Exodus 10

I love the obedience of Moses in this uphill battle.  Pharaoh gives him permission to go with all the people, like yay, this is a great moment.  Right?  Except Moses says no because pharaoh says no to the livestock...I'm like God, surely we can honor you another way, right?  I mean we are free, who cares about the animals...but Moses truly wants to honor The Lord full-on, now that is obedience.  Do we want His promises or His presence most?

Exodus 9

Interesting in what Pharaoh does in verse 27 with his sin statement, but once the dust settles, he is his old self again.  Boy, have I played this card too many times in life.  When we embrace what Jesus really took on for us, it should cause us not to mess around with repentance and confession, may our hearts be pure with Him.

Sorry it was late but got some good thoughts as we prepare for Benton.

Exodus 8

The part that stood out to me is when Moses says in verse 9, "tell me what time you would like for me to pray for you, your officials, and your people."  Wow.  How many times have I missed that?  What did Moses pray about?  I'm sure that it soften Moses' heart toward the Egyptians and Pharaoh...but also was unleashing the amazing power of God as well.  How would it be if we set a time each day and prayed for others!  Now that could do some good damage :)

JT

Exodus 7

I so appreciate verse 7 especially after what Moses has already been through to this point.  Now God is telling him to take the staff and cast it down before Pharaoh.  I would be at this point thinking, really.  I have put more burdens on my people...Pharaoh has a hard heart and you want me to THROW DOWN A STAFF!  But Moses is different than me because he is obedient :).  Through his obedience his faith is going to grow, reminding me that even when it doesn't make sense and yet I obey, then my faith will grow as well.  Good lesson for me!

I am leaving town for a church plant conference.  I will still be posting, but it will come at different hours each day, please be patient with me.

Keep checking the blog page www.jtea24.blogspot.com

Keep me in your prayers as we get Benton ready.

JT

Exodus 6

God speaks some amazing words in verses 6-8 to Moses and Aaron! I mean there are some sweet promises that God gives to them, but unfortunately the Israelites are so consumed with their today issues, that they can't see tomorrow promises.  I think that hit me because I do the same thing.  I allow my problems to drown out the promises of God, thus I become discouraged!  May we focus on the God promises!!!

Exodus 5

Honestly, verses 19-23 absolutely make me sick to my stomach.  Here Moses is doing exactly what He was told to do and it makes life harder for the Israelites...ugggh.  Moses goes to God and is very upset, but God is not DEAD and it is vital that you and I remember that.  He is always working, always moving, always doing something far better than our visual eye and mind can imagine.  Even when it is tough, we lean in even more.

Exodus 4

Exodus 4:10-11 speak straight to my heart because I was born with ear problems which led to speech problems.  For many years I had to deal with tubes and speech therapy.  As a kid, I knew I had something wrong so I didn't speak.  Then of course, I had to take speech in both high school and college and I swear to this day, I am not sure how I passed either course...and today, I am a minister.  I totally connect with Moses' excuse with the mouth, but I also connect with God's power to deliver Moses through it, because He has delivered me as well.  I am blessed to be able to speak for His Kingdom.

Exodus 3

So, Moses is standing at a bush that is not burning up and is called out from the bush.  Then when God told Moses to go, Moses had some excuses for not going, but the one line that hit me is when God said, "I will be with You."  Why wasn't that enough?  Better yet, why isn't it enough for us today, because the same promise is true for us as it was with Moses.  Is it because we know it will be hard?  Do we believe He is truly with us?  We must lean into that promise each day of our lives and know without a doubt that He is with us right now and all day long and "nothing is impossible with Him."

Exodus 2

This chapter has one of my favorite stories of all the Scriptures.  Moses' mom has to give up her son Moses to protect his life and so she floats him down the river.  Pharaoh's daughter sees this baby and takes him as her own, and uniquely Moses' sister Miriam walks along the Nile to see where Moses ends up.  As Pharaoh's daughter holds the baby, Miriam walks up realizing that Pharaoh's daughter cannot nurse the baby, so upon Miriam's request, she has the perfect person to nurse baby Moses...her mom.  Haha, that is awesome to see how God is all over this story.  Moses' mom gives him up to protect him and in return she gets permission to nurse him from Pharaoh.  May we never lose heart, God is always aware of what is going on in our lives!

Exodus 1

As we spend the next 40 days taking a journey thru Exodus, focusing on our "slavery" to "freedom" in Christ, we want to focus on each chapter and share out thoughts with each other.

Exodus 1:8 - it hit me today that the new king over Egypt did not know Joseph, and more specifically, did not know or care about Joseph's God.  How unique that we find ourselves in the same mindset today, where we have a generation that doesn't know or care about Creator God and things are messy.  It is a lot like the Israelites and what they faced in their day with this new king.  Let's be praying today for a generation to KNOW about our God which causes them to CARE for people and to LOVE HIM!