Striking the Rock

The experience of the desert is forever memorialized by placing manna:

in front of the Testimony, that it might be kept. The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Ex. 16:34-5).

The "Testimony" will later be applied to the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, and these tablets will later be placed in the ark, along with the jar of manna. [1]

Both signify God's provision:  The Ten Commandments provided moral sustenance, authored by God, to teach these former slaves how to be children of the one true God.  The manna provided physical sustenance, sent from God, to nourish and sustain these former slaves in their journey. 

Both are for nourishment and both are from God's hands.  Nothing in Eden came from Adam's efforts and nothing in the desert came from the people's efforts. It was God's plan from the very beginning that we are to rely solely on Him; what we have, who we are and where we go is from His hand.  We are stewards of His provision.  We are not its authors. 

So, God is providing a visual reminder of His provision with the manna in a jar.  The manna, because it was from God, never decayed.  It stayed in the jar, as pristine as the day it was gathered.  

God's law, embodied in the Ten Commandments, will never "decay" or lose its potency to guide a society.  It is as true as the day it was given to Moses.

So, now, despite the long list of God's saving, preserving and sustaining His people, we find them in the desert, grumbling...again.

But before we get all self-righteous, and say, "Oh, come on!  How many times does God have to miraculously help you before you get it?"

Hmmm.  Could God be asking us that same question?

So, let's take a closer look: 

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex. 17:1-7)

Once again, we see a familiar scene.  The people, terrified that this thirst they are feeling is going to be the death of them, start grumbling.  Again.  About the same thing. 

If you remember, in the Desert of Shur, they became thirsty and asked, "What are we to drink?" and grumbled against Moses. When Moses cried out to the Lord, He commanded Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, and it became drinkable. The Lord tested His people by having them face a situation that required utter reliance on Him.  God through Moses told them that if they listened to God's voice, and did what was right is His eyes (by following His commands and decrees), they would remain free from diseases that He "brought on the Egyptians." (Ex. 15:24-26).

Then, not only did God provide them water, He brought them then to an oasis. (Ex. 15:27)

Now, they are in a new desert--the Desert of Sin--and here we are again.  Thirsty.  Grumbling. Accusing Moses that their exodus from Egypt will result in them dying out here.  

Same God.

Same power.

Same appointed leader.

Nothing has changed on the Lord's side of the equation.

Same seemingly perilous situation. 

Same need. 

Same reaction:  grumbling and accusations hurled at Moses. 

Sadly, nothing has changed on the people's side of the equation. 

Moses also seems to not be getting God's message.  He sounds afraid of how the people are responding, because he feels they will stone him. 

Wait!  Let's re-shoot the scene.  Let's fill it with people walking in faith, having learned God is sufficient for all they face!  

Action!

We are in another part of the desert, huh?

Yup.  It's about as bleak as the other one.

Huh, not to sound cheeky, but is there any other kind of desert?

Good point.  No water here either, huh?

Nope.  No water.  But, hey!  Remember when God provided the water the last time?  Moses hurled that wood into that bitter water and boom! We drank our fill!

It was so amazing.  But compared to what God did to Egypt--those ten plagues, saying adios to them Egyptians, and watching Pharaoh get his comeuppance, that was nothing.  Bitter to sweet water? That's just a blip in Yahweh's day. 

I know, I know!  This water thing--bitter or none to be found--it's just pocket change for God.  If He can bring that mighty empire to its knees, why would He send us out here to die?  Let's go ask Moses our next step.  Prayer?  Search party?  Moses hasn't done us wrong, because he is God's appointed leader.  Why would our mighty God use a man of questionable character and conduct?

Hey Moses!  What would you--I mean, God--like us to do?

Wow.  What a difference.  Gratitude is born out of experiencing God's provision and trusting His process, however slow or incomprehensible it may be, and we never cease to remember what He has done.   

Moses is instructed by God to go and strike a rock.  The same staff that he used to "strike" the Nile and turn it to blood, he will now use to strike a rock and bring forth water. 

Both impossible situations.

One: A vital river is turned to blood and instead of giving life, it causes decay and destruction.

