Finding Peace

A Lenten Series on the number 40
Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 33:12-34:35 

[Historically, Lent is a 40‑day period of preparation leading up to Easter. It involves reflection, repentance and readiness for the resurrection. Ultimately, it leads us to transformation. The number 40 is significant in the Bible as it is associated with multiple stories of preparation and testing. In this Lenten series, we will be looking at various Biblical stories that revolve around the number 40, and how that applies to us.]

 

The year 1996 was a turning point in my career in full time urban youth ministry. I was choosing between staying with the ministry that I’d been with for 20 years, or starting my own non-profit ministry. Looking for the Lord’s guidance, I decided to go on a 24-hour personal retreat at Mohican State Park.

 

The only things that I took with me were my Bible, a notebook and my Sports Illustrated. Most of my time was spent reading from Exodus about how God called Moses to lead his people. Although I didn’t come away with a specific direction from God, I believed he was telling me that, like Moses, “I will be with you”. 

 

When God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, he told him that he would give him a sign. And that sign would be that Moses would worship God on the same mountain as where the burning bush was – Mount Sinai.

 

Three months after the Israelites had left Egypt, Moses went up Mount Sinai to worship the Lord – the first of two visits of 40 days and 40 nights. It was there that the Lord reaffirmed his covenant with Israel.

 

In the covenant, the Lord promised to protect Israel when they entered the Promised Land. He would drive out the nations that were already there. In return, Israel was to be obedient to him; to not serve other gods. The people of Israel all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” But of course, they didn’t.

 

During Moses’ first visit on Mount Sinai, the people became impatient and convinced Aaron to make a golden calf that they could worship. When he did, they proclaimed, “These are the gods, Israel, who brought us up out of Egypt.”

 

The second time that Moses was on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights, he pleaded with the Lord to forgive his people and for the Lord’s presence to go with them. During this visit he also asked to see the Lord’s glory.

 

⁶ The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. ^7a I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty.      NLT   Exodus 34

 

As a result, something startling happened. When Moses came down, his face was so radiant that Aaron and the people were afraid. Because Moses had seen the glory of the Lord, he had experienced a physical manifestation.

 

There’s only one time in my life when I’ve experienced anything close to this. It was after my personal retreat. The following Monday in the office one of the staff, without any prompting, commented that I looked different; more at peace.

 

Being in the presence of the Lord may not change us in our outward appearance, but it will change us inwardly. Before Israel left Mount Sinai for the Promised Land, the Lord spoke this blessing to Moses so that it might be given to the people of Israel.

 

²⁴ The Lord bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; ²⁶ the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. ESV   Numbers 6

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Calling You by Name

A series on God’s calling: Moses
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3:1-22 

[Traditionally we think of someone who has received “God’s call on their life” as being a missionary or pastor or some other paid ministry position. But God has called all of us into ministry. And there’s not just one way that He does it. In this series, we will look at how God called people in the Bible to ministry, and what that means to us.]

 

Do you ever wonder how your life would’ve been different if…? Fill in the blank.

 

For instance, if I had stayed in college at Michigan Tech, I would never have met my wife, been the father of my daughter and grandfather to my grandkids. But, in order for all of those things to happen, a whole lot of circumstances had to change. Not the least of which was dropping out of school at Tech and moving to Lansing.

 

This mostly hinged around a summer discipleship program in Lansing where I decided that working with urban youth, not rocks, was what I wanted to do. From there, the circumstances fell like dominoes which led to the past fifty plus years.

 

The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. During most of that time, the Egyptians enslaved them and made their life bitter with hard labor. However, centuries before that, God had told Abraham this would happen and promised to rescue his people. The time had come to fulfill his promise. But he needed a leader.

 

Moses was the man for the job! He was well educated having been trained in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” As a prince of Egypt, he was confident and had a position of power. Also, having been raised as a child of privilege, he believed that he was capable of doing anything, and getting what he wanted.

 

But he wasn’t ready to lead Israel! Moses needed to make significant changes. Although he was a man who “was powerful in speech and action”, he was also impulsive, acting out of his own will and pride. He wasn’t ready to follow God’s leading, or to submit to God’s will.

 

Forty years after fleeing Egypt as a fugitive wanted for murder, he was a humbled man. He had gone from being the prince of Egypt to a common, lowly shepherd; he had fallen from a position of power and prestige to a hardscrabble life. He had learned his lesson, but it had cost him his home, his family and his people in Egypt.

 

That is, until one day when he was tending his father-in-law’s sheep on the far side of the wilderness – on Horeb, the mountain of God. It was just another day at work for Moses when he saw a burning bush, but it wasn’t consumed by it. When he went to investigate, the Lord called out to him by name, “Moses! Moses!”

