Calvary Temple Debbie Haynes

In the book of Exodus, when the Children of Israel left Egypt’s bondage bound for the Promised Land, God provided an angel in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to go in front of them to lead them on the way. But, just at the time when they were seemingly trapped between the Red Sea and the Pharoah's encroaching army, facing certain death either way they turned, God strategically moved…i.e., repositioned, the all-important angel of the Pillar of Cloud from in front of them, to the rear of them. Now, they could no longer see it! But, what they didn’t know was, just how strategic and important this repositioning was to them, for: Exodus 14:19 says (New Century Version) "Also, the pillar of cloud moved from in front of the people and stood behind them. So, the cloud came between the Egyptians and the Israelites. This made it DARK for the Egyptians, but gave light to the Israelites. So, the cloud kept the two armies apart all night." So, if you ever think your angel has moved, you might just need to turn and look behind you; because, just maybe, the Lord has simply repositioned him for your protection!

In II Chronicles 20:12-24 King Jehoshaphat’s great horde of enemies were coming after him, so he went to prayer. Jehoshaphat said, we are powerless against this great horde and we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are upon you, Lord. God answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer through the prophet Jahaziel using the same language Jehoshaphat used saying, Do not fear nor be dismayed by the great horde, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Sometimes, like the king Jehoshaphat did, we have to be battle ready. But, God said to believe Him, and believe the prophet, and they will succeed. And succeed, they did! For in the morning, after the worshippers were sent out before the warriors, the enemy had completely destroyed each other. Do not fear nor be dismayed by the great horde you might see in your life. Believe in God and the prophet, and succeed.

Jesus said, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. A seed pod, so full of life and potential in itself, must fully surrender itself and die, become useless and dead, because the plant, which bears the fruit, grows from the life inside the seed, splitting apart and causing it to die. But without the seed, the plant has no chance of life.   Similarly, the Apostle Paul explained the resurrection to the doubtful Corinthians, in I Corinthians 15:35 that the dead are raised in the resurrection because the seed—Jesus Christ—surrendered himself and died for our sins and was buried  in the ground, but like Him, the seed, was not what will be raised in the resurrection. For then, we will be raised glorified, with the glory of a heavenly body, just like Christ was. Verse 49 promises us that, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we also bear the image of the Man of Heaven, Jesus Christ.  Praise the Lord!! 

In Jeremiah 5:20-24 God instructs the prophet, Jeremiah, to tell the foolish and senseless people, in the house of Jacob and