Frankie Mazzapica - Needing Another Chance
Thank you for tuning in today. My name is Frankie Mazzapica. The title of the message is "Needing Another Chance", Needing Another Chance. Moses, one of the characters in the Bible that we, most of us, all know, Moses needed another chance. And now when we think of Moses we put him in the same category as people like Abraham, people like David, the Apostle Paul, Peter. All of these people needed a second chance, but we're just gonna focus on Moses as a case study. Let's dive right into it in Genesis, I'm sorry, Exodus chapter 24. In Exodus 24, the Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments for the first time.
Now, the Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments three times. The first time is in Exodus chapter 24, where God brought him to Mount Sinai, he invited him to Mount Sinai, and he told him the commandments that he was supposed to bring the Children of Israel, said, "I want you to give them these Ten Commandments". So Moses marches down the mountain, and as soon as he gets down there he looks at all the children of Israel and he says, "This is how we are going to serve the Lord; these are the things that God loves, these are the things that God hates". You know, when you begin your relationship with God or you begin to evaluate your relationship with God, you have to ask yourself the question, "Do I love what God loves and do I hate what God hates"?
If you say, "No, I don't love everything God loves and I don't hate everything God hates," I want to remind you that you're a human being and your flesh naturally gravitates to things that are not godly. So I don't want you to beat yourself up and condemn yourself, but I don't want you to tell yourself that it's okay either. I want you to go before the Lord and I want you to say what I have said many times, "Lord, I need you to do what you promise in Ezekiel 36:26, I need you to give me a new heart and a new spirit. If you don't give me a new heart and a new spirit, my desires will never be like the desires that you want them to be. If you don't give me a new heart and a new spirit, God, I am afraid of the person I am going to end up".
I will promise you that that will be a prayer that the Lord will answer. Do you receive that? Come on, put your hands again. Do you receive that? I promise you. If you buy a lottery ticket and you ask the Lord to bless it, and you make all kinds of promises, "Lord, if you give me $500 million, I'll promise I'll pay off the church and I'll give so much money to the poor," how many of you made promises to God about that? "Lord, I promise I'll come through for you". I can't promise you that the Lord is gonna answer that prayer, but I can promise you that if you ask him to change your heart, to bless your desires, to begin to change what you believe, I promise you he'll come through. I promise you that, I promise you that.
And so Moses, he began to share with them what God loves and what he hates, but that wasn't working. And so he goes back up the mountain, and he tells God, "Look, it's not working". And so the Lord, in Exodus chapter 31, he looks at Moses and he says, "Back up, I got this. If they're not listening to what you're saying, I'm gonna give you a visual example, I'm going to give you an object that you can hold before the people that has my handwriting on it". And so he says, "Back up," and he begins to carve out, God begins to carve out. Can you imagine being there? I mean, my goodness. All of a sudden, I'm just gonna just, give me some creative liberty here, all of a sudden like lightning, makes this circle in this rock, and before it falls out of the mountain, just all of a sudden like a laser, like a laser-like fire, it just, and it begins to write words.
Can you imagine being there? All of a sudden, it just falls out, it's like the Commandments are now on a rock, it's now on a tablet. Moses grabs it, "Ah," you know, "Ow," you know? He picks up the tablet and he starts walking down the mountain, he's so excited, he's got a vision for the people, he's able to do his assignment so much easier. Have you ever been there? You're like, "God, I want to serve you, I really do, but man, you're just gonna have to help me, my goodness. And you know, put make my vertebrae like stone because right now it's like liquid, like, help me". He's coming down and he's got help, and he's holding it up, he's proud, he's holding it. And he gets down there and he looks at the people that he was leading, he sees them all, and while he was gone he told Joshua, "Okay, I want you to be the leader over these people, I'm gonna be gone for a few days, maybe even a few months, I don't know. Joshua, you and Hurr," H-U-R-R, "You and Hurr, you guys are in charge".
He comes down, all the people, they're naked, they're naked and they're dancing around this golden calf that they built, and they're worshiping this calf, and Moses starts to burn with anger. He looks, I think, I think, the Bible doesn't say this, he looks at Joshua and Herr, and says, "You had one job, one job. I didn't ask you to take care of all the camels, I didn't ask you to take, one job. I come back, people were at least looking to the Lord, now they're, you had, oh". And he starts to burn with anger, and he takes the Ten Commandments and he throws it down, and all of a sudden it breaks into pieces. Can you imagine? And he looks at it, he's like, Oh my goodness, "I can't believe I just did this".
