"The LORD is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him- my father's God, and I will exalt Him!
Exodus 15:2
Exodus 15:2
My Take Aways:
Something Old:
Exodus 14:31
The same mighty power that parted the Red Sea is the same mighty power at work in my life. He still does things that "fill me with awe."
Something New:
Exodus 14:19
The Lord moved the pillar of fire behind the Israelites as the crossed the sea, separating them from their enemies.
He is so good to "hem" us in.Something to Do:
Trust God to deliver me safely where He wants me to go and in His timing to get me there.
24 Comments:
Dear Wendy,
Thank you for your words today. The readings were so full of good things that once again, it is hard to pick one or two to mention!
Thank you for pointing out that deliverance is not always into the promised land right away. We do need to learn to depend on God or we too quickly forget it was He who delivered us and no we ourselves.
I love Moses' song of deliverance. My favorite verses are Exodus 15:13,17-18
13 “With your unfailing love you lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them
to your sacred home.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain—
the place, O Lord, reserved for your own dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever!”
I recited these verses often and they are one of my prayers for my family members who are not currently walking with God. They reassure me that our God is full of unfailing love and strength. And He will bring us all in, even those we are praying for, to His holy mountain; the place He made for His dwelling and the sanctuary His hand established.
One other nugget today is the bitter waters of Marah. I don't know how the branch worked to clean up the water, and I don't know really the significance of it, though I read some interesting ideas. One was that the sap in the branch caused the impurities to settle to the bottom of the pool, but left behind some minerals (such as Magnesium) to clean out the digestive systems of the Israelites, thereby removing some of the parasites and diseases they had taken with them from Egypt.
While that is interesting, my focus was on the new name revealed by God to His people; I am Yahweh Rapha, the LORD who heals you.
Our God is intimate, living, almighty, powerful to save, all knowing,the one true God, and one who heals us.
Thanks be to God!
Karen, Basel
Good morning! Todays reading is one that I am very familiar with-I love the parting of the Red Sea because it shows Gods awesome power. My nuggets:
1."Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle"-this reminds me of the song, "Onward Christian Soldiers". But do I gird myself daily with the word to fight whatever it is the devil may bring? I need to do this every day!
2. Wendy, I also picked vs 31, but for a different reason. "-srael saw the mighty power...They put their faith in the Lord". Why wait for a mighty act from the Lord to have faith and trust Him? Every day, I need to trust that He will take care of and provide what I need.
Karen, I too notated vs 13-"with your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed". Praise God that I am one of those people! I need to keep watching for the cloud that God provides to lead me every day.
I wanted apologize for my typing on last night's post-I have to do everything on my BlackBerry, and I was typing so fast I didn't read very well!
Have a Blessed day today-whether you are getting rain or snow (we are expecting over a foot!!).
Karla, WV
I loved your lesson today dear Wendy! Today's reading is just packed full of application to how we are suppose to live our days right now.
My Something New: It seems everyday what I read is read thru the "eyes" of how it applies to me. Last year, I felt like I read it, and thought more about "their" situation. This year as I read, I realize we are no different than they were. Our God is still the same.
Just like the Israelites, we too witness unmistakable evidence's of His presence! God, today often times meets our needs in unique and unexpected ways-just like He did back then! They were thirsty. (15:24) They complained. (How often is this our response?)
And, God, oh my gosh-just to show that His ways are not our ways---they're way better...what does He do? "The LORD showed him (Moses) a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink 15:25).
AWE!!!!!!!!
Something To Do:
The part that I hear God really speaking to me today is, that EVERY day no matter what kind of day it is-is it the best day of our life or is it the worst day of our life-no matter what kind of day, He wants us praising Him. When we are focusing on praising Him for our "prayer requests," and remembering all the good things He has done for us, it is much easier to remember He is a Big God. Like you said Wendy, the enemy is going to come in at our weakest area (but if we are praising God, the enemy will have to flee), so we need to focus on the Light.
Never dear Lord, do I want to become nonchalant, lukewarm, and lackadaisical regarding your AWE. Daily, I want to sing praises to you. I want your words of Life to me to remain exciting and full of life. I want your Words coming alive into me and taking up residence. Alive and active, and pouring out! Daily, I want to anticipate your goodness all around me, knowing that you do see the big picture. Thank you dear Lord for your Word and the time you give each one of us on this blog to study You. Keep pursuing us. Keep teaching us. Keep pouring out of sweet Wendy. Keep prompting the new ones to join in. Take away all of our fears. LORD, You are my EVERYTHING. I will praise you as long as I have breath! Amen.