Two: A rock, with no water anywhere around it, will bring forth water, enough for the people to drink. 

Interestingly, Moses gave the place two names, one meaning "testing," (Massah) and one meaning "quarreling" (Meribah).   Why?

The verse says, "because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'” (Ex. 17:7)

They quarrel about God's lack of provision and His absence from their woe and need.  As a result of this, they then question His very presence by asking if He's even around. They are doubting Him at the same time they are goading Him. 

Wow. 

The Word has a very stern warning of where the hardening of our heart can lead:  

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Heb. 12:14-15)

Boom.  Quarreling is the antithesis of living in peace with each other, and does not reflect the nature of God's character and those who call upon His name.  Quarreling leads to blindness, for we are so focused on ourselves and what we don't have, that we lose sight of His majesty and grace and what we do have. A pure heart sees God and His movement in our lives.  A quarreling heart only sees delay, absence, carelessness and disregard--all attributes contrary to the beauty of our God, but ones we start to believe God possesses.  

Then, with such a heart, we don't see God working.  (He is.)

Then, we don't see His answers to our prayers. (We are becoming too myopic to have the broader faith-driven than sight-driven perspective.)  

Our heart is slowly but surely growing bitter and we will cause others to stumble.  We give out tainted advice and reflect badly the One whose name we bear. 

Our bitterness, like the water the Israelites encountered, makes us spiritually unhealthy and we are poisonous to be around.

The antidote?

The cross.  It tells us that God is at work,  He loves us, He wants the best for us, that He is Lord of the hard times and His love is sacrificial.  

The cross takes out the bitterness out of our lives.  Yes, the desert is till bleak and hot, but we are not forgotten.

God provided His Son. Sin struck Jesus and what came out?  Love: undeserved, abundant and always present, ever ready to slake our spiritual thirst and bring us through even the hottest of deserts.

But we must strive to remember His ultimate provision--His beautiful Son--every day with gratitude and knowing that He is the same, yesterday, today and forever.    

[1]  The NIV Study Bible. 1985. p. 111

 

 

 

 

The Anti-Eden

We are going to pull the camera back, and scan where we are.

The desert.

Let's look at it from an "anti-Eden" kind of place. One of the definitions of "anti-" is "against."  So, let's compare and contrast the two places.  Eden and the desert are obviously different: One could represent the world before sin entered the world and the other could represent the world after sin entered in.  But how different are they, really?

First up, let's consider water.  Eden had four rivers flowing through it.  In the Middle East, rivers provide life. The water gives life to the arid landscape.  Think of the Nile.  All around it you find desert, but alongside of it, it is a beautiful green. The river literally provides life for the people who depend on it to do so.

The great cities of Mesopotamia are along the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers. In fact, "Mesopotamia" means: “'between rivers,' referring to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but the region can be broadly defined to include the area that is now eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and most of Iraq." [1]

Water is life.  So, you would expect to have water in the Garden of Eden.  First, as we approach the divine staging ground (pardon the pun) for the creation of humanity, we see water: "streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground."  In the next verse, you have this lovely contrast between water coming up from the ground and then God forming man from the "dust of the ground." (2:6-7)  Only when God breathes His breath into this "ground," molded and shaped into His image, do we see the first human. He is formed next to water. 

Then God takes this human and places him in a garden that He planted, not Adam.  The garden is replete with trees whose fruit will nourish the man, and the water makes that possible. (2:8-9)  

A river is responsible for "watering the garden," and as it flows from Eden, it splits into "four headwaters." (2:10)  So, the river provides not only abundance within Eden, but flows out to faraway places.  God's abundance is not static nor localized; He desires His creation to be abundant, reflecting His comprehensive provision.

The key word here is "provision."  The Garden of Eden is fully outfitted to provide for life.  And not just life, as in a kind of survival mode--but abundant life. 

But everything about Eden is from God's hand.  Humans did not create the garden, but they are called to tend it. Humans are placed in a rich environment where everything they need is there--but it is all from God's hand.

