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Archive for the ‘The Father’ Category

Which is Easier: Forgiveness or Healing?

Posted in Healing, Jesus, Knowing God, Prayer, Salvation, Sin, The Father on November 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

2And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home.  Matthew 9: 2-7

For the past several weeks I have been meditating on the following quote by John G. Lake:

“It does not take a bit more faith to be healed from your sickness than it does to be saved from your sins. The only difference is that in your own consciousness, you knew there was no place to get forgiveness except from God.”

When Jesus was on earth many witnessed Him heal the sick, but many did not understand the authority He had to forgive people of their sins.  So Jesus asked the question “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?  Jesus had the authority and power to do both.  Today as Christians we know because of Jesus that salvation is available to all mankind; we just have to believe.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  That same grace that saves us also heals us.

However, today many Christians do not view healing the way they do salvation.  We know that the only one that can save us is Jesus.  We cannot obtain salvation by another person or any work on our part.  We have faith in God that He will forgive us of our sins and make us righteous in His sight.  When it comes to healing we are not so sure because we view sickness and disease as a part of life.  Some may even believe that sickness and disease is used by God to strengthen our faith or test us.  This is not the case.

Sin, sickness and death do not reside in Heaven.  They are not a part of the nature of God.  Just like God does not use sin to tempt us or to test our faith; He will not use sickness and disease to “teach” us.  God is a life giver; salvation and healing are His nature.

Many who are sick will say God’s grace is sufficient.  They believe that God will see them through their ordeal.  If healing is God’s will, He will heal.  If it is not God’s will to heal, at least there is salvation the ultimate in healing. God’s grace is sufficient to heal us physically just as it is sufficient to save us from sin and death.  Too often we look for other means of healing besides turning to God the way we do for salvation and forgiveness.

Sickness and disease are precursors to death.  They are a part of death not life.  They are Satan’s tools, his curse.  Jesus said that Satan only comes to kill, steal and destroy; Jesus came so that we may have life (John 10:10).  Jesus died and rose again so that we might have life, a life in Him.  A life that is free from sin and sickness.  We have a right to divine healing as we have a right to salvation.

We should look at sickness and disease the way we look at sin.  It is not the will of God because God hates sin.  He hates sickness, disease and death.  We are no longer a part of the curse that resulted from the fall of Adam but we are part of the new life and freedom that is found in Jesus.  Jesus died and set us free from sin, sickness, and death.  Sickness and disease binds us, it prevents us from being free, just like sin.  So it is always God will to heal just as it is always His will to save.

We run to God for forgiveness when we sin.  We know that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 john 1:9).  No one can forgive us like God.  However, when we are sick we pray for healing but we don’t have the same expectancy that we have with forgiveness.  Sometimes we doubt the willingness of God to heal, or we think He wants us to go “through the situation” before we experience divine healing.  We may also think that God wants us to fend for ourselves and find our own means and methods for healing.

I believed this for a long time.  When I was sick in 2009 I had tumors in my lungs and believed that God would see me through my chemotherapy treatment.  I was confident from the doctors’ report that the chemotherapy would work and God would never leave me nor forsake me.  I thought by going through this ordeal my faith would be stronger and I would be a much stronger person for having endured this fight.  To be honest I didn’t have faith for a supernatural healing, I believed God’s plan was for me endure this ordeal.  I read the reports and understood the statistics.  I had an 80% chance of survival and an 80% chance the chemotherapy would cure me. 

The chemotherapy made things worse.  I ended up in the hospital and the doctors couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting better.  They were very concerned that the chemotherapy drugs were actually doing more harm than good.  So they made the decision to stop the treatment and “wait and see” if I would get better.  It was in that moment I knew that only God could heal me 100%, the doctors tried but I needed a miracle and God answered my prayers.  God did not delay. The worse day in the hospital was the same day the doctors brought my report of healing.  My numbers had dropped dramatically and they were so relieved that the worse had not happened.  So they monitored me for another year and a half to ensure the tumors did not return.  Today I still walk in my total healing.

Divine healing is our inheritance.  It is the will of God to always heal.  As John G. Lake says it really doesn’t take more faith to believe in healing than it does for salvation.  We just have to know in our conscious that the only place we can go for divine healing is God.  God is concerned about our physical healing as much as He is concerned about our spiritual healing and renewal.

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.  Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.  The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5: 14-16

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Identity Crisis

Posted in Jesus, Knowing God, Salvation, The Father, The Holy Spirit, The Righteous on October 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.  Romans 8:14-17

As a Christian I constantly struggle with my identity in Christ.  I grew up in a church that taught you had to be good to go to heaven.  I was told by some as a child that I would not amount to anything.  At one time I defined myself by my career.  Currently, I am a wife, mother, and pastor.  However, we are told in the bible we are sons of God; we have been adopted and are fellow heirs with Christ.  This is where, at times, I have confused my identity.

Sometimes I struggle to see myself the way God sees me.  I don’t always act like a child of God’s.  There are times I walk in accordance to my flesh and not by the spirit.  Many times I have walked by sight and not by faith.  In the times I have fallen or made mistakes I often ask myself “who am I?”  It’s very easy to fall into the old patterns of my thinking that I am not good enough or what I do is not good enough.  Honestly, I wish I could always see myself the way God sees me.

There are times I try to impress God with my “good” deeds.  I seek His acceptance instead of receiving His love.  I struggle with my faith when I don’t understand my identity.  Things are much more difficult when I look at my own weaknesses instead of keeping my eyes on Jesus.  When God looks at me He sees His child; not a slave nor a servant.  There are times I act like a slave full of fear and doubt lacking faith in God.

God created us in His image and in His likeness.  Jesus knew and understood His identity; He only did what He saw the Father doing.  Jesus didn’t struggle with sin; sin was not a part of Him because sin was not in the Father.  God hates sin; Jesus hates sin.  Jesus healed because the Father is a life giver.  Jesus raised the dead because death has no place in the Father.  What fellowship does light have with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)  Jesus saved us so that we would be reconciled with the Father.  So through Jesus we are made righteous and are now considered the children of God.  Even the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 

Each day I have to make a conscious decision to know that I am a child of God’s.  I am no longer to walk according to my flesh or what others say that I am.  I should not hold the opinion of others or of myself above what God says about me – He is perfecting me in the image of Jesus.

So I will no longer live based on my past identity but I will press forward in understanding and knowing my true identity in Jesus.   Do you know your identity?

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Trust God for Provision

Posted in Money, The Father on June 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

24 “If I have put my trust in gold
   or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’
25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
   the fortune my hands had gained,
26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
   or the moon moving in splendor,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed
   and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
28 then these also would be sins to be judged,
   for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.  Job 31:24-28 NIV

Often times we find security in things other than God.  For instance, we may look at our job as our source of income and financial security.  We can’t imagine what we would do without our jobs or money.  Today is evidence that many people are looking for security in other places.  When the stock market was booming everyone was saying to put your money in stocks so that when you retire you will be a millionaire. but the stock market crashed.  Many lost tens of thousands of dollars in retirement and investment funds.

We can’t overlook that God is our provider, and put our faith and trust in Him.  We can’t always trust in our jobs to keep us employed or others to take care of us.  We can’t trust in temporal things but we are to trust in eternal things.  We must trust God, and put God first in our lives.  To put anything else above God is unfaithfulness on our part.  We should not hold our wealth or the splendor of life over God.  God is jealous and He will not compete with anything or anyone.

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Performing Signs and Wonders

Posted in God's Glory, Healing, Knowing God, The Father, The Holy Spirit on May 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

26“I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel;
For He is the living God and enduring forever,
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,
And His dominion will be forever.
27“He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders, In heaven and on earth,
Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:26-27

“I believe in miracles with every atom of my being… because I believe in God – but Kathryn Kuhlman has nothing to do with the healing of sick bodies.  I have no healing power. It’s the power of God that does the healing. The only part I have in it is making Jesus real to the hearts of men and women. Any results there might be in this life of mine, is not Kathryn Kuhlman. It’s the Holy Spirit; IT’S WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES THROUGH A YIELDED VESSEL.” – Kathryn Kuhlman.

I found this quote by Kathryn Kuhlman, who was a great faith healer and evangelist in the 1940s through 1970s, and pondered this for quite some time.  Miracles, signs and wonders are to point people to our God.  They are not meant to elevate men or cause others to glorify and worship us.  Miracles are a testimony to the power and glory of God.  We see this in the book of Daniel.

King Darius threw Daniel into the lions’ den because Daniel did not stop praying to God.  King Darius hoped that God would save Daniel because it was the king’s injunction that got Daniel thrown in the lions’ den.  When King Darius saw the next day that Daniel had not been harmed and eaten by the lions’ he was grateful and gave glory to God.  It was God’s provision that caused King Darius to make the above confession about God.  See that is the purpose of miracles, signs and wonders.

Kathryn Kuhlman understood this too.  She knew that healing had nothing to do with her ability or power but that it was all God and she was just a vessel.  Daniel understood this too.  He acted as a vessel for God to cause the kings of Babylon to bow to Him; to confess that God was above all and that His kingdom would endure forever.

As Christians we must be yielded vessels, allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work of bringing conviction of sin to the world and the world to Jesus.  The greatest miracle is the death and resurrection of a life – when someone who is dead in their sin is made alive in Jesus.  God said that whenever we preach the gospel signs and wonders would follow as a confirmation of His word.

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No Slaves in Heaven

Posted in Heaven, Knowing God, Money, The Father, The Word on May 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. Proverbs 22:7

The average person has some type of financial debt that they owe to a bank, financial institution, company, school, hospital, IRS or person(s).  Many of us owe money on our homes, cars, education, etc.  These lenders have the power to repossess our property, foreclose on our homes, or impose massive financial penalties for late payments and our inability to pay.  In essence we are slaves to these lenders. 

For years our family has been trying to pay down our debts.  We have consulted financial advisors, read books on money management, cut expenses, and worked out a budget.  Yet still we live paycheck to paycheck like most people trying to make ends meet.  In this time when gas and food prices are increasing the looming debts that we owe overshadow our finances.  We have spent years paying our mortgage but when we look at our principle loan amount not much of it has been paid, most of the money goes toward the interest.  I do praise God for the provision but honestly the burden of debt has gotten to be too much.  It seems to only bring stress, worry and doubts about the future.  So I did the only thing I could do and I cried out to God.

I told God we have not robbed Him.  We pay our tithes and offerings.  We have listened to man’s wisdom and strategy.  We have done our best to be good stewards with the money God has entrusted us with, but still we are bound to these lenders where most of our money goes toward paying off debts.

Is God willing to cancel our debts?  I pondered this question as I struggled on how to pray.  I know that God has paid our sin debt through the blood of Jesus.  Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection sin and death no longer have power over us.  What about our financial debts?  Is it our responsibility to get ourselves out of debt since we got ourselves in debt in the first place?  These questions caused me to doubt God’s willingness to get us out of this burdensome situation.  Then I heard God ask “Are there slaves in heaven?”

I thought about it.  There are no slaves in heaven.  Then I remembered Jesus teaching His disciples to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  It is not the will of God that we be slaves on earth.  He does not want us to be enslaved by lenders.  So what do we do?  We pray that God’s will be done, and we surrender to God’s will for our finances.  We trust God for wisdom and direction in getting ourselves out of these situations.  It may require some tough decisions and a lot of discipline.  With God all things are possible.

So if you are in debt and feel enslaved by your lenders then know that is not the will of God.  There are no slaves in heaven.  You do not have to wait until you get to heaven to be free.  For whom the Son sets free is free indeed.  Be encouraged and believe that God can and will free us from any situation we find ourselves in.   We shouldn’t have to work for money, money should work for us.

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Why Celebrate?

Posted in Justice, Sowing and Reaping, The Father, The Righteous on May 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, but is terror to the workers of iniquity. Proverbs 21:15

Today news spread that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by Special Forces of the US Military.  There were images of people celebrating in front of the White House, in New York City at Ground Zero, on college campuses and in other cities in the US.  People were rejoicing about the capture and death of Bin Laden.  Finally, one of the most wanted men on earth had been killed.  But why rejoice some Christians ask?  Some have said that we are no better than Bin Laden by rejoicing in his death.

