Real Wisdom

This week in VBS our theme is Ship Wrecked! It made me think about this blog I wrote a while back.

One of the greatest minds in the western world became known to us in the 1960s. We first learn of his brilliance through the following poem.

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day, for a three hour tour, a three hour tour. 

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost. 

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle With Gilligan, The Skipper too, The millionaire and his wife, The movie star, The professor and Mary Ann, Here on Gilligan’s Isle.

The professor held three degrees in science from MIT and most of his inventions (including a method for recharging the batteries in the radio) utilized coconuts and bamboo. Aside from his proficiency in science, he was also adept and well-versed in law, literature, social sciences, and the arts. He also held various degrees from USC, UCLA, SMU, and TCU. The Professor with all his ability to build anything from coconuts and bamboo was somehow unable to Fix the Boat or create a raft to leave the island! That is what the castaways really needed. - You can have all the education, experience, and training in the world, but not have the wisdom that God desires for us. 

Pray that you’ll receive all the wisdom God has for you. Amen?

Deliverance

Throughout the Old Testament the word salvation can be used interchangeably with deliverance. The Lord delivers us from sin, hell and judgment through a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Moses was born at a time when Egypt had become a house of bondage for the Jews. Be careful that the place where you think you are happiest may soon become a place of affliction. Realize that our only truly safe place will be found in heaven. David wrote, “In your presence is fullness of joy and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11) 

The wicked king set out to repress the people of Israel. God’s people had task-masters set over them, not only to burden them, but to afflict them with their burdens. They not only made them serve for Pharaoh’s profit, but their lives became bitter.

Christianity often spreads most when it was persecuted. The blood of the martyrs has been called the seed of the church. 

The Egyptians tried to destroy Israel by the murder of their male people. Just in time God sent a deliverer in the person of Moses. The enemies of God are always trying to destroy the people of God because they feel threatened by a power greater than their own. When people may try to ruin the church we can be assured that God prepares a way for its deliverance. 

Getting Out

Have you made a declaration before God about where you are or need to be to live in His will? I believe that God is able and capable to take us from “Here” to “There”. He can deliver us from our present situations and sins to forgiveness and the Promise Land!

We see in Exodus chapter 2 God is making a way for not only salvation for a baby, but ultimately the nation of Israel! Just as God delivered baby Moses so His almighty power can deliver us from any uncertainty. Martin Luther once said - "I know not the way He leads me, but well do I know my Guide. What have I to fear?" 

God can deliver people from all kinds of hardships, adversity or insecurity when we trust Him with our whole heart. The Lord orchestrated people, events and situations to see that Moses was delivered into the safe care of Pharaoh’s daughter to accomplish His greater purposes for the people of God.

Allow the Lord to bring you through all kinds of trouble so He can work His will in and through your life. God can deliver us from our present situations if we: Believe, Trust, and Allow… Amen?

God's Response

Recently we have looked at what "Here" looks like in the Here to There process. We usually get Here because of poor choices, not leaving when we should, oppression, etc. What kinds of bondage are you in? What forces are against you? How are you oppressed? What makes you bitter? Have you “cried out?

God’s response is the same throughout time.  Just as in Exodus 2:24-25 – "God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.  So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them."

1. God heard them. – He hears you!

What do you need to ask or cry out for?

 2. Remembered His covenant. – God’s promises are true and for you!

Which promises do you need to embrace now?

 3. Looked on them with concern. – He cares for you!

Will you allow Him to comfort you?

Under the burden of sin you will find only bitterness. In such bondage you have only one hope, and that is that a deliverer will come your way. Jesus is the Deliverer...He wants to deliver you from bondage. He can rescue you from your prison of emptiness and take you to a spiritual paradise, another place not far away, but very different from the place of sin, the Promised Land!            

What do you need to declare to take you There?

Hands

How does God wants us to be “Jesus to the world”?

Look at Isaiah 35:3-4 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts,” Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,  he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

Praising the Lord might be more than when I put my hands up during a worship service.

Here are four ways God wants us to use our hands:

Our Hands need to be Out

 This shows concern for others, and causes me to do something for someone else.

Our Hands need to be On

This shows caring for the least of these. It is God working through us as His hands and feet. If the redemptive work of Christ is to continue believers must get involved in other’s lives.

Our Hands need to be Up

This shows a changed life, and our relationship with God is the most important thing in our lives.

Our Hands need to be Open

This shows choosing to do things God’s way, and not our way.

It allows the Lord to give and take as we give up control.

How to be His Hands

Study but depend on His wisdom.

Be prepared but pray for His power.

Be willing to go but follow His directions.

Live a good life but call on Christ for forgiveness.

Let's rely on God’s strength to be His hands today and always. Amen?

Time to Go

Israel should have left Egypt after the famine was over, or at least upon Joseph’s death. That was God’s plan all along that they lived in the Promised Land not Egypt or anywhere else. They stayed because they were “prosperous” there. There’s an old saying that sums it up, “Flirting with sin may lead to a committed relationship!” It’s not about how close you can ‘walk the line’ – stay in God’s perfect will always.

Look at what “Here” was like for God’s People at the beginning of Exodus 1:1-7

A. Their identity. v. 1-4 This book of redemption and freedom is begun by the Lord naming names – the 12 tribes. Why is this important? It’s a good reminder that you live, and then you die...so make the most of your time.

B. Their security. v. 5 Joseph was their security, because Joseph had gone before them already. He is an OT picture of Jesus Christ, Who has gone on before us and paved the way for us. Spiritually speaking, we are secure. But on a human level, Joseph died, according to v. 6, and eventually their security diminished...the basis of their blessing was gone.

C. Their prosperity v. 7 It can be a deceptive thing...prosperity. And there is a great difference between physical prosperity and spiritual prosperity. The children of Israel, in this paradise, became prisoners. Chapter 20 refers to Egypt as ‘the house of bondage’. It is possible to have everything...except joy. Things do not satisfy. It is possible to have gold, but not have God. 

The greatest "riches" come from God. Amen?

Getting Here

For  Israel, from Exodus Chapter 1 - “Here: was Egypt and bondage. They were slaves: forced labor, oppressed, worked ruthlessly and bitter with hard labor. (vv. 11-14) In V 22 every male born was to be thrown into the Nile.

How did they find themselves in such dire circumstances? - from their choices in disobedience!

We see their response in Chapter 2: 23 – “groaned and cried out”.

Sin is a place. It’s a place you can go. It’s not just an action or an occurrence, it is a conscious journey you make and it doesn’t take long to arrive at the place of sin. It often becomes a place of slavery. Thank goodness the lockdown can be lifted, the chains can be broken, and thank God that the place of sin is also a place that you can leave!

Jesus told the story of the prodigal son went off to a far country. For him, sin was a place. He lost all his friends and wallowed in the mud at a pig farm before he came to himself and decided to leave that place. - Egypt in the Bible is a picture of the world...the place of sin. The Bible talks about people ‘sojourning’ into Egypt. This is just a temporary visit. Abraham left God’s Promised Land and sojourned into Egypt when famine came. He didn’t plan on staying, but while in the place of sin he lied about his wife and got into trouble. He had to repent and obey God's call on his life. 

So should we - Amen?