Freely Delivered

[0:00] A Pastor's Reflections Freely Delivered Exodus 5, 11-12 Go you, get you straw where you can find it, yet not all of your work shall be diminished.

[0:14] So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. Psalm 34, 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

[0:28] John 10, 10 I am come that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly. The work of the enemy is not always easy to spot.

[0:41] Unfortunately, Satan and his horde do not walk around with identification tags, declaring who they are and what their intentions are. The scripture tells us Satan was a liar from the beginning and the father of lies.

[0:54] Attempting to get the truth from the enemy is like trying to get water from a dry well. There is simply nothing left. Israel has been living with the oppressive system of Egypt for decades.

[1:09] What to you and I may have been a shocking way to live had become the norm for Israel. They were used to working for Pharaoh, used to giving him all of their time and resources.

[1:21] And after all, they had to live, right? Yes. Yes. But as God's people, God had greater things for them than to spend their lives being wrung out by Egypt.

[1:34] However, God needed to awaken Israel to this fact. He needed to open their eyes so they could see things as they really were. Exodus 5.19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in an evil case.

[1:53] As the people of Israel began to grasp their true plight, they began to lash out in frustration at Moses. Why? Because their eyes were now open, and they could no longer live content within the enemy's system.

[2:08] But they were also unable to extract themselves from his system. So now what? Psalm 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble.

[2:22] I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. God allows us to come to the end of our resources, the end of the world's resources, and the end of living content under the oppression of the enemy, so that our eyes may be opened to the truth of our situation.

[2:41] In that moment of realization, the temptation is to despair. We realize the hopelessness of where we find ourselves. We can no longer live content under oppression, and yet we cannot throw off that oppression on our own.

[2:57] What to do? Romans 8.31-32 What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

[3:09] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Yes, even deliverance.

[3:22] Father, thank you for freely giving your Son, freely forgiving our sin, and freely opening our eyes. Thank you that we do not have to strive or work for your resources.

[3:33] They are freely given. Yes, even deliverance. Amen.