EXODUS 11-30

I have enjoyed reading my Bible this morning and drinking three cups of coffee!  I'm still Jet lagged, so I am exhausted by 9pm and wide away at 4:00am  It will take a good week to get over I'm sure.  So, I have been waking up early and spending several hours in God's Word reading slowly and carefully.  I wish I made the time to do this every day, but then I would like to type out what I learned for another hour as well.  I'm not there yet, but if I ever retire, I would look forward to that.  Here are a few thoughts I wanted to share from what I read today that spoke out to me especially:   1) GOD AGAINST gods- In Exodus 12:12, it says:  "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborrn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment:  I am the LORD."  I am told that for every one of the ten plagues God sent to Egypt, it has a direct correlation to an attack against one of the gods of Egypt.  I have not studied this enough, but I have been told by those who have that this is the case.  This verse very plainly tells us that GOD was executing judgment upon the gods of Egypt.  He is the ONLY GOD and there are no others.  God is Jealous, and alone desires our worship.  Not on our list of deities, but the only one on the list!  God will later tell them in the ten commandments and start them off with this at the top of the ten.  Now, it God was against the gods of Egypt, I'm guessing that He is also against the gods in America.  I mean gods of our own making.  Anything that we would put before God and serving Him would become a "god".  He would be against that.  Let us focus on the LORD and be obedient to Him!   2) WHAT IS IT?  Sometimes, God works in our lives in ways we don't understand and does things that we have never seen before, or faced before.  Such was the case of the Israelites in the wilderness.  The wilderness is not a garden, and there are not fruits and vegtables there for the picking.  Three and a half million people are in the wilderness for 40 years, and there is no food to pick up and no Walmarts down the street.  God gave them Manna.  In Exodus 16:15, it says:  "And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna:  for they wist not what it was.  And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."  Now, the word Manna means:  "What is it?"  They didn't know what it was and they named it a question!  What is it!  Sometimes God works in our lives and we say:  What is going on?  Moses might tell us:  It is what God is using to teach us and refine us and make us into that which pleases Him.  He has a plan and a purpose for everything!  Sometimes the blessings of God are so wonderful we say:  "I've never seen this before!"  or Manna from Heaven!  Dear friend, let us trust in the LORD that no mater what comes our way.... we know it is from Heaven for our ultimate good!  We are heaven bound, and nothing can happen that will be so bad that God's good will not shine through one day.  Manna!  Enjoy it!   3) A KINGDOM OF PRIEST- Exodus 19:6 says:  "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priest, and an holy nation.  These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.'  Wow!  Doesn't this sound like something we find in the New Testament?  (1Pe 2:9) "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" (Rev 1:6) "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." You see, God's people have always been Kings and Priests in His eyes!  We certainly don't see ourselves like that, but God does!  He loves us and favors us even when we don't deserve it at all.  Glory in God's favor bestowed upon us.... it is called.... GRACE!!!   Hope you have a blessed day.  I'm so excited about Sunday!  I'm pumped and primed and wish I could preach for two hours straight.  Sure love my church and wonderful people! Pastor Mike Mutchler