Let’s put this in perspective.  Yes as Christians we are to show love and mercy for all.  We are to extend the love of Christ to everyone including our enemies.  Jesus said that if they hate us they hated Him first; of course Jesus died for all of our sins.  Osama Bin Laden declared Israel and Christians his enemy.  He led terror attacks, death sentences, and declared war on those who did not believe in the god he believed in.  For years thousands of men, women and children died because of Osama Bin Laden.  Since 9/11/2001 he has been hiding but still calling upon the death of Americans and Israelites everywhere.  He showed us no mercy but God showed him mercy every day he lived on this earth.  Osama Bin Laden had a chance every morning to repent and turn from his wicked ways, but he chose not to and in the end fought until his death.

During years of terror and death, people cried out to God for justice.  Families and loved ones wanted justice for all the people who died in terror attacks orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden.  We prayed for justice for the troops that lost their lives in pursuing Bin Laden and fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  America demanded justice and today America got justice.

This is why people flooded the streets in celebration and jubilee.  For years the people longed for justice and finally their prayers were answered.  The good news is that even if we are wrong, God is not.  Osama Bin Laden will give an account before God and God will have the final say.  God is just, and is the administrator of all justice.

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These Signs Shall Follow

Posted in Crucified, God's Glory, Healing, Jesus, Prayer, Salvation, Satan, Sin, Teaching, The Father, The Holy Spirit, The Righteous, The Word on April 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

19So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. Mark 16: 19-20

 3how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,

 4God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.  Hebrews 2: 3-4

Today is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter.  As Christians we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during this time.  Usually on Easter weekend, churches have the largest attendance of the year.  So many churches preach the gospel message hoping that many will give their life to Christ.

When Jesus commissioned the disciples after His resurrection, He told them that when they went out to preach the gospel, signs and wonders would follow them.  They would be able to cast out demons, lay hands on the sick and they would be healed.  We are also told in the above scriptures that God confirms the message of salvation by both signs and wonders and various miracles.  We cannot have the gospel preached without evidence of signs, wonders and miracles.  Otherwise we are simply preaching a message with no power behind it.

We should not only anticipate a great soul harvest this weekend, but we should expect to see it all including signs, wonders and miracles.  Their purpose is to confirm the gospel message and point people to Jesus.  So we should expect to see miracles, healings take place, deliverance from demons, etc.  Of course the greatest miracle of all is when a person is saved – that person was once dead in their sin and is made alive in Christ.

So let’s invite the lost, the sick and shut in, the hopeless, the downtrodden, those bound, etc.; and expect God to show up and deliver them all.  Let our prayer be that God will confirm His covenant, made through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by the miracles, signs and wonders that will point all men to Jesus.

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And When You Pray

Posted in Healing, Jesus, Knowing God, Love, Prayer, Salvation, The Father, The Word on April 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 9“Pray, then, in this way:
  ‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
   Hallowed be Your name.
10’Your kingdom come
   Your will be done,
   On earth as it is in heaven.
 11‘Give us this day our daily bread.
 12‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 13‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’  Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus taught the disciples how to pray.  We often pray the Lord’s prayer in church and in our private time.  This prayer is usually memorized by most Christians.  But do we really pray the way Jesus taught us to pray?

Many times when we pray we put a caveat in our prayer “If it be your will…”  But Jesus told us to pray “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  So when we pray we are to pray that the Father’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  We do not have to guess what the Father wants to do.  So when we pray we should ask ourselves what heaven says.  Then we know what to pray.

When we pray for the salvation of a loved one, we know that everyone in Heaven is saved, so when we pray we pray for God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.  We know it is God’s will to save the lost.  There is no sickness in heaven, so we know we can pray God’s will for healing to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  The bible even says that if we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4).  So we can pray with confidence that God’s will be done when it comes to our desires.

