What happens when people keep asking God for direction while refusing to obey what He has already said? https://patrickryanlewis.com/2026/08/17/ezekiel-20-when-god-confronts-a-history-of-rebellion/ Ezekiel 20 takes us through Israel’s painful history of rebellion—from Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. Again and again, God’s people turned toward idols and rejected His commands. Yet one phrase keeps appearing: God acted for the sake of His name. This chapter is a powerful reminder that God’s patience should never be mistaken for permission. His grace does not make sin insignificant—it should lead us to repentance. The question Ezekiel 20 leaves us with is deeply personal: Are we genuinely seeking God, or are we asking Him to approve a life we have not fully surrendered to Him? Read the new blog as we explore Ezekiel 20: When God Confronts a History of Rebellion and discover what this chapter teaches about obedience, idolatry, judgment, grace, and the faithfulness of God. #Ezekiel20 #BibleStudy #BookOfEzekiel #ChristianLiving #BiblicalTruth #Repentance #Obedience #GodsGrace #GodsFaithfulness #OldTestament #AGuyAndHisBible

Did you know? Joseph's wife was Egyptian. Almost nobody talks about her, or how controversial that actually was. Genesis chapter forty-one says the Pharaoh himself gave her to Joseph. Her name was Asenath. Her father was the priest of On, the center of Egyptian sun worship, the highest religious position in the country. family that worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, married the daughter of Egypt's top pagan priest. No conversion scene. No moment where she rejects her father's gods. Scripture never mentions any of that. She simply becomes his wife, and later, the mother of his two sons. Those two sons were Manasseh and Ephraim. Genesis chapter forty-eight records something almost nobody talks about either. Jacob personally blessed those two grandsons, placing them equal to Reuben and Simeon, his own original sons. Full inheritance. Full standing. No hesitation. Which means the bloodline of a pagan sun priest's daughter became the direct root of two entire tribes of Israel. Here's where it gets stranger. Joseph died in Egypt, generations before the Exodus ever happened. But before he died, he made his family promise something. Carry my bones out of this country when you finally leave. Genesis chapter fifty records that promise. Exodus chapter thirteen records it kept. Moses himself carried Joseph's bones out of Egypt, centuries later, exactly as promised. So the son of an Egyptian priestess didn't walk out of Egypt. Joseph bones did, carried by the very nation his sons helped build.

Conflict and Courage Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Psalm 68:31. Throughout his ministry Isaiah bore a plain testimony concerning God's purpose for the heathen. Other prophets had made mention of the divine plan, but their language was not always understood. To Isaiah it was given to make very plain to Judah the truth that among the Israel of God were to be numbered many who were not descendants of Abraham after the flesh. This teaching was not in harmony with the theology of his age, yet he fearlessly proclaimed the messages given him of God and brought hope to many a longing heart reaching out after the spiritual blessings promised to the seed of Abraham.... Often the Israelites seemed unable or unwilling to understand God's purpose for the heathen. Yet it was this very purpose that had made them a separate people and had established them as an independent nation among the nations of the earth. Abraham, their father, to whom the covenant promise was first given, had been called to go forth from his kindred, to the regions beyond, that he might be a light bearer to the heathen. Although the promise to him included a posterity as numerous as the sand by the sea, yet it was for no selfish purpose that he was to become the founder of a great nation.... “I will bless thee,” Jehovah declared, “and make thy name great; ... in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” ... No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God.... Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan's influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.26Ibid., 367-370.

