God’s Presence All Around

Scripture Reading:  Exodus 14:13-31

Focus Verses: Exodus 14:19-20  "And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.  So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.”

Have you ever found yourself in a hopeless situation?  That’s where the Children of Israel find themselves in Exodus 14.  They are being chased from Egypt by Pharaoh’s army.  They are now up against the Red Sea in front of them, mountains on either side of them, and Pharaoh’s army behind them.  They are being squeezed.  But they had a definite advantage over the Egyptians.  The Lord was on their side.  

The Bible says the Angel of God went before, and moved and went behind the Children of Israel.  The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire.  God was their Guide and their Guard.  The night before they cross the Red Sea the Angel of God was behind them protecting them from the Egyptians all night.  Robert Morgan says it well in Red Sea Rules.  “For His children, He serves as both Guard and Guide.  He both precedes us and protects us.  He is simultaneously our Shepherd and Shield.  He is our Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the One who goes before, guiding into the future, and the One who goes behind gathering up our debris, our failures, and our poor attempts at ministry, blessing us and leaving a blessing behind us for others.”   Psalm 139:5-6 says, “I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there too, you're reassuring presence, coming and going.  This is too much, too wonderful, I can’t take it all in!”

God put His people in a position where if He didn’t come through for them it would have been a disaster.  God did come through for them.  He parted the Red Sea and they walked through on dry ground.  Not only that, God destroyed their enemy with the same miracle.  When you find yourself being squeezed on every side, be assured that God’s presence is all around you.  You are not alone.

 

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

 

What Can I Give to God?

Bible Reading: Matthew 6: 1-21

Focus Verse:  “Because your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name” (nkjv) Psalm 63:3-4

by Greg Laurie

Have you ever received a gift that far exceeded what you could have expected? Something so nice that just saying “thank you” seemed inadequate? 

If anything, you feel like you want to do something special for that person, to show your appreciation.

 In the same way, when you consider all that Christ did for us on the cross and what He continues to do for us today, it feels so inadequate to simply tell Him, “Thank you.” He has given us eternal life when we didn’t deserve it. And if you look back at the last year, I’m sure you’ll find countless things He has done in your life. 

In fact, it’s hard not to say, “Wow, God is great! How can I thank Him for everything He has done for me? What can I possibly do to show my appreciation to Him?”

 Fortunately, Scripture gives us a good blueprint for some ways that we can show our thanks to God. 

1. We can give Him our praise. The psalmist says in Psalm 63:3–4, “Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name” (nkjv).

 It’s funny that we think it’s perfectly normal for people to wear their favorite team’s jersey to a sporting event, and go wild when their team scores. But when you come to church on Sunday morning and someone is lifting up his hands during the worship time, people stare and call him a fanatic.

 Is there a place for verbally praising God, for lifting our hands in worship? Yes. It is biblical to lift your hands to the Lord. It is a good thing to do. You shouldn’t be reluctant to lift your hands in praise to God. 

2. I should keep my promises to God. Psalm 116:18 says, “I will keep my promises to the Lord in the presence of all His people” (nlt).

 When you prayed to receive Christ, you made a promise to God that you would turn away from your previous sinful lifestyle. You pledged to follow His commands, just as Jesus said: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14 nkjv).

 Now, of course, we are still flawed humans and we won’t always do exactly as He says, but we still need to be obedient to His will and keep that promise we made to Him.

 3. We can honor the Lord by bringing our offerings to the Lord. 1 Chronicles 16:28 says, “O nations of the world, recognize the lord, recognize that the lord is glorious and strong. Give to the lord the glory He deserves! Bring your offering and come to worship Him. Worship the lord in all His holy splendor” (nlt).

 When you are a child, it is hard to wrap your mind around the idea that giving is better than receiving. You’re more concerned about what people are going to give you. But as you get older and become a parent, you discover the joy of giving. You actually find more pleasure in giving a gift than in receiving one.

 Jesus gives us another reason why giving is so important to Christians in Matthew 6:19–21:

 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (nkjv) 

In other words, Jesus is saying that it is wrong to put all of our hope in earthly treasures with nothing waiting for us on the other side. Why? Because these earthly treasures simply will not last.