So, if Eden is the place where God and humanity dwell together before the Fall, the desert looks like a post-Fall-God's-judgement-has-fallen-on-us-in-a-big-way kind of place.  No water. No obvious provision.  No reaching out to grab a fruit off a tree.

Dust. Sand. Dirt. Quiet.

Yet, in the desert, are little Edens: oases. They have waterfalls, green plants, cool temperatures and are replenished by springs, with the water coming from far away mountains.

Is God reminding His children of that now distant Garden, that, despite our exile from it, how we are not exiled from God's provision? 

The desert speaks of His involvement, even where sin seems to have won. 

He still provides food:  manna.

He still provides water:  from bitter wells and rocks.

Water still flows, not in rivers, but in wadis, where the rainfall from faraway mountains rushes down to remind us how the desert and those who wander in it are not forgotten.

So, the desert and Eden are not opposites, but reminders of God's provision.  Everything that Eden and the desert have are from God, showing how He reaches out to meet and nourish His children.

No wonder Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life and the Living Water.  He chose two provisions that only could be supplied by God. The Bread of Life reminds us of the manna and the living water reminds us of the rivers flowing through Eden.  

He is from God's hand, providing us with salvation for our weary and sin-stained souls, and there is nothing we can do to provide for ourselves. 

God met His people in Eden.

God met His people in the desert. 

God met His people in their exile, their slavery, their misery, and in their longing for freedom. 

God met His people in the most excellent and beautiful provision of all:  His Son. 

There is no where His people go where He doesn't reach out, offering His provisions to strengthen us for the journey.

There is no where His people go where He doesn't reach out, offering His Son to forgive us and strengthen us for the journey. 

 

[1] "History of Mesopotamia," https://www.britannica.com/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia
 

 

Get a Jar

God works in mysterious ways, to be sure, but He also has a process that is ultimately for our good.  We may not think so at the time, but once we slow down and think about how He has carried us so beautifully in the past, trusting Him should for the future should be a piece of cake.

Or should I say, "a piece of manna"?

We talked about God's provision in the previous blog.  God isn't just interested in having His children eat, as crucial as that is. He is providing His children with an identity based on Him, not on Pharaoh.  

Pharaoh gave them food, but it was to keep them strong as slaves to build his monuments. God gives  them food, but it is to keep them strong in believing that God is sufficient in every aspect of their lives, as His children.  

Jesus later will use the idea of manna to make an analogy.  It illustrates who He is, and how His body, broken for those who call upon His name, will nourish them spiritually, and prove that God is sufficient for every aspect of their lives, as His followers.  

So, let's explore the idea of manna for a bit.  

First of all, it's from God. The people didn't have to grow crops, mill the seed and use the flour to create it. In fact, this bread not only comes from heaven, it's God's response to their grumbling:  

Moses also said, "You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord."

Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.'" (Ex. 16:8-9)

Did you catch that?  God didn't show up because the people bowed their hearts in prayer and asked Him to provide.  He could have been furious with them, to the point of abandoning this "Let's Build Children Out of These Slaves" project, but He didn't.  (If anyone says that the God in the Hebrew Scriptures is cruel or vengeful, you might want to point out, and this is one of many examples, where God could have abandoned or struck down the Israelites, but He did not.) 

Then, when Aaron is telling the community what God is going to do, He shows up and tells Aaron how and what He is providing for the Israelites: 

While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. The Lord said to Moses, "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.'"(Ex. 16:10-12)

God shows up even in the midst of our grumbling, discontentment and downright unbelief:  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)

Yes, He is the God of overwhelming holiness, but He is equally a God of love.  Jesus showed us this very majesty and very intimacy on the Mount of Transfiguration.  He revealed His glory: bright, radiant and overwhelming.  But this glory then disappeared as quickly as it came, and Jesus was right back to being the humble rabbi from Nazareth, talking to His disciples. 

Then God makes a promise to the people via Moses that He will provide their nourishment. They can't.  Why?  There is nothing that the desert can provide to sustain the people.  Only God's provision, and not some pitiful rendition of it by human beings, must come from heaven alone. 

