April 11th Manna in the Morning; Water in the Wilderness

THE HABIT OF MURMURING:
A serious condition! Only 3 days after crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites began grumbling and talking about returning to Egypt. Whenever the going gets tough, the Israelites began grumbling and talking about returning to Egypt. It was one thing for the Jews to stand by the Red Sea and joyfully sing praises to the Lord, and quite something else to trust God in their daily wilderness walk. They had their share of bad days…they quickly discovered that desert travel can be difficult…even dangerous. They were no different from God’s people today. Life is still a school, and the painful experiences of life teach us some of the most important lessons.
As we trace the activities of the Israelites, we learn some important truths to help us in our own walk of faith:
Expect trials to come “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle…Andrew Bonar. It is possible to win the battle and yet lose the victory…they left the Red Sea and began to march toward Mt. Sinai. They forgot that life is a pilgrimage during which we must learn new lessons and fight new battles. One great victory does not settle everything; we need challenging new experiences that will help us mature and glorify God. Yes, life is a school, and the Lord knows just when to give us an exam.
What shall we drink? Uppermost in the minds of the Israelites was not how to please God but What shall we eat or drink? This revealed an anxious heart, not a trusting heart and that can lead to all kinds of problems. God tested his people with bitter water…not because He didn’t know their hearts, but because they did not know their own hearts. Jer. 17:9
The Lord tests us to encourage spiritual growth and bring out the best in us, but the devil tempts us to bring out the worst in us and to encourage spiritual immaturity. The attitude that we take toward our difficulties determines which direction life will go, for what life does to us depends on what life finds in us.
Every complaint is a declaration of unbelief in the wisdom and goodness of God…evidence of a self-centered desire to control the affairs of one’s own life. Phil. 4:13, 19 I Thess. 5:18
MANNA…READ: Exodus 16:4, 13 – 35:
They remembered the food they ate in Egypt but seemed to forget the bondage, the beatings, and the misery of their forced labor as slaves. They accused Moses and Aaron of deliberately leading them into the wilderness to kill them. They talked this way…saying they wished the Lord had killed them not realizing that they would all die in the wilderness and never get to the Promised Land.
God showed the Israelites mercy and grace. And met their needs.
God keeps His promises to us. In our pilgrim journey through life, we live on promises and not explanations. God does not have to explain anything to us unless He wants to do so.
The important thing was the Israel focus on the glory of God and not on their own appetites. If they walked by faith, they would glorify the Lord and bring honor to His name. The most important accomplish is that God be glorified. God permits trials so that He can build His Godly character into His children and make us to be dominated by the life of Jesus in and thru us. Godliness is not the automatic result of reading books and attending meetings, it also involves bearing burdens, fight battles, and feeling pain.
The manna was a daily participation in a miracle. “What is it?” Each morning they emerged from their tents to find all the nourishment they needed waiting on the dew. Each day, you and I must “feed on Jesus Christ” by reading the Word, meditating on it and obeying what it says. Jesus made it clear that He was speaking in spiritual language and referring to receiving His Word. God’s Word is the heavenly feed that nourishes our spiritual life, and we must feed on it daily.
Getting up early because the hot desert sun would melt it. There was no place in the camp of Israel for sluggard who stayed in bed while others gathered his food. We must start the day with the Lord, gather spiritual food from the Word, because if we wait too long to met God, the day will become cluttered, we will get distracted and we will suffer from spiritual malnutrition.
What is it?---Manna for you? Do you remember God’s supply of daily food – manna? Manna saved for another day grows old, sour, and rancid, wormy and it stank. “But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4 Stephen Olford says that this is the word that God speaks to your soul in the quiet place of prayer and meditation. It is the thing that maintains life—the living word of God which is spoken to your soul every day.
If we attempt to hoard the manna as some of the Israelis did – we can try to hoard His Word and attempt to live on yesterday’s spiritual nourishment. It is good to hear the Bible preached and taught on the Lord’s Day, but we need fresh manna each day if we want to be healthy Christians.
Do you have Unread “love letters” tucked away? The Lord loved us with His life sacrifice, He wants us to love Him with all our heart, and we will miss the sweetness of His love for us if we don’t learn how to love Him. We get intimate with the person who we know loves us, the person who is committed to us…who better should that be than Jesus?
To the rationalist it is ridiculous to pray to God about everything; behind the ridicule is the devil to keep us from knowing the road when the crisis comes. Hezekiah knew the road. In his prayer (16-20) Hezekiah tells God what he knows God knows already. That is the meaning of prayer—I tell God what I know He knows in order that I may get to know it as He does (Matt. 6:8) It is not true to say that a man learns to pray in calamities, he never does; he calls on God to deliver him, but he does not pray (Psa. 107:6, 13, 19) a man only learns to pray when there is no calamity.
The discipline to make and keep an appointment of alone time with Him will most likely always be a struggle. The enemy will always distract and tempt to delay and finally to kill the time entirely. Then we do not have our manna for the day. John 6:31-33

THE NEED FOR ENCOURAGEMENT, HELPERS:
17:9 – 13 Joshua’s war with Amalek…Moses and God’s staff and Moses’ supporters
JETHRO GIVES COUNSEL TO MOSES:
I have heard it said that Jethro’s counsel was not sound and good, but let’s examine what the Word says about this description of proper delegation…Moses was the judge – the only one and he was a teacher of the laws to the people. The men Moses was to choose…able men from all the people, God-fearing men of truth, who hate unjust gain!...they will bear the burden with you. Do what God so commands you. AND MOSES DID JUST THAT!