I got three major points for you, and each of these points took place after he threw down the Ten Commandments. Number one is that he messed up, he blew it, he did something stupid. Number two, he needed a second chance, he needed another chance, actually, because he had already burnt off his second chance. He needed another chance, he had already received multiple, he needed another chance. And then number three, he needed to elevate his aggression and his passion.
Let's just focus on that first point, he blew it, he lost his mind. And so, he comes before God, he goes back up the mountain, and he's like, "I blew it". Now watch this. He had a vision, he had passion, he was excited about his assignment. Have you ever got a glimpse of your assignment? A glimpse, you didn't have all the details, but you're like, "I believe this is what God wants me to do. I don't know exactly how to get from here to there, I don't know how it's all going to happen, but I believe this is what God wants me to do". In the moment you had that, you felt this rush, you're like, "I know why I'm born; I'm not supposed to do that, I'm not supposed to do what he does, I know what I'm supposed to do".
And in that moment, it was like you had muscles on your teeth and lightning in your veins and thunder in your soul. And then you take all this passion, this knowing, and you get into chaos. It's like the people around you are going crazy, they're not dancing around a calf naked, but they're two steps away, their crazy is causing your world to be crazy; you were just fine until they came marching in, and you'd love for them, "Just be normal. I'm not asking you to be the Pope, I'm not asking you to be Mother Mary, I just want you to stop driving me crazy".
Have you ever been there? Blink two times, because I know they might be sitting next to you, just blink two times. You just want to, just like, "I want my friends, my boss". Oh my goodness, I used to have a boss that I was wondering if he was the tinman, if I could open him up, there's no heart in there. I'm like, "Who are you"? You just want to be in some form of unity, because when you're in a unity it is fun, it is exciting, it feels good to be a part of. You're like, "Oh my goodness". That's all you want, that's all you want, but when it doesn't happen you blow it.
So let me move on to the second point, Moses blew it, he lost his vision, he lost his passion, he got confused, he forgot about everything God was calling him to do. Why did he forget? It's because of chaos, it's because of people, he couldn't stay focused, he just went nuts. So he goes back up the mountain, "I need another chance," but this time he didn't go marching up there with the same mindset. He came up there with a different mindset, he had this degree of humility, this degree of hunger, this degree of hope. And I want to quote this passage to you because I believe that the Word of God will resonate in your soul, and you'll hear the heart of Moses and you also hear the heart of God. This is what it reads, in Exodus chapter 33:13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. This is how it reads. Moses came before God, and he says this: "If I have found favor".
See, after you've messed up a million times you don't know anymore. Are you with me? Okay, just me, that's cool. "If I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways so that I can understand You more fully. Remember, God, that this nation, they are Your special people," they are your very people. The Lord replies, he says this: "I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest," and, "Everything will be fine for you". Moses replies, what a great conversation, Moses replies, "'If you do not personally go with us,' don't send Michael, don't send Gabriel, I don't even want 7,500 angels, no-no, no, thank you; 'If you do not personally go with us, do not make us leave this place.'"
I don't know if you've ever been there. If you're not coming, I'm staying, "Don't make us leave this place". And then he gives the explanation why, he says, "'How will people know that your favor is upon me and upon Your people, if you do not go with us?' Because it is, 'Your presence that separates your people and separates myself from the rest of the world.'" I don't want to blend in anymore. If you have favor on my life, I don't want to blend in, I don't want to look at the guy across the street who doesn't even call on you, doesn't even recognize you and I'm blending in. If I have found favor in your sight, then make sure your presence is in me and around me, because that's the only thing that's gonna separate me. And then the Lord replies back, he says, "Moses, I will indeed do what you have asked me to do, because I do have favor on you, and I know your name".
And so Moses, all of a sudden, all of a sudden he realized that what he was thinking was the Holy Spirit drawing him towards Him, what he was thinking was being substantiated by God. Let me tell you what he was thinking, he was thinking, "God, if you are not in it, I may as well forget about it". When we're walking into this new year, all of our hopes, all of our desires, we gotta know that if God is not in it, we might as well forget about it. So we better bring it to him, and say, "If you're not in it, then I don't even want to try to do it. I gotta have you, I gotta have you".
Come on if you agree with me, I've got to have you. I had a friend of mine, he came to preach. I was a youth pastor at the time at a church up in Illinois, and he came to preach. And then afterwards, I got the privilege of taking him out to eat, and I treated him first class, first class, we went to Applebee's. We went to Applebee's, and I don't know what we ate, I feel like Applebee's offers everything, you know? Whatever you're in the mood for, we got steak, we got chicken, we got pasta, we got fajitas, we got mushrooms, they got it all. And we're sitting there and we're eating, and there was a bar over there, and we're just minding our own business. And we look over there and there's this guy, clearly he's drunk, and he's cussing like crazy.