This is analogous to works. The world, like the desert, cannot provide what we need to sustain us.  We can try to gather worldly rituals, ideas, and organizational structures to further our walk, but they cannot nourish our hearts, because they were never meant to.  God alone does that.  Even if the world could provide some kind of deep soulful fulfillment, it wouldn't last, because the world and everything in it is temporary.  Only God and His Word last forever: 

The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever. (Is. 40:8)

Only a holy God can provide the spiritual manna as embodied in His Son, to satisfy the sacrifice that God requires for sin, with Christ's blood cleansing our hearts. Jesus showed us how paltry works are, for it was only the cross that satisfied God. 

Our works are like using Monopoly money to pay our bills.

The manna comes down from heaven, and the people are flummoxed by it: 

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other,  "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. (Rom. 16:13-15)

Hence, the "what is it?" is where the word "manna" comes from.  Jesus, too, as the Bread from Heaven, made people wonder who He was and what He was all about.  

Moses is very specific as to what the people must do to get the manna:

 Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'''

The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." (Ex. 16:15-19)

If God provides, His rules are to be followed. We don't add to them, subtract them, or reframe them in ways that make sense to us. Even Paul, a man of seemingly infinite patience, becomes very concerned when the Galatians started adding works to God's provision of Jesus Christ, and not accepting that He  alone is enough.  He reminded them that no works are to be added to Jesus' death on the cross. 

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Gal. 3: 1-6)

Notice what happens when the people gather more manna than they are instructed to, when they go beyond the omer's worth: 

However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. (Ex. 16:20)

Works stink.  Adding to the Christ's death on the cross corrupts its efficacy, and fills it with spiritual maggots, which you could argue is a more graphic way of saying, "pride."  Pride stinks to high heaven, because we take God's all-sufficient work on the cross and try to add our own ____________ to make it, what?  More understandable?  More culturally relevant?  More appealing? 

James makes it clear that works do not save us, but are the evidence God is working in us:  

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (James 2:14-20)

We don't add to the cross; we testify to the cross. 

Of course, because the Sabbath is to be kept holy by the people, they are not to gather any manna.  But some do, and surprise, surprise, it rots. (Ex. 16: 24-30)

Finally, one last comment.  I found this interesting: 

Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Ex. 16: 32-35)

The cross is an everlasting memorial to how God sent His only begotten Son to die for us.  Communion is where we remember that sacrifice, how Jesus's body was broken and His blood was shed to save us.  He used bread at the Passover and I cannot help think that it was to be a memorial analogous to the manna saved in the jar.  His body, broken for sin, is shown in the bread to remind us of what He did.  The manna in the jar likewise reminded the people of God's provision in the wilderness, and how they never went hungry.

When we have Christ, we do not go hungry.

The manna went hand in hand with the old covenant, and the Bread of Life went hand in hand with the new covenant. Thus, Jesus' words, "Do this in remembrance of Me" echoes deeply from the desert.  

  

From Punishment to Provision

Pharaoh was the one who provided to the Israelites what they needed to survive as his slaves. Everything came from his hand.  But what the Pharaoh gave, he could also take away:  life, food,  security and most of important of all, identity. 

Once the Israelites are in the desert, they mumble and grumble over what they do not have: life (what they were used to) food, ("pots of meat" and lots of it) security (starvation is imminent) and identity ("this entire assembly"). 

 "Assembly" ...really?  Not the children of Israel?  Clearly, they didn't see their glorious inheritance of the covenant between God and His people.  Egypt with its enormous structures, all extolling the virtues of the pharaohs, the gods and the glory that was Egypt, meant that their covenant with God seemed pretty lackluster:  

Them: Pyramids! 

Us:  We have this verbal contract spoken by God years ago to our distant ancestor named Abraham.

Them:  Big statues of the pharaohs, powerful and looking divinely smug!

Us:  Some guy named Moses shows up, and tells we are to be free and how our God is going to demonstrate not once, but many times, His superiority. 

Them:  Gods for every aspect of life, carved in stone, and looking divinely smug!

Us:  We have one God. He has revealed that He is enough and covers all the bases--weather, harvest, water, animals, life and death.  

