PRIME - Day 6

"When I see the blood, I will pass over you." - Exodus 12:13

READ EXODUS 11 & 12

This is one of the most sobering sections in all of the Bible.  But it is also one of the most hopeful.  In Exodus 11 and 12, we read about the final escape from Egypt by Moses and the Israelites, and this is no ordinary escape from captivity...

God tried to get his attention.
You've already read the previous chapters, and you already know about the plagues God used in an attempt to get Pharaoh's attention.  Even after the frogs, and the gnats, and the bloody water, Pharaoh's heart was still hard toward the Lord.  It would take something drastic to get his attention - something we could never imagine.  I pray that you and I never have an attitude of defiance toward God, because he will do whatever it takes to get our attention.  God wants our whole heart - not because he's mean or cruel, but because he wants what's best for us.  A person who is completely committed to God will always have joy.  

The firstborn had to die.
In order for God to get Pharaoh's attention, and in order for salvation to come to the people of Israel, the firstborn had to die.  This is a direct foreshadowing of God's first born son - Jesus Christ - dying for you and me.  Nothing else had brought freedom for the people.  Nothing had gotten Pharaoh's attention.  There was only one thing that could buy freedom for all of the people that God loved so dearly.  I'm so thankful that God sent his perfect, sinless son to die for me.  I am nowhere near perfect, but God's son is all that I could never be!

The blood brought freedom.
In chapter 12, we see God lay out the instructions for the Passover.  He tells the people to sacrifice a lamb, and place the blood on their doorposts.  When God sees the blood on their doorposts, he will pass over them, bringing their salvation.  When you and I accept Jesus into our hearts, his blood that he shed on the cross covers all of our sins.  His blood is symbolically placed on our "doorposts," and our lives are spared.  Because of him, we are promised eternity in heaven and not in hell.  

Today, stop and thank God for sending his only Son to die for you.  Remember that it is only through him that you have freedom.  Without Jesus, you would still be a slave to sin.  But whoever the Son sets free is FREE INDEED! (John 8:36)

-Taylor

PRIME - Day 5

PRIME Day 5

Read Exodus 9 & 10

In Exodus 9 and 10 we find Pharaoh continuing to be consumed with stubbornness and pride. I'm sure everyone who reads these chapter says, "I would never be like Pharaoh" or "I would have listened by the second time." I find myself thinking and saying the very same things while reading. However, I find myself in Pharaoh's situation sometimes. Does The Lord send locusts and boils into my life? No. But he does allow other unwanted situations to occur.
 I finally stopped judging the Pharaoh for his actions, and really thought about what I could learn from his situations. He decided to get a really strong grip and endure the roller coaster ride he was on instead of trusting God and believing in Him. He thought he could just hold on tight until the ride was over and then go right back to his regular routine. How many times have you done this? I know I have several times. I think to myself, "oh I've got this. I can make it through this one little rough patch on my own."

The problem with this thought process is that you are not seeking God. No matter how big or small the situation, God wants us to call on Him and seek Him. If we begin going through situations alone, we may end up like the Pharaoh with our situations getting worse and worse. All the time God will be wanting us to just believe He can handle any of our situations.
 I encourage you to take every situation to God. Don't simply say, "oh it's just blood, or frogs, or gnats; this isn't so bad. I can do this one on my own." You never want to get farther from God. Chances are you have a really good friend that you talk to about things in your life, no matter how big or small. The same thing needs to happen in your relationship with God. Never try to make it through on your own. Call on God and you will encounter strength in your situation that you never could've had on your own.
Remember Psalms 121:1-3 says our help comes from the Lord!! Take comfort in knowing we never have to do it on our own!

- Brittany

PRIME - Day 4

PRIME Day 4

Read Exodus 7 & 8

After reading these two chapters, we see the Pharaoh's stubbornness against the Lord. Moses and Aaron are sent by God to demand that the Pharaoh allow the Israelites to leave Egypt and  they must perform various miracles to prove that God is real and serious. These miracles include turning a staff into a snake (ew), turning the Nile River into blood, sending frogs, gnats, and flies! In my own personal life, the first miracle would have been enough to prove that these two men were indeed sent by God, but the Pharaoh wasn't so easily convinced. This made me think...

How often do we question God's sovereignty and authority with a "prove-it" attitude?

Many times I find myself questioning God's plan, as if He doesn't have my best interest in mind. Surely Egypt's Pharaoh was angry and frustrated that God (through Moses and Aaron) would demand he let the Israelites go, it seemed like the perfect plan to have them as slaves to do all of the work. How many times have you been resistant to God's plan because it doesn't make sense? 

The whole time I was reading these two chapters I was thinking, "seriously, the Pharaoh is an idiot." Then I caught myself, I am guilty of the same thing! When God throws me a curve ball that I wasn't expecting I tend to go with the flow with a less than enthusiastic attitude to say the least. It's not my job to question God's plan, it's my job to trust His heart. Even when things don't make sense or happen like I think they should, I need to remind myself that "...God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28)

-Amy

PRIME - Day 3

PRIME Day 3

Read Exodus 5 & 6


Exodus 5-6 finds the Israelite people deep in slavery to the Egyptian nation. How did this happen to God's chosen people?  To understand why, we have to understand their past. 

The Israelites were people of Promise. God promised that they would be His people and that He would care for them and give them a land of their own. They were also people who quickly forgot about God's good plans for them and often took Him for granted.  It seemed the more God blessed them, the more they forgot about Him.

Sound familiar? 

