Category: Morning Musings

Morning Musing: Exodus 14:10-12

Leave a comment

“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you have taken the journey of parenthood, do you remember when your kids went through their whiny phase? If you don’t nip this in the bud as a parent, what starts as a fairly natural phase can become a personality trait that sticks with them to the eventual frustration of everyone around them, but that’s a conversation for another time. What is it that prompts a kid to whine? The same thing that tempts us to it: not getting our way. When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army heading toward them, they felt like they hadn’t gotten their way…and they were terrified. Their response should have been a major red flag for Moses, but that’s only really visible thanks to hindsight. Israel had a great chance here to demonstrate great faith in the God who was in the process of rescuing them. Let’s talk about what they did instead and why it is a warning for us.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 14:5-9

1 Comment

“When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, ‘What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.’ So he got his chariot ready and took his troops with him; he took six hundred of the best chariots and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in each one. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out defiantly. The Egyptians – all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army – chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had buyer’s remorse? I remember once getting a nearly free tablet with a phone upgrade. We agreed to get it because the salesman told us it came loaded with a movie app that gave us access to all kinds of movies for free. What he didn’t say was that they were all pirated Chinese versions with subtitles that gave you access to streamable versions of some films before they had even left the theaters. I promptly took the tablet back. I was watching when he had to check the box to give a reason for the return. He checked “buyer’s remorse.” They didn’t have a box for “salesman dishonesty.” In this next part of our story, we encounter Pharaoh experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse. Let’s talk about what was going on here and why his hard heart was still a problem.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Leave a comment

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Something a little different this morning. I’ve recently been reminded about how hard loss can be. Saying goodbye to loved ones when they close their eyes on this life is one of the hardest things we will face in this life. It leaves us disoriented and struggling to make sense out of…everything. Tomorrow starts to feel pointless, and hope seems nowhere to be found. And yet, if you are follower of Jesus, there’s this thing Paul said about not grieving like those who have no hope. Why? Let’s talk about it for a bit, and then I’d like to share a song with you that puts the hope Paul is talking about in a way that helps us to grasp it a little better.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 13:19

2 Comments

“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, ‘God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

This morning we are going to wrap up Exodus 13. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will jump into one of the most exciting, but also most challenging, parts of the story we have yet encountered. Verse 19 here isn’t the last verse in the chapter, but it is essentially an editorial note, so I saved it for the end. This one of those notes we find in the Scriptures that seem a bit random and really don’t help to advance the story at all. In spite of that, though, I think there are two quick things worth noting here. Let’s talk about each of them briefly today and that’ll be that.

read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 13:20-22

Leave a comment

“They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I was once the drummer in a band called Fire by Night. The founder really wanted to have a band like the Christian jam band, Waterdeep, because he was such a big fan of them. I had never heard of them at that point (I grew to be a huge fan over the next couple of years), so it was tough for me to grasp his vision. Also, their drummer, Brandon, was much, much more talented than I was, so I was never going to be able to imitate his style very well. In any event, he cobbled together a few friends, and we gave it a go. I still remember sitting around trying to think up a name for the group. We threw around various ideas until someone (not me) said, “What about ‘Fire by Night’?” Everyone knew immediately that was the right name. I think we played exactly one show at someone’s house party and recorded an incomplete version of one song that I still sometimes find myself singing. I tell you all of that because the whole thing was inspired by this story. Let’s talk about what’s happening here, and why we have something even better today.

Read the rest…