When we start off a prayer saying “If it be your will…” we put the responsibility on God and remove our responsibility to have faith that God will answer our prayer.  Because if our prayer is not answered, then we can say it was not God’s will.  Instead, we should have enough faith to believe God for the answered prayer; have confidence enough that if it is not in line with His will then He will tell us; and direct us in what His will is in the situation.

It is important to remember that we pray from Heaven to earth.  We are to pray that which is loose in heaven be loosed on earth.  So it is always in line with God’s will to pray for peace, salvation, healing, restoration, joy, love, etc. because all these things are found in heaven.  We never have to worry that God desires anything that is contrary to heaven. 

So the next time you pray know that the will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Pray in faith and with confidence.

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Healing is Guaranteed!

Posted in Healing, Jesus, Knowing God, Love, Sin, The Father, The Righteous on March 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 19Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

 20“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.

 21“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life; even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. John 5:19-21

I recently came across some articles that said healing was not guaranteed in the atonement of Jesus Christ.  It is argued that we will suffer and have trouble in this life so we can’t be always guaranteed healing in our life on earth.  So for a few days I pondered this thought “Does God always heal?”  I then began to study the scriptures of what Jesus did while on earth.  Every person that came to Jesus for healing was healed.  The only time Jesus could not heal was where there was unbelief.

Jesus said He only did what He saw His Father doing.  Jesus healed everyone that came to Him.  There is no record in scripture of Jesus refusing to heal someone.  Jesus healed and He forgave people’s sins.  Think about this – we have hope in Jesus; we know that salvation is found in Jesus.  His death and resurrection has made a way for us who believe to have eternal life.  Salvation is the ultimate miracle – someone whose soul is dead is made alive when they accept Jesus.  Salvation is a gift from God.  Salvation cannot be earned.  If we call upon the name of the Lord we shall be saved.

So why does this not pertain to healing?  If God healed then doesn’t He heal today?  Jesus said that “the Father raises the dead and gives them life.”  God is our creator; we live and have our being because of Him.  God is a life giver.  Death cannot exist in the presence of God.  Everything that God touches comes to life, and when God speaks, He speaks life. 

Healing is guaranteed because of the very nature of God is life.  Sickness and death do not exist in God, life does.  This is why we know that God is the Healer, why everyone who came in contact with Jesus was healed.  Yes God always heals for those that ask and believe.  We receive healing by faith just like we receive salvation by faith.

Yes we will have trials and tribulations in this world, and many troubles.  Even Jesus was hated and despised by men, persecuted and killed.  However, every believer has the promise of eternal life in Jesus, sickness and death has no power for those in Christ.

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The Pain of Remaining the Same

Posted in government, The Father, The Righteous on February 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. Exodus 12:40

2All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3“Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” Numbers 14:2-4

Most people know the following quote: “A person will remain the same until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change.”  I was thinking about this after seeing an article about how our country needs to return to the ways of the past.  There is a conservative movement to return to the way things were because people do not like the changes that are taking place and they remember what it used to be like and want to return to those “good old” days.

The same happened with the children of Israel.  They did not want to face the wilderness or the unknown between the land of Egypt and the land of promise.  When things got difficult in the wilderness they would gripe and complain and say that they would have been better off in Egypt.  They spent 430 years under the Egyptians and cried out to God for deliverance; but when God sent Moses to deliver them and they ended up in the wilderness, they wanted to return to oppression of Egypt.  They did not like the change.

It is never God’s will for us to remain the same.  God wants us to grow and mature in our faith and walk with Him.  We can’t be afraid of change.  If we do not change, we cannot grow and experience all that God has for us.  Even when looking at the state of our country the answer is not in looking back but in looking forward and having a vision for the future.

However, when we are in the unknown it is easier to reflect on what we do know even if that past situation brought us pain.  So let it not be that the only time we are willing to change is when the “pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change.”  Change does not have to be painful but we should embrace it and realize that God is always looking to take us to another level of faith and glory.

So if you are going through a difficult time right now, don’t look back to Egypt; hold onto the promise of God and know that the best is yet to come.  That is what happened with Israel – they went from the bondage of Egypt, to the wilderness, and into the promise land that flowed with milk and honey.  Your promise land is ahead never behind.

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