Podcast appearances and mentions of egypt exodus

The David Alliance  TDAgiantSlayer@Gmail.com Garth Heckman Accuser     Do you inhale or exhale when you putt?      THE ACCUSER - THE RATT      START WITH A WARNING… **If you do not understand how the accuser works you will be used by him and for his purpose without even knowing it.       Here is how it works:  People play the VICTIM - Why me, me oh my, waaa waaa waaa, poor me.     Then they turn into the VILLIAN - They attack people who they feel have it made, had it easy, they think they are arrogant simply because they are successful in some area of life.   They they become Victors and they fight on behalf of the other “VICTIMS”… Jeff Karow “I shudder thinking about the 11 year old little girl who could not get an abortion after being brutally raped.        The worst thing about being deceived is you do not know you are deceived. You operate in the mindset of fact, but its not fact at all. Remember when cigarettes did not cause cancer.          John 8   Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”                   The historical background of this passage—traditionally known as the Pericope Adulterae—is shaped by a clever political trap, a clash between competing legal systems, and a fascinating journey through ancient manuscripts. [1, 2, 3, 4]    peh-RIK-oh-pee - It's from Greek, meaning "a cutting out" or "a selected passage,” Adulterae = ah-dul-TAIR-eye   1. The Legal Trap: Roman Law vs. Jewish Law The religious leaders weren't just asking Jesus for a theological opinion; they were trying to force Him into a dangerous political and legal corner: [3, 5]      The Roman Constraint: Under Roman occupation, the Jewish authorities (the Sanhedrin) were stripped of their power to officially execute anyone. If Jesus agreed that the woman should be stoned to death, He would be encouraging an illegal vigilante execution, breaking Roman law and setting Himself up as a rebel leader against Rome. The Mosaic Constraint: If Jesus said she should go free, He would appear to be breaking the Law of Moses(Leviticus 20:10), which prescribed the death penalty for adultery. This would instantly ruin His credibility as a Rabbi among the Jewish people.    What is really going on here? Judging Jesus response - while they themselves do not hold themselves accountable to the same standard.    *they are not willing to make a call on this - but judging Jesus on his response.   People will call you out - all the while never talk about their own lack of character in the same manner.       Where was the man? The Mosaic law explicitly stated that both the man and the woman caught in adultery were to be put to death.   **Missing information: Accusers will never share the whole story.          OOOOO         2. The Location: The Temple Courts The text explicitly states this encounter took place in the Temple courts (John 8:2).     The sprawling courts of Herod's Temple were not dirt roads or sandy paths; they were grand, public plazas paved with massive, polished stone tiles. If there was loose dust blown onto the stones, Jesus could have been writing in the dirt. However, if He was pressing His finger directly against the smooth, hard flagstones of the Temple floor, a mere human finger would leave no mark. For Him to "engrave" or "write" a visible record there would require a miracle. [7, 8]    3. The Theological Parallel: The Finger of God By highlighting that Jesus wrote "with his finger," John uses a very rare phrasing that immediately points a Jewish reader back to the Old Testament. [7, 9]      In the entire Bible, there are only a few times where God is described as physically writing something. The most famous is Exodus 31:18: "He gave Moses the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God."     Jesus was silently saying: "You are trying to lecture Me on the Law? I am the one who carved it in stone in the first place." [1, 10]        OOOOOOO   The phrase "the finger of God" appears only a handful of times in the entire Bible. Each instance represents an irresistible, sovereign display of divine authority and judgment on those who try to play God.  When you connect these other passages to Jesus in the Temple courts, they paint a staggering picture of who He was claiming to be.     1. The Plagues of Egypt (Exodus 8:19)   The Context: During the ten plagues, Pharaoh's court sorcerers try to replicate the miracles Moses performs. When God turns the dust of the earth into swarms of gnats, the magicians fail to copy it. Terrified, they tell Pharaoh: "This is the finger of God."     2. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18 & Deuteronomy 9:10)   The Context: God delivers the moral law to humanity not by dictating it to Moses, but by physically carving it Himself. The text notes the tablets were "written with the finger of God" on stone.   3. The Writing on the Wall (Daniel 5:5)   The Context: King Belshazzar of Babylon throws a blasphemous feast, drinking out of the sacred gold cups stolen from God's Temple. Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appear and scratch a mysterious message into the plaster of the wall (Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin). Daniel interprets the writing: God has weighed the king's deeds, found him wanting, and his kingdom is finished.   4. Jesus Driving Out Demons (Luke 11:20)   The Context: Jesus is accused by His critics of using the power of Satan to cast out demons. He fires back: "But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."         This is a great teaching device — pastors use this "voice of the accuser" framing often to expose the enemy's tactics. Here's a biblically-grounded list, treating it as an exposé of strategy rather than actually voicing that persona.   9-16-26 Start here for TDA 10 Ways the Accuser Attacks Faith 1. Rehearsing Your Past He whispers your worst moment on repeat — the affair, the addiction, the abortion, the thing you did at 19 — long after God has already forgiven it, hoping shame will convince you that grace has an expiration date. (Revelation 12:10 — he accuses "day and night") 2. Redefining God's Character "Did God really say...?" He doesn't usually deny God exists — he reframes who God is: distant, disappointed, keeping score. (Genesis 3:1) 3. Comparison He points you at someone else's marriage, ministry, body, or blessing, and lets envy do the rest of the work — convincing you God has been unfair specifically to you. 4. Isolation Disguised as Privacy He convinces you that no one can know the real struggle — that if your small group or spouse knew, they'd walk away. Isolation is where accusation grows unchecked, because it's never tested against truth spoken by someone else. 5. Weaponizing Other Believers' Words He takes a real hurt — something someone at church actually said or did — and repeats it in your mind until it becomes "this is who the church really is" or "this is who God really is." 6. Delayed Answers as Proof of Abandonment When prayer isn't answered on your timeline, he suggests silence means absence — that unanswered prayer is proof you're not really heard, rather than proof you're being asked to trust. (Compare Job's friends' theology vs. God's actual response in Job 38-42) 7. Perfectionism Disguised as Conviction Real conviction from the Spirit is specific and leads to repentance and freedom (2 Corinthians 7:10). Accusation is vague, global, and leads to paralysis — "you'll never get this right," "you're always like this." One brings you to the cross; the other just buries you. 8. Identity Theft He tries to get you to answer to a label — addict, failure, fraud, unworthy — instead of the one Scripture actually gives you: forgiven, adopted, righteous in Christ (Romans 8:1, Ephesians 1:5). Whoever answers the accusation has already accepted the label. 9. Success as a Trapdoor Ironically, he accuses through pride too — convincing gifted, "successful" believers (especially leaders) that their platform, growth, or following is proof of their own righteousness, setting up a fall through self-sufficiency rather than obvious sin. (1 Timothy 3:6 — the danger of being "puffed up with conceit") 10. Truth Without Grace This might be the subtlest one: he loves using real Scripture, real truth, real standards — just stripped of the gospel's grace and hope, so truth becomes crushing weight instead of a path to freedom. (This is actually what he tried on Jesus in the wilderness — quoting real Scripture, Matthew 4:6, but twisting its application.)   THREE  "Dirty Little Secrets" Worth Naming   1-  If there's one unifying tactic underneath all ten, it's this: the accuser rarely needs to invent new material — he just recycles truth without context, timing, or grace. Most of his accusations contain a kernel of something real (a real failure, a real hurt, a real Scripture) — which is exactly why they're so effective. Outright lies are easy to reject. Half-truths delivered at the right moment, with real pain attached, are much harder to resist.     2-  The second secret: he almost never announces himself. Nobody hears an accusing thought and thinks "that was Satan." It just feels like "being honest with myself," or "just being realistic," or "this is just how I am." The accusations feel like your own internal voice of reason — which is precisely what makes Revelation 12:11 significant: believers overcome him "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" — meaning the antidote isn't cleverness or willpower, it's actively speaking a different word over yourself than the one he's whispering.       3-  If a thought pushes you toward confession, prayer, and community — that's likely conviction. BUT WITH THAT - ACCUSATIONS MAKE YOU START TO MAKE EXCUSES FOR THAT WHICH YOU ARE BEING ACCUSED OF… THEN HE MAKES YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR THE EXCUSES YOU MADE.      The weapon against accusation isn't willpower or cleverness — it's actively speaking a different word over yourself than the one being whispered. Silence lets the accusation stand unchallenged. Testimony — speaking truth out loud, even just to yourself — interrupts it.       OOOOOOOO   Discernment: Today we have more information and faster information as ever before.  Anyone on social media can be portrayed as an expert, and any information can be presented as fact… But even worse- the absence of clarity creates gossip and presumption that grows into ignorance as fact.        The devil knows your name but calls you by your sin; God knows your sin but calls you by your name     Point 1: The Accuser Has a Title, and a Strategy     Satan's biblical title here isn't "destroyer" or "tempter" — it's accuser. **And Scripture consistently shows this strategy doesn't stay confined to accusing us before God — it plays out horizontally, between people, through gossip, slander, and offense.   Insight: If the enemy's title is "accuser," we should expect his most effective tactic to look like ordinary WORDS     Accusation is not in the power of the words… but the seeds they plant and the doubt they grow. See it's like this: The seeds of innuendo, doubt and insinuation cause the Spiritually immature to feed and water those accusations. **When I was a frosh in HS. The rumor of “ sexually molesting” a child in a cornfield grew into a huge ordeal.  It was started by a teacher's wife - who her and her husband hated me and my family.        Insight: Slander's power has never been the volume of the lie — it's the seed of doubt it plants about someone's character   ITS NOT THE AMOUNT OF ACCUSATIONS - ITS THE SPACE IT CREATES FOR DOUBT = LACK OF FAITH     Why is The Tongue a Fire — it only takes a spark. **a forest fire does not start with a forest fire… it starts with a spark.        So that we don't fall into the role of the accuser we should know this:  Love Covers, Corrupt Talk Corrodes — Two Competing Modes of Speech   Text: Ephesians 4:29-32 PAUL SAYS SPEAK WORDS OF GRACE   1 Peter 4:8 PETER SAYS COVER A BROTHER… HELP BRING THEM INTO HEALING AND WHOLENESS.     ****A truth without grace or healing is still an accusation.     Closing Challenge   Today wether you have been the source of accusation, or the target of it. will you let your mouth be an instrument of the kind of love that actually covers, forgives, and builds up?”   And if I am on the receiving end - Take time to thank God that you are forgiven and accusations only stand as a strong reminder of how great Gods grace is. 

The David Alliance  TDAgiantSlayer@Gmail.com Garth Heckman Accuser   Do you inhale or exhale when you putt?    THE ACCUSER - THE RATT  START WITH A WARNING… **If you do not understand how the accuser works you will be used by him and for his purpose without even knowing it.   Here is how it works:  People play the VICTIM - Why me, me oh my, waaa waaa waaa, poor me.   Then they turn into the VILLIAN - They attack people who they feel have it made, had it easy, they think they are arrogant simply because they are successful in some area of life.   They they become Victors and they fight on behalf of the other “VICTIMS”… Jeff Karow “I shudder thinking about the 11 year old little girl who could not get an abortion after being brutally raped.    The worst thing about being deceived is you do not know you are deceived. You operate in the mindset of fact, but its not fact at all. Remember when cigarettes did not cause cancer.    John 8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”   The historical background of this passage—traditionally known as the Pericope Adulterae—is shaped by a clever political trap, a clash between competing legal systems, and a fascinating journey through ancient manuscripts. [1, 2, 3, 4]    peh-RIK-oh-pee - It's from Greek, meaning "a cutting out" or "a selected passage,” Adulterae = ah-dul-TAIR-eye   1. The Legal Trap: Roman Law vs. Jewish Law The religious leaders weren't just asking Jesus for a theological opinion; they were trying to force Him into a dangerous political and legal corner: [3, 5]    The Roman Constraint: Under Roman occupation, the Jewish authorities (the Sanhedrin) were stripped of their power to officially execute anyone. If Jesus agreed that the woman should be stoned to death, He would be encouraging an illegal vigilante execution, breaking Roman law and setting Himself up as a rebel leader against Rome. The Mosaic Constraint: If Jesus said she should go free, He would appear to be breaking the Law of Moses(Leviticus 20:10), which prescribed the death penalty for adultery. This would instantly ruin His credibility as a Rabbi among the Jewish people.    What is really going on here? Judging Jesus response - while they themselves do not hold themselves accountable to the same standard.    *they are not willing to make a call on this - but judging Jesus on his response.   People will call you out - all the while never talk about their own lack of character in the same manner.   Where was the man? The Mosaic law explicitly stated that both the man and the woman caught in adultery were to be put to death. **Missing information: Accusers will never share the whole story.    2. The Location: The Temple Courts The text explicitly states this encounter took place in the Temple courts (John 8:2).     The sprawling courts of Herod's Temple were not dirt roads or sandy paths; they were grand, public plazas paved with massive, polished stone tiles. If there was loose dust blown onto the stones, Jesus could have been writing in the dirt. However, if He was pressing His finger directly against the smooth, hard flagstones of the Temple floor, a mere human finger would leave no mark. For Him to "engrave" or "write" a visible record there would require a miracle. [7, 8]    3. The Theological Parallel: The Finger of God By highlighting that Jesus wrote "with his finger," John uses a very rare phrasing that immediately points a Jewish reader back to the Old Testament. [7, 9]      In the entire Bible, there are only a few times where God is described as physically writing something. The most famous is Exodus 31:18: "He gave Moses the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God."   Jesus was silently saying: "You are trying to lecture Me on the Law? I am the one who carved it in stone in the first place." [1, 10]    OOOOOOO   The phrase "the finger of God" appears only a handful of times in the entire Bible. Each instance represents an irresistible, sovereign display of divine authority and judgment on those who try to play God.  When you connect these other passages to Jesus in the Temple courts, they paint a staggering picture of who He was claiming to be.     1. The Plagues of Egypt (Exodus 8:19)   The Context: During the ten plagues, Pharaoh's court sorcerers try to replicate the miracles Moses performs. When God turns the dust of the earth into swarms of gnats, the magicians fail to copy it. Terrified, they tell Pharaoh: "This is the finger of God."   2. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18 & Deuteronomy 9:10)   The Context: God delivers the moral law to humanity not by dictating it to Moses, but by physically carving it Himself. The text notes the tablets were "written with the finger of God" on stone.   3. The Writing on the Wall (Daniel 5:5)   The Context: King Belshazzar of Babylon throws a blasphemous feast, drinking out of the sacred gold cups stolen from God's Temple. Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appear and scratch a mysterious message into the plaster of the wall (Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin). Daniel interprets the writing: God has weighed the king's deeds, found him wanting, and his kingdom is finished.   4. Jesus Driving Out Demons (Luke 11:20)   The Context: Jesus is accused by His critics of using the power of Satan to cast out demons. He fires back: "But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."   This is a great teaching device — pastors use this "voice of the accuser" framing often to expose the enemy's tactics. Here's a biblically-grounded list, treating it as an exposé of strategy rather than actually voicing that persona.

