Hello My Friend/Guest,
Today is Friday January 22, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus, chapters 14-16. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-22
Title: Stop Complaining
Did you ever avoid someone because all you hear is sorrow and grief, no matter what is going on in that persons life? I know this woman at church, no one wants to say, how are you, to her because she can turn the most cheerful mood into one of sorrow. If I have learned anything over the years it is this, no matter how many good things are going on, all it takes is one bad thing to forget all the good things. The same thing applies to answered prayer, God can answer twenty prayers in the way that we would like, yet if one prayer seems unanswered we start doubting God and complaining to Him as to why He has not answered it. Think about it, if you gave your all to help someone and no matter what you did that person was never pleased wouldn't you be upset and quit helping him/her. How do you think God must feel? He blesses us tremendously, yet because we have not gotten something or we are facing difficulties we complain or even worse, walk away from Him. We can learn a lot from our own behavior as we read about the Israelite's. If anyone has seen some truly amazing miracles it was them, yet every time things got difficult they forgot about them and we always complaining and doubting God. “And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” - Exodus 14:11-13. If God went through all the trouble to set the Israelite's free wouldn't you think He was able to keep them safe in the wilderness? See the word salvation? We need to never fear what is ahead because God is in control and is always there to save those who call on Him. The sad thing is that no matter how many miracles they saw from God the Israelite's faith would never go beyond the next obstacle.
Do you truly think God wants us to suffer? Of course not! We are the ones that create needless suffering, not God. If we would simply follow Him and trust Him we would avoid a lot of the suffering that we go through. Three days later after God had miraculously parted the Red Sea to save them from the Egyptians, they came to a river that was bitter and undrinkable, once again they began to complain. “So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” - Exodus 15:22-26. God said Himself, “If you will listen to Me, I will not let you suffer as the Egyptians have.” God does not want us to suffer needlessly, but He will not hesitate to allow it if we do not listen to Him.
Truthfully, if we are to ever realize who God is and see a miracle from God we have to suffer, sometimes even go through a lot of it. Look at what Jesus went through, He suffered more than anyone on the earth will ever suffer, they even killed Him. Yet, He proved just how powerful God was to those who remained faithful to Him by resurrecting from the dead, incidentally three days later. The Apostle Paul said, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” - Philippians 1:27-30. Just as Jesus suffered for our sake, we too have to face some suffering, but through it all we can prevail. If we truly want answered prayer and blessings beyond our daily needs we have got to stop complaining about the things we do not have. God puts us in the position we are in for a reason, every trial, every error, every bit of suffering we face is truly a blessing and the sooner we realize that the more blessed we will become. If God did not bring affliction into our lives we would never feel the need to have Him in our lives. In fact, those who think they do not need God need to come to the reality that they need Him more than ever. Do not believe me? Take a look at your life five years from now, that is if you are still here. Do you think that all the possessions or money you have will keep you from dying or worse yet, ending up in hell? Sorry, the only way to avoid hell and death is to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Reap What You Sow
Hello My Friend/Guest,
Today is Thursday January 21, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus, chapters 11-13. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-21
Title: Reap What you Sow
The word reap is defined as something that is harvested or gathered from something that was sowed or planted, in other words you reap what you sow, or gather what you have planted. Now, this saying has been around for centuries, it's even in the Bible. Exactly what does that mean? To understand we need to learn about seeds, when a seed is planted in the ground and grows, it flourishes into a plant, tree, or herb to be harvested for food, in other words, if you plant orange seeds, you will harvest oranges. Now, if you want to reap good oranges you have to sow it with the right soil, water, and feed it the right things, if not the oranges will be bad and inedible, hence the term, you reap what you sow. Now, I am not here to give you a science lesson, but I am here to show you that the same thing is applied to people, whether we are sowed with good or bad things we reap what we sow. For instance, as we have been reading through the book of Exodus, we have learned that Pharaoh was fearful of the Israelite's because of their strength and number. In order to control that number he ordered all male Hebrew babies born to be killed. Well, who would have thought that eighty years later the same thing would happen to the Egyptians, but this time the order came from God, only it was not babies, it was all the first born. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.........And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.” - Exodus 11:1,4-7. Every person and animal that was the first born throughout Egypt was to die, but God made sure that the Israelite's would be saved from this plague.
