Welcome back Be the One family!
Pastor Steven here, I am so excited to get to introduce our new series, Freedom! At Be the One, we want to be able to see you step into more, to do this you need to be FREE!
Romans 8:15 (ESV) For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
God wants you to thrive. Before the foundation of the world, God set up a plan for you to live free, however like anything given to us, there is a learning curve.
A new operating system:
Example: The difference between iPhone and Android operating system.
How many of you have ever decided to change your phone? It’s already hard enough just buying a new phone and getting it updated and everything downloaded on to it. When you switch phone operating systems, it's even harder. While a phone is still a phone, there is a huge difference in how they function. Father God functions differently. He doesn’t function the way we do. Many people want freedom. Freedom is a great idea. It’s even a buzz word in our culture, however to really understand the wonderful gift of freedom, it will require you to understand who your Father is and what he has given. We can try different plans to be a little better, but a little better doesn’t mean free. God’s operating system is different from anything you’ve ever known.
The Father longs to see us free!
Have you ever wondered what God thinks of you? It’s hard to believe God loves us as much as the Bible says He does. Many of our models of love have been messy to say the least. It’s so vital to our spiritual transformation to understand that all God ever wanted was a family. The language of “family” is all through The Bible. From the beginning He created Adam and Eve and put them in the garden and there was peace, presence, proximity, purpose, production and provision, yet they were tempted. This was the fall of man, when sin entered the seed of mankind, the dominion of this world was forfeited. No longer did Adam have authority for he relinquished it to the devil, but that didn’t stop God in his pursuit for man's heart and freedom. He covered their nakedness and that started a plan for redemption. All of this can be found in Genesis 2 and 3.
The Father’s pursuit hasn’t changed
According to the Book of Exodus chapters 3-14 there was a famine in the land of Canaan (later known as Israel). Because of this famine, the Hebrew patriarch Jacob traveled with his extended family of 70 to Egypt to both live in better conditions and be with his son Joseph.
Joseph’s wisdom had impressed the Pharaoh of Egypt to the point that he was appointed a chief representative of Egypt, which was second in power only to the Pharaoh. The next 430 years in Egypt saw the Israelites prosper and rapidly multiply to about 3 million people. These numbers were so great, the Pharaoh became nervous that the Israelites were becoming too great in number to control and feared they might side with Egypt’s enemies in war. The Pharaoh decreed that the Israelites should be enslaved to build cities and roads for the egyptians so they would be too tired to fight and would not have time to have children. The children of Israel were enslaved for over 400 years. The Israelites were confined to the land area of Goshen. The Hebrew meaning of Goshen is “drawing near.” It was during this time, cries of freedom and deliverance were made. God showed up mightily on behalf of His children, as each of the ten plagues fell on Pharaoh and the Egyptians all while the Lord shielded and protected the children of Israel. Finally, after Passover and the final plague, Pharaoh relented and released Moses and the children of Israel to enter into their destiny...the Promised Land. As we wrap up i want to leave you with a few things to think about: What stuck out to you from this lesson? What is your level of trust with God right now? Rate 1(low) to 5 (high) Why? Join us next week as we continue on with our Freedom series! Love ya, Pastor Steven Sexton