BRING YOU OUT, BRING YOU IN
FEBRUARY 2013
Lisa Maki
God is a God of process. He does things meticulously, with accurate precision and timing. He knows the ways of men ... what we have been through, the effects of what we’ve been through, and what we are capable of doing. He works on us step-by-step, moving at our own pace.
Since God is the same God yesterday, today, and forever, His process has never changed. The way He dealt with His very own people, the Israelites, is the same way He deals with His people now, those like you and me who were grafted into the original branches.
I don’t know about you but when I read the story of the Israelites, I see myself in them. I see the entire body of Christ in what they went through, including how rebellious and stubborn they were. Honestly, they were no different from us. We are very rebellious children of God who always tests His patience. We are also wishy-washy ... one minute we cry out to Him in agony, the next minute we forget about Him.
God knows this character of ours so well. He knows how frail we are. In Hosea 6:4, God says:
O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? [says the Lord] O Judah, what shall I do with you? For your [wavering] love and kindness are like the night mist or like the dew that goes early away.
Why? Why are we so unfaithful to God? Why is our love for Him like the night mist or like the dew that goes early away?
The answer is rooted in our bondages. Yes, each of us has bondages from the past; some are more severe than the others. These bondages may have been in the form of addiction, experiences of cruelty and hurt, rebellion, etc.
Exodus 6:9 says that the children of Israel hearkened not unto what Moses told them because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. The Israelites at that time suffered so much from the hands of the Egyptians. Their hurts, anger, misery, and disappointments were so deep that it hindered them from seeing what God was trying to show them.
This holds true for us. I for myself have found it difficult to even understand the Father’s love for me because I didn’t experience it from my earthly father. I had severe trust issues because of the hurts and betrayals I’ve been through with men.
God knew this when He called me and I heeded His voice. He knew this when He chose Israel as His people, and when He chose Moses to take His people out of Egypt. It is for this reason why God works in us step-by-step. His goal is not only to save and deliver us but to redeem us.
Exodus 6:6-8 talks about God’s redemptive promises to Israel. It is a process that He is using until now, in our own personal lives.
Remember that to redeem is to convert, atone for, and buy back. This means that God’s redemption means to bring us back to our rightful place ... the perfect and flawless place that He created from the beginning, but which was distorted by the enemy when sin entered the world. God’s work of redemption in you is meant to bring you back to His original plan for you. If you had a failed marriage, His work of redemption includes bringing you to a marriage that He Himself designed, and not some result of sin from your past.
Let me now break these promises one by one as I relate it to our day to day experiences.
1. I WILL bring you out (hotzeiti) from under the yoke of the Egyptians;
The first step to God’s redemptive act is to bring you out from whatever yoke or bondage you are in. If your bondage is your relationship, then His first step is to bring you out of it. If it is your job, He will bring you out of it. If it is drugs, He will bring you out of it.
Think about the circumstances that made you cry out to God and which eventually led to your salvation. Weren’t you hurting because your man cheated on you? Weren’t you broke because you lost your job? Weren’t you in jail or recovery because of drugs?
God had to put you in that situation to take you away from your bondage. This is His first step towards redemption.
2. I WILL free you (hitzalti) from being slaves to them;
From your place of hurting and desperation, you learned to call upon God. There was nobody else but God. There was no other hope but God. When you were taken out of your bondage, which actually became your comfort zone, you were shaken.
But then you found yourself back in the same old sin. Why? Because you have become a slave to it and you don’t know anything better to do. This is where God proceeds to the second step of setting you free.
It’s not enough to get you out of it. God has to deliver you from the cruel effects of your slavery. He has to wash you of all the remaining dirt and residue. This deliverance entails a healing process that can be very painful.
3. I WILL redeem you (goalti) with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment;
The second step is a make or break process. It can make a person quit and just go back to her old ways. This is why God proceeds to the next step where He says that He will redeem you with an outstretched arm. He will exercise His power and might in ensuring that you get totally delivered from your bondage.
A lot of Christians are still here in this phase, if they even made it from the second step. They are still in the conversion process. God is still detoxifying them from the severe effects of their bondage.
4. I WILL take you (lakachti) as my own people, and I will be your God;
When the cruel effects of the bondage are gone, then you will be ready to establish a more intimate relationship with Jesus/Yeshua. You will see Him more for who He is because the clouds of fear, doubt, and rebellion have been taken away through His mighty power at work in you. There will be no more barriers to your relationship with Him.
5. I WILL bring you (haveiti) to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession.
Only then will God be able to bring you back to His original plan for you. Only then will you be ready.
Putting all of these steps together in a simpler way, look at it as being in bondage to a relationship. You broke up with your 20th boyfriend and you are just so hurt and tired (1st step).
You then cried out to God. But then you found yourself wanting to be in the arms of the next man.
God closed doors for you (2nd step) so He can free you from the hurt that all these men did to you. You get so lonely. What you don’t realize is God is healing you already.
Then God intensifies your loneliness (3rd step) so you can draw closer to Him.
You began to hunger more for God and this leads you to an intimate relationship with the Lover of your soul (4th step).
Then God brings to you the man He chose for you (5th step).
See how great our God is? He brings us out so He can bring us in.
