By Pastor Jeff,
I want to give you a word of encouragement this day, especially to those who have been shaken lately, for this world we live in is not a very easy place to live. It doesn’t matter if your a Christian or not, we all have rough days, weeks, months, and even longer times when it becomes very hard to keep a positive attitude or crack a smile.
The Israelites of the Old Testament were a very tough bunch to deal with, always murmuring, complaining, looking at other nations and desiring there kings, gods, and who knows what else. But God had made a promise to Abraham and his descendants and God never goes back on a promise. Exodus 14:10-14, “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
We find many scriptures in the Old Testament that remind His people of that promise, that He will fight the battles for them, Moses told the people that in Exodus as well as Deuteronomy 20:1-4. Joshua also repeated this in Joshua 23:8-10, “But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.” During the reign of Joshua the Israelites had many victories against their enemies, such as at Jericho, against the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, and other “ites”.
The main issue is that sometimes the Israelites stopped short of conquering the enemy such as Judges 2:1-3, “And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.”
God in Christ Jesus has also made many promises to us that it is He that has fought on our behalf, Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We may believe that Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us and that He is He that fights for us. But like the Israelites we must not stop until we see total victory, take that extra step, pray until something happens, don’t settle for a partial healing, His promises are Amen and Amen. Remember, WE HAVE THE VICTORY BECAUSE OF WHAT JESUS DID AT CALVARY!
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