A WORD FOR 2017, GOD, OUR PROTECTOR AND PRESERVER

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1 KINGDOM FOCUS- Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness -Matt. 6:33 CHRISTIAN BIBLE FELLOWSHIP NEWSLETTER Caring and Sharing with the Community of Believers January, 2017 Memory Verse for January, 2017-Isaiah 60: 1&2-Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. Behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. A WORD FOR 2017, GOD, OUR PROTECTOR AND PRESERVER THE LIGHTS STAYED ON IN GOSHEN

2 Just a word of praise to God for hearing and answering our prayers about the election and beginning the healing of our beloved nation-2chronicles 7:14. Now is not the time to stop praying. We must redouble our efforts and pray without growing faint. Please continue to pray that the hand of our gracious God will heal, restore and continue to be upon America and its newly elected leaders!-may God Protect and Preserve America as We Enter the New Year! THE LIGHTS STAYED ON IN GOSHEN by Linda Timco Exodus 10: The Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt. Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. Imagine being in the familiar surroundings of your own home when, without warning, the lights go out. You find yourself in total darkness. You re unable to see and can t even move to find matches to light a small candle. There s a total absence of light! I believe we can all identify. This is a scary and unwelcome experience! Nobody likes to find themselves in a darkness that can be felt. The word felt in this context means to have to have to grope or search about. This is the type of darkness talked about in Exodus 10 verse 21. The Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt. Darkness was the ninth plague sent upon Egypt because Pharaoh, the Egyptian leader, refused to let Israel, God s people leave as God commanded through Moses. In Hebrew the number nine means goodness. God was about to do something very good for Israel even in the darkness and slavery of Egypt! God instructed Moses, the one sent to deliver God s people to stretch out his hand toward Heaven. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. God wanted Pharaoh, who called himself the sun god, to know exactly where this darkness descended from. The word continues in verse 23, they saw not one another, neither rose from their places for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. In the bible Egypt is always a type of the world. Israel, God s people, who also dwelt in Egypt in the land of Goshen, had light in their dwellings. An examination of the word meanings of light and darkness show us the following; Darkness is the Hebrew word chosek and means obscurity, night, misery falsehood and ignorance. It has the figurative meaning of blindness. It refers to being in a state which is the opposite of light. It is also figurative for the consequences of sin.

3 Light in this context is the word owr. It means to be luminous, glorious, kindle, set on fire or shine. It also means to be bright, clear or having daylight. God calls His own the light of the world! Goshen is a picture type of God setting apart His people for protection and preservation. These words, light and darkness were a promise of what was to come for both Egypt and Israel. When Joseph, who God raised to be the ruler of Egypt, reconciled with his brothers, he told them and his father and their entire families to come down to be near him in Egypt. This is a picture-type of Jesus Christ our protector. Pharaoh appointed them the land called Goshen to settle in in Egypt. I did some searching into this plot of land called Goshen. What I learned was very exciting and filled me with hope and trust in the living God! I share it with you because it shows with clarity God s constant care and protection for His people and His working all things together for good to those who seek His purposes! The land of Goshen was a land set apart and protected. The meaning of the word Goshen is a drawing near or approaching. It also means a relationship that does not join. Although Israel was in Egypt, God made them a separated people! Their relationship with the Egyptians was a relationship that did not join. Two biblical stories give us more insight into Goshen and how God protected and preserved His people. We are all familiar with the story of how Joseph s brothers sold him into the slavery of Egypt. This was God, folks! In Joseph s own words upon revealing himself to his brothers in Genesis 45: 7 and 8, he said God sent me before you to preserve you posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. It was not you that sent me here, but God and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler in all the land of Egypt. Joseph encouraged his brothers and his father to hurry back to him so he could be their Godordained protector. To further clarify the relevance of Goshen, did you ever wonder why Pharaoh was so agreeable to Israel s settling into this plot of land? Let s recall the story of Sarai and Abram going to Egypt because of a great famine in Canaan. This was God, folks! While they were in Egypt, Pharaoh heard about the great beauty of Sarai and he took her into his harem. He did not know she was married because Abram said she was his sister. For more understanding of what happened here, I want to quote the Midrash. The Midrash is commonly defined as the process by which the rabbis filled in the gaps found in the Torah. Talmud and the Midrash are commentated, interpretative writings that hold a place in the Jewish religious training second only to the Bible. They are used to bring out the deeper meaning of a passage. What emerges from the Midrash is this, the night Pharaoh took Sarai into his harem he brought plagues on his house to foreshadow that God was destined to smite the Egyptian with great plagues. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha says this, due to Pharaoh s great love (for Sarai) he signed all of his assets, silver, gold, slaves, and real estate; and he signed to her the land of Goshen, as an estate. Therefore, Israel

4 settled there because it belonged to Sarai, their matriarch. Pharaoh wanted a relationship with Sarai, but she remained faithful to Abram. God protected her and kept a pure line for the future birth of Messiah, Jesus! Goshen was a land that Israel connected with because it was the estate of Sarai. Again, God went before Israel and prepared a place of protection and preservation! In conclusion, we see here a beautiful picture and type of how today God protects and preserves His people through our Joseph. (Jesus Christ) We do not know what 2017 holds for us, but we do know the God of Israel who holds the future in his eternal hands! He has and will go before us and prepare the way in every situation as we seek His plans and purposes and remain in close relationship with Him. Relationship means to stay in His word and seek to develop intimacy with Him. Jesus is our Goshen, our place of protection and preservation. Because He is the true Light, we too will have light in our dwellings. Even as God brings judgement on this world of darkness (Egypt) that we are in but not of, we will experience the provisions of the full salvation He alone provides! May God protect and preserve you and yours in 2017! Have a blessed New Year dwelling in the light of His presence! THOUGHTS OF A REPENTANT SINNER Repentance By Russ Timco Repentance-Not a word that is heard very often. To repent means to change our way of thinking, recognize what we are doing wrong and make permanent corrections. If we are going the wrong direction, we need to change the course of our life and turn toward God. The Bible is the road map to our final destination. Mark 1:15 says the time has come, He said, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! When we are first saved, we repent of our sins, all of those things we knew were wrong and some we didn t even think about. Acts 3:19 tells us, Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. As time goes on and we continue on in a new past forgiven life, we may find as the old hymn says, Lord, I am prone to wander. In this life we are attacked from three different directions, the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world is the environment and circumstances in which we live and spend our time. 1John 2:16 tells us for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is

5 not from the Father, but is from the world. The flesh is internal feelings that I want to do things outside of the will of God. Romans 8:5-8 admonish us, those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. The devil is Satan, an evil spirit who is wicked and defies God. It is his intent to destroy our relationship to God and corrupt our souls. God tests to strengthen us, Satan tempt to destroy! 1Peter 5:8 warns, be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to destroy. When you fail, figure out why and make corrections according to God s word. 1John 1:9 encourages us, if we confess our sins; He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. God wants us to be victorious over our sins. The Devil wants us to fail. Philippians 4:13 says, A great weariness will overtake us if we live apart from God. Poor choices can result in lifelong regrets, but they don t have to dictate our future. The heavenly Father will welcome us with great joy and love when we repent and turn back to Him. Have you wandered away? He s waiting for you! In Touch Magazine-Charles Stanley ONE LAST THOUGHT The Law of God was given for a time to convince men of their inability to fulfill the will of God and to leave them with no other option except to embrace the good news of Jesus Christ s death and resurrection. Therefore, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Repentance is the first step to maintaining our relationship with God by removing the hindrances that block our communication to hearing God; we can have a clear pathway to His presence. If while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. - Romans 5:11