Turning Point

A series on meeting God – Moses
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 19-20:2 

[We all have a story about how we met God. Some are more miraculous than others, but none more amazing than the mere fact that the Living God, our Creator, reached out to bring us into relationship with him. In this series, we will be looking at how people in the Bible met God, and what that means to you today.]

  

Do you remember where you were on 9/11? I was in a meeting when someone’s pager went off. His wife told him that a plane had flown into one of the towers at the World Trade Center in New York City.

 

I can still remember watching the TV reports as first the south tower crumbled and then the north. Before collapsing, you could see people jumping from the towers to escape their fiery death. The images were horrific, unbelievable and surreal. It was a turning point for the United States, as well as the world.

 

The Israelites also experienced a turning point in the life of their nation. For 430 years, the Egyptians had enslaved them. But then the Lord called Moses to lead them to freedom… to the Promised Land.

Sixty days after they escaped Egypt, the Israelites entered into the wilderness of Sinai where they stopped at the foot of Mount Sinai. This wasn’t by chance. It was providential; a divine appointment orchestrated by the sovereign God.

 

The Lord was about to confirm his covenant and to give the Israelites a new identity and purpose as a nation. Not as slaves, but as free people to serve a holy God. Speaking to Moses, the Lord gave him this message.

 

⁵ Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. ⁶ And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”           NLT

 

Following this, the Lord told Moses that he was going to come to him in a dense cloud so that the Israelites would hear him when he spoke to Moses. But before doing that, Moses needed to consecrate, or prepare, the people for the Lord.

 

On the morning of the third day, “thunder roared, and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain". In fact, Mount Sinai shook violently. 

“As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply”. Although consecrated, the Israelites were terrified!

 

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.   NIV

 

Like 9/11, this was a dramatic turning point not only for Israel, but for the whole world for ALL generations to come. In fact, almost fifteen hundred years later, the Lord sent his Son to establish a new covenant.

 

This new covenant included everyone everywhere. Because of this, God’s word spoken to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, today applies to all who believe and follow Christ. Peter put it like this.

 

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.            NIV    1 Peter 2

 

Like he did with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, the Lord has freed us and given us a new identity in Christ. He has chosen us to be his priests, his holy nation and his special people.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Sight Unseen

A series on meeting God – Abraham
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 12:1-9; Genesis 15:1-21 

[We all have a story about how we met God. Some are more miraculous than others, but none more amazing than the mere fact that the Living God, our Creator, reached out to bring us into relationship with him. In this series, we will be looking at how people in the Bible met God, and what that means to you today.]

  

As a junior in high school, I planned to go into geological engineering. When I told Mr. Clark, our guidance counselor, he immediately said, “You need to go to Michigan Tech in Houghton”.

 

I didn’t know anything about Tech. Things like their average annual snowfall was 250 inches; or that there were 10 guys for every girl; or that it was about a nine-hour drive to the middle of nowhere. All I knew was that Mr. Clark recommended it; so, I went to Tech… sight unseen. Abram did the same thing!

 

Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans in Mesopotamia. He lived there with his father, Terah - who worshiped the moon god, his wife Sarai - who was barren and his nephew Lot – whose father had died.

 

While in Mesopotamia, the Lord appeared to Abram telling him to leave his home and his people, and to go to the land that the Lord would show him. Based solely on the word of the Lord, Abram uprooted his life to go there… sight unseen.

 

Abram took with him Terah, Sarai and Lot. However, on the way they settled in Harran, a city also known for worshipping the moon god. Although we don’t know why they settled there, you could speculate that it had to do with Terah. Because when he died Abram once again set out for the land the Lord would show him.

 

Despite Sarai being barren, the Lord made this startling promise to Abram.

 

² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.       NIV              Genesis 12

 

At the age of seventy-five, Abram arrived in Canaan with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, along with all their possessions and people that they had acquired in Harran. But they weren’t alone. The Canaanites lived there.

 

Even though Abram was old, Sarai was still barren, and the Canaanites were there, the Lord again appeared to Abram and promised that he would give Abram’s descendants the land. Therefore, he built an altar to the Lord.

 

However, over the following decade, Abram experienced many adversities, not the least of which was that he still had no children. Afraid and discouraged, the Lord appeared to Abram again. This time, Abram complained about being childless.

 

⁵ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.  NLT   Genesis 15

 

Based on God’s word and promise, Abram went to the ends of the earth… sight unseen. The Lord had made a covenant with Abram that he would fulfill his promise. The Lord also made a new covenant with you and me. A covenant to forgive our sins and restore us to him.

 

²⁰ After supper Jesus took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.  NLT   Luke 22

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Our Day of Atonement

A Lenten series on Mountaintop Moments
– Jesus on Mount Calvary (Golgotha)
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Mark 15:21-41 

[In this Lenten series, we will be looking at Mountaintop Moments. These mountains are more than just geographical features. They symbolize divine encounters and moments of revelation, faith and transformation. In other words, meeting God on the mountain top.]

  

In 2004, Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ was released. It was an epic drama about the final twelve hours of Jesus’ life focusing on his suffering and crucifixion. 

If you saw the movie, you know how graphic and violent it was. But living it for real must have been horrific.

 

Following Jesus’ arrest at Gethsemane, he was subjected to a kangaroo court, both from the Jewish religious leaders and the Romans. The result was a conviction that condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion. There was no death worse than this, and the Romans had become experts at it.

 

After being slapped, spat upon, scourged and ridiculed, Jesus carried his crossbar to Golgotha, which means “Place of the Skull”. It was a site known for crucifixions, with skulls possibly laying on the ground as a reminder. In a macabre scene, the Roman guards drove nails through his hands and feet and placed him on the cross.

 

From 9am until noon, Jesus hung there, possibly naked, or at best with only a loin cloth covering him. He was outside the city gates by a highway where passersby would taunt him. The sign that Pilate had insisted on placing above him mockingly read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews”.

 

Other than John, and a group of women who had helped during his ministry, Jesus had been abandoned by all of his disciples - his closest friends. The crowds who had welcomed him into Jerusalem as the Messiah had now deserted him. From noon until three, “darkness fell across the whole land”.

 

³⁴ Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”     NLT

 

According to scholars, it was at this point that Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world; our sins; yours and mine. His Heavenly Father, who was “holy, holy, holy”, abandoned his only Son, who he loved, because he had become sin. Both Father and Son must have experienced deep despair and heartache.

 

³⁷ Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸ And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.        NLT

 

The curtain in the Temple hung between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was considered the dwelling place of God. Because of that, only the High Priest could enter once a year, and then, only on the Day of Atonement to offer a sacrifice for the people’s sins.

 

Jesus’ death was our Day of Atonement. He entered the Holy of Holies, not only as our high priest, but also as the sacrifice for our sins once and for all. Nobody else could have done this. Only Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God.

 

¹² With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.                                   NLT    Hebrews 9

 

²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ^22a let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.                NLT   Hebrews 10

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Pressure Cooker

A Lenten series on Mountaintop Moments
– Jesus on the Mount of Olives
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Mark 14:32-42 

[In this Lenten series, we will be looking at Mountaintop Moments. These mountains are more than just geographical features. They symbolize divine encounters and moments of revelation, faith and transformation. In other words, meeting God on the mountain top.]

 

March Madness is a pressure cooker! You start with 64 college teams in each of the men’s and women’s tournaments playing in four regions across the country. Those 128 teams represent nearly 2000 student-athletes, all of whom have the same goal – get to the Final Four and win a national championship!

 

The problem is that you only get one shot at it. If you lose, you’re out. Your dream is shattered. Because of this, the further a team advances, the greater the pressure. You can tell that these young men and women are feeling it too. But, as intense as the pressure gets, there’s no comparison to the pressure that Jesus faced.

 

Prior to and during Passover, Jesus had been talking about his death. Three times he had predicted his death to his disciples. He described the woman who anointed him as preparing his body for burial. During the Passover meal, he told his disciples that the bread was his body, and the wine was his blood.

 

When Judas left the meal early to betray Jesus, the religious leaders had already made plans to arrest him and have him killed. Following the meal, Jesus told his disciples that they would all fall away, including Peter who would disown him three times. Jesus seemed to be walking into an inescapable web.

 

Like vice grips, Jesus’ life and mission were mercilessly squeezing him. Can you feel the pressure mounting? The pressure cooker was about to explode.

 

With his disciples following him to the Mount of Olives, Jesus went to an olive grove called Gethsemane, which means “oil press”. During ancient times, heavy stone slabs were used to crush the olives under immense pressure, squeezing out the oil into pits where it was collected. This is a metaphor for Jesus.

 

While the others stayed behind, Peter, James and John went with Jesus to pray. He became “deeply distressed and troubled”. This phrase, according to the New Bible Commentary, “express the utmost degree of unfounded horror and suffering”.

 

³⁴ Jesus told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”        

 

³⁵ He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. ³⁶ “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”    NLT

 

In Luke’s version of this agonizing prayer, Jesus was in such profound pain that "His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." You can almost feel the heavy stone slab squeezing the life out of him.

 

Clearly, Jesus was experiencing the emotions of being fully human. And yet, in the direst of circumstance, he managed to submit to his Heavenly Father’s will. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had taught his disciples how to pray: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. They weren’t just words for Jesus.

 

One final thought. Olive oil had many uses at the time, not the least of which was to anoint kings, priests, and prophets. The word Messiah means “the anointed one”. Jesus, the Messiah, was the King of kings and Lord of lords. Isn’t it ironic that he chose to go to an olive grove where he was arrested. It was a pressure cooker!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com