 When you play Monopoly, it’s fun to put up hotels and collect money and try to win. But once the game is over, that Monopoly money isn’t worth anything. You can’t go down to the car dealer, pull out those orange bills, and buy a new car. Monopoly money can’t do a thing for you in the real world.

 When we get to heaven, all we have on earth will have no value if we do not invest it properly. You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. How? By investing in the work of the kingdom of God.

written by Greg Laurie

Harvest at Home

What’s God’s Will for Me?

Scripture Reading: Romans 12: 1-8

Focus Verses: Romans 12: 1-2  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Some people say that finding the will of God is very difficult. But in reality God has made it easy for us to know, because it’s in the Bible.  Read our focus verses again in Romans 12: 1-2.  God has given us a conditional promise.  The promise is we can know the good, acceptable, perfect will of God.  But first we must do what He tells us to do.  That is we must present ourselves to Him, and not be conformed to this world.  Sounds easy to find the will of God, doesn’t it?  What does it mean to present ourselves to Him?  I think it means we are to live a life of righteousness. How can we live a life of righteousness in a world filled with sin?  God will transform you, change you and help you if you have fellowship with Him as it says in verse 2.

So the question is not, should I be a fisherman, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a school teacher, or a farmer?  If you start living Romans 12: 1-2 God is going to show you step by step what He wants you to do. God has called all of us to glorify Him with our lives, no matter what our job is.  We need Christian fishermen.  We need Christian teachers.  We need Christian doctors.  We need faithful Christian pastors.  God has given each of us gifts to be used to glorify Him.  God will not withhold His perfect will from any of us.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Hope Through a Strange Thing

Scripture: Exodus 3:1-10 

Focus verse: Exodus 3:1-4 - "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." 

A few months back I traveled to Kenya's capital city of Nairobi and noticed something strange. Two men who were sellers of herbal medicine faked a street fight. They pretend to be holding one another in a fight that I later realized was faked. As people drew closer in numbers to witness what was happening then they quickly stopped the act and quickly opened their bags that were lying closer to them and they begun to shout loud the product they were selling. When asked why they were faking a fight their response was that they realized the people in the town are too busy with their work and quickly moving so that none was giving them an ear. The fight they stated was a way to draw people to their good stuff since they believe they have what the people needed but none was ready to draw closer hence they couldn't sell. As they shared about their products, I realize more people developed interest and bought their stuff and thanked them. 

Moses is deep in the desert and too busy with his father in law's flock. I believe it was a big herd that really needed his attention and he couldn't offer leaving them aside. God too had a message of hope to His child (Israel) that He intended to give through the busy Moses. He decides to catch Moses attention through a strange thing. A bush burning but not being consumed. That looks very strange and I think many would have behaved like Moses, "I will go and see this strange thing". Little did he know that the strange thing was a way of drawing him to a God's word. The bush burning but not being consumed was like a bait that was used to draw him to hook (God's word). We all understand that you can only catch a fish using a hook when you put a bait on it. Bait catches the attention of a busy fish and it will be attempted to draw closer. Moses was a very busy man and something had to be used to tap his attention. Thereafter God used Moses in greater ways and he delivers the children of Israel from the bondage in Egypt that had lasted for hundreds of years. But remember his attention had to be strangely drawn to God. 

We live in a world where people are too busy and self centered. People have shelved the word of God and rarely is the word spoken the public in some parts of the world while to some it's not wanted at all. The people too busy in their own jobs, professions and carriers yet God also has a message for them as their father and God. He has a mission with us yet we tend to assume or doubt His presence. God may decide to allow strange things to happen in order to get our attention and that we may give him our time and do his mission. Sometimes He speak through strange things especially when we get too busy for Him. 

Many strange things are today happening around the globe. It could be that God is drawing our attention to Him. Moses didn't know that there was a voice of hope, healing, love, blessing, joy, deliverance in that strange happening. We therefore need to seek what's the voice of God when we see strange things happen. It could be that God is speaking something to us.

 

Pastor Eliazar Wambo

Bethesda Faith Ministries