Please pray – Lord God in heaven; We praise you Lord; we magnify the Holy name of Jesus. Father I pray to seek You and place You first in my life. Forgive me Lord of my iniquities and give me the compassion to seek out the lost. Allow the Light of Christ Jesus shine as a beacon for those who have fallen and need Hope. God, keep me from the enemy, guide me and lead me to Your Holy and precious Love, in Jesus name, Amen.
My top 10 interesting Bible Facts:
#10 – The Bible was written over a 1600-year period by approximately 40 men. The time of the writing was from 1500 BC to AD 100.
#9 – There are 4 Gospels, 1 historical book, 22 letters & 1 apocalyptic book in the New Testament.
#8 – There are 17 historical books, 5 poetic books & 17 prophetic books in the Old Testament.
#7 – King Solomon was the richest man ever recorded in 1 Kings 10:14-29
#6 – King Solomon was the wisest person recorded that ever lived in 1 Kings 3:12 & 10:24.
#5 – A man who had 12 fingers and 12 toes, 2 Samuel 21:20.
#4 – The most mentioned men in the bible is David, mentioned 1118 times.
#3 – Number of different authors: 40.
#2 – Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 1,200.
#1 – 2.5 Billion to 6 Billion copies sold!
Over the last few days I’ve been able to come to some very eye opening and rewarding revelations. One of the things I have been able to recognize in my own walk with the Lord is to know, internally, when my conviction is being challenged. This not an accident, it is by design. These kinds of things are accomplished by asking the Lord for a better vision of our personal commitment with Him and having the Holy Spirit to help keep us on track.
With that said, just recently I had a “Godly backslide”, shocking, right? Yes, it happens to preachers too. This wasn’t to the degree of being filled with defiance but rather it was disobedience and distraction but still a backslide none the less. Things that are crucial for me and more importantly praising Him, studying His word and communicating with the Savior. Somehow the priority became less the longer I stayed away. (#5 – Godly Backslide).
A few years ago, we were doing a job out in Index, (many, many miles up in the mountain area). It was a great addition and remodeling project but we had to drive a lot of (scenic) miles to get there. We certainly didn’t want to forget any materials or tools and then have to do a run back into town that’s for sure.
The company van was the responsibility of the driver assigned to it and the proper maintenance on this vehicle in a timely manner was overlooked. Needless to say, because of the lack of fluids the motor seized up and left him sitting aside the road in this vast but beautiful mountainous area. Although the cell range was weak and distorted we were able to contact triple A to send some help and get the broken down van back to civilization.
A rebuilt motor, a month of downtime and couple thousand dollars later, the van was put back to work.
The lack of maintenance on this vehicle caused it to break down. The similarities are the same with us. The lack of prayer, dedication and time with Him will affect our walk. We need our daily bread to maintain our walk. We accomplish this by getting into the word which will get us tuned up and tuned in to the Grace that was afforded us. Those who know me, know I have quiet time at Starbucks. This is time set aside for me to read the bible, continue to build my relationship, stay strong in the Word and to receive the messages from His Word. It’s my personal time with the Lord that I cherish and look forward to having. Well, I found myself becoming distracted with life and I began giving excuses for missing my time with Him. I kept telling myself I would get back to it just as soon as life gave me some time. I was taking Him for granted. One morning, I turned on the TV while getting ready for work and a young lady was preaching and said something that sent a storm into my spirit. It was profound and exciting and very humbling. It’s no surprise to me at all that while listening to a sermon God spoke deep into my spirit declaring something that once again became profound, ministering and enlightening.
There are a multitude of scriptures we need to look at in this message. I will do my best to condense this to the main point but because of the depth of revelation God revealed to me. This will be the beginning of a series that I believe will help us see a little further into the heart of God. We start with the verse that first jumped out at me while researching.
Exodus 7:25, 25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
This verse stood out, not by context, but because it had been seven days since the last time I had quiet time (or spent quality time with God). Fascinating coincidence that started this lesson. You see, I wasn’t maintaining the continuous walk in righteousness. Just like the lack of maintenance on the vehicle, the lack of time with the Lord caused me to seize up and break down along the path. The feeling of separation began and it became easier to make excuses to push it off for another day. Now let’s read the rest of the scriptures we need for us to receive this message.
Exodus 8:3-4, 3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.
When we take our eyes off the Savior, our lives become complicated and burdened with heavy and overwhelming. The bills become too stressful, the relationships become complicated, our jobs are stressing us out. Our lives will “teem with frogs”. We try to overcome on our own and find it becoming more and more overwhelming. We don’t listen and not let God be in control.
Exodus 8:8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
When it finally becomes too much we will cry out to the one who can help. The one who has proven time and again, no matter how many times we’ve turned Him away. Faithful, caring and loving. Waiting for us to cry out to Him.
Exodus 8:9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”
Learning a little about Pharaoh, he was narcissistic and full of pride. He would not allow the God of Moses to make him less than what he thought of himself. But there comes a time in everyone’s life when it becomes too much. Moses told Pharaoh he would relieve him of this burden. Pharaoh was asked when would he like Moses to ask God for the frogs to be removed and he said,
Exodus 8:10 “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Tomorrow! He told Moses to have God remove the frogs from his land, from his people, from his house and even his bed, “tomorrow” not today, not right now, but tomorrow. He was willing to sleep and live with the frogs one more day!
God had put a plague of frogs ALL over Pharaoh’s land. The bible said they were in the beds, the ovens, where they prepared food, on the animals, in the servant’s houses, in the bathrooms, bathtubs, on the roof tops and even on the sidewalks where they were stepping on them, and Pharaoh says, “Tomorrow”! Why tomorrow? I believe, Pharaoh was so stubborn that the frogs were better to live with one more day than to submit to God completely.
This led me to think, what frogs are there in your life? Is there a frog of lust or immorality? Is it jealousy? Is your frog, unforgiveness or not committing to your faith? What is your frog? Put a name on your frog Saints. Is it easier to live one and sleep one more day with the frogs telling yourself you’ll give it to God tomorrow? We carry some heavy burdens in our lives sometimes and we don’t have to. Jesus gave us the way to connect with God and He wants us to rid ourselves of anything that will separate or take us away from Him.
Rid yourself of the frogs that plague your walk with God. Cry out to Him you who are faithful. Do not let the frogs stay with you one more night and wake up with you tomorrow.
Exodus 8:12-13, 12 …After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields.
God is faithful to those who cry out to Him and recognize He is the one true God. When you slip back, and sometimes we will, He may let the frogs reach you but He won’t let them consume you. It’s His way to let us know His love is real. Tomorrow is not promised to us. Today, right now, ask Him to remove the frog in your life. He’s waiting on you to cry out to Him.
Lord God Almighty, the Creator of all that is in heaven and earth; Ruler of all things of all places and all that lives. I praise You and I worship You Lord. Thank You Father for loving us more than we can understand. Give us the courage to do Your will and to follow Your Word with a committed heart. Father thank You for all that You have blessed us with. I pray God, You will take away our burdens that are turning us away from you, that are hardening our hearts. I ask this to be done today God, not tomorrow Lord, but today. I ask this in Jesus precious name, Amen.
