Ordering Your Private World 1 - Exodus Part 7 Series

INTRODUCTION

• The hardest thing about ministry is relationships. Many of us are ineffective in ministry because of fractured relationships.

• There is no ministry outside of relationship.

• God’s order began with people in garden, in authority with dominion.

• And it continues that way today. He uses those who let Him use them.

• Moses was one of those guys. A guy who got used because he dealt with his relationships.

Exodus 4:18-19, 18Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, ‘please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.’ And Jethro said to Moses, ‘go in peace.’ 19Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, ‘Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.’”

o Read vs. 20-31 - This encompasses all the key relationships in Moses’ life.

• Here is Moses/Jethro, Moses/Zipporah, Moses/Aaron, Moses and elders.

• All our lives look at some level like an an organizational chart.

• With people above us, beside us, and below us.

I. RELATING RIGHT

• You and I are called to be instruments of salvation. The goal isn’t to get outta hell to heaven. The goal is to fulfill destiny.

Exodus19:5-6, “Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

• Priests - Bridge builders to the world.

• The exodus ones or ones taken out and us the ecclesia (church) or called out ones - ek and kaleo, ek=out and kaleo=called.

• We are all meant to be deliverers. Genesis 12 - Blessed to be a blessing.

• This was Moses, called by God, he turned aside, dealt with his internal identity issues, (who am I) God empowered him with signs (staff) and now he is ready to move out.

• Not exactly. Not till he deals with relationships.

• If you are going to be used as a deliverer you are going to have to order your world properly.

• You are going to have to relate right to those God puts over you: parents, employers, leaders.

• To those He puts next to you: friends, neighbors. Those He gives you charge over: family, employees, etc.

• How do you relate to your possessions (do you own them or do they own you?), to your power, to your place in this life.

II. GET ON YOUR NUMBER SO GOD CAN USE YOU

• Once Moses gets his calling and he figures out what God is up to…

• He then must deal with people on these three different levels.

• When we speak of those above, beside, below there is no value or worth put on the position. We all have value in God’s eyes, but as I taught you three - four years ago we all have our own number.

I Peter 2:13, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake.” Ephesians 5:21, “Submit yourselves one to another.”

• Do you remember your P.E. teacher telling you to get on your number for roll call?

• Man I had to battle with kids all the time. Do this in alphabetical order, “But Mr. Carroll that means I’m always last.” Get on your number Zimmerman.

• Wow what a hassle but without those numbers having 50 students in your P.E. class would have been impossible.

• Submit = hupotasso = to arrange under, to put under, to put in order

• A Greek military term meaning “to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader.”

• In non-military use, it was “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility.”

• In P.E. it was getting on your number.

• Without authority and submission we would live in chaos.

• There are times you just want to throw off others and do it your way.

• Doesn’t God know that since this was written we wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to protect our rights?

• The truth is the assurance of our destiny and the fulfillment of our lives is never accomplished by the insistence of our rights but by the willingness to lay them down and let Him raise us up.

• There are times you must respect the position even if you don’t respect the person.

• Acts 23:1-5 - Paul and the high priest.

• It is easy isn’t it to think you could do it better than the person above you?

• To allow your heart to grow critical and hard…beware. God put you in a position to make someone else successful and he will not elevate you unless you elevate them.