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Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell;
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul
am made a minister;
God Sees What You Go Through
Exo 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law,
the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
Exo 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Moses saw the bush burning. He was a shepherd. He did not panic, fearing a wildfire, and run to get the sheep away. He
did not run. He did not try to put the fire out. He stopped what he was doing, and investigated. Took a closer look. And just
like that was in the presence of the Lord. On holy ground.
Exo 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people
which are
in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
God wasn't talking about sinners, but his own people here, children of God who were in bondage. The devil will still try
to be your taskmaster. He will try to push you to labor for God, to get you so busy, and so involved in other things under
the guise of serving God, that you won't have time to spend with God. This is one way he works against those who truly love
God with whom the devil knows he can't tempt with outright sin. He can't persuade these to abandon their Lord, or their love
for their Lord. But he can distract them from fellowship with their Lord, in any number of ways. And that is the key to our
strength, our abiding in and with him. For in his presence is joy, understanding, power, hope. Glory.
First, the devil can be a harsh taskmaster, driving you to strive in your own flesh to do more for God. He'll challenge
what you're doing and tell you it isn't good enough. He'll remind you of God's perfection, holiness, and all God has done
for you, and beat you down, until he can drive you to be busy busy busy. Despair will settle in, and the feeling that you'll
never be able to please God no matter how hard you try will weigh you down. Discouragement will be heavy on you. The enemy's
goal is to discourage you enough you will quit.
God wants to deliver his people from that bondage. In our own flesh we can not please God. Our own righteousness is as
filthy rags. The only acceptable sacrifice was his Son, and our reasonable service is to present ourselves a living sacrifice
to the Lord, so he can form in us the image of his Son. That is what will make us acceptable. Being in the Beloved, and the
Beloved being in us. You can't claim the name without the pain. There will be a fellowship of his sufferings. The world rejected
him, it will reject those who belong to him. He came to do the will of the Father, not his own, and as he did, so must we.
Deny ourselves, discover our cross, and carry it faithfully. For although it's normally viewed as something to be despised,
it is an honor bestowed upon us from on high. A symbol of consecration and devotion to his will, his ways, and his Son. A
cross is not something God gives out lightly. Those who receive understanding of the cross and its meaning, and what their
cross in this world is to bear, have received a revelation from on high, entrusted to them, by the Highest of Authority there
has been or ever will be. And it's not to be taken lightly.
Exo 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;
God wants his people to enter into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. To be reconciled to him completely,
knowing and trusting fully in his love. Totally persuaded in his love and ability to keep and direct them. Just as he sent
Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt's bondage, he sent Christ, his Beloved Son, to deliver us out of the bondage of sin,
and the devil's attempts to keep us in some kind of bondage, by deceit.
1Jo 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage.
Exo 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and
that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Moses was not confident in himself. Even though he had been educated in Egypt, and had grown up in the palace, raised as
royalty, he was meek and quiet. He was not proud, arrogant, or self-assured, as you might expect of one raised in that sort
of background. God uses the foolish and weak things of this world to confound the wise.
Exo 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee;
and this shall be
a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this
mountain.
God mentions a token for Moses. He was giving him clear directions, instructions on where to go and what to do. He also
gave him this sign that his words would be fulfilled.
In verse 16, the Lord reveals he had visited his people. Yet until Moses got there with the word, they did not know they'd
been visited by God Almighty. They had no idea he'd seen their situation. Heard their cries in their afflictions. Just as
he knew their situation, he knows ours.
Interesting side note on the peoples of the land:
there were 6 nations.
Canaanites: idolatrous, mainly, the sun god, Baal. Each locality in the nations of Canaan had different local Baals,
summed up under the name of Baalim, meaning "lords." -from Easton's Bible Dictionary)
Hittites: Warrior combatants. They lived in the region between the Euphrates and Damascus. They were powerful and dominant
in the region for a long time.
Amorites: ruled in Babylon until Israel invaded Palestine. Dependent in latter years upon the Hittite people-subjected
to their dominant power.
Perizzites: Villagers, farmers, peasants, later conquered
Hivites: Midlanders or villagers. (This must be the middle of the road can’t make up their mind crowd)
Jebusites: Original inhabitors of Jebus, which later became Jerusalem.
Remember this:
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and
the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all
the days of old.
2Ch 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
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