Promise 43 from Exodus 18:19-20

Ex. 18:19-20 - "Now listen to me; I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the peoples representative before God, and you bring the dispute to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do." - I love Jethro's wisdom. It is obvious through previous verses that Moses really loved and respected his father-in-law. God put just the right person in Moses' life. For years Moses was taking his cues and guidance from the Lord as to how to lead the people. God sent Jethro back to Him. You notice in verse 18 Jethro doesn't intend to step on God's toes by giving counsel to Moses, in fact he encourages him to continue to go to God, but at the same time to teach the people, instead of carrying the burden of judge on himself. God puts people of wisdom in our lives to help us, through encouragement and counsel. Its so easy, especially for those in full time ministry, to get caught up in trying to do everything on our own. I found on the mission field that we rarely take time for one another, let alone seek one another's counsel. We need to take time to appreciate the wise people God puts before us and listen to what God has to say to us through them. I thank the Lord for the many wise, lovers of God, that He has put in my life to encourage and guide. Embrace those around you!

Promise 42 from Exodus 17:14-15

Ex. 17:14-15 - "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this in the book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.' Moses built an alter and named it 'The Lord is My Banner!'" - Joshua just finished leading the Israelites in battle. It was a long day, I'm sure they lost plenty of men, and people were mourning out of tiredness and loss of loved ones. The dead needed to be buried and clean-up needed to take place. Meanwhile, up on the hill God tells Moses, "Write this down for Joshua. Send this message to him from Me, "You will never have to think of the atrocity that took place today again. You will never have to encounter this enemy again, for I am going to blot them out. No worries, mate! I am with you!" God was there during the battle, it was evident as Moses' hands were raised up that God was in their midst. As long as the devil roams on this earth, the enemy will be present and there will be battles. But God is present in the midst of those battles. He gives us the ability to prevail, overcome and beat the enemy. That usually happens when our hands are held up high toward the heavens. Joshua couldn't hold his hands up because he needed to hold onto the sword. And while Moses was praising, Joshua was battling and God was hoovering over him, like a banner over him that declares victory. He is our Victor in battle, He is present with us, we just need to keep our hands either up or on the sword and the battle WILL be won!

Promise 41 from Exodus 16:29-30

Ex. 16:2-20 - "'See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.' So the people rested on the seventh day." - The most difficult time for me to faithfully observe the Sabbath day is as a student when I have an assignment due or an exam the next week. It is so tempting to keep pushing on in my work on the day of rest. Because the Sabbath day is a "gift day" from God, He won't command us to rest and not make provision for us to get the work done that we need to get done. God gave the Israelites a double portion in advance. He set the scene, opened the schedule for them so that they can rest. I've found that at some point during my week, God often times gives me a double portion of motivation, energy and endurance to be more productive than usual, this frees me up to rest on the Sabbath without feelings of guilt or worry, He also tends to bless our work during the week when we live in obedience to Him, by observing the Sabbath. A day of rest is totally a gift from God, which He promises to provide for us. We just need to take it.

Promise 40 from Exodus 16:10

Ex. 16:10 - "It came about as Aaron Spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud." - Usually when I think of the wilderness, I think of hot, barren land with snakes, lizards, sage brush, no shade and very dry. Growing up in the hot Mojave desert I remember it being such a great relief when the rare little cloud would bring a bit of shade from the sun in the summer. Spiritually we think of the wilderness as being a dry, alone place where we long to hear the voice of the Lord or to see Him bring us relief from whatever burdens we face. The Israelites looked toward the wilderness, they looked toward the direction of adversity and there they saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud. He met them right at the time where they were hot, hungry, homeless and unhappy. The Lord will meet you in your wilderness times, He will bring relief in the clouds. You will know He is your God.

Promise 39 from Exodus 16:6-7

Ex. 16:6-7 - "So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, 'At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord.' and what are we, that you grumble against us?'." I heard a message from a Bethel church, Redding, CA podcast where the preacher said, "Our day actually begins when we go to bed not when we get up." A new day was coming for the Israelites, they didn't have to grumble out of hunger anymore, because God heard their grumblings. The new shift began with the evening, God said that they would KNOW that it was the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. The next verse says, God will begin with providing meat in the evening then manna in the morning. Just as God provided that meat, He brings peace and healing of our minds and hearts from worry and concern in the night time so that we can see the manifestation of that in the morning. This is why it is important that we focus our attention on Him before we go to bed. The people ate meat in the evening and then they KNEW. What are we chewing on before we go to bed?

Promise 38 from Exodus 15:26

Ex. 15:26 - "And He said, 'If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the disease on you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I, the Lord, am your healer.'" - Can you imagine what our societies would look like if we really did heed to the voice of the Lord and do what is right and keep His laws and commandments?" Our hospitals would be empty, disability equipment companies would go broke, we would be healthier and happier people, we would see the power of God all around us, it would be a norm. Unfortunately, we can't even get past the 1st commandment; "You shall have no other gods before me." [Ex. 20:3]. What are those things that we praise or strive for the most? Success, prosperity, wealth, achievement, time to ourselves, safety, family, food, sports, entertainment, etc.? How do we spend most of our time? Working [focusing on our jobs], sitting at the computer, sitting in front of he television, eating and drinking, reading, etc.. What consumes our minds the most? Finances, health [ours or of our loved ones], our longings, how to become more successful, how to meet the right guy or gal, or how to get out of a relationship we are in, our stresses, etc... Who do we spend the least amount of time with? God! How much time do we as a society or personally spend heeding the voice of God, listening to Him? He promises healing, He makes it available to us. Verse 25 says, "He tested them" with this promise. How are we doing at passing the test?

Promise 37 from Exodus 14:31

Ex. 14:31 - "When Israel saw the great power, which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses." - It took a lot to bring the Israelites to faith in God and in Moses. Even after all the plagues and the death of the first born Egyptians, after the pillar of fire and cloud to guide them, they still had their doubts, until they walked through the sea, between the walls of water and then saw the enemy destroyed, then they believed. Even though God displayed His power over and over again, the Israelites still feared the Egyptians. It wasn't til their enemy was fully destroyed, it wasn't til the removal of the object of their fear, that they rested in the faith and trust in God. We do this over and over again don't we? As long as threat exists in our lives, we will tend to fear it more than fear God. We have a tendency to think that whatever our enemy is, it deserves the right to be feared. That is so wrong! If we TRULY believe that God is who He says He is then our faith in Him will trump our fear of the enemy. We will realise that it is ridiculous to fear the enemy when we are walking inheritance of the Almighty God, Creator of the Universe, giver of life and death, the ALL powerful One. We can be so silly sometimes.