Waist Deep 2018 - January 23


Exodus 33: 16, 17 “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me . . . unless you go with us?  What else will distinguish me . . . from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (NIV)


God answers prayer when our life choices radiate from our faith.*


These verses are rich in meaning on more than one level. On the literal level, it’s a conversation between God and Moses. How could God and Moses be having this conversation? Remember back in the desert when Moses was like, “Who me?” and God was like, “Who made your mouth?” (Exodus 3: 11 and 4: 11); but here, we see Moses asking God to manifest himself in such a way that the world will know that God is pleased with him. God admits that he is pleased with Moses and agrees to fulfill Moses’ request.

And there’s the spiritual/personal level - how it applies to us. For our personal application, I see two blessings. Let us beg for the first blessing: that God be pleased with us. And then let us be thankful for the second blessing: that he knows us by name and by heart.

Finally, let us claim the promise that God will do the very thing we have asked so that the world will know that he is pleased with us, and to distinguish us from all the other people in the world. And what was it that God did for Moses? He went with him. And what is it that sets us apart from the rest of the world except God’s presence?


What is to His glory is always to our good.*


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