Leviticus 26:13 - I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
Oh, people, how this so is what Jesus does for us. If Egypt is a type of the world and we walk in this world's ways, He brings us out that we will no longer remain in captivity of all that is wrong in the world.
When we are in confinement we feel oppressed. Jesus breaks the yoke that we might be free. When we are free our entire outlook is different, there is a lilt in our step, we can walk upright. There may be those around us burdened by the things of the world (even those who don't realize they are burdened) but we have no need to feel that way again.
Here's a story of freedom!! Granted it's not what you might expect, but I believe even in the everyday things we can see glimpses of God and what He will do for us if we keep our hearts, minds and eyes focused on Him. So, the story: A friend was telling me I should journal about something recently. Then I read this scripture and eventually related it to what she said.
We had two cats. One had to be put down. So that the remaining cat, Wilson, would have a companion we decided to get another cat. We had been trying to observe the "rules" for introducing a new cat into the home. One rule is to have a separate room for the newbie for a time so both can become acquainted through sounds and smells under the door!?
The new little girl, Treo, did not like being confined (in jail as my husband says). I really can't blame her but it holds back the growling and hissing from the 10 year old. In an attempt to promote a little better opportunity to see and smell I opened the door about an inch and put heavy objects at the door to hold it in that position.
One morning I went to get her out of her "cell" and noticed immediately that the door was no longer only one inch wide. Oops. She escaped. She had full range of the entire house all night. She was as happy as a clam. As my friend chuckled about this I could see no humor in it at the time. Not when I was the one in the midst of all the hissing!! Well, the damage was done, no point locking her up anymore.
She was confined and felt oppressed. Now she runs when we approach for what I believe is fear she will become confined again. Her yoke was broken in her escape and she DOES have a lilt to her step now. She walks upright. Wilson may be burdened for a time, but she is not! He too will escape that burden when he realizes how good it is to have her around! Ahem. (Not amen but ahem!)
I pray that when my enemy approaches I will run from his grasp and that I will be reminded of all that Christ did for me, for who I am in Christ, that I now have the mind of Christ, am being made daily into the likeness of He who redeemed and saved me. He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.
Just as God was the one who took His people out of the land of Egypt and into the land He promised, Jesus will do the same for anyone interested today. He is the same today as He was in the past and will always be. This world changes, but He never will. He will give us all good things (not necessarily things we can hold in our hands but an even more special gift, that of Himself and His strength, peace, hope and more) if we just believe in Him and are obedient. His desire is that all be removed from their burdens of guilt and shame brought about by sin. His desire is to break the yoke of slavery to sin. His desire is for us, that He can give us great things, treasures. The greatest gift He offers is His Son, Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Showing posts with label Yoke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoke. Show all posts
Friday, March 15, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
And Then
Numbers 11:20b - "'...because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’”
Oh, Egypt. Israel was in captivity there for many years before Moses arrived and demanded Pharaoh let God's people go, not without a struggle.
Israel saw the miracles, experienced God's hand of protection upon them and were grateful for their release from slavery to the Egyptians. For awhile, anyway.
Israel, God's people. Egypt, the world. I've written many times about this. Us and them! How is it we, like Israel, forget so easily all that God has done for us...from Genesis to Revelation?
Here we have Israel being led by Moses, who is being led by the LORD, from a land of slavery to a land of promise and their freedom. The thought of that alone should have been exciting. Their journey an adventure knowing that the cloud that protected them during the day and the pillar of fire at night was their God. His presence was with them 24/7. But that excitement and knowledge seemed to have waned after a time. They arose and went when God's presence moved and they stopped when He stopped.
Some time into their journey came the dissatisfaction. They were no longer content with the routine of not knowing their next step and collecting manna each day. Their whining showed how they, might I use the same strong language as in Numbers, detested or abhorred God. ...because you have despised the Lord who is among you... Among you...
This was a true test in trusting God and following Him. Not knowing what each day held. For us it is the self-sufficiency of which we must let go. This is difficult sometimes. We as humans think we always know what is best, giving no thought to what God might think. Don't we believe He knows what's best? We are a rebellious lot...we cling to our Egypt and remember the good old days when we thought we had it better.
Israel whined about the good food they had despite their being slaves. Somehow they forgot about the treatment they received and could only think about their physical hunger and physical needs.
This past week as we listened to Jeremy Prochazka preach at The Church in Wisconsin on The Yoke Shall Be Destroyed Because of the Anointing, he brought up an "and then" statement. It was referring to Elijah's mantle of prophet being given to Elisha. It happens to us also. We are asked by God to do something, first to follow, then act. It must happen at the proper time. Elisha said to Elijah in 1Kings 19:20: And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”
Like some, Elisha didn't hesitate. The anointing of God was upon him. He immediately turned from Elijah and sought to do as he said, which included giving up all that was seemingly important, and then returned to follow. It reminds me of times when men wanted to follow Jesus but only after they had said their goodbyes to family. Elisha did as he had said he would. Others go back to family and never return because the comfort level was greater there.
