3-2-24

It’s been a hard few months but God is faithful. He has brought me through a time of trial and testing for me to realize that He is my all in all. I will serve Him with thanksgiving in my heart trusting that he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I realize that the testing of my faith develops perseverance bringing maturity. So I will fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith so as to not grow weary and lose heart (Phil. 1:6; James 1:3-4; Heb. 12:2-3).

I was reading in Exodus 16 and 17 when God brought His people out of bondage from Egypt.  It was the second month since their freedom when they had seen the miraculous provision of God as they crossed the Red Sea on dry land.  Their deliverance from the yoke of slavery was designed by God so that the Egyptians, Pharaoh, and all the people of Israel would know that He was the one and only true God.  The children of Israel had witnessed and experienced God’s miraculous power, protection, provision, and divine love for them.

But here they were only 2 months after their deliverance and seeing miraculous signs and wonders, grumbling to Moses and Aaron about not having meat to eat.  The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” (Exodus 16:3 NIV1984).  It struck me as I was reading this how quickly they forgot about their plight in Egypt, having selective memory of the “good times” yet ignoring their bondage and mistreatment.  Again, it struck me how much I am like them!  When I’m faced with new trials and the unknown there is the tendency to forget about God’s past deliverance and abundant provision moving into anxiety, grumbling, and complaining.  I forget to ask for God’s help and provision again, seeking the world’s solutions and romanticizing past bondage from which God has miraculously delivered me.  

Father, my prayer today is to submit my will to Your will that You would be glorified in me.  I seek your provision and protection for today that I would be able to walk by the Spirit and put to death my flesh.  Teach me to walk in Your ways according to Your will that Your name would be praised.  I ask these things in Jesus’ name.  Amen

Some Extra Scriptures That Came To Mind:

“God’s commands are not burdensome”

1 John 5:3-5 NIV1984

“3  This is love for God: to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome,  4  for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5  Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

“I am holy and true”

Revelation 3:7 NIV1984

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.  What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

“8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”

“11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

God’s commands are not burdensome.  They are there to free us from the world and its ways.  A time is coming, and for many throughout the world is now here, when those who persecute believers will honestly believe that they are doing a good thing.  They will call evil good and good evil.  They seek to have the name of Jesus denied and His holy word destroyed because it speaks of true holiness and righteousness.  Jesus encourages us to not give up but to endure with patience to the end.  He is coming soon and will deliver those who love him and are called by His name.  The forces of Satan seek to take our crowns but Jesus promises His soon return to keep us from the trial that is about to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.  My stand today is the same as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18 NIV1984).

Also as Joshua told all of Israel,

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.  Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites,  in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Maranatha, come quickly Lord Jesus.  Amen.