Please go to our Warrior Prayer section for healing and deliverance prayers.
Since God is the same God yesterday, today, and forever, His process has never changed. The way He dealt with His very own people, the Israelites, is the same way He deals with His people now, those like you and me who were grafted into the original branches.
I don’t know about you but when I read the story of the Israelites, I see myself in them. I see the entire body of Christ in what they went through, including how rebellious and stubborn they were. Honestly, they were no different from us. We are very rebellious children of God who always tests His patience. We are also wishy-washy ... one minute we cry out to Him in agony, the next minute we forget about Him.
God knows this character of ours so well. He knows how frail we are. In Hosea 6:4, God says:
O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? [says the Lord] O Judah, what shall I do with you? For your [wavering] love and kindness are like the night mist or like the dew that goes early away.
Why? Why are we so unfaithful to God? Why is our love for Him like the night mist or like the dew that goes early away?
The answer is rooted in our bondages. Yes, each of us has bondages from the past; some are more severe than the others. These bondages may have been in the form of addiction, experiences of cruelty and hurt, rebellion, etc.
Exodus 6:9 says that the children of Israel hearkened not unto what Moses told them because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. The Israelites at that time suffered so much from the hands of the Egyptians. Their hurts, anger, misery, and disappointments were so deep that it hindered them from seeing what God was trying to show them.
This holds true for us. I for myself have found it difficult to even understand the Father’s love for me because I didn’t experience it from my earthly father. I had severe trust issues because of the hurts and betrayals I’ve been through with men.
God knew this when He called me and I heeded His voice. He knew this when He chose Israel as His people, and when He chose Moses to take His people out of Egypt. It is for this reason why God works in us step-by-step. His goal is not only to save and deliver us but to redeem us.
Exodus 6:6-8 talks about God’s redemptive promises to Israel. It is a process that He is using until now, in our own personal lives.
Remember that to redeem is to convert, atone for, and buy back. This means that God’s redemption means to bring us back to our rightful place ... the perfect and flawless place that He created from the beginning, but which was distorted by the enemy when sin entered the world. God’s work of redemption in you is meant to bring you back to His original plan for you. If you had a failed marriage, His work of redemption includes bringing you to a marriage that He Himself designed, and not some result of sin from your past.
Let me now break these promises one by one as I relate it to our day to day experiences.
1. I WILL bring you out (hotzeiti) from under the yoke of the Egyptians;
The first step to God’s redemptive act is to bring you out from whatever yoke or bondage you are in. If your bondage is your relationship, then His first step is to bring you out of it. If it is your job, He will bring you out of it. If it is drugs, He will bring you out of it.
Think about the circumstances that made you cry out to God and which eventually led to your salvation. Weren’t you hurting because your man cheated on you? Weren’t you broke because you lost your job? Weren’t you in jail or recovery because of drugs?
God had to put you in that situation to take you away from your bondage. This is His first step towards redemption.
2. I WILL free you (hitzalti) from being slaves to them;
From your place of hurting and desperation, you learned to call upon God. There was nobody else but God. There was no other hope but God. When you were taken out of your bondage, which actually became your comfort zone, you were shaken.
But then you found yourself back in the same old sin. Why? Because you have become a slave to it and you don’t know anything better to do. This is where God proceeds to the second step of setting you free.
It’s not enough to get you out of it. God has to deliver you from the cruel effects of your slavery. He has to wash you of all the remaining dirt and residue. This deliverance entails a healing process that can be very painful.
3. I WILL redeem you (goalti) with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment;
The second step is a make or break process. It can make a person quit and just go back to her old ways. This is why God proceeds to the next step where He says that He will redeem you with an outstretched arm. He will exercise His power and might in ensuring that you get totally delivered from your bondage.
A lot of Christians are still here in this phase, if they even made it from the second step. They are still in the conversion process. God is still detoxifying them from the severe effects of their bondage.
4. I WILL take you (lakachti) as my own people, and I will be your God;
When the cruel effects of the bondage are gone, then you will be ready to establish a more intimate relationship with Jesus/Yeshua. You will see Him more for who He is because the clouds of fear, doubt, and rebellion have been taken away through His mighty power at work in you. There will be no more barriers to your relationship with Him.
5. I WILL bring you (haveiti) to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession.
Only then will God be able to bring you back to His original plan for you. Only then will you be ready.
Putting all of these steps together in a simpler way, look at it as being in bondage to a relationship. You broke up with your 20th boyfriend and you are just so hurt and tired (1st step).
You then cried out to God. But then you found yourself wanting to be in the arms of the next man.
God closed doors for you (2nd step) so He can free you from the hurt that all these men did to you. You get so lonely. What you don’t realize is God is healing you already.
Then God intensifies your loneliness (3rd step) so you can draw closer to Him.
You began to hunger more for God and this leads you to an intimate relationship with the Lover of your soul (4th step).
Then God brings to you the man He chose for you (5th step).
See how great our God is? He brings us out so He can bring us in.
Please go to our Warrior Prayer section for healing and deliverance prayers.
Lisa Maki is the founder, publisher, and editor of God'z Gurlz. More about Lisa at ...
http://www.godzgurlz.com/regular-contributors.html
http://www.godzgurlz.com/regular-contributors.html