 

The Lord proceeded to tell Moses that he had seen the misery of his people; that he had heard them crying out; that he was concerned about their suffering. And as a result, that he had come to rescue them from the Egyptians to take them to the Promised Land.

 

About this time, Moses may have been wondering why God had appeared to him to tell him these things. He was about to find out. The Lord said:

 

¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”          NIV

 

Circumstances were beginning to fall like dominoes. Moses’ life could have been totally different. But God had been at work through all those circumstances; all those changes. He had been pursuing Moses for decades, preparing him to lead his people. It was time now, and Moses was ready.

 

¹ But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
    O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
    I have called you by name; you are mine.    NLT   Isaiah 43

 

Isaiah could have written these words to Moses. He also could have written them to you and me. God is calling us by name. Just say, “Here I am Lord. Send me.”

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

The Promise of Rest

A series on the book of Hebrews:
Christ is greater than Moses and leads to a better rest
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 3:1-4:13 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then life settles in and can push out those feelings. The day-to-day pressures of living can dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

  

In 2022, my wife and I went to Disney World with our daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren – seven of us total. Because it was during Disney’s Halloween celebration, we dressed up as the “Seven Dwarfs”. I was “Sleepy”.

 

Someone in our family observed that each of the Seven Dwarf characters fit the person portraying them. Even though I’ve been known to fall asleep almost anywhere, I have no idea what they’re talking about.

 

Throughout Scripture, God has promised rest to his people. Moses led Israel out of slavery to the border of Canaan, the Promised Land of rest. But they were afraid to take possession because of the people already living there. They didn’t believe that the Lord could defeat them, so they rebelled.

 

As a result, they never entered God’s rest of the Promised Land.

 

¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.     NIV

 

Just like the Israelites who didn’t enter God’s rest, the Jewish Christians that Hebrews was written to, were about to do the same thing. All they could see were the struggles they had to face and the problems that seemed insurmountable.

 

Therefore, the author reminded them that the Lord still offered his rest to those who have faith and believe. So, he called on them to do everything that they could to enter God’s rest. Then he admonished them to be careful and to help one another.

 

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.       NIV

 

Finally, he reminded them who God was; that God knew what was in their heart; that it was impossible for them to hide their thoughts or struggles. The same is true for us today.

 

¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.             NLT

 

We face the same pressures, temptations and decision today as the Jewish Christians did back then. Will we decide to enter into his rest? Will we keep our eyes on the prize? Will we finish well? Here is Jesus’ promise of rest for us.

 

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.              ESV    Matthew 11

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

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

 

 

The Far Side of the Wilderness

A Lenten series on Mountaintop Moments
– Moses on Mount Sinai (or Horeb)
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3:1-17 

[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 September 1974, when my wife and I were first married, we had season tickets for Michigan State football. There’s one game that still sticks in my memory. Ohio State was the perennial Big Ten champs and that year was no different. They were undefeated and ranked #1 in the country. We were average at best.

 

But that day, Levi Jackson ran for an 88-yard touchdown and the Spartans defeated the mighty Buckeyes! Later that night, as we watched the TV replay of Jackson’s winning run over and over again, we decided that we’d name our first son Levi.

 

You see, Debbie was born and raised in Lansing. And when growing up, her parents had season tickets for Spartan football for years. I also grew up in Michigan and graduated from Michigan State. I bleed green and white. Fast forward to 1985, we moved to Columbus, Ohio – home of the Buckeyes. Life is full of ironies.

 

Consider Moses. The very river that Pharoah had decreed to kill all Hebrew baby boys, saved Moses’ life. Discovered by Pharoah’s daughter, his biological mother was paid to nurse him. Raised as a prince in the household of Pharoah, despite Pharaoh’s decree. Spared by the grace of God, Moses showed no grace when he killed an Egyptian guard.

 

As a fugitive of the law, Moses fled to Midian, married the daughter of a Midianite priest, started a family and tended his father-in-law’s sheep. Until one day when he took the sheep to the “far side of the wilderness” at Mount Horeb, “the mountain of God”, also known as Mount Sinai. It was there that he met the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a burning bush that didn’t burn.

 

God told Moses that he had seen the cruel oppression of his people, heard their desperate cries for help and that he had come to deliver them! Instead, he sent Moses the murderer, who hadn’t lived with his people for forty years. How ironic.

 

Moses gave the Lord excuse after excuse as to why he couldn’t do it. But, in a verse that’s easily overlooked, the Lord made this promise to Moses.

 

¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”                NIV

 

Moses’ life was filled with irony. You begin to get the feeling that maybe that’s how God works – through irony. After all, he works in ways you don’t expect. He works through ordinary people who do extraordinary things. He works through unexpected circumstances that change your life. He works through people’s weaknesses to show his strength.

 

Moses went to the far side of the wilderness to tend sheep, not to meet God. But ironically, God was there. Paul was in the middle of persecuting Christians when Jesus struck him blind so that he could see. Peter was in a fishing boat when Jesus invited him to come fish for men. Matthew was filling his pockets with tax money when Jesus said, “come follow me”.

 

Where have you met God? How has he surprised you? What has he done unexpectedly in your life? “I will be with you”, God told Moses. He makes the same promise to you and me even when we go to the far side of the wilderness.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

“The Ten Commandments”

A series on the story of redemption
The story of Moses.
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

In the 1956 classic movie “The Ten Commandments”, Charlton Heston played Moses in a larger-than-life portrayal. With the main points of the storyline taken from the Bible, it was basically the story of Moses’ life.

 

Biblically, there were three life changing events for Moses. If it wasn’t for these three events, he wouldn’t have been in the right place at the right time. They were pivotal in Moses’ story. And they were also pivotal in God’s story.

 

The first was when he was just a baby. In order to save his life, his mother placed him into a basket in the Nile River. Ironically, Pharaoh’s daughter discovered him, and she raised him as her own son with all the privileges of a prince.

 

The second event happened when he was a grown man. He witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. In retaliation, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. However, when Pharaoh learned what had happened, he set out to kill him. So Moses became a fugitive and fled to Midian.

 

The third event occurred at a well when he rescued the daughters of Jethro, a Midianite priest. Jethro’s hospitality to Moses ultimately led to him staying with Jethro, marrying one of his daughters and starting a family.

 

Here’s the confluence of these three events. One day as Moses was tending Jethro’s sheep on Horeb, the mountain of God, he saw a burning bush. Although it was on fire, it wasn’t burning up. As he drew closer, God spoke to him through the bush.

 

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”     NIV

 

God may not speak to you through a burning bush. But he can speak to you through the story of Moses. There is much that we can learn about the Lord from his story. Not only how he worked in Moses’ life, but also how he works in ours.

 

For instance, God worked through Moses’ circumstances to bring him to the burning bush. He also works through our circumstances. But he doesn’t always do it in the way that we expect him to. Just like Moses certainly wasn’t expecting the Lord to call him to lead Israel out of Egypt.

 

Moses had many doubts about obeying God’s call. So the Lord promised Moses that he would be with him. That same promise is true for us today.

 

The Lord is faithful. In fact, his faithfulness can be seen through his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and continued through Moses. That same covenant was fulfilled through the life, death and resurrection of his one and only son, Jesus.

 

The title of the movie was “The Ten Commandments”. But a more apropos title would have been, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”. Not quite as catchy, but more descriptive of the story of Moses’ life. It’s also true for your story and mine.

 

Copyright 2023 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Here I Am

A Series on the “I Am” statements of Jesus
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Exodus 3:1-15

[Moses encountered God at the burning bush where the Lord gave His name as “I Am”. Jesus used that same name for himself, thus claiming to BE God. In this series, we’re going to look at the “I Am” statements of Jesus to learn about him and about God.]

 

Twenty years ago, I used to run a basketball league for inner city youth. 

During a game, when the ball went out of bounds, my head referee would always say, “Here I am”. It was his way of saying, “Give me the ball”. It was reassuring for me to hear those words because I knew that Chip would faithfully keep control of the game.

 

Prior to this passage in Exodus, the Hebrew people had been enslaved to the Egyptians and had cried out to God for His help. He heard their cries and appeared before Moses in the burning bush. It was here that God laid out His plan to rescue the Israelites.

 

At first God’s plan sounded really good to Moses. But then, God made a sudden, unexpected turn when He told Moses that Moses was to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, not God. Immediately, Moses began to make excuses, but the Lord reassured him with this promise.

 

¹² And God said, “I will be with you.       NIV

 

However, it didn’t satisfy Moses’ fear of returning to Egypt where he had fled as a criminal. So, he asked the Lord, what if the Israelites ask for your name.

 

¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”    NIV

 

My NIV study bible said the following about these two verses.

 

“In verse 12, the Hebrew word translated “I will be with you” is the same as the one translated “I am” in verse 14.”

 

In verse 14, “I am who I am” is the name by which God wished to be known and worshiped in Israel - the name that expressed his character as the dependable and faithful God who desires the full trust of his people.”

 

God is always faithful! You can’t say that about anybody else… even Chip. The Lord promised Moses that He would be with him. The Lord makes this same promise to you and to me.

 

Therefore, listen for His words as He calls out to you saying, “Here I am”. Then put the ball in His hands… and trust the Lord.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams