We Have A Privilege We Cannot Forsake

Good Morning,

Exodus 33 is such an awesome chapter of God's Word. There is so much that we can learn from this encounter that Moses had with God.

11Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ex 33:11a.

What an amazing picture! Some people might say, "Well... that is Moses. He was different than we are." I want you to know that you can have an even closer relationship with God than Moses had. Moses isn't special because he is Moses. Moses is special because of his reliance on and obedience to God. You can rely on God just as much as Moses did. You can be obedient to God just as Moses was. You can have that same kind of close relationship to God that Moses had. The only thing preventing you from having that relationship with God is you. Notice what Jesus said in John 15:

14“You are My friends if you do what I command you.
    15“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:14–15.

How awesome is that? Followers of Jesus Christ are called "My Friends". Wrap your head around that. Not only can we be called "friends of God", but Jesus will reveal to us what the Father has told Him.

12“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
    13“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
    14“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
    15“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 16:12–15.

Don't miss what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is saying everything that belongs to the Father belongs to Him, and He makes all of that known to us by the who. By the Spirit of God. This picture in Ex. 33, Moses and God speaking face to face as a man speaks with his friend, we dive into the New Testament and realize this is a privilege for us through the Holy Spirit of God.

What a great privilege we have! Sadly, I believe this is a privilege that too many christians have forsaken for too long. The reason you aren't closer to God than you are now is because you have decided not to claim this privilege that Holy God has given to us. That can change today!

Serving Him,

Bro. Joey