My heart is so happy right now. Big hugs to each of one you for blessing me, beyond what I deserve!
Hugs, Lori
Fabulous, fabulous teaching this morning, Wendy! Thank you for saying things I really needed to hear about "the enemy", who has been attacking me this week. I'm running late this morning and have AM recess duty, and this afternoon am packing my bags to head out for a romantic weekend in Newport, R.I. with my husband, so I may not have time to comment today. But I'm bringing my netbook with me to stay up-to-date with our exciting, enlightening and encouraging reading from Exodus and our Open Blog Weekend. Happy Friday to all!
Michelle
Again, wonderful stuff, GIG! Lori, your words are always so uplifting to my heart. Thank you for pursuing Jesus with such passion...you are a good role model for me.
Old: "This is a day to remember forever - the day you left ___ the place of your slavery"...where is the place of my slavery? I have been set free; but oh so many times I revisit places of slavery.
New: The Lord gives us detours too. I need to keep my eye on Him and trust, trust, trust.
Nugget: "Don't be afraid; watch the Lord rescue you (me) today". I am to be vigilant against the evil one...God has rescued me from death and He continues to rescue me daily from satan and from myself.
Weekend! Yippee!
Morgen
'Morning!
Lori, I saw verse 31 more like you did, I think. After all that God did for them, they weren't 'wowed' by Him until they SAW the Egyptians die in the waters of the Red Sea? His power didn't hit them when a cloud and an angel popped up to show them the way, or when the whole country was dark except for their area, or when men starting falling over dead, but they were safe? I don't want God to have to hit me over the head with His wonders - I want my eyes to be open to see them EVERY DAY!
Wendy, the 'dry land' part caught my attention, too. God not only saved them in a miraculous way, He didn't even let their feet get muddy on the way. Does He love these people or what? ... and isn't it great that He loves us like that, too??
So many cool nuggets today ...
3. Ex 13:8, 13:14 I want to live in such a way that my praise is obvious and others - especially my children - ask me about it often.
3. Ex. 14:14 "The Lord Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm." How incredibly awesome is that? We don't have to worry or stress or DO anything - He loves us and will protect us. :-) That just makes my day.
I have a question about one of Wendy's verses. In Ex. 15:11 Moses says, 'gods.' Does he really, after all of this, believe that there are other gods to whom our God is superior? Does he still think that other gods exist?? Does that mean that we are that stubborn and hard-headed, too??
Snowing here again!
Amy
Wendy, thanks for the vlog! You ROCK! As my daughter likes to say.;-)
Last year, I did the One in a Million bible study by Priscilla Shirer. Wow! A couple of the things she says that really struck me about Ex 13:17 are this.
1} God chose the wildnerness for His people. He wanted to develop them and He wanted to wilderness to do it. God wanted a forty year relationship with them.
Be still my heart! God knew that His people would be afraid and turn back to what they knew. What I learned through this study, too, was that it would have only taken the Israelites about two weeks to make it to the Promise Land. Two weeks!! How do you build the type of relationship God wanted to build with His people in only two weeks?
2}A challenge can cause us to finally see our potential. They cause us to tap into a resource we never knew we had. But God knew.
So many times we want our wilderness to hurry up and pass. But, God, in His Sovereignty knows that an extended stay will cause our faith to grow. It causes our ability to lean on Him to become stronger. I know I wish I could 'drive thru' my wilderness because I don't want to be so stubborn and hardheaded, but there are times we need that time, even long periods of time, to prune us.
3} Because of our wilderness we haven't just heard God by the ear anymore. Through it, we now see God for ourselves.
Until we have fully come to know God and the power of Him working through our lives, we only know Him by the hearing. I want to know Him by seeing Him work in my life. I want to feel Him in my life.
Like so many of you, I love 14:13-14. Don't be afraid. Stand still and watch the LORD rescue you. - The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.
It is my nature to want to control things and have something done how I want and when I want. But through this verse, it's a reminder to me that I am to stand still and let the LORD fight for me. Whew! I love that! Now, if only I will apply it!!!
