No one untouched...

Pharaoh refused to submit to God even after nine displays of His deity.  Pharaoh considered himself a god.  Nine times, God Almighty had shown His supremacy over gods of Egypt.  Now, He would bring the final and ultimate plague and people would die….the oldest of every family.

Imagine the devastation.  Imagine how every single family was affected.  Imagine the chaos and disturbance of authority.  No family would escape, no one would be untouched by this devastation.

“ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” (Exodus 12:30 NIV)


Pharaoh must not have been the oldest.  He lived.  But he lost his first born. Perhaps his parents, his wife, grandparents, uncles, staff, friends.  Death in every house.

Think how your sudden absence might affect others.  What if suddenly you were gone?   Lots of people would be sad, and other people would find their lives upside down.

We sang a song in high school choir, “No man is an island, No man stands alone”.  We are individuals responsible for our own actions and behavior.  Yet, our choices and behavior don’t just affect us personally.  We don’t reside on an island all by ourselves.

Pharaoh chose to reject the authority of God and an entire nation was affected.  No one was untouched.  Death in every house.

I purpose to make my choices prayerfully.  I purpose to consider how my choices affect others.  I do not want to be responsible for heartbreak of any kind in another life.

Lord help.

Tell it like it was....

I get very nostalgic during certain times of the year.  I feel it coming on now.  Holiday times with their events and deadlines are beginning to press in.  As I prepare for the seasons ahead I can’t help but remember the seasons past.  (Makes me think of that old song “The Way We Were” and “Every Picture Tells A Story Don’t It?”)

 I recall the way we all were.  I see photos that bring back a rush of emotional memories of times past and remember how it was.  

When the Israelite people followed Moses across the parted Red Sea, God instructed them to do certain things that would bring back those memories.  God intended for them to tell it like it was.  He wanted each rising generation to have opportunity to be curious about their heritage.  He wanted each individual  to be taught about what had happened and how it had come about.  

 “…when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' then tell them….”(Exodus 12:27 NIV)

We all have a story.  Every life, however young or old, is being written.  The part that has been written can’t be changed but it can be told.  We can learn from it and others can learn.

I purpose to use every opportunity to tell it like it was before He changed me.  And I purpose to live out the story of my life in a way that honors my Father.  He knows it beginning to end.

Give me a hand....

The Israelite people had walked miles and miles.  Every time the cloud moved, they packed up and followed it.  Water was scarce and God provided. They craved meat to eat and God provided.   Day after day, mile after mile, Moses led them.  He listened to the complaints, and there were plenty.   He was the go-to guy for every problem, doing his best to work out the conflicts between them all.

How exhausting.  Poor old Moses, and Moses was indeed OLD.  After all that stuff with Pharaoh, walking all that way in the opposite direction of Egypt, listening to problems and trying to work things out, ole’ Mose must have been worn to a frazzle.

I know the feeling.  Oh, I realize I am no Moses by any stretch of the imagination, but I can relate.

And I have experienced God’s blessing when He has placed alongside me, my own Aarons and Hurs.  I have valued those who have been there to give me a hand when I needed more than the two I have.

“ When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” (Exodus 17:12 NIV)

God knows when we need a support group.  I suppose He also knows when we place too much trust in that support group, and too little on Him.

I purpose to look first to my Father for provision and empowerment.  I know that He alone knows what support I need far better than I know for myself.

He is God.  I am not.

This is a test.....

I am not a good test taker.  I have a pitiful memory and if the information is not personally interesting to me, I can’t recall it.  The only way I do well on a test is to go over and over and over it.  Over and over again.

When I am learning the lyrics to a song I intend to sing, I have to practice for weeks, and I have to get rid of the cheat notes.  If I have the lyrics written down, I’ll keep looking at them, depending on my reading skills instead of my memory!

I hate tests.  But they come.

 “I'm going to test them to see if they'll live according to my Teaching or not.” (Exodus 16:4 The Message)

God knows if I will fail or pass.  He has promised that He will not allow what I can not bear up under.  “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He'll never let you be pushed past your limit; He'll always be there to help you come through it.”(1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message)

I still hate tests.

But they reveal to me my weaknesses.  They force me to surrender my stubborn self-will.  They show me that I am not as independent as I might think.

My Father continues to allow me to be tested.  His purpose is to build me up, not tear me down.

Did I say that I hate tests…..?

Singing my heart out...

It’s so easy to praise God in times of victory.  When I have come thru a struggle, I can sing my heart out, even if tears of joy flow down my face, I can sing.