God Empowers the Weak (1)  (audio) David Eells, 9/6/26 To all those who have struggled to please the Lord and do His Will, I want to share with you some good news. It will be a rest and refreshing, a casting down of the burden of salvation, in all its many facets, by self-works. It is not in ourselves to do these things but in Him. Personal strength and determination will not be enough. As a matter of fact, it will get in our way and His. He will wait until we give up so that He may give the free gift through faith that He also supplies. So, ask for faith. Gideon was faced with an army that was “like locusts for multitude.” He gathered together all the manpower at his disposal. All of this human strength stood in the Lord's way of doing a miracle for His glory. Man would certainly take the credit, and then others would not see the true source of our physical and spiritual salvation. (Jdg.7:2) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. At this point, the Lord proceeded to choose only 300 men and then gave them trumpets for weapons. In the natural, there was none weaker than this army. Now the Lord could show that His “power is made perfect in weakness.” And what of David, who was naturally the youngest, smallest and weakest of Jesse's sons? When Samuel anointed him with the power of the Spirit, he went on to slay Goliath with a sling in the very next chapter. How often is this scenario repeated through the Scriptures so that we might know that weakness is a true strength when it qualifies us for the Lord's power. We should refuse to size up the opposition, knowing that when the “odds” are against us, they are in our favor. Our victory is assured by the fact that it was accomplished already at the cross. Each of us needs to become as a child because we can walk with the Lord if we become as a child. The thing about grownups is they're self-confident, self-sufficient, and self-dependent. The world thinks of those traits as being positive, but in the Kingdom, God does not consider it that way. The Lord says the only way you can enter into the Kingdom is to be a child. Jesus said, “suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for to such belongeth the kingdom of God (Mar.10:14). Forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God, is what it said in the original. Of such is the kingdom of God. (15) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein. (16) And he took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.” Now we tend to think of the Kingdom as someplace that we're going to so that we can enter into it, but actually we're entering into the Kingdom here on Earth. In reality, the Kingdom is to be every place in your life. The kingdom of God is within you (Luk.17:21), Jesus said. The Kingdom is every place in your life where God is able to rule, where He is King. God is not able to rule until you're in agreement with Him. To be a child is to be confident in your Father, not self-confident. It's to be dependent upon your Father, not self-dependent. This is valuable to God. As He said, “my righteous one shall live by (“from” in the Numeric) faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him” (Heb.10:38). What pleases God is that we live from faith, that we do not live from our self-confidence, or our self-sufficiency, or our own ability, or the strength of the arm of the flesh, but that we put our trust in God and walk with Him like a little child walks with his father. In other words, there's no other way to enter into the Kingdom. We must give up being grownups. We must become as children. In order for God to be able to rule everywhere in our lives, we have to become as children.  (Mat.18:1) In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (2) And he called to him a little child, and set him in the midst of them, (3) and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. And these were His disciples that He was speaking to. These were not the lost Pharisees; these were the disciples of Jesus, those who were learning and following Him. He said you will not enter in unless you turn and become as little children. The process of the Christian life is this process of turning and becoming as little children and becoming God-dependent, God-sufficient and God-confident. (Mat.18:4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.  You see, Jesus was a little child. That's Who He was. He says, if you receive one of these little children, you receive Me. That's somebody who's in My likeness; you receive Me. He was a child. He really was. He wasn't a grown-up in the ways of the world, in the ways of confidence in the world, the strength of the world. Grown-ups are known for making their own way, making their own living, being self-sufficient, being great providers, but the Lord wants to wash all that out of us. He wants us to put all of our confidence and our trust in Him and become as little children. If you receive one such little child, you receive Jesus. That's the way He was. He was confident in His Lord. I'll tell you, the best way we can help ourselves is by walking by faith in God's Word. You've probably heard the old saying that “God helps those who help themselves,” but that's not found in the Bible. That saying is credited to Benjamin Franklin in his Poor Richard's Almanack. No, the best way to help yourself is walking in faith in God's Word.  (Rom.14:22) The faith which thou hast, have thou to thyself before God. That's what the Bible says. You can help yourself. You can help yourself to everything that God has for you through faith in His Word. (Luk.10:21) In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. What was He talking about? Reveal what things to the babes? Well, the disciples had just come back from being sent out by the Lord to take authority over the works of the devil. They came back rejoicing that God had given them authority over the power of the devil and that they had done the works of Jesus, and they saw that the spirits were subject unto them. But why did Jesus call them babes? Well, it was babes who received this revelation of the authority of Jesus, and it was babes who received this revelation of how to use the authority of Jesus. Let's back up a little in this chapter. (Luk.10:3) Go your ways; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. (4) Carry no purse, no wallet, no shoes; and salute no man on the way. So we see they were babes because Jesus sent them out totally dependent upon the Lord.  (5) And into whatsoever house ye shall enter, first say, Peace [be] to this house. (6) And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him: but if not, it shall turn to you again. And so he said, “salute no man on the way,” because you really don't know people, but you find out later who people are. We're going to find out before the end of the tribulation who people really are and who His children are.  God sent these disciples out as children, as totally dependent upon the Lord, not self-sufficient, not able to take care of themselves. He deliberately took away their ability to take care of themselves when He sent them by not letting them take any kind of insurance with them. The only thing they took was His assurance because He said, “the laborer is worthy of his hire” (Luk.10:7), meaning that if you just go, God will always pay His workers. You don't have to worry about it. God is that way. He wants us to go without our own sufficiency or our own insurance so that we can see His provision on the way. I really, truthfully believe that Jesus never changed this way of sending out people. Many times, if God says, “Go,” you may go. It doesn't matter if you have the wherewithal to do this. If God says, “Go,” you may go. He will never fail you. He will meet you on the way. He's done it many, many times with me when He said, “Go,” and I've noticed, “But, God, I don't have this” or “I don't have gas” or “I don't have money.” But God doesn't take “no” for an answer. If He says, “Go,” you can go because He will be there. He'll put gas in your car. He's done it to me several times. Or He'll make it run without gas. He's done that, too. Or He'll put money in your pocket somehow or another. He'll do it. Or He'll make your money stretch. He can surely multiply it. He can do all things. He'll have you meet up with people whom He has put there specifically to supply your needs, if you go by faith and be obedient to Him. If you go as a child, just trusting in your Father.  In America, there are far too few children. Everybody in America seems grown-up. Everybody in America wants to insulate themselves against anything that could happen, as though they don't believe in a sovereign God. The Bible says, “A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven” (Joh.3:27). God, Who is Sovereign, will make sure that He blesses you if you go by faith in Him. Believe me, the time is coming when everybody will have to go by faith in God because He's going to take away all the things that people have insured and insulated themselves with from the things that might happen in the world. But God is God. He never goes to sleep. He's never fallen off the throne. He's there always. He is going to make sure that His Word comes true. And we can be just like little children. We can cast ourselves on His mercy.  Children never even think about where the next meal is going to come from. Little children don't worry about those things; they just know that it's Momma and Daddy's responsibility; they'll take care of that. And you know, that's the way God is with us. He wants that kind of relationship with us. God's not happy with anything less. (Heb.10:38) My righteous one shall live from faith: And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him. God doesn't have pleasure in self-sufficient people. He has pleasure in people who walk by faith, talk by faith, live by faith. And it is a pleasure to live by faith. I don't yet know all of what living by faith is; God's only shown me the little parts that He's shown me, but I would love to live by faith in every direction. Some directions I've never even thought about, and other people will come and say, “Oh, did you try this?” For example, a sister in the Lord once told me that she and some other people just picked up some instruments and started playing them by faith, and pretty soon they got better and better at it. They were surprised at how God blessed them. Well, that led us to pray over our children, Nathan and Jennifer, by faith, and God answered that prayer. I tell you, it was just the very next week after that when they started playing music, picking it up quite naturally, by ear. So there isn't anything God won't do for those who put their trust in Him.  There is nothing that God can't do and won't do for those who put their trust in Him. I believe this is the reason that He said He revealed these things unto babes. God reveals the authority of God and God reveals the power of His name to people who will become children, people who will cast care to the wind and put themselves in His Hands, just trusting in Him, believing in Him. (Eph.3:20) God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. God loves it when we are weak, but we don't see it that way. We like to be strong, and we do our best to make sure that we're strong in every situation that we can get in. As I said, we do our best to insulate ourselves from any possible mishap, but that doesn't please God. It doesn't please God that we put our trust in the gods of this world, the saviors of this world. The apostle Paul learned that lesson. He was caught up to paradise and he said, “On behalf of such a one (the man who was caught up to paradise) will I glory: but on mine own behalf I will not glory, save in my weaknesses” (2Co.12:5). The King James Version translates that word “weaknesses” there as “infirmities” because they had the idea that the apostle Paul had some kind of sickness or infirmities, but a closer look at this reveals that's not the case at all. Those translators believed the apostle Paul had an eye disease or something like that and that God said, “my grace is sufficient for thee” (2Co.12:9), meaning, “You just keep that because you need that; you need that to be an overcomer; you need that to humble you.” But obviously that would be contrary to a lot of the rest of the Word. The Bible says, “by whose stripes ye were healed” (1Pe.2:24). It doesn't say that we're healed only when we really need it, and it doesn't say that we're healed only sometimes. You were healed all the time. Let's read on. (2Co.12:6) For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth: but I forebear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me [to be,] or heareth from me. (7) And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. So we see that he said what the “thorn in the flesh” was. He said it was a messenger of Satan, an angelos. The word there is angelos, which is translated 181 times in the New Testament as “angel” and the other few times as “messenger,” but it means the same thing. It's the same Greek word, angelos. Here was an angel of Satan that was sent to buffet Paul so that he wouldn't be proud. Paul didn't say it was a sickness that was sent to buffet him. And, by the way, to “buffet” is not just one blow, like a sickness. It's to beat over and over and over. It's many blows. That's what buffet means. But a thorn in the flesh, in this case, was an angel of Satan that was sent to buffet Paul. In the Old Testament, for every verse that talks about a thorn in the flesh, never, not once, is it ever a sickness. It was always referring to the enemies of God's people that came against them, and in this case it's the same thing. An angel of Satan was sent to buffet Paul so he wouldn't “be exalted overmuch.” (2Co.12:8) Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. (9) And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. The King James here has that this word is “weakness,” but this word and the word up in verse five are the same Greek word, so one of them can't be “infirmity” and the other one “weakness.” Both of them have to be the same thing, and the truth is they are, because using the same Greek word in talking about Jesus, the Bible says, “for he was crucified through weakness” (2Co.13:4).  Now, nobody would have put “infirmity” there. Jesus wasn't crucified through infirmity, so they had to put the truth there and the King James did use “weakness” in that case. (4) For he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you. See, when you are weak in Christ, you're going to live through the power of God. It's when you are not able. It's being weak in ability to save yourself, being weak in ability to deliver yourself, being weak in ability to heal yourself. He says when you're in that condition, then God's power is going to be with you. This is the same thing Paul said back in 2 Corinthians 12:9. I'm pointing out this verse because in the King James they used the word “weakness” here and it could not possibly be put in as “infirmity” because we can't read anywhere in the Scriptures that Jesus was infirm, nor was He crucified because He was infirm. Now, that's the same word that's being used over here and over in 2 Corinthians 12:9. He said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness.” You know, if we will be weak as a little child, God's power will be there. Most often, God's power is not there because we refuse to be weak. We want to be strong in a circumstance. We see what we think needs to be done and we run to do it, and we are not ceasing from our works. We are not entering into the Sabbath (Hebrews 4:11). We're not refusing to be strong. If we will refuse to be strong and we will put our trust in God, we will see His power there every time.  This reminds me of a vision I had years ago, in which Mary and I were sitting in some lawn chairs in front of our house in Louisiana. While we were sitting there, we saw this power line hanging from pole to pole. The strange thing about it, as we were looking at this and studying it, was that the power line was almost touching the ground in the middle because it was sagging so badly. And while we were watching that, a tornado came over that power line and sucked us up out of our chairs. Then the vision changed, and I feel like we were over in Florida, and the Lord was showing us something about our ministry over there. But what He showed me about that always stuck with me. As we were sitting there, ceasing from our works and resting in lawn chairs, watching the power of man come to an end (that's the power lines), as we watched the power of man come to an end, then the power of God took over. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. God's not ready to move until we cease from our works because we have faith. Every time you have faith, you can stop; you can cease from your work, you can cease from your struggling; you can cease from trying to save yourself because the Bible says you are saved. It doesn't say He will save you. If it said that, you'd wonder what method He wanted to use, but since His method is past tense and you believe it, you have to stop; you have to cease. And so God's power is made perfect in our weakness.  Paul said, “most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses (not “infirmities” because it's the exact same Greek word), that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2Co.12:9). Glory in our weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon us. That's the way a child is. They have all the power of Daddy because he is the provider, he is the deliverer, he is the savior. He takes care of it all, and they don't think it should be any other way, and we should be that way, too. We've been trained up to think otherwise, to be grownups, but you know, we shouldn't be thinking in any other terms than what a child thinks. This is the way God wants it.  Well, I think that we can see by now that the ‘verse,' “God helps those who help themselves,” is not Godly at all; it's antichrist. It will never allow you to enter into the power of God. It will never allow the Spirit and the power of Christ to rest upon you. So Paul says he glories in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon him. (2Co.12:10) … I take pleasure in weaknesses…. King James says “infirmities.” Nobody takes pleasure in infirmities. That's ridiculous. The word here is the same Greek word again; it's “weakness.” Yes, we take pleasure in weaknesses. It's great to be weak. It's great to not have the ability to deliver yourself because then you get to see the miracle of God. And he went on to say, in “injuries,” or actually the word there is “insults,” according to the ancient manuscripts and the Received Text and several others; it's “insults,” not necessarily “injuries.” You don't take pleasure in injuries, but “in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2Co.12:10). Now, what was this buffeting that this angel sent his way, this angel of Satan? Some people say there are no such things as angels of Satan. You know that the demons are angels. Some people say the demons are not angels, but no, that's not what the Bible says. The demons are the angels of Satan, so just forget about that theology. Don't believe that and don't go down that road because it's wrong. Michael and his angels fought with Satan and his angels (Revelation 12:7), the Bible says. Demons are all fallen angels. That's where they came from. They are the fallen angels, the non-elect angels. So what is this buffeting? What are these many different blows that the angel of Satan brought Paul's way in order to make him weak, and bring him into a position of weakness? Well, Paul gives a list of them. (2Co.11:21) I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also. (22) Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. (23) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft. He's talking about the places where he was weak to save himself. You know, when we get into places where we don't see any possibility of saving ourselves, that's wonderful because we get to see the power of God. If we walk by faith in those places, then we get to see the miracles of God. That's what God wants to teach us. He brings us into those places. Remember, God was the One Who sent this angel of Satan to humble Paul.  Why do we need humbling? We need humbling because we're grown-ups and we need to become children. We need to not be self-sufficient; we need to be God-sufficient. We need to be trusting in our Lord because His promises are there to save us in all these situations. So God brings us into these places, and Satan's angel brings us into these places where we're weak, where we need the power of God. If we will be weak, we will see the power of God. Many times we want to look for man's help, man's way, man's wisdom.  Let's continue reading Paul's list. (2Co.11:24) Of the Jews five times received I forty [stripes] save one. (25) Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; (26) [in] journeyings often, [in] perils of rivers, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils from [my] countrymen, [in] perils from the Gentiles, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren; (27) [in] labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. He was in all these places in order to be weak so he could see the power of God. God put him in those places, like He brought the Israelites into those places in the wilderness so that they could see the power of God. Being weak is not a time to be anxious or worried; it's a time when you should expect to see the power of God. It's God's purpose to bring us to weakness so we can see His power. This is His plan. Don't ever be cast down because of what you see, because what you see is these places that make you weak. It's God's plan for you when you get into these places that you put your trust in Him and that you see His power. This is the place where God's power rests upon you. This place of weakness, the place of your own inability to save yourself or deliver yourself, is the place you can look for the promise of God and trust in God.  Paul went on, “besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches (2Co.11:28). (29) Who is weak (that's the word “weak”), and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not? (30) If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness.” That's another place that the King James calls it “infirmity.” It's the same word! In the same text, if a word is translated one way in one part of the text and another way in another part of the text, that is dishonest. That is deceiving; it's wrong. It either has to be one or the other. If you look at this word in other parts of the Bible, the conclusion is that it's talking about weakness, not infirmity. Thank God for the places that He brings us to where we're weak! That's the only place we ever see miracles. Do you realize that? It's the only place we ever see miracles, and yet that is the place we're most tempted to throw up our hands and be anxious or worried or troubled. That is the place where all miracles are given, right there, in a place of weakness, the place where you're unable. Now, if you have the mind of a child and you get in that place, you just expect Father to take over from then on. This is something that He normally does. God normally supplies your need, like in the teaching Jesus gave about the birds and the flowers. He said they don't labor and they don't toil to clothe and to feed themselves (Matthew 6:26,28). You mean, the Lord is saying you don't have to work to bring about this clothing and feeding? You don't have to toil? That's exactly what He said. Go back and read it. It's so clear. That's exactly what He said. He knew that you'd get yourself in a situation, and He even ordained these situations to come, where you wouldn't be able to provide for yourself. And He said, “are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father (Mat.10:29). (30) But the very hairs on your head are all numbered. (31) Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Look, not even a hair falls out of your head; can you imagine that God doesn't know it?! He knows us so intimately that not one hair can fall out of your head without Him knowing it. I mean, your hairs are always falling out and growing back. How can He number the hairs of your head? That is an intimate God Who can number the hairs of your head. He knows a lot, so how could we possibly get into a situation that He doesn't know about and hasn't planned for? He is our Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord our Provider. (Php.4:19) And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. You can't get so far out that God can't reach you. You can't get in so impossible a situation that He can't take care of it. He can pay your taxes out of a fish's mouth (Matthew 17:27). He can do anything. Think about some of the things that God has done in the Scriptures, and He really did do them. He stopped the solar system for a day so Joshua could defeat his enemies. God can do anything. And, you know what? The great thing about it is He's “the same yesterday, and to-day, [yea] and for ever” (Heb.13:8). He is the same. He will still do anything to meet your needs if you will be weak and have faith. Be weak and have faith. Now, the time when you ought to have faith is when you're weak, because God doesn't need to meet your needs when you don't have any. You don't need a miracle until you need a miracle. Don't think that you can avoid a trial of your faith by receiving the miracle before you need it. No. God tries your faith. The miracle doesn't come till the miracle's needed. Trust in Him between here and there because He will be there. He will do what you need. Be confident in Him. Be children in Him. This is what we need to learn, and it's not an easy lesson. It demands the death of self, but religion has trained us up with the mind of the beast because religion has taught that God helps those who help themselves and it trains us to take care of these situations. Religion trains us to trust in the arm of the flesh. They even changed God into a god which He has never been so that they can trust in the arm of the flesh. “Now God does it this way,” they say, as if Jesus doesn't heal the same way He always healed, by laying hands on the sick or by speaking the word of faith. He's always healed that way and He still does. But you see, they've changed God so that you can trust in the arm of the flesh, so that you can be strong. You can run out and get the strength of the world, make your alliances with the world, get your insurance from the world. They'll change God and go to any extent to let the flesh live. But we have to become as a child; otherwise, Jesus says, you're not entering into the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 18:17). The Kingdom of Heaven is where God rules, God reigns, God saves, God delivers. He hasn't changed. Man has attempted to change Him.  God put us here in this weak position. He planned for us always to be in a weak position, so that He could be our Savior. (2Co.4:7) But we have this treasure (the treasure Paul is talking about is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God) in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. God put this treasure, this knowledge of God, in such a weak vessel so that when anything happened, it would have to bring glory to Him and not to us. He could have put us in a strong vessel. He could have put us in a very knowledgeable, very wise, very strong, very healthy vessel, and we wouldn't have needed His help. He wouldn't have needed to be God, would He? We would have been our own gods.  