So now in Exodus chapters 5 and 6 we see the Israelites enslaved by the Egyptians.  Still we see God's love and patience at work.  In 6:5 we see that God "heard the groaning" and "remembered the covenant" (or promise) that He made.  So as usual, God begins to work out big things for His people.  The only problem is they don't care.  It's like they've just settled for being miserable.  And even worse, now that God seems to be working on their behalf, they have to work even harder for Pharaoh who is getting angry at the request of God's messengers Moses and Aaron. (5:21)

In chp. 6 we see God gushing His love out as he describes how He wants to "deliver" and "redeem" them. But still, they can't get past the fact that life stinks and it's only getting harder. It's as if they just want everything to settle back down so they can be at a familiar level of "miserable" again. Still we see God promising to deliver them in spite of  their own lack of interest.

Does this sound like us?  Not satisfied with where we are, yet unwilling to let God lead us into our destiny?  Are we afraid we'll miss all the things that bring us down and hollow us out? God's Word paints a clear picture for us of how great He is and how much we need Him.
There's nothing here worth holding on to when we understand just how much He has planned for us. Don't be anchored down by where you are now, tune your ear to Him and listen carefully and sooner or later you'll see, He's been at work all along!


- Brian

PRIME - Day 2

PRIME Day 2

Read Exodus 3 and 4 

In the next two chapters, we see Moses struggling with obedience to God. As he walked up on the burning bush, Moses was amazed to see a bush engulfed in flames but not burning up. God knew that he had to get Moses's attention and once he had his attention, he would be able to deliver the message. In the last few verses of Chapter 3 and in Chapter 4 we see God telling Moses to go to the leaders of Israel and tell them the message. Maybe God is trying to get your attention and the task he has given you seems to difficult for you to accomplish. Realize that God isn't going to put more on you than you can handle and remember that we must put our trust in him to know that his ways are higher than ours.  

Extraordinary......

In Exodus 4:2-4 we see that God questioned Moses on what he had in his hand. Moses replied "A shepherds staff." During those times, a shepherds staff was used primarily to guide sheep. However, God used this staff to teach Moses a lesson. God showed him that he can take some ordinary staff and use it in an extraordinary way. Maybe you just think you have a ordinary voice, or maybe you feel as if nothing about you is "extraordinary" about your life. Just as God used a ordinary tool with Moses, God wants to use the "ordinary" things in your life in an "extraordinary" way. 

Prayer

Today, take time and thank God for using the "ordinary" things in your life. Moses was intimidated to talk to the leaders and didn't feel that he could live up to the expectations. When doubt creeps in, we can all begin questioning if we have what it takes to stand up for God. Pray that he will give us the boldness to take a stand in our communities, and schools. 

                                                                                                                            - Trey 

PRIME - Day 1

GET READY.

For the next few weeks, as we here at FUSE prepare for our annual trip to Camp, we are going to be looking at the book of Exodus.  Trust me, you will want to check back here every day as we study this amazing book of salvation, redemption, and grace.  So open up your Bible, and lets get started!

Read Exodus 1 and 2

The book of Exodus begins with an explanation of why the people of Israel are in Egypt.  We know that there was a famine in the land of Israel, and the first Israelites (the sons of Jacob) went to Egypt to find food.  We find out that they actually stayed in Egypt, and they began to build their lives there.  Pretty soon, they began to blend in with the Egyptian culture.  The Hebrew people multiplied and became powerful in the land of Egypt, forcing the Pharaoh to make them his slaves to keep them under his control.  

This is exactly what happens when we experiment with sin.  

Most of the time, we never set out to become slaves to anything.  It is never our goal to be oppressed and controlled by something harmful to us, but it always happens.  We start hanging out with a group of people just seeking to fit in, and before we realize what's happening, we are going down the wrong road.  We begin a relationship in order to feel less lonely, but soon we're compromising our morals to keep the relationship intact.  We never mean to become slaves to sin, but if we're not careful, we will let our guard down and it will control our lives.  

But God has a plan for Salvation.

We see the birth of Moses in chapter 2.  We will soon find out that Moses' strange birth and upbringing were no accident.  God had a plan to rescue the people from slavery.  God has always had a plan to rescue his people, and if we trust in him, his rescue will come at just the right time.  Moses comes on the scene, but we learn that he's got some issues of his own...

God will always prepare you before he uses you.

God had a plan for Moses' life all along, but it took some time for Moses to be ready.  He went into the mountains to live for many years before he was ready to fulfill God's plan.  Many times, we think God has abandoned or forgotten us, and we wonder why we have to go through the tough times in our lives.  These tough times are God's way of preparing us for the bright future he has in store.  As we will find out, Moses' future was definitely bright. 

There is much to learn from these first two chapters of Exodus.  We need to focus on the fact that sin will always lock you in chains, but God wants to rescue you.  He has great plans for your life, even though things don't always happen according to our schedule.  We need to continue trusting, because God is always working.

-Taylor

Why Should We Worship?

Hey FUSE! Check this out.  It's always good to remind ourselves why we worship and serve God!


These Nine Things Are True About EVERYONE Who Is In Christ (And are true for those who do not know Christ!)

#1 – I Was Dead –  Ephesians 2:1

#2 – I Was An Object Of Wrath – Ephesians 2:2-9

#3 – I Had No Purpose –Ephesians 2:10

#4 – I Was Separate From Christ – Ephesians 2:11-12

#5 – I Was Excluded From Citizenship – Ephesians 2:12

#6 – I Was A Foreigner –  Ephesians 2:12

#7 – I Was Without Hope –  Ephesians 2:12

#8 – I Was Without God –  Ephesians 2:12

#9 – I Was Far Away –  Ephesians 2:13

AND…JESUS IS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT ME NEAR – Ephesians 2:13

From Pastor Perry Noble of Newspring Church in South Carolina

Hope you enjoy! - Taylor