When the Red Sea swallowed the pursuing enemy, the Israelites stood on the far bank watching.  It was a time of relief.  It seemed like a close call, but they were safe.  God had miraculously delivered them by separating the waters so they could keep moving away from Pharaoh’s army.  Though that army chased after them, God didn’t hold back the water for them and they all perished as the returning waters piled upon them.

I bet there was shouts of joy.  Certainly, there they must have been celebrating as they sang their hearts out praising God.  “..then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD…. The LORD is my strength and my defense…Who among the gods is like you, LORD?” (Exodus 15:1,2,11 NIV)

Praise can be given in many ways.  Since music was God’s creation, how fitting that we use it to praise Him.  It wasn’t a song of thanks, though surely they were thankful, thanking God is not the same as praising Him.

As the season of thankfulness approaches, I purpose to not stop with just thanking God even though I do appreciate what He has done for me and in me.

I purpose to sing my heart out in praise.

Get on with it....

Moses told them,  "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14 NIV)

Moses said the right thing.  He looked and sounded brave and trusting.  His words said that He had faith that God was in charge.  The people Moses led heard encouraging positive words from his mouth.  But Moses own heart must have struggled with fear and doubt too.

"Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.  Raise your staff and stretch out your hand…”(Exodus 14:16 NIV)

In prayer time with God, Moses was honest. He found himself also paralyzed.  He cried out to God.  Maybe he even whined.  Moses told the people to be still, and God told Moses to get them moving.

A time of difficulty is a dilemma for me. Often, I have been prone to act even when unsure about what to do.  At other times, I am prone to excuse myself from taking action by saying I was ’praying about it’.  I’ve said that I don’t want to ‘get ahead of God’ but I think maybe I’ve stayed ‘behind God’ so long that He ran off and left me!!

There is a time to be still and wait for God to fight my battle.  There is also a time to get up and move on.

I purpose to depend on Him to provide discernment and wisdom to know the difference.

An impossible situation....

The Israelites had seen ten supernatural events.  Ten times God had spoken thru Moses about what He was going to do if Pharaoh did not obey God’s directions.  Ten times it had happened exactly as Pharaoh had been warned.  The Israelite people had been spared.  God had made it plain that He was protecting the people He had chosen.  Yet when these same people found themselves in a difficult situation, they had no confidence in the God that brought them to where they stood.

“The Israelites were terrified. They cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, "Why did you bring us to the desert to die? Weren't there any graves in Egypt? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” (Exodus 14:10-11 NIrV)

I too have asked God why.  “Why did you have me come to this place only to face this?”  I am ashamed to say that even after all the times I have experienced God’s working in my life, like the Israelites, I fly into an emotional tailspin when I find myself in situations that are unpleasant and threatening.

The frightened Israelites not only didn’t remember all the miraculous activities they had witnessed, they didn’t accurately remember what they thought or said.

“We told you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians.' It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die here in the desert!" (Exodus 14:12 NIrV)

Fear is an awful enemy.  It colors everything.  When we do not turn our eyes, our minds, our hearts, and our wills toward God, fear can consume.

I purpose that in those times, rather than give in to fear and despair, I will remember my Father’s instructions to my siblings at the Red Sea.

  "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14 NIV)

The long way around....

God’s people were finally released from Pharaoh’s slave camps.  They had lived their lives there but they knew their history and they knew the promises of God.  There was a promised land for them.  A place of plenty.  A place of blessing.  So they followed the deliverer God had sent.

It was really not far to where they ended up, but they were taken the long way around.  God took them that way on purpose.  These people knew nothing about how to function with their new found freedom.  They now had no slave drivers.  They had no one to force them into anything.  They simply had God leading them and providing for them, and they were faced with the decision to trust Him.

Little did they know what He was protecting them from as He chose the route across the wilderness.  They weren’t ready for much.  That was plain to see when dust from the army of Pharaoh showed up behind them.  They were terrified and ready to surrender.

There were other enemies and other battles ahead of them, but God would have to prepare them to face and fight.  There were lots of obstacles between where they were and where they were going.  Physical obstacles and spiritual obstacles.

“The shortest road from Goshen to Canaan went through the Philistine country. But God didn't lead them that way. God said, "If they have to go into battle, they might change their minds. They might return to Egypt." (Exodus 13:7 NIrV)

When I catch every red light, when I get behind a slow moving vehicle, when I can’t find a parking place, or any other time that my time seems to be wasted, I most always wonder if God is interceding and interrupting my haste.  How many times I’ve come up on a wreck and wondered if I hadn’t been at every single red light, could I have been involved in that accident.

