“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 KJV
I will do a new thing. God is doing a new thing and therefore I will also do a new thing. Starting today. Oh yes, now is the time and today is the day!!! It is 2021 and I came out swinging! This year we STAND and having done all, we shall stand!
Dear Heavenly Father – Please let us curl up into your hands, and rest in the full knowledge of you. Help us, Lord, to do your will. Please open our ears to hear what you are saying. Please open our eyes to see and open our understanding that we may know you. Please continue to pour out your grace upon us! Continually, all we want is more of you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen
I am doing a new thing and it is being birthed even as I type! Glory to God. (No I am not pregnant nor am I in physical labor – I am in spiritual labor about to birth what God has for me!) I have only one specific prayer request – That God guides me and keeps me in His will, because I have tried my way and my way doesn’t work. All I want is God’s perfect will for my life. Please keep me in prayer for this as I am starting a new adventure and doing a new thing – as God is doing a new thing!
“Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord;” Isaiah 26:17 ESV
I have stepped out in faith – propelled by God Himself. I feel like I am floating above the unknown and although I lifted my foot to step it has not yet landed. The anticipation is palpable! GOD IS DOING SOMETHING AMAZING!!! I have stepped away from an indescribable bondage and weight – I now feel freedom in a new way. Like something I also have never felt.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares he Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
This verse is deeper truth than I can explain to you and only God can reveal it. If I told you all the amazing things and all the details that are falling into place around me and my foot hasn’t even landed from my “step out” in faith…. Yesterday you would have said my situation was bad and sad and stressful (Even though I rejoiced) and today you might say, there is always hope – because God has a plan. I cannot tell anyone how wrong they are about my bad or sad or stressful situation because it is NOT. If you are not walking in the spirit you might not see this is a move! God is doing a thing! God’s ways are NOT our ways!!!!
It is a fearful thing to be in the hands of fallible man – but ohhhhh not if you are in the hands of an infallible God!!! Woe to the man who tries to prevent the move of the Lord!!! The Lord, my God, cannot be stopped.
We started the year at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, back at our humble roots, back at our beginning, our creation from dust and rib. We are made from the lowest of low. And just a chapter or two later we exalt ourselves not understanding. God has already in our humble position given us dominion over all. When we thought we were going to raise ourselves, we fell… we lost dominion… we lost position… and we desperately needed to learn humility.
In full submission to God, during the last year, how much I have learned this humility on my face and tried to share with you (so you can learn by my experience). It is NOT God with us… but us with God. We should be with Him in His will – not making Him come to rescue us. Slight adjustment in my understanding = it is not God with me, but me with God. Then all the power of the scriptures flows in the correct direction! God gets all the glory!!!
We jumped in our daily reading into Job. We studied false prophets and teachers. All the while, in my personal life, the story of Job had played out and was coming to completion. Unlike Job – I was not blameless, sinless, or righteous. But Like Job I was born blessed and called by God. Like Job the enemy came in and killed, stole and destroyed. AND like Job, God permitted it, even though God knew I wasn’t going to respond righteously, like Job responded. Then grace! Grace! Grace! Transformative experience with grace saved a wretch like me! As we finished reading Job, God spoke over me saying now was the time He was going to begin the restoration. As Job was restored. Like in Joel:
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,” Joel 2:25a NKJV
Yes – the same passage of restoration which declares God’s Spirit will be poured out:
“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:28-32 NKJV
I am among the remnant whom the Lord calls – are you? Can you claim it and declare it in your life?!
I am sorry that this, and many of these are not flowing like my usual Bible studies, lately. But I need to testify what God is doing – you need to see He is REAL and ALIVE and invested in the micro details of our lives as well as the macro picture of handling all that He created.
Then we went back in our daily readings to Genesis – Jacob grabbed ahold of the angel and would not let go until he was blessed. It has been quite some time since that study posted (May 21, 2020 and others). It was not to grab onto God without understanding. Jacob fought because he was restoring the covenant with God – He was all in and asking God for the same. This wasn’t a begging for the blessings as much as it was begging for that completely submitted relationship with God, submerged in His will. As I re-read that post, I see I was also narrating my experiences in a similar moment of transition, like this. I told God I was all in. I am still all in.
When we give our life to Christ – doesn’t it mean our life? To live or die is then God’s to will?! Let go of saving ourselves if Christ is truly our savior!
And we finish Genesis and we are back at the theme – God restoring the blessing. We are clinging to this promise – our restoration – the grace!!!!
We started reading The Book of Exodus on Saturday – On Friday I made a grand exit into the wilderness – I took a maternity leave from work and I have been separated to give birth. BEHOLD I AM DOING SOMETHING NEW!!!
OK – I know this make very little sense – just know: we read these things and God is doing these things and they all come together to show us His sovereign grace through it all and in every preparatory detail. The pains of birthing wave over me with joy! My son was born quickly and I had minimal pain – mostly discomfort – but it was all glorious anticipatory joy!!!! And this is how I feel right now!!! I am so glad you are here to join me for this journey.
RELATIONSHIP:
Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.
“9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen
I CONFIRM:
I confirm that through my relationship with God and through prayer and communication with Him, I can do all things through Him and His will. I will ask the Lord to reveal His plan and His will and to guide me. I praise and thank Him for His grace and goodness!
MEMORY WORK:
How did you do with memorizing 2 Corinthians 10:4?
NKJV – “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds”
Such a powerful verse. Now we can swing our sword at the stronghold(s) in our lives and in other people’s lives and declare in confidence: “It is written!!! The Word of the Lord God has the divine power to destroy strongholds and it shall tear down the stronghold(s) hindering the work of God in our lives!” And then down those stronghold come – because the Bible says to.
Next verse is also a verse we can swing as a weapon once we have memorized it and we can live by its words – it is: Luke 10:19
NKJV “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
NIV “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
ESV “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.”
AMP “Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.”
Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!
BIBLE READING: Exodus 7-9 NKJV
Moses Before Pharaoh
7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My [a]armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
6 Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. 7 And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Aaron’s Miraculous Rod
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the [b]sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their [c]enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
The First Plague: Waters Become Blood
14 So the Lord said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may [d]serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! 17 Thus says the Lord: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe[e] to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’ ” 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their [f]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.
The Second Plague: Frogs
8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. 3 So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. 4 And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ”
5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did so with their [g]enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat[h] the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.”
10 So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. 13 So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
The Third Plague: Lice
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become [i]lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
18 Now the magicians so worked with their [j]enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the[k] finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.
The Fourth Plague: Flies
20 And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. 23 I will [l]make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’ ” 24 And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.
25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
26 And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not [m]stone us? 27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us.”
28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.”
29 Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 31 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.
The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. 4 And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” 5 Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”
6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. 7 Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.
The Sixth Plague: Boils
8 So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10 Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
The Seventh Plague: Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me, 14 for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. 17 As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. 18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. 19 Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.” ’ ”
20 He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. 21 But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.” 23 And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. 24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
27 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. 28 Entreat[n] the Lord, that there may be no more [o]mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
29 So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.”
31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are [p]late crops.
33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. 34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.
Footnotes
- Exodus 7:4 hosts
- Exodus 7:11 soothsayers
- Exodus 7:11 secret arts
- Exodus 7:16 worship
- Exodus 7:18 be weary of drinking
- Exodus 7:22 secret arts
- Exodus 8:7 secret arts
- Exodus 8:8 Pray to, Make supplication to
- Exodus 8:16 gnats
- Exodus 8:18 secret arts
- Exodus 8:19 An act of God
- Exodus 8:23 Lit. set a ransom, Ex. 9:4; 11:7
- Exodus 8:26 Put us to death by stoning
- Exodus 9:28 Pray to, Make supplication to
- Exodus 9:28 Lit. voices of God or sounds of God
- Exodus 9:32 Lit. darkened
If Not For Grace 