Busy, why?

Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to be here with you.

From today on we will be talking about the people of Israel. We will be talking about what happened when they were in Egypt, and their process during their pilgrimage.

“Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.” (Exodus1: 5-14)

Before coming to Jesus, we lived as prisoners, slaves in “Egypt” carrying a heavy burden.

During that time in which the people lived in Egypt they were a threat to Pharaoh, because they were more numerous than the Egyptians themselves. And that scared them, so they were shrewdly with them to avoid their multiplication. They put more loads on them and gave them more work, more clay and bricks; heavier work, making their life exceedingly difficult.

They were literally slaves!

The devil enslaves a person in such a way that they cannot envision an opportunity to get out. He tries to prevent that person to think, to use intelligent faith, to reason and to see that they have rights.

The people of Israel were numerous, they could have joined against the Egyptians and impose their own will because they would have overcome in quantity. But since they were in bondage, slavery, they could not use their intelligence. They continued to hold on to this burden while building cities for Pharaoh.

Pharaoh was afraid, as the devil is afraid of you! What frightens him the most is not the fact that you go to church and read the scriptures, what really scares him is when you make use of your rational and intelligent faith and assume your position and take hold of the right you have.

So what does he do? He occupies your mind with worries, burdens, and necessities, knowing that you have the potential to multiply, to revolutionize your spiritual life. However, you become stagnant because of the many distractions, problems in your family, work, financial life, health, etc. The devil wants to draw your attention, as it is written:

“…come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

Who is the enemy of the devil, if not God?

 

When you have a partnership with God, you are able to use your rational faith and you are defined. You put all your strength in God’s promises and in practicing His Word, and in taking the right actions. Herein lies the secret to resolve your issues!

 

See that the devil’s strategy is to distract you; to tie you up with today’s problems, which can perhaps be things of the past, experiences, situations that have hurt you, and that you are still holding on to.

 

The devil does not want you to reason and take possession of your rights, there is no way you can accept this! You have to stand up against it, and not just because I am telling you to! You will only do so when you assume that goal in your life, when you say: “Wait! I will not live by other people’s thoughts. What does God promise in His Word and tells me to do in this situation? How shall I proceed? Am I being deceived by the devil? I will pray, fast, get up early, be disciplined in my job, efficient, an example of daughter or wife … I will not be waiting around for people to help me do what I need to resolve. ”

 

When you take action, not only is your objective strong, but also your faith is revived. Your self-esteem is raised! Like when you do physical exercise your blood remains active in your body and brings you life.

 

It’s time to occupy your mind, not with the problems, but with the Word of God.

 

Make it your goal not to fall into the devil’s trap, but to chase and torment him, making use of your intelligent faith.

 

On Friday we’ll be back, talking more about the book of Exodus.