Plagued by doubt?

PRAY You are worthy of all my praise, Lord God. I begin this time by worshipping your from the depths of my heart.

READ Exodus 6:28-11:10

REFLECT

Here we are looking at on of the absolute classic battles between good and evil - better than any Hollywood movie could come up with. Ten times Moses confronts Pharaoh with a plague and a message from God, "Let my people go..." (7:16). But Pharaoh's incredible stubbornness proves to be his undoing. Outright rejection of God isn't the only way our hearts can become hardened. It can simply be the result of gradually doing things our own way over a period of time. Int he end, the result is the same : A BROKEN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

Why did God bother with the ten plagues? I mean he could have saved the ecosystem and gone straight to number ten?! Or he could have caused Pharaoh to keel over and given power to a more tolerant successor. The answer really has two part. 1. The broad answer - God wanted to proclaim his name, to let the people know that he was the Lord (9:16; 10:2). he wants everybody int he whole world for all time to know he is God and that He is powerful and worthy of our worship. 2. Is a more personal reason; God also works in the lives of individuals, shaping and preparing them for the work he has called them to do. Consider Moses: he wasted the best years of his life when God tried to give him a second chance he resisted and rejected God's plan. Moses needed one of those badges for his robe: "Be patient... God isn't finished with me yet". The ten plagues were not just for Pharaoh it seemed Moses needed convincing the God alone was the Lord.

If you want to know God, the starting place is to believe that he is the Lord over the entire earth. but to really know him you must make him the Lord of your life as well, that's what being a follower of Jesus is all about.