We all belong to Him anyways, but God is a gentlemen and will not force himself on anyone. He gave us all free will. You have free will to choose, accept, reject or believe on him. You also have to remember though, that you have an adversary, Satan, who is out to kill, steal, destroy you-John 10:10. He is also out to deceive you! He doesn't want you to accept Jesus, read the Word, pray, go to church and especially believe in God!! Satan attacks your mind and creates strongholds, which hold you back from the things of God! Don't let Satan put a stronghold on you! Who wants to be held down by the devil! No way!! You can break out of the heaviness, chains and all the ways the enemy has built up all around you! You don't have to be held captive by him any longer! Call on the name of Jesus! He will help you, but you have to take the first step and move forward! Surrender and submit! Read Acts 2:38
I look in the bible and I see all over God just proving himself. He does things just so people will believe! It may not even be your lesson that makes you believe, but those around you! I have always said and believed that everything that we go through, just isn't for our learning! It's those around us who are watching, praying and maybe those who are judging in disbelief that your God will deliver you! It just very well may be your hardest trial is that which makes your biggest critic come to believe!
In Exodus, after Joseph died arose a new King. The new king seen that the Children of Israel or the Israelites, were mighty and there were many of them. He was afraid they would over take him and his people, so he made them slaves and made them work very hard. Go read the story for yourself, but they cried unto God for 430 years!!
God remembered his covenant with Abraham and sent Moses to deliver them. Lets' talk about Moses and his encounter!! Wow, what an encounter!! Exodus Chapter 3, Moses is shepherding Jethro's (his father in law) flock and the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Could you imagine seeing a bush on fire, but not consumed? And having this angelic encounter! God spoke to him and told him to deliver His people out from Pharaoh! Moses is like, wait, what!? I can't even speak right!!!? I get it, Moses! I can't talk either!! So, I'm sure at first Moses is a little hesitant and feeling a bit disqualified and insecure. No problem for God. He allows Aaron to be a spokesman for him and gives him a rod!! What a rod! Moses is like how are the Israelites going to believe me? So God tell Moses to pick up this rod and he does and tells him to throw it back down. It became a serpent!! God tells him to pick it up by the tail and it transformed back to a rod! Can you just imagine how Moses is feeling by this point and what he is thinking!!! WOW!
God tells Moses that He is going to harden Pharaoh's heart and will not let the people go. During all of this God is still being God and proving himself. Just wait and watch. God would tell Moses to go and tell Pharaoh, "let my people go!" and he would not. During every plague can you imagine what the Israelites are thinking!? Here they have been begging and crying out to God for over 400 years and they start seeing Moses coming into Pharaoh, telling him to let them go, and he won't so God send these plagues! Exodus 7:5: And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord! *
So the first plague was waters turned to blood. All the waters were turned to blood and the fish died and it stank, the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout ALL the land of Egypt. Of Course, Pharaoh had to bring his magicians out so he could see that they could do it too, so Pharaoh did not believe. The Egyptians even dug around the river for water and it was all blood. 7 days were fulfilled that the Lord smitten the river with blood. Exodus 7:20-25.
2nd plague-FROGS! Moses came to Pharaoh and told him to let the people go. Pharaoh, did not, so God brought forth frogs! Frogs came from every border, river, into the houses, bedrooms, servants houses, on the people, in the ovens and kneedingtroughs. The magicians brought forth frogs too. Pharaoh does ask for relief though and says he will let the people go. *Exodus 8:10-And he said, to morrow. And he said, be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.* All the frogs died and the land stank. Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to not let the people go.
#3 Lice- God tells Moses, to tell Aaron to stretch rod out and smite the dust and it will become lice all throughout Egypt. Lice was on all the Egyptians and beast. The magicians did so with their enhancements, but they could not do this! The magicians even told Pharaoh this must be the finger of God! Exodus 8:16-19
#4 Flies-God tells Moses to get up early and stand before Pharaoh and say, "let my people go, that they may come serve me." If you will not God will send flies. **Exodus 8:22-And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.** The Lord sends swarms of flies in the house of Pharaoh, servants houses, and into all the land of Egypt, the land was corrupt with flies. Pharaoh says go again! Of course, changes his mind again.
