LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, April 18, 2019

God’s desire for us to be people of faith leads Him to reveal Himself and His plan to us.  Moses made it his priority to know God, and he is a model for us of becoming a faithful friend of God.

Exodus 33:7-11 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

The first thing Moses did was to establish a specific place where he and the people could go to meet with God. I understand that in this age since the resurrection of Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit we always have God’s presence with us, but I think the principle of setting aside a time and a place to meet with God still holds true today. Many of you are doing that right now as you read this. You have set aside your computer as a place to meet with God. Reading this devotional is a part of hearing from God and knowing Him better so you may follow Him more faithfully.

Moses established a tent outside the encampment where people could go to personally inquire of the Lord. This is a great statement of God’s intention to establish every believer’s right to enter the throne room and talk to the Father personally. The death of Jesus Christ made that possible when the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. God opened the way for all His children to meet with Him face to face. Moses had a unique relationship with God at that time, and would go to speak with God face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. What an incredible statement of intimacy! That is the potential for all of us, and should be our passion.

When God spoke with Moses, His glory was visible to the people, and they responded by standing and worshiping at the entrances to their own tents. In other words, each person made his own home a place of worship. The fact that we have a specific place called a church where we come to meet with God and hear from him is not an excuse to disregard the daily worship of God. Let us make the worship of God the priority of our homes.

Finally, notice the young man Joshua, who has taken on the responsibility of guarding the tent of meeting. Here was a young man who had a passion to know the God of Moses and to hear from Him intimately, and sacrificed everything to pursue God’s presence in his life. Such pursuit of God was important for Joshua’s future. Based on his relationship with God and faithfulness to God’s plan, he was chosen to replace Moses as the leader of Israel. His leadership success can be directly traced to his passion to be constantly in the presence of God.

Personal intimacy with Jesus Christ is the goal of our faith.  Intimacy is best accomplished through communication and quality time. May God’s Spirit motivate our hearts to be intentional in setting aside time and a place to meet with God. May we be people of faith who passionately pursue intimacy with God.

Pastor John