Them:  We were slaves and yes, they tried to kill our babies, but hey, we got up every day, knowing who we were and who we were not!

Us:  Who are we now?  Children of Yahweh, who really showed us and Egypt who is mightier, but this desert thing is not very impressive.  Well, yes, we have food. And drink.  And Yahweh's presence.  And security. But...

God is cultivating trust in these former slaves.  He shows them time and time again that He is worthy of their trust with all He is providing.  Yes, Pharaoh provided, but with a whip, and a claim to deity that is utterly offensive to Yahweh, and oh yes, all of those gods...Basically, these gods are what humans think gods should be and what they should do; thus, they are made in man's image.

That's the way humans like it.  Remember, the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil went into our collective DNA, and we have recreated the world into something we think is accurate and explains what we hear, see and feel.

So our gods are just a version of a mightier us, and while we are afraid of them, we seek to control them with ritual and sacrifice.  Because we fulfill our part of the bargain, we count on them showing up and doing our bidding. 

But Yahweh, the one true God, operates on a level He must teach His children to recognize and understand. He shows His glory to the Israelites, not by punishment and oppression to inspire and maintain fear, but by provision.

This is God's modus operandi:  He provides for His children out of His character, which is centered on lovingkindness--the word for covenant, by the way.  God is demonstrating His covenant by His lovingkindness in how He continually provides for them in the desert.  

God could allow us to sink ever so slowly but surely into the mire of sin and its deception, but He seeks to put our feet up on the rock, enlarging our view and seeing the world through His perspective.  

In other words, God is constantly handing us the Tree of Life's fruit, and asking us to partake of it.  

Jesus used another analogy.  He is discussing manna and how it nourished the people, but they eventually died: 

"Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' They said to him, 'Sir, give us this bread always.'” (John 6:31-34) 

Then Jesus ups the ante on this spiritual analogy:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:47-51)

Now an uncomfortable part (God's words generally are): 

"The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.'” (John 6:52-58)

The people listening comment that "this is a hard saying." (6:60) and many leave Jesus as a result. 

But upon inquiring of the Twelve if they will leave as well, Peter responds: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (6:68-69) 

Jesus showed lovingkindness every time He provided for His disciples and His followers.  He gave them a new identity, from slaves to a ritualized religion, to becoming children of God. He demonstrated this provision with His teachings, His miracles and His love for their hungry souls. His ultimate provision would be His very flesh and blood, broken and poured out for the remission of sins and giving us a new life of freedom and forgiveness.

The manna eaten by the Israelites nourished them and enabled them to survive.  

But Jesus was saying His bread--His flesh, broken and sacrificed to give His people eternal life--would  nourish their spiritual DNA, recoding who they were.  He would provide wisdom and strength, enabling His children to longer be slaves to sin's deception. 

In other words, those who followed Jesus would eat from the Tree of Life. 

The same applies to us. Jesus' bread, His sacrifice of His body on the cross, is ours to partake of and be transformed from sin's slavery to walking as His children.  We, too, will eat from the Tree of Life.

But we, through Christ alone, must leave behind what Pharaoh--the world--says who we are.  

The World: Big, flashy and very alluring to our flesh!

Us:  We have fulfillment of all of God's promises in Jesus Christ, spoken by God years ago to our distant ancestor Abraham.

The World:  Look at all the world has, seated in power and authority and looking "divinely" smug!

Us:  The Messiah came to set us free. God demonstrated mightily that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  

The World:  "Gods" for every aspect of life--money, sex, power, indulgence and pleasure--inviting us to bend our knee and join in, so we, too, can be smug as we show off what we have and who we are!

Us:  One God. We only need Him--He fulfills every aspect of who we are, and transforms us to be what we were intended to be. 

The World: We are slaves and yes, the world tries to kill our souls, but hey, what a ride, huh? 

Us:  Who are now children of God.  He has triumphed over the prince of this world, for greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world. Christ is our food, our drink, and will never leave nor forsake us. We are secure in Him, and He stands by us.  

From punishment to provision:  What a holy ride, huh?