If we watch all the children's superhero shows, we'll notice the thing that's super about them is they're their own gods. They do what they want. They are able. That's not what God ever wanted. God didn't choose us because we are able. He chose us because we're not able. He wanted to give us His ability freely through grace, and that's unmerited. You can't earn it; you can't pay for it. He wanted to give it to us freely. When you get yourself in an impossible situation, think about it. God put you there and He put you there so that you could see how great He is. So God put this wonderful treasure in a very weak earthen vessel. (2Co.4:8) We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; (9) pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; (10) always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus (which is the death of self), so that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. God wants Jesus to live through us, but we have to be weak for Him to do that. The power of Christ will rest upon those who are weak. We're powerful only because we have faith in God. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) but He doesn't strengthen until you're weak, you see. We have to cease before He will start. We have to keep the Sabbath and cease from our works and enter into His works through faith. God not only put us in a world that's bigger than us and with an enemy that was a lot bigger than us; He put us in a vessel that was weak to begin with, so that when the salvation came, we would also know it was from Him and not from ourselves. We think we're so great and we've been trained to be self-sufficient. Mommas and daddies train up their children to be self-sufficient. That's not what God wants. He wants a child. He's always chosen the weak (1 Corinthians 26-29). He's never chosen the strong and this gives you hope. This gives you hope that when you get in impossible situations, God planned for you to be there so that He could show you His power, His deliverance, and His salvation. This is God's plan. It's been His plan from the beginning and He's done it over and over. (Deu.7:6) For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. And did you know that God still does that? God has still chosen you above all the peoples upon the face of the earth. Did you know that? If He chose you, He chose you above someone else, but He didn't choose you because you're wiser or smarter or more able or mighty, because “not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]” (1Co.1:26). God chose the weak. God called the weak “above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deu.7:7) The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples. And it's still that way, isn't it? God chose “the fewest of all peoples.” Why did He do that? Certainly, if He was fighting battles with all the Canaanites, He would want the greatest number, wouldn't He? No, because when the battle was won, He didn't want anybody to say, “Look what we did!” And when the battle is won in our lives, He doesn't want anybody to be able to say, “Look what we did!” “Look how powerful we are!” “Look how wise we are!” Or “Oh, we were smart enough to follow God.” You know, all these things that people could say. No. God said He didn't choose us because we were the mightiest but because we were the fewest. It's still that way today. The true Christians are few. Don't think that the Christians in this country are the many. What do they call them? The “moral majority.” That is just totally ridiculous! For proof of that, look at the people we have in elected office. If there was a moral majority, believe me, you would always have a government that was moral and good because that's the way democracy works. There's no moral majority. Never was.  God chose us because we were the fewest of all peoples. (Deu.7:8) But because the Lord loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he swear unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, and from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (17) If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? (18) thou shalt not be afraid of them: thou shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; (19) the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid. And so shall the Lord thy God do to all of the curse that you come against, and to all of the flesh that you have to conquer, and to all the principalities and powers that you have to conquer. They are made strong, and you are made weak for a purpose, so that you can see the power of God move against them.  We never need to count on our own strength. David did that and brought a curse on Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). He counted the people of Israel and brought a curse on them because God sent a pestilence that killed 70,000 men, just so David couldn't count on his own strength (2 Samuel 24:15; 1 Chronicles 21:14). When you count on your strength, look out because you have trouble coming. God's going to humble you. God's in the humbling process with us. He wants to deliver us from trusting in the arm of the flesh. You know, in almost every battle that Israel won, they were outnumbered. Isn't it amazing that God demanded that they be outnumbered before He would give them the victory? For example, in Judges we're told that the Israelites had an army coming against them that the Bible says were as the sands of the sea for multitude (Judges 7:12). The Midianites, the Amalekites and the children of the east were coming against them, and all the men of Israel who could be gathered together weren't enough to do the job and they knew it. At first they were counting on their own ability and the numbers they had, but they were ridiculously outnumbered. (Jdg.7:2) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. Well, that was just the beginning of God whittling down the people and those people who are fearful will not be the ones who have the victory over the enemy. Being weak is one thing, but being fearful is quite another. Being fearful is not trusting in the power that God has given us to come against our enemy. Being fearful is judging by your own ability. It's looking at your own ability or your own inability, but that's where God is putting us on purpose. This is God's plan to put us in a position of weakness, to make our enemy look big. He sent the Israelites into a promised land where the enemies were giants, and they were vastly outnumbered. It was God's plan for it to look like an unfair contest. In every trial that we go into, it's going to look that way so that when we get the victory, we know it's God's power, not our own.  If you're thinking, “Yeah, but God chose Gideon, a great man of valor, to bring this about.” Well, let's go back and look at Gideon. (Jdg.6:12) The angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. The Lord tells you the same thing. He's with you. His authority is behind you whenever you walk for Him. Whatever we do, we do in the Name, representing Him. His power and His authority are behind us when we act on the Word. (Jdg.6:13) And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.  Have you ever thought, “Where are the mighty works of God?” Well, I'll tell you where they are. They're waiting on people to be weak. If people won't be weak, they won't see them. As long as we're strong to save ourselves, we don't need God. There's no faith involved in that. So now Israel had just gotten itself into a position of weakness, and do you know what? God chose just as weak a man to lead them. (Jdg.6:14) The Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? “This thy might”? What is the Lord talking about? What does He mean here? It's because God sent Gideon. This kind of reminds you of Peter. “Lord, you just bid me to come to You on the water.” And when the Lord said, “Come,” Peter stepped out of the boat. The Lord said he could do it, and just on the word of the Lord, Peter did it (Matthew 14:28,29). He stepped out of the boat by faith. Nobody else stepped out of the boat, but he did. You know, if the Lord told you in the Word, that's all you need. “In this thy might.” God's always going to be behind His Word. If you step out on His Word, exercising faith in His Word, then His might is going to be there. You're always going to be weak, but His might will be there. “Have not I sent thee?” It's the same thing the Lord did to Moses when he protested, “O Lord, I'm not an eloquent speaker” (Exodus 4:10) and God answered him with, “Who hath made man's mouth?” (Exodus 4:11) God chose Moses not because he was great; God chose him because he was weak. (Jdg.6:15) And he said unto him, Oh, Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Gideon wasn't listening, was he? “My family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least of my father's house.” There it is. God chose the weakest and the least. Don't expect God to send Superman. That's not what He's looking for. This will not accomplish the purpose that He has. God is going to send someone who's weak, someone who is like a child. That qualifies some of us. You know, we can be as a child; we are unable in so many things. Sometimes we're forced into a position of being unable. But I tell you that what Jesus wants for us is not that we be forced into a position of weakness, but that we walk in that position of our own free will, refusing to be strong. This is the great thing. If we will learn to refuse to be strong, we will see the miracles of God now. And when we get forced into that position later, it won't be a big thing. It was no big thing for Moses to go through the wilderness with the children of Israel. They were being tried. He wasn't being tried. He'd already gone out into that wilderness and lived in that wilderness by faith in God. And God sent him because he had been there. He sent him back to bring the rest of the Israelites through that wilderness. And if you've been there, it won't be a big trial for you, but you'll be able to show others. This is very important for the times that are coming. People who are weak are going to be strong in the times that are coming, and others are going to be fearful. This wilderness experience that's coming is going to weed out the strong from the weak. The ones who are strong, who've always trusted in their own strength and who refuse to do anything else, they're going to fall by the wayside. It's going to be the babes who are going to go through the wilderness and make it to the other side. And God's always planned it that way. God will not permit salvation to come any other way but by grace. Some people look around and they say, “Look what God did here,” and “Look what God did there,” but if you look carefully, it's what a man did. They're giving credit to a man. (Exo.7:3) And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. It's funny, but you see God on both sides of this thing. It was God who hardened Pharaoh's heart, as it says here, so that the miracles that came would be mighty miracles. God gave the Israelites a strong enemy who would not let them go. (Psa.105:25) He turned their heart to hate his people, To deal subtly with his servants. The Egyptians brought the people of God into bondage because they hated them. And in Psalm 106, God made them set His people free.  First God hardened the Egyptians, then He made them set the Israelites free. It was God's plan to put them in an impossible situation so that they would know how great God's salvation was. “I hardened Pharaoh's heart and multiplied my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exo.7:4) But Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. (5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. It is God's plan to put us in an impossible situation. We think it's the devil's plan and the devil fighting against us. No, it's God's plan for us to be in impossible situations. A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven (Joh.3:27), the Bible says, so God puts us in these impossible situations full-well planning to do a miracle for us. When we get in these situations, we shouldn't look at the impossibility of the situation and then look at our strength and say, “Woe is me!” because we can see from history this has been God's plan all along. When we get in that kind of situation, we should figure that the odds are in our favor, if you figure odds. See, when a situation is impossible, that's when the odds are in your favor. It's just the opposite for the world because they count on their strength and not God's strength, but when you look with your eyes and you see the situation is impossible and you see the promise of God, that's when you should be confident in God. He put us in this situation so we could see what a great Savior He is. He hardened Pharaoh's heart; He turned the Egyptians' hearts to hate His people, to bring them into bondage so that He could do mighty miracles to deliver them. It was His plan all along to do mighty miracles to deliver them. Instead, people want to be strong. The Egyptians wanted to be strong. Pharaoh called for their wise men and sorcerers and magicians to see if they couldn't do the same curses that Moses was bringing. (Exo.7:11) Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers: and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments. (12) For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.  So the curse is sent by God upon the earth. The whole chapter in Deuteronomy 28 is about the curse, and it came by the Hand of God. I know that we've been talking about the hand of the devil, but that's not what the Scripture says. God said He sent the curse. But men, in whom we put our trust, they also propagate the curse. In this instance, Moses brought this curse, but also the magicians brought this curse. And the magicians, the sorcerers, never took away a curse, not one time. (Note that the word in the New Testament for “sorcery” or “witchcraft” is the word pharmakia.) According to this, they can't take away a curse. They can bring a curse, but they can't take one away. Moses was the one who always took the curse away, both the one that he brought (from the Lord) and the one that the magicians brought. Moses was always the one who took away both curses (Exodus 7:12; 8:13). And it wasn't until the sorcerers came to the end of their ability that God made a division between Goshen and Egypt. The sorcerers couldn't duplicate any of the curses from the plague of lice onward (Exodus 8:19). That's when God made a division, right there. When they failed to duplicate the plague of lice, when they came to the end of themselves, their ability, then God made this differentiation. By the way, we are called to walk in health. For instance, God said, “I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exo.15:26). When did He do that? God did it right here. When the sorcery came to an end, when the witchcraft came to an end, then God made a division. From then on, the curses always fell upon the Egyptians and not on the Israelites. So what are we here for? We are here to be weak in the ways of the world. The carnal church is not weak in the ways of the world. They have absorbed and taken hold of the ways of the world; that's why they're called the “harlot.” And we're called to step out by faith, to put our trust wholly in God, not just in the area of healing, but in deliverance in circumstances. The Lord came to deliver us from everything that involves the curse of sin and of death. In fact, in Ephesians, where he says, “by grace are you saved (sozo) through faith,” the word “saved” there is used in the Scriptures for salvation of the soul, for salvation regarding healing, for salvation in circumstances (when they were in the boat that was filling with water, for instance), and for deliverance from demons. The same word is used in all of those instances. Sometimes it's translated “made whole.” (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. God will not permit us to have His salvation where we can earn it or where we are strong enough for it. He doesn't permit it. He puts us in situations where we're not strong or wise enough. But the world and the worldly Christian will try to convince you that you can be wise enough, you can gain enough strength to take care of this thing and they will give you all their worldly wisdom so that you'll come against it but, ultimately, because God loves you, He will see to it that you fail. In all of your efforts to save yourself, because He loves you, He will see to it that you fail. Men can't take one curse off, although they can sure shove it around. Only God can take a curse off because these curses come to try us, to get us in the position of being saved by God. Therefore, if you fail in this point, then you're going to go around the mountain again and you're going to come into the same trial again. This is why men can't ever deliver you because, if you do it man's way, well, you're just going to bump into it again down the road. You're going to go around that mountain, and the same trial again and again; and you'll just keep going around until you get it right. All man can do is put more curses upon you, you see. You'll keep going around and come back to the same trial until you get it right, until you do it God's way. How many times did God run the Israelites around out in that wilderness? And they cried, and they moaned, and they groaned, and they wanted to go back to Egypt (Exodus 14:11-12; 16:3). That's what the worldly church leadership is teaching people. “Go back to Egypt. Go ahead. There's nothing wrong with that. That's the way God does it now. Go on back to Egypt. Go back to the ways of the flesh. Go back to the strength of man, the arm of the flesh,” and so on and so forth, you know. They want you to put your trust in the arm of the flesh, but no, don't do it because there's a curse in that. (Jer.17:5 Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.) The curse is here, if nowhere else. You see, we've been given a certain amount of time to run this race and to bear fruit, and if all you do is run in circles, you're never going to finish the race. You never finish the race running in circles. We're running a race against time and at the finish line, we have to have the fruit. And God puts these trials in our way so that we go through them His way and overcome them His way. He puts them in our way because they're much bigger than we are. We can cry about going back to getting the strength of Egypt, or we can walk by faith in Jesus to overcome and have that strength for the next trial. Every time you overcome, you have that strength from Him. You can look back and remember what God did, and that's His plan. It was God Who brought the Israelites out into that wilderness, into some impossible situations.  When they first came out of Egypt and were going south, they were free; they were delivered; it was nothing but open country in front of them. (Exo.14:1) And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon: over against it shall ye encamp by the sea. (3) And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. (4) And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh….  Who do you think Pharaoh might be? He was the ruler over the Egyptians, but I'll tell you another thing that can be seen here. If you remember, Paul likened the Israelites going through the Red Sea to them being baptized (1 Corinthians 10:1,2) and, of course, going through the Red Sea, the old man dies, but the new man is given life. So the old man was the Egyptian and the new man was the Israelite. When they went through the Red Sea, they were baptized in the Red Sea, in the water and in the cloud, and the old man, the Egyptian, died. Well, Pharaoh was the Lord, the god of the Egyptians. In fact, that was what his name meant – “The God.” Now, who is the god of the flesh? Satan. The devil is the god of the flesh and has been given power and authority to do what he does. Jesus said, “all authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth” (Mat.28:18). “All of it. All of it's been given unto Me.” Therefore, what the devil has, God gives him. And what the devil has, we give him. You can make “Pharaoh” bigger or you can make him smaller. You can take away his authority and power by agreeing with the Word, or you can give him authority and power by believing in him, believing in his strength and believing in his might. You can do that. Well, God made Pharaoh strong. He hardened Pharaoh's heart, and He made him strong. He made Pharaoh's people strong so that the salvation would be from God.  God gave us an enemy to conquer that appears to be so much stronger than we are, and that's the flesh. You look at your flesh. You look at the old man, the Egyptian, and you say, “Oh, Lord!” You get worried. The more you look at him, the more worried you get. “How am I ever going to beat this giant?” But God puts you in those positions on purpose. He has you there with enemies that appear much bigger than you are, but in actuality they're just bread for you. I like what Joshua and Caleb said about the people of Canaan: “they are bread for us” (Num.14:9). They're just something that is made for you to eat up and get bigger and stronger. God put them there so that His power would totally conquer them. He wasn't counting on your power. The Israelites had no power against the Egyptians. The Egyptians were a mighty, well-armed army, and God put the Israelites in that position so their salvation had to come from God. Back where we left off, Pharaoh wanted them to serve God in Egypt and God told Moses what to say to Pharaoh. (Exo.7:16) And thou shalt say unto him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou hast not hearkened. And then later, when Pharaoh was starting to give in a little bit, he called for Moses and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land (Exo.8:25); in other words, in Egypt. You know, that's right where a lot of Christians are. They're sacrificing to God in Egypt. That is, they think they're doing it God's way, but they're doing it in Egypt. (Exo.8:26) And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. See, we can't serve God in Egypt. We can't do it the Egyptians' way. If you're copying the world in any way in your salvation, then you're missing God because that's not the way God does it. Pharaoh's going to tell you, “It's okay. You can serve your god but just do it in Egypt, don't do it in the wilderness.” In Egypt they trusted in the strength that they received from Egypt and lived off the flesh-pots (Exodus 16:3); in other words, they lived off the flesh. But God wanted them in the wilderness where they couldn't have any help from anything else but Him. The power came from God, His ability. And the devil's going to tempt you the same way. He does it all the time. “It's okay, serve God, but do it this way. Just do it the way the Egyptians do it.” But God is doing it in such a way that we'll never be able to put our trust in the arm of the flesh again. It'll be a total victory over the flesh.  So God brought the Israelites out there into that wilderness, and He put them in this neat little trap between Migdol and the Red Sea to see what they would do. They didn't handle it well. They cried out, “Whoa! We wish you would have left us in Egypt to serve the Egyptians!” (Exodus 14:10-12) But God brought them there to part the Red Sea and do the greatest miracle of deliverance for them. He brought them to that situation, and we ought to see our situations that way too. We are in a wilderness experience going through this world. God is bringing us to all these impossible situations so that He can prove how big a God He is. His whole purpose is to prove how big a God He is. And the more impossible the situation, the bigger He becomes, in our mind anyway. That's what He wants. He wants us to glorify Him for what a great salvation He brings us to. And so God brought the Israelites from this trap to other traps. He brought them to the bitter waters (Exodus 15:23) and He had Moses throw in a tree that made the bitter waters sweet (Exodus 15:25). And I personally believe that the “bitter waters” symbolize our tongue because James talks about the sweet and the bitter waters that come from the same well, and he says it shouldn't be this way (James 3:10,11). (For a deeper understanding of this, read our book titled “The Tongue Conquers the Curse.”) God delivered us at the cross. That was the tree that was cast in that made the bitter waters sweet. God delivered us from the bitter waters of our own tongue because “death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Pro.18:21). “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We have the ability to change things in this wilderness that we're in with our tongue. God gave us that ability at the cross. He made the bitter waters sweet at the cross. The very next thing God did was make an ordinance. (Exo.15:26) If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee (Hebrew: Jehovah-Rophe). And God brought them to the place in the wilderness where there was no food (Exodus 16:3) and He gave them the food. He met their need for food. And He brought them to the place where there was no water (Exodus 17:1) and He brought water out of the rock (Exodus 17:6). God brought the Israelites to impossible situations, one after another, and He brought them against enemies who were much bigger than them. It was one impossible situation after another and, in every case, God planned a great deliverance for them, if they would just put their trust in Him. We see over and over in the Scriptures that God did this. Look at what God did with Gideon's army. The Lord whittled them down from 32,000 men to 10,000 and then from 10,000 down to 300 (Judges 7:7) to come against an army that was as many as the sands of the sea (Judges 7:12), so that Gideon's army couldn't say, “mine own hand hath saved me” (Jdg.7:2). There were too many Israelites for God to give the Midianites and Amalekites and children of the east into their hand, and He would have to whittle them down so that they would know that this was a mighty miracle from God. And how did He do it? He sent those 300 men out there with pitchers and torches, and when they broke the pitchers, the torches shone forth (Judges 7:20) and put the enemy in a fright (Judges 7:21). I believe those torches are likened to our spirit and that those pitchers are likened to our carnal vessel, our earthly vessel. The torch is like the spirit-man, so that when we're broken, the spirit-man is able to shine forth and the enemy is put to flight. What a simple thing! No swords, no cannons, no nothing! God made it ridiculous. He put a fright in those Midianites and Amalekites so that they feared and they ran, and they killed each other because of 300 torches. God's plan will work when reason just never will. You wouldn't think that would reasonably work. Nobody would make a plan like that except God, Who has the ability to put fear- total, devastating fear- in your enemy. I've seen Him do that. It's so wondrous how He can do that, make them turn and run. Praise God!

Preaching: Evan Gear "What Jacob Is in Egypt" Exodus 1:1-7

“All the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” — 1 Chronicles 16:26 Some years ago in Cairo, Egypt, I saw an image of Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Ra is portrayed as a colorful, striking figure with a falcon's head and a sun disk perched above him. Ra was worshiped as the most important and powerful of the gods of ancient Egypt. But he wasn't the only one; the Egyptians worshiped over 2,000 gods and goddesses.Gathered at Mount Sinai after more than 400 years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were familiar with Ra and other Egyptian gods. So it's no surprise that in the first of the commandments God gave them, he said, “You shall have no other gods before me.”The God who had brought Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12- 14), who provided for their every need and made promises to them, also called his people to give him their sole allegiance. As the one true God, the Lord who made the heavens and the earth called Israel to worship him as their only God. He commanded them to worship him alone, trust only in him, look to him for every good thing, and humbly and patiently love him, fear him, and honor him with all of their heart, soul, and mind.I saw Ra, the old sun god of Egypt, in a museum display of dusty, ancient history. Ra was just a figment of the Egyptians' imagination. But the one true God, who is still with us today, is as living and active as ever, and he commands us to love and serve only him, with our whole being, as Jesus did.  Father God, you made us to worship you alone. Keep our hearts focused on you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

(This podcast was previously published on September 7, 2021)   Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ...   2 Peter 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:  

The Prince of Egypt / Exodus 2 Pastor Amos Chute / 07-19-26 Download

Holy Spirit #2: This message emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is the source of power for the believer, providing the necessary ability to minister and represent the Kingdom of God from within. Drawing a contrast between the Old and New Testaments, I explain that while the Law brought condemnation and death, the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus makes believers free [Romans 8:2]. A critical distinction is made between being born again -- receiving resurrected life as the disciples did when Jesus breathed on them in John 20:22 -- and receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is the "power from on high" (Luke 24:49) described in Acts 2. This baptism is a gift received by faith [Galatians 3:14], enabling Christians to move beyond a passive experience to become active, fervent witnesses for the Gospel [Acts 1:8]. Furthermore, this message highlights that every believer is now the temple of the Holy Ghost, bought with the precious blood of Jesus and no longer belonging to themselves [1 Corinthians 6:19-20]. Just as God appeared to Moses in the burning bush to send him with a message of deliverance from Egypt [Exodus 3], believers today are sent to preach reconciliation and deliverance to a world held in spiritual darkness. Because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within the believer [Romans 8:11], they have authority to overcome the devil and should walk in the Spirit of ". . .power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). By recognizing our identity as sons and daughters of God and ". . .joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17), we can boldly exercise our authority over the works of the enemy [Revelation 12:11]. Join me as we delve into these Scriptures and more for your edification. Selah! For more: Copy and Paste or Enter into ChatGPT.com, "Create a Study Guide for Episode #105 Holy Spirit #2 from Abounding Love Ministries" ].       www.aboundinglove.org

Sermon Outline: "You Can Get There from Here" I. Introduction: The Divine Waymaker Overcoming the World's Directions: In the natural world, when asking for directions, people might discouragingly tell you, "You can't get there from here." However, God specializes in impossible routes. No matter your starting point or how dead-end your situation seems, God can get you to your divine destination. The Invisible Path: Reading from Psalm 77:19, Pastor Rhonda highlights that God's road often leads straight through the sea and mighty waters—paths that no one even knew existed, leaving no human footsteps behind. The God of Action: Citing Psalm 77:13-14, we serve a great God who actively makes things happen and pulls His people out of the worst kind of trouble. II. Point 1: Start Right Here (The Beauty of the Sanctuary) Choosing a New Path: In Psalm 84, the sons of Korah write about longing for the courts of the Lord. This is significant because their ancestor, Korah, rebelled and was destroyed. Yet, his descendants chose a different path. You may come from generations of brokenness, but you can choose today to serve the Lord. Proximity Over Position: The house of God is beautiful not because of its physical architecture or staging, but because it is where God's people gather to corporately meet with Him. A Day in His Courts: According to the Psalmist, a single day in God's courts is better than a thousand days spent anywhere else. Proximity to God trumps any secular privilege—even a debt-free million-dollar resort or a palace. Strength to Strength: In the sanctuary, believers draw dynamic strength from one another's testimonies—seeing brothers and sisters who have conquered cancer, beaten addictions, and defied medical odds. Together, they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping) and turn it into a place of fresh, living springs. III. Point 2: Remember God's Track Record The Roundabout Way: When God delivered Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 14), He intentionally did not lead them along the shortest route through Philistine territory. God stated His strategy: He knew that if they faced an immediate battle, they would get discouraged and turn back. Strategic Position vs. Apparent Mistake: God purposefully led them on a roundabout way through the wilderness to camp at a perceived dead end at Baal Zephon. To Pharaoh and the enemy, it looked like they were wandering aimlessly and trapped by the wilderness. The Enemy's Trap: What the world or the enemy labels as a disastrous mistake is actually God's hidden strategy. God didn't build a dead end to trap His people; He built a trap to eliminate their enemy. IV. Point 3: Trust the God Who Takes You Through the Obstacle Through, Not Around: When the crisis hit at the Red Sea, God did not build a bridge over it, send boats to carry them, or take them around it. He took them straight through it. The obstacle itself became the road. Night Season Operations: God blew back the waters all through the night season. When you are in your own dark night season and cannot see a way forward, that is precisely when God is operating behind the scenes to clear your pathway. The Mystery of the Dolphin Skins: In Exodus 26:11, God instructs Moses to cover the ceiling of the Tabernacle's tent of meeting with dolphin skins. While finding sea creatures in the middle of a dry wilderness seems impossible, Jewish history and various scholars suggest a powerful reason: As the Israelites crossed the Red Sea with walls of water stacked high on either side, they could see the marine life. They carried those skins into the wilderness as a permanent structural reminder in their ceiling to look up and remember: “We did not get here by ourselves; it was the Lord who redeemed us.” The Right to Cross Over: Because the blood of Jesus has purchased you, you are legally classified as the redeemed of the Lord, giving you an absolute right to cross over your barriers. V. Point 4: Trust the Process from the Manger to the Throne God's Unconventional Pathways: Throughout history, God has continuously built unexpected avenues of deliverance using unlikely people: He anointed a heathen king named Cyrus to march through the Euphrates River at night to overthrow Babylon and deliver His weeping people. He anointed a simple cupbearer named Nehemiah to stand before King Artaxerxes to secure the rebuilding of Jerusalem's ruined walls. Shouting to the Mountain: When holy projects stop halfway and leave you in disappointment, we must speak the prophetic words of Zechariah 4:7: Cry "Grace, grace" to the mountain, and it shall be leveled into a plain. The Humble Arrival: When the King of Kings arrived, He bypassed the expected pathways of Middle Eastern royalty—the velvet tapestries, marble floors, and royal heralds. Instead, He started in a dusty, earthy manger filled with straw and the smell of livestock. Palace Transmutations: God took a route no human saw coming. If God can navigate a path from a low, dirty manger straight to the right hand of the Throne, He can take the "manger" situations of your life and turn them into a palace. VI. Conclusion: No Throne Without the Cross The Strategic Weapon: The cross was naturally a site of execution, sin, deep shame, and public humiliation. The religious elite and demonic principalities assumed Jesus could never reach the throne from such a low place of defeat. Returning to the Feet of the Cross: The cross is not just the entry point of your salvation; it is your ongoing structural weapon against the enemy. When you are bullied by fear, intrusive thoughts, or defeat, return to the feet of the cross where the veil was torn, sin was destroyed, and shame was paid back. The Third Day Resurrection: The apparent defeat of the cross was turned around on the third day when Jesus was triumphantly resurrected from the tomb. Because of that structural victory, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that reigns supreme over cancer, sickness, debt, and every dead-end trap of the enemy. Scripture Index Here are the primary scriptures read, cited, or expounded upon during the service: Psalm 77:19 > "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." Psalm 77:13-14 > "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people." Psalm 84:1-2 > "How amiable [lovely] are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." Psalm 84:6-7 (Referenced) – Passing through the Valley of Baca [weeping] and making it a well, as they go from strength to strength. Psalm 84:10 > "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Exodus 14 (Referenced) – The account of God leading Israel the roundabout way through the wilderness to camp at Baal Zephon, and Pharaoh assuming they were trapped. Isaiah 51:9-10 (Paraphrased) – Awaking the arm of the Lord to put on strength as in ancient generations, drying up the great deep to make a road for the redeemed to cross over. Exodus 26:11 / Exodus 36:19 (Referenced) – The structural command to cover the tent of the Tabernacle with a covering of dolphin skins [badger/sea-cow skins in some translations]. Zechariah 4:7 > "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." Isaiah 51:11 (Referenced) – The redeemed of the Lord returning and coming with singing unto Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. Numbers 6:24-26 (The Benediction) > "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." "Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

In this sermon, Pastor Jake unpacks Revelation 15 and invites us to “follow the smoke” of God's presence through the wilderness of this age. Drawing rich parallels between Revelation and the Exodus story, he shows how the same fire that judges evil (Revelation 15:1, 7–8; Exodus 9–12) becomes protection and sanctuary for those who stand in the “burned over place” of the cross (Isaiah 53:4–6; Galatians 2:20).Key themes include:New Exodus & the WildernessSee how Revelation presents the church as God's people on a wilderness journey (Revelation 12:6, 14; 15:2–4), echoing Israel's path from Egypt to the Promised Land (Exodus 14–17; Deuteronomy 8:2–3). We are learning to guard our allegiance to the Lamb (Revelation 14:1–5) and resist the dragon, the beasts, and Babylon (Revelation 12–13; 17–18).Plagues, Justice, and the Prayers of the SaintsExplore how the seven bowls of wrath (Revelation 15:1, 7; 16:1–21) mirror the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7–12) and are connected to the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8; 8:3–5). God's judgment is His measured, righteous response to evil (Romans 2:5; 2 Peter 3:9–10) and His answer to our longing for justice (Luke 18:1–8).Sea of Glass & Song of Moses and the LambJohn's vision of the sea of glass glowing with fire (Revelation 15:2) recalls Israel standing safe on the far side of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21–31). At the very center of judgment imagery is worship: the people of God singing the song of Moses and the Lamb (Revelation 15:3–4; Exodus 15:1–18; Psalm 98:1–3). Worship and presence are inseparable (Revelation 4–5; John 4:23–24).Smoke, Glory, and the Way InThe temple filled with smoke (Revelation 15:5–8) points back to God's glory filling the tabernacle and making it unenterable (Exodus 40:34–35) and the temple scenes of Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isaiah 6:1–7; Ezekiel 10:3–4). Pastor Jake shows how this is not exclusion but invitation: the Lamb is both sacrifice and high priest (Hebrews 4:14–16; 9:11–14; 10:19–22), the only way into God's presence (John 14:6).From there, the message presses home three Spirit-formed works in our wilderness journey:Provision – Learning dependence as God provides in supernatural ways (Exodus 16–17; Matthew 6:25–34; Philippians 4:19). True maturity is not independence from God but joyful reliance on Him (John 15:5).Protection – Living boldly in a world where the dragon wages war on the church (Revelation 12:17; 13:7), yet knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:31–39; John 10:27–30; Psalm 91:1–4).Preparation – Allowing the wilderness to expose and sanctify our hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2; 1 Peter 1:6–7; James 1:2–4). Through community, correction, and surrender, we are being formed into a people ready for honorable use (2 Timothy 2:20–21) and for the age to come (Revelation 21:1–5).If you're walking through fire, wrestling with dependence, or facing spiritual opposition, this message calls you to stand in the finished work of Jesus, follow the smoke of His presence, and trust His provision, protection, and preparation in the wilderness.

February 22,2026

I call out to Isaiah: اخرج من الكتب القديمة (ukhruj min al-kutub al-qadīmah), come out of the old books as they came out. The world needs you now.Mahmoud Darwish said it under the siege of Beirut, in 1982, watching human flesh hung from the walls over the openings of the Old Testament. He knew what most of us still do not: that the scroll does not stay on the shelf. The prophet steps off the page. Each time the Gospel of Luke is proclaimed, Isaiah walks the streets of any empire that is using his book to justify injustice. The suffering slave, the mešullam (Isaiah 42:19), from the root ש־ל־מ (šin-lamed-mem), the one at peace, made whole through submission, comes out of the scroll without relent to face every generation each time the empire thinks it has buried him, and in every generation he is heard again, standing in the Decapolis, proclaiming what great things God has done (Luke 8:39).This is the test Luke puts to you, first at Gerasa, and then at the Commission of the Twelve.The Shepherd arrived on the contested shore, the Decapolis, ten cities imposed by Rome on Syro-Arabian nomadic land, and he did what the mešullam does. He drove the legion of Rome into the sea (Luke 8:32-33), the way Moses drove Pharaoh's chariots into the sea (Exodus 14:27-28), and the people of the city did exactly what the wilderness generation did at the meat-pots of Egypt (Exodus 16:3; Numbers 14:2-4). They said: “Leave us alone. We were better off in slavery.” They begged the Shepherd to go (Luke 8:37). And he did. The boat pulled away from the shore of Gerasa, and that boat was ἀποτινάσσω (apotinasso), the sandal shaken at the threshold of the entire region, the verb נטשׁ (naṭaš), from the root נ־ט־שׁ (nun-ṭet-šin), written across the water (1 Samuel 10:2; Jeremiah 12:7), the dust of the God who marches forward, deposited on the coastline of a city that loved its bondage. “I have forsaken my house. I have abandoned my heritage” (Jeremiah 12:7). The Gerasenes were cowards, and the Shepherd honored their cowardice the way the text always honors cowardice: he left them to it.But he did not leave the city.He sent the found man back.The Shepherd shook the dust and sent the prophet back into the city that had just been sealed with it. ὑπόστρεφε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου, καὶ διηγοῦ ὅσα σοι ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός (hupostrephe eis ton oikon sou, kai diegou hosa soi epoiesen ho theos), “return to your house, and describe what great things God has done for you” (Luke 8:39). That ὑποστρέφω (hupostrepho) is the root ש־ו־ב (šin-waw-bet), the turn God commands into the place where his name has been denied. Abraham returning from the valley of kings (Genesis 14:17). Moses returning to the mountain still breathing the stench of the calf (Exodus 32:30-31). Gideon returning to the camp (Judges 7:15). The found man is deployed into Greco-Roman imperial territory, as the suffering slave made whole through submission, and his presence in that city is a standing rebuke. A living testimony of mercy refused and judgment invited. He is Isaiah coming out of the old books. He is the mešullam walking the streets.The Gerasenes were blind with the blindness of Isaiah 6: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and turn” (Isaiah 6:9-10; cf. John 12:40; Matthew 13:14-15). That is the blindness God imposes on the arrogant so that his judgment is total for the sake of the poor's deliverance (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19). The refusing city is blind in that sense. They saw the legion go into the sea but could not see what was staring them in the face.But the found man was blind with the blindness of the suffering slave in Isaiah 42: “Who is blind but my slave, or so deaf as my messenger whom I send?” (Isaiah 42:19). The mešullam. He did not see; he trusted that God saw on his behalf. He did not speak for himself; he spoke what Jesus sent him to speak (Luke 8:39). He carried nothing into the streets of the Decapolis except the command of the one who had found him.This is the commission Luke 9 delivers to the Twelve.συγκαλεσάμενος δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα (sunkalesamenos de tous dodeka), “having called the Twelve together,” ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς δύναμιν καὶ ἐξουσίαν (edoken autois dunamin kai exousian), “he gave them power and authority,” καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς (kai apesteilen autous), “and he sent them out” (Luke 9:1-2). With no staff. No bag. No bread. No money. No second tunic (Luke 9:3). Why? Because the suffering slave carries nothing. Because the mešullam does not defend himself. Because his Father said, “Be still, I am the one who fights for you, not you” (Exodus 14:13-14). Because if the Twelve carried a bag, they would be carrying David's crutch: the five smooth stones in the shepherd's pouch (1 Samuel 17:40); if they carried a second tunic, they would be hedging against the Father's provision (Matthew 6:25-33); if they carried bread, they would be trading in the coin of the city they were sent to judge. They are sent as the found man was sent: empty-handed, blind in the blindness of trust, deployed into contested territory as the living proclamation that the Lord's Shepherd has arrived.And at every threshold, one of two things happens. The household receives them, μένετε (menete), “remain” (Luke 9:4). What Paul commands as στήκετε (stekete, Galatians 5:1), ὑπομονή (hypomone, Romans 5:3-4), what the Qurʾan names صمود (ṣumūd) from the root ص-م-د (ṣād-mīm-dāl) (Qurʾan 112:2), this is your test, this is your Decapolis, this is the house where the prophet is received, or the house refuses them, and they ἀποτινάσσετε τὸν κονιορτὸν (apotinassete ton koniorton), they shake the dust (Luke 9:5), as the Shepherd shook it when the boat pulled away from Gerasa, the אָבָק (ʾabaq), from the root א־ב־ק (ʾalef-bet-qof), of Deuteronomy 28 (Deuteronomy 28:24). The cloud of the feet of the marching God in Nahum (Nahum 1:3). The plague-powder of Exodus 9 (Exodus 9:8-9). Deposited on the doorframe of the house that refused. The refuser نبذوه وراء ظهورهم (nabadhūhu warāʾa ẓuhūrihim), from the root ن-ب-ذ (nūn-bāʾ-dhāl), who casts the Book behind his back (Qurʾan, Sūrat Āl ʿImrān آل عمران “The Family of ʿImrān” 3:187; cf. Sūrat al-Baqarah البقرة “The Cow” 2:101). Two gestures, one movement. The Book behind the refuser's back. The dust behind the messenger's sandal. Both remain, recorded as evidence against those who reject the prophet until the Hour.The dust on the threshold and the prophet in the house are the same testimony. The dust is the judgment that severs the refusing city from its false peace. The prophet is the judgment that walks the streets of the city that refused, until the poor of that city hear and turn. Mercy is not leniency against judgment. Judgment itself is hope (Isaiah 26:8-9). Judgment is what cuts off your false hope in the sons of men (Psalm 146:3), the Satan who rules human institutions (2 Thessalonians 2:4, 9), so that in your darkness you can be found by the fierce light of God's voice (John 1:5; cf. Qurʾan, Sūrat al-Nūr النور “The Light” 24:35). The dust falls and the prophet walks, and both are the arm of the Lord that Isaiah names (Isaiah 53:1), revealed to whomever will believe the report (John 12:38).This week I discuss Luke 9:5. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

April 24, 2026Today's Reading: Introit for Easter 4 - Psalm 66:3, 5, 8-9; antiphon: Psalm 66:1-2Daily Lectionary: Exodus 39:32-40:16; Luke 8:22-39“Come and see what God has done.” (Psalm 66:5) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. King Hezekiah is the best king Judah had since David (2 Kings 18:1-3). Like David, he fights the Philistines. He expands Judah's land and he restores true worship (spelled: F-A-I-T-H) by getting rid of the “high places” forbidden in Deuteronomy 12:10-14. He smashes the Asherah pillars and crushes the bronze serpent of Moses, to which Judah burned incense (2 Kings 18:4).  However, the mighty Assyrians under Sennacherib are on the move. Judah faces the same fate as the Northern Kingdom. In the “fourteenth year” of King Hezekiah (Isaiah 36:1 – a clue that suggests the events of Isaiah 36-39 are similar to Passover – see Leviticus 23:5), the Assyrians taunt the Jerusalemites by contending that they should not expect Hezekiah or the LORD to save them.  Why? Because no gods have been able to stand against Assyria! Sounds like Pharaoh, “Who is the LORD?” (Exodus 5:2). Hezekiah takes the derisive letter into the temple and spreads it before the LORD. He asks God to hear the Assyrian blasphemies Assyrians and defend Himself. “So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone,” (2 Kings 19:19; also Isaiah 36:18-20; 37:1-10). The LORD humbles the gods of Assyria (Isaiah 37:21-29) just as He did with the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12). The “angel of death” passes through the Assyrian camp by night and slaughters 185,000 of them (Isaiah 37:36; cf. Exodus 12:23).  Isaiah 38 tells the story of Hezekiah's illness and recovery. Hezekiah offers a psalm of thanksgiving (38:19-20). The “angel of death” slaughtered the Assyrians but passed over Hezekiah. In a sense, Judah has experienced a new Passover or a Passover 2.0 with the angel of death delivering her – this time from the Assyrians. No wonder Psalm 66, first written because of what we have just reviewed, exhorts the people of the Old Testament or any Christian to “come and see what God has done.” And to give “him glorious praise.” King Hezekiah sure did!  We pray this psalm in response to the greater exodus (Luke 9:31) that the LORD Jesus did for us and for our salvation when He suffered (including all the mockery), died, and rose on the third day. He crushed the enemy Satan's head. He achieved and accomplished our salvation through the shedding of His blood from His crucified body. On the night when He was betrayed, during the context of a Passover meal, Jesus instituted His Supper, by which He gives us His crucified, risen, and ascended Body and Blood to eat and drink, with the promise that all our sins are forgiven (Matthew 26:26-28). Jesus is God FOR YOU! In the Lord's Supper, “come and see what God has done for you” and gives you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. LORD Jesus Christ. Thank you for saving me on the cross. I trust You. Amen. 

Did the Exodus really happen—and can we trace it today? From the Egyptian Museum to the possible crossing site of the Red Sea, the journey raises powerful questions. Join Jim Scudder on InGrace as Exodus Found – Part 1 begins, exploring the evidence and what it means for the truth of Scripture. Join the adventure!

  Church Life, “A Providential Plot”                     Acts 23:12-35The Conspiracy (vv. 12-22) The Communication (vv. 23-30) The Control (vv. 31-35)            - Providence Through Prayer:  - The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18 & Ezek. 16).- Israel's deliverance from Egypt (Exodus).- Christ's resurrection (Psa. 22:19–22).- The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Jo. 14).- Your conversion

Israel’s presence in Egypt is often debated by scholars, but it serves a vital function in the biblical narrative. | Exodus | Series: Going Home the Long Way (Exodus)

In this episode, we'll be studying Exodus chapter 7 through 13. Some material that you'll find very familiar to you. This is, of course, the intriguing story of the children of Israel coming out of captivity because God spared His people, and the type that became for all of the covenant people to this very day.

April 6–12: “Remember This Day, in Which Ye Came Out from Egypt”Exodus 7–13Plague after plague afflicted Egypt, but Pharaoh still refused to release the Israelites. And yet God continued to demonstrate His power and give Pharaoh opportunities to accept “that I am the Lord” and “there is none like me in all the earth” (Exodus 7:5; 9:14). Meanwhile, Moses and the Israelites must have watched with awe at these manifestations of God's power on their behalf. Surely these continued signs confirmed their faith in God and strengthened their willingness to follow God's prophet. Then, after nine terrible plagues had failed to free the Israelites, it was the tenth plague—the death of the firstborn, including Pharaoh's firstborn—that finally ended the captivity. This seems fitting because in every case of spiritual captivity, there truly is only one way to escape. It is only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Firstborn—the blood of the Lamb without blemish—that will save us.A Come Follow Me Podcast For Kids Primary Podcast Welcome to Come Follow Me Kids! We are a scripture study podcast that accompanies the Come Follow Me Manual by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We play games, sing songs, and tell stories to go along with the scriptures. This year we are specifically studying the Old Testament. We sometimes use audio clips from the Friend Magazine and other church sources, however we are not officially sponsored by the church in any way. If your children would like a free baptism shout out or to be guests on this podcast, email us at comefollowmekidsposcast@gmail.com. If you like this podcast, please leave us a review. Thank you!

Join Pastor Ryan and Sean as they dive deeper into the Exodus series and continue the conversation around Encountering God.Check out the Stories of Hope podcast:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPe4iZS-2t-r7AmWbx1RX9AN5M67rM9anStay in touch with us on Instagram | Facebook | Spotify - True Hope ChurchVisit our Website:https://www.truehopechurch.org

This message warns and exhorts believers to remain faithful amid growing cultural and spiritual opposition, drawing parallels between modern society and biblical patterns of judgment and deliverance, emphasizing that God has always revealed His plans to His people (Isaiah 46:10), as seen in His warning to Abraham before judging Sodom (Genesis 18:17–33) and His rescue of the righteous like Lot (Genesis 19), reminding the church that tribulation is not avoided but endured by God's people (2 Timothy 3:12), that Sodom's sins included pride, abundance, idleness, and neglect of the poor (Ezekiel 16:49), and that God knows how to rescue the godly while reserving the unjust for judgment (2 Peter 2:6–10), cautioning that greater revelation brings greater accountability (Matthew 11:23–24), affirming that believers are not appointed to wrath but will face suffering, unity-testing trials that refine faith, warning against isolation from the body of Christ (Luke 16:8, 1 Corinthians 15:33), encouraging discernment in a deceptive world, and pointing to the consistent biblical pattern of refuge through judgment—from Noah's ark (Genesis 6–9, 2 Peter 2:5), to Israel in Egypt (Exodus 7–14), to the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), culminating in Christ's revealed prophecy meant to prepare, not hide truth from the church (Revelation 1:1–3, Revelation 21:8), urging believers not to fear but to persevere in faith, love, and obedience, trusting that God redeems through tribulation and preserves His people to the end. You can connect with Moriel in more locations than just YouTube! Check out all our official links on the About page: https://www.youtube.com/c/MorielTVministries/about.

A sermon from our series on the book of Exodus. Date: 15 March 2026 Speaker: Jeremy Wright Exodus 4:18-7:13 www.stmatthews.com.au/unichurch

Sunday Evening Service - March 8, 2026 Tate Fritz Exodus 4:27-6:1

A sermon from our series on the book of Exodus. Date: 01 March 2026 Speaker: Ben Smart Exodus 1-2 www.stmatthews.com.au/unichurch

February 11, 2026

Thursday, February 5, 2026

SANCTITY LIFE SUNDAY SERMON "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters ...the land was desecrated by their blood." Psalm 106:37-38 Abortion is a modern equivalent of child sacrifice. The births of both Moses and Jesus were accompanied by a massive slaughter of the innocent. Both the Old and New Testaments record widespread infanticide being unleashed in attempts to eradicate the people of God. Just as God's people opposed Pharaoh's decree to murder new-born boys in Egypt (Exodus 1:15-22), so we need to protect pre-born babies from abortion today. Just as King Herod sought to kill the babies in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:16), so abortionists are attempting to butcher babies today. The most dangerous place in the world is not Zimbabwe, Sudan or the Congo. The most dangerous place in the world is the womb. Pre-born babies are being killed in their mothers' wombs at a greater rate than any other section of society. The mortality rate for pre-born babies varies from one in four to one in three. A growing number of Christians worldwide are coming to recognise the abortion holocaust as the greatest crime being committed in the world today. It is an urgent priority for the Church to expose, oppose and end this war against children made in the image of God. It is a Matter of LIFE and Death The sanctity of human life is an essential article of the Christian Faith. The Bible makes it clear that life begins at conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 44:2; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41). The unborn baby is then genetically, physiologically and organically, a distinct person. At that moment life begins. At about three weeks

Monday, January 26, 2026

Friday, January 23, 2026

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Read OnlineJohn the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'” John 1:29–30Central to the Jewish faith was the Feast of Passover, the commemoration of God's deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12). In Jesus' time, Passover was one of three major annual feasts during which the Jews made a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Additionally, the Feast of Weeks celebrated the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai and the first fruits of the harvest (Leviticus 23:15-22), and the Feast of Tabernacles recalled the Israelites' wandering in the desert and celebrated God's providence (Leviticus 23:33-43).Recall the first Passover meal. Moses instructed the people to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, mark the doorposts of their homes with its blood, and eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in haste, ready to depart. This act of faith and obedience protected them from the angel of death who passed over the marked houses, sparing the firstborn of Israel, while striking down the firstborn of Egypt. The Passover thus became a perpetual memorial of God's saving power and His covenantal faithfulness to His people.Because of the Passover, the idea of a sacrificial lamb was intimately familiar to the Jewish people. The Jews were also familiar with the prophecy in Isaiah 53—often referred to as the Suffering Servant—in which the servant of the Lord is described as “a lamb led to the slaughter,” who bears the sins of many (Isaiah 53:7, 10–12). Additionally, each morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple as a continual offering for sin (Exodus 29:38–42).As Jesus began His public ministry, the first thing said of Him came from John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” His words would have resonated within the minds and hearts of John's disciples. His disciples believed that John was a great prophet and the forerunner of the Messiah, sent to prepare the way for the Lord. They saw him as a holy man who called for repentance and renewal, and some even wondered if he himself might be the Christ, though John consistently denied this.Because John's ministry was one of preparation for the Messiah, his disciples would have anticipated the Messiah's imminent arrival. Imagine the excitement, surprise, questions, uncertainty, and hope that would have filled their minds and hearts as they listened to John's prophecy about Jesus. John continued, “He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'”Though John's proclamation about Jesus took on a powerful significance for his disciples that first moment that he revealed Jesus as the Lamb of God, John's words must resonate within each of us today. Now that the Christmas Season is complete and we enter into Ordinary Time, we are invited to embrace Jesus' public ministry, with all His teachings and Paschal Sacrifice, as something extraordinary in our lives. We must approach His ministry with the same hope, enthusiasm, excitement, and anticipation that John's disciples experienced. Reflect today on the moment when John the Baptist's disciples heard him proclaim, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Like them, strive to see Jesus with new eyes and hopeful anticipation as we begin Ordinary Time. This liturgical season marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, and it must also be a renewed beginning of His works in your life. Follow Him without reserve, allowing Him to take away your sins and share in His life and love. Most holy Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, I choose to follow You, for You are the Messiah, the Son of God. As we enter into Ordinary Time, please give me the grace to embrace Your public ministry in an extraordinary way. May Your working in my life begin anew, transforming me and leading me to the freedom won by Your Paschal Sacrifice. Jesus, I trust in You.Image via Adobe StockSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

a) Moses Returns to Egypt (Exodus 4:18-31)b) Moses Requests, Pharaoh Retaliates (Exodus 5:1-21)c) God Promises Deliverance (Exodus 5:22-6:13)

Preached in 2022. For more resources for knowing and loving God's word, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bcnewton.co⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Exodus: Saved for God's Glory // Philip Graham Ryken⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Exodus // Douglas Stuart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Gleanings in Exodus // A. W. Pink⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Pentateuch as Narrative // John H. Sailhamer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Exodus // John Calvin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you have benefitted from this episode, consider sharing with others. You can also support my work financially⁠ at this link⁠.

Pastor John Brown | Exodus 13:17-15:21 | Denia Community Church - Denton, TX | deniachurch.com

Israel leaves EgyptExodus 12-13Matthew FanningBelievers in Grace Fellowshipwww.believersingrace.com

The Plagues of Egypt  Exodus 7-9 Matthew Fanning Believers in Grace Fellowship www.believeringrace.com

Have you ever wondered if God is really speaking to you—or how to actually hear Him? In this intimate and powerful episode, Petia Kolibova Burns shares three deeply personal stories from the last 48 hours that prove God is always speaking—through people, through Scripture, and through unexpected confirmations. From a prayer answered within the hour to a spontaneous prophetic word during worship, to a direct confirmation from her husband's Bible study mentor—this episode is a living testimony that God hears, sees, and responds. Petia also opens up about her current season of life: being pregnant, caring for a toddler, and choosing faith over fear as she navigates this time of inward reflection and growth. Whether you're feeling spiritually dry, doubting your path, or just craving connection with God—this episode will remind you that your Father is near. Always. What You'll Learn: - 3 unexpected ways God spoke to Petia in 48 hours  - Why staying in the Word matters (especially when you're overwhelmed)  - How to recognize confirmation from the Holy Spirit through others  - The power of sharing your testimony unapologetically  - How to stop looking back at “Egypt” so you can enter your promised land  Bible Verses Mentioned: - The Psalms (exact reference not mentioned, but referenced in the context of comfort and protection)  - Reference to the Israelites looking back at Egypt (Exodus 16, Numbers 11)  Listener Challenge: Reflect on your own life—where has God already answered you? Where might He be speaking right now through people, scripture, or situations? Stay in His Word and make room to listen. Resources & Links:

# Understanding the Second Commandment: Worship in Spirit and Truth In this Bible study session, we delve deep into the essence of the first two commandments, with a particular focus on the second commandment as outlined in **Exodus 20:4-6**. This commandment not only defines how we should worship but also warns against the dangers of idolatry. ## The First Commandment: Prioritizing God We begin with a brief overview of the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me" (**Exodus 20:3**). This commandment lays the foundation for all others by establishing that God must be our sole priority. While we acknowledge that no other gods truly exist, the concept of other gods can distract us from our Creator, thus the emphasis on prioritizing God above all. ## The Second Commandment: How We Worship The second commandment, found in **Exodus 20:4-6**, is more nuanced: - **Exodus 20:4**: "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." - **Exodus 20:5-6**: "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..." This commandment is about the manner of our worship. God warns against creating images as objects of worship, emphasizing that He is a jealous God who desires our exclusive devotion. ## Understanding God's Jealousy The concept of God's jealousy might seem unsettling because human jealousy often leads to negative outcomes. However, God's jealousy is rooted in His desire for our hearts and identity. Unlike human jealousy, which is often about possession, God's jealousy is righteous and seeks to protect our relationship with Him. - **Possession**: God desires our hearts fully devoted to Him.- **Identity**: God's identity is tied to His redemptive acts, such as leading His people out of Egypt (**Exodus 20:2**). ## Consequences and Blessings God outlines the consequences of breaking the second commandment and the blessings of keeping it: - **Punishment**: "Punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."- **Blessing**: "Showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments" (**Exodus 20:5-6**). This warning is not about generational curses but rather about the continuation of sin through generations. Each generation has the choice to either follow or stray from God's commandments. ## Application: Worship in Spirit and Truth In applying the second commandment today, it's crucial to avoid idolizing anything created, whether material possessions or even religious artifacts. Our trust and hope should be firmly placed in God. - **Worship in Spirit**: Recognize God as spirit, transcending all material forms.- **Worship in Truth**: Follow the true path established by Jesus Christ, who is "the way, the truth, and the life" (**John 14:6**). In conclusion, the second commandment guides us to worship God authentically, without the interference of idols or images. By prioritizing God and worshiping in spirit and truth, we align ourselves with His desires and receive His blessings across generations.

Jesus Delivered Us (2) (audio) David Eells – 6/25/25 I'm going to continue speaking about how Jesus has delivered us. When the Syrophoenician woman asked Jesus to deliver her daughter in (Matthew 15:21-28), who was “grievously vexed with a demon” (Mat.15:26) … He answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. Deliverance is for God's people; deliverance is “the children's bread.” Those who think they can go and just cast demons out of any lost person do not know anything about deliverance. In the first place, it's a very dangerous thing to do. We are the ones who are in covenant with God, the covenant being deliverance from the curse of sin and of death (Rom.8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.). This is our covenant. We have a right to total deliverance from bondage of the flesh and from bondage to demon spirits. We have the right, but that does not mean we will attain it. The right to deliverance comes when we receive knowledge and understanding of the promises, and then we enter into those covenant promises by faith. The Bible says in (Heb.4:3) …the works were finished from the foundation of the world. So the only thing remaining is for us to enter into those works through faith. It also says in (Heb.4:2) …but the word of hearing did not profit them (the Jews), because it was not united by faith with them that heard. When the Israelites were supposed to conquer their Promised Land, all they needed to do was what Joshua and Caleb did; they believed the Word of God. Ten of the twelve spies who came back did not believe the Word of God. They believed only what they saw, felt, and heard, and those were the things they confessed. They did not enter into the Promised Land because they brought back a bad report. Let's read that. (Num.13:25) And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. (26) And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. (27) And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us; and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. (28) Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. (29) Amalek dwelleth in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the hill-country; and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and along by the side of the Jordan. (30) And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. (31) But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. (32) And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.  (33) And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Num.14:1) And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. This is also a type and shadow. There are ministers today who do not believe that we can be holy. They do not believe we can overcome sin and the devil. God wants to lead us through our Promised Land or Land of Promise to come against our enemies and conquer them all. But you have no authority to cast a demon out of a person who is full of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and resentment. You'll waste a lot of breath trying to deliver these people because, without true repentance, they can come back. And you do not know the tormentors; you just know that they are demons. They could be demons of spiritual infirmities or they could be unclean spirits. Anyone wanting to help in the ministry of deliverance should first be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need this gift, and a person who is not filled with the Holy Spirit has no business in any deliverance ministry. In the days of the first disciples, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they would make sure other disciples were also filled with the Holy Spirit. (Act.19:1) And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: (2) and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they [said] unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was [given]. (3) And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. (4) And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus. (5) And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit is God's authority to know what is going on in people. We are to live under the law of the Spirit (Romans 7:6,8:2,4; etc.). The Old Testament Law, all those rules and regulations, was given to Israel because they did not have the Spirit of God, and so they didn't know what to do when they got into such-and-such a situation. It does not work that way in the New Testament because we have the Holy Spirit to lead us. (Gal.5:18) But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. He guides us in the ministry of deliverance from lusts of the flesh and demons that rule over the lusts of the flesh. The most common reason why people don't get delivered from demons is because they are not right with their brother, and what often happens is that not being right with their brother does not get revealed. Jesus tells us to make things right with our brother before we bring our gift before the altar; otherwise, He will turn you over to the jailer and the jailer will throw you into prison. That “jailer” is the devil. (Mat.5:23) If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, (24) leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. (25) Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Jesus came to set the captives free. That is what we were, but that is not what we are now supposed to be. We were captive to the lusts of the flesh, representing the old man of the land, who seems like a giant to us, and were captive to the devil. We were in prison, having no hope without God. In Luke 4, Jesus was quoting from Isaiah, (Isa.61:1) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to them that are bound… Liberty to the captives has been proclaimed, but not everybody is entering into this liberty being cowards before their giant flesh. Our job as ministers of reconciliation is to minister the same thing that Jesus ministered. (2Co.5:18) But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation. Our job is to proclaim the liberty that was given to us at the Cross. This liberty is deliverance from bondage to the flesh man, and deliverance from the demons that rule over the him. Then Jesus went on in (Luk.4:18) … to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of the sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. He did not quote the second part of the sentence in (Isa.61:2) To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God… He only quoted the first half of this verse because the day He was ministering in was the day of the Lord's favor, but in these days we're coming to the second half, “the day of vengeance of our God.” While grace and liberty to the captives are being offered, to the extent that we will humble ourselves to the Word is the extent we can enter into it. The Bible says in (Rev.22:18) I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: (19) and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. Even though we have authority to cast out demons, there won't be anything lasting you can do for a person who is adding to or taking away from the Word. If you think you are going to deliver them from that curse, then you're deceived, and you haven't read Deuteronomy 28 for yourself. So that person should fill themselves with the Word to keep their gift. It was not the devil who put the curse on this earth; it was God. He sent the curse because of man's rebellion. The curse is designed to motivate us to run to the Cross and to make us run to Jesus Christ, Who has the only antidote for the curse. The world likes to deceive us into thinking they can solve our curses for us, but it's not possible. All the world can do is just shove the curse around without solving a thing, and they're about to see the truth of that now. For example, diseases they thought they had wiped out are coming back, and they're coming back stronger than ever because of man's intervention. And mans so called cure is killing a lot of people.  You see, it's not possible to destroy a curse that God has put out there, but He also sent Jesus Christ to deliver us from that curse when we repent. God is so merciful that He sent the curse to turn us away from the wrath of hell. The devil will laugh at you when you want to deliver somebody who has not repented. It's a waste of breath and time, and I know because I've tried to do it. When you have people who have not repented, it doesn't matter that they call themselves “Christians.” It makes no difference, lasting deliverance from the curse comes by repentance, faith, and obedience. There's no way we can get around that.  Jesus said, (Mat.28:18)… All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. This does not leave anything for the devil if it is not given to him, since Jesus delegated His authority to us when He said, (Mat.18:18) Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. That was delegating authority to us; so how is it then that the devil gets his authority? He gets it from us. When we walk out from under the Blood and walk in the flesh, submitting to demon spirits, we give the devil authority. The only way to take away his authority in that case is through repentance and faith that Christ delivered us. The apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, turned a man over to Satan (1Co.5:5) to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Again, you cannot get around this. If you had come to that man after Paul had turned him over to the devil, thinking to cast out all of the demons from him, you would have been deceived because those demons will literally play with you. Sometimes they'll act as if they are gone, and sometimes they will even come out, but they will not be gone for long. When you turn your head, they're right back, and if you ask them, “Hey, what are you doing? I thought I cast you out of there!” They'll tell you, “No, we have a right to be here. They want us to be here.” Or, “They invited us to be here.” I've actually heard demons say that. The demons know when they have a right, and you'll be wasting your time because they'll just deceive you. What does the Bible say will happen if you cast demons out of a person who does not repent? They may come back seven times worse. (Mat.12:43) But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. (44) Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. (45) Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation. These were apostate covenant people. Mere flesh can be dealt with by repentance and faith, but sometimes you find that even when you exercise repentance and faith, you are still not having success. That's because demonic oppression or possession is a compelling bondage that goes beyond just mere flesh. It is still repentance and faith that gets rid of the bondage of a demon spirit, but first you have to take away the “stink” that brings them. The “stink” arises when someone is giving in to the flesh or sin. “Flies” represent demons, and the “flies” come to the stink. Beelzebub, the devil, is known as the “Lord of the Flies.” Scripture calls him “Beelzebub the prince of the demons.” (Mat.12:24) But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons. As long as you have the stink, the flies will come because they have a right to come. If you repent of the stink and get rid of the stink, that will cast out the demon or demons, and they won't be able to come back. Most deliverance happens when people do not have the foggiest idea that they have ever been delivered of anything. A lot of deliverance happens when people get saved. By the depth of their commitment to Christ, they are delivered of many demon spirits. I, and others close to me, have had demons from which we were delivered. We mentioned a man whom Paul turned over to Satan in 1 Corinthians 5:5. Did you know this man was a Christian? So what was it that caused him to be delivered over to Satan? It was the lusts of his flesh. You are protected if you walk under the Blood of Jesus Christ, but willful disobedience is not under the Blood. The Bible warns in (Heb.10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. Willful disobedience brings judgment by the “tormentors,” who are demons. (Matthew 18:34) And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. Demons can bring forth sickness and corruption of all kinds. When Jesus cast out demons, who was receiving that deliverance? Well, what did Jesus say? (Mat.15:24) … I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It was not the Canaanites who lived around them; it was the Israelites, the people who had God's Covenant promise. Jesus said that casting out demons is for God's children. He did not cast demons out of the world, because deliverance is the “children's bread” (Mark 7:27). This makes it clear that the Covenant people were the only people out of whom Jesus was casting demons. Deliverance is what God has provided for His children. The world is not in covenant with God, and they have no right to deliverance, healing, or any of the promises of the New Covenant, nor the blessings of the New Testament. If it is the “children's bread,” then it is not to be given to the world; however, Jesus had to have been awed at the Syrophoenician woman's great faith. Since He was right on the edge of a new covenant, He counted her as a believer and He gave her what she asked. (Mar.7:26) Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter. (27) And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. (28) But she answered and saith unto him, Yea, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. (29) And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter. The Bible says, (Rom.1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. You see, there's a condition in the Gospel that has to be met in order to receive deliverance, healing, soul salvation, and so forth, and that condition is believing what the Gospel says. You may ask, “Does God ever cast a demon out of somebody who does not believe or even think because they are totally possessed?” Yes, He does, but it's usually because they are among the elect and will later believe, like with the demoniac of the tombs (Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39). Sometimes they are oppressing others who have a right to peace. In most cases it takes repentance and belief in order to get deliverance. (Mat.8:16) And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: (17) that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases. This word “our” is talking about us. Christians spoke and wrote these words. Jesus took the curse from us. Did He bear the curse for the world? Yes, but it is ultimately to “whosoever will” (Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:34; Revelation 22:17; etc.) Who is “whosoever will?” The Bible says, (Joh.6:44) No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him… The elect will; this is absolutely clear. The elect are those who bear fruit and were chosen before the foundation of the world, as the Bible says. (Eph.1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ: (4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: (5) having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (6) to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: (7) in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, (8) which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (9) making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him (10) unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, [I say,] (11) in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will; (12) to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: (13) in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,-- in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) which is an earnest (down payment) of our inheritance, unto the redemption of [God's] own possession, unto the praise of his glory. The “elect” are the overcomers who will be standing at the end of their time of testing (Romans 12:21; 1 John 5:4; Revelation 2:7,11,17,26-28; 3:5,12,21; etc.). Many of the called will not, but the elect will have gotten what Jesus was talking about here because the elect are those who bear fruit. (Mat.22:14) For many are called, but few chosen. The Greek word here for “chosen” is the same word for “elect,” eklektos. Many are the called, as we see from when God called the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10; Hosea 11:1-7). He said in (Mat.2:15) … Out of Egypt did I call my son. He also said in (Jud.1:5) Now I desire to put you in remembrance, though ye know all things once for all, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. You see, “calling” is not “election”; “calling” is on the way to election. “Calling” just means “an invitation,” from the Greek word klētos, “to invite.” Jesus has invited us to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. If we do this, we will not have any problem bearing fruit. 2Pe 1:10  Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble:  The Bible says, (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So you may be wondering how a Christian can have a demon and the Holy Spirit at the same time. It's simple; let me explain. The body is a temple. (1Co.6:19) Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; (20) for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body. The ancient manuscripts say, “a temple of the Holy Spirit” because the Temple was threefold (Exodus chapters 25-27). It had an outer court, a holy place, and the Holy of Holies, and the outer court was called the “Court of the Gentiles” (Revelation 11:2). Were Gentiles holy? No, and we have proof from Old Testament examples that evil people did come into the outer court. They even laid hands on the horns of the altar to receive mercy (1 Kings 1:50; 2 Chronicles 23:12;15; Matthew 23:35), and sometimes they found mercy and other times they did not. So we see that evil could come into the outer court, but it could not come into the Holy of Holies. Some people like to say that the Spirit of God will not dwell in an unclean temple. If you're talking about the flesh, the flesh is unclean and it's also the enemy of God. (Rom.8:6) For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: (7) because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: (8) and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. In fact, when the Bible talks about the lusts of the flesh, those lusts have the same nature as the demons do because the flesh is unclean and it's not going to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. (1Co.15:50) Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Only the “High Priest” Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, dwells in your “Holy of Holies,” your spirit. The demons do not enter into the spirit. Except for the High Priest, anybody who came into the Holy of Holies was struck dead. (Lev.16:2) And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat. No evil could go into the Holy of Holies because that was the place of only the High Priest. The Holy Spirit is not dwelling in an unclean temple when He dwells in your spirit. Your spirit is clean. He has to give you a new spirit before He can even come and dwell there. You need to be born again before He can come and dwell in that spirit. (Gal.4:6) And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Demons come into the flesh with the desire to possess your soul, which is your mind, will, and emotions. The Lord comes into your spirit with the desire to possess your soul. The warfare is between spirit and flesh; God and demons seek to possess the soul. (Act.10:38) Even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. We've been lied to about the supposed difference between “possession” and “oppression.” “Possession” is when the demon is reaching out of the flesh and into the soul, taking control of the mind, the actions, and the character of the person. If you've ever seen a schizophrenic, where one moment they are given over to the lusts of the flesh, and the next minute they seem to straighten right back up. Is that person possessed or not? They are possessed when that happens and they are not possessed when the demon backs off. The demon is still in them; he hasn't gone anywhere. All he's done is just back out of the soul into the flesh, becoming dormant, and he remains there until the next time he wants to take control. The Holy Spirit is the same way. Just because you have the Holy Spirit does not mean you are being led by the Holy Spirit. Having the Holy Spirit is not even going to save you! (Rom.8:14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. You can have the Holy Spirit, but not be led by Him, and it's the same with demons. You can have demons, without the demons being in control. We should desire to give possession of this “land” to the spiritual man (Hebrews 6:4-8). God, through the Spirit, gives our spiritual man the power to possess our soul. When you walk after the flesh, the Bible says you must die. (Rom.8:13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. When you walk after the flesh, you permit the demon's power to reach into your soul to take control of your thinking, actions, and character, your very nature. In the world they call this “schizophrenia,” but it's demon possession. There is only one nature that is the “real you”. The demons like to come into Christians and impart their own thoughts to deceive them into thinking that this is their nature. The demons give themselves up to the lusts of the flesh and then rule the Christians by speaking in their minds and blending into their characters so that they do not even know that it is them. Christians think it's themselves, but those demons can be forced to manifest by the Authority of God. Some of you may have heard or seen the Gospel being preached and demons manifesting in Christians. They are forced to manifest because they hate the Gospel. They hate tongues and they hate the Blood of Jesus. They hate all things that are Godly. If you learn the things that they hate, those are your best weapons against them. Some of you have already found out that these demons can hide in you very tactfully, convincing you that their thinking is your thinking. Thoughts coming through your mind might seem to be yours, but when forced to manifest by the Word of God, you realize they're coming from a demon. Where the Word of God is tormenting these demons, they will manifest, and this is exactly what happened in Jesus' Presence. The Word of God forced them to manifest. (Mat.8:28) And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way. (29) And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? If you have a repentant person and you command these demons to give their name and to manifest in some way, they will do it. If they have never been commanded to manifest, you may have never actually felt their presence. When they are commanded to do so, they will literally speak out of a person and give their name, but they'll also argue with you and lie to you. They will do all the things that demons like to do. Now it's helpful to have other people alongside, but you can deliver yourself because we have that authority. (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. If you suspect something is more than just flesh, then exercise your authority and command those demons to go. Sometimes they will speak in your mind, or you'll get their name in your mind. Sometimes their names will come right out of the person's mouth. Many times, a strong, compelling desire turns out to be a demon, not the flesh, but the devil wants you to think that it is only flesh. We are in the process, called “sanctification,” of being delivered of two things: defilement of flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1). But is your spirit defiled? If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in a new, clean spirit Who is called the Spirit of Christ in you. (Gal.4:6) And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. This is a Christian. God says, (Eze.36:26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes… Notice, a “new spirit” and then “My Spirit” or the Holy Spirit. You do not have a defiled spirit, so why does Scripture say to Christians, “let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit”? It's because this defilement of spirit is talking about the defilement of you by demon spirits. This is not talking about the defilement of your spirit because your spirit is the only part of you that is totally white and clean. If it is not, you are not a Christian. The defilement that we have the authority to get rid of is the defilement of our souls by the flesh and evil spirits. Do you know what “self” is in the Bible? It is a synonymous term for the word “soul.” One Gospel will say “self” and another Gospel will say “soul” in a same text in another Gospel. “Self” and “soul” are the same. We want to be delivered of all defilement of our soul by both flesh and spirits. (Col.3:5) Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; (6) for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience: (7) wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things; (8) but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: (9) lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, (10) and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him. The Bible tells us in (Eph.4:27) Neither give place to the devil. The Greek word “place” there is a geographic term meaning “region” or “area.” This is the exact thing God talked about when He was cleansing the Promised Land from the pagan tribes that controlled it. (Deu.7:1) When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou… All these “ites” had their demonic “gods” (Deuteronomy 32:17). If you leave a place for the lusts of the flesh to live in your land, you are going to sin because they will make you sin, so we are not to leave them any place in our land. (Deu.7:2) And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them; (3) neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. (4) For he will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly. When Jesus delivered the woman with a “spirit of infirmity” in (Luke 13:11), He said in (Luk.13:16) And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, [these] eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? Jesus called this woman a “daughter of Abraham,” and you might think, “Well, He's just talking about Jews,” yet Jesus never called the literal, physical Jews “daughters and sons of Abraham.” These Jewish leaders and their followers were professing Abraham to be their father, but Jesus totally disagreed with them because a daughter or son of Abraham, like the woman He loosed, is someone who is truly in covenant with God. (Joh.8:38) I speak the things which I have seen with [my] Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from [your] father. (39) They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. Here's the point: “Ye would do the works of Abraham.” (Joh.8:40) But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard from God: this did not Abraham. (41) Ye do the works of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God. (42) Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me. (43) Why do ye not understand my speech? [Even] because ye cannot hear my word. (44) Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. Paul said the same thing; he said that people who walk by faith are the sons of Abraham. (Gal.3:7) Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. Jesus never disagreed with this. This woman who was loosed, got her deliverance because she was a daughter of Abraham. The people who were coming to Jesus were Covenant people, just as we are Covenant people. They had the right of the Covenant and therefore they got healing and deliverance from God. We are proving ourselves through this “trial in the wilderness,” through the things that we're going through, to be either sons of Abraham or sons of the devil. The Bible says in (1Jn.2:6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. Sons of the devil in the world have no Covenant rights, and you're just casting the children's bread to the dogs when you try to deliver an unrepentant person (Mark 7:27). You'll have the same problem, too, if you're trying to give deliverance to a Christian who is unrepentant. We are proving who are overcomers, those who truly belong to Christ. They are going to be the ones who are proven to be the Elect of God (Philippians 2:12; 2 Peter 1:10). We can prove ourselves just as much sons of the devil by our actions as these people proved themselves sons of the devil by their actions. Jesus pointed out to them, “No, if you were of your father Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham!” Amen.

