Archive | January 2015

Exodus 14

Jan22

Good morning y’all. Today we are looking at Exodus 14.

Be blessed 🙂

From the 1st four verses of the chapter, we see that for everything God asks us to do, there is always a purpose – For His name to be glorified. God told Moses the purpose why he asked them to turn back. He wants his glory to be displayed and for Pharaoh and the Egyptians to see that He is the Lord (Yahweh): the one who own everything, who rules and reigns over the affairs of men.

In verse10, the people panicked when they saw Pharaoh approaching. To the people, it seemed as though God commanded them to leave and now it seems the enemy is going to succeed and kill them. At that point, it felt like God had deserted them or perhaps they started doubting if God was truly the One who told them to leave Egypt.

This is true for most of us. God asks us to do something, we do it but there are challenges on the way and we start to doubt whether it was God who called us or we just called ourselves.

We need to understand that God doesn’t promise that the road to the promised land will be easy with no pain at all. What He promised was that we will definitely make it to the promised land and that He will be with us. And we know God never lies so if He has said it, then let’s believe that even in the midst of the obstacles He is able to deliver us. (The invitation we are given is found in Matt 11:29-30; the reality we should expect is found in John 15:18; and the confidence we have is found John 16:33.)

The Israelites had seen God take them out of Egypt without them having to fight. He had been with them from the day they left as the cloud and fire. It seems to me that they didn’t recognise His presence with them.  I ask myself, if they did, why then did they start to panic when they saw Pharaoh and his chariots approaching? Was it that they thought God wasn’t able to deliver them from Pharaoh this time around?

I’m reminded of the disciples when they were in the boat with Jesus and the storm came. Jesus was sleeping in the boat during the storm. Notice He was in the boat with them but asleep. The disciples started to panic and went to wake Jesus up saying, ‘Lord, save us!’.

“Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”.(Matthew 8:23-25 NLT)

These are men that have seen Jesus perform miracles. Yet in the midst of the storm they panicked even with Jesus present in their boat. They didn’t fully understand the power of the One who was asleep in their boat.

Same can be said of some of us. The cares of this world has so distracted us that we do not even see God’s hand or presence in our lives and when the storms start to rage we panic. Jesus responded to their cry for help.

“Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:26-27 NLT)

The latter part of verse 10 tells us the Israelites cried out to God.
” …..They cried out to the lord” (Exodus 14:10 NLT)

At least they knew to turn to God for help. Who do we turn to when things get out of hand in our lives? Do we turn to our friends, pastor, bank accounts or parents?.

Verses 11 and 12 suggests the Israelites would have rather remained slaves in Egypt than be free. It’s like they still didn’t know or understand the God they serve. God had worked miracles and yet at the first sign of trouble they are thinking of going back to Egypt and lamenting. It’s like they’ve already forgotten about God and his mighty power.

Let’s see God response through Moses to them.

“But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” (Exodus 14:13-14 NLT)

Stand still and see your God. That is, God is saying to them I don’t need you to do anything. I have all the power in my hands. All you need to do is be still and watch Me fight this one for you. All these enemies you see today, you will see them no more

I believe God is saying those same words to us today. Whatever challenges come our way, we don’t need to panic, we need to hand it over to him in prayer and thanksgiving and watch him come through for us. Philippians 4:6 tells us not to be anxious about anything but to pray about everything.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done”.(Philippians 4:6 NLT)

I love verse 15. This is my version of it – why are you sitting down feeling dejected and crying all over the place? Come on! Get up! Start moving: start doing what I have asked you to do. Yes there are obstacles on the way, but you keep doing and moving towards what I have told you to do and you will see me clear the obstacles for you.

Notice if the children of Israel didn’t move, they would have been killed by pharaoh and also they would not have seen the Red sea part. All we need to do is take the 1st step and God will sort out the rest for us. I once heard someone say faith is taking the first step even when you cannot see the staircase.

So the Red sea parted and the children of Isreal walked through dry ground. Pharaoh’s army tried to go in with them. God has a great sense of humor: He twisted the chariot wheels 🙂 and set confusion into the enemies camp…lol. At this stage, the Egyptians finally agreed it’s time to turn back because God is fighting for Israel but by then it was too late for them, for the Lord caused the waters to drown them.

