Tag: God knows
God delivers His people!
Scripture reading for January 30th: Exodus 1-3, Galatians 5
Key Scriptures: Exodus 3:7-10 “Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh. . . “
God sees everything and knows what is happening to His people. He knows their bondage and fear. He understands their suffering and the hard taskmasters of sin and the devil. He, Himself, promises that He will deliver them from the bondage and take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. His plan then was to send Moses to Pharaoh in His place and use him to bring His people out of bondage in Egypt. But Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate and final word on freedom. In Him, through faith, we have been set free forever!
Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Faith confession and prayer: I believe in Jesus Christ, who has set me free from the bondage of sin and death! Lord, deliver me from all evil and empower me to enter the land of promise enjoying the milk of Your Word and the sweetness of Your presence with me today!
Can dry bones live?
Scripture reading for August 28th: Ezekiel 37-39
God used words to bring about creation out of nothing. He tells us that our words also have the power of life or death! God showed Ezekiel a valley full of very dry human bones. God asked Ezekiel if he thought that all the scattered and dry human bones could live again. Ezekiel cautiously answered: “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” (Ezekiel 37:3) He knew with God all things were possible and made room for every possibility.
The Lord then spoke to Ezekiel: “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'” (Ezekiel 37:4-6) When Ezekiel obeyed and began to prophesy, there was a noise and rattling sound as the bones came together. Then the tendons and flesh appeared and finally the skin covered them. As he obeyed and spoke to the winds to bring breath, these newly formed bodies came to life and stood up on their feet.
God was giving a message of hope and restoration to the people of that day who were scattered in foreign lands because of their sins. God was showing His ability and plan to restore them. It would not be by their own strength, because dry bones have no power. It would be according to God’s powerful Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Today we can see the fulfillment of God’s promise as it took place in history. God restored his people to the land and rebuilt the temple. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to that temple and then offered Himself to totally restore all of humanity.
This ancient prophesy also is true of us. Jesus Christ, God’s word of Life, was sent to us in the dryness of our sins. The Holy Spirit entered us by faith and we became part of the army of the Lord! As we share the Gospel, we can see others come alive as well! What blessing!