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LYDIA'S LEGACY
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ARTICLES
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Your
Choke Point
Raquel Soto
© March 11th, 2005
"And when the people saw
that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,
the people gathered themselves together unto
Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which
shall go before us; for [as for] this Moses, the
man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
we wot not what is become of him.
And Aaron said unto them, Break
off the golden earrings, which [are] in the ears
of your wives, of your sons, and of your
daughters, and bring [them] unto me.
And all the people brake off the
golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and
brought [them] unto Aaron.
And he received [them] at their
hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after
he had made it a molten calf: and they said,
These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee
up out of the land of Egypt.
And they rose up early on the
morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought
peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat
and to drink, and rose up to play. " Exodus
32 verses 1-6 (KJV)
Let's review what is happening
here. Moses went up to the mount to be with God.
The people grew restless being without him. Under
the pressure of being without him, they went
after his assistant, Aaron, and demanded that he
fashion idols to worship. So here's Aaron, senior
pastor in Moses' absence, bowing down to the will
of the people instead of the will of God. Here's
one of our lessons: as much as we love God, we
can miss it. Leaders aren't exempt from the
pressure of conformity.
Let's examine what Aaron is
doing. He mixed a little of Babylon (the idols)
and mixed it with a little of worship. They were
going to worship God through an idol. When the
pressure came, the image of God they had in them
manifested. But, when you try to mix Babylon with
worship, there is no power. Sweet water and
bitter water cannot exist at the same time. When
they are mixed the water is bitter. And that is
exactly what we try to do at church and wonder
why "it's not working". It's not
working because on one hand you say what the
world says about your situation and then you say
what God says in His Word about the situation. So
what do you have left? Your situation. You're
back to square one. You might not think you are
worshipping an idol, but when you side with the
voice or circumstance that is contrary to what
God is telling you in His Word, who's voice are
you worshipping at that moment? It is idolatrous
to put yourself, or any other voice, in God's
place. We are all guilty of this at one point or
another.
We've all come to it in our
lives. The point where we are under so much
pressure those images inside of us, deep inside
of us, bubbles out. This is our choke point. It
is our struggle to go back to what is
comfortable, Babylon – what we know, even if
we know it isn't true, than to press on in God.
It is under extreme pressure that what we think
comes forth. It is in the invisible root stage
that comes out under pressure. Death and life are
in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18 verse
21). We can speak life into our situation (God's
Word) or speak death into it (what God didn't
say). Pressure will try to make you release words
that keep you in bondage. Your situation may not
get worse, but when it doesn't get any better,
aren't you still tied?
Moses was no exception. Let's
read from Numbers, chapter 11, verses 18-23
(KJV):
"And say thou unto the
people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow,
and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the
ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh
to eat? for [it was] well with us in Egypt:
therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye
shall eat.
Ye shall not eat one day, nor two
days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty
days;
[But] even a whole month, until
it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome
unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD
which [is] among you, and have wept before him,
saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
And Moses said, The people, among
whom I [am], [are] six hundred thousand footmen;
and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that
they may eat a whole month.
Shall the flocks and the herds be
slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the
fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to
suffice them?
And the LORD said unto Moses, Is
the LORD'S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now
whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or
not."
Before I go to Moses, I want to
deal with the people:
When you don't have a proper
image of God, you even can read Scripture or hear
it with the wrong interpretation. Here are the
Israelites complaining about the miracle food
that God provides, fresh every day, free, bagels
from heaven (okay, not bagels - manna, but you
know what I mean) and they think God brought them
out of Egypt to kill them. Not seeing God,
knowing God, for Who He really is will distort
how you receive His Word. You can read further in
Numbers chapter 23.
Now, back to Moses.
Moses, the leader, the one God
used to bring the people out of bondage, has
reached his choke point. He questions God's
ability to feed the people flesh. And not just
feed them, send it in such excess that it will
come through their nostrils. Or, in today's
terms, till they vomit. It's estimated to be
about three million people! They only counted the
men back then. But with the wives and children,
that's a lot of mouths to feed.
Moses should know better,
shouldn't he? He was a witness to one of the
grandest miracles ever performed. And yet, he
couldn't fathom God pulling this one off. It was
his choke point. He was completely honest with
God about his doubt that God can do it. It was
too much for Moses. Where is your faith
contaminated in doubt?
What situations are you dealing
with that are having you believe there ain't no
way (I know it's not proper English). I'm talking
about when things around you are telling you that
you won't get that promotion. You won't survive
that cancer. You can't give your tithe or you
won't be able to pay the rent. I'm talking about
situations that look impossible. But God clearly
states here: " Is the LORD'S hand waxed
short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall
come to pass unto thee or not." It's not
you! It is God Who does the work. HE will do it.
Release Him! Release His Word! Stand still and
see the salvation of the LORD this day (Exodus
14). God will fight for you and give you the
victory (Dueteronomy 20). You shall hold your
peace! If God has said it, HE will do it. HE will
make it good. You just need to stand. But for you
to stand, you need to understand. So if you can't
stand, pray for understanding so you can stand
under the pressure! The only thing that will get
you through is the Word of God. Meditate on it
day and night. The divine order of faith is in
Mark 11 verse 24. You must believe you've got it
before you physically have it. You must believe
it's a spiritual fact before it becomes a
physical fact. What's the point of believing you
have it when you got it? Even a blind man can see
that! But you must receive the Word of God as the
absolute truth, no matter what facts are thrown
at you. Take the picture of the promise in your
mind. Slosh it around with the Word. Mix it with
faith. The Israelites didn't get into the promise
land because they failed to mix the Word of God
with faith. The picture you plant with the Word
of God in your mind will come to physical
manifestation, but you must be patient. Patient.
Patient. God has to move it from the spiritual to
the physical. Be patient and keep that photo in
your mind. Slosh it around. And just like in a
dark room, see that image spring up in due time!
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