Josh Ray's sermon, “When God Turns Off the Lights,” explores the profound moments when God allows darkness to fall—both literally and spiritually—to reveal His greater purpose. Drawing from 1 Peter 2:9, he reminds us that even in the deepest darkness, God calls His people into His marvelous light. Through the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 10:21-23) and Pharaoh's defiance (Exodus 5:2), we see how God's power is displayed when human pride resists His will. Yet, in Exodus 6:1, God promises deliverance, showing that His light will always overcome the darkness. This sermon will challenge and encourage you to trust in God's plan, even when the lights go out, knowing He is working for your ultimate freedom and transformation.

Leviticus 23 – The Feasts of the Lord: Biblical and Historical Context Leviticus 23 outlines the seven major festivals (appointed times) of Israel, which were central to their worship and communal life. These feasts served as both religious observances and historical commemorations, reinforcing Israel's identity and relationship with God. Understanding the historical and cultural context of these feasts provides insight into their significance in biblical history and how they compare to similar practices in the ancient Near East. 1. The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:1-3) The chapter begins with the Sabbath, a weekly day of rest and worship. The Israelites were commanded to cease from labor on the seventh day, a concept unique among ancient civilizations, where work was often continuous. Historical Context: •The Babylonians had some form of a seven-day cycle, but their “holy days” were often considered unlucky, unlike the Israelites' joyful Sabbath rest. •In contrast to other cultures where rest was mainly for the elite, the Sabbath was a universal command, applying to all people, including servants and foreigners. •The Sabbath foreshadowed the eternal rest believers would have in God, a theme later expanded in Christian theology (Hebrews 4:9-10). 2. The Feasts of Israel The remaining festivals were divided into spring feasts and fall feasts. These were agricultural and historical in nature, marking both harvest cycles and key moments in Israel's history. Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost) These feasts coincided with the barley and wheat harvests, emphasizing God's provision. A. Passover (Leviticus 23:4-5) •Celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan (first month of the Hebrew calendar). •Commemorated Israel's deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 12), when God spared the Israelites who placed lamb's blood on their doorposts. Historical Context: •Other ancient cultures had spring renewal festivals, but Israel's Passover was unique because it celebrated deliverance by God rather than nature gods. •The sacrificial lamb was central, later becoming a powerful symbol of Jesus as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29). B. Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8) •Lasted seven days after Passover. •No leaven (yeast) was to be eaten, symbolizing purity and separation from Egypt's influence. Historical Context: •Yeast often symbolized corruption in the ancient world. •This feast reminded Israelites of their haste in leaving Egypt and their call to live set apart from pagan nations. C. Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14) •Took place the day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread. •Marked the beginning of the barley harvest by offering a sheaf of the first grain. Historical Context: •Many ancient cultures had firstfruit offerings to their gods, but Israel's offering was unique—it was a thanksgiving act to Yahweh, not a way to manipulate the gods for a better harvest. •This feast foreshadowed Jesus' resurrection, as He is called the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). D. Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-22) •Celebrated 50 days (7 weeks) after Firstfruits. •Marked the wheat harvest and included special grain offerings. Historical Context: •Other nations, such as the Egyptians and Canaanites, had harvest celebrations, but Israel's Pentecost was different because it also commemorated God's giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). •In the New Testament, Pentecost became the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out (Acts 2), marking the birth of the church. Fall Feasts (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles) These feasts occurred during the fruit and olive harvests and had prophetic significance. E. Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) (Leviticus 23:23-25) •Celebrated on the first day of the seventh month (Tishri). •Involved blowing trumpets (shofars) as a call to repentance. Historical Context: •Trumpet blasts in the ancient Near East signified royal announcements or military alerts. •This feast prepared Israel for the upcoming Day of Atonement, much like New Year's celebrations in other cultures signified a time of renewal. F. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) (Leviticus 23:26-32) •Occurred on Tishri 10, the most solemn day of the year. •The high priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for Israel's sins. •Included fasting, confession, and the scapegoat ritual, where one goat was sacrificed and another sent into the wilderness (Leviticus 16). Historical Context: •No other nation had a national day of atonement. •The scapegoat symbolized sin being removed from the community, a concept later fulfilled in Jesus' atoning sacrifice (Hebrews 9:12-14). G. Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) (Leviticus 23:33-44) •Lasted seven days from Tishri 15-22. •Israelites lived in booths (temporary shelters) to remember their time in the wilderness after the Exodus. •A joyful feast of thanksgiving. Historical Context: •Similar harvest festivals existed in Canaanite and Mesopotamian cultures, but Israel's Tabernacles focused on God's provision in history, not fertility gods. •In the New Testament, Jesus referred to Himself as the Living Water during this feast (John 7:37-38), linking it to spiritual refreshment. Key Lessons from Leviticus 23 in Historical Context 1.God's Order in Worship – The festivals were structured and timed to teach Israel about God's sovereignty, history, and future plans. 2.Holiness and Separation – Unlike pagan festivals that often involved immorality and idol worship, Israel's feasts were holy convocations focused on God. 3.Agricultural and Spiritual Meaning – The feasts aligned with harvest seasons but also symbolized redemption, judgment, and restoration. 4.Messianic Foreshadowing – Many feasts were prophetic, pointing to Jesus' death, resurrection, and second coming. Leviticus 23 is one of the most significant chapters in the Old Testament because it outlines God's appointed times for Israel, blending history, prophecy, and practical worship. These feasts not only shaped Israel's national identity but also provided a foundation for Christian theology, as many were fulfilled in Christ.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sendme-radio--732966/support.

God, in His sovereign grace, leads us and loves us as a perfect Father, committed to our holiness and happiness through every season of our lives. ---We desire to see the Gospel saturate a people, awakening them by the glory of God to treasure Jesus as better.For more Gospel-centered teaching and resources, including audio and video downloads of our sermons, please visit our website: http://www.thewellchurchok.com/resourcesInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/thewellchurchokFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/thewellchurchok

Psalm 81 WorksheetAs we read Psalm 81, look for clues about what this Psalm was written for. Also look for the place the Psalm switches to God being the one speaking.Asaph's call to Festival worship V. 1-3The opening 3 verses have ______ commands calling the people to the praise of the Festival, making this a Praise psalm.When Jacob is used for Israel instead of Israel, it is often a not so subtle _________________________ of where they came from – sinful Jacob became Israel because of what God had done in his life.Jacob's name can mean to be behind or supplanter. It was given to him at birth when he grabbed his twin brother's heel in the womb as they came out; That's a great name for one who later wrestled with God and had his name changed to Israel, which means “one who struggles with God.” The root consonant of ‘struggle' in Hebrew is SYR; For Israel it is ‘YSR.'Israel's lunar calendar meant their festivals coincided with moon ________________. The new moon was by definition the first of the month.Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God. -Numbers 10:10Yahweh's _________________________ of His deliverance V. 4-7Verses 4-5 seem to confirm the statute referred to is the ______________________ Festival, since it was actually commanded before they actually left Egypt (Exodus 12). That would mean “He” going throughout the land of Egypt would be a reference to the LORD's judgment in the tenth plague.The reference to Joseph in verse 5 seems to be a reference to Joseph's role in preserving Jacob's sons/ Joseph's brothers in Egypt during the famine described at the end of Joseph. Alternatively, it could mean this Psalm was written with the Northern tribes in mind during the time of the divided kingdom (922-722 B.C.) That would mean the Psalm is urging the north not to reject God's design for the entire country.Verse 7 covers the time that Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. God led them, even though they were often stubborn and ungrateful. Time after time He delivered them and answered them “thunderously.” They tested Him and He proved Himself faithful and holy. He tested them and they showed themselves ______________________ and sinful.These are the waters of Meribah, where the people quarreled with the LORD, and through them He showed Himself holy. -Numbers 20:13Yahweh's ___________________________ to His people V. 8-16In verses 8-9 God reminds Israel of the call in the 10 commands to worship Him alone, not ________________________.In verse 10 God is telling them that He delivered them in the past, and provided for their needs – He is the _________________________ God who did that!Verse 11 has to be among the saddest statements in the Bible. No doubt they wanted God's protection and blessing, but they didn't want God _______________________. I wonder how many professing Christians that is also true about.Where in the New Testament do we read the words, “God gave them over?”___________________________God's judgment of sin begins by letting people do the sinful things they are bound and determined to do, and experience the built-in ___________________________ of those sins.Proverbs 14:12God makes clear in verse 14 that if they return to Him He will take care of their ___________________.Verse 15 is a good Old Testament verse for the _______________________ punishment of the those who don't turn to God.The Psalm ends with an additional blessing promised – If people listen to God, turn back to Him, and walk in His ways, He won't just take care of their troubles but He will provide for their needs, fully _________________________ them.

"Dark Days in Egypt" Exodus 1:1-22 The story so far... 1. God's people experience opposition because of their faithfulness 2. God's people grow through affliction 3. God's people fear God more than man "Because I fear God, I will not ____________"

We're wrapping up the book of James—what a journey it's been! If you're looking for your next study, grab the Ecclesiastes Journal now. Imagine your paycheck calling you out, your investment account filing a complaint, or your success story turning against you. That's the powerful image James paints—a scene where the rewards of our labor, when handled unjustly, become witnesses against us in God's courtroom. Their testimony isn't just about the money but the motives behind it. They cry out, “Fraud!” “Cheat!”—their voices so loud and clear that they echo all the way to the throne of heaven. Welcome to the Daily. Our text today is James 5:4-6. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. — James 5:4-6 James boldly calls out the wealthy oppressors who exploit workers to fund their lives of luxury. His language pulls no punches: “crying out,” “kept back,” “fattened,” “condemned,” and “murdered.” The imagery here is vivid. The phrase “crying out” recalls Abel's blood crying from the ground (Genesis 4:10) and the groaning of the Israelites in Egypt (Exodus 2:23). The word “fattened” likens these oppressors to animals unwittingly being prepared for slaughter—judgment is coming. Here's the point: God values justice—especially economic justice. He isn't against wealth itself. Scripture is full of wealthy people—Abraham, Job, David, Solomon—who honored God with their resources. But when wealth is gained at the expense of others, it leads to oppression, and God will hold us accountable. So what does this mean for us? God cares deeply about how we treat others. He cares about how you're compensated at work and how you compensate others if you're in a position of influence. But more than that, this is a call to examine our stewardship. Are you using what God has entrusted to you to bless others, or are you fattening your heart for a day of reckoning? Again, wealth isn't the issue—it's about justice, generosity, and integrity. Let's use our resources to reflect God's character and expand His kingdom. Examine your heart today. Are there cries around you that you've ignored? Are you stewarding well? One day, we'll stand before the Lord of hosts. I want to stand there with clean hands, a pure heart, and a life fully spent for Him. #EconomicJustice, #BiblicalStewardship, #James5Study ASK THIS: How do you ensure your wealth and resources reflect God's character? What does justice in your workplace or home look like? Are there cries of injustice around you that you've ignored? How can you use your resources to expand God's kingdom this week? DO THIS: Examine your finances today—ensure you are stewarding them with justice, generosity, and integrity. PRAY THIS: Lord, search my heart and motives today. Help me to steward what You've entrusted to me with justice, integrity, and generosity. Amen. PLAY THIS: Generous Giver.