Bringingjesusn2focus

PLEASE PRAY FOR ISRAEL!!!!!

Well, here it is again. Christmas!! I love this time of year. Not only because it’s winter but because we celebrate the birth of the reason for our faith. Jesus. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, we need to keep Christmas in our hearts all year long. Celebrate Jesus. Celebrate His life and His death on Calvary. Celebrate His resurrection and the renewal of our relationship with God. Christmas is just the beginning of it all....

Bringing Jesus into Focus - THE CHRISTMAS STORY Well, here it is again. Christmas!! I love this time of year. Not only because it’s winter but because we celebrate the birth of the reason for our faith. Jesus. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again, we need to keep Christmas in our hearts all year long. Celebrate Jesus. Celebrat...

The Israelites crossed the Sinai and camped in Etham on the other side of the desert. The Bible tells us that God went with them. There was a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire during the day. This was physical evidence that God was actually with them. All the people could simply look up and see this pillar. If they could see it, they were going in the right direction. Now this wasn’t just a wisp of smoke during the day or a tendril of fire in the night....

PILLAR OF CLOUD, PILLAR OF FIRE - Bringing Jesus into Focus The Israelites crossed the Sinai and camped in Etham on the other side of the desert. The Bible tells us that God went with them. There was a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire during the day. This was physical evidence that God was actually with them. All the people could simply lo...

Chapter 13 begins with “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2). The word consecrate means make or declare sacred; dedicate irrevocably to a religious or divine purpose. Literally, set it apart for God. The firstborn are the joy and pride of any family. They are the hope of the next generation. God, the creator and proprietor of all creatures laid claim to the firstborn of the Israelites. The firstborn was considered to be the best. And the best belonged to God. This was to be the memorial for the protection of the firstborn on the night of Passover. The remembrance that God had redeemed Israel, His firstborn people, from Egypt....

Bringing Jesus into Focus - GIVE ME YOUR FIRSTBORN Chapter 13 begins with “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2). The word consecrate means make or declare sacred; dedicate irrevocably to a religious or divine purpose. Literally, set it apart fo...

Finally! Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and told them “. . . take your people and go!” He made no restrictions or bargains. Just “Leave my people”. Pharaoh had to have known from the beginning that the Israelites never intended to return. The deaths of the firstborn across all of Egypt was devastating. Even the Egyptians were eager for them to leave as well. They urged them to leave or “. . .we will all die.” The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked for gold and silver and clothing. The Egyptians were eager to comply with all of their requests. This generosity, inspired by God, allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt plundered of its wealth. ...

Bringing Jesus into Focus - TAKE YOUR PEOPLE AND GO! Finally! Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and told them “. . . take your people and go!” He made no restrictions or bargains. Just “Leave my people”. Pharaoh had to have known from the beginning that the Israelites never intended to return. The deaths of the firstborn across all of Egypt was d...

Once the darkness lifted, Pharaoh went back to trying to bargain with God. (Exodus 10:24-29) But, God is not to be bargained with. But Pharaoh believed he was on equal footing with God. He was worshipped in Egypt as a god. Pharaoh was considered to be a god, the son of Ra, the supreme god. But he was only human, just as God was trying to show him. It still hasn’t dawned on him that God was greater and more powerful than any god he worshipped. But soon, he would learn that God was more powerful than life itself....

Bringing Jesus into Focus - THE ANGEL OF DEATH Once the darkness lifted, Pharaoh went back to trying to bargain with God. (Exodus 10:24-29) But, God is not to be bargained with. But Pharaoh believed he was on equal footing with God. He was worshipped in Egypt as a god. Pharaoh was considered to be a god, the son of Ra, the supreme god. But he wa...

The land of Egypt has been stripped bare. The locusts have eaten everything that had been left from the death of the livestock and the hail. But still Pharaoh would not let go of his gods and would not let the Israelites go. His pride in his personal deity and his belief in the gods of Egypt overruled what he had seen and heard. Again and again, God demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the Egyptian gods and goddesses. They had no power. God proved that He alone had control of creation, from the smallest insect to the life and death. Now God was going to prove that He was greater that the most worshipped god in Egypt, Ra....

