May 26 - Day 1 - Exodus 1:8

⁸ Now a new king

arose over Egypt,

who did not know Joseph. 

⁹ He said to his people, ...

¹⁰ Come, let us deal shrewdly

with them, or they will ... join

our enemies and fight against us ...” 

¹¹ Therefore they set taskmasters

over them to oppress them

with forced labor.

Exodus 1

We are beginning a new period of study. Like the Israelites who were once in bondage in Egypt, God wants you to escape whatever is enslaving you and he wants to take you on a journey to the promised land. 

 

So where do we start? It unfortunately in the same place the Israelites started – in a foreign land (Egypt). You were made for heaven … but you are living truly living in an alien world. 

 

And in the midst of this, Scripture says that "a new king arose ... who did not know Joseph." Do you know Joseph? Several hundred years before Exodus 1 begins, God used this son of Jacob (a great-grandson of Abraham) to rescue his people from famine. But it was because of the sins of Joseph's brothers -- they sold Joseph to slave traders who took him to Egypt – that this rescue and reconciliation wound up happening far from the Promised Land. 

 

Do you feel like you're living far from your Promised Land, far from the destiny that God has in mind for you? Do you feel, indeed, like you are living in an alien world?

 

What we must eventually conquer – if we want to escape whatever is enslaving us – is the sin, the bad habits, and the dysfunctions that draw us away from our destiny and have carried us to our own Egypt. Some of the chains in your life come from your own sins, weaknesses, and failures. (And you know this. In fact, you probably know precisely some of the compromises and patterns you want and need to break.) 

In addition -- and like Joseph – do some of the bad habits, fears, and insecurities have their roots in old family dysfunctions? Like every Israelite at the beginning of this story, too many of us are born in Egypt, born far away from the destiny that God has planned for us.

 

God has something better in store … for you. It’s called the Promised Land – your Promised Land. There is a destiny awaiting you, and it’s here on this earth! As Jesus says in John 8:36, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

 

Do you want to uncover a greater promise and richer purpose in your life? It'll take a journey. I hope you'll come along. 

 

In Christ's Love,

Moses

(No. Wait. Through these devotions

I may be leading a journey like Moses did,

but I'm really just a guy who

is on a journey like you.

Let’s let Christ lead the journey!)