Daily devotion for August 18th Where To Begin Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. Nehemiah 9:5b This prayer in the book of Nehemiah is a great model that will teach us much for our own prayer life. It begins with a great section of praise. First, God is praised as the Creator and Maker of everything. Beginning with the life He gave you is a great place to start when you are praising God. It seems strange to me that people who are dependent every moment on God to give them life allow themselves so easily to forget that fact. God sustains us moment by moment. We ought to be grateful for that. Let us never forget that our very breath comes from Him. The next section praises God as the caller and chooser of people. He is the one who gives undeserved blessings to those He chooses. God is the keeper of promises. Not one of us would be here today if it were not for that merciful, sovereign call of God. Jesus said, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44). We are here today because the Spirit of God in wondrous grace has drawn us to Himself. Then the people praise God as the deliverer from sin and its enslavement. They retell the history of this nation, beginning with the call of Abraham and their deliverance from Egypt. Some of us have forgotten the lessons God has taught us and have returned to the same sins, plunging ourselves once more into rebellion and slavery. Let us never forget that we have been wonderfully, even miraculously, delivered by the great hand of God. Praise for God as the great provider of wisdom and the necessities of life follows. Here is God's providential care of His own. He taught this people how to live in the midst of great wickedness. He knew he was sending them into a land inhabited by tribes who were morally degraded to a degree that is appalling to us today. They offered their children to the god Molech by throwing them alive into a furnace of fire. It was among these people that the Israelites had to live. Yet God taught them how to avoid defilement from those things. He taught them how to be friends with these people but not be destroyed by their immorality. It is exactly the situation we are called to live in today. God has given us this wonderful book that teaches us the rules of life, health, salvation, and deliverance and the inner strength that can resist the temptations that abound all around us. To neglect it is folly. God also supplied their needs. He gave them bread to eat when there was none. He gave them water from the rock in the middle of the desert. That is not only an account of meeting physical needs, but it describes the meeting of spiritual needs as well. The New Testament tells us these are pictures of Christ: He is the bread of life; He is the water of life. As the Israelites learned the meaning of these symbols, they began to understand that there was One coming who would fully meet the need of the human heart. Father, I praise and worship You as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, as the One who has chosen me and drawn me to Yourself and the One who provides all that I need

17th August 2026 Today was actually a really good day. 😊 Some days the orders are really good, and today was one of those days. I worked for about one hour in the early afternoon and then around three hours at night, from 6 to 9. So, just four hours in total, and I made around ₹1,200. I honestly wish every day was like this! 😂 But that's not even the highlight of my day. The highlight was what happened tonight. I was waiting for an order near my home when I got one where the pickup was very close by, but the drop was a little towards the outskirts. The drop location was St. Anthony's Church. That church is actually special to me because it's one of the churches I had visited before. My brother and I completed our Sacrament of Confirmation there a few years ago. Since the place was a little far out, I thought there was a chance I might not get an order back home after dropping the passenger. But then I thought, "It's been almost 6–7 months since I've gone to church. If I don't get another order, I'll just stop there, pray for a few minutes and come home." So I picked up this girl and took her there. And when we reached, I realized the drop was literally right in front of the church! After I dropped her, she asked me if I could wait for 10–15 minutes because she wanted to take a ride back with me to the same place where I picked her up. I asked her what she was going to do there, and she said she was going to the church and would probably take about 10 minutes. It was already around 7:30 at night, so I told her that the church was probably closed. She said she didn't know it was closed and didn't know what to do. I told her that maybe the gate would still be open and that she could at least go in front of the church and pray, even if she couldn't go inside. And I told her, "If you're going to the church, I'll come with you." So both of us went inside the church campus. Just as I thought, the church was closed, but we stood outside the church and prayed together. After that, she booked another ride back, and I got the order and accepted it. While we were coming back, she started telling me her story. She had come to Bangalore from Chennai only about a week ago for a job. She doesn't really know anyone here except a couple of girls who are staying with her in her PG. She told me that she had been feeling really low that day. She just wanted to go somewhere and pray, so she searched on Google for a church. St. Anthony's Church came up, and she simply booked a Rapido to go there. She hadn't even checked properly where the church was or how far it was. And while coming there, she actually got scared because the area was quite far out. There were farms and very few people around, it was dark, and there weren't many streetlights. She was wondering where we were going and whether she had somehow ended up going to a completely different place. 😂 She kept telling me how happy and grateful she was that she got me as her rider. She started calling me "Akka" and was really comfortable talking to me. I was able to give her some advice, share some godly wisdom and also share a few of my testimonies with her. Most importantly, I got the opportunity to talk to her about Jesus. I told her that I genuinely believe it was God's plan that we met today. Because of her, I ended up going to a church after almost 6–7 months. I had been thinking about going to church for a long time, and today, without even planning it, I actually stepped into a church campus and prayed. While we were coming back, she was telling me more about herself, and I noticed that she had a speech difficulty. She was stuttering while talking. After a while, she actually told me herself, "I have stuttering, that's why I talk like this." So while I was encouraging her, I told her that God has great plans for her and that she should always walk in obedience to Him, listen to His guidance, and follow His will for her life. I told her that there will always be things and people that try to take us away from God's path, but we should keep listening to God and choose His way. Then I told her about Moses. I told her that Moses also had difficulty speaking. When God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses himself felt that he wasn't capable and didn't know how he could do it. But God still chose him and used him to do something incredibly great. I told her, "God doesn't need us to be perfect for Him to use us. He can use people who feel broken, weak, unworthy or inadequate, and He can use them in mighty ways so that His glory can be seen through their lives." When I told her that, she was actually quite amazed. I don't think she knew much about the story of Moses, because she was really surprised to hear it. I felt that this was something she really needed to hear at that moment. I wanted her to understand that whatever she may see as a weakness in herself doesn't mean that God cannot use her. God has a purpose for her, and He can still do great things through her life. I also gave her my number and told her that if she ever needs any help or gets stuck with anything, she can call me and I'll help her if I can. When I dropped her back, I also told her that she doesn't have to travel so far just to go to church. I showed her a few churches closer to where she stays. I even invited her for future Bible reading and Bible studies, and she said she'd be interested. So let's see how that goes. 😊 Honestly, this was the highlight of my entire day. I truly believe this wasn't just a random Rapido ride. I believe God brought our paths together for a reason. ❤️ I went out today thinking I was just going to work and earn some money, but God gave me an opportunity to meet someone, encourage her, talk to her about Jesus, and even get myself back into a church after so many months. So yeah… this is what happened today. ❤️

God can use dreams for many purposes. Here are four biblical ways He speaks through them. 1 –God Can Impart Through Dreams In 1 Kings 3:5–12, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and invited him to ask for whatever he desired. Solomon asked for an understanding heart so that he could lead God’s people well and distinguish between right and wrong. The Lord was pleased with his request and gave him extraordinary wisdom. Solomon did not merely dream about God—he encountered God in his dream. What happened while he slept resulted in a genuine impartation that affected his waking life. There have been times when I sensed the Holy Spirit’s presence intensely in a dream and then awakened with that same sense of His presence in the room. A dream can become a genuine place of encounter. God can impart wisdom, courage, direction, or spiritual strength through it. 2 –God Can Reveal the Future Through Dreams Genesis 41 records Pharaoh’s troubling dreams and Joseph’s God-given interpretation. The dreams revealed that seven years of prosperity would be followed by seven years of famine. Because God revealed what was coming, Egypt was able to prepare. God can reveal future events through dreams. Sometimes, He may show you something before it happens; at other times, He may confirm what He has already been speaking to your heart. Years ago, at about age ten, I had a dream in which I saw an old man carrying a load in a "Ghana Must Go" bag. I took the load from the old man and walked with him for a distance. At a point , he asked me to put the load down, and when I did, he opened the bag; it was full of Bibles. He gave me one of them and told me to cherish it. He then said he could carry on from that point. He moved a distance away and vanished into thin air. In another dream at a different time, I was given Genesis 17:1–4. In a third dream, a well-built man in a white robe came to me and gave me a briefcase, telling me to guard it well, as everything in it was for me. I opened it and found a Bible and a white handkerchief with a dove drawn at the center, inscribed with the words "Holy Spirit." When I shared these dreams, I was told God would use me. Since then, God has used dreams to show me what lies ahead, what is present, and even what is in the past that needs to be unraveled. 3 –God Can Reveal Important Information After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him it was safe to return to Israel with Mary and Jesus (Matthew 2:19–20). The dream provided the information Joseph needed for a decision in that moment. Daniel also declared, “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future” (Daniel 2:28, NLT). The Holy Spirit may reveal a missing piece of information, bring clarity to something you have been sensing, or expose a matter that needs prayer. But dreams must never make you paranoid or suspicious of everyone around you. Do not make accusations or major decisions based on a dream alone. Remain discerning, levelheaded, prayerful, and submitted to Scripture. 4 –God Can Warn Through Dreams God may use a dream to warn you about physical danger, spiritual attack, a damaging decision, or a difficult season ahead. Sometimes a warning calls you to act; other times, it simply calls you to pray and prepare. In Genesis 15:12–14, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came over him. God warned him that his descendants would be oppressed for 400 years, but He also promised to judge the nation that enslaved them and bring His people out with great wealth. This passage corrects a common misconception: a dream from God will not always feel pleasant. A warning may produce a serious or even troubling emotional response. The presence of a negative emotion does not automatically prove that a dream is not from God. The more important questions are whether the message agrees with Scripture and whether it ultimately leads you toward faith, obedience, prayer, and redemption. God bless you!

Daily devotion for August 17th The Way Of Health They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. Nehemiah 8:14 The way of health is dramatically demonstrated for us in the closing verses of this chapter. God had anticipated the needs of these people. Centuries before, He had provided a most remarkable visual aid to remind them of the truth that would keep them from further destruction. This is the Feast of Tabernacles, a reminder that they were called as a people out of Egypt. Their departure was sudden and precipitous. They were not even to sit down when they ate the Passover meal. They had to eat it standing, with their staffs in their hands, dressed in traveling clothes, ready to leave. They went out at a word of command and left Egypt in one night. When they got into the desert, one day's journey out, and night fell, where were they to find shelter? Moses had been told by God that they were to collect boughs and tree limbs and build booths for shelter. Then God ordained that they were to do this once every year. Even though later they had homes to dwell in, they were to build these booths and live in them for seven days. This was to teach them that they were always pilgrims and strangers on the earth. This world was not their home. All the great blessings of life would not necessarily be found in this present time but were waiting for them in glory. Therefore, they did not need to be distressed if they did not have everything that those around them were trying to get in this life. That is the truth that will deliver us from the pressures of the times. We must hold things lightly. We must not think that houses, cars, money, and material gain are all that important. Even if we lack these things, the great treasures of our life remain untouched. To strive constantly to gain what everyone else has is a mistake. God teaches us to hold these things lightly. We must never forget that we are in the world but not of it. We are never to settle down here for good. I love the way C. S. Lewis has put it: Our kind heavenly Father has provided many wonderful inns for us along our journey, but he takes special care to see that we never mistake any of them for home. We are pilgrims and strangers, passing through this world. We are involved in it, deeply sometimes, but we are never to see ourselves as a part of it. What will enable us to remember that? Verse 18 gives us the answer. Every day they read the Scripture. Every day they saturated themselves in the thinking of God. That is what makes for realism: When you think like God thinks, you are thinking realistically. You are beginning to see yourself the way you really are. You are seeing your children, your home, and your nation the way they really are. For the first time you are able to divest yourself of the illusions and delusions of a mistaken, confused world. You are beginning to work toward wholeness, healing, and strengthening of the things that abide. What a wonderful picture this is, Lord, of the fact that I am a stranger on this earth. Far too often I have lived as if this were my home. Renew my mind with Your truth that there is so much more to live for than what this world offers.

“The Lᴏʀᴅ is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lᴏʀᴅ is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about … But now the Lᴏʀᴅ has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Judges 6:12–13 ɴᴋᴊᴠ God chooses His instruments carefully and uses His own standards in doing so. One criterion He uses is whether a servant considers not only himself but the whole company of God’s people among whom God has placed him. Gideon is an outstanding example of this. Gideon is told, “The Lᴏʀᴅ is with you, you mighty man of valor!” He immediately responds, “If the Lᴏʀᴅ is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” While alone in the winepress, away from his people, Gideon’s heart was occupied with them, not with himself. He had doubtless heard the Lord’s rebuke through the prophet and had been giving serious thought to it. How could the Lord be with him and not with His people? Why was the Lord not doing miracles like He had done when He brought Israel up out of Egypt? Why? Why? Surely the Lord must have forsaken His people! The Lord appreciates a person who thinks like this. Believers today too are more than mere individuals. As Christians we are members of the body of Christ, of the bride of Christ, of the house of God. Each believer today should realize that he or she is a small part of the Church of the Living God, and is affected by the ruin that has come into it through human unfaithfulness. Weak as he felt he was, Gideon was told, “Go in this might of yours … Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites” (vv. 14, 16). May the Lord find us of like mind, usable for Him! Eugene P. Vedder, Jr. Sing aloud to God our strength; He is with us where we go;Fear we not the journey’s length, Fear we not the mighty foe. T. Kelly https://gbv-online.org/calendar/773/date/2026-08-17