God certainly has the authority to put obstacles in my path for whatever reason He chooses.  Perhaps I need testing.  Perhaps I need training.  Perhaps I need reminding that He is God, and I am not.  He knows every leg of my journey, He knows what I am ready for and what I am not.

I really prefer the easy route, I prefer the fastest route, but I purpose to trust Him to lead me around it or thru it, whatever it is.

Start over...

After all the plagues, after all Pharaoh’s opportunities, after all the suffering he brought on the people of the nation he ruled, after all that had happened, there came an end to it.  A tragic end for the Egyptians.  For the enslaved Israelite nation, the end of an era.

"From now on, this month will be your first month. Each of your years will begin with it. Speak to the whole community of Israel…..”(Exodus 12:3 NIrV)

For some four hundred years, this had been their life.  The adults knew no other life.  Children heard stories handed down from great grandparents about life before slavery.  Life had been good.  Easy.  Egyptians were friends, not enemies.

Things change.

God knew the story from the beginning.  When Joseph’s brothers sold him off to those slave traders, which is how they all got into Egypt in the first place, God knew how the story would go.  Nothing that happened was a surprise to Him.  Not the birth of the nation, not the growth of that nation, not the years of blessing and plenty, not the years of bitter enslavement.

When they left the slave camps of Egypt, God gave them instructions to start over.  There would be a whole new calendar, a whole new way of marking the times and events of life.

“From now on..”, God said.

"The LORD will bring you into the land of Canaan. He will give it to you, just as he promised he would. He even took an oath when he made the promise to you and your people of long ago.” (Exodus 13:11 NIrV)


While we are not in the situation of those slaves, we all come to places that mark the end of an era.  Those times should be no surprise to God’s children.  He is faithful to continue to lead, guide, and bless.  Even when we are turning the page of a brand new calendar.

He is faithful.

Tell it like it is...

Often, the story told from different viewpoints sounds like a whole different story.  A spin can be put on it, details left out or elaborated on and the story takes on a new life.  Like the news broadcast companies, there is  a slant to a lot of stories.

I’ve sat and listened to my boys telling stories from when they were young and wondered why they remember the things they do.  Things that made an impact on their memory often missed mine completely.   The stories they remember best are those told to them by their grandparents.


“…you'll be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I toyed with the Egyptians, like a cat with a mouse; you'll tell them the stories of the signs that I brought down on them, so that you'll all know that I am GOD." (Exodus 10:2 The Message)


The Israelite children lived thru a lot.  Ten times plagues came and brought devastation.  Over and over their parents and grandparents watched the power and might of God as He displayed His authority over the so-called gods of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.  Children might remember about all that happened, but God intended them to have some understanding about those events.  He made a point to instruct those parents and grandparents to tell  the story.  God said tell it like it is.  Don’t depend on a child’s memory.  Don’t let a slant be put on it.  Don’t let emotions run loose and make it bigger and don’t let political correctness decrease the magnitude of it.

Tell it like it is.

Tell the generations after you what you have witnessed.  Tell them how Your Creator God wielded His power over Egypt.  And you won’t need to spin it, give it a slant, or elaborate.

Those children grew up and at God’s direction, re- told the stories of their deliverance.

Do my children hear the stories of MY deliverance? Have I told the stories of how God has acted in my life, how He has guided me and protected me?

“… tell your children and grandchildren ……………… how I performed my signs ……….. that you may know that I am the LORD." (Exodus 10:2 NIV)


He is God, and I am not.  THAT is how it is.

Say when....

In this age of fast food and speedy internet, I find myself usually saying "NOW!’.

I want my food now.

I want to be checked out now.
I want to be waited on and helped now.
I want my phone faster, I want my computer and internet service to be faster.
I want my deliveries to be faster.
I want people to do what they are supposed to do without being told ‘when’ they should.

Not only do I want things ‘now’, I expect.

I expect my food to be what I ordered.
I expect service to be available and plentiful.
I expect there to be ways to improve what is not up to standard.
I expect people to do what they are supposed to do.
I expect people to be honest and fair.

I’ve expected so many things that turned out to be just as I expected.  But occasionally, that unexpected thing knocks the wind out of my sail.

I can voice all my desires and ‘say when’ moments but that doesn’t mean I always get them.  Though I can’t wrap my brain around it, God is not affected by time.  He says when and He is far more patient than I am.

Scripture tells about times that God would ‘say when’. times when He spoke and didn’t even have to say ‘now’.  Whatever He said, simply WAS.  Whatever He says still,  simply IS.

“Let there be light”, and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 KJV)


When Pharaoh had frogs all over his house, God allowed him to ‘say when’ he would like for God to remove them.  Incredible.  Ole’ Pharaoh had no idea how out of the ordinary it is for God to allow US to ‘say when’!!!

