(CLICK THE TITLE) Good morning everyone. A few weeks ago I served a meal that dealt with obedience and I made a reference to the exodus of Israel out of bondage. I had a few minutes yesterday in which I forgot to walk by faith and not by sight but the Holy Ghost reminded me to “Keep Movin”. It doesn’t matter what you see with your eyes. Of course you know I have to take you to the manual for a scriptural example so get ready.
Today’s Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ I just want to thank You for helping us make it through another day. Thank You for guiding our way, for keeping us safe, and for blessing us. Lord, please give us strength for yet another day of life. Help us to walk in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. I want to lift up my friends who are suffering with cancer and illness and for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Reach into their lives and provide a peace and comfort that only You can give. Fill that hurt and emptiness they feel with Your presence. Be their help in their times of trouble. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Move On!
“Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” – Exodus 14:15
The bible tells us that Moses had brought the whole nation of Israel, approximately 600,000, to a dead end in the desert. The only thing between Israel and Pharaoh’s pursuing army was the Red Sea. This was after nine plagues God had inflicted on Pharaoh to motivate him to free the Israelites. Finally, Pharaoh had freed Moses and the people, and they left Egypt. They thought they were home free. “Freedom at last,” they said. But God did a strange thing. He directed Moses to take a route that led to the Red Sea, instead of the northern route around the Red Sea. God explained that He didn’t want them fighting the enemies they would have encountered on this route. But still, there was the issue of the Red Sea.
They finally arrived at the Red Sea, and the people were wondering where they would go from there. News hit the camp: Pharaoh had changed his mind. He was coming after them with his army. Panic set in. The defenseless Israelites cried out, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Ex. 14:11-12)
God sometimes brings each of us to a “Red Sea” in our lives. It may be a work problem that can’t be solved. It may be a marriage that seems to be falling apart. It may be a debilitating disease. Whatever your Red Sea, God tells us one thing: “Keep movin.” The Red Sea was before them, yet God was angered at Moses and told him to “Keep movin.”
The fleshly part of Moses said “But Lord, the Red Sea is before me.” “Keep moving.” When we live by sight, we act on what we see. God sets this stage in dramatic fashion. God is into the dramatic. There is no way out without God being in the mix. That’s just the way He wants it. No one will get glory except God.
A friend once put me in check when I was in the midst of an extremely difficult time in my life, “You must not withdraw from being proactive in your faith just because of this trial that you’re in. God’s hand is on your life. There are too many who are depending on you to fulfill the purposes God has in your life. Keep movin! Keep investing yourself in others.” I didn’t feel like it. I was in too much pain. But I did it anyway. God met me at the point of my greatest need once I decided simply to be obedient. Getting over the pity party by investing myself in others helped heal the pain. There is great healing when we look past our own problems and seek to invest ourselves in others for the sake of Christ. This is when our own Red Seas become parted. We begin to walk to freedom. But we will never experience the miracle of the Red Sea in our lives if we don’t first “Keep movin.”
Quote of the Day
[The natural life] knows that if the spiritual life gets hold of it, all its self-centeredness and self-will are going to be killed and it is ready to fight tooth and nail to avoid that.
(Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis
WITH HOPE AND FAITH
REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY