Like an Army

 Scripture:

“On that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.”  ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭51‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

God had demonstrated His power to the Egyptians over and over. Finally, He had all the firstborn children killed in the middle of the night. Even the firstborn of their livestock was killed. Pharaoh finally told Moses to get his people out of Egypt. As these slaves were leaving Egypt, it says that the Lord brought them out of Egypt like an army. They had been beaten down and treated terribly, but when God brought them out, they were like an army.

Application:

God can make an army out of mistreated slaves. When God gets involved in people’s lives, people become powerful. No matter what the enemy tries to do to us as believers, God is greater and, though we may feel insignificant, God sees and army. God always takes little things and makes them great. As we look to the Lord, He will raise up an army out of whoever offers Him their lives.

Prayer:

Father, when I see salves, You see and army. Help me to see as You see. Help me to live by faith and not by sight. Help me to trust You more and more throughout my life. I want my life to bring You glory and honor. 

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Kingdom Extension

 Scripture:

“By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”  ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭9‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

God had been sending plagues to let Pharaoh know His power and to get Pharaoh to let God’s people go and worship Him. God sent this word to Pharaoh after many plagues, “I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. But I have spared you for a purpose - to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”

Application:

God’s desire in the plagues was to show His power and spread His fame throughout the earth. It has always been God’s desire for all nations to see His and worship Him. Our job is to bring that to pass. When we are extending the kingdom of God, we are spreading God’s fame throughout the earth. My job is to make Jesus famous around the world.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to do what You want done. Help me to extend Your kingdom into all the world.I want to be part of lost people meeting You. I want to be part of taking Your Gospel to those who don’t know You. Let my life be used for the extension of Your kingdom in all the earth. 

Forever Yours,

Jeff

Time to Act

 Scripture:

“God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.”  Exodus‬ ‭2‬:‭24-25. NLT‬‬

Observation:

The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were in Egypt and were being brutally treated by their taskmasters. Their incredible, miraculous, intervention and provision of God, became a problem in future generations. Their blessing was obvious, bought it made the Egyptians fearful of them, so they punished them. God heard their groaning and remembered His promise. This verse closes by saying God, “knew it was time to act.”

Application:

Sometimes we go through some very difficult things. God sees everything and knows what his people go through. Sometimes it may feel like we have been suffering too long. From our perspective, any suffering is too much. For God, there is a point when it is time to act. When His people have suffered for a season, He will determine that it is time to act. His time and our time are not usually the same, but if we remain faithful to Him, He will see what is going on, and He will act.

Prayer:

Lord, hear my cries, and determine to act on my behalf. I ask You to help me when I feel weak and show me the way to go. When You move, it is marvelous to see. Move in my home. Move in my church. Move in my family. Move in my city. Send revival to my nation. We are crying out. Hear our cries and decide it is time to act. 

Yours Forever,

Jeff

All Authority

 Scripture:

“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Jesus had died, was buried, then resurrected, and was ready to ascend to heaven to be with His Father. In that moment, just before He ascended, yet after His resurrection, He told the disciples He had been given ALL AUTHORITY, therefore they should go. This morning, ALL AUTHORITY stood out to me. ALL AUTHORITY means that He had everything necessary to do what needs done in our lives.

Application:

We serve the one who has ALL AUTHORITY. He doesn’t just have SOME AUTHORITY. He has ALL AUTHORITY. Therefore, when we approach Him, we must do so in faith that He has what is necessary to meet every need, to change any situation, and to do whatever is necessary in our lives. We must come to Him in faith. Jesus, our elder brother, has all authority from the Father and He shares that authority with us.

Prayer:

Father, help me to walk in the authority You have given Jesus and us. Help me to learn to exercise that authority in my life. Teach me to make full use of the authority given to Jesus for the advancement of His kingdom. You are my all in all. You are my everything. I long to be one with You.

Your Son,

Jeff

Weaker Than We Think

 Scripture:

“Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.”  ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭75‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Peter told the Lord that even if they killed him, he would never deny Jesus. Jesus told him he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. He did exactly what Jesus said He would do. Suddenly he was overcome with grief and wept bitterly. He was sorrowful that he fell, but he never even thought it was possible.

Application:

Sometimes we may think we are stronger than we really are. There may be times in our lives we make promises to God, just to find out that we will break them over and over again. Why does Jesus let us do this? Maybe to show us our need for Him and His power in our lives. We must realize that we can’t do His work in our flesh, but must lean on the power of the Holy Spirit. We are much weaker than we think we are. We must understand that and learn to lean on the Holy Spirit more and more.

Prayer:

Lord God, teach me to know myself more and more. Help me to see my weaknesses and lean strongly on the power of the Holy Spirit. I want my life to please You more than anything. Teach me to remain humble , broken, and in need of You. Help me to never think more of myself than I ought. 

Your Son,

Jeff

Know the Scriptures and the Power of God

 Scripture:

“Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

Some of the teachers of the Law tried to catch Jesus with a question about seven brothers dying and being married to the same woman and what would happen in the resurrection. Which one would she be married to was their question. Jesus told them the problem was that they didn’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.

Application:

Sometimes we can get tied up trying to explain unexplainable things in the Word of God. We should focus on knowing the Scriptures and knowing the power of God. Rather than focus on what we don’t know and understand in Scripture, we should focus on the parts we know and understand God’s power to do what He needs done. We need to focus on obeying what we know, then asking for more revelation.

Prayer:

Father, I want to know Your Word and Your power. I want to walk with You in a deeper relationship. I long to walk as friend with friend. I want to know Your voice and hear it daily. Teach me to abide in You and Your words. Help me to stay in alignment with You and to live from that place. I want to know You more intimately and to serve You well in my lifetime. 

Yours Forever,

Jeff

Nothing is Impossible

 Scripture:

“Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.””  ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Observation:

After Jesus had an encounter with a rich young ruler, He told His disciples that it was very difficult for rich people to come into the Kingdom of God… Nearly impossible. Then He added the statement, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Nothing is impossible for God. He can do what He says He can do.

Application:

When we face seemingly impossible situations, we have a God who does the impossible. We must learn to walk by faith and not sight. What appears impossible to us, it totally in God’s realm of possibility. Our perception must be that God can do absolutely anything. Our prayer need to reflect that faith as well. 

Prayer:

Father, nothing is impossible for You. Demonstrate Your power and let me see Your glory. Increase my faith to believe You for seemingly impossible situations. Teach me to see things how You see things. Let me see from Your perspective when I am faced with things that seem impossible.

Yours Forever,

Jeff