Yo! Let me holla at you for a minute. Well, more like a few days as God walks us through some eternal truth. I may not know you, but that ain’t really a thing. The major thing is that you are here, reading this. And you should know, it is not a coincidence at all. Can you feel my excitement at our meeting in these pages??? Welcome to this 5-day devotional 😁

You see, there are many great things God has promised you. After all, in John 10:10, Jesus says that “I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.” Since God cannot lie, I gotta ask you this; What are you leaving behind that is not making you enjoy this fullest life God has promised you? Fullest life in your career, your relationships, your business, your marriage, your academics, your health, and so many other areas. Remember, according to 2 Corinthians 1:20, “all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea and amen, to the glory of God through us.” I am believing God for the next several days to be revelational just as they are transformational. 

Are you ready? Giddy up, yo! There’s a battle to fight to claim all God has promised you. So, let’s go. Let’s get at it!

Bible reading: (Exodus 5:1-9; 8:25-27)

Moses, the prince of Egypt, has just arrived at the palace of Pharaoh, the very palace he used to live in, and does Moses have a word for the new king. But the king ain’t gonna like what he gotta say. You mean you want me to let all these people go, after over 400 years of slaving to build this empire? You gotta be outta your mind🤯. Have several seats, old man! Moses, at 80 years old, has just given Pharaoh the Word from the Lord to let the Israelites go on a three-day journey into the desert to worship Him. And as you can see, Pharaoh ain’t finding it funny. Moses does a few signs and wonders (plagues to be precise), enough to get the attention of Pharaoh that this is serious business. So, Pharaoh relents and says OK, Okay! You got me. You wanna go worship your God, you said? Why make yourself go through all that hassle. Go ahead and sacrifice to your God right here, in this very land, if that’s all you really wanna do. You can thank me later for saving you all that headache of journeying through the desert.

Wait a minute, did Pharaoh just offer what sounded like good advice? Hmm it actually does make some sense…only it ain’t good sense! God has instructed Moses to lead the children of Israel to not only sacrifice to him but offer up the sacrifice in the wilderness. Pharaoh just tried to slyly move the goal post. And very often, this is a tactic the enemy uses against us. Remember what the serpent told Eve in the garden? Did God really say you should not eat any of the fruits? Knowing darn well that only one fruit was in question. Many times, the devil tries to shift the Word of God from under us. In this instance, there was a place for the worship God had required, but Pharaoh wanted Moses to believe the main thing was the sacrifice and the location didn’t matter—all to keep the Israelites from leaving Egypt. Worshiping God is a great thing; but is your worship or service to God from a place, a relationship, a job, or a career where God has outright instructed you to move away from?

Prayer: God, empower me to worship You in spirit and in truth; for of such do You seek to worship You. John 4:23

Bible Reading: Exodus 8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

Moses has just responded to Pharaoh that the whole idea of making sacrifice to God right there in Egypt is a pipe dream…it ain’t gonna happen! Ain’t no way Israel would worship God in a strange land and not provoke the ire of the Egyptians with their sacrifices. As a result, Pharaoh relents. Only this time, he tells Moses the children of Israel cannot go too far. Isn’t it interesting that the devil is intent on keeping us in bondage, in mediocrity, in a place of enough but never more than enough? Pharaoh was basically telling Moses to cut a three-day journey into much less. Do your sacrifice and maybe go one day or so into the wilderness but no more. Once again, we see the adaptation of the tactic of the enemy where he tries to meet the requirement of the sacrifice and environment, but not the exact place. Though the children of Israel could journey into the wilderness environment in a day or two, the place God has required is three days away from the borders of Egypt. At times, the devil drops it in our minds to move incrementally; not too much toward that which God has prepared for us, or that which God has asked of us. 

For example, God has been putting it in your spirit that although you are currently an Associate at your workplace, he has blessed you with the position of Vice-President and he needs you to start doing the necessary work to move into that position. But the devil whispers in your ear to not do too much at once, tells you that good things come in good time to those who wait and that you should just move up to the position of Manager and that would be just fine. After all, you are now in a managerial position and that’s really all God wanted from you—it is a promotion, an achievement. 

The thing is this: the promises of God are always going to be bigger and greater than our brains or physical efforts can qualify for. He is a God that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). So, when you think that the destination where God is taking you is going to be only possible through your own power, your connections, your intellect, then any progress from the status quo becomes reasonable because you couldn't fathom how such an “implausible” promise was going to happen in the first place. 

In this particular case, God has promised the children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, not too good to be true, but too good to believe. And because of this, when God gives us promises seemingly too good as well, we begin to want to agree with the devil in negotiating God down when God has told us to go all the way. We leave where we are but never fully arrive where God has promised us, provided for us.

Prayer: God help me not to settle for that which is against Your purpose for my life. I refuse the ordinary life and ask You for the power to embrace, anticipate, and expect the extraordinary. Amen.

Bible Reading:  (Exodus 10:7-11)

The saga continues. Pharaoh would just not stop! He’s not even listening to his advisers at this point. But now he has decided to allow Moses and the people to go do the sacrifice in the wilderness, three days away and all, but on one condition: only the men could go. The women and the children were to stay behind in Egypt. This sorta reminds me of when God called Abraham in the book of Genesis and told him to get out of his country away from his relatives, his father’s family and go to a land He will show him. The bible tells us that Abraham departed with his wife, his nephew Lot, his livestock, and all the people that were under him.  Hmm...how would Abraham’s life have worked out if he had left without Sarah, for instance? No Isaac for sure!

So, we have to ask, what’s Pharaoh's endgame by insisting the women and children stay behind? On the one hand, this compromise is much better than the ones from our last two days. But as believers, we know too well that partial obedience is not obedience. The instruction of God to Moses was that ALL the children of Israel were to leave Egypt and not just one group of people. God had a rendezvous with every one of His children. But the devil understood a few things in this false compromise, or should we call it fake-out obedience.

1. The men alone in the wilderness without their wives and children meant probable pollution of the Jewish nation because they most likely would have had to marry into the heathen nations that inhabited the promised land and thus turn their backs against God right away. The exact inter-marriage God later forbids them from doing as they were about to possess the promise.

2. It also would have made God a liar. While the fathers would be free, it meant a generation of Jewish boys and girls and their descendants would continue to live in captivity. Making false the promise God had made to Abraham to bring them all out.

3. And really. Come on now. How could the men ever stay away when their darlings and children were still all tied up in bondage in Egypt, even if they were free? In 1 Samuel 30:6, we see how David’s men talked of stoning him to death when they got back to Ziklag and found out their wives and children had been taken, and maybe even killed, by a marauding army. Men don’t play, yo! Pharaoh knew the men, sooner or later, would come back to their families, no matter how far away they went.

In this instance, we see the devil’s hidden plan to hold us hostage even when it seems he’s not antagonizing us. Remember, God is a loving God and wants the whole of you and not just half of you. There are some strategic relationships that God has placed in your life that God intends not only for them to be a blessing to you, but for you to be a blessing to them. Jesus had the 12, Abraham had his wife and servants. Who are the people in your life today that the devil tries to use as pawns to either hold you back or bring you back? Because there is a difference. There are some people you are meant to leave behind, like the children of Israel were to leave the Egyptians behind, and there are some people that are to go with you, as the men had to go with their wives and children into the promised land.

Prayer: Lord, help me identify the right relationships that You have placed in my life. Help me to leave the wrong ones behind. Empower me to fight for those relationships that are important to my wellbeing and the destiny You have planned for me. Amen.

