Those Egyptians

Exodus 14: 13 And Moses answered, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you TODAY...The Egyptians you see today you will NEVER see again.

Hard pressed against the sea on one side and the Egyptians on the other, the Israelites were gripped with fear. They proclaimed It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. My memory is correct in saying that they were more than servants. They were SLAVES. They had seen the miracles of God and still couldn't believe that he would deliver them from their slave master.

They would rather return to what they knew than to face the unknown. They were confused and afraid. Moses declared, "The Lord will fight for you..you need only to be still. AND then Moses began to cry out to God too. What? Was Moses afraid too? I think he was.

God asked Moses, "WHY are you crying out, what do you have in your hand."
Just like the Israelites you too are facing Egyptians (familiar slave masters). You too may be hard pressed between your past and your future. Fear of the unknown has caused you to desire to return to the old ways of doing things. God doesn't want you to trust in your own abilities to deliver yourself or to be so overcome with fear that you would rather be a slave than to experience God's tremendous blessings for you.
God is telling you TODAY that the Egyptians you see today (the things that once oppressed you) you will never see again! Shout if you Love Jesus...
God says to be still, don't move, don't run, don't cry, don't try to figure it out. There is only one way out of your past and YES my love it is through the sea, where the residue from your past will be washed away. There is nothing that you can do about your past. It will come after you. It will try to remind you of your servanthood. It will try to convince you to come back.
The Battle belongs to God. He is ready to show his Glory in your life and he needs you to be still. Deliverance is coming today...stretch out your hand for it is the faith of God's previous experiences with you that will cause the path before you to split wide open.

Incredibly shrinking...

Hebrews 10:39 We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed...BUT of those who believe and are saved

The greatest mistake I've made in recent years was to dumb myself down to make others feel comfortable. Yep I did it...I'm not sure if I feared rejection or was being to complacent with my own abilities. In either case, I took a backseat to the gifts and talents God placed on the inside of me and I have paid the price for it. In the process of living in the shadow I began to lose my vision for my life and all the zeal and creativity that came with it. I lost who I was because I was so focused on not being me. What a tragedy! A tragic loss for me and a tragic loss for the kingdom.

I have decided to break that chain off of my neck and once again live the life that God promised me. I owe him that much. There is a world to see, people to encourage and hope to pour out. I will no longer shrink back so that those who are insecure can stand tall in their insecurity. I will take back all the joy, peace, ambition, tenacity and life that I laid down and will again rejoice in my future.

We must make a conscious choice to never walk in the shadows of others. We must decide to live above our own insecurities and definitely above their insecurities. We must choose to live out our own lives. If we fail to do so we will reach the end of our days in total regret that we neglected to grab life by the horns.

I will not be the incredible shrinking man/woman. I will stand tall, firm and certain in God's purpose and provision for my life.

Prayer: Lord, I have been one who has hid in the shadows, neglecting the gifts you've given me. Lord, forgive me for thinking of myself as less than. I believe that you can and will do many things through me and I choose to walk in the way you've set before me. Renew me again Lord. Refresh my weary soul and breathe your life changing breath over me and my circumstance. I choose you today. I choose to hide in your shadows. In Jesus Name I Pray...Amen

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The hardest thing to do is to fight a battle that you seem to be losing with good spirits. Who smiles in a fight? Who sings? No one I know. Yet, God says to praise Him in the midst of the storm. Wait! Are we supposed to sing a love song when our heads are being pounded? What good ending will this produce? What victory would we win by fighting and singing. Not only would it confuse our enemy, truth be told, it would confuse us. Yet, this is where we are as a believers. We are fighting a war that is already won. So, then why fight? Good question. The problem with the question is that it supposes that we are to be actively fighting the battles we face. However, God never commanded us to fight. His command is that we rest for the battle belongs to Him. If only He would should up in a way that we could see Him, then we wouldn't have the need to fight...right? We wonder why we are so tired.

We are fighting a battle that is already won and we are wearing ourselves out in the process. What would life look like for you if you just rested in God's presence?

Psalms 28 :7 says that the Lord is our strength and shield, my  heart trusts in Him...I will be helped. Strength means to have power, courage and firmness. Shield is defined as being something that hides or conceals and protects against spears and swords. Will you trust God today? You have no need to fight. The battle is already won. You are the victor. So it's time to stop kicking the dead, defeated thing. Sing your song and rest.

A City Called Trusting

I recently had a dream that I was abandoned at a city called trusting. Ironic isn't it? That I can be abandoned and to abandoned or left at a place called trusting. What could God be trying to tell me? That in moments of isolation. When friends walk away, jobs dissipate, and everything that I've been familiar with fades away, God is still there. God is still providing. God is still speaking. He won't walk away. He won't leave me desolate. Trusting is never easy. Whether you are trying to trust God or trust others. To trust means that you have to ignore all that you know to be true and accept that which is unknown. God is calling us to a season of unprecedented trust in Him. The world we live in tells us to hold on to what we know. God tells us to swim upstream--against the current.

I have been good at trusting God as long as I know what He is doing. Today, I am challenged to trust God when I know nothing, see nothing, feel nothing and sense nothing. I close my eyes and open my heart to the GOD who is worth trusting...

The Psalmist says in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want." I will meditate on this scripture and let it become my bread for today. I encourage you to look to GOD because He is your source,

Prayer: Lord forgive me for trusting in my own abilities and in my own strength. Lord, I want to believe you but I fear that you won't come through for me. I want to give this doubt and unbelief to you. You are worth trusting. Help me to rest in who you are and help me trust what you can do. Let your peace wash over me and let not my heart be troubled. In Jesus Name I Pray..Amen