By Pastor Elijah Mutiso
Associate Pastor, Fedha Church Kenya Assemblies of God
Exodus 33:12-19 (New International Version)
2 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
The glory of God means His presence. You just have to allow the fullness of God to fill you.
Verse 12-13 Moses prays and draws near to God: Moses knew that it wasn't just enough to make it to the promised land without the presence of God. He knew he needed the special presence of the Lord.
Moses pressed God on this point wanting to know exactly whom God would send.
God had promised to send an angel to go with Israel but Moses was not content to have just an angel. He wanted God himself.
Exodus 33:2
"I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites."
Wengine wetu wangepewa tu malaika wangekuwa wametosheka (If some of us would be assigned an angel we would be content).
- 1 Moses is more concerned with obtaining both a guarantee of that presence for his people and also the enjoyment of a closer experience of it himself.
- He was bold-drawing near to God.
He based his boldness on the grace that God had already shown to him.
He was so determined to have God's presence because this was the next step towards revival and restoration of Israel 's relationship with God.
God answers Moses's prayer by giving the promise of His presence.
Moses would rather remain in the wilderness and enjoy God’s presence rather than be in Canaan enjoying milk and honey without God’s presence.
Moses understood it is God’s presence that brings a difference in our lives and not material wealth. You can have all the wealth (milk and honey), and fame and you are not blessed like those who were living in Canaan then but doomed to destruction.
Mark 8:36
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
God's presence is the greatest and the most precious thing that a man can have.
Acts 3:6-8..silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you….and the cripple walked.
What Peter had was God’s presence which is more than wealth, money, health, insurance or anything that money can buy. It distinguished Peter and all people were amazed.
The presence of God is more than enough to sort everything in your life; be it physical or spiritual.
When you have the glory of God, you carry this presence that gives you the power to live above limitations in this life. You live a supernatural life full of miracles, abundance, joy and peace.
How do you attract the glory of God?
1. Develop a hunger for God
Matthew 5:6.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”
When we long for God more than anything else in our lives, we will be filled with his Glory. We need to desire God more than anything else in our lives and allow him to be all in all. The problem with most of us is that we hunger and thirst for material wealth[milk and honey]and that is what we seek after. When we listen to most of our prayers, it is about the things of this world; good car, wife, plot, a house but never about God’s presence.
We need to surrender our lives to Him and seek him with all our hearts:
Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
When you seek Him with all of your heart you will find him
1. By living pure and holy lives through deep brokenness and repentance.
2. By our commitment and devotion.
We have to desire His glory for Him to manifest His glory powerfully.
God wants to give us more grace, peace, more blessings so that we can be a more graceful people.
*God is a God of more*He has no problem giving us all that we want, but He wants to be the first in our lives so that He can give us all that we need.
Mathew 6:33
But seek ye first His kingdom and righteousness and all other things will be added unto you.
His presence gives us protection and providence.
When the glory of God shows up
There is abundance, miracles, wonders, honour, divine health, goodwill, fruitfulness, and favour (you live an extraordinary life just like Moses).
Verse 18: Moses desired to draw closer to God
God was pleased with Moses and His longing to know the Lord in greater and deeper ways.
Moses had a hunger for more of God.
"The More a man knows of God ,the more he desires to know Him"
Exodus 24:16-18
[16]and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.
[17]To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
[18]Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Moses had already seen the glory of God and yet he wanted more.
Verse 19-20
"God tells Moses what He will show him:
1.) I will make all my goodness pass before you"
*God's glory lies in His goodness. (God is entirely good)
*He displayed His goodness to Moses.
*He promised to reveal His character to Moses.
When Moses asked God to show him his glory, he was asking God to reveal himself fully to him. He wanted to experience the fullness of God.
He had been dealing with God and talking with him but that was not enough.
It is like when you have been dealing with a person on social media and through calls,
You desire to have a date; a one-on-one physical encounter so you experience the person in fullness. A personal encounter is just awesome. You get to know the person better and even bond.
Moses wanted that fullness of God.
Today we can have what Moses desired because we have Christ.
Jesus carries the full glory of the Father.
John 14:9-10
9. Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Colossians 1
15. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
In other words, Jesus is the visible form of the visible God.
Colossians 1
19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
God poured all His glory in Jesus. Jesus carries all the fullness of God that Moses was asking for.
If you believe Jesus and you are walking in Holiness, you will experience God's glory. You will walk in His power and manifest this glory too.
Mark 16:
17. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18. they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
John 14:12-17
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
So if you are not born again you do not have the glory of God.
Moses said, "...it is your presence that brings a difference in our lives".
You may have all the money in the world, all the education, all the fame but bado wewe ni mwanadamu tu wa kawaida (still you are an ordinary person).
All these things cannot save you or give you eternal life, the day you die is the end of you.
Today you can receive Jesus and experience the glory of God. You can experience a life of difference, full of peace and joy.
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