Category Archives: Strong in Our Weakness

Blessed, Contentment, Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Guide, Loving / Kind, Peace / Rest, Provider, Strong in Our Weakness

The Lord Is My Shepherd

I want the kind of relationship with YHWH that David reveals in Psalm 23. I ask the Lord to help me draw near to Him so that I may have that in greater and greater portions. I have seen so much of my life transformed since fully submitting to YHWH through Christ. I find more peace indeed and more reason to rejoice, even when things are bumpy. I am more content. But I know I have farther to go…

Psalm 23

The LORD, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

A Psalm of David.

     1The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

      2He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.

      3He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

      4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

      5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

      6Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I encourage you to pray for this kind of relationship with YHWH and this kind of world view. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Comforter, Controlling Thoughts, Encouragement, Faith / Trusting God, Faithful, Father / Yahweh, Fear / Reverence for God, Guide, Jesus (hearing from God), Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Learning To Pray Effectively, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Righteous, Strong in Our Weakness

Follow Yeshua’s Example of Prayer and Submission

Yeshua sets the example for intense prayer. We have a hard time living up to His example. No matter what we face, however, let us follow His example and come before the Father in prayer. Let us submit to the Father’s will and trust in the Father’s wisdom, even if we have an opinion or preference which is different. We may even pray for the Spirit’s help that we would not fall into temptation.

Luke 22:39-46

The Garden of Gethsemane

     39And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. 45When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Let us model ourselves and our relationship with the Father after the example of Christ, whether we face big situations or every day small ones.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Faith / Trusting God, Faithful, Guide, Jesus (hearing from God), Miracles, Miracles, Obeying God, Strong in Our Weakness

When God Says “Go Do”, He Will Provide The “How To”

It is incredible sometimes how hard it is for us as followers of Christ to change the way we think. We are naturally drawn to think of how we solve problems and what our limitations are. When we try to do something or even when God tells us to do something, we often default to evaluating the request based on whether or not we can do it in our own power. We do not naturally think about God’s unlimited power and that if He asks us to do something, then He will provide the power needed to make it happen. It is hard for us to obey without thinking about our strategy to get it done. That is where faith needs to come in.

Luke 9:12-17

Five Thousand Fed

     12Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.” 13But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” 14(For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.” 15They did so, and had them all sit down. 16Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. 17And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.

I certainly can identify in my life a strong tendency to plan out whatever I am trying to do. When I plan it out, I do not know how to figure in the power of God, so I tend to look for how I can make it happen on my own. Over the past years, however, the Spirit has really been working on me and helping me grow in this area. I am so grateful that our Lord, Creator of all, cares enough about each of us to get involved in our lives and help us. He loves us and is worthy of praise and obedience!

Now when He asks me to do something challenging, I am getting much better at praying for Him to show me how and when and relying less and less on my plans to make it happen. Sometimes the “ask” is so simple and within my own power it is easy to go make it happen. It just takes willingness to obey and put His desire over mine. Of course even giving us the willingness to submit to His will is something we can ask the Spirit to help us with.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Faith / Trusting God, Protector / Deliverer, Strong in Our Weakness, Suffering / Adversity

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord

Psalm 91 is a wonderful reminder to call us back to focus on the Lord as our protector and shield. We can trust in Him. He is in control and nothing can happen to us that He does not cause or at least allow.

It can sometimes be misconstrued, however, as if it is a promise to every believer that the Lord will protect them from harm. As an example, I have seen a children’s book to this end, emphasizing how He will protect you from everything bad. This is clearly wrong. We need not look far to see that even those close to the Lord experience suffering in this life. One could point to the prophets, disciples, or Jesus Himself. However, we can see it all around us today.

It is in fact a bit reckless to instruct children in this way, knowing that they may and likely will face suffering. It sets them up to lose faith in the Lord because they were taught that if God is real, they will not have suffering. When they experience suffering, they begin to doubt God is real.

To be sure, the security of those who trust in the Lord is real. We can trust in Him even if and when we endure suffering. Ultimately we know He will fulfill His promises to us as disciples of Christ and bring us to dwell with Him for eternity. We can also go before Him and enjoy in our life a close relationship with Him based on deep trust such that we need not worry and be filled with anxiety. He is in control. He can and sometimes does deliver His people from the suffering in this world as well. Even as we experience hardship, let us seek to trust Him and rejoice in Him.

Psalm 91

Security of the One Who Trusts in the LORD.

      1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

      2I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”

      3For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.

      4He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

      5You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;

      6Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

      7A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.

      8You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.

      9For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.

      10No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

      11For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.

      12They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.

      13You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

      14“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.

      15“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.

      16“With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

In what areas of your life do you need the Lord’s protection and support? Think also of some situations which face your family and friends and fellow believers. Pray the Spirit would lead you in praying for protection. Trust in the Lord to handle each situation, but keep praying… keep asking as the Spirit leads.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Holy Spirit / Ruach HaKodesh, Hope, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Peace / Rest, Protector / Deliverer, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, Strong in Our Weakness, Temptation/Tempting

Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh And Blood

12For  our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  (Ephesians 6:12)

In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul provides us important guidance about the reality of spiritual warfare.  Too often Christians dismiss spiritual warfare and focus only on the things we can see and touch. This leaves us vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. If we do not recognize the true enemy, we will struggle to win against him.

