Journey through the bible

What banner do you hold high as you go into battle each day? If you hold the banner of self-sufficiency, independence or personal ambition, you will lose the battle every time. But if you hold high the name of the Lord, marching under his standard, he will give you the strength to defeat each foe.

So here they come rolling in . . . the waves of fear and doubt . . . caused by sickness, job loss, a relationship break-up, illness of a loved one, discouragement, death. You can’t stand up under the force of the crashing waves. But you don’t have to. The Lord will absorb the powerful force for you. You need only to be still.

The penalty of sin is death, a penalty that Jesus took on himself. “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b). Because of Jesus, eternal death passes over us, and we pass over from physical death to eternal life.

Just as God is at work in the history of the world, so he is at work in the history of your world. That may be hard for you to believe right now. Your life may seem to be on hold or in chaos. But you can be sure that God is using every experience to weave a magnificent masterpiece with your name stitched at the top.

There is much discussion about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. But think about it. This was a tremendous act of God’s grace. God simply kept the pagan king doing what his heart was already bent on doing - opposing the work of God. The multiple plagues showed the Israelites that God was to be feared and followed.

Is there anything God is calling you to do that you are resisting? Anything that you are ignoring or putting off? A life calling? A career change? A new focus? Dealing with a sinful pattern? Dealing with an emotional scar? Getting help with your brokenness? Getting involved in a ministry? Are you reluctant to follow the call? Why? Look at what God did with Moses’ reluctant heart. Think of what He could do with yours.

God was as sovereignly at work the day Moses’ mother tearfully and fearfully placed him in the Nile as He was when Pharaoh’s daughter drew Moses out of the water. Even when you don’t know how the story ends, God is still in charge!

God is using every minute to mold you into the person He needs you to be for the next leg of the journey. God is at work. He loves you with unconditional love. He has given you an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

How about you? What are you learning about God and yourself on this journey? Are you thinking great thoughts of God? Is your energy to follow hard after Him increasing? Are you becoming bolder in telling others about Him? Are you finding contentment in Him alone? Packer’s words describe Joseph. Do they describe you?