God guided Moses to lead the children of Israel the long route away towards the Promised Land for He knew that they would return to Egypt if they had opposition to face. They were being set up for Pharaoh was coming back after them and because of the Red Sea they would have no other choice but to face their enemy. It is one thing to be delivered from our enemy it is another to defeat our enemy. Our battle is not ours but the Lord's, He is our deliverer and He is the one that puts the enemy under our feet. We need to confidently face opposition trusting that God is with us and will see us through.
Salvation is just the beginning, now we are to be shaped into the image of Jesus Christ, which is a lifetime process, called the renewing of the mind. Our main battle is with our head, changing our worldview to heaven's view, seeing from above rather than beneath. We cannot be fully delivered until our faith in God frees us from fear of the enemy. So the children of Israel needed to not just leave Egypt but to see Pharaoh and his army drowned in the sea. They needed a major shift in thinking before they could move forward to the Promised Land. Until we believe we can change, the process can never begin. A lot of us are living in defeat all because of our mentality.
Exodus 14:31 "When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
The enemy is defeated when he no longer has a hold on us. When all doors are closed, we have forgiven, and asked for forgiveness from all those who have wronged us and we have wronged ourselves. We have nothing left to hide, no area of darkness, then the light of His glory can fill us to over flow. Just like mined gold we are going through a process until we come out as gold.
Moses is a type of Christ, for he delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, just as Jesus is the one who delivers us out of the world. Moses led the children of Israel to places where they were tested just as the Holy Spirit does with us. Our soul is like a field, for seeds to be planted and produce crops, all weeds must be removed from the soil. So the children of Israel after rejoicing from being delivered from Pharaoh and his army were now led to Marah.
Marah - Bitterness
There is always a deeper reason for why we are complaining about something. What triggers anger is what needs to be examined in order to find the root of bitterness and through surrender allow God our gardener to uproot it. We blame others for our misfortunes due to past painful experiences, creating a wall of distrust, that makes trusting in God difficult to attain. Until we get to the point of crying out for help, God our deliverer cannot heal.
Many of us probably think that loving God is not a problem, it is loving people that is sometimes difficult. But, to love God is to love His people. If our past hurts from others holds us from obeying God's command to love others, then our love for Him runs short. To be faithful to God is to be faithful to love people.
It was at Marah that God set the standard to test the children of Israel on their faithfulness. It was upon their response that would determine if the same diseases that he sent to Egypt would affect them.
How far will our love go? If we have limitations we can just know tests will follow, and be repeated until we pass the test and are willing to share God's love with anyone at anytime. This is what sets us apart from the world, God's love. If we are not set apart from the world then the results of being separate from God fall on us as well. Once we pass the test we are rewarded. What held back God's promises are null and void, as times of refreshing come.
Wilderness of Sin - Temptation
We may find cleaning a house hard, some things just need to be thrown away, but the memories attached to them make it difficult. God is cleaning our house but it is not a solo job, He needs our cooperation, what we are not willing to let go of, He will not throw away.
Have you ever had a friend pry into your business, asking you the questions you don't want to ask yourself? Some of us have very few friends because of this, it may be the reason some don't get very involved in church. Well, God is all about getting in our business, for when we committed our life to Him, we gave Him the right. Friends are there to look out for us, to be hard on us when we need it, because they truly care. God wants us free from our past, He wants us to fully enjoy Him, He does not want our house to remain dirty at all.
The children of Israel though they were slaves to sin enjoyed eating good food. They didn't like the sacrifices they were having to make on this journey. They forgot how miserable they had been and why they cried out to God in the first place. It is amazing what people have done for temporary pleasure. God is about preparing us for eternal reign with Him, yet we often can only think about our bellies. If you want to find out how ugly the flesh is starve it for awhile. God is trying to take us to a place where we are no longer slaves to sin, where temporary things are not what moves us. Marah was about water, Sin was about food, God wants to be our main source for nourishment.
The scriptures tell us that bodily exercise does good but it cannot compare to spiritual food. Jesus said His food was to do the will of the Father. When we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness all things are added. When we put God first everything else will follow.
As leaders we often get the blame, but as God told Moses the people are not complaining against you but Me. We cannot take it personal, in the process things get ugly, it is necessary, but lessons will eventually be learned. God gave the people want they wanted, He proved to them that He will provide.
We need to see through the delusion, what was in our past cannot compare to what God has in our future. We cannot expect to go further in the process if we are looking back questioning if we would rather be in the world.
In application: Let us repent for aborting the process, being unfaithful, and ask God to bring the fire, burning out bitterness and removing temptation, setting our eyes straight, and giving us a willingness to face whatever is necessary in order to move forward in being formed into His image.
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