Pastor Kyle continued in his sermon series through the book of Exodus by stating that if we fully expect to live better days, then we need to rid ourselves of the bondage of bitterness from all that has happened, so we can live those better and sweeter days ahead.
Exodus 15:1-21 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them; they sank to the bottom like a stone. “Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence, You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; it consumed them like stubble. And with the blast of Your nostrils, the waters were gathered together; the floods stood upright like a heap; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue,
I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand; the earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. “The people will hear and be afraid; sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm they will be as still as a stone, till Your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom You have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O Lord,
which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.” For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”
Pastor Kyle gives us four keys to turn bitter days into better days. (1) prioritize praise. Praise begins with someone going in first, then one becomes two and multiples from there. Prioritize praise until the end of your days. Personal and corporate praise and worship are critical in every Believers life. Most of our praise for God is done in private. Corporate praise in the church with fellow Believers makes up less than 1% of our week. Prioritize praise into all of your time. Worship is more than a song, it is a lifestyle as a response of obedience. Worship literally means to ascribe worth to something. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary defines the word “worship” as: Chiefly and eminently, the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; or the reverence and homage paid to him in religious exercises, consisting in adoration, confession, prayer, thanksgiving and the like. Excellence of character; dignity; worth; worthiness. One of the things that God wants among His people is that they do not have idols in their lives. Idol worship is always connected to how the culture understands fertility, prosperity, success and stature.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Worship is ultimately about who is in the top place. When something is in our top place, worship is about clearing those things out. That might be a higher priority than God. The three T’s to prioritizing our praise are (a) Time – Where are we spending our free time? (b) Talent – The things that we are good at, what are we doing with them? (c) Treasure – Follow the treasure money trail of your live to see who or what you really worship. God wants to be first and having us worshipping Him with all of our lives. Satan wants us to believe that we’ll see better days by prioritizing yourself; by prioritizing your desires and focusing on your own pleasures. But, Jesus paints a very different picture of what it means to worship Him.
Let's continue Pastor Kyles message on turning bitter days into better days in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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