Today, our enemies will turn back because they will see that God is fighting for us. Romans 8 says: “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NLT)

Prayer:
Dear Lord thank you for today. Thanks for all the wonderful things you have done for us. May we always be in awe of your majesty.  Today, we ask you help us not to be anxious but bring all our problems to you knowing you are able to help us with them and give us grace to step out in faith into all that you have prepared for us. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name we prayed. Amen.

Thanks for joining. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter 🙂

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Exodus 13

Jan21

Good morning y’all. Today we are looking at Exodus 13.

Be blessed 🙂

In verse 5, Moses tells the children of Isreal they are to celebrate the day of Exodus every March when the Lord brings them into the land He promised them.

“When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land He swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month:”.(Exodus 13:5 NIV)

What caught my attention here is the use of the word ‘when’. Moses could have said ‘if the Lord brings….’ rather he said ‘when’, which suggests that there was assurance and surety that God was going to do what He said He will do.

Do we have assurance that God will come through for us or are we wavering thinking He might or not?. The word, ‘If’, suggests a probability but ‘when’ is certain. That is it will definitely happen. Let’s hold on to God’s word knowing He is definitely able to perform.

I am reminded of the story of the leprous man who came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord if You are willing, you can make me clean’.

“A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2 NIV)

This leper believed in the power of God to make him clean but he wasn’t sure if Jesus was willing to heal him. I love Jesus’ response to him -“I am willing”.

“Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy”.(Matthew 8:3 NIV)

Let’s stop doubting and believe that God is able and it’s only a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ because He will surely do that which He has promised to do.

Verse 8 says they must explain to their children why they are celebrating. It is very important that they do not forget the reason why they are celebrating. It mustn’t become a ritual. And also they need to pass it on to their children so they can continue with the instruction from God. In the same way we ought to tell our family and friends of God’s goodness in our lives. We are not to keep all he has done for us to ourselves.  Every time we testify of God’s goodness, it’s a reminder of how great our God is and the devils defeat.

Verse 17 and 18 I find very interesting 🙂 . God did not lead them through the direct route because He felt if they encountered any obstacle on their way, the people might be discouraged and return to Egypt.
God led them through the wilderness; a route where they would have to think twice before trying to return back to Egypt…lol..smart God 🙂

When we are discouraged, naturally we would want to go back to our last known place of comfort. Even if that place of comfort or familiarity is not the best place for us, because it was the last place where we felt safe, we will return there. God knew the Israelites would choose to go back to Egypt rather than have to fight their way through to the promised land. They would rather remain in slavery than experience a bit of discomfort and be free in their own land where there is abundance, and more importantly, the presence of God.

Isn’t this same with us? For some of us, God takes us out of our comfort zone to another place so He can develop us and take us to the next level. But at the first sign of trouble we panic and go back to where we came from. We basically halt the growth process and the work God was doing in us; and become stagnant and comfortable in mediocrity. Whereas if we had persevered, we would have enjoyed the new level God was taking us to and most importantly a deeper knowledge of Him.

Today let’s not halt what God is doing in us because it is uncomfortable. Change is meant to be uncomfortable but the end result  usually outweighs the initial discomfort. It’s like a woman in labour: the labour pains aren’t comfortable but when the baby comes out I’m told you forget about the labour pains. You don’t even remember them. Let’s persevere and hold on to God.

Another crucial point to note in this chapter is that; God didn’t leave them alone to fend for themselves. No! He was with them every step of the way. He knew this was uncharted territory for the children of Israel and He wasn’t going to leave them alone. Verse 21 and 22 tells us He was with them during the day as a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire at night and the cloud and fire were never out of sight! (God is just tooooooooooooooooo awesome 🙂 )

None of us has chartered 2015 before and it could be daunting to think of all that lies ahead of us this year, but I believe God is reminding us today that we are not alone. He is here with us; and will direct and guide us in the way to go as He did for the children of Israel. Proverbs 3:5 -6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and He will direct our paths.

Don’t allow fear hold you back this year. Step out in faith knowing God is with you and won’t let you fall or fail you.

Prayer:
Thank you dear Lord for today and the opportunity to dine with you :). You are simply amazing!. Thanks for reminding us of your power and that you are a willing God who is able to do what He has promised to do. Help us to hold on to You and trust You to direct and lead us along our journey. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

Thanks for joining today.

I am blogging through the bible a chapter a day with Good Morning girls. Check us out at http://www.goodmorninggirls.org.

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***