.
Now, there's a thousand reasonswhy they may have done this.
This was their first day on thejob, sure, but they had been
(29:09):
given such strict instructionsas to how God was to be
worshipped.
This was not a simple oversight,this was a choice.
Maybe their emotions got thebest of them.
God is answering by fire.
All of Israel is bowing downand praising God, and they just
wanted to be more a part of it.
So they're thinking let's offersome incense to the Lord.
(29:32):
It could have been from joy,they could have been excited and
just kind of forgotten thatthey don't get to do whatever
they want as priests, but thatthey are representatives of God
and that he has given them aspecific way to be worshiped.
And they offer this incense andGod immediately.
He answers by fire and he takestheir lives.
(29:55):
It could have been that thesemen were kind of missing out on
the spotlight, because so farit's been Moses and Aaron that
are kind of doing the big jobs,and maybe they're standing off
to the side and didn't feel likethey were a part of it.
And they wanted to be part ofworshiping God too, and so they
offered this incense and justthought it was going to be a
small little sacrifice.
Either way, it says in thescripture that fire came out
(30:20):
from the Lord.
It consumed them because theyoffered unauthorized fire that
was contrary to his command.
So this was different than whathe had asked them to do and it
was putting the focus on them.
It was not putting the focus onGod.
God was having his moment here.
(30:41):
He was having a moment with hispeople, with his children.
He was showing them that heaccepted their offerings.
It was such a moment with hispeople, with his children.
He was showing them that heaccepted their offerings.
It was such a beautiful moment.
And then that flesh of manstepped in for just a minute.
That flesh wanted that gloryand stepped out of place for
just a moment, and it was aserious offense.
God is so serious about hisglory being guarded and when
(31:07):
eyes are on Jesus, you never,ever, ever take them off of
Jesus and put them on you.
We are just so very good atstealing God's glory in overt
ways, and sometimes in covertways, that we don't even see
where we're taking the attentionthat is due the Lord and we're
(31:29):
putting it somewhere else.
I've been thinking just how doI distract from what God is
doing?
I can distract away from whatGod is doing by forcing my own
timeline instead of waiting forGod's, by talking too much, by
(31:49):
overthinking situations, bystriving for what I think I need
, by manipulating situations orrushing ahead to offer the
incense that, I think, is best.
In needing attention and praisefor my good deeds, I can become
a glory thief.
(32:09):
It's sad, but it's true.
We all have the ability tobecome glory thieves, to come in
and steal those things that aredue to the Lord and to take
credit for them.
The word says that every goodand every perfect gift is from
above.
It's from the father of lights,it's not from us.
(32:30):
Anything good that we canproduce is because of Jesus.
He is due all the glory and allthe honor and all the praise,
and I don't want to get in hisway by manipulating a situation
or by talking over him oroverthinking or striving or so
many of the things that I can doto get in his way.
(32:52):
I want to give him free reignto have his way, to be glorified
and to fall to the background,to not need to be acknowledged
for when I do a good job or forwhen I do something for someone
else, but to happily fade to thebackground, to be content in
that, not just content to bejoyful to be forgotten, to be
(33:14):
joyful to let Jesus shine, tolet him be noticed and not us.
At the end of the day, myfriends, we need to be coming to
God to get our fulfillment andour acknowledgement, because
he's the only one that we reallyneeded from, and he calls us
friend, he calls us beloved.
(33:37):
He says that we are his chosenpeople.
We are so special and preciousto him we don't need to earn our
place.
He's already got us secure.
So many of us, I think, arestriving to please God because
we feel like we need to earn hislove.
We can't, there's nothing thatwe can do to add to the love
(33:57):
that we have right in this verymoment from God.
There's nothing that you can doto add or take away from the
love of God, nothing that youcan do to add or take away from
the love of God and thatfulfillment that we seek the
acknowledgement from others.
It's because we don't reallybelieve what God says about us.
We need somebody else to say ittoo.
So let me challenge you thisweek, as we set off, really
(34:22):
search your heart and find outwhere those weaknesses are,
where you feel that you need tobe seen and observed and
acknowledged and thanked andpraised, and figure out why it's
there.
And so often this work isreally, really, really difficult
for us to do.
(34:42):
I've been reading my kids theChronicles of Narnia and one of
my favorite pictures in theVoyage of the Dawn Treader,
there's a character named Ustasand in the beginning of the book
he's just a horrible crankybrat and he finds this dragon's
treasure and he takes some of itand it actually turns him into
a dragon he can't free.
(35:03):
He's just stuck in thisdragon's body and as he's a
dragon he learns to be helpful,to be part of the group.
It's kind of changes who he is,but he can never free himself
from this dragon skin that he'sstuck in.
And then in the story he meetsAslan, who is a great lion, who
is a picture of Jesus in thesebooks, and he needs Aslan to
(35:28):
come and use his claws to freehim from this dragon's skin.
So there's this scene whenAslan comes to him and it says
that he uses his claws to tearoff this dragon's skin.
And it's funny because Ustas isa dragon, right.
So he's got these claws andthis fire and he's constantly
clawing at himself trying to getthe skin off and there's
(35:50):
nothing he can do.
He's stuck.
He needs the claws of Aslan tocome and free him from his flesh
.
And this is exactly what Jesusdoes when we come to salvation.
He is the one that frees us.
But so often we get stuck againand again and again we put
ourselves back into this prisonthat we've been freed from.
(36:12):
In needing the approval ofothers or in needing praise or
acknowledgement, we putourselves back in these cages
and we don't need to be there.
But so often we need the clawsof Aslan to come and show us our
own hearts, to show us what'sreally there, because we are so
often blind to our motives, toour deep heart motives of why we
(36:35):
do things.
So maybe that can be a helpfulpicture to you as you consider
these things.
And I would encourage you letthose claws of Aslan go deep.
And I would encourage you, letthose claws of Aslan go deep.
I don't know about you, but I donot want any part of my flesh
to glory in God's work.
I want to stand back from thataltar.
(36:55):
I don't want to put my tools onthose stones and think that I
can make them more precious.
So just one more thing I wantto encourage you before we wrap
up remember to remember where westarted at the beginning.
Here is where I think we needto end.
God encourages them to remember.
(37:16):
We need to remember who God isand what he's done for us,
because it corrects our heartsand it brings a true humility
where we don't need to be thefocus.
We remember how weak we are, weremember our flesh and we
remember what he's done and hislove, and it corrects us, it
helps us to see him well.
(37:36):
So, my friends, as we walk intothis week, as you walk into the
rest of this day, I pray thatGod would allow these truths to
settle on your hearts and thatwe would never be those glory
thieves, but we would standaside and give him all the glory
that is due his name.
Thank you.
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