YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

During that long period, the king of Egypt died.

The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

And God said, "I will be with you."

Exodus 2:23-25, 3:1-12b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When we left off from the last message from Exodus, chapter 2, Moses was in Midian where he was blessed with a wife and child. Things were going well for him although his heart was still invested in his Israelite brothers and sisters, so much so that we saw Moses feeling as if he was an alien in a foreign land.

As we get to the end of chapter 2 and move into the first twelve verses of chapter 3, we find Moses continuing to work in Midian, "tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law” even as the Hebrews in Egypt were groaning “in their slavery” and crying out for help, a plea that we see “went up to God”. As God heard the cries of the Israelites, the scriptures tell us that He “heard their groaning” and “was concerned about them” as He “remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob”. All this happened while the Pharaoh that wanted to kill Moses had died himself but this obviously had not brought any relief from the oppression the people of Israel were experiencing.

Well, we know two things about God. First, He never breaks a promise and, second, He always has a plan to make sure His promises are fulfilled. As we carry on in our study of Moses, we find both validated.

In our passage, we find Moses leading the flock he tended “to the far side of the desert”, ending up “Horeb, the mountain of God”. It was there that we find an “angel of the Lord” appearing to Moses “in flames of fire from within a bush, best known among Bible students as “the burning bush”.

It didn’t take Moses long to realize that this was no ordinary busy. Because as he fixed his eyes on it, he saw a “strange sight” that drew his attention because the bush wasn’t being burned up by the flames. And so Moses decides to get closer for a better look and it was then that the Lord calls to him by name before saying:

"Do not come any close. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

How did Moses respond?

Well, he didn’t. This is because he “hid his face” as he was “afraid to look at God."

What a moment this was for Moses. For the same God that his forefathers had experienced was now speaking directly to him. It was now his turn to be used by the Lord in powerful ways.

So what did God have in mind for Moses in response to the cries of the enslaved Israelite people?

As we see through His words, God planned on using Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. Look again at His words here:

"I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

Wow!

Can you imagine being Moses and hearing this?

There must have been a lot of thoughts racing through his head. After all, he couldn’t even save himself from the murderous intentions of Pharaoh, instead having to run away to survive. And now, God was telling him that he was going to go and face Egypt’s powerful leader and his people head on so to save all of Israel.

Frankly, it’s of little surprise that we find Moses feeling a little apprehensive and in disbelief. I mean God doesn’t say that He will place a great army at Moses’ disposal to carry out this task of overthrowing the Egyptian oppression. No, Moses would be the one who would make it happen. He would be an army of one.

With this, we can fully understand Moses asking God:

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

I think we all might wonder the same thing if we were in his shoes, awash in feelings of our own inadequacy but as we see, God speaks five words of power and truth into Moses’ fears of insufficiency:

"I will be with you."

This simple statement was spoken by God to grant Moses the strength to carry out His plan and purpose, and they are words that are intended for the same reason to us today. In essence, the Lord was reminding Moses that he was not alone for He (God) was with him, just as He is with us now.

Friends, we need to keep this truth fully in mind because it us one of the absolutes we find in the scriptures. In other words, it’s one thing we can always count on.

For God, the Father, and Jesus, His Son, are always with all believers, those who place their belief and trust in them.

God, the Father, promised us that He would never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He reaffirms this in His words to Moses as He says, "I will be with you."

Then Jesus, at the end of His Great Commission, tells all His disciples (and that includes all Christians today) that He will be with them even until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

With these blessed assurances, how could we ever feel alone, forsaken, abandoned, or unloved?  

As Moses went forward to carry out the huge task that God wanted him to carry out, he did so knowing the Lord was there alongside every step of the way. This same God is ever with us as well as we answer His call each and every day.

It’s nothing short of good news for today, tomorrow and forever more and so let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

FINDING REAL FREEDOM

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8:36

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s Independence Day here in the United States, a day when we celebrate our nation gaining its liberty and freedom as an independent nation 249 years ago.

But guess what?

Amidst all the picnics, parades, and fireworks today lies a sobering truth.

For we’re not really free just because we live in America. The same can be said about any other nation who feels it has gained liberation by way of its own doing.

I say this because there is only one way to true freedom, a freedom that sets you free now and forever more in this world and in the one yet to come, and that was, is, and will always be through Jesus Christ, who said the following:

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. John 14:6

“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

So how does this equate to the fact that no one is truly free outside of Jesus?

Let me break it down for you.

First, Jesus is the only way to God the Father.

Period.

No one goes to heaven unless they have believed in Him as their Savior, the One who died to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and purchase the pardon of every sinner.

Second, if anyone says they believe in Jesus as Savior, then they accept that their chief identity is now changed to “Christian”. This means that they are required live like Christ Jesus in all they do, committing to follow Him and His ways.

Jesus said that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life and He is the only one a Christian is to model their life after.

Finally, in order to follow Jesus and His will and ways, Christian believers need to surrender themselves, giving up their own desires in order to follow His. Jesus said that any disciple of His must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. This means that He always comes first even if it means we need to sacrifice something we might want instead.

In other words, in order to find true freedom, a freedom that opens the gates of Heaven for us to enter in and live forever one day, we first have to lose our own freedom and do so willingly. When we look at the life of Jesus, we see where He made a life out of sacrificing for others to the point of freely suffering and dying so we might live. So if we are going to be free in and through Him, we need to sacrifice our own wants in life so to be about His business, just as He was always about the business of His Father God.

 Friends, the question to ponder on this day of independence is this:

Are you truly free today or are you out celebrating some counterfeit freedom that will not endure?

If you’re not in Jesus, then your freedom is just a worldly construct and I pray you might be ready to chance that, making today the day of your salvation, the day that you find your real liberty in this life and the eternal life to come through Jesus Christ who proclaimed:

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8:36

Amen. 

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

AN ALIEN IN A FOREIGN LAND

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"

They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock."

"And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become an alien in a foreign land."

Exodus 2:15b-22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The word had gotten out.

Moses, an Israelite, had killed an Egyptian and Pharaoh wanted an eye for an eye. And so in Exodus, chapter 2, we find him wanting to kill Moses who was able to escape and flee Egypt, finding refuge in Midian. As he sits down by a well, we see more of his future begin to unfold in our passage for today. Look again at those words here:

Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"

They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock."

"And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become an alien in a foreign land." Vv. 15b-22

As Moses sat at the well, it was obvious that he would encounter people who would come regularly to draw from the water source.

On this day, he would meet “seven daughters” of “a priest of Midian” who had come to "draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock." The scriptures tell us that while they were trying to get water, they were harassed by some shepherds but we read that Moses "came to their rescue" and then even "watered the flock" for them.

Afterwards, the daughters returned to their father, Reuel, sharing what had transpired and what Moses had done. The story prompted Reuel to ask about Moses’ whereabouts before rebuking his daughters for leaving him without offering some form of gratitude through hospitality. In Reuel’s mind,  he feels the least he could do is offer something in return for what Moses had done for his daughters.

And so we read where he asks Moses to join the family for a meal, an invitation he agrees to. In fact, we read that Moses received far more than just food and a few nights’ stay. For the scriptures tell us that the priest of Midian gives his daughter, Zipporah, to Moses in marriage and after they are wed, they have a son who they named Gershom. All seemed like it was going fine for Moses but there was something wrong. For we read at the end of this scripture passage that he felt like "an alien in a foreign land", his feelings exposed through the name he gave his son.

With this, we get a sense that Moses really yearned to return to Egypt for although he was staying in Midian, he was not a Midianite at heart. And although he had come from Egypt and the Midianite hosts believed he was an Egyptian, we know he wasn’t an Egyptian at heart either. Rather, Moses was a full blooded Hebrew with a heart that loved his fellow brothers and sisters, the ones who were still in Egypt suffering from oppression and hardship. With this, it had to be extremely hard for Moses to feel good about his relatively good and safe conditions when he knew of the difficulty his fellow Israelites were experiencing in the place he had fled.

All this brought thoughts to my mind when maybe we have felt like aliens in a foreign land.

For example, I have changed jobs, and even work locations within the same organization, many times in my life. Every one of them was unsettling going into because the jobs were different with unique expectations and requirements. The people I worked with were different and every new start in employment meant I had to integrate and fit in with another group of people, which anyone who has done it knows takes time.

We could draw parallels to this anytime we experienced change in relationships or living arrangements or finances, anywhere that became new and/or uncharted territory or anything that may remove us from our comfort zone and into a place that is full of unknown. These transitions can leave us feeling off balance, maybe even alone and isolated with an uncertainty of what the future may hold.

Maybe you can relate to some of these feelings that Moses must have felt. I know I can.

Well, the good news is that we, like Moses, will soon realize that we serve a God who has a way of putting us where He wants us to be and sometimes this requires us to go to places where we might be an alien in a foreign land. After all, when we made the choice to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the scriptures let us know that we became a new creation for what was in the past was gone and everything after our rebirth became new and blessed (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through this conversion, we were no longer expected to be of the world, although we lived in the world.

In other words, through Jesus, we became aliens in a foreign land, disciples who now lived under a new set of holy and righteous standards for in Christ, we stand for principles and values that place us in conflict with the world and its sinfulness.

We also are disciples who will one day have a permanent change of address as we move on to a new eternal home in Heaven, a land of future eternal hope where we will live forever. Until then, all Christian believers are to be on a quest through the Great Commission to help alienate others from the world and its sinfulness, drawing them into a righteous new relationship with the Savior who delivers them from death to life, from a dark world into a new eternal place filled with light and hope and love.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOOD TRIUMPHS OVER EVIL

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"

The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?"

Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known."

When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Exodus 2:11-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we continue our study of Exodus, chapter 2, we fast forward from the baby Moses being plucked from the reeds along the Red Sea and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter in infancy to becoming "grown up." Through this development, he witnessed the terrible oppression suffered by Israel at the hands of Egypt’s supreme leader, Pharaoh, and within the context of our passage for today, we get a sense that he had seen enough. Look again at those words here:

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"

The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?"

Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known."

When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.  Exodus 2:11-15

Here, we find Moses reach a breaking point in regard to the oppressive treatment of the Egyptians who had committed the Israelites to slavery. We read where he sees an Egyptian beating a fellow Hebrew and, after surveying the area and seeing no one else around, he took matters into his own hands and killed the Egyptian. Then, the scriptures tell us that he buried the body in the sand.

This action taken by Moses would serve to be a precursor of what was to come for we know he will be used by God for much greater purposes than saving a single Israelite. Here’s a couple of things we learn about his character early on:

First, Moses showed contempt for abuse, especially against his fellow Israelites.

Although he grew up with the luxuries that came from being a part of Pharaoh’s family, Moses didn’t forget his roots. His love for his fellow Hebrews was evident as he came to aid of his fellow Israelite being assaulted by the Egyptian.

Second, Moses showed great courage to intervene and save the Hebrew.

Let’s not be led to feel like that was an easy matter to step into. In fact, scripture tells that Moses first glanced "this way and that” to see if anyone would witness what he was about to do. Indeed, there was a lot at stake and Moses knew he would be put to death if Pharaoh ever discovered that he had killed an Egyptian. And yet, his desire to save one of his own people was greater than his own personal safety and so Moses took action. His courage and willingness to save would be used by God on a much bigger stage later.

So to recap, Moses had saved a brother Hebrew from an assault by an Egyptian national, killing the assailant and burying his body. We know that no one had seen what happened and so Moses had to think that the issue was over but he was wrong.

We know this because some time after burying the Egyptian, the scriptures tell us that Moses sees two Hebrews fighting one another. We should see how volatile things were for the Israelites because if it wasn’t bad enough that the Hebrews were being subjected to beatings from the Egyptians, we see where there were beating on one another as well.

We read where Moses steps in and confronts the Israelite aggressor, the "one in the wrong", asking a simple question:

"Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"

I’m sure Moses’ intent  was to just try and diffuse the situation peacefully but we find the Hebrew who was in the wrong verbally assaulting Moses asking:

"Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?"

The question had to shock Moses for he had been careful to make sure there were no witnesses when he came to the rescue of his fellow Israelite. The only thing Moses didn’t plan for was that the person he helped would possibly tell their fellow Hebrews about what happened. This is how the person who was in the wrong knew about the prior killing.  

And so we find the Hebrew aggressor refusing to admit he was wrong in his actions and instead going after Moses, letting him know that he was well aware of what he had done prior. This revelation whisked away Moses’ courage and replaced it with fear for he now knew that word was spreading about the killing and indeed that word made its way to Pharaoh himself who we read tried to kill Moses after he heard what had happened.

Fortunately for Moses, it wasn’t yet his time to die for the Lord still had much for him to do. And so he escaped death at the hands of Pharaoh yet another time, fleeing to the region of Midian.

In regard to life application of our scripture passage for today, we can see a distinct flaw in our human nature as we look at the behavior of the Hebrew aggressor. For if we’re honest, we have all acted as he did at one time or another.

You see, I think we all have a hard time just admitting that we’re wrong sometimes. In the case of Moses and the fighting Israelite, we find him trying to get the Hebrew to see the wrongs of his ways with the hope he might say:

"You know, you’re right Moses. I got upset and I shouldn’t have started hitting my brother. I’m sorry."

Unfortunately, we know that this didn’t happen.

Instead, the Hebrew successfully deflected the blame off himself by putting it onto Moses instead. In essence, he was asking Moses, “Who are you to tell us to not fight? Are you in charge of us?"

And then, he plays his money ball, asking Moses if he was going to kill him as he did the Egyptian. I can imagine the distress and fright that immediately showed up on Moses’ face and the Hebrew thinking in his mind, “That’s right. I know ALL about it. Now, just go and mind your own business."

I wonder if we don’t get equally vindictive against someone when they call us out for our transgressions and/or seek to shift the blame on the accuser instead of taking accountability and responsibility for what we’ve done. Indeed, our scripture passage for today gives us a look into the good and bad of humanity.

In one case, we see the courage to stand up for what is right and save another, even at the expense of oneself. And this was what Jesus did as well, except the life He sacrificed for the cause of peace and salvation was His own.

In the other case, we see the destructive nature of a spiteful, non-repentant attitude. The Hebrew man’s caustic, hateful response to Moses was meant to hurt him just as much as he was physically hurting the fellow Israelite he was fighting.

Into the midst of this, we find our Lord stepping into the gap when His chosen ones are facing danger. For what the Hebrew assaulter intended for evil, asking Moses if he planned to kill him as he killed the Egyptian, God made it end up for good because Moses was made aware that the word about what happened was out. This allowed him to escape and remain safe, despite Pharaoh’s murderous intentions.

As stated prior, God still had much for Moses to do.

Friends, we need to keep all this in mind as we live as Christ followers each and every day because we will inevitably run into others who will want to do evil unto us, feeling in every way that they will succeed.

The good news is that, like Moses, we are servants of a God who wishes to use us for good. And as He ever works to shape is in His righteousness, He watches over us and protects us from sinister acts of wickedness. In the end translation, we need to embrace the good news that Satan will never get the upper hand against the Lord. Never.

Good triumphs over evil. It has, does, and will always continue to right up to the day when Jesus returns to set things straight forever. Thanks be to God that we can trust in this truth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

DELIVERED TO DELIVER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"

"Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you."

So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."

Exodus 1:22, 2:1-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

You’ll remember that in the latter chapters of Genesis, Jacob’s son, Joseph, was second in command in Egypt, just under the supreme Egyptian ruler, Pharaoh. This position and standing allowed for his Israelite family to be cared for during the seven year famine and beyond.

Transitioning to the Book of Exodus, we found where things changed drastically. For the scriptures told us that after Joseph and his brothers died, a new Pharaoh took charge, one who had no prior relationship with the Israelites. Seeing how much the Hebrew population was growing, we saw where the new Pharaoh felt so threatened that he ordered the Israelite midwifes to kill all Hebrew boys that they helped give birth to, a demand that they refused out of their fear for God.

Unfortunately, the Pharaoh was not ready to give up as we see in today’s scripture passage from the final verse of chapter 1 and the first ten verses of chapter 2:

Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?"

"Yes, go," she answered. And the girl went and got the baby's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you."

So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."

How evil was this new Pharaoh?

So much so that he was willing to murder newborn babies, specifically all the baby boys who were to be thrown "into the Nile" where they would drown to death. His order was nothing short of an horrific act of infanticide but as we see in the scriptures, there was at least one family, a Hebrew Levite family, who was able to save their child by placing him in a papyrus basket and sending him off afloat on the Nile where he was discovered and saved, ironically by the daughter of Pharaoh.

It was nothing short of a miraculous act of God and as we go on to see, this would be no ordinary baby who would grow up into adulthood. For as we see, he is given the name Moses and will later become the man who will deliver the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt and lead them on an exodus to the Promised Land.

As I was meditating over these verses, I began to see parallels between Moses, Jesus, and our own lives as Christian believers.

First, Jesus.

You’ll remember that after King Herod failed in his attempt to trick the Magi into revealing the exact location of Jesus, he had all boys two or younger killed in the town of Bethlehem. What Herod didn’t know was that the Lord had warned Joseph in a dream about the coming danger and told him to take Mary and baby Jesus to...yes...Egypt. So, we see in the scriptures where God instructed Moses to lead and deliver His people from Egypt before later commanding Joseph to lead and deliver His only Son Jesus to Egypt, both for the purpose of survival and salvation.

Now, let’s apply this to our situation as Jesus disciples. For we too were once threatened by danger as Satan sought our utter destruction through exploiting the sin within us. And so as we floated along in life much like Moses floated in his basket on the Nile, we were doomed unless someone would come to save us. Thankfully, God did send someone in the way of His Son, who came to our rescue, pulling us out of the depths of our sin before we drowned in it, adopting us as His own, and then bringing us eternal life through His death and resurrection.

Indeed, He (Jesus) was, is, and will always be the Savior of the world and here’s one other important point. As Christians, we get to partner with Jesus to help others get delivered. This partnership isn’t just a suggestion. Jesus actually commanded it.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

In both Moses and Jesus, we see how God made the way for both to be delivered and kept from death so that they might deliver His people. They were delivered to deliver and in the case of Jesus, not just deliver us in this life but in the glorious everlasting life to come where we will abide with Him and our God forever. And as if this wasn’t enough, those in Christ get to actively be the hands and feet of the risen Savior, working with Him to help others be delivered.

What an amazing privilege this is and so let us all rejoice and be glad in this truth, not just today but every day we’re blessed with.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE FEAR OF GOD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

"Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."

So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

Exodus 1:1-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the end of the final chapter of the book of Genesis, we find first Jacob, and then his son, passing away. The rest of Jacob’s sons and their families remained in Egypt but as we see at the beginning of the Book of Exodus, those sons and their relatives within that generation pass away as well:

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died.

So what happened to the next generations?

We go back to the scriptures for the answer:

...the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

These descendants were from Jacob’s line, and since we know he was also given the name Israel by God, we know why the resultant people group was called the Israelites. In Genesis, we know that God promised that the Israelites, who traced back to Abraham, would be fruitful and multiply and indeed, they did just that with their population becoming “exceedingly numerous” as they began to fill the land of Egypt.

This population explosion captured the attention of a new Pharaoh who had assumed power, one who had no prior relationship with the Hebrew people. We see where this placed the Israelites at an immediate disadvantage for while the previous Pharaoh was accommodating and willing to assist the relatives of Joseph, his second in command at the time, this new Egyptian leader saw the people of Israel as a potential threat and so he decided to do something to nullify it.

"Look, the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country."

Of interest, the Pharaoh had at least part of this concern right because the Israelite people would eventually “leave the country” but not because they would have sided with one of Egypt’s enemies. Rather, they would depart Egypt to follow their God to the land He had promised their ancestors.

The scriptures tell us that Pharaoh’s anxiety over the Israelites led to actions to try and stop their growth. First, he appointed "slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor” and under the supervision of the slave masters, “they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh." The intent here was to break the spirit of the Israelite people through enslavement but the scriptures reveal that his efforts were fruitless for the more the Israelites were oppressed, “the more they multiplied and spread."

Well, the Pharaoh wasn’t about to give up for we read where he treated the people of Israel even more harshly, making “their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields." And then, as if hard labor wasn’t enough, Pharaoh summoned the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and gave them the following order:

"When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live."

Note here that oppression wasn’t enough. The Egyptian leader was ready to resort to infanticide in order to accomplish his goal, sanctioning murder to stop the growth of Israel. In doing so, we find where he drastically underestimated the Hebrew people for we read where the Hebrew midwifes refused to carry out Pharaoh’s order out of their fear of God, a God that the Egyptians didn’t prescribe to.

This stance by the Israelite midwifes is one I think that all believers today should learn from and adopt themselves. For the enemy, Satan, is always seeking to use God’s people to try and carry out his evil work. Maybe that wouldn’t necessarily involve killing someone but any proposition by the devil that involves us sinning to support his purposes is an act of absolute enmity against a God who possesses infinite power and a willingness to use it against anyone who would oppose Him.

The Hebrew midwifes feared God so much that they were willing to stand up to the authority of Egypt’s mighty Pharaoh and if they could do that, we can take a stand against Satan because we fear God more than him. Disobedience to Him can’t be an option for a believer.

Well, after learning that the Israelite midwives had defied him, he summons them to ask why they hadn’t carried out his order. Here’s what they told him:

"Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

Their reasoning was actually pretty funny when we think about it. Indeed, the Hebrew women weren’t like the Egyptian women but it wasn’t because they always seem able to “give birth before the midwives arrive”. Rather, they were completely different from the Egyptians because they believed and trusted in the one true God, the God who blessed the midwives for their actions by giving “them families of their own" because they feared and honored Him.

As we see evident throughout the scriptures, God blesses and rewards those who are obedient to Him. In this passage, we found the Israelite midwifes standing firm on the side of righteousness when presented with a situation where they were being commanded to sin. Their choice to remain faithful to God not only saved the lives of others but brought an abundant blessing unto their own household.

Moving ahead in the Old Testament to the 111th Psalm, we find God’s Word providing a perfect close to today’s message. For there we read these wise words from the psalmist:

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." v.10

Indeed, a lot of people deemed intelligent by the world’s standards have fallen because they lacked the wisdom to fear God and to move at His will and in His way. As believers, let us not do anything, whether by word or deed, without first seeking the approval of our Lord.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

KNOW YOUR PLACE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?"

So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father."

When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.

But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children."

And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place."

So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Genesis 50:15-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the Book of Genesis closes, we find where Jacob (also named Israel by God) died and received an incredible, honorable burial in Canaan, just as he requested. You’ll recall that his passing was followed by full traditional honors, both from his Israelite family as well as the Egyptians.

After an amazing life, we know that Jacob/Israel left behind twelve sons who would form the framework of Jewish nation, each son being a head of one of the twelve tribes. Indeed, the nation of Israel would be in their hands with God as their leader and guide. As we will see through studying the remainder of the Old Testament, the future Israelites would face many challenges, many of which were of their own making but as we see in our passage today from the closing verses of chapter 50, the sons of Jacob were more focused on what they saw as a clear and present danger, one created by their father’s death.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?"

There were times previously when the brothers seemed to be in harm’s way when dealing with Egypt’s second in command, not knowing that he was Joseph, but that was when Jacob was living. The sons believed that their father was the big reason why Joseph held back his wrath and severe punishment before but with him now gone, they feared for the worse and so we find them sending the following appeal to Joseph:

"Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father."

The message was simple and succinct, containing three key points for us to consider:

1. The advice to ask for forgiveness came from their father.

Before he died, we read where Jacob had given his sons instructions regarding their relationship with Joseph. The instruction was grounded in forgiveness and reconciliation, humbly going to their brother to seek his pardon.

2. The brothers confessed to having sinned.

None of the brothers attempted to sidestep their accountability for what happened. They openly admitted that what they did to Joseph was sinful, unwarranted, and inexcusable.

3. They profess themselves to be servants of God.

Overall, this reflected great spiritual growth had happened within the hearts of Joseph’s brothers. For no true servant of God would have wronged him the way they did, selling him into slavery out of sheer jealousy.

But that was then and this was now.

Through their words, we find the brothers expressing humility and remorse. Yes, Joseph had suffered great hardship but in the end, it was all part of God’s overall plan, not only for him but for his family and the people of Egypt that he held authority over. God had used Joseph’s life circumstances to win his brothers over and they now confessed to serve the Lord themselves.

Well, the scriptures tell us that when the brothers’ message reached Joseph, his heart was touched. Overcome with emotion, "he wept" and we can see the Lord laying the foundation for forgiveness and repair of a previously fractured family relationship.

The message was followed by action as we read where Joseph’s brothers arrived and “threw themselves down before him", proclaiming:

"We are your slaves."

Note here that they don’t even wait to see if their message was received favorably but instead immediately throw themselves at Joseph’s feet professing their unworthiness, expressing that they were fit to do nothing else but be enslaved to Joseph so to repay the debt of their wrongdoing.

Friends, we should be ready to learn from these brothers of Joseph. For how many times have we wronged our Lord in the way we have lived? Shouldn’t we be throwing ourselves down at God’s feet and confess our unworthiness, understanding that we would be blessed to just be counted as His slaves?

If we’re honest as believers, we should admit the truth that none of us can stand before our Lord solely based on our own merit and righteousness for there isn’t one person living who hasn’t fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). We are all numbered with the transgressors and it’s only through placing our trust In Jesus as Savior that brings us God’s special mercy and redemption. We should all humbly come before His throne of grace with absolute thanksgiving and praise.

And this leads me to one more important point.

For since no single believer can stand before the Lord blameless, that makes no one worthy to judge another person either.

Ouch.

You see, we all too often love to assume this role as Satan loves getting us puffed up and believing we’re somehow superior to another when the truth is that we’re all the same when it comes down to it, sinners in desperate need of God’s pardon and absolution. And since He so freely forgives us through Jesus, His Son, so too are we to forgive one another.

You know, forgive others as we have been forgiven, or else risk losing God’s forgiveness altogether (Matthew 6:14-15).

Friends, this is how Joseph could so easily say this to his brothers:

"Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children."

My prayer for us today is that Joseph’s words will resonate within the chambers of our hearts and minds for like him, none of us are in God’s place. He is Lord and we aren’t. Period.

Through his words, Joseph shows a realization that it wasn’t his place to judge because only his God had the authority to do that. What Joseph could do us forgive because not only was it God’s expectation to do so, it was his obligation.

Like Joseph, we aren’t a substitute for God. None of us have been put in His place and so we don’t have the right to judge and condemn. Thankfully, what we do have God’s spirit within us and this indwelling will lead us to a place of reconciliation, mercy, and love when we submit to it, just the place where our Lord wants us to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.