Is your heart hard and being hardened?

Exodus 14:1–14 AMP

AND THE Lord said to Moses, Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the [Red] Sea, before Baal-zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, They are entangled in the land; the wilderness has shut them in. I will harden (make stubborn, strong) Pharaoh’s heart, that he will pursue them, and I will gain honor and glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so. It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, What is this we have done? We have let Israel go from serving us! And he made ready his chariots and took his army, And took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord made hard and strong the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, for [they] left proudly and defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the [Red] Sea by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. When Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked up, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and the Israelites were exceedingly frightened and cried out to the Lord. And they said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way and brought us out of Egypt? Did we not tell you in Egypt, Let us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Moses told the people, Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest.

Assignment # 1(daily):  Scripture, petitions (intercession/prayers) and

meditations (SOAP= Scriptures, Observations,

Application, Prayer)

Scriptures:

 Exodus 14:1-14

Observations:

 Exodus 14:4-5,8 - God harden’s Pharaoh’s heart by allowing His voice of correction, mercy and truth to go silent (aka Moses & Aaron regular visits ceased) on Pharaoh while the voice of the soulish nature was fed and strengthened (aka the voices of Pharaoh’s councilors/cabinet; the pain and grief of the people of Egypt who had lost so much) as well as the deep thoughts of his own prideful heart became strengthened, fortified, confirmed, repaired, recovered and allowed to prevail Strong’s #2388). God “hardens” or strengthens what’s already on the inside.

(See Josh 1:9 when the Lord tells him to “be strong and of good courage.” -see pg 326 “The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament” - Warren Baker, D.R.E * Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D - AMG Publishers Copyright 2003; Chattanooga, Tennessee 37241)

Application:

 It is wise to meditate on what the Lord reveals to us from our character that are byproducts of whatever tests we go through; repent of all that is ungodly, unrighteous and results in judgment, pride, stubbornness, complaints and grumbling. Then yield to Him and to what He is in His heart and not ours. Allow the flesh to die so the Spirit man- and what the Lord has fed you by the Word can be strengthened.

 Question

Have you been feeding your spirit man and fasting the soulish thoughts and desires? What have you done with the thoughts and desires you have become accustomed to allowing to define who you are? How would you act if the restraining and loving voice of grace were withheld from your life or seemingly went quiet for a period of time? Is your heart malleable (soft and pliable) in the Lord’s hands? Who are your counselors and how are they influencing your thoughts and actions?

Prayer:

 Lord, thank You for giving me understanding of this word that has troubled myself and so many other believers for so very long. The glory belongs to You now as then when you sat back and allowed Pharaoh to expose what was still deeply rooted in his heart even after You had offered him several opportunities to repent. Lord, help me and help us the church today to repent for what we know we hold onto that is contrary to Your Word, so You may reveal to us even more -the root of the rebellion and the foundation of our warped concepts so we can repent some more, renounce and break the pattern or stronghold in our lives.

Lord I also pray for the Ekklesia to be strong and of good courage, not to fear but to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD which You fully intend to demonstrate (in a day when the secular democratic caucus of our nation {refer to seculardems.org/about} have signed a letter of recommendation to the ‘President elect Biden-Harris team’ encouraging them of the need to expunge Judeo Christians from governmental offices and reprogramme conservative Christians - {see religionnews.com/2020/11/30/secular-democrats-unveil-sweeping-recommendaation-for-biden-administration/} and for the church to be delivered of her blindness.

So We decree right now that all those who will be saved and those that are already; and who are involved with/in the government are going before the Father of Lights in whom there is no shadow of turning and are seeing the truth of what He is exposing, expounding, expelling and expunging. The lies can no longer be hidden so these persons, appointed to offices and of influence are rightly aligning themselves even as they wrestle with what they have been “told” to believe versus the schemes they are uncovering which have been hidden or veiled. We declare that as they come forth out of the darkness (the pillar of cloud that cast a shadow of darkness on Pharaoh’s army while at the same time enlightening those in the LORD’s camp) into Your marvelous light Lord that do so with holy and righteous indignation in the strength and encouragement of the Lord for the exploits that You oh God have already prepared in advance for them to overcome in.