KEEP YOUR EYES FIXED ON JESUS! When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. —Exodus 13:17-18 The Lord did wonderful things in leading the people out of Egypt. They had just seen ten miraculous judgments take place on the Nation of Egypt. But the people were not ready to face particular experiences yet or they might…

FORGIVE! Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his…

HARDENED OR MOLDABLE But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said. —Exodus 8:18-19 The magicians understood their limitations. There were things they could not do and only God could and they acknowledged that “This is the finger of God.” But when they told Pharaoh this, he hardened his heart “and would not listen” to them. As long as the magicians worked their “magic” to please Pharaoh according…

LEGALIZED MURDER The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are…

BOOKS OF HOG-WASH KEEP PEOPLE FROM TRUTH Recently someone was talking about a book they were reading and how the author said something like “If we ever travel to a distant planet and find life there, we will ruin it by bringing sin there.” I immediately said, “The author is dead wrong. Sin has already affected the furthest places in creation.” Go to Pluto… sin has already affected it. Go to Canis Majoris… sin has already affected it. Go anywhere in all of creation and sin has affected it! That is the fact of the matter because God says through Paul that “I consider that our present sufferings are not…

BE COURAGEOUS! But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” —Matthew 14:27-31 Peter started out walking on the water with courage, but then he focused on the situation he found himself in— walking…

HE’S ALIVE! They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” —Genesis 45:26-28 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. —Mark 16:11 Twenty two years had gone by since Joseph had been killed by…

SUFFERING AND FRUITFULNESS The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” —Genesis 41:52 How do we respond when we are going through suffering? God’s capability to bear fruit in our lives can happen at any time, whether in good times or suffering. So many times God works though suffering in our lives for fruitfulness to occur. Just take a look at the lives of some of the people in God’s Word. Noah— wow… that was a long time on the ark in those conditions! Abraham journeyed and made his home as a stranger in a foreign…

FROM REPULSIVENESS TO RIGHTEOUSNESS But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death…. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also. —Genesis 38:7, 10 What do you do with these verses? How do you respond to the Lord putting these two brothers to death for the wickedness? We do not grasp the awesome holiness and glory of God and so we wrestle with verses like these. How would you feel if you came to the dinner table and plopped down in front of you on your dinner plate was a very fresh and…

HATRED’S EVIL ACTIONS When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. —Genesis 37:4-5 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. —Genesis 37:8 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. —Genesis 37:11 But they saw him in the distance, and before he…