TURN ON THE LIGHTS - Bringing Jesus into Focus The land of Egypt has been stripped bare. The locusts have eaten everything that had been left from the death of the livestock and the hail. But still Pharaoh would not let go of his gods and would not let the Israelites go. His pride in his personal deity and his belief in the gods of Egypt overrul...

We have worked our way through six plagues. The only indication of time frame that we have is that seven days passed after God struck the Nile. I have read that some scholars think the time from the Nile turning to blood to the deaths of the first born was 40 days. God is kind of partial to 40 days, so who knows. At any rate, time waits for no man. Pharaoh was just a man, and he was running out of time. One of these days, Pharaoh will let the Israelites go, he just doesn’t realize it yet....

HAIL AND MORE BUGS - Bringing Jesus into Focus We have worked our way through six plagues. The only indication of time frame that we have is that seven days passed after God struck the Nile. I have read that some scholars think the time from the Nile turning to blood to the deaths of the first born was 40 days. God is kind of partial to 40 days,...

We’re going to look at the next two plagues this week. The fifth plague affected all of the Egyptian cattle “out in the field”. That phrase is important here. We’ll look into that. The sixth plague is boils. Boils on the people and the remaining animals. ...

BULLS AND BOILS - Bringing Jesus into Focus We’re going to look at the next two plagues this week. The fifth plague affected all of the Egyptian cattle “out in the field”. That phrase is important here. We’ll look into that. The sixth plague is boils. Boils on the people and the remaining animals.

We will be looking at two of the plagues this week. The third plague – gnats. And the fourth plague – flies. Little tiny bugs. Both give me the shivers. I don’t know about you, but bugs bug me (pun intended). We live in South Louisiana and both gnats and flies are in great supply here. Both are irritating and pesky. I don’t know about you but if you are familiar with either one, just multiply those tiny little bugs by the hundreds of millions and you might have an idea of how much the Egyptian suffered....

TINY LITTLE BUGS - Bringing Jesus into Focus We will be looking at two of the plagues this week. The third plague – gnats. And the fourth plague – flies. Little tiny bugs. Both give me the shivers. I don’t know about you, but bugs bug me (pun intended). We live in South Louisiana and both gnats and flies are in great supply here. Both ar...

It had been seven days of blood. Now the Nile has been restored. But still, Pharaoh would not let the people go. The Bible tells us he hardened his heart. Moses and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh, asking that he “. . . Let my people go, so that they may worship Me.” Then, he was told exactly what would happen if he did not let them go. God was very specific with the details of what was coming. Frogs, everywhere. In the palace, in the bedrooms, on the beds, in the houses of officials and people and into the ovens and kneading troughs. In other words, you won’t be able to move without stepping on a frog. ...

FROGS! EVERWHERE! - Bringing Jesus into Focus It had been seven days of blood. Now the Nile has been restored. But still, Pharaoh would not let the people go. The Bible tells us he hardened his heart. Moses and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh, asking that he “. . . Let my people go, so that they may worship Me.” Then, he was told exactly what would ...

as we learned before, Pharaoh believed he was descended from the supreme god. He believed that he had power over all facets of Egyptian life. He had magicians and wise men who could perform ‘miracles’. Whether these came by illusion or from demons is not told in the scripture. However, they could reproduce some of the things that God sent upon the Egyptians. But they could not reverse anything that God sent. God would soon show them that their gods had no power. One by one, the gods would fall....

A RIVER OF BLOOD - Bringing Jesus into Focus as we learned before, Pharaoh believed he was descended from the supreme god. He believed that he had power over all facets of Egyptian life. He had magicians and wise men who could perform ‘miracles’. Whether these came by illusion or from demons is not told in the scripture. However, they coul...