Stopping The Promise

Exodus 1:22 (Message)
So Pharaoh issued a general order to all the people. "Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live."

Events of that day in the book of Exodus, had come to a head and things had grown spiritually dark in the land of Egypt. The sheer presence of the Hebrews only fed the paranoia of a ruler who did not have any knowledge of the history of the country or the people he believed to be a threat. His answer to the problem....kill all the boy's. Kill the seed that produces life. Kill the seed that had the potential of bringing destruction to the people and government of Egypt. Drown the new born's in the Nile river.

Where did such a thought come from? Would you believe the devil?
If you go back to Genesis 3:15, you'll read where God told the serpent and the woman, after the fruit of disobedience had been eaten, that they would be mortal enemies forever. That the see of the serpent and the seed of the woman would be at odd. The serpent seed would bruise the heal of the woman's seed, but the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.

We all know that a woman does not have the seed. She is the provider of the egg that the seed interacts with to produce life. So this Genesis passage is actually referring to a woman who would be born, and produce a child that required no earthly father. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I do believe that Mary, mother of Jesus, is the only female who would fit into this category. So the devil knew the prophecy that had been spoken...there was coming a male child who be a threat to his very existence. Satan was not about to go quietly into the dark, so he set about trying to stop the promise from every coming forth.

Behind Pharaoh........behind the throne and power of Egypt, the dark voice of the enemy whispered and stirred the thoughts and hearts of the ruler. "These Hebrews are a threat to national security..you need to do something before they are more powerful than you and it's too late, they will take over." What Pharaoh didn't hear was the real motive for the killing of the Hebrew males. To break the promise that God had stated of the coming Messiah. To stop it from happening. What would be the easiest way to do this? Kill every Male child that is born. Cut off the root from where this Messiah might come from. Kill the promise that God has spoken.

Did you know that this is still the way Satan operates today? Oh, he knows that Jesus has come and time is clocking down till the Kingdom of God comes in fullness and is established here on planet earth. The devil is fully aware of this. So what is he up to? He is still about the business of stopping the promise of God. The promise of new life. The promise of life abundant, here and now, and life eternal at the point of death. If he can keep the promise from ever being born in the hearts and lives of those who are in spiritual-Egyptian bondage and slavery to sin, he has stopped another adversary from being released into the freedom that God has promised. Satan is a "promise" breaker. 

To me, that is why there is such a battle for the hearts and souls of those in addiction. Drugs and alcohol are merely tools that are used to keep people in slavery. The false reality created by mood and mind altering substances, are the chains and whips that apply the false belief that no one ever escapes. The lie that real life does not exist, that it is merely an illusion created by others. Stop the promises of God from bringing real freedom to a "nation" of people who truly need a deliverer. 

Recovery is the battlefield that has been chosen to deliver a generation birthed in slavery. Recovery is the battlefield where truth is lifted as the banner of the Kingdom of God, and the promises God has made, are made real in the lives of those trapped by the lies of the enemy.
Jesus claimed that "you will know the truth and the truth will make you and set you free."
Jesus went on to say that "He was the truth." He didn't say that He was "A" truth, or that He was part of some truth...NO! Jesus made it as clear as possible...."I ----AM-----THE----TRUTH!"
This is why we do what we do at VRC and recovery churches and meetings all over this world.
To introduce others to the reality of who God is ....
and the reality of what God can do.
To welcome those who haven't been set free into our midst.
To love them and serve them as God reveals himself.
To provide a place where they can encounter God for themselves and see first hand the power an presence of God.
That is why we do what we do....
We take the motto of the Moravian's and say that "We are to win for the Lamb, the rewards for His suffering".

God on you....
mb