Manna from Heaven

The ensuing blog is a re-post from my myspace page.

Original post date: November 25, 2007

Before I go on with the ensuing message, I just wanted to give a progress and praise report on my weight loss to date: 11.8 pounds, not to mention the other 15 lbs that were miraculously not there on my initial weigh in date. Thanks to everyone for your love and support, and for listening to my rants early on about "how hard this is." Remember this last statement, it relates to the following message.

Ok, so today is Sunday, a "regular church" day. As usual I make it to choir practice and we go through the usual "routine" of practice and then we got up and did the "real" thing. It was just "another Sunday" so far, but I love what we sang today and it was powerful. I have now forgotten the 1st song, as I am prone to do, but then we did a medley of Enemy's Camp/Can You Believe What The Lord Has Done Fore Me/Look What The Lord Has Done, a great version of Our God Is An Awesome God, and finally, "Blessings Glory And Honor." These may not even be the "real" names for these songs, and you may not know them, but if you can find them, listen to them, they are great. There are days when I admit, I can just go through the motions of praise. I regret that, and repent of it, but it's true, I do it, and I'm sure a lot of us do. This is a prelude, in case you're wondering where I'm going with this. So, today worship was AWESOME and was not a "usual Sunday," then we have the message.

I expected the "usual" meaty message (do you see the theme here?) I feel blessed that God is speaking to us through our pastor, and is so able to articulate to us, on a regular basis, in love, where we are and where we need to go from here. There are times, just as in praise and worship, that I can take these messages for granted. They are always good so why should I expect any more or less? I guess I just have an absence of expectancy, rather than low or high expectations. I'm not sure that that's a good approach which is partially why I think today's message really hit home for me.

He went several places, here's the list, take a look at these before reading on so you can understand the fullness of the message (also Pastor's messages are always downloadable at newlifechurch.net) : Romans 8:35-39, Numbers 11(whole chapter), with a preface of a synopsis of the promises God gave to Abraham about being the father of many nations and the Israelites' trials as slaves in Egypt, Deuteronomy 8:3, and Isaiah 59:1-2. His main point was regarding the story of when the Israelites were in the wilderness, had been given manna from heaven, but still complained that they wanted meat and that they might even have felt that they were better off as slaves in Egypt than in their current situation and then God gave them the meat they asked for, but it was rotten and killed many. The point is, to tie all of this together, is that our God is a loving father who wants only the best for us, and NOTHING can separate us from Him, EXCEPT sin!

WOW!!! That's both encouraging and disillusioning. So, you mean to tell me that even the DEVIL can't get between me and God, but my sin can separate me from God like an eclipse separates the earth from the light of the sun! (Pastor's analogy, not mine, but it's good, huh?) Well, the encouraging part is that we can truly live in the promise that Jesus' death saved us from the grasp of the enemy, that's great news. What frightened me was that by putting anything in our lives above God, and sinning, and complaining about what we have or don't have now, that we are making it so God CANNOT hear us! Scary! I don't want to be separated from Him! No more running or complaining from me! I know God CAN and WILL do all that I NEED! It may not be what I ask for, or the way I want it, or in my time frame, but as long as I seek HIM first with the RIGHT heart, I know He wants to bless me and can do everything exceedingly greater that all I can hope or imagine (paraphrased Ephesians 3:20-21).

Back to what I said in the beginning about "how hard this weight loss thing is," imagine the alternative. For that matter, imagine the alternative for all the times I complain about what I "don't have" or what I "used to have." How quickly I forget that I was lost in the wilderness, and HE FED ME! Not just real food, but EVERYTHING I needed. From now on, every time I think back to a time in my life when I THINK I had it "better" I will remember this message - no rotten quail for me please! I am thankful for my manna from heaven! Powerful stuff! Food for thought. Blessings!