❤️HOW TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR IMPORTANT DECISIONS IN YOUR LIFE. Part 6 of 6. How God Makes Known His Will for Specific Decisions and Needs. Continued. In both instances, what we experience by-passes the mind or intellect. Both the witness within our spirits, and the inner voice of the Holy Spirit may at times go contrary to our personal feelings and emotions" regarding some matter but we will know, nevertheless, what God's will is concerning the situation and what we should do. Feelings and emotions can deceive or confuse us if we rely entirely upon them, for this is the realm in which both Satan and the intellect reign; whereas the enlightened spirit of a Christian, and the voice of God's Spirit within will always guide us correctly if we will listen to them (Jn. 16:13) 1 Cor. 2:10-16; 1 Jn. 2:27). Of course, usually what we feel about a situation will be in harmony with what we are inwardly impressed to do, but it is not our feelings or emotions through which God's will is imparted to us. Inasmuch as God frequently desires to alert us to some spiritual or physical danger, prepare us with regarding some event that is about to occur, or inform us concerning His will about some present or future matter, then it is imperative that we become sensitive to the inner voice of the Spirit if we are to hear Him when He speaks. It is a real blessing to be so sensitive to the Spirit's voice that you know when you are moving in the will of God. Being yielded to the Spirit is the secret of being "fruitful in every good work." When we are fully yielded to Him, and sensitive to His voice, then we can always move with Him, fulfilling God's will, and we will not have to waste time planning and scheming, or running all over the place hoping that we are doing God's will and fulfilling His purpose. By Prophecy Occasionally God will inform us of His will regarding some matter, or concerning some problem about which we are praying, through prophecy or the ministry gift of the prophet. Generally, this will be a confirmation of what He has already been speaking inwardly to us about, and not the giving of guidance by prophecy as such. It cannot be overemphasized that it is God's purpose to lead the Christian inwardly by His Spirit or the inward witness (Rom. 8:14; 1 Cor. 2:14-16). Christians are not to seek guidance through prophecy or visions, inasmuch as some people have been misdirected or led astray, sometimes with serious consequences, on the basis of an alleged prophecy or revelation given to them by some overzealous individual who felt that he (or she) had an anointing to "prophesy" to them. In one case a minister who was sure that he had been led of the Spirit to leave a certain church to minister in another place was then prophesied to by a self-appointed prophetess and told that the Lord wanted him to return to the former church which he had recently left. This left him thoroughly confused as to what he was supposed to do, not knowing which of the two conflicting "revelations" was from the Lord. In two other instances, certain individuals who were seeking guidance were informed by overzealous Christians with an "anointing" that they were to move to a certain city and state as this was God's will for them. In neither case was the guidance from the Lord. Some Christians have actually been appointed to some office such as prophet, teacher, elder, or evangelist, and some Christian groups have been set in "divine order" by misguided individuals who interpret emotional feeling, spiritual enthusiasm, or actual delusion by Satan, as an anointing to prophesy. In other instances, a genuine anointing to speak in tongues or to minister the simple gift of prophecy to the church for "edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3) was misdirected to some particular individual and ended up as personal guidance coming forth from their own spirits instead of the Holy Spirit. In another instance, a woman "prophesied" to the leader of a group that it was time to discontinue teaching them, as God wanted them to begin to stand on their own feet without teaching. Shortly after his ministry was terminated, the leader of the group realized the mistake and contacted him three times wanting to know if he thought the prophecy had been genuine, inasmuch as it was obvious to all that they had not reached such a place of spiritual maturity where they no longer needed Biblical teaching. Christians should not seek guidance by prophecy or visions. We have reference here only to the attempt to seek or give guidance by means of personal prophecy or revelation through some over zealous individual, not to prophecy and visions in general which God does give to His Church for edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor.14:3; Joel 2:28-29). Occasionally, God Himself chooses to speak to us through prophecy and vision in order to lead us, but in every case it will be in harmony with His Word, and it will authenticated by the fact that it is usually a confirmation of what the Spirit has already shown to us personally. Also, occasionally, prophecy becomes the means by which God leads us in order to fulfill His will about some important matter. By Scriptural Teaching; One of the most important channels through which God desires to speak to His people and reveal His will to them is one that few people recognize and appreciate as they should, and that is through the ministry of biblical teaching. Frequently, in a meeting people will come and ask for an appointment for spiritual counseling concerning some question or problem confronting them. Instead, they should first plan to attend all the teaching sessions, inasmuch as God has sent this ministry into