Scripture: Exodus 33:12-23 - Moses and the Glory of the LORD

The search of a restless heart ends when we give God His rightful place in our lives.

God is in His rightful place when:

1. The Glory of God is our Goal
   • In the things that we do, is God at the centre of our action and thoughts.
   • God will radiate if we always put Him first.
2. The Presence of God is our Power
   • Where does our power to live / act come from?
   • The presence that Mose experienced is available to us today through JESUS.
3. The Word of God is our Wisdom and Guide
   • God gave us the 10 commandments as a safeguard to guides in life.

In the end, God will be the only one who can be the PERFECT partner. If you don't have God first, what you do have will not last.

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Scripture: Exodus 32:1-8 - The Golden Calf

In idolatry:

1. We've replaced God's sovereignty with our own human ability.
   • Exodus 32:1
   • All forms of idolatry begin when God's authority and influence are replaced by our own sense of ability and confidence.
   • Have we placed too much confidence in our politicians, our leaders and / or our pastors?
   • When their promises aren't kept or they aren't able to fulfil their duties, we suffer because we aren't properly grounded in God.
2. We've misused God's resources for selfish purposes.
   • See Exodus 32:2,3; 3:21,22; 35:22
   • How do we use our finances--Do we tithe for God's use or do we spend more on our own personal luxuries / materialism? Do we use our God-given talents for our own personal gain or to serve others? Do we use the church (building) as a place of worship or as a place of socializing / gossip?
   • Often we haven't used what God has blessed us with as He intended.
3. We've dishonoured God's name through false worship.
   • We've taken God's provisions and credited them to someone else.
   • Exodus 20:3-5, 34:14
   • God is jealous because we are exclusively His.
   • We fail to acknowledge who God is and what He has done for us.

Are We Living our life saying to God, "There is none like you."

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Scripture: Exodus 23:1-9 - Laws of Justice and Mercy

Why isn't justice served more often?
What does it mean to be a community of justice?

3 Elements of Justice:

1. Judgement and Punishment
2. Fairness and Equality
3. Righteousness

People are often:

1. Unable to accept God as the Ultimate judge.
   • Does God rally have control?
   • Psalm 73:2-14
   • Why are things unfair? Why isn't justice always served?
   • Response: Psalm 73:16-17, 27-28
2. Unwilling to accept God as Ultimate judge.
   • We won't accept God's judgement.
   • We want to take justice in our own hands.
   • God's judgement see the entire picture.
   • In the end, everything will be fair, equal and right.

God tells us to do justice (good) despite the situation:

1. Choose justice in spite of pressure.
   • Exodus 23:2 - Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.
   • The crowd is not always right.
   • Going against the crowd can be a big risk--loss of friends / image etc.--but do we want to go against the will of God?
2. Choose justice instead of favouritism.
   • Exodus 23:3 - And do not show favouritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
   • It's easy to do things that please our friends or show bias to people we know instead of doing what is correct.
3. Choose justice instead of revenge.
   • Exodus 23:4-5 - If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.
   • It is easy to not help an enemy when they're down.
4. Choose justice instead of bribes.
   • Exodus 23:8 - Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
   • Anything that would entice you to more favorably disposed to a situation.
   • Anything that could cause you to distort the truth.

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Scripture: Exodus 19:1-8 - At Mount Sinai, Exodus 20:1-21 - The Ten Commandments