Bible Reading: (Exodus 10:24-26)

Day 4 here. Thank you for staying with me. Things are really dragging out now and getting scrappy. Moses has just refuted Pharaoh’s latest lame attempt at a compromise. “Everyone gotta go,” is what Moses said. To which Pharaoh responds, “Heck to tha no!” God subsequently instructs Moses to stun Egypt with a few more plagues. Pharaoh now is exasperated but he still can’t help himself. He tells Moses, Alright, alright! I give up. Go, all of y’all. But them animals you’ve got, you gotta leave them right here. 

Hold up! Let’s get this right. God has instructed Moses and the children of Israel to go on a three-day journey into the wilderness and make a sacrifice unto Him there, and hold what Moses called a pilgrim feast, and the thing they're gonna use for that sacrifice, they can’t take with them?!! This is total nonsense and Pharaoh knows it. Pharaoh definitely is playing with God at this point. And this is what the devil does all the time to us as well. As we move toward the promise of God in our new career, our new relationships, our health, and many other areas, the devil tries to convince us to leave behind those things which God has blessed us with to worship Him, to serve Him.

Imagine, you’ve got this beautiful soulful voice. Aretha ain’t got nothing on you. God blesses you with a promotion at work where you are now a shot caller #bossladythings. Or maybe God blesses you with a new business that’s growing faster than you can keep up with it #manofdahouse. Only now, you ain’t got time to sing in the choir anymore. Your voice that used to lead folks into the presence of God during praise and worship service at church, now you can’t make a single choir rehearsal anymore. In a sly way, the devil has convinced you to leave the material for your sacrifice in Egypt. You are free but have nothing to worship God with.

It is like the story of the talent in Matthew 25:14-30. God has committed so much into you, for the service of His kingdom. Whatever those gifts, those talents God has given you, He didn’t mean for you to negotiate them away in exchange for your success or prosperity. He expects you to prosper more with them in His presence. You are almost there; you just can’t leave your livestock behind.

Prayer: Thank You Lord for the gifts You’ve blessed me with. Help to know that all good things flow from You. That Your blessing makes rich without adding sorrow to it. All that I have and all that I am is Yours. Use me and them all for Your glory. Amen.

Bible Reading: (Exodus 12:31-36)

Phew! Congratulations🎉!! You didn’t compromise. You didn’t accept half a loaf of bread instead of the whole bread. You stuck it out. You grinded and stayed with the promise of God over your life. You see, the children of Israel just experienced the same thing. Pharaoh, fresh out of tricks and subdued by the mighty hand of God, tells the children of God to run out of his country. He ain’t playing no more.

Isn’t it so interesting that Pharaoh and the Egyptians lost more on that day than what Moses had initially asked for? The Bible tells us that the children of Israel plundered the Egyptians. Plundered. Let me let that sink in for a moment. And it is the same for us, whenever we settle for less than what God has promised us, we fail victim to the mediocrity and the bondage of the devil and can never experience the overflow of the blessings of God. Listen, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). And one of the works of the devil is to lie to your face that you better take what you can get while you can get it. That you might not get that better job, that scholarship, that internship, that contract; so you should just take what you can and quit while the going is good. The devil is the father of lies. Jesus Himself said this (John 8:44).

Oh, I am so excited for you and me. When we giddy up and with boldness lay claim to that which God has promised us, we live to the fullest the life God has ordained for us as His children. As we saw, it wasn’t always easy for the children of Israel. They had so many opportunities to quit, to compromise, to leave blessings on the table and take whatever they could get. After 400 years, wouldn't you be tempted to take anything, too? So, God in the same way understands your situation today. He knows the things you have been desiring of Him, the things you have been through and He’s well aware of His promises to you. Fight on and hold on, because “God is not a man that he should lie…Has he said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? Numbers 23:19.

Prayer: God, I thank You for the victory You’ve already won for me on the cross. I thank You for the abundant life You have given me. Give me the consciousness to always walk in the identity of who You have made me to be. I reject all compromises of the devil; I stand tall and claim all You have provisioned for me. Amen.