God's Forgiveness!

For Friday, February 28, 2025:

Exodus 32:10a NLT: God speaking: “Leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against the Israelites, and I will destroy them.”

The impatient people of Israel built a golden calf to worship. Had they forgotten that the real God just rescued them from Egyptian slavery? Isn’t agreeing to be one of God’s people a forever decision with eternal ramifications? Had they forgotten that promise?

God is upset and angry. He’s had enough of these fickle Israelites. If they can’t stick by him after all he did for them, God thought he might as well wipe them from the face of the earth!

Moses, in panic mode, intervenes on behalf of the Israelites. He makes his case: “Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth?’” That behavior doesn’t sound typical of God Almighty, and in fact God relented. Forgiveness better fits the God-trend we know!

Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, saw the calf and the people celebrating, and he lost his temper! Rightfully so! He burned their calf and ground it into dust. In his anger, he threw the tablets inscribed with God’s commandments, smashing them. God would later replace the tablets. The faithful Levites were ordained as priests of God. Those who opposed God were eliminated from the group.

Moses was never going to get his group to the Promised Land unless they all shared the same goal. They needed to all be on the same page, pulling in the same direction. If your church and your ministry are going to grow, your group needs to understand the organization’s goal, the overall plan, and be willing to work to implement those goals. Jesus said, “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”

Working with Jesus is a great plan with long-term benefits!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

God vs Calf?

For Wednesday, February 26, 2025:

Exodus 32:1 NLT: When the Israelites saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

Impatient and fickle. Ungrateful and totally wrong! “Please, Aaron, make a god for us.” Dumbest request ever! I can’t believe Aaron fell for it. Moses’ brother should have known better, but it’s hard to oppose mob mentality.

The throng thought God was taking too long. They thought Moses was taking too long. They decided that if the real God wasn’t getting it done, they would make a god of their own. A golden calf. Bad decision. No one can make a God anything like our Creator God!

The Israelites must have short memories, forgetting all God did to get them out of Egypt. They must have forgotten the 10 plagues, culminating with the firstborn of everything in Egypt dying – everything except what was in the Hebrew camp! Had they forgotten the Passover? God said to never forget that and to celebrate it annually!

The behavior of these people disgusts me. If I were God, I’d feel like wiping them off the face of the earth, and he almost did until Moses intervened on their behalf.

Nowadays, “golden calf” is a synonym for anything that may look good but is fake and actually worthless. Idol, graven image, false god, pagan symbol and even the almighty dollar are listed. (Dollars are only valuable here on earth; they have no eternal value!)

So friends, don’t fall for any golden calf stuff. Focus on God Almighty, and as Paul said, “Keep your eye on the prize!”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

One God!

For Sunday, December 8, 2024:

Deuteronomy 5:6-7 NLT, Moses quoting what God had told him as God spoke from within the fire: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. You must not have any other god but me.”

Mankind was made to worship. As strange as it might seem, rather than getting in the driver’s seat ourselves, mankind is more comfortable serving a higher power, a super-being, a creator of some sort. Having someone else in charge gives us someone to blame when things go wrong!

In a way, God is acquiescing to the mistaken beliefs of mankind. He said, “You must not have any other god,” but in fact there are no other gods. Our God, Yahweh, is the one supreme being, known to us in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But that’s just one God! Anything else is simply a fictitious imagined deity, not any kind of real god.

Remember that when Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the commandments from the real God, these people were building a golden calf!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship