Skip to main content

Sermon #27: THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD

  “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand …” Exodus 3: 19-20 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him,” God said to Moses. I rephrase this statement as follows: “I know that the devil will not leave you alone unless a mighty hand compels him.” That sounds totally true. Satan has to be compelled to leave you alone, to let you go. He will never willingly let you go. This goes to show the determination that Satan has when it comes to constraining the children of God; he wants to keep them in bondage forever. Christians, therefore, need to be more determined than the devil to free themselves from his shackles. Unfortunately, a number of Christians are too lukewarm or absent-minded to even think of getting their freedom; such Christians, therefore, remain under Satan’s bondage in various areas of their lives. The devil is determined to bind you forever. If the devil i...

Sermon #22: STAY POSITIONED ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL AND PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE

 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.” Genesis 26:2


I want you to picture the context.

According to Genesis 26:1, “… there was a famine in the land…” Genesis 26:1

Whenever there is famine in a given place, some residents emigrate. Some stick it out, and for some, it is because they have no choice – they just have nowhere to go.

Emigration happens regularly in developing countries. Sometimes the economies of developing countries, for one reason or another, collapse, compounding the economic hardships, leading many to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

We usually see on the news crowds of people from developing countries emigrating to developed countries, sometimes under very punishing and treacherous circumstances. Some of them would be quite vulnerable as they travel, in various respects.

It looks like Isaac had considered emigrating to Egypt, but before he could even make the necessary arrangements, the One who knows and sees everything dissuaded him from taking the trip. “Do not go down to Egypt” the LORD instructed Isaac.

“…live in the land where I tell you to live,” the LORD added.

“Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you ...” Genesis 26:3, the LORD added as if to leave no doubt in Isaac’s mind regarding where he should stay if he did not go down to Egypt.

This got me thinking.

Here are a few nuggets that I picked from this episode:

  • the place to be is the place in which God wants me to be, whatever challenges there might be in the place;

  • the things to have are the things that God wants me to have;

  • by extension, the person to be is the person that God wants me to be;

  • as long as I am in the place God wants me to be, God will be with me and will bless me – the same applies whenever I remain the person that God wants me to remain;

  • difficulties last for a season, but if the LORD is in the midst of the situation, the sun will eventually shine on me;

  • I can be at my best and be my best only if I stay positioned according to God’s will and purpose for my life.

Now this is quite illuminating!

Stay only in the land in which God wants you to stay, I urge you. It can only turn out for your good, I assure you.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sermon #5: THE CHRISTIAN SOUL FOOD

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” John 4:34 I find this to be a very powerful declaration! How encouraging it is to the Christian soul! Consider the scripture quoted above. Jesus had not eaten anything up to this time of day. The disciples knew therefore that Jesus was hungry; so, they brought Him some food and asked Him to spare some time to eat. But note Jesus’ response! First Jesus told the disciples that He had food to eat that they did not know anything about. Of course, the disciples would not have known anything about the food Jesus referred to because they had never considered it to be food; this is why they wondered if somebody had already brought Jesus some food to eat. Then Jesus explained, “My food… is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” John 4:34 Jesus’ response challenges me to the bone! Just imagine how important food is. Food gives us energy; it keeps us active. Food maintains our health and a...

Sermon #8: IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD

“When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.” Genesis 5:1 This  bible verse evok es a strong feeling in me; a feeling of belonging, of walking together, of being accepted, loved, protected, and guided by Him. The bible verse makes me meditate daily on my true identity  –   who I am in this world, and what my priorities are or should be in this short life.   Every Christian, as born again, should strive to live their life exclusively within the God context. God created mankind. Some people do not believe this; some do. I believe it. After all, life is about choices, and everybody has the free will to exercise. I hail from God, so I believe, and this has everything to do about everything that pertains to my life. God made mankind in His likeness. Doesn’t this inspire you? Won’t you stop looking down on yourself and start to excel in who you really are or are meant to be? Stand straight; believe that you resemble Him because you do. You carry the nat...

Sermon #26: TAKING THE ISRAELITES OUT OF EGYPT

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 God depends on you to carry out His mission in this world. Never let Him down. The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt. They were toiling each day, forced to undertake strenuous manual assignments. The King of Egypt was treating the Israelites with extreme brutality. The Bible says because of this,  “God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”  Exodus 2:24-25 God did not end with just being concerned about the plight of the Israelites; He resolved to take them out of Egypt to the Promised Land. God decided to take action consistent with His concern. This is where the matter gets interesting. God wants to carry out a very important mission, but He can only achieve this through man. He has identified a man for that purpose. But on approaching the man, here is the response that God got:  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelite...