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Choosing God – Part 2

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Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Hebrews 11:25-26 KJV

Because of Moses’ faith, he chose to leave Egypt, trusting that the rewards of God were of greater value than the pleasures of Egypt. How could anyone have known that after Moses left Egypt it would be forty years before God met him at the burning bush? Yes God did choose Moses but Moses also left behind his friends, family, and all that was familiar as a choice by faith in a God he had never seen. There in the land of Midian, he married, worked as a shepherd and grew older. But in that lonely place where he may have even begun to forget his calling God never forgot. Decades passed until finally at just the right time in His calendar, God called him to return to Egypt and lead His people out of slavery and towards the land of promise!

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Choosing God – Part 1

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter    Hebrews 11:24

In the midst of all the talk about predestination and sovereignty it is sometimes overlooked that not only does God choose us, but we must choose God.  As an example why not take a look at the life of Moses? Moses had at his fingertips access to nearly unlimited money, power and prestige. He could have gone anywhere and done anything he wished. But in Moses’ heart a battle was being waged and he was being tested as to whom he wanted to belong.

egypt tutankhamun death mask pharaonic

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Consider how at his birth Moses had been ordered abandoned to die by decree of Pharaoh. But God stepped in and chose Moses for a key role in God’s plans to deliver his people. It was through his family’s courage and faith that he was hidden and in the end, God’s plans, not  Pharaoh’s won the day!

Yet as an adult Moses came to a crossroads. The path he had followed as a child, in the luxury of the palace came face to face with the hardships and slavery of his own people. Moses knew that he was no Egyptian. Though God had chosen him, Moses also had to choose God, a choose the rejection that came with being known as one of God’s people.

Living faith is found at the intersection of God’s choice our ours. Who will you choose today?

 

Which Way to Go?

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But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 1 John 2:11 NIV

Don’t you wish that following God’s guidance could be like entering an address into your GPS? Then knowing the right direction would be as simple as listening to the calm pleasant voice alerting us to turn at the next intersection.

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But finding the right career path, soul-mate or next apartment is not about knowing which way to turn. God’s word is clear that what matters to Him is in how we treat the people around us. In fact He tells us that we are stumbling through life because we are mistreating, manipulating or using others for our own advantage in ways that God calls hate. When we treat anyone with hate then we walk straight out of the presence of God and down a dark path. It reminds me of when we were driving home from Northern Vermont. The GPS in our car kept saying, “Satellite transmission lost”. We kept going the wrong way and sometimes even in circles until we stopped at a gas station and asked directions.  In the same way finding the right spiritual direction means following directions from someone who can show us the way. That someone is Jesus Christ, who loved us even when we were his enemies and showed us the way to His Home.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John 4:11 KJV