"I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile."   "Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God.   The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile." (Exodus 8:9-11 NIV)

God had a purpose in letting Pharaoh ‘say when’.  He was making it evident just who was in charge.  God sent the frogs, and when the frogs were eliminated at the exact time Pharaoh said, it would be hard for Pharaoh to explain that away.  Pharaoh would have one less excuse to not believe that God is God, and Pharaoh was simply was NOT.

God hasn’t let me ‘say when’ lately.  God has allowed things to which I would have said an emphatic ‘not now’!  But unlike the situation with Pharaoh and the frogs, I don’t need God to display the truth to me that He is in charge.


I purpose to not presume to ‘say when’.
He is God, and I am not.

Plagues of frogs....

Frog.  I see a little green frog and I immediately am challenged to Fully Rely On God.  FROG. There have been times when it seemed I saw a little green frog every single day, sometimes more than once.
 
I've been studying the life of Moses and the passages of this week's study contain the stories about the plagues that God sent on the Egyptians.  God intended for His people to be freed from slavery.  Each of the ten plagues were a direct assault on one of Egypt's many gods.  They believed the Nile river was the blood stream of their god Hapi.  God turned the water of that river to real blood.  For seven days there was no fresh water from that river, only blood.  Imagine the stench....

The Egyptians thought frogs were sacred.  Heqet was the frog-like goddess of life and fertility. They wouldn't kill frogs.  When God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with the message again to let His people go, God warned them that He would send a second plague, a plague of frogs.

I guess Pharaoh hadn't any idea of how many frogs God could come up with.  The Bible tells us that frogs were everywhere.  "

If you refuse..... I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country.  The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs.  The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.'" (Exodus 8:1-4 NIV)

Ick.

I guess Pharaoh thought so too, he "summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." (vs. 8)

I wonder what the Egyptians thought from then on, each time they saw a frog, did they remember? Did the frog remind them of the power of God?  Did it remind them that God does exactly what He says He will do.  Did they remember that when God makes a statement or promise, that they could fully rely on Him to do just that? 

Fully Rely On God.  I don't need but one little green frog to remind me of that.......

Everything happens for a reason...

Well, yes it does.  Sin entered the world for a reason.  A choice to disobey God.

I could list dozens and dozens of reasons that things happen.  Everything that happens, happens because of a reason.   Duh.

That does not mean that everything that happens, happens for a GOOD reason.

But, “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 TNIV)


I am called according to His purposes.  I am not perfect.  My obedience is not perfect.  But I love Him and submit myself anew to His calling on my life.  And because HE is God, and I am NOT, all things…..ALL things, will work for my good.

Yep.  Everything happens for a reason.

Who gets the glory...?

　

It is in the most difficult of times that I am most intimate with the God Who made me.

In the times when I am helpless to change a situation, in times of hurt, times of crisis, when my heart and body ache…it is then that I know the Presence of my Father the most.

I want to serve Him all the time. I never want to take Him for granted. I want to bring honor to Him and make Him known to others. I want to bring Him glory thru the way I live my life. In every detail, every day, week after week, year after year.

I fail so miserably. I am ashamed that sometimes I glorify myself. I forget that it is Him and not me that has accomplished anything that is of any worth or value in my life. When I find myself in the most difficult situations, it is then that I have the best opportunity to bring Him glory.

He has shown Himself faithful to be always before me and behind me. He is the same today as yesterday and yesteryear. Nothing surprises Him as it surprises me. And He is capable of handling all my tomorrows.

He is so good.

Put it in gear.....

My Bible Study Fellowship lesson asks me to consider the question “Spiritually, do you think the Christian life should be like driving a car?”

My first impulsive answer is “YES!!!!! I want to put it in gear and go! Sometimes put it in reverse and back up!! Sometimes I want to slam a brake and stop!! I want to honk at what is in my way. And I want to PASS what is in the way!”

Doesn’t work like that….

I have a brand new car. I got it several weeks ago, I picked it out myself. It has lots of bells and whistles. It gets great mileage, is quite luxurious on the inside. It drives and rides like a dream.

It has a camera that shows me what is behind me when I back up. I has a little alarm that warns me if I’m too close to something. I can hear directions to my destination thru the radio speakers.

It has a button to push that will heat the steering wheel when it’s cold (…that will be nice to my old achy worn out hands when it’s cold). It has heated seats that really feel good to my back on the way home from a 10 hour day behind a styling chair.


My life should be so easy to motivate.

But…I do have warning signals and I do have guidance. I do have a Source of comfort.

I just need to get out of the drivers seat and let my Chauffeur take the wheel. He is a much better Driver than I am. His driving record is perfect….

Listen to Me….

The Hebrew people had it rough. It was hot, the work they were forced to do was hard and just got harder after Moses showed up. Some rescuer he was!

God had spelled it out for them. I AM the Lord. I will bring you out. I will free you. I will redeem you. I will take you as my own, I will be your God. I will bring you to the land I promised. I will give it to you. Promise after promise after promise… (taken from Exodus 6:6-8 NIV)

“Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.” (Exodus 6:9 NIV)

I know they were tired out. Work, work, work. Day after day. Wonderful promises are hard to focus on when you are worn out.

I don’t want to be a tired Israelite.

I want to listen even though I am discouraged and tired.

Where is that cloud....?

I've studied the life of Moses before.  But God always has perfect timing and I find myself learning from Ole' Mose again right now. After having left the palace and found rejection from his own people, Moses lived with yet another foreign people.  He married, had children, got a job shepherding, and then came up on that flaming bush that wouldn't burn up. 
At Moses' request, God brought his brother Aaron to help him do what God had for him to do, and off they went to that familiar palace to deliver a very hard message.  "Let my people go or...."

So, Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh what God had said and Pharaoh refused.  Big surprise.

I'm already feeling sorry for Moses.  He has before him an impossible task humanly speaking.  He is no match and no threat to Pharaoh.  In fact, in response to Moses' direction from God, Pharaoh just makes life more difficult for the very people Moses wants to help.  Pharaoh doubles the workload. 

"Is this why you sent me?"
"You haven't saved Your people at all!"
(Exodus 5:22,23 NIV)

I'm not Moses.  But I sure empathize and sympathize. 

I look at my circumstances and wonder "Why Lord?  I thought I was about to get to a place where life would be easier from here on out.  I thought I had worked hard enough to take it easy in the near future.  I have done what I understood You to ask.  Now, it seems that things will just get harder...."

Looks like the promised land is just a little further.  (.....where is that cloud....???) 

Just look at me....

It wasn't meant to be advice really.  It was just a comment in a casual conversation.

 "Just look at me", she said. 

It has always been true of me that I learn best from a negative experience or example.  I have been in situations that made me purpose to never be guilty of some wrong behavior or attitude.  I have learned how I do NOT want to treat other people.  I have learned how I do NOT want to make a mess of relationships.  I have learned how I do NOT want to behave, react, or respond.

I have learned those things by being treated poorly, by seeing others suffer because of poor treatment, by seeing relationships crumble and words ripping thru hearts.

At my age, I might have expected to have it all mastered by now.  But just look at me too.

My mother's words come repeated from my own heart tonight.  Just look at me, I have learned a lot, and I still fail miserably.  Don't we all....

I look at her and know that she had hour after hour to look back in regret.  Her situation might have been different. 

I look at me and know that there is much to regret as well.  My life might have been different.  I might have been a better wife, mother, friend, employee....I might have been a better person. 

But as my first daughter-in-law often says, 'It is what it is'. 

So I purpose tonight to take my mother's unintended advice.  I purpose to not be defeated by the enemy's accusations over the regret that I do have.  I purpose to hear the soft still Voice whispering and leading forward.  He is able to "restore what the locusts have eaten"(Joel 2:25)

I purpose to learn as much as I can from every wrong choice and every painful mistake.  And I purpose to live in victory not regret, knowing that He is more than able to handle what I can not.

Hallelujah.

T.H.I.N.K.

T.H.I.N.K…..

"...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (Phil. 4:8 NASB)

Sometimes it's hard to find something to think about.

The enemy makes sure there is plenty of things to think about that are not true, that are not honorable, that are not right, that are not pure, that are not lovely, that have no good repute or excellence, things that certainly are not worthy of praise.....it is easy to find those things to dwell on.

God has given me a filter.  If only I could use it consistently.  If only I could remember to T.H.I.N.K.  If I could always remember to filter my thoughts and choose what is really true, what brings honor, what is really right and pure, what cultivates good repute rather than tearing down.

Yet, I fall into the enemy’s trap and find myself thinking on things from his perspective rather than my Lord’s perspective.

Satan has always used that tactic.  He distorts truth.  He presents it to us and so often we take it and bite right into it, even though we have been advised differently.

If there was just an off switch.  Wouldn’t that be great?  A switch to just turn my thoughts off.  At least for a while….

I purpose tonight to begin afresh, repenting of wrong thinking and begin “ fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”   (2 Cor. 10:5 The Message)

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