The Pursuit- Part 2

We all know the story. In the book of Exodus, while they wait for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai, the Israelites fashion for themselves a new god. This golden calf, constructed by Moses’ brother Aaron (who, by the way, witnessed all of the world-renowned plagues that the Lord used against Pharaoh and the Egyptians), received burnt offerings, peace offerings, and saw the beginning of the Israelites’ iniquitous blend of pagan and holy traditions. In response the LORD reveals his wrathful intentions to Moses, who then intercedes for the Israelites, asking God to “turn from your [his] burning anger and relent from this disaster against your [his] people.” (32:12).

The LORD listened to Moses and spared the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, but in the next chapter, he introduces a caveat:

“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (33:3).

In reading this passage recently, I did a double take after reading this verse – I had never seen this qualification before. The LORD won’t go with his people? Surprising. Moses voices an objection as well:

“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (33:15-16).

Now here is something incredible. God has just given Moses and the Israelites the go-ahead to enter into the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the geographical fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham, something the Israelites have been anticipating for centuries. Moses recognizes all of the preceding expectancy and yet refuses the promised land until one condition is met: he wants the Lord to go with them. Moses brazenly recognizes how the Israelites need the presence of the LORD. Moses refuses earthly blessings, covenantal rewards, providence and provision and instead demands the presence of the LORD.

The unabashedly laconic nature of Moses’ reaction begs some probing questions. Do we love the presence of the LORD like Moses did? Do we recognize the reality of God’s presence in our lives (Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5)? Do we allow the nearness of the Holy Spirit to make us distinct (John 13:35)?

Father, I recognize the reality of your presence. Holy Spirit, tenderize my heart with your nearness. Please open my eyes to see and allow my spirit to feel the reality of your proximity. I want to know more of the love that you have for me, and I thank you that your love motivates, empowers, and strengthens the love that I have for others.

Andrew Butler

The Pursuit- Part 1

I want to start by saying a huge HELLO to all of you out there that will follow this blog over the coming weeks and months. There will be several student leaders from the Office of Student Leadership that will take turns posting each week and our hope is that we can shed a little light into what we do on a daily basis and show you that we struggle like every other student on this campus does. We all have different personalities in our writing so hopefully we’ll keep things interesting as the semester progresses. We love feedback so if you have any ideas let us know!!

With that being said, I feel like I should introduce myself, as we will be spending quite some time together this semester. My name is Leslie Wood and I am from Nashville, Tennessee. I’m a senior here at Liberty, graduating in May with a Biblical Studies degree. I plan on using my degree by going into Youth Ministry (specifically teen girl discipleship) when I finish at Liberty. I absolutely love hanging with teenagers because they are the next generation that will shape and change the world, and also because they constantly remind me that I’m not cool! They keep me grounded for sure J

In my free time I absolutely love to cook, listen to Country music, play board games, drink SWEET tea, and root on the Tennessee Titans and Vols. Now, before you hate on me for being southern please know that though I’m proud to be from the south, I do not have a southern accent.  Bummer I know….but I do say “ya’ll.”

I find that a lot of my students think that I live some high and lofty life because I’m an RA but I will assure you that that is far from the truth! I struggle with writing papers and formatting them correctly, waking up and going any class before 10:50, making time to go to the gym, keeping in touch with friends back home, and making my bed! In fact, before I came to LU my motto was, “life is too short to make your bed!” Making the bed is one of my least favorite things to do and my mom wasn’t hardcore, forcing me to do it as I was growing up. Though the desire is still not there, it does get done since we have cleanliness checks on MWF. This is one of the many quirks I have!

This week marks my last first week of undergraduate classes. I’m so stinking excited to graduate in May but it’s also a little overwhelming to think that I’m supposed to know what I’m doing with my life in a few short months. God has directed my steps up till now and I know He’s going to continue to lead. Some of you may be graduating in May as well (congrats!) and have absolutely no idea what is next in your life. That’s definitely an overwhelming place to be in but I’d encourage you to continue seeking God and the holiness He has called you to live in on a daily basis. When everything else is uncertain, you can know that He cares most about who you are becoming, not what you are doing. Continue striving for His holiness!

I don’t know about you but I’m having such a hard time getting back in the mindset of schoolwork. Maybe for me it’s senioritis but I have a feeling I’m not the only person out there felling this way. I had a great Christmas at home with my family and I was ready to come back and see all my LU peeps but I wasn’t exactly ready to start classes this soon. This morning I found myself as a senior still wandering around the halls of North and Demoss looking for my classes since we all know the room numbering system doesn’t make much sense. I also got on the wrong bus since all the routes were changed over break. Starting the first day of classes running late probably wasn’t a promising sign for the rest of the semester.  Oh well, I guess when you start low there is always room for improvement!

As everyone arrives back at LU there are several things that remind me I’m back and the semester has started. You know you are back at LU when blackboard freezes up the first day of classes causing no one to actually have their syllabus printed by class time, you stand in the freezing rain waiting to get into the rot to reunite with your friends, the bookstore is already out of the book you have an assignment in this week, and you feel like everywhere you look there is a typical “LU couple” cozying up next to each other because they missed each other SO MUCH over break!! Ya’ll know what I’m talking about.  I’ve personally experienced each of these this week and remember that some things from semester to semester never change at LU!

I’ll leave you this week with 2 more random facts about myself. First, I absolutely love to drink water! It’s one of my many quirks – I know it’s kinda weird but I feel like it’s a huge part of my life and ya’ll should know that! Second, I absolutely love to read! I set ridiculous goals over breaks for how many books I will read because I’m very competitive. My goal was to read 5 books over my break and I ended up reading 6…and began my 7^th on the way back to LU.

 With that being said, I want this blog to be interactive so I want to know what you read over break! Were there any great books that you found over break? If not, what is the one book that you would recommend everyone reading?

My recommendations are:

  Every girl needs to read - “Set-Apart Femininity” by Leslie Ludy

                                            “Emotional Purity” by Heather Paulsen

              For anyone to read – “The Discipline of Grace” by Jerry Bridges

Alrighty, that’s all I’ve got this week folks! Happy first week of classes!!! Get ready for an amazing semester!