     10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

      18With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Some key points upon which to reflect:

  • Our strength comes from the Lord, not ourselves
  • The devil is real and he has strategies he uses to lie, cheat and destroy. He will use more than one strategy against us.
  • Warfare does not always take place in physical world, sometimes it is in the spiritual world. Don’t believe me? Read the book of Job.
  • Just putting on one or two pieces of the armor of God is not enough, we need to put on all of them.
  • Prayer and a relationship with Jesus is necessary! Jesus tells us to pray daily and to pray specifically to not let us yield to temptation, and to be rescued from the evil one. Matthew 6:9-13
  • We are to stay alert and pray for others in addition to ourselves. Pray for those preach the gospel that they would preach boldly!

Let’s explore what it really means to put on the full armor of God.

Truth can simply be defined as the real facts about something.  Surprisingly the world today proposes that truth is relative when it comes to God or how we live… “True for you but not for me”, etc. This is no more accurate than saying “If I do not believe in gravity, I will not fall off a ladder.” Gravity is true whether or not I believe in or accept it. God lovingly and in great detail shares truth in the Bible and reveals it in the world around us. There is absolute truth.

Righteousness is characterized by living consistently with God’s standards of morality, justice, virtue, etc. As God’s standard is Himself, it is a lofty bar. We will never achieve it to perfection but He is the standard and reference point none the less. We should keep our eyes on Jesus and seek help from the Holy Spirit and thus keep changing to be more like Him.

The peace that comes from knowing the good news is not a promise that we will avoid conflicts and trials, but rather an affirmation that when we have relationship with Jesus Christ we know He is with us in this life and that we have eternal life on the other side of this world. We can have peace through the mightiest storms.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1. In this context Paul reminds us that we must trust in God even when we are under attack by Satan. Just because we can not recognize how God is working in the situation does not mean that He is not there. We can be confident He is with us.

Salvation is deliverance from sin and its consequences, which is death. It is not enough to know or acknowledge Jesus Christ. Even Satan and his demons due that. By asking and accepting Jesus into our  lives and repenting from our sinful ways we receive salvation through grace.

The sword of the spirit, or word of God, is what Jesus Himself used to defeat Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness. Matthew 4:1-11. We must know the word of God before the attack comes just as a soldier must train and be prepared before he goes to battle.

To be effective we must understand and use all of this equipment daily. It ceases to become “something we do” and becomes “how we do everything” in our lives.

Remember to heed Paul’s warning and guidance for prayer. The battle is not ours alone, but the Lord’s!

      18With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Faith / Trusting God, Guide, Holy / Set Apart, Obeying God, Purposeful / Intentional, Repenting from Sin, Satan, Self Control, Strong in Our Weakness

Submit, Resist, Draw Near, Purify

All too often we either ignore the devil as if he does not exist or grant him in our minds too much authority and power and fear him. The truth is that he is as wicked and evil as he is powerful, but our Father is infinitely more powerful and righteous. The devil can do nothing unless the Lord allows it.

However, clearly there is a spiritual battle and the Lord has allowed Satan to exercise some power in the world which is obvious from so much wickedness and sin. How shall we overcome Satan? There is much to study in the Biblical text, but James 4 provides a concise summary as a starting point.

James 4:7-8

7Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Submit – to God

Resist – the devil

Draw Near – to God

Purify – our hearts to focus solely on God and avoid double mindedness where we try to submit to God without letting go of the worldly things

Pray for the Spirit to help guide you and transform you. Pray for the Lord to deliver you from evil. Make choices to turn away from temptation or the devil and submit to God and God’s word. Avoid rationalizing why you continue to accept worldly priorities and values as this is exactly what one would call double minded and keeps you from truly drawing near to our Father.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Discerning / Judging, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Justice / Judgment, Prayer, Protector / Deliverer, Seeking God, Selfishness, Strong in Our Weakness, Wickedness / Evil, Worldliness

Arise, O God, And Judge the Earth!

All of us to whom the Lord has opened our eyes to the spiritual battles going on around us can see that there is clear good and evil in this world. In the truest sense of the word, “good” is only applicable to those who are with the Lord… truly the Lord Himself, but through the Spirit indwelling us and through the cleansing and forgiveness of sin through Christ we allow Him to work through us. Evil can be essentially any and all else. It may be intentional service to Satan, false worship of other gods, or even just worship and obedience to the “god” of self.

Unjust judges and leaders can be found in any and every nation. The wickedness that results from their judgments is at times tragic. Sometimes it can be very unsettling to see evil at work and seemingly in control. However, let us remind ourselves that the Lord is always in control. He guides the righteous and restrains the wicked to His plans, even when we don’t understand it.

One thing we can always surely do as His children… pray to Him for intervene against the wicked and for His children and pray for Him to encourage and sustain us through the tough times.

Psalm 82

Unjust Judgments Rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

1God takes His stand in His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers.

      2How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked?

Selah.

      3Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

      4Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

      5They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

      6I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.

      7“Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes.”

      8Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Compassionate, Encouragement, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Loneliness, Loving / Kind, Peace / Rest, Seeking God, Strong in Our Weakness, Worry/Anxiety

Come To Me, All Who Are Weary and Heavy-Laden

Yeshua (Hebrew name for Jesus) came to be among us for our benefit, not for His. He lived to show us how we should live. He took on Himself the punishment for our sin and died to pay for our transgressions. He rose again, overcoming the grave, and is now with the Father. Nothing is beyond His power. He still loves those who follow after Him. He welcomes those who are weary and heavy-laden. He offers us rest.

Matthew 11:28-30

      28“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Notice that Yeshua speaks about rest for our souls. He does not mean that we can be lazy and physically do very little. This has never been the intent. We can find peace and rest for our souls through Jesus Christ.

Many read this scripture and misunderstand because they do not understand farming. I misunderstood for years. When Jesus says to take His yoke upon us, He is not asking us to pull a burden for Him. Quite the opposite. A yoke is a tool that enables more than one animal to work together to pull the load. He offers for us to put on His yoke so that He will help us with our burdens! When He is helping us, the burden is light, despite all of our difficulties. The yoke  does not remove the work or burden. It allows someone else to help you do the work or shoulder the burden.

Take care not to overlook that we must come to Him. He will not force Himself on us. It must be a conscious choice on our part to seek Him. We will still have to deal with all the troubles that life has to offer, but when we share Yeshua’s yoke, He helps us bear the load. We can find peace and rest for our souls no matter what we are dealing with.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Protector / Deliverer, Speaking, Strong in Our Weakness, Suffering / Adversity, Through Prophets, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Sometimes We Must Fight, Even When God Fights For Us

Faithful followers of Jehovah seek to learn His ways and seek to know His voice and obey it. He is our wonderful Creator and He cares for His people. We can turn toward Him and trust in Him even when we come under attack and encounter adversity. Sometimes He will just take care of the situation on our behalf, but often He expects us to demonstrate our faith by participating. He may deliver the victory, but we are expected to show our faith by taking clear and decisive actions that show we trust in Him.

In Exodus 17, Moses did not just pray for Jehovah to wipe out Amalek and then sit and wait for Amalek to come. Moses sent Joshua to go and lead their people in battle physically while Moses than went up on the hill to call upon Jehovah’s power.

Exodus 17:8-16

Amalek Fought

      8Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. 9So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. 13So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

      14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner; 16and he said, “The LORD has sworn; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

In this example, the people still needed to fight. They needed Jehovah for the victory, but they had to take up arms and go to battle. This is a common pattern throughout scripture… Jehovah expects His people to take decisive action demonstrating their faith and then He brings the victory. Gideon, Daniel, Shadrach, Meschac and Abednego all had to make choices about their actions that demonstrated their faith. Jehovah did not spare them the confrontation. Elijah had to leave to escape Ahab and Jezebel, even though Jehovah provided for him. It is not always for us to literally go to war, but we are often called to take decisive action to confront the situation while also seeking Jehovah’s help to win.

We should caution ourselves to avoid the assumption that when we call upon Jehovah to help us somehow we will be spared the confrontation or the battle. We must demonstrate courage and faith, but we can be encouraged knowing He is fully capable of delivering the victory every time.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Faith / Trusting God, Miracles, Protector / Deliverer, Strong in Our Weakness, Suffering / Adversity, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Trust Jehovah Even When All Seems Lost

It seems that we, as humans, have a very short memory at times. We see God acting in our lives and in the world around us and we are fine and stand with faith. However, when that faith is tested, we often fade in our faith in God. We doubt. We fear. We do not trust.

God wants His people to trust Him even when all seems lost by our earthly eyes, when we know the situation is beyond our ability to manage it to the outcome we want. This is when the strength of our faith is truly tested.

The Israelites had just witnessed great miracles as God demonstrated His power to lead them out of Egypt. Over and over again, God demonstrated His power over the Egyptians… over everything really. Yet even after all that, when the Egyptians came after them, they still had so little faith in God.

Exodus 14

Pharaoh in Pursuit

      1Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3“For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4“Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

      5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. 9Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

      10As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12“Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

The Sea Is Divided

      13But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14“The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”

      15Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16“As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17“As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18“Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”

      19The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night.

      21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24At the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

      26Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. 29But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

      30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.

Take some time to prayerfully consider and perhaps write down some of the things God has done in your life. What has He helped you overcome? What difficult situations has He used to your benefit that you did not realize until after they were over? Take some time to thank Him and praise Him.

Next time you encounter a difficult time, remind yourself of how God is working in your life and that you can trust Him no matter what hardship comes your way.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.