The Finger Of God

Exodus 24:12 (ESV Strong's)

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”

Exodus 31:18 (ESV Strong's)

And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

John 8:3-7 (ESV Strong's)

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Jesus is the same finger of God that wrote the commandments on tablets of stone and wrote on the ground before the scribes and Pharisees. The new covenant would be written in the earth of the heart of mankind, thus fulfilling the working of the ground begun by Adam in the Garden. 

The stone tablets revealed the sin of man. Jesus shows us that no one has a right to condemn another. The stones would drop from their hands and Jesus would continue proclaiming the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation. 

They Beheld God

Exodus 24:9-11 (ESV Strong's)

9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

John 14:6-7 (ESV Strong's)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

The way we can behold God is through His Son Jesus. He is the manifestation of God in creation, for God is outside and beyond His creation. 

And Breathed

Genesis 2:7 (ESV Strong's)

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

The breath of God is the kiss of life. 

My Name Is In Him

Exodus 23:20-22 (ESV Strong's)

20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

An angel led the people of Israel through the wilderness to a land prepared for them. Because they took the name of the Lord in vain through their disobedience and rebellion, the journey was long and arduous and many would not arrive in the promised land. 

The Lord has come to abide in each of us and will lead us individually to the place He has prepared for those who love Him. If we have not taken His name in vain, we will listen to His voice and follow Him where He leads. That place is with the Lord. 

In The Knowledge

Colossians 3:9-11 (ESV Strong's)

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

We are being renewed in knowledge after the image of Christ through the transformation of our minds. This is a work of the Holy Spirit leading the spirit of our new self. The Spirit leads, but we must follow to will and do as He would have us live. We will know and be known. 

From Dust To Stardust

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (ESV Strong's)

45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

This prefigures, or depicts, what can take place within each of us. We arrive through the seed of man and will return to the dust of the earth as a natural man unless we call on the Lord. We can leave through the seed of God, which is His word, who is the Son of God. We must choose to be reborn and to bear His image. 

The seed of God is planted in the earth of man. The growing conditions of that soil varies from one person to another. What grows will be harvested or discarded by the one who plants the seed for the bearing of good fruit. 

His Habitation

Deuteronomy 12:5 (ESV Strong's)

But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,

The Lord has chosen to put His name on a people rather than a place, and makes His habitation in the hearts of the body of Christ. This is the new temple of worship. There we go and there we are. 

Knowing

Regardless of who or what you know, it’s knowing the Lord that counts. 

It Has Been Prepared

Matthew 20:20-23 (ESV Strong's)

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

In the letters to the churches in Revelation we learn it’s the over-comers who will join Him on His throne. It is they who follow Him all the way that will sit down with Him. (Rev 3:21)

That Surpasses Knowledge

Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV Strong's)

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The knowledge of man will disappear in relevance when we come to know God. Love is our invitation and inheritance in Him. We shall know and be known by our love, a love He shares with us. 

The Story

It is the wisdom of the Lord that allows us to to understand our story is not our own, but the story of God our Creator. It begins with creation and ends with Him entering His creation. He enters it through man. We become part of His story and one with Him. 

Be Satisfied

Psalms 17:15 (ESV Strong's)

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

We will be like Him and will be more than satisfied with His likeness that has become our own. 

On Dry Ground

Exodus 3:2-5 (ESV Strong's)

2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

If you have received the Holy Spirit, you have become holy ground by the presence of God. We are holy because He is with us. His refining fire burns within us, and yet we are not consumed. Instead, we are transformed into His image. 

The Water Became Sweet

Exodus 15:22-25 (ESV Strong's)

22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

This foreshadows the tree of the cross placed in the midst of the bitter waters of mankind, turning those waters into the living waters of heaven. The Lord has shown His love and grace for mankind. He awaits to see how we will respond. 

On Dry Ground

Exodus 15:19 (ESV Strong's)

For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.

Genesis 1:9-10 (ESV Strong's)

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

The Lord has prepared a way for man to escape the rule of the world and to pass through the waters of its sea to reach the kingdom of heaven. We are led by His light through and out of the darkness of the deep. 

The Greater Honor

1 Corinthians 12:22-25 (ESV Strong's)

22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are pindispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

Every life is precious to God. The least in the body of Christ is blessed equally with the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We are one. 

The Coming Together

When God is finished, the kingdom of heaven will be on earth. 

A Beautiful Inheritance

Psalms 16:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I eat from the bread of heaven and drink from the living waters which secure my destiny to be with Christ and inherit the blessings of heaven. 

The good news is there is plenty for everyone. In fact, it is THE good news. 

Will Rest Secure

Psalms 16:9-11 (NIV)

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Faith in Christ will fill us with life, for He will fill us with His Holy Spirit. Our lot will not be a grave in the earth, but a beautiful inheritance from His own hand. 

Through The Sea

Exodus 14:29 (ESV Strong's)

But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Just as the Lord made a way through the sea to allow Israel to flee Egypt, He has made a way through the sea of the world to allow us to pass through the world with our feet stepping on the dry ground of the kingdom of heaven. 

We will reach that distant shore and leave behind the army of Satan to perish in the depths of the sea. 

Getting Real

God is the source of reality. Knowing Him brings us to what is real. Our distance from Him is the measure of our comprehension of life. The closer we are, the more we are in touch with reality. 

Knowledge and understanding, along with our emotions, filter our perceptions and explain our actions. We place our faith in what we know. This is related to, but not dependent on reality. 

Inherit The Earth

Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

The pride of man is in opposition to God. It is as fleeting as the life of a flower which fades and falls to the ground. A person full of himself or herself will quickly pass. 

The one who is filled with God is part of eternity. It is the meek who will inherit the earth. 

The Place Of My Rest

Acts 7:48-50 (ESV Strong's)

48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49 “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’

The place of God’s rest resides in the body of Christ. Not a house made by hands, but one born of the Spirit. It is a living house that is filled with the life of Christ. He is preparing the rooms now with the clay of man infused with His Spirit. It will be a structure that’s out of this world. 

When the work of creation is finished, He will enter His rest. That work is man made in His image. We will be like Him. These last days before His return are the sixth and final day of creation. 

Between Yourself And God

Romans 14:22 (ESV Strong's)

The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

Those in the body of Christ are united into His life through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ dwells within each of us. That celebration and experience of life has at its core the union of each person with the Son of God. There is nothing nor anyone who is able to come between us, or separate us from the love of God. 

Blessed is the one who has made peace with Him and ourselves. 

Will Give An Account

Romans 14:10-12 (ESV Strong's)

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess to God.”

12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

We all understand and experience God in a way that is unique to each person. We are alike in many and various ways, but there is no one else exactly like us. Our being made in the image of Christ is a one on one proposition. We will be like Him, yet like no other. Jesus was born as the unique and only begotten Son. We are reborn from above into the many unique brothers and sisters who make up the body of Christ since He ascended into heaven. 

Every one of us, of mankind, will stand before the Lord and give an account of himself. That will either be the good news of Christ or the bad news of man. 

The Impossible Distance

God overcomes the impossible distance from other to be one with us, so that we only need to turn and walk with Him to finish the journey. 

Making A Name

Genesis 11:1-4 (NASB Strong’s (Lockman))

1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Revelation 2:17 (ESV Strong's)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

The natural man has only the miry clay of mortal life to fashion into bricks in order to build a tower that reaches into heaven. There is only one structure that provides safe passage from here to there. It begins with the cornerstone who is Christ and is shaped with the white stones of those who overcome the world. 

We can make a name for ourselves, but it is nothing compared to the new name we will receive from the Lord. 

Speak The Word

Acts 4:31 (ESV Strong's)

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Holy Spirit descend upon us in the power of Pentecost, to shake us free of all impediments for your service and fill us with the words the world longs to hear. Give us the tongues to speak in love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness that only you can bring. 

Ignite and anoint us to boldly speak your word. Give us the understanding and wisdom that will draw others to you, that we rightly speak of the reality that is revealed in your word. 

Let us reflect the light of your presence in our life and be the light of the world.