My daughter is out of school again today! I should be happy for the time with her, right?LOL
First...thank you so much for this ministry. A dear friend shared this with me and I began this week. God has blessed me through you! Thank you, thank you!
I find it interesting that in Exodus 13:17 God said, "If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt."
Is their faith that shaky? Is my faith like the Egyptians at times? How do I respond to the "battles" that I face in my own life? Do I turn and run back to the familiar sinful ways?
I hope that I stand strong and believe Ex. 14:13-14:
"Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today...The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm."
Stand strong with God...He is right there with me...I can trust Him!
Good morning and thanks for another fabulous teaching.
You comments about God being the LIGHT in our wilderness reminded me of something I recently heard.
Darkness is never illuminated by darkness. Only LIGHT illuminates darkness.
When I am drawn toward old habits of oppression, my rescue is the LIGHT.
Blessings this Beautiful Friday and for the weekend to come!
My notes today are "Camping Beside the Water":
I had several things familiar but new today, and several things I had not noticed before...but I was so Uplifted and Touched by the texts of the waters of Marah, that is where I just have to begin!
I noted some repeated themes from Genesis in these passages - particularly I was reminded of the wonderful lesson Wendy guided about God cutting into our infected parts so the medicine can be applied. Thanks, Karen, for your inspiring explanation about how the bitter waters were transformed to spiritual waters - that really sharpened the picture for me today! God restores us from what infects us. Praise him!
Another Genesis flashback was Exodus 15:26 which begins "if you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight..." reminded me of Genesis 4:7 "If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It is eager to control you, and you must master it."
We are so in need of healing and restoration. Every day we are bombarded by the temptations of this world, and it is only through our precious Lord we are able to crush sin beneath our heels.
Yahweh Rapha is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving, our prayers and supplication and our faithful following as he guides us through our wilderness alongside still, restoring, and healing waters.
Water is life. Life in God, life with God. Water heals us, restores us and connects us. Without water, we are dust...we have no life. With him, we are Happy Campers! :)
Familiar but new:
*the parting of the Red Sea - doors opening and doors closing
*Exodus 13:15-15 "the firstborn son is always bought back. This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead..."
*Exodus 13:17-18 - particularly "so God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea" [water! deliverance!]
Had not noticed before:
*Exodus 14:21, 27 "...a strong east wind...blew all that night turning the sea bed into dry land...as the sun began to rise..the water rushed back to its usual place." The symbol of the east is very powerful here.
*Exodus 15:20 "Miriam the prophet..." totally missed that last year!
I'm heading out this weekend again (sans computer again) but will be thinking of you all and praying for you all as I keep up with the readings and the teachings God has prepared in advance for us.
I'll be staying close to the water, camping happily...:)
Love,prayers and blessings,
Liz
Alaska
Good morning, everyone.
Wendy, great teaching. God delivers us but does not take us directly to the promised land. We need the wilderness experience - God's sanctification process. It's not fun but I love how here we see visible manifestations of God's presence. How awesome is that to see the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. I did not have time to research this last night but I'm sure there's a significance about those two pillars.
In my own wilderness wanderings I have to let God be my pillar of cloud. I have to remember this! Yesterday I was walking around not with God's cloud but more like Eeyore's.
How does he guide us now without the visible pillar? It reminds me of a bible study I took when I was first saved, Dr. Bill Creasy on Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp unto my feet..." He gave us a visual of holding a lamp and having the light shine around us - we can't see much of what is ahead of us - but just enough to take one step of faith at a time.
New to me: After Moses told the people to not be afraid and stand still, God said in 14:15 "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!..." I love the exclamation point. There is a time for standing still but there is also a time when God says to move. I pray that I stand still long enough to hear when the Holy Spirit says "You've got to move it, move it."
Have a blessed day, all!
Hello, and thank you all for your comments. I truly learn so much from Wendy and from all of you. I have never commented before except to ask for prayer for my husband but I really wanted to comment today.
Something old in a new way: Ex 13:21-22.
The Lord led the Isrealites day and night. Their job was to trust and follow him. At night he provided light by the pillar of fire. in my study of the book of John this year we learn that Jesus is the light and in order to follow him we need to remain in the light. I thought that connectiion was pretty cool.
Something new: Ex 14:19-20. The Angel of God and the pillar of cloud actually moved behind the Isrelites to protect them from the enemy. Sometimes I look to God and ask Him where are you in this? Well maybe He has moved behind ME to protect ME from the enemy!
