Are There Not Enough Graves?

"Camp where I tell you. It will look like we are meandering aimlessly," God told Moses, adding, "I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart one more time. ...The Egyptians are going to know I am the Lord, " God concluded.

Moses understood God's plans, but the Israelis did not.

Pharaoh gathered his chariots and pursued the Israelis. The Israelis saw the Egyptians were coming.

Wildly they ask, "Were there not enough graves in Egypt? Moses, why have you treat us like this?" 

Why was counting on God so strenuous?

Their irrational behavior, recognized as exaggeration, reflects fear. Fear reveals limited faith. Their 'embellishments' came from weak, inexperienced reasoning. Were these the early signs of a hard hearted people??

Do hard hearted people ignore faith-causing information or events?

Consider these New Testament stories.

• There was hard-packed soil in the parable of the sower. Why was the “seed” ineffective on this soil?
• Lazarus was joyously resurrected. But the Pharisees brushed off his resurrection, plotting to kill Jesus.
• So intent on obedience to their Sabbath laws, they ignored the healings of Jesus.
• 
  Jesus gave sight to a blind man (John 9). The religious leaders interrogated him. They belittled his intelligence. They said, "...but as for this man (referring to Jesus), we do not know where He is from.” Verse 30 adds, "The man answered and said to them,“Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. ...If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

What are preventatives to hard-heartedness?

Here are a few answers.

1. Delight over the good luck (or blessings??) of friends.
2. Determine if its God's blessing or the Devil's tool. Not all “blessings” are truly blessed.
3. Thank God for every blessing. “Count your many blessings, name the one by one,” the song echos.
4. Enjoy every event remembering it came from God.
5. Ask God's help frequently.
6. Acknowledge God's justice.
7. Tell your family and friends what great things God has done for you.
8. Study nature, and inspect His knowledge.
9. Accept God-given joy from obedience.
10. Before you decide God is not answering your prayer, look for alternate ways He may have already answered.
11. Be guided by his way, and not your inferior wisdom..
12. Ask him to build your faith.
13. Be aware of God. Watch His doings. Find evidences of His working.

Mechanic or Angel?

Bill: Jim, I was blessed so much Labor Day!

Jim: Whatcha ya' mean?

Bill: Me and some friends were on the road on Labor Day when I had car trouble. A good mechanic came to where I was, fixed the car in the heat right where I was. And it was a holiday! Get this: He did it all for free. All he wanted was a handshake.

Jim: What?

Bill: Yeah, you heard me. Amazing, huh?

Jim: Sure nuf!

Bill: Jim, do you think he was an angel, or was it just God blessing me?

Jim: Good question. Sounds like the good Lord is tak'n a likin' to ya'.

******************

God told Moses He would harden the heart of Pharaoh so He (God) could do His signs and wonders.

Why?

"...THAT YOU MAY TELL...." and "... THAT YOU MAY KNOW... ".

What would develop if you told your family of God's working in your life?

Do you have good fortune to relish?

Are you saved by His mercy?

Tell your family and friends who God is to you, and what He has done!

Rut Riding

The safe highway near my home has become dangerous, even life-threatening.

The highway department resurfaced the road using tar and pea-sized gravel, lots of gravel. For inexperienced cycle riders, gravel is a grave enemy.

After a day of traffic, the highway has four ruts and five rows of gravel. It is the five rows motorcyclists MUST stay away from. Getting out of the safe ruts and onto the treacherous rows has results ranging from a mere rough and noisy ride or a complete loss of control. The ultimate threats range from serious case of "road rash" to death.

Rut riding is the best choice.

The same is true for believers. They need the path that is clear of sins and struggles; a rut cleared by Jesus.

A Christian that wonders from the rut of Christ finds "bumps", threats of losing their marital status, integrity, composure, decision making skills, and dedication. They may experience betrayal, addictions, guilt's weights, and powerlessness to correct self. They may even renounce Christianity as foolishness.

To rut ride with Christ requires a constant focus as to where you are on life's "road". Stay in the ruts where forgiveness, hope, control, and dedication are found. Experience His loyalty,

His power, and His light weights. He will take you to the mountain tops to see His "vistas" of eternal life and God.

Be a rut-rider with Christ.

Jeremiah Wasn't the First

Jeremiah wasn't the first.

Jeremiah was commissioned by God to preach everything God told him. He preached his entire life. He converted no one.

God knew Jeremiah would not be effective, so why have him preach? So the Jews would have no excuse. They could not say, "I was never told".

But Jeremiah wasn't the first.

Moses and Aaron were commanded to communicate to Pharaoh everything God had said. But God advised them He would inhibit Pharaoh from complying.

Why?

So "I can multiply MY signs and MY wonders. I AM THE LORD." Exodus 7:2-5 

The Egyptians would be without excuse.

What has this have to do with you and me?

We are the "Jeremiah's" of this generation. Like Moses and Aaron, we tell unlikely respondents about God's great works. And like Moses, we tell them again, and again, and again. They NEED to know who the Lord is.

Who will you speak to today?

Wrongs to Right

How many wrongs does is needed to make one right? Does it take three evils to make one action glorious? Or are seven injurious actions required?

The story of Joseph being delivered to slavery is found in Genesis37:31-35. How many low actions or attitudes do you count in this story?

• His older brothers sold him as a slave.
• Joseph's father was deceived by those older brothers.
• They pretended to be ignorant of what happened to Joseph.
• Those brothers caused their father deep emotional pain.
• The 11 brothers attempted to 'comfort' their father, while it was their idea that caused his pain.

It was wrong from beginning to end. Wrongs never create right.

But God took all these 'wrongs' and made them into a great plan for His glory, and for the good of Abraham' great-grandchildren.

Much like you, I have experienced depressing events in my life. But my relationship with God has allowed Him to find good purposes for those tragedies.

Is life a rose bed or a briar patch? The way you look at life, either good or bad, simply reveals your trust-level in God.

Stuck In Anaerobic?

http://newspaper.li/bacteria/

The decay of debris at the depths of a pond is done by bacteria. And sometimes bacteria are more adaptive than humans. 

On sweltering summer days the wind is still, and oxygen is not dissolved in the water. As dissolved oxygen is depletes, bacteria change living and growing to survival and struggle. They switch to anaerobic respiration. These days are not good.

When the wind blows, waves add oxygen to the water. When oxygen is present, bacteria use aerobic respiration to break down the debris. These are the good days.

Bacteria switch back calmly and without hesitation.

Some opportunities look good and we look forward to great successes. Time after time the Devil tricks us. Once more, he has played us for fools. Now sinners, we battle against unfavorable conditions. We feel bogged down. Improvement appears impossible. Liars feel compelled to continue lying. Thieves have no choice but to continue stealing. Unchecked anger agonizes over titanic outcomes. It is survival and struggle. These are not good days.

Then the refreshing breeze of hope comes. He is Jesus. He furnishes the freedom to switch. He presents to the burdened consummate circumstances in which to thrive. Jesus presents liars freedom to tell the truth, thieves to earn a living, and anger governed.

So why does mankind persist in prospecting for solutions that exclude Jesus?

Bacteria switches, instantly, when the opportunity for oxygen comes. Are bacteria brighter than we are???

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Civil Disobedience

This is NOT about civil disobedience as a tool of Mohandas Ghandi. He used nonviolent resistance as his political device.

Nor is Henry David Thoreau's book, Civil Disobedience, the object of this post. As an advocate for people not permitting governments to control a conscience, he urged citizens to avoid acquiescence, thus not becoming agents of injustice.

Being civil disobedient usually is recognized as non-violent passive resistance. Demands are made, but nothing happens.

God agrees. Note these examples.

• In Exodus 1:15-20, the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives to execute all males emerging from the womb. But the Hebrew midwives "feared God". They did not obey the kings demand. They let the boys live. Demands were made, but nothing happened.
• Peter was (again) brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jews governing body. They had ordered him (and Jesus' other apostles) to not preach or teach Jesus. But they did. Peter's reply to them: "we must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29 . Demands were made, but an atypical civil disobedience occurred.

Uncle Sam

Christians are true-blue to Uncle Sam. Christians comply with the edicts of governments. Laws are for our good. But civil disobedience is imperative when laws or government codes collide with God's commands or doctrine.

What should Christians do when homosexuals, and those promoting or protecting them, cloak themselves behind man's laws? (Rom 1:27-32)

Should I pay taxes to a government that endorses embryonic stem cell research, knowing the cells came from a "sacrificed" human embryo?

Should I support the prolonged process of executing a convicted criminal for a capital crime when God says punishment should be prompt. (Eccl 8:11)?

Should I vote for government leaders that champion evil groups (gays, immigration law violators, etc.)?

Besides, who is mightier than the almighty government? Romans 13:2. (LINK)

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