You know, my friend and I, we're just like, "Hey, you know what? We can't expect people who don't know the Lord to have the same standards as us, who do know the Lord. Let's just let him go". So the guy, he's cussing like crazy, he's drunk. And then all of a sudden, he says, "Oh," and he says, you know, in total vain, "Jesus Christ". My friend who just got done preaching, he's still feeling the afterglow. You know when you come to church, for the next few hours it's just like you feel the afterglow? He's still feeling the afterglow. All of a sudden, he raises his voice, he looks across the room and he goes, "Hey, that'll be enough of that, you're talking about my Savior right now".
And I'm sitting there and I'm like, "Oh Jesus". Because I'll tell you what I'm thinking, "Look, I agree with you, I'm with you. But bro, if you're not just gonna fight that guy, you're gonna fight all those guys; and you're not gonna be able to find me, I'm gonna be in the car". Thank God, the guy looked at him and was like, "Alright, I hear you," and then he went back. And I was like, "Angels are still walking this earth, they're still walking this earth". And I'm looking at him and I'm like, "There's 100% chance when you get back to the hotel room, you're gonna be like, 'Alright God, look, I blew that one, I need another chance.'"
And then there's gonna be point number three, what Moses had to experience, he also experienced as well, I've experienced, you've experienced, we've all experienced, is now it's time, if we genuinely are passionate about God, if we're genuinely passionate about not just lip service of saying, "God, if you're not in it, I don't want anything to do with it. If I'm going to pursue you with the expectation that I am going to see you get involved," it's no longer lip service, now there's action put underneath it.
There has to be this escalated passion, I'm raising the bar. So he goes before God, he's like, "Look, I blew it. The 10 Commandments, I threw it on the ground. I got frustrated, I lost my mind, I forgot about my vision, I was just mad, I was just angry, I lost it". Give me some liberty here. "Moses, I told you the Ten Commandments, I gave you the Ten Commandments, and now you're back, and now you want a third set of Ten Commandments"? "I know, I know, I know".
So, the Lord says this, Alright, I'll give you another set of the 10 Commandments, this is Exodus chapter 34. "I'll give you another set, but here's the thing, I'm not doing all the work this time. I'm not cutting it out of a mountain this time, no, no-no-no-no-no-no-no, you are cutting it out of the mountain now, you're cutting it out. I'm gonna write on it, but you're cutting it out. It's time for you to know, Moses, that if you're gonna go to the next level with me, you have to be aware and embrace that your walk with God requires a tenacity, patience has to be in place because I'm not gonna move when you want me to move, but when I do move, you'll know when I've moved".
You see, your anointing, the call of God on your life, requires you to be tough, it requires it. People who are not tough think about the anointing, want the anointing, pray for open doors, but never see them. Your assignment with God requires a level of toughness, toughness to fight the enemy when he tells you all the lies, toughness to break through the moments when you're not motivated, and you tell yourself, "Motivation will never sustain me, commitment will sustain me, commitment will sustain me".
What I love is God looks at Moses and he says, "Now look, I need you done carving this tablet out of this rock by tomorrow morning. I know it's gonna be hard, you gotta get it done". Maybe God had a little bit of Texas in him, "Get 'er done". And so now, Moses, now he has to do something he's never done before. And so here we go, Moses is looking at this big rock mountain and he's gotta cut tablets out of the mountain. He didn't know that was coming, he didn't bring his hammer, he didn't bring his chisel, he didn't bring any of those things. He looks down, he sees a little rock, he sees a big mountain, he's gotta carve it out himself, but he's got to hurry up because he's only got till tomorrow morning.
So he's grinding it out. Remember I told you that your assignment from God requires tenacity, it requires toughness, because it doesn't come for free. Your anointing is powerful, but it's not for free, you've got to fight for it a little bit. God will give it to you, but it's not for free, you gotta make some sacrifices. So here he is, he's grinding it out, he finally gets it out, and he's in a rush. You know, he's not quite sure why he has to be in a rush, but then he finds out in the morning, Moses did all he could do, then God did what he couldn't do, and he said, "Now get down the mountain and finish your assignment".
He was saying, "Hurry up, Moses, raise the bar, put some intensity into this, get fired up. Don't just wander around and stand there in a set of hope, make some decisions, flesh it out, you got till tomorrow morning. Come on, we gotta get going". I want to say that to you as well. Come on, raise that bar. This is a perfect time, it's a new year, raise the bar, raise the standard, make a commitment, and then watch God do what you can't do. Come on. Do you receive that? Do you receive that?