January 30, 2021 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Saturday, January 30, 2021
Chapters: Exodus 1-3
Message: Be Content, Not Complacent

Hello My Friend,

Do you realize that we are coming up on a year that we have been dealing with Covid? Many businesses are still closed, and even shut down completely, masks are required everywhere you go, no socializing, no parties, no gatherings, no church services, even in your own home you are told to be in separate rooms. All of this has become the new normal, people are content to live this way, especially if they are getting government checks that are helping them out. Even my mother said that she is getting so use to wearing a mask that it feels weird when she is not. While God does want us to be content while we endure the pandemics of life, He does not want us to become complacent, we have work to do, what we are going through is not permanent, [Matthew 12:36-37 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.]

The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains forty chapters. The timeline for these events are approximately between 1689BC to 1490BC. The author of the book is Moses and it was written to Israel. The purpose of the book was to record Israel’s exodus (departure) from slavery to the Egyptians. What we are to learn from the book is that only by the blood of the Lamb upon our doorpost (soul) can death passover us, [Exodus 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.]

[Content; To satisfy the mind; to make quiet, so as to stop complaint or opposition; to appease; to make easy in any situation.] When God told Jacob to go down to Egypt it was not to be permanent, it was only to be during the famine. When they got there they were given the best land, and even worked for the Pharaoh as Joseph was the governor. After Jacob died, the famine was well over, the land was prosperous, they should have went back home, yet because of all the provisions they were given they were content to remain there. Well, as the years past, they grew greatly in number, Joseph, and as all of his generation died off, the Egyptians lost sight of who Joseph was, and instead of their being an asset, they became dreadful and were quite fearful of them.

[Exodus 1:5-10 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.]

[let us deal wisely with them;] Wisely, yeah right! Did you ever notice that the government’s way always leads to oppression? Their wise move was to afflict them so much that they would die off, including killing babies. Well, it did not work, the more they oppressed them the more they multiplied. [Exodus 1:14-17,22 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.]

[Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river,] You do realize that this is nothing more than abortion? Only they delivered the babies, which by the way is now permitted in many states. I am not going to get political here, but government funded Planned Parenthood prides itself of providing abortions, in fact, encouraging it. They get vulnerable, oppressed, and scared teens and women to convince themselves that abortion is the only option. Oppression does not stop life, in fact, it increases it, and let me tell you, while sadly millions of babies lose the chance at life here, they are all safe with God, but there are some that God does let make their way into the world. One of those is Moses, when he was born his mother could not bear to have them kill her son, she built a little ark to place him in and sailed him down the river. And as God would have it, the Pharaoh’s daughter found him. Not only did she take him as her own, she even paid his mother to nurse him.

[Exodus 2:5-10 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.]

[and he became her son.] When Pharaoh came up with the unthinkable act of killing every newborn male child of the Hebrews, he thought he had everything under his control, but the fact was, God was in control. God would get his revenge for him killing His babies, but first He chose to use the Pharaoh’s own daughter to raise Moses as her own. For a while Moses was content to grow up in the palace with the Egyptians, but once he discovered he was a Hebrew, he did not like the way that the Egyptian were treating them.

[Exodus 2:11-12,15-16,18-21 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day? And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.]

[And Moses was content to dwell with the man:] Moses became eased in his situation, becoming a shepherd, getting married, and for forty years remained content where he was. All that was about to change when the Hebrews finally began calling out to God, He heard their cries.

[Exodus 2:23-25 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. Exodus 3:1-4 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.]

[And God heard their groaning,] People wonder why they live in oppression for so long, but fail to realize it could have lessened had they called on God sooner. Let me tell you, we suffer more than we need to because we become content in our oppression, but remember, Jesus said to give Him our burdens so that we can have rest, [Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.]

[And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see,] If Moses did not pay attention to what was going on with that burning bush, and if he would have just walked by, and never looked back, God would not have used him. And now that He did, He had a job for him to do. [Exodus 3:6-7,10,13-14 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.]

[that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.] Do you realize that God will use every soul that receives His Son to go get His people, who are living in oppression? In fact, we are commanded to go out into the world and preach the Gospel, to lead some lost souls to Christ, [Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.]

[I AM THAT I AM:] We cannot become complacent as this pandemic, or rather, the rules and mandates from the government, brings us into deeper oppression. I AM THAT I AM, is on our side, He is here for us, we just need to keep trusting Him, and do what He has called us to do. Christ is our strength to fight the oppression while we are content to rest in Jesus. [Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.]

Today’s Prayer: God, You are my Lord, my Saviour, my Father, my Strength, and my Redeemer. We know that You have a plan and purpose for every one of Your children. It is amazing that You will use anyone who loves You to reach others for You. Thank You for giving us a way out of oppression and for setting us free when we accept Your Son as our Saviour. By choosing to come to Jesus we can truly be content, yet always hungry for the liberties that only You can give us. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your power, wisdom, love, mercy, and grace to endure the oppression we are in. Let us not get weary in well doing, and never cease to call on You for help and always be willing to follow You, even when it brings us out of our comfort zone. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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