Written by: John Sernaque
Call to Worship
Exodus 14: 15, 16
14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
14:16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea.
It was “by faith” that “they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land.” Hebrews 11:29. In marching down to the very water, they showed that they believed the word of God as spoken by Moses. They did all that was in their power to do, and then the Mighty One of Israel divided the sea to make a path for their feet. {PP 290.1} The great lesson here taught is for all time. Often the Christian life is beset by dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before and bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly, “Go forward.” We should obey this command, even though our eyes cannot penetrate the darkness, and we feel the cold waves about our feet. The obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear before a halting, doubting spirit. Those who defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty disappears and there remains no risk of failure or defeat, will never obey at all. Unbelief whispers, “Let us wait till the obstructions are removed, and we can see our way clearly;” but faith courageously urges an advance, hoping all things, believing all things. {PP 290.2}
The rod signifies the Power of the Word of God. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, say unto Aaron, take your rod, and stretch out your hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the LORD said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the LORD said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen…. It is by faith that we are to go forward. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The path whereby God leads the way may lie through the desert or the sea, but you can be sure it is a safe path. Wherever God leads, we must follow. Brothers and sisters, the time is now, where some will be called to go forward. But do not let doubt hinder your progress but let faith advance your walk with God, hoping all things, believing all things.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
We come to the foot of Your throne of grace in thanksgiving, praise, and prayer. We thank You for giving us this privilege and still another opportunity to come before You as Your people in prayer. We thank You for giving us the lifeline to heaven through prayer. We thank You for all Your wonderful promises, as all Your promises are eternal. We pray You pour out Your Holy Spirit upon us, bless us with a double portion of Your Holy Spirit. May Your spirit continue to lead us and guide us and keep us on a safe path, the path that leads to Your heavenly kingdom. May our walk together with You be favorable and well pleasing in Your sight. May You bless us with Your Word and give us power from on High. We pray for Your strength and courage to do what is humanly possible and that You help us with what we cannot do on our own. Let us hear Your voice when You call out to us to go forward. Help us to see those things which are not visible but that which are eternal. Remove all our doubts and let faith move us forward in our walk with You, hoping all things and believing all things. Speak to us, Dear LORD, and let us hear, receive, and understand Your message to us that we may follow wherever You lead. We thank You for all You do for us, have done, and will do and thank You in advance for all the blessings You have in store for us. We pray to increase our faith, and help our unbelief. Save us we pray, and forgive us of all our sins, the known and the unknown, wash us clean in the blood of Christ and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We thank You for hearing and answering our prayers, in the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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