Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Morning by Morning, September 15 - Divine Distinction from the Judgments of God
 
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Take me by Your hand and lead me by my heart into the way that leads to life in You today.  ...
 
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord:  Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. For if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies; so also the land where they live. But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land. Thus I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign shall appear tomorrow'" (Exodus 8:20-23).
 
In the days of judgment against the land of Egypt and its leadership, You also made a divine distinction between Your people and the people of the land. When the judgment of pestilence against the livestock came, You said through Moses to Pharaoh, "the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt" (Exodus 9:4). In the judgment of the hail can raining down over all of Egypt, You make a distinction with Your people, so that "only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail" (Exodus 9:26). And when the judgment of darkness came over the land, "all the Israelites had light where they lived" (Exodus 10:23).
 
In the final judgment of death that passed through the land, Moses declared to Pharaoh death would not come upon the people of God "so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel" (Exodus 11:7). So the Lord commanded the first Passover, as the people of God took the blood of the lamb without blemish and applied it the doorways of their homes. And the judgment of death passed over the people of God (Exodus 12:1-32).
 
All that happened in the story of the journey of the people of God under the Old Covenant "serve as an example" to us in our journey under the New Covenant where all things are fulfilled in Christ, as "they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). When judgments come and even if the shaking the land is severe, we can trust that You make a divine distinction for the people of God, all by the power of the grace of God.
 
In the power of Your grace, may we seek Your heart and pray for the people and the land where You have positioned us, even when judgment may come. "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7). You are "not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). And even in Your judgments, we know it is Your heart to remember mercy, as Your Word declares that "mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).
 
Lord, let my heart be set apart for You. Deliver me out of "Egypt" and deliver "Egypt" out of me. By the grace of God, I embrace the grace of Your divine distinction for the people of God. And I pray for people and the land where You have strategically positioned me for such a time as this, along with my fellow disciples and travellers on this journey of faith "on whom the end of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). "For God so love the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

I pray you will rest in the peace of the Lord's divine distinction for the people of God, in Jesus' name. May you thrive as salt and light in the midst of your world, as a witness of faith and the mercy of God to all around you that need to know the mercy and grace of our God that triumphs over judgment. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
 
  



Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
  
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257

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