Shalom,

We'll have a short blog for now and I'll add more later. First we'll look at Psalm 52:8-9:

⁸But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in and confidently rely on the loving-kindness and the mercy of God forever and ever.

⁹I will thank You and confide in You forever, because You have done it [delivered me and kept me safe]. I will wait on, hope in and expect in Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your saints (Your kind and pious ones).

Do YOU see YOURSELF as a "green olive tree" in the house of God? You should! An olive tree is a valuable asset to the owner of it! And a "green" one, the Hebrew word, "ra`anan", which means: to grow fresh and luxuriant, to be prosperous and flourishing! We really do want to be growing every day in the things of God! And we certainly want to be flourishing and prosperous! I learned at the Spoken Word Church today that it is my responsibility to prosper so that I can help meet the needs of others and so that my life will reflect the abundant provision of my generous Lord! Then we see that the psalmist "trusted", the Hebrew word, "batah", which means: to have confidence in, to be secure and to be bold in the "mercy", the Hebrew word, "checed", which means: goodness, kindness, faithfulness and favour of our God! Verse 9 begins, in the KJV, with "I will praise Thee" the Hebrew word, "yadah", which means: to confess, to give thanks, to laud, to praise, Thee, "forever" the Hebrew word, `olam, which means: continuous existence, perpetual, everlasting, unending, eternity because you have done it! What has He done? What David needed Him to do - deliver him from those who came against him!

In Acts 24 we see Paul, who has been delivered from the murderous intent of those who had vowed to kill him, facing his accusers again. They argue against Paul, but, having no real evidence against him, things are postponed again. Paul will spend the next two years as a prisoner in chains. What a blessing that time was to us! Paul wrote many of his writings while imprisoned and those are Words we stand on in faith today! AMEN!

In Exodus 13-14 we see the Lord giving Moses instructions on how He wants them to remember His deliverance from Egypt. We see them protected by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. We also see that Moses has brought the bones of Joseph, as Joseph had instructed his brothers (Genesis 50:17). Then the Lord warns Moses that Pharaoh has STILL not had enough! The Egyptians will come after them , but God WILL deliver them! Then we see something that will continue to happen over and over again as Moses tries to lead the people according to God's instructions! Exodus 14:11-12:

¹¹And they said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way and brought us out of Egypt?

¹²Did we not tell you in Egypt, Let us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

These people have seen great miracles, and are about to see the greatest they have ever seen, but they will NOT remember these things when the going gets a little tough! How does God deliver them? As they approach the Red Sea, with God's pillar of cloud protecting them from Pharaoh's armies, Moses lifts his hands over the water and the Lord divides the sea! The water is like a wall on each side and the children of Israel move through on dry land. As soon as they are through Pharaoh's armies continue to pursue them! After the miracle they just witnessed they still did not turn their hearts toward God! When they entered the sea and Moses stretched his hands over the water, the Lord brought the water back down and over the entire Egyptian army! Verse 31 is a wonderful verse:

³¹And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did against the Egyptians, and the people [reverently] feared the Lord and trusted in (relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord and to His servant Moses.

If only they could have remembered that, it would have saved them countless troubles later on! Keep reading!

Shalom in Him!