Brad McClure

The Glow of God

Brad McClure -

Welcome to the 89th issue of Pulpit to Pew Crew Newsletter, I'm Brad McClure, and we are on a journey through the Bible in 2023.

It's Day 44 on our journey through the Bible!

Today, we anchor down in a new book, Leviticus, but I won't cover the intro to that book in this email. Check out the podcast Thursday for an introductory look at Leviticus.

This week I want to wrap up the exciting book of Exodus. What have we seen?

  • Israel in BONDAGE after a fearful Pharoah saw Israel growing rapidly.
  • MOSES' life in Egypt, his life as a shepherd, and his return to lead Israel out of bondage.
  • The PLAGUES! Pharoah didn't want to let Israel go, so God displayed his power in various ways.
  • The PASSOVER connected to the final plague: the death of the firstborn in every household that didn't have the blood applied to the door posts.
  • The RED SEA moment when Israel is trapped, but God delivers in an unforgettable way!
  • The TEN COMMANDMENTS are given to the people in dramatic form.
  • God lays out the TABERNACLE details.  

So, as you can see, we have covered a lot!

Israel is now millions of people and headed to their own land, but they haven't arrived yet.

In our reading, did you notice the chapter about Moses glowing from being in the presence of God?

I haven't been able to shake that thought. Time in God's presence was visible to others. I decided to write about it for our church bulletin and I'm going to share it with you this week.

For those that go to my church and read it yesterday...I'm sorry.

This is the Monday after the SuperBowl though, so I'm doing what I can. 😀

Moses spent some alone time in God’s presence, receiving tablets of the ten commandments and a covenant from God.

When He returned from this special moment, he was greeted with shocked faces. He didn’t know, but his time in the presence of God left him with a shining face visible to everyone.

Everyone knew by his face he had spent time with God.

Today, time with God won’t leave us with a glowing face, but shouldn’t it still be visible to others?

Shouldn’t it change us–for the better?

Do others see genuine compassion and kindness in us because we spend time in the presence of God? Are our words seasoned with grace, and our actions motivated by love, because we’ve spent time in the presence of God?

Genuine time with God leaves visible proof to others.

Similarly, time without God has visible proof, but it’s not as lovely.

Have a great week!

Brad

P.S. Thursday we discuss Leviticus! 😬