their midst at this time to help solve such problems as this for which they feel they need counseling, and that He often gives the necessary guidance through the teaching. On several occasions people who have taken such advice have come afterward and stated that they no longer were in need of counseling as God had given them the answers they needed through the teaching ministry. Certainly God knows the various problems and needs of His people, and that it would be impossible for any one minister to deal with everyone individually who requests counseling and help. Therefore, through the teaching ministry He provides the solution for those who are willing to pay the cost of sacrificing some of their time and interest in other things to avail themselves of it. Sadly, there are some individuals who will not do this. They will insist that you give them individual attention and special time, as they believe that their problems are of such a nature to warrant it, but at the same time they will not avail themselves of the ministry God has sent into their midst to help them. It is useless to expect God to give you special guidance and revelation about some matter when you do not avail yourself of the biblical ministry that He is sending into your locality for precisely this purpose. Your problems and the decisions you must make are not really much different from those of most other Christians. It is only because they affect you personally that you think this. And even if your problems were unusually different, nevertheless, there are certain spiritual principles set forth in God's Word which can be brought forth through teaching which will show you how to deal with your situation and what your responsibility is with regard to it. We have found this to be true time and again. For example, some faith principle which can be applied for healing a disease can also be used to solve a financial or marital problem, if you know what it is and how to apply it. But one must be willing to avail himself of the teaching ministry and literature available in order to learn these truths, for "faith cometh by hearing the Word" (Rom. 10:17). For instance, such passages as Matthew 18:19, Mark 11:22-24; John 14:14; 1 John 5:14-15; Philippians 4:19, and Psalm 37:4 have almost limitless potential for fulfilling practically any need of every description when the believer knows how to apply them and accepts their validity for today. For the thousands who accept the responsibility of learning how to live and walk by faith themselves, they discover that they are able, not only to help themselves, but also liberate others from their problems and oppression. God desires for us to mature to the place where we do not constantly need to be ministered to, but can minister to others and their needs. Through Circumstances; Sometimes God confirms His will to us through circumstances, controlling or changing events in such a way that we are able to recognize His providential hand at work to fulfill His purpose in our lives. God informed Abraham that his descendants would spend 400 years in Egypt before He would bring them forth to inherit the Promised Land (Gen. 15). At the time God told him this, Abraham did not have a single descendant, for as yet Isaac had not been born. From this time, we see God beginning to bring His will for Israel to pass through the providential control of circumstances and events. Twenty-five years later Isaac is born by a miracle to Sarah, who is barren. His son Jacob in turn has twelve sons, one of whom is Joseph, his favorite. Because of envy his brothers sell him into slavery into Egypt, which begins a new phase of the fulfillment of God's plan to get Abraham's descendants into Egypt, a famine later compelling Jacob and all of his descendants to migrate there to live. After several years of hardship and adversity, Joseph had been miraculously elevated to a high position in Egypt by Pharaoh, a divine foresight to prepare the way for the Israelites. Thus, their arrival in Egypt was no accident, nor were they merely victims of circumstances, but we are clearly shown the providential control of God throughout, a fact which Joseph himself discerned (Gen. 50:20). The fulfillment of God's plan for our lives often depends, to some degree at least, upon our awareness of His providential working and controlling our daily affairs and experiences. As stated previously, God's plan for your life did not begin when you were born or when you were converted, but the Scriptures declare that the believer was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and called to fulfill His glorious plan and purpose (Rom. 8:28-30, Eph. 1:3-6), Moreover, God has often been working in the circumstances of your life for months or years before He reveals some aspect of His purpose to you. We are not to seek guidance by asking God to reveal His will to us through outward circumstances generally, but as we pray for His leading, usually He will impress upon us what course of action to take. Frequently, He will then confirm this inward leading through circumstances and events in our lives, which, if we are spiritually observant enough, can be discerned. CONCLUSION. We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Col. 1:9) The Apostle prays. It is not sufficient just to have a knowledge of God's will, but as the quotation above indicates, we must also have spiritual wisdom and understanding to be able to apply it and profit from it. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge correctly and effectively. Solomon knew God's will for his life - he was chosen to be the King of Israel. But he was also aware that if he was to succeed in this task and fulfill God's will as he should, then he would need more than mere human wisdom and the limited understanding man acquires through study and by experience so he prayed for the impartation of divine wisdom, discernment, and understanding. Thus, it is one thing to know God's will; it is another to have the wisdom and understanding to apply it. A man may know a very great deal, and yet not be a wise man. Occasionally, for example, we see a student who graduates from college with a high academic standing sometimes fail completely in some career or profession which he has chosen, simply because he lacks the wisdom to apply his knowledge in a practical way to his life. A wise Christian, therefore, is not just one who knows His Lord's will, but he is one who also understands how to use this knowledge in the proper place, in the proper way, and at the proper time. For instance, every believer knows, on the basis of Jesus' clear teaching in John 15, that the Christian is called to "bear fruit." But the mere possession of the knowledge of this fact does not impart to the believer the wisdom to accomplish it, for the churches are literally exhausting themselves in all manner of religious programs and activities in an effort to accomplish God's will in this regard, without any significant achievement. It is one thing for the Christian to know that he has been called to bear fruit, but only the Holy Spirit can reveal to him the understanding that it is not in doing, but in dying that we bear fruit (Jn. 12:24). Paul's prayer is that "you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ... being fruitful in every good work" (Col. 1:9-10), revealing, thereby, that fruitfulness does not lie merely in knowing God's will, but also in possessing the spiritual wisdom and understanding to apply it. As was shown earlier, fruitfulness is not merely religious activity, such as serving in two or three offices in the church, visiting as many homes as possible in the community to invite people to church, giving out tracts, busyness with churchwork, attending all the services, reading the Bible through at least once a year, and so on. Fruitfulness does not come by religious commotion, but through crucifixion; not by doing, but by dying. God calls no one to work for Him, but to learn to move with Him. This truth is not something one can discern with reason or intellect, but comes as a result of the impartation of divine wisdom and understanding to those who ask for it, "For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:6 ). Again, it is one thing to know that the believer is called to experience a measure of trials and tests of his faith (1 Pet. 2:19f; Jam. 1:2-4), but human wisdom will never help him to see the eternal purpose in those trials, nor enable him to respond in such a way that he will profit and not lose by such sufferings and testing. It requires divine wisdom and understanding to meet temptations, and to bear trials, so that such testing, instead of depressing and defeating the believer, will be able to accomplish God's will and purpose in his life. It requires divine understanding for him to see that Romans 8:28 is valid for him in time of trial and adversity, as well as in time of prosperity and blessing. Thus, when you seek a knowledge of God's will for your life, and for making decisions in important matters, also ask Him for wisdom and spiritual understanding to apply the knowledge He imparts to you, for the Scriptures tell us– Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (Prov. 4:7). Amen and amen! Edited. Shared. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

WHEN FAITH STANDS STILL! Trusting God When You Cannot See the Way Key Scripture: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” — Exodus 14:13 (KJV) Thought Of The Day... There are moments in life when faith means moving forward, but there are also moments when faith means standing still and trusting God to move. Israel experienced one of those moments at the Red Sea. They had finally been delivered from Egypt, but suddenly they found themselves trapped. The Red Sea was in front of them. Pharaoh's army was behind them. Mountains and wilderness surrounded them. From a human perspective, there was nowhere to go. But what looked like a dead end to Israel was actually the place where God was preparing to demonstrate His power. Moses declared: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” — Exodus 14:13 Sometimes God allows us to reach places where our resources, connections, intelligence, money, strength, and plans cannot rescue us. Not because God has abandoned us, but because He is teaching us: “This battle will not be won by your strength. You are going to have to trust Me.” FAITH DOES NOT DENY THE PROBLEM! The Red Sea was real. Pharaoh's army was real. The danger was real. But God was greater than everything Israel was facing. Faith doesn't mean pretending everything is fine. Faith means looking directly at the situation and declaring: “I know what I see, but I also know WHO I trust!” Your situation may involve your family, finances, health, marriage, children, employment, ministry, or an uncertain future. You may not know how God is going to work it out. You may not know when He is going to work it out. But faith says: “Even when I cannot trace God's hand, I will continue trusting His heart.” Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds us: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” DON'T LET FEAR MAKE YOU FORGET WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE! When Pharaoh approached, Israel became afraid. Their fear became so powerful that they temporarily forgot the miracles God had already performed in Egypt. Isn't that sometimes like us? God has brought us through things before. God has opened doors before. God has healed broken situations before. God has provided before. God has protected us before. But when the next Red Sea appears, fear whispers: “What are you going to do now?” Faith responds: “The same God who brought me through THEN is still God RIGHT NOW!” David understood this principle. Before facing Goliath, he remembered how God had already delivered him from the lion and the bear. Yesterday's testimony can become today's ammunition for faith. YOUR RED SEA MAY BECOME YOUR TESTIMONY! God told Moses: “Lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it.” — Exodus 14:16 Then the impossible happened. God made a highway through something that had previously been an obstacle. The Israelites walked across on dry ground. Think about that. God didn't simply remove the problem. He made a pathway through it. Sometimes we pray: “Lord, take this away.” But God may answer: “I'm going to take you THROUGH it, because when you come out, you will know that nobody brought you through but Me.” Isaiah 43:2 declares: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.” Notice God said “when,” not “if.” There will be waters. There will be fires. There will be difficult seasons. But there will also be God's presence. WHAT IS BEHIND YOU CANNOT STOP WHAT GOD HAS AHEAD OF YOU! The enemy thought Israel was trapped. Pharaoh probably believed he had them exactly where he wanted them. But Pharaoh didn't realize: God had positioned Israel exactly where HE wanted them. The place that looked like Israel's destruction became the place of their deliverance. That's a word for somebody today: Don't judge your future by what your situation looks like right now. God can turn your Red Sea into a roadway. God can turn your battle into a testimony. God can turn your delay into preparation. God can turn your pain into purpose. God can turn what looked like your ending into your new beginning. KEEP WALKING BY FAITH! Once the sea opened, Israel still had to walk through it. Faith isn't simply believing that God can open the door. Faith is having enough confidence in God to walk through when He opens it. There comes a moment when prayer must be accompanied by obedience. Exodus 14:15 records God saying: “Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” In other words: You've prayed. You've cried. You've trusted. Now MOVE! There are seasons to stand still and see God's salvation, and there are seasons when God says: “GO FORWARD!” Don't allow fear to keep you standing in a place God has already given you permission to leave. TODAY'S FAITH DECLARATION I will not allow what I see to cancel what God has spoken. I believe that the God who opened the Red Sea is still able to make a way where there appears to be no way. I will not surrender to fear. I will not allow yesterday to imprison tomorrow. I will trust God when I understand Him, and I will trust Him when I don't. My Red Sea will not drown me—it will become part of my testimony! The Lord is with me. The Lord is fighting for me. The Lord is making a way for me. And when God says move— I'M GOING FORWARD BY FAITH! PRAYER... Heavenly Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, thank You for being the God who makes ways where there seem to be no ways. Lord, some of us are standing before situations that look impossible. We see the Red Sea in front of us and trouble behind us, and we don't know which direction to turn. But today, we choose faith over fear. Remind us of every mountain You have already brought us over, every valley You carried us through, every door You opened, and every battle You fought on our behalf. When fear tells us that it's over, remind us that You have the final word. When we cannot see the road ahead, teach us to trust the One who already knows the destination. Give us faith to stand still when You say wait and courage to go forward when You say move. Father, part every Red Sea standing between us and Your purpose. Strengthen every discouraged heart. Restore hope to everyone who feels surrounded. Give peace to those waiting for answers. And when You bring us through, we will not take the credit. We will testify: “The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.” — Psalm 126:3 We believe You are still working. We believe You are still making ways. We believe the same God who delivered Israel is still our God today. In Jesus' mighty name, AMEN! Final Thought... When you cannot see a way forward, don't assume there isn't one. The God who created the sea can also create a road through it. STAND IN FAITH. TRUST GOD. AND WHEN HE SAYS GO—GO FORWARD! Enjoy your Sunday Church Services and God Bless!