Exodus 28 & 29; Acts 7

Exodus observations and musings

• Abba, your attention to detail is kind of frightening and sobering. Your choice of colors of everything down to the threads. And choice of, the seriousness of wearing underwear.
  

^42-43 "Make linen underwear to cover their nakedness from waist to thigh. Aaron and his sons must wear it whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the Altar to minister in the Holy Place so that they won't incur guilt and die. This is a permanent rule for Aaron and all his priest-descendants."

• Colors and fragrances are preferred by You, the things I see in You, guess about You from this attention to detail. Does two things it's ok that my attention is lacking, You've got the details and focused on You, Your Son, with the help of Your Spirit I can and will do what You intend...... and my lack of that attention disappoints You, in seeking an excellence I would pay attention....I wonder which is most going to get me moving in a direction that helps others and honors You???....

• You tried so hard w/us before sending Your Son. The idea of it breaking Your heart and yet our stubbornness that there could be no other way feels this morning so shameful and yet reading the above point the stubbornness still reigns.

And then Acts 7, Stephen telling the whole story and that the story hasn't changed and that I didn't know it, didn't know the value of the whole story, the context lost. To know, really know all we can about You, this book challenges us. There is of course more, they didn't allow him to tell of Jesus that story just riles them and us up, still to this day... The humility of needing Him....the lack of power for us without Him and yet to accept Him means we are without any power of our own against God. To admit......Acts 7:^42-43 "God wasn't at all pleased; but he let them do it their way, worship every new god that came down the pike—and live with the consequences..... to even really be cognizant that we are... Acts 7^51-53 "And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you're just like your ancestors. Was there ever a prophet who didn't get the same treatment? Your ancestors killed anyone who dared talk about the coming of the Just One. And you've kept up the family tradition—traitors and murderers, all of you. You had God's Law handed to you by angels—gift-wrapped!—and you squandered it !"
I don' t want to squander it....how do we live our lives helping others to know something , when we daily learn more and more of our own stubbornness. And that's it, there it is maybe, in that learning and accepting the GRACE YOU so ridiculously offer we get softer and softer and more dependent and willing to do whatever it takes for Christ to be revealed in and through us......I don't know, what do you think???