#5 Cattle-God tells Moses again to tell Pharaoh to let the people go. Pharaoh refuses so God send a plague on all the Egyptians cattle, horses, asses, camels, oxen and sheep all died. The Israelites livestock were protected. :) Can you just imagine the Israelites seeing all this and none of them are harmed through any of this!!? Exodus 9:1-7
#6 Boils-God tells Moses and Aaron to take a handful of ashes of the furnace and sprinkle it toward heaven in sight of Pharaoh. The ashes will become small dust in all the land of Egypt and bring boils on man and beast. The magicians could not stand before Moses. Exodus 9: 8-12
#7 Hail-God sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it. The hail smote throughout the whole land of Egypt. The hail smote the fields, man, beast and every herb of field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was there no hail. Pharaoh calls for Moses and says he has sinned: the Lord is righteous and my people are wicked. Tell your God to stop it all and I will let you go. Pharaoh hardens his heart again.
**Exodus 10:1-2-God hardened Pharaoh and his servants' hearts, that I might shew these sign before him: And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of they son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.** These were signs that God has done among them, that people would believe and know that He is God!!!
#8 Locusts- The locust came and covered the face of the earth, that one cannot see the earth; and the land was darkened and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remain unto you form the hail, which remain unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which growth for you out of the field. They filled the houses, like never before. There remained not any green thing left. Pharaoh again says he has sinned and the Lord send a mighty west wind, which carried away all the locusts and cast them into the red sea. There were not any locust left! Pharaoh changes his mind yet again. Exodus 10:21-29
#9 Darkness- thick darkness came over the land of Egypt. They could not see each other and didn't come from their houses for 3 days. Exodus 10:21-29
#10 Final Plague-Death of the Firstborn
God tells Moses to tell the people to go gather jewels of silver and gold. The Lord gave the people favor. God instructed there be a sacrifice and blood shall be on the door posts of the Israelites and they death of the firstborns would not come there. Pharaoh lets them leave! Pharaoh says to gets your flocks, herds, dough and all that they needed and to go.
The Lord led the by a pillar of Cloud by day and a pillar by fire by night. Could you just imagine that!!? Now there were about 600,000 men on foot! This does not include women, children, all their belongings and their herds! And all they witnessed up until just this point?
Pharaoh decides that he made a bad decision and wants the Israelites back. Pharaoh and his army pursue the children of Israelites! The Israelites feared the army coming after them and were already questioning and complaining to Moses about what they were going to do. Moses tells them to not fear, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew you this day: for the Egyptians you see this day, you shall see no more. The Lord shall fight for you be still! God tells Moses to lift up the rod and stretch out over the sea, and divide it: and the Israelites shall go on DRY ground through the midst of the sea. Moses does as the Lord tells him and the waters were divided, the waters formed a wall on the left and the right, and they passed on dry ground. Pharaoh's army pursued and went in after them and the sea fell on them all. The Israelites seen the Egyptians dead on the shore.
So God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. He heard their cries, delivered them and now provided a way, when there was no way for them to escape Pharaoh's army. As you continue to read on in Exodus-the Lord provides water for them to drink, quail and manna for 40 years!!!! Now it shouldn't have taken 40 years to make it to the Promised Land, but because of the unbelief and complaining God was teaching them a lesson!!
All of this was written so we can see the signs God did to show the people that he was God. As if, he needed to prove himself.
We can tell these stories in the bible to our children. About how great, mighty and powerful our God is. You can use your own testimonies!
John 20:29-Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
All Jesus' miracles he performed were so people would see for themselves and believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment