HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

I have been thinking about the children of Israel. They became satisfied with slavery. They had a “life” although it was in servitude. They had land, animals, shelter, food, and to a certain extent, protection. What they didn’t have was freedom. They were in bondage. They were separated from God. Why? Because of their own choosing! Yes! It was their choice! They chose to be in bondage. They valued personal possessions and apathy over their blessing that God had prepared for them. It took God sending a Hebrew prophet among the Egyptians to motivate them into standing up for themselves and into the place where God wanted them to be.

1. The Egyptians recognized how the population of the Israelites was growing. Exodus tells us how they set taskmasters over the Hebrews to “afflict” them. Pharaoh was so scared of the Jews and what they might do to his kingdom, that he commanded that all Hebrew boys be cast into the river. BUT, God was in the works. Out of that genocide came the prophet Moses. And it was by Moses, that God set His children free. It just wasn’t that simple though. I want you to think for a moment and look within these United States of America and see the pattern that is playing out before your very eyes. Have you notices how the minority is growing and it is casting fear in every quarter of the land. I urge you to be mindful of the happenings and surroundings.
2. Pharaoh had to be convinced to let the children of Israel go. So, twelve plagues were placed upon him and his people. Finally, after losing his son, then Pharoah let them go. So God gave a cloud of protection by day and fire by night to protect Moses and lead them to the Red Sea. At that very moment, they began to complain. God began to give Moses instruction. The Egyptian army was handed a huge defeat as the Red Sea parted for the children and fell in on the Egyptians as they pursued afterwards.
3. One has to wonder, after giving Israel such a great victory, why He would lead them into the wilderness? The only answer that makes sense is that He wanted them to learn to depend on Him. There is nothing in the desert. God worked miracle after miracle to provide for them. Remember, the reason they left Egypt was to go to the Promised Land. Instead of heading north into what is now Israel, they went south deep into the desert. God was teaching them in every way. From the Commandments, the Ark and to the Levitical law, it was all part of God’s plan. All along the way, they wandered in the wilderness just a short distance from the promised land.
4. After the rebellion of Aaron and Miriam, Moses, at God’s command, sent the heads of the tribes to see what the land held and who lived there. Ten of them gave a bad report and the other two gave a good report. At that moment the children of Israel could have believed God and took the land that was promised to them and crossed over into their destiny. Instead, they murmured against Moses and the Lord and refused to go into the land out of fear. The sentence from God was hard, but it was just. For forty years they wandered because they still had not learned to trust Him.

This all could have been avoided if the children had chosen to trust God. How many times have we stood on the doorstep of blessing, which is our destiny, and turned around and walked away from it?

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE:

David had won victory after victory with the Lord’s help. He rose from being a shepherd boy to the King of Israel, a man after God’s own heart. One day, instead of going to battle and fighting, he decided he would hang out at the house. He let his desires get the best of him. And by his choice, he fell into an ugly cycle of sin, which cost 2 people their lives. He could have walked away from the rooftop and headed out to do what God called him to do, but he didn’t. It altered his destiny and that of his family, as well.

ON THE OTHER HAND:

When God let the devil tempt Job, he could’ve followed his wife’s advice and cursed God. Instead, he decided that regardless of what happened to him or what it cost him, he was going to trust God. In the end, He recovered all. That was his destiny.

Esther knowing what her own people, the Jews were facing, decided to go before the king and plead with him. She said, “IF I PERISH, I PERISH.” In the end, she saved her people. That was her destiny.

WHAT IF THESE PROPHETS AND PROPHETESS HAD SAID, NO, IT’S NOT WORTH IT? I MUST SAVE MYSELF. I MUST GO MY OWN WAY.

They would have missed out on their destiny with God!

READ ROMANS 8:1-14

Here is a little commentary to go along with the Scripture:

Verse 1: No matter what men say about you, there is no condemnation in knowing Jesus because we walk after the Spirit. His Spirit!
Verse 2: the Spirit of life in Christ (that’s your relationship) frees you from sin and death
Verse 3: he says the law was weak through the flesh. Weak comes from the Greek word asthenia which means impotent. The law was powerless to stop sins of the flesh.
Verse 4: The Spirit man brings righteousness, not the flesh.
Verse 5: People who walk after the flesh “do mind” in the Greek means set their affections on fleshly sins.
Verse 6: carnally and spiritually minded means the same thing as verse 5.
Verse 7: the carnal mind cannot obey the law of God.
Verse 8: you cannot please God with a carnal mind
Verse 9: Paul says we, as Christians, are not in the flesh. We are in the Spirit. If you’re not, you aren’t one of His.
Verse 10: If Christ’s Spirit lives in you, your body is already dead. The Spirit is alive because of righteousness. Not our own righteousness, but Jesus.
Verse 11: quicken in the Greek is zoopoieo which means make alive, give life
Verse 12: we don’t owe the flesh anything!
Verse 13: flesh = death; the Spirit = life
Verse 14: we are the sons of God!

WE CANNOT MISS OUR DESTINY IF WE ARE WALKING BY THE SPIRIT! THE TRIAL MAY BE HARD. IT MAY BE A LONG WAY. WE MIGHT THINK, WHEN WILL IT END? BUT HAVE FAITH, CROSS OVER, BE ENCOURAGED, LIVE IN THE SPIRIT. IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO YOUR BLESSING.

IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO YOUR DESTINY.

PRAY THIS PRAYER WITH ME: LORD, I KNOW YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR MY LIFE. YOUR PLAN INCLUDES THAT I BE BLESSED. I KNOW, IF I FOLLOW AFTER YOUR SPIRIT, I WILL BE BLESSED. I KNOW, IF I LISTEN TO YOUR VOICE, I WILL NOT MISS MY DESTINY. JESUS, RENEW MY MIND, SO THAT I CRAVE WHAT YOU WANT, AND NOT WHAT I WANT. LORD, HELP ME TO BE OBEDIENT AND TO FOLLOW YOUR LEAD. IN JESUS NAME, AMEN.

FOR FURTHER READING TURN TO ROMANS 8:15-39