Elisha had twelve yoke of oxen. He was a prosperous man and he was being asked to leave it all behind because an anointing was upon his life. We have to free ourselves from any yoke that is upon us that interferes with God's will for us. The yoke is always a worldly thing, whether physical, mental or emotional. We know that each of us is part of the body of Christ, each with a gift that God has given us. I look at that as His anointing, whether great or small.
If God has asked you to move to another level in Him, to seek Him over the things of Egypt, He has also provided the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome...but sometimes you must make the first move...which is to just let everything go and follow. Is our Egypt too great; does it have too much to offer, so we think? Are the things we hold so dear just that, too dear? Might we ask ourselves why we left Egypt?
If we have been called to follow we will be called to make sacrifices, to let things go. It might not always be easy but what is on the other side of obedience will be. As Jeremy stated: the anointing will change us but it will also empower us to make changes. We must be willing to change, to let go of the yoke that holds us captive.
Jesus' yoke, He exerted, was easy and His burden light. He is the one who gives peace that passes all understanding. He is the one who makes us lie in green pastures. He is the tower we run into when our strength fails us. He is the cleft in the rock where we seek refuge in times of trouble. It is His hands which hold us, which have us engraved in them.
Which yoke do we want, the world's or His? Do we want to carry the burdensome yoke or allow His to carry us?
Isaiah 10:27 - It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
Oh, Egypt. Israel was in captivity there for many years before Moses arrived and demanded Pharaoh let God's people go, not without a struggle.
Israel saw the miracles, experienced God's hand of protection upon them and were grateful for their release from slavery to the Egyptians. For awhile, anyway.
Israel, God's people. Egypt, the world. I've written many times about this. Us and them! How is it we, like Israel, forget so easily all that God has done for us...from Genesis to Revelation?
Here we have Israel being led by Moses, who is being led by the LORD, from a land of slavery to a land of promise and their freedom. The thought of that alone should have been exciting. Their journey an adventure knowing that the cloud that protected them during the day and the pillar of fire at night was their God. His presence was with them 24/7. But that excitement and knowledge seemed to have waned after a time. They arose and went when God's presence moved and they stopped when He stopped.
Some time into their journey came the dissatisfaction. They were no longer content with the routine of not knowing their next step and collecting manna each day. Their whining showed how they, might I use the same strong language as in Numbers, detested or abhorred God. ...because you have despised the Lord who is among you... Among you...
This was a true test in trusting God and following Him. Not knowing what each day held. For us it is the self-sufficiency of which we must let go. This is difficult sometimes. We as humans think we always know what is best, giving no thought to what God might think. Don't we believe He knows what's best? We are a rebellious lot...we cling to our Egypt and remember the good old days when we thought we had it better.
Israel whined about the good food they had despite their being slaves. Somehow they forgot about the treatment they received and could only think about their physical hunger and physical needs.
This past week as we listened to Jeremy Prochazka preach at The Church in Wisconsin on The Yoke Shall Be Destroyed Because of the Anointing, he brought up an "and then" statement. It was referring to Elijah's mantle of prophet being given to Elisha. It happens to us also. We are asked by God to do something, first to follow, then act. It must happen at the proper time. Elisha said to Elijah in 1Kings 19:20: And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”
Like some, Elisha didn't hesitate. The anointing of God was upon him. He immediately turned from Elijah and sought to do as he said, which included giving up all that was seemingly important, and then returned to follow. It reminds me of times when men wanted to follow Jesus but only after they had said their goodbyes to family. Elisha did as he had said he would. Others go back to family and never return because the comfort level was greater there.
Elisha had twelve yoke of oxen. He was a prosperous man and he was being asked to leave it all behind because an anointing was upon his life. We have to free ourselves from any yoke that is upon us that interferes with God's will for us. The yoke is always a worldly thing, whether physical, mental or emotional. We know that each of us is part of the body of Christ, each with a gift that God has given us. I look at that as His anointing, whether great or small.
If God has asked you to move to another level in Him, to seek Him over the things of Egypt, He has also provided the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome...but sometimes you must make the first move...which is to just let everything go and follow. Is our Egypt too great; does it have too much to offer, so we think? Are the things we hold so dear just that, too dear? Might we ask ourselves why we left Egypt?
If we have been called to follow we will be called to make sacrifices, to let things go. It might not always be easy but what is on the other side of obedience will be. As Jeremy stated: the anointing will change us but it will also empower us to make changes. We must be willing to change, to let go of the yoke that holds us captive.
Jesus' yoke, He exerted, was easy and His burden light. He is the one who gives peace that passes all understanding. He is the one who makes us lie in green pastures. He is the tower we run into when our strength fails us. He is the cleft in the rock where we seek refuge in times of trouble. It is His hands which hold us, which have us engraved in them.
Which yoke do we want, the world's or His? Do we want to carry the burdensome yoke or allow His to carry us?
Isaiah 10:27 - It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
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