Finding His Grace

FINDING HIS GRACE

Have you ever found yourself looking for something you cannot find? It can be very frustrating. We may find ourselves spending a lot of time looking for something we have lost.

We may be looking for:

Car Keys, the kids shoes, our glasses,

our wallets (or purses), something to

write with (or write on), or our car in a

Walmart parking lot, etc.

Think about it. We all find ourselves not able to find those important things we are missing. And at that moment, these items are very important to us.

What is interesting is those things were not all that important to us until we suddenly realized they were missing.

And this is when these insignificant things become our top priority. Nothing else will matter to us until we find what we are looking for. No matter what it is.

While we are looking for the things we need to find, our life is placed on hold.

Listen carefully. When it comes to those everyday things you are looking for, you need to know that you really can live without them (the keys, shoes, the car).

On the other hand, what about the things of God? When it comes to finding what God has for you, nothing else will matter. When a person fully understands that they are spiritually lost, they will have an overwhelming desire to find the Grace that God has for them.

When we understand how lost we are without God, we will become desperate in FINDING HIS GRACE.

We need to FIND GOD’S GRACE.

Text: Exodus 33:12 thru 17

This is a simple, but profound, prayer of Moses. This prayer reminds us that we cannot live without the Grace of God.

In our text, God tells Moses that He has -

“…found favor/grace in His sight…”

There may be those here this morning who may be wondering if God feels the same way about them (as HE did about Moses).

Here is our question today.

“Has God found favor/grace for you in His sight?”

Likewise, “Have you found His Grace?”

This is important! We all need to know the answer to both of these questions.

You see - there are times in our lives when we have no one else to turn to but God.

In life’s toughest trials, we all have found there really is no one else but God.

Isn’t it good to know that He has promised that He will -

“never leave you nor forsake you?”

We need to be -

· Found in the favor of God.

· Found in His Grace.

By looking at Moses, we will see what he found that was important. We will also find what is important for ourselves.

In our text we can see that Moses was a very busy man. Moses had a huge responsibility for the Nation of Israel.

Unfortunately, the people had begun to worship an idol. Moses asked God not to judge the children of Israel for this sin.

In chapter’s 32 and 33, God had become very upset about what the nation of Israel had been doing.

There is a lot to read in these two chapters, so let me quickly summarize what happened.

The nation of Israel :

1. had been given the Laws of Moses to live by and be obedient to Him.

2. decided to worship an idol in the form of a golden calf.

You may be thinking this morning -

“Pastor what’s this got to do with me?

I don’t have a problem with worshipping any golden calves...”

Well in a way we all have our “golden calves” that can pull us away from God.

I would suggest that (if you are like most people) you probably loose sight (from time to time) of what God has told you to do and/or what not to do.

As a matter of fact this is how we become lost and can’t find God.

You may not have a “golden calve” sitting on top of the television at home, but for some people the television has become their “golden calve”.

If we spend too much time in front of the television, we will become lost and separated from the presence of God.

Hey it happened to God’s people in Exodus, and it still happens to God’s people. God can get upset about that.

People haven’t changed that much since the time when this was written.

We may dress different but we still have our own “golden calves”. Amen?

Well, this is what happened to Moses.

Moses had :

1. convinced God to spare the nation of Israel from God’s judgment.

2. threw down the tablets with the ten commandments

3. destroyed the golden calf idol, burned it, and ground it into fine powder and then made the nation of Israel drink it. (Pastor Moses didn’t give the children of God any slack for what they had done wrong.)