Dave’s Monday Blast – March 26, 2018

He is Risen! Indeed!

Last week we were discussing “teachable moments”; opportunities to grow our faith through challenging times. We examined the account in Exodus 14 and 15 of God miraculously delivering His chosen people from the hands of their oppressors and then their subsequent rebellion in the face of trial. How quickly we forget God’s faithfulness. We learned that we must acknowledge that God uses circumstances to draw us to Himself; to remind us of His love for us and that He has a perfect plan for our lives.

Who are your Egyptians? How can you face them day by day with confidence knowing that God is allowing and using your trials to shape you into the man He INTENDED you to be?

Four thoughts:

1. View opposition as opportunity. Even though the Jewish people were following God’s explicit will, the enemy nonetheless pursued them and threatened their very existence. We should expect spiritual Egyptians to attack us every day (Ephesians 6:12). But such challenges show us our need for God and draw us to him in faith. And, as Jesus said, persecution “will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:13).

2. Remember what God has done so we can trust Him for what He will do. His nature never changes: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). If He has forgiven your sins in the past, He will forgive them in the present (1 John 1:9). If he has met your needs before, He will meet them again (Philippians 4:29). All He has done, He can still do.

3. “Diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God” (Exodus 15:26). The Word Biblical Commentary translated “diligently listen” as “pay close and committed attention to his voice.” The question is not whether God will speak to us, but whether we will choose to listen.

4. Obey His word and will. If we “do what is right in his eyes,” we position ourselves to experience his best for us. Such provision is not legalism but grace. Remember, we cannot earn God’s favor, but we can receive it.

I asked the question a moment ago, and I ask it again: Who are the Egyptians in your life today?

Thanks to Pastor Jim Denison for these insights.