Exodus=God’s Way Out: Ex. 15:1-3 & Rev. 15:3
The word “Exodus,” means “The Way Out!”
Intro: Adam came to God and said he was lonely and needed someone to share his life with. God said, “Tell you what, I’ll create someone who will wait on your every needs, serve you, love you be totally dedicated to your happiness.” The man asked, “What will it cost me?” God said, “An arm and a leg!”
The man thought about it and then asked, “What can I get for a rib???”
“What can I get?!” Sounds like an infomercial. You could almost speak of these verses this way.
Today, you can get, God’s approach to problems. I’m telling you, here’s a technique that will work every time, shed those unwanted pounds, get rich, find purpose, heal relationships, it’s ALL here: Exodus 15.
But, wait there’s more, if you call right now, you also get:
1) Freedom from Egypt and the Egyptians; from bondage to sin and to satan.
2) And Peace that passeth understanding, because the Egyptians, sin, bondage, etc. will be DEAD! And will bother you no more.
And as a special added bonus, you also get Power, Light, Life, Love, and you’ll be a City set on a Hill, filled with God’s Joy!
A little exaggerated? Read Ex. 15 and put it together with Rev.
15:3 and you get a PERPETUAL EX. 15:2 EXPERIENCE!
Ex. 15:2, they partied; I mean they PARTIED. If Pittsburgh, (our local team) or the Saints (my team) won the Super Bowl, the celebration would be NOTHING, compared to this!
2 million people, Jewish people, truly free, truly turned loose, Joyfully celebrating that fact. And Rev. 15:3 makes it a permanent position, and 1 Thes. 5:116-18, Phil. 4:4, and Ps. 34:1-4 affirm this fact. How exactly can we experience this?
First, a POSITIVE ATTITUDE. We need God’s attitude and it is amazingly POSITIVE.
Can you imagine God Depressed. Walking back and forth in heaven complaining, feeling sorry for Himself. “Oh my, things aren’t going very well. I’m having a BAD MILLENIUM! All that evil.“
How can we be positive in the face of so much evil. Sept. 11, 2001, was bad, but the Nazi’s were killing that many people every week. God sees it all, yet he is positive; we need a radical commitment to Rom. 8:28!
Illus. Father and daughter were outside walking. Daughter looked up at the stars said, “Oh, how beautiful. If they ‘re this nice on THIS side, imagine what they must be like on GOD’S
SIDE!”
God’s side is always, somehow, positive!
Second, A POSITIVE ATTENTION! We need to focus our ATTENTION where God does: On the Solution, not the Problem! We need a Positive Attention!
Ex. 14, the Egyptians are coming, what is everyone talking about? The problem! The Egyptians! The Hopelessness of the situation!
God, says, “Go Forward!” God says, “Go Forward, in the midst of sin, loosing weight, getting physicall fit, getting healthy, getting a powerful prayer life, finding financial prosperity.
And God says, “Go Forward!” With our kids. Most parents spend most of their time talking, complaining, and yelling about the problems.
Illus. (Tongue in cheek) Kids could help here by coming up with positive responses to most repeated complaints, for instance:
1) “How many times have I told you!” Kid’s response: “Well, Mom, I’ve kept track, this is actually the 3784th time!”
2) “When will you every learn!” Kid’s response: “I have planned on learning the afternoon of March 8th 2003. OK!”
3) “What’s wrong with you?!” Kid’s response “I’m glad you asked; I spent all last week at the Doctors, and a battery of tests have conclusively proved: NOTHING! Oh, here’s the fifty page report and the 10,000 dollar fee!”
4) “How could you do this to me?” Kid’s response: “Because I LOVE you. The bible says, ‘Count it all joy!’, so I’m just giving you lots of reasons to be joyful!”
How much better to talk and work on Solutions to family problems; creating a positive atmosphere for healthy families!
What do we do? God says, there’s a party with your name on it on the other side of this Red Sea, “Go Forward!” Not “Oh No!” But, “Let’s Go!” Find Solutions, Not Problems!
Third, POSITIVE ACTION! God’s Way includes POSITIVE ACTION! God said, in effect, “STOP TALKIN’ AND START WALKIN’!”
By now nearly everyone knows about the Body Mind Loop! This is an observation of science that is exciting. Simply stated it says that you DO influence your emotions by what you DO!
If you move in a joyful manner, you will feel more joyful!
If you move in a fearless manner, you will feel more fearless!
If you move in a depressed manner, you will feel depressed!
Illus. A lady once started talking to a speaker and began her “broken record.” She began talking about her husband, how and her kids and her body language was depressed. Slooped shoulders, head down, affected, low emotional, sad voice. The speaker recognized the pattern and decided to do something radical: He threw a glass of water in her face! After the initial shock, he laughed and explained that he was simply breaking up her body’s response to her conversation. He explained that she could create joy be simply acting joyful in her conver-sations about her husband and kids. This she did, trans-forming her marriage and family by becoming a more joyful person.
Superficial? Perhaps, but I’ve seen it work in myself! God designed our bodies and they are NOT CURSES to our spiritual lives, but ASSETS! It’s time we Christians make use of Spirit-Filled actions that can help create Spirit-Filled attitudes!
God’s Way Out, BECAUSE OF THE LAMB! Is to focus on the positive, future, solutions of His Word and one of those is to REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS, AGAIN, I SAY, REJOICE!