Takeaway: Follow Him closely and trust Him no matter where He leads me, whether it be onto the wilderness or into battle. Ex 14:13 "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today." Ex 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." (NKJV)
Blessed Today,
Cathy
Thank you dear friends for your daily nuggets. I keep growing as I gather them.
Because God didn't lead the Israelites on the shortest route to the Red Sea, Pharoah and his army thought they were confused and trapped in the wilderness. Did they think the Israelites would be easy pickin's to bring back as slaves?
If the Egyptians had not persued them, I wonder how long the Israelites would have camped at the edge of the Red Sea, waiting for enough faith to cross.
Did you notice that God planned this in order to display His glory through Pharoah and his whole army?
Our church seems to be camped there as we are ready to build new buildings for worship and Bible study. Our faith in a powerful God will be challenged this year. I pray it won't fail.
As we turn dirt for the beginning of buildings, I hope we will read the song which Moses and the Israelites sang to the Lord as in chapter 15.(The Lord is glorious in holiness and awesome in splender!)
I want to stop looking at my problems and keep my eyes on the Lord, singing His praises throughout the day.
Have a wonderful weekend all!
God bless you and your family.
Linda from Arkansas
Thank you Wendy - yet another insightful and encouraging teaching!
I sort of zoned in on Ex 13:17-18 where God leads the Israelites out in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. He kept them from having to encounter a battle because He thought they would then change their minds and go back to Egypt. Like new (and maybe not so new!) believers, having just been delivered and rescued from Egypt - they might say this walk with God is too dangerous, too difficult and want to go back to the familiar, the "comfortable". Ouch. Reminds me of an awesome song by Sara Groves called Egypt - she sings, "I've been painting pictures of Egypt, leaving out what it lacks, the future seems so hard and I want to go back."
I love the new name of God introduced at the waters of Marah - Jehovah Rapha. Rapha means to mend, repair, make whole. I heard a teaching on this once and the wood that was thrown into the bitter waters was compared to the cross. The wood changed the bitter waters at Marah to sweet waters. The cross has the power to change our own lives, our attitudes, our circumstances from bitter to sweet as we keep our focus on the Lord.
There is no one like our Lord, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders. Hallelujah!
Val
Good morning all!
Thank you Wendy for all the wonderful analagies you sent our way today.
The verse that really spoke to me was in 14:5 "What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?" Don't you think this was a strange question for Pharaoh to be asking? He must have already forgotten the ten powerful plagues or maybe was faced with the realization that all of Egypt's slaves had gone. I think this speaks to our short term memory as well, and how quickly we forget what God has done in our lives and what He has shown us. It is easy to quickly move from walking in the spirit to walking in the flesh.
And in 14:13 Moses told the people "Don't be afraid, just stand still and watch...Just stay calm." these are words that I find are hard to remember and live by when I face my difficulties and want to take control, my impatience takes over and leads my actions.
I have a lot of reflecting to do today. Hope everyone has a great weekend and for those of you in the storms path, stay safe, my prayers are with you.
Blessings,
Betty
Happy Rainy/Snowy Friday Everyone~
Wendy the video today was awesome and you hit on a lot of the same things that I had written in my own journal.
Exodus 14:31 Our rescue will leave us in awe- yes it does! I know for me the wilderness was the hardest part but I wanted to be free so bad that I pushed on and got through it and as you said, Wendy, it is in that time that I truly learned Who God Is. I learned that He can be trusted and that what He says is true and happiness, joy and peace come as a result of obedience. Obedience can be very hard, but as Joyce Meyer says, you can suffer the pain of change or suffer the pain of staying the same. I am at a place now that I know, that I know, that I know that God is Who He says He is, He can do what He says He can do and I am who He says I am. Without that wilderness time I would not have learned those things.
"The LORD will reign forever and ever!" Exodus 15:18
My something new was that they crossed the red sea at night. I did not remember that from reading before.
Blessings,
Brandee, TN
Hello All! Wendy, your vlog is powerful today! As are the comments from others. Thank you all!
My thought for the day camps on 13:22 "The Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people." God is always with his people, leading them.
In Him,
Gaylene
I loved this reading. It is so full of God's goodness and power.
The verse that touched my heart today was Exodus 15:13 (NIV) In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
I am just going to let that wrap around me like a blanket today.
God Bless each and everyone of you!
Such good readings, GIG's. reading all your comments, I feel like I am missing so much by not being able to see Wendy's videos, and I get hits from your comments what it is about.
Karen, what you read about the bitter water at Marah is what I read, too. My book, A Way Through The Wilderness by Jamie Buckingham, says that Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane asked to have His bitter cup removed, by not My will, but Yours.
By grumbling the children of Israel had refused the bitter cup and missed God's best purpose for their lives. Not only was the Lord interested in getting the people out of Egypt, He also was interested in getting Egypt out of the people. They had dysentery caused by the snails in the slow moving irrigation ditches in Egypt, which to this day still affects 80% of the peasants in Egypt.
God wanted them to drink the water of Marah because it was filled with Calcium and magnesium (remember Milk of Magnesia) He wanted to cleanse their systems out as they started on this journey. Other uses of magnesium and calcium, together they form dolomite, which is used today for athletes who run in the sun. Dolomite also is a muscle controller used to control the heart muscles. It would have been the right medicine to clean out their systems and to prepare their bodies for the long strenuous journey in the hot desert. God had promised them in 15:26-27 that they would be a people without diseases of Egypt, but since they grumbled that would have to wait for a generation who listened carefully to the voice of God.
That principle holds true today. God wants us to live abundantly, so He continually leads us back the the waters of Marah where our crusty spirits may be broken... then the Spirit of God can use us.
That's my personal application! How I want to hear Him, get rid of my crusty spirit and be ready for the Spirit to use me!
Jan TN
Hi Ladies!
Thanks, Val in KY for your message yesterday...the light definitely brings freedom to our lives!!
My nugget today kind of ties in to this, I think. As was the case with some others today, I loved Exodus 14:13-14. As someone who often worries and feels anxious, these words really spoke to me. I want to focus on handing my worries and fears over to God and letting Him "fight" for me. I want to practice letting go of my fears and watching the Lord rescue me as he did the Israelites...
As usual, great vlog Wendy and great observations from all the GIG's!! Love this wonderful study...
Elizabeth
Hi Ladies!
Thanks to Wendy for her teaching and all of you for the great comments!
The same word jumped out at me today as yesterday .. REMEMBER! God wanted them to REMEMBER and celebrate the Passover and their deliverance (and our's)... and to tell our children. In Exod 13:9 - Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the LORD: 'With a strong hand, the LORD rescued you from Egypt.' I am being encouraged to write down my times of deliverance and answered prayers so that I can remember them, be encouraged and strengthened by them, celebrate them and share them with others . My loving husband would smile and add a comment about my age...but we won't go there! :)
Like many of you, Exod 13:13-14 spoke to me. "Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today...The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm." My family is in the midst of a battle right now. I need His help in standing still, being calm and just watching ...not acting. This is a great reminder that my loving Father will fight for me...He will defend my family.
Blessings to all,
Leslie
...a blessed and rejuvenating weekend to each one of you! I know I need this... Finally sat down to catch up and enjoy Wendy's teaching.
The two texts that stood out to me were Exodus 14:13,14 about just standing still where you are ("Be still and know that I am God"...) and that "the Lord himself will fight for you..." and Exodus 15:2 " The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my victory. He is my God, and I will praise him; he is my father's God, and I will exalt him!".
Thank you Val for sending me on a discovery trip - Sara Groves is a very talented artist! I would encourage you all to find her - here is the link to her page with the song Val referred to about Egypt:
http://www.saragroves.com/media/videos/
Enjoy your weekend!
Marianne
Catching up on comments and vlogs.
Ex. 13:18-.....Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.
We must be prepared and ready for battle when God calls us to go or whatever it might be. Ready for battle against Satan or any that might oppose God's will in our lives.
Ex. 13:21- The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire.......
If God calls us...He will guide us. But we must stay close enough to Him. If the Israelites had not stayed close enough to the fire or cloud it would have not been any benefit to them.
I must stay close enough to God when he calls me in order to know where he is guiding me and in order to battle those that oppose God's will. By staying in close relationship with Him in His Word and prayer.
Blessings to all.....Rochelle
Thank each of you so much for your comments today. They have really spoken to my heart and I have grown. Your insights have been such a blessing to me today.
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