Now, before the angel of death was to passover Egypt God gave the Israelite's some instructions if they wanted to be saved from this plague. “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it..........For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.” - Exodus 12:3-7,12-14. Each family was to take a perfect male lamb, kill it, take the blood and wipe it all over the door post, then roast and eat the sacrifice. It was to be just enough for all of them to eat, with nothing to be left over. Now, when the angel of death passed over as saw the blood the people in that house were saved.
This became what is known as Passover and was something they were to do yearly as a reminder of their salvation from death. This is of course symbolic of Jesus Christ, He was the perfect male lamb that was sacrificed to save us from death. Praise God! Every person who accepts the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ applies His blood to our souls and saves us from death! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16. God sent His only Son to die on the cross to save us from eternal death and adopt us into His family. Our security from this eternal death is through a personal acceptance of Christ as our personal Savior and Lord of our lives. He alone can satisfy both God and the repentant sinner.
The second we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior our soul is planted in the foundation of Christ, if we want it to grow and flourish we need to water and feed it the right things, otherwise we will never reap anything good out of it. The great thing about all this is that while we may have reaped some bad things we have the opportunity to reap good things. Moses killed a man, yet he turned his fate around by accepting God and reaped a bountiful harvest. How can we reap a good harvest? Feed our bodies with the goodness of God, get saved, read His Word, serve Him, and obey Him. We reap God's blessings by sowing His goodness within our souls. Praise God!
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.readytofollow.com
Missed A Lesson?
Go to: Daily Bible Study
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Today is Thursday January 21, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus, chapters 11-13. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-21
Title: Reap What you Sow
The word reap is defined as something that is harvested or gathered from something that was sowed or planted, in other words you reap what you sow, or gather what you have planted. Now, this saying has been around for centuries, it's even in the Bible. Exactly what does that mean? To understand we need to learn about seeds, when a seed is planted in the ground and grows, it flourishes into a plant, tree, or herb to be harvested for food, in other words, if you plant orange seeds, you will harvest oranges. Now, if you want to reap good oranges you have to sow it with the right soil, water, and feed it the right things, if not the oranges will be bad and inedible, hence the term, you reap what you sow. Now, I am not here to give you a science lesson, but I am here to show you that the same thing is applied to people, whether we are sowed with good or bad things we reap what we sow. For instance, as we have been reading through the book of Exodus, we have learned that Pharaoh was fearful of the Israelite's because of their strength and number. In order to control that number he ordered all male Hebrew babies born to be killed. Well, who would have thought that eighty years later the same thing would happen to the Egyptians, but this time the order came from God, only it was not babies, it was all the first born. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.........And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.” - Exodus 11:1,4-7. Every person and animal that was the first born throughout Egypt was to die, but God made sure that the Israelite's would be saved from this plague.
Now, before the angel of death was to passover Egypt God gave the Israelite's some instructions if they wanted to be saved from this plague. “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it..........For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.” - Exodus 12:3-7,12-14. Each family was to take a perfect male lamb, kill it, take the blood and wipe it all over the door post, then roast and eat the sacrifice. It was to be just enough for all of them to eat, with nothing to be left over. Now, when the angel of death passed over as saw the blood the people in that house were saved.
This became what is known as Passover and was something they were to do yearly as a reminder of their salvation from death. This is of course symbolic of Jesus Christ, He was the perfect male lamb that was sacrificed to save us from death. Praise God! Every person who accepts the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ applies His blood to our souls and saves us from death! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16. God sent His only Son to die on the cross to save us from eternal death and adopt us into His family. Our security from this eternal death is through a personal acceptance of Christ as our personal Savior and Lord of our lives. He alone can satisfy both God and the repentant sinner.
The second we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior our soul is planted in the foundation of Christ, if we want it to grow and flourish we need to water and feed it the right things, otherwise we will never reap anything good out of it. The great thing about all this is that while we may have reaped some bad things we have the opportunity to reap good things. Moses killed a man, yet he turned his fate around by accepting God and reaped a bountiful harvest. How can we reap a good harvest? Feed our bodies with the goodness of God, get saved, read His Word, serve Him, and obey Him. We reap God's blessings by sowing His goodness within our souls. Praise God!
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.readytofollow.com
Missed A Lesson?
Go to: Daily Bible Study
http://www.readytofollow.com/daily-bible-study
Learn About Salvation Only Made Through Jesus Christ
Go to: I'm Ready to Get Saved
http://www.readytofollow.com/salvation
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Determined
Hello My Friend/Guest,
Today is Wednesday January 20, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus, chapters 8-10. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-20
Have you ever been so determined to be with someone or get something that you stopped at nothing to get it, no matter how many times your failed? Even if it was something that you knew was bad for you? Let me tell you that determination like that can make you or break you. Of course, it is good to have goals and exciting to reach them, but we need to seriously take a look at the goals we are reaching for. If they are something that does not line up with the Word of God, we better put a halt to it immediately. It is a very bad idea to go against God because not only are we individually effected by it, everyone around us is also. The Egyptians took pride in the fact that the Israelite's were their slaves and had no intentions of letting them go free. God, on the other hand was determined to set them free, but before He did He was going to prove to the Egyptians, as well as the Israelite's, that He was just as real as they were and was the one in control. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. .........Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.”- Exodus 8:1-7,19. Can you just imagine frogs everywhere you go, coming up from under the floor, wall, and rooftops, and the noise so loud that you could not sleep? Strangely enough, God caused some things to happen that the magicians were able to do, but even the magicians soon realized that all this was God. The frogs were just the beginning, the Egyptians suffered through ten plagues, yet through it all not one Israelite was harmed. This is a reminder to all of those who mess with God's people, no one can escape His wrath.
Each plague caused Pharaoh to reject God even more, the more God afflicted the Egyptians, the more determination Pharaoh had to keep the Israelite's in captivity. While God hardened his heart, I believe that it was his ego that kept him from letting the people go. People have a hard time submitting to authority, Pharaoh was the king and had authority over all of Egypt, so he determined not to give in to authority. Of course all the people suffered because of it, even they went before Pharaoh, begging him to let them go. “And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” - Exodus 10:7. There comes a time when you have got to let go of pride and just stop, stop hurting yourself and stop hurting your loved ones. There are just some things in life that are too dangerous and wicked for us to get into and the sooner we realize that the better of we and those around us will be. I will tell you that I dated a man that was very bad for me, but for some reason I could not walk away. He cheated on me, got arrested, and even married another woman. Yet, through it all I was still determined to get him back and also get even with the woman. Oh, I got what I wanted alright, but was I happy? No! I ended up depressed, bitter, and with the man, who was now serving ten years in prison, even worse, my family was affected by it, we literally had to move because the neighbors harassed them. Needless to say, God let me have what I wanted, let me fall, but, then He picked me back up, once I realized that it was Him that I needed. Praise God, that we have such an understanding, merciful, and forgiving God and One who is determined to get us not only to believe in Him, but to spend eternity with Him. Praise God! “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” - I Timothy 1:15-17.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.readytofollow.com
Missed A Lesson?
Go to: Daily Bible Study
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Today is Wednesday January 20, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus, chapters 8-10. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-20
Have you ever been so determined to be with someone or get something that you stopped at nothing to get it, no matter how many times your failed? Even if it was something that you knew was bad for you? Let me tell you that determination like that can make you or break you. Of course, it is good to have goals and exciting to reach them, but we need to seriously take a look at the goals we are reaching for. If they are something that does not line up with the Word of God, we better put a halt to it immediately. It is a very bad idea to go against God because not only are we individually effected by it, everyone around us is also. The Egyptians took pride in the fact that the Israelite's were their slaves and had no intentions of letting them go free. God, on the other hand was determined to set them free, but before He did He was going to prove to the Egyptians, as well as the Israelite's, that He was just as real as they were and was the one in control. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. .........Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.”- Exodus 8:1-7,19. Can you just imagine frogs everywhere you go, coming up from under the floor, wall, and rooftops, and the noise so loud that you could not sleep? Strangely enough, God caused some things to happen that the magicians were able to do, but even the magicians soon realized that all this was God. The frogs were just the beginning, the Egyptians suffered through ten plagues, yet through it all not one Israelite was harmed. This is a reminder to all of those who mess with God's people, no one can escape His wrath.
Each plague caused Pharaoh to reject God even more, the more God afflicted the Egyptians, the more determination Pharaoh had to keep the Israelite's in captivity. While God hardened his heart, I believe that it was his ego that kept him from letting the people go. People have a hard time submitting to authority, Pharaoh was the king and had authority over all of Egypt, so he determined not to give in to authority. Of course all the people suffered because of it, even they went before Pharaoh, begging him to let them go. “And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” - Exodus 10:7. There comes a time when you have got to let go of pride and just stop, stop hurting yourself and stop hurting your loved ones. There are just some things in life that are too dangerous and wicked for us to get into and the sooner we realize that the better of we and those around us will be. I will tell you that I dated a man that was very bad for me, but for some reason I could not walk away. He cheated on me, got arrested, and even married another woman. Yet, through it all I was still determined to get him back and also get even with the woman. Oh, I got what I wanted alright, but was I happy? No! I ended up depressed, bitter, and with the man, who was now serving ten years in prison, even worse, my family was affected by it, we literally had to move because the neighbors harassed them. Needless to say, God let me have what I wanted, let me fall, but, then He picked me back up, once I realized that it was Him that I needed. Praise God, that we have such an understanding, merciful, and forgiving God and One who is determined to get us not only to believe in Him, but to spend eternity with Him. Praise God! “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” - I Timothy 1:15-17.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.readytofollow.com
Missed A Lesson?
Go to: Daily Bible Study
http://www.readytofollow.com/daily-bible-study
Learn About Salvation Only Made Through Jesus Christ
Go to: I'm Ready to Get Saved
http://www.readytofollow.com/salvation
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
I Am Free!
Hello My Friend/Guest,
Today is Tuesday January 19, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus chapters 5-7. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-19
As we grow in our walk with Christ, the things of the world seem a little less important, so much so that they will sacrifice the things of the world in order follow God's will. Of course, the world does not understand why we would give up everything for someone we can not even see, yet amongst them all are a few of God's children just waiting for the right person to show them the true meaning of life and help them understand that Jesus is the truth, the life, and the only way to live. That is why it is so important that all of us Christian's stand firm in our beliefs no matter now many people amongst us try to stop us from fulfilling the will of God.
An example of this can be found in today's reading of Exodus, the Israelite's sold themselves into slavery and for four hundred years they were servants to Egypt, the more they grew in number the more Pharaoh afflicted them. God heard their pain, remembered the covenant that He had with them, and decided that it was time for them to be set free. God chose Moses and his brother Aaron to go before Pharaoh and plead with him to let the people go and worship God. “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.” - Exodus 5:1-4. Now, Pharaoh thought himself to be a god so when Moses and Aaron asked them to let the Israelite's go worship God he afflicted them even more, saying I do not know who this God is, if they have time to worship God they need more work to do. The truth is, he knew that God was true as real as he was, but he was not about to let the people have anytime to worship Him. Do you know why? Because he knew that once the people found out who God truly was he would be powerless against the people and would no longer be able to control them. I have a brother that worked for a company that was open on Sunday's, he was hired knowing that he would have Sunday's off to worship. A few months later a new manager came in and did not like that he was allowed Sunday's off. This man gave him such a hard time that he actually threatened his job if he did not work a Sunday, one day when pushed to the limit, my brother walked off that job, he did not know what was going to happen next, but he knew God was with him and would show him what to do. Today, he is working for a man who is not a Christian, but is slowly changing the way he does business, the week that he got hired the man started closing on Sunday's. You see, Christian's actually have a lot of power over the people of the world, yet they are not forceful, just faithful to God and sooner or later will be blessed for it to the point that they truly realize that God is real and just as alive as you and I.
Now, the amazing thing about the flesh is that even though we have faith and believe in God we still can not understand the things that we go through, so, when we are afflicted the first thing we do is get angry with God, such as the case with Moses. The Israelite's went to Moses complaining that things were getting worse instead of better since he talked to Pharaoh, so Moses questioned God. “And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” - Exodus 5:20-23. Whenever God is ready to do something through us for others, there often is a affliction before there are rewards, yet they are all blessings from God. We can not truly be satisfied with the reward if we have not worked at receiving it. Think about it, if things are just given to you are you as excited about receiving them as you are when you receive them after working so hard to get them? If God had just let the Israelite's go free do you think that they would realize that God was with them? No, because in order for us to realize that “THIS CAME FROM GOD” we have to endure some affliction. When Moses cried out: Why, Lord?, God first reminded him of who He was. “And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.” - Exodus 6:2-8. God said, “I am the LORD” meaning I am the only Self-Existent God and the One who knows what is best for you. I am altogether sufficient to meet your needs. I have made you my people and I will free you from slavery. You know, God has freed us from slavery even today. Once we accept Jesus into our lives, we are free. We are no longer held captive to Satan and sin. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.readytofollow.com
Got Questions?
Go to: About True Christianity
http://www.readytofollow.com/about-christianity
Missed A Lesson?
Go to: Daily Bible Study
http://www.readytofollow.com/daily-bible-study
Learn About Salvation Only Made Through Jesus Christ
Go to: I'm Ready to Get Saved
http://www.readytofollow.com/salvation
Today is Tuesday January 19, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Exodus chapters 5-7. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-19
As we grow in our walk with Christ, the things of the world seem a little less important, so much so that they will sacrifice the things of the world in order follow God's will. Of course, the world does not understand why we would give up everything for someone we can not even see, yet amongst them all are a few of God's children just waiting for the right person to show them the true meaning of life and help them understand that Jesus is the truth, the life, and the only way to live. That is why it is so important that all of us Christian's stand firm in our beliefs no matter now many people amongst us try to stop us from fulfilling the will of God.
An example of this can be found in today's reading of Exodus, the Israelite's sold themselves into slavery and for four hundred years they were servants to Egypt, the more they grew in number the more Pharaoh afflicted them. God heard their pain, remembered the covenant that He had with them, and decided that it was time for them to be set free. God chose Moses and his brother Aaron to go before Pharaoh and plead with him to let the people go and worship God. “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.” - Exodus 5:1-4. Now, Pharaoh thought himself to be a god so when Moses and Aaron asked them to let the Israelite's go worship God he afflicted them even more, saying I do not know who this God is, if they have time to worship God they need more work to do. The truth is, he knew that God was true as real as he was, but he was not about to let the people have anytime to worship Him. Do you know why? Because he knew that once the people found out who God truly was he would be powerless against the people and would no longer be able to control them. I have a brother that worked for a company that was open on Sunday's, he was hired knowing that he would have Sunday's off to worship. A few months later a new manager came in and did not like that he was allowed Sunday's off. This man gave him such a hard time that he actually threatened his job if he did not work a Sunday, one day when pushed to the limit, my brother walked off that job, he did not know what was going to happen next, but he knew God was with him and would show him what to do. Today, he is working for a man who is not a Christian, but is slowly changing the way he does business, the week that he got hired the man started closing on Sunday's. You see, Christian's actually have a lot of power over the people of the world, yet they are not forceful, just faithful to God and sooner or later will be blessed for it to the point that they truly realize that God is real and just as alive as you and I.
Now, the amazing thing about the flesh is that even though we have faith and believe in God we still can not understand the things that we go through, so, when we are afflicted the first thing we do is get angry with God, such as the case with Moses. The Israelite's went to Moses complaining that things were getting worse instead of better since he talked to Pharaoh, so Moses questioned God. “And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” - Exodus 5:20-23. Whenever God is ready to do something through us for others, there often is a affliction before there are rewards, yet they are all blessings from God. We can not truly be satisfied with the reward if we have not worked at receiving it. Think about it, if things are just given to you are you as excited about receiving them as you are when you receive them after working so hard to get them? If God had just let the Israelite's go free do you think that they would realize that God was with them? No, because in order for us to realize that “THIS CAME FROM GOD” we have to endure some affliction. When Moses cried out: Why, Lord?, God first reminded him of who He was. “And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.” - Exodus 6:2-8. God said, “I am the LORD” meaning I am the only Self-Existent God and the One who knows what is best for you. I am altogether sufficient to meet your needs. I have made you my people and I will free you from slavery. You know, God has freed us from slavery even today. Once we accept Jesus into our lives, we are free. We are no longer held captive to Satan and sin. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Visit: I'm Following Jesus!
http://www.readytofollow.com
Got Questions?
Go to: About True Christianity
http://www.readytofollow.com/about-christianity
Missed A Lesson?
Go to: Daily Bible Study
http://www.readytofollow.com/daily-bible-study
Learn About Salvation Only Made Through Jesus Christ
Go to: I'm Ready to Get Saved
http://www.readytofollow.com/salvation
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