A Spiritual Battle Inflamed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR8g5ZNchic

Psalm 35:1–9 NIV

1 Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. 2 Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid. 3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, “I am your salvation.” 4 May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. 5 May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away; 6 may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, 8 may ruin overtake them by surprise— may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin. 9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation.

Opening Hymn

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2 Chronicles 20:13–18 NIV

13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord. 14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. 15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ” 18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.

Worship songs

Romans 8:28–39 NIV

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer chorus

Prayer

A Spiritual Battle Inflamed

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory (Chapter 12: Bricks Without Straw) When I can find time and feel like I need a break from deep study, I enjoy a good fictional book to read. One of my favorite reads was J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. One chapter in the book was titled “Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire.” I bet we can all relate this idea to times in our lives when we felt like we have gone from the frying pan into the fire. In this instance, Bilbo Baggins (the Hobbit) and his companions (thirteen dwarves and the old wizard Gandalf) escaped from extreme peril, only to find themselves in an even worse predicament. The intrepid adventurers had been traveling through the tunnels under the Misty Mountains when they were beset by goblins. After a brief and bloody battle, they escaped by the narrowest of margins. Bilbo himself was the last one out of the mountain. Stuck in the stone doorway that led to freedom, he only just managed to wriggle free, losing all his buttons in the process. But even after Bilbo and his friends got out of the mountain, they were not out of danger, for as they hurried through the forest on foot, they were tracked and surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. Although Bilbo and his companions managed to scramble up some trees, they were trapped. Soon the goblins tramped out of their mountain stronghold to take advantage of the predicament. The goblins stacked combustible materials at the foot of each tree, and soon there was a ring of fire all around them. The flames began to lick at their feet. “Smoke was in Bilbo’s eyes; he could feel the heat of the flames; and through the reek he could see the goblins dancing round and round in a circle.” Then they began to sing their terrible song: “Burn, burn tree and fern! / Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch / To light the night for our delight.” So it was that Bilbo and his friends escaped from one mortal danger only to find themselves in even more desperate straits. Out of the frying-pan into the fire! The same expression could well be used to describe what happened to the children of Israel. They have been slaves of Egypt for hundreds of years. Now, they have been given hope of freedom. When we last visited this account of the Israelites, Moses has come before them and given them the message of God’s deliverance. They watched with fascination as Moses showed them the miraculous signs God was going to do before Pharaoh. And then they all bowed in worship before the God of their fathers who was fulfilling His promise to deliver them. You can imagine the anticipation they felt as they went to work the next day. They must have been breathless as they waited for word of Moses success. Surely the miraculous signs would be enough to sway this polytheistic king. However, the outcome was not what they expected. Instead of deliverance, their workload was increased. No more straw would be provided for the making of bricks, but the quota was to remain the same. Their overseers were beaten unmercifully to encourage the success of a greater workload. They have moved from the frying pan into the fire. How can one continue to hold faith under such circumstances? What could God be thinking to allow such hardship? Today, we will continue to follow the events that will eventually lead to Israel’s deliverance, but we will see that it is usually not an easy path. This story has important implications for our lives today. Please stand for the reading of our text. I am not reading the entire passage we will be talking about today but only a small, but critical part.

Exodus 5:1–2, 22-6:5 NIV

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lordand I will not let Israel go.”…22 Moses returned to the Lordand said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” 1 Then the Lordsaid to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” 2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!

Pray

A Spiritual Battle is Inflamed

It is so easy to forget we are in a spiritual battle because we do not see the spiritual forces with our own eyes. All we see is what is happening on this physical plain. However, we need to understand that things often do not play out rationally because there is a spiritual battle happening behind the scenes that are driving things in our world in an irrational manner.

This has never been more evident to me than now. As Christians, we look at our world and it has seemed to go crazy. We see politicians destroying our world for their own power. However, what kind of a world do they lead afterwards? A destroyed world? It would make a whole lot more sense to want to lead a healthy and happy society.

It does not make sense because it is being driven by Satan and demons. Their only desire is to destroy God and anything belonging to God.

Pharaoh was a polytheistic leader. In other words, he and his culture were given to worshiping many different gods. Pharaoh believed he was the incarnation of the gods Ra and Horus. He believed himself sovereign over creation. Yet, even with such a belief, most leaders usually did all they could to appease the gods. However, Pharaoh is very pointedly against the God of Israel. Why? Because Satan has control of his heart. Pharaoh has the same lust and desire for power that Satan has, so Satan can feed that desire. Satan often uses such people against God’s people.

For this reason, ...

I. Obedience to God Always Leads to Spiritual Conflict (Exodus 5:1-7:13)

Have you ever wondered why when you decide to obey God, all hell seems to break lose in your life? Or so it can seem. That is because the demons of hell are purposely throwing up roadblocks to discourage you and hopefully turn you away from God. That is why Paul tells us in Ephesians to put on the armor of God and to then Stand!

Ephesians 6:10–13 NIV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

We stand our ground, but we can do so in full confidence that God has got this! This is a lesson that the Israelites are about to learn.

Now, they have heard from Moses and seen the miraculous signs of God. We talked about this a couple weeks ago. We learned that they accepted Moses’ word and bowed in worship before God. However, as is so often the case, they zeroed in on the fun stuff and missed the warning God gave Moses.

Exodus 4:21NIV

21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.

Moses either neglected to share this part or they overlooked it. It is possible that Moses, who was already concerned that he would be rejected by these people, was afraid to share it. Then when they received what he said so well, he became puffed up and was convinced that this could actually work.

Buoyed by this success before the people, he goes boldly to Pharaoh.

Exodus 5:1NIV

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

Well, he did not get the response he expected. He and the people then experienced what all of us have experienced at times. They went...

A. From Elation to Discouragement

When we answer the call, things get very exciting as we begin to see God at work. However, discouragement is right around the corner as it is never long before Satan rains on our parade.

In this case, Pharaoh does not submit himself to God. This polytheistic man flatly refuses to acknowledge the God of Israel.

Exodus 5:2NIV

2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

The world is full of Pharaohs. People who not only deny there is a God, but who are also bent on the destruction of those who do believe in God.

In our Sunday school class, we were watching a video touring the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. This life-sized model of the ark is full of displays and evidence that support the global flood and promote the events of Noah’s family as history not fiction. Ken Ham, one of the founders of this project stated that he does not discourage people from visiting the Natural History Museum. Instead, he welcomes them to go and compare the evidence. Then they are to decide for themselves what they choose to believe. However, the reverse is opposite. Many advocates for the natural history (Theory of Evolution) have done everything in their power to censor and block the teaching of the Bible. Censorship is recognized in a major way in our country right now, but censorship in our nation is not new. It has been happening regarding the Bible and Christian faith for many years; The Bible and prayer taken out of school, the removal of the Ten Commandments from public offices, Christian scientist have had their views suppressed or deleted from public formats. The Christian church is encouraged to keep their views private within the boundaries of their church walls. Scientist with any kind of view of a divine design have been persecuted and denied entry into certain jobs and even had current jobs threatened. (Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Ben Stein, 2008). The only reason we are hearing about censorship now (that is, if you watch more right-wing news) is because this time it is political. Evidently, politics is safe and important, where the Christian faith is not deemed so.

In Pharaoh we see a great example of...

1. The Bias of an Unbeliever

I have said it before and I will repeat, there is nothing that convinces me more to believe in God and a spiritual battle, than the bias of many unbelievers. They are so threatened by the idea, that they are determined to stamp any teaching or literature on the subject right out of society. There is no reason for someone to do this unless they feel threatened by it. If there were no truth in it, it would be no threat at all. Usually, people give no hoot about what another person believes, so why are they so threatened by Christians and what we believe? We do not force them to believe it so why are they so determined to force us not to believe it?

Pharaoh is quick to point out to us the first reason. It is because...

a. The Unbeliever is Ignorant of God’s Identity

Exodus 5:2 (NIV) 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Pharaoh does not say, teach me about this God and I will decide if He has a claim here. Pharaoh flat out denies knowledge of God and makes no attempt to find out about God. Instead, Pharaoh sets himself in God’s place. He claims the right of authority over God’s people. Pharaoh may have had no desire to know God, but Pharaoh is about to have a very personal encounter with God to which Pharaoh will lose. We will talk about this more in depth in a couple weeks when we look at the plagues.

Probably the biggest reason why so many have no desire to find out about God or to know Him is for this next characteristic we see in Pharaoh.

b. The Unbeliever Denies God’s Authority

You see, to acknowledge the truth about God is to accept that He has authority over us. Pharaoh abruptly refuses God’s authority when he declares, “I will not let Israel go.” Pharaoh will learn soon enough that he has just begun a war he cannot win, and it is the same for all those who refuse to acknowledge God and accept His authority over us.

Romans 1:18–19NIV

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

Romans 1:21NIV

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

If you wonder why such people are so stubborn in their unbelief, it is because there is always something rebellious about unbelief.

As one commentary put its.

No one is completely ignorant of God’s identity, for the reality of his divine being is written on every human heart. Even the most hardened unbeliever knows, somewhere deep down, that there is a God. But this knowledge is secretly subdued because the unbeliever wants to keep sinning. He is disobedient because he is ignorant, and he chooses to remain ignorant so that he can keep on being disobedient!

One of the interesting details of this situation is that Egyptian law provided workers time to worship their gods, whatever gods they observed, yet Pharaoh denies the Hebrews the right to do the same thing.

How often we see this in our own culture. Christians are often denied the very rights given to others. It is due to this rebellion they feel toward the One True God.

The next thing we see is that...

c. The Unbeliever is Suspicious ofGod’s People and even may hate them

Pharaoh’s disdain for God was evident in his treatment of Moses and Aaron. No sooner had they left his presence that his hate led him to heap hardship on the people of God.

This is a good place to insert that many Christian people fall prey to poor doctrine. Scriptures can be twisted or taken out of context to make people think that if they follow God, no hardship will befall them. God will make them rich and cure them of all their diseases or injuries if they just have enough faith.

One day, all that will be true but not until Jesus returns. Until that time, Jesus was very clear that we would be hated for our faith in Jesus/God. We would experience hatred and hardship because of our faith in Him. It doesn’t get much planer than Matthew 10:22.

Matthew 10:22NIV

22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

We see this hatred demonstrated by Pharaoh. He really had no reason to ever fear the Israelites. They were content to lead their life quietly as shepherds. They were no threat to him. He had pitted himself against them from the beginning for no reason. Their numbers would have been a concern if they were rebellious, but there is nothing to indicate this at all. Shepherds are not warriors to be feared.

Now, he declares he has the authority over them (which if he did, why was he threatened by them?). He has exercised this authority by not allowing them to leave, but now in his hatred he becomes cruel. He takes away the straw supplied to them to make bricks and demands they keep their quota by adding to their workload to find the straw needed. If they are a threat, why would he provoke them so?

Oh, by the way. A trivia fact for you here.

In recent archaeology, they found some buildings that had bricks made without straw. This site is one they believe to by Pithom (Pie-thom). This is interesting since straw was always used and this very well could be proof of this account in Exodus. Just a fun fact for you! :-)

This hatred for God’s people is experienced in many ways in our world. Some are cruel and wicked, taking the very life of God’s people. (Hitler, for example). Others work to suppress the views of God’s people or treat us with disdain. Some target us on the workforce and bring unjust charges against us.

Such persecution has not just happened at certain times in history. This has been an ongoing tragedy throughout all history in all places across the world.

In our nation, it is often more subtle.

Christian ideas are excluded in public education, though they do not hesitate to promote other religious options.

The church is misrepresented in media, or the poor examples of the church are promoted. Christians are often made to look weak and stupid, believing in fairy tales.

Christians are taken advantage of in the workplace. Sometimes we become targets for those who live wicked lives and like to take every opportunity they can to put us down.

Sometimes Christians are not hired because of their beliefs.

So, the unbeliever is in a place in this world to inject problems into ours. To get back to my initial point, when we hear from God and start moving forward into obedience, we are often on a spiritual high, excited for the adventure ahead of us, only to feel some deflation when the Pharaoh’s of the world hold up a roadblock. But in such times, we need not despair. Because the truth is...

2. Circumstances always get worse before God’s blessing is revealed 5:10-21

Instead of despair, we should anticipate that there will be some holdups in the process because...

a. Obedient actions receive Satanic kickbacks

Remember, this is a spiritual battle. Satan’s kickback is just a given. We shouldn’t expect anything less. We currently live on Satan’s turf for a time. For the Israelites, this kickback is...

i. Same quota bricks, no straw supplied

Now, the enemy’s agendas do not always make sense. You ask, “how can Pharaoh expect them to build the city when they do not have the supplies to do so?” The answer is in Pharaoh’s true agenda of which building the city is only one. His bigger agenda is to bring the Israelites into submission under him, not God. But ultimately, it is not Pharaoh whose submission they will be under, but Satan’s.

Now, remember, they left for work excited that God was about to free them. Now they return home and find they have an increased (maybe impossible) workload. In that moment, it felt to them like Pharaoh won. They then moved from elations to discouragement. So how should we respond…

b. When Satan Wins

I wish I could say that Satan’s plans are always foiled, but I cannot beyond saying that his wins are an illusion. They are only temporary, and they are not true wins. In the end, this always becomes clear. In the meantime, Satan often seems to win in individuals lives because...

i. Too many are too fast to give up and return to the slave master.

This is exactly what they Israelites did.

Exodus 5:15–16NIV

15 Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

With Moses, God has been re-established as their leader and yet, after the first obstacle to their release, they are already resubmitting themselves to Pharaoh instead of God. (A mistake they will make over and over again.)

There are too many Christians who do the same thing. They want God to pave a simple easy path for them, however, it is through the difficulties that we build the strength to stand against our enemy.

You see, Satan tries to convince us that our actions of obedience are futile and too many fall for it.

It is really strange because in our culture we have always believed that “anything worth having is worth fighting for.” Yet it seems when it comes to our faith, we are ready to fold and walk away, just as the Israelites did.

In this case, rather than seeking to be free of Egypt, they went back to re-negotiate the terms of their captivity and that is exactly what we do when we are ready to give up when difficulties come our way.

If it is not bad enough that many give up, it is also hard to see that...

“ii. Many are too quick to cast blame on God or others when things do not change quickly or seem harder than they expected.

Exodus 5:21NIV

21 and they [Israelites to Moses] said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Have you ever noticed how people do not like to take responsibility for their own actions? When they give up, they always want to blame their circumstances on other people.

Many people never get ahead of their circumstances because they never take responsibility for them. It is a cycle of slavery they live as their life will never improve until they take responsibility for themselves and are willing to work to make things better.

The Christian life is not easy, yet it is still far easier than the old way of life, because we are empowered by God’s Holy Spirit if we will just stay the course and seek His wisdom, even when things don’t go the way we expected.

And here is where we find the proper response. Moses had it right, sort of.

iii. The Proper Response: Pray to God

Exodus 5:22–23NIV

22 Moses returned to the Lordand said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

Moses had the right idea. Go back to the right source, which is God. However, instead of going back to God and saying, “you said it would not be easy. What is our next step?” Moses blamed God.

Notice how patient God is. He does not get angry with Moses here. He does not remind Moses that he said Pharaoh would not listen. You see, now God can work in a way that makes it evident that it is He who frees the Israelites from Pharaoh’s grasp. It is not the actions of Moses, but it is God.

God is the only one who can deliver salvation.

Now that this fact is apparent, God can act for...

3. When things seem impossible, God reveals Himself (Ex 5:22-6:5)

In so doing, He makes His presence known in the world. It allows more people to be aware of His presence. It is a witness and testimony of His existence and His involvement in our world, not just for the believer, but for the unbeliever as well. But we need to have faith to witness it.

Just this week, I read in my devotions a quote from A. B. Simpson regarding God’s power to keep His promises and the importance of our faith in Him to do so. In it he said,

“This is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep results that are encouraging away from us until we learn to trust Him without them. Then He loves to make His Word as real to us in actuality as it is in our faith.”

Now, you may think this is impossible, but allow me to say it has to do with the foundation of our faith. Our we trusting in God because of who He is or only for the good things He can do for me? There must be a turning point where we trust in God no matter what because of who He is. Let me give you an example. There were four teenage boys carried into captivity to Babylon. They early on chose to place their trust in God no matter what, even when it meant challenging their superior in regard to what they ate. Later, three of them were faced with death if they did not bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar. Listen to the response they gave to him.

Daniel 3:16–18NIV

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They were willing to serve God instead of King Neb no matter what happened to them, and God showed up in person to walk among them in the flames. They then walked out of the flames untouched by flame or smoke. They believed in God, and they recognized Him as Sovereign in their life. They worshiped Him for who He is, Almighty God, Lord of all!

You see,

a. God always has everything under control

Even if we die, when we belong to God, we have no need to fear as then we will see Him as He really is and we will experience the true blessings He has in store for us for all eternity. However, there are many times when God steps in here on earth to provide a miraculous deliverance. He did so for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he will yet do so for the Hebrews. They all just need to get out of the way and wait to see what He has planned.

Exodus 6:1NIV

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will doto Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

Notice how thoroughly God works. Now, not only will Pharaoh let the Israelites go, but he will literally drive them out. In the video we watched early in this series when they found the stele that they believed was an Egyptian account of this event, it said that Pharaoh expelled them from the land. He no longer wanted them there. This is true, except his hatred got the better of him and he ended up losing his army.

The next thing we see is that...

b. God always remembers His covenants and keeps His promises

Exodus 6:2NIV

2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.

Exodus 6:5NIV

5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

I wanted to talk about God’s discussion of His name here, but we are out of time. I will go into that more next week; however, I want you to know that God always keeps His promises. You can bank on that. We will see this as we continue this series.

Conclusion:

As we close today, I want us to go back to the idea that God shares these events as historical events, but also to help us to understand the greater context for our own life.

All people are enslaved to sin. Sin is so pervasive within us that we often struggle to recognize it, so we fight against any thought that we need God.

George MacDonald wrote a story to demonstrate sins debilitating effect on us and how it blinds us. The story is found in the book called, “The Princess and Curdie.”

Early in the novel the young boy Curdie thoughtlessly shoots an arrow into a white pigeon. Suddenly overcome by remorse, he carries the wounded bird to an old, old princess to see if anything can be done to save it. But the woman is even more concerned about the boy than she is about the bird. Gently she tries to help Curdie recognize that his evil deed sprang from the all-pervasive wickedness of his heart. When finally he confesses his sinful condition, he says, “I see now that I have been doing wrong the whole day, and such a many days besides! Indeed, I don’t know when I ever did right.… When I killed your bird I did not know I was doing wrong, just because I was always doing wrong, and the wrong had soaked all through me.”12

And here is where we come back to the true lesson we are to see from these events. When we are not under God’s authority, we are enslaved to sin.

“Sin is a harsh taskmaster from which we cannot save ourselves.”

In fact, we are blind to just how depraved we are until we place ourselves under the authority of Jesus. When we do so, our sinful state becomes apparent, and Jesus is able to save us from it.

Without God, we cannot see the truth and we have no power to change of our own free will. However, God has provided the means for our salvation. Jesus came to teach us, then He died to free us.

“Praise God for His gracious act to provide salvation!”

Decide today to obey God’s direction for your life.

When the adversities come, stand firm. Go back to your right source and seek God’s continued direction, and when the moment is right His deliverance will take place in a way that leaves no doubt that it was the hand of God at work in your life.

Pray