By Apostle André Pelser
Exodus 1:6-12
Here are a few reminders that God keeps His promise!
The Israelites multiplied and grew even under mistreatment and persecution by the Egyptians. Growth represents the blessing of the promise of God. God promised Abraham that he would expand to become the father of nations. He would have children like the stars of heaven and the sea sand.
When God promises something, it is exciting! God gives vision to excite us. Vision excites our faith in God.
When God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child in their old age, they laughed until they realized it was no laughing matter with God. God was serious about His promise. God always fulfills His promises. He is not a man that He should lie.
Some people only see the difficulties in life. They only see how hard it was for the people of Israel. They suffered under the cruel rulership of the new Pharaoh that did not know Joseph. He forced the Israelites to work like slaves to build buildings – and probably pyramids as well. He even made it harder by giving an order that they should be given less straw to make clay bricks.
But even under the persecution and stressful lives as slaves they multiplied exceedingly. It was a baby boom time in Israel!
When it seems impossible to you, God still makes it possible!
The birth rate of the Israeli women became a threat to the new Egyptian ruler. He devised and evil plan to kill all the baby boys under the age of two.
The devil hates it when God blesses us. He wants to spoil God’s plan and prevent His promises of coming true. When God blesses, the enemy feels threatened and then attacks with evil plans because he is jealous of God’s blessing on us as believers. We are the heirs of the faith of Abraham and therefore the promise of growth that God made to Abraham is ours. God blessed Abraham and his Seed, which speaks of Christ. He did not say ‘seeds’, but ‘Seed’. The earthly descendants of Abraham are not the ones to whom the promise was made, but to all who believe like Abraham did in the invisible God, Jew & Gentile alike. Christ earned that promise on our behalf. We do not have to try and please our God to earn it like the Hindus do: we do not have to pierce our tongues & cheeks and put hooks in our backs to pull heavy carts.
What pleases God is faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Even though the Egyptian ruler meant evil against the nation of Israel, God turned it around for their good. They became a great nation. The Egyptian midwives complained to Pharaoh that even before they can get to the women of Israel, they already gave birth. That is why Pharaoh tried to stop the phenomenal growth.
It is a Biblical principle that all thing works together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Pharaoh meant it for evil, but it worked for good to Israel. We also see this in the case of Joseph. His brothers sold him as a slave to Egyptian traders, but he became Prime Minister in Egypt and helped his brothers when their land experienced a devastating famine! It worked out for good!
Jesus died on the cross and the devil thought it was all over, but God raised Jesus from the dead and He became our Savior. His blood paid the price to redeem us. The devil meant it for evil, but it turned out for our good. Jesus descended into hell and took captivity captive. He destroyed the power of the devil, once and for all. He stripped him of all the weapons he trusted in and displayed him as a defeated foe in Jesus’ march of triumph! He brought all the Old Testament saints out of the pit of death and they marched with Him! Samson, David, Abraham and all the other Old Testament saints marched with Jesus!
When Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the Temple, He displayed His turnaround artistry! God is a turnaround artist! He can turn things around for those who trust in Him. Hallelujah! He can turn your situation around too! Trust Him.
The more the Egyptians afflicted the people of Israel, the more they grew stronger and multiplied! Opposition and persecution make the children of God strong and causes them to grow.
We have to see the supernatural work of God amidst of our troubles. Many are the troubles of the righteous man, but God delivers him out of them all! Look at what God is doing, not just what the devil is trying to do. All things work together for good if we love God and are called according to His purpose. His purpose is that we might be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:29,30) Sing: ‘Hallelujah anyhow! Do not let your troubles get you down!’
When God blesses a Church, the devil tries to stop the blessing by attacking the Church and disrupting it. But even his worst efforts work together for our God, because God has blessed us and gave us a promise of growth.
I walked past a building site on my way to work in Johannesburg as a young man. They displayed a billboard of the promised building on the outside, but all I could see was a massive hole getting deeper every day! When I returned to Johannesburg a few years later I saw the great skyscraper in its place. The promise was fulfilled! How tall is a building? As tall as its foundation!
Dr. Roy M. Gray, the principal of Miracle Valley Bible College that I went to in Arizona taught us not to look at all the tons of rubbish being carted away at a building site, but at the building going up. We tend to concentrate on the trouble & difficulties and often fail to see what God is busy doing on our behalf!
Jesus planted His flag of victory in the earth in the place where he suffered His worst defeat! The cross is His symbol – forever! When Notre Dame Cathedral burned recently it was all over the news media, ‘what a tragedy’, people said. But Nola found a picture showing the silver cross glistening in the midst of the flames in the Cathedral! When the roof and the wall broke down in flames, the cross stood erect and strong! What a picture!
The devil may keep on fighting us, but the victory is sure! Tribulation makes God’s people grow! The first Church in the book of Acts grew & multiplied in the midst of persecution. Our God is able to turn around Satan’s strategy against us for His glory!
When Elisha and his servant Gehasi were surrounded by enemy chariots coming against them, the servant became fearful. But the man of God prayed: ‘Lord, open the eyes of the young man!’ and then he saw the Chariots of Fire in the air above them that outnumbered the chariots of the enemy! (II Kings 6) Those who are for us are more than those who are against us! Greater is He who is in you that he that is in the world.
Be encouraged today that God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to bear but will make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. He is faithful. He will also do it on your behalf.
Faith is like the roots of a tree. Like the roots below the surface faith moves secretly. When you place your trust in God, you cannot always see how you’re going to overcome the trouble you are in. But somehow in your heart you know there is a power within that strengthens you and gets you through whatever you are called to do. In the moment you need it, you’ll be shown the way. A friend, a book, although, a dream, a prophecy or a word from the Bible will come to you and the message God sends to you will be conveyed.
That is how God works for those who will rest on His promise! In the dark, believing, trusting, waiting to be blessed! Faith is believing the word of God to you for which you have no other evidence other than the fact that it has been told to you! Faith is God’s way for us to live in a limited world in an unlimited way! Praise the Lord! Submissive faith is above confessional faith. Don’t put your faith in what you confess; put your faith in God! That will glorify God – not your confession! We confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Submit yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He will lift you up! He will fulfill His promise to you – always! Fear is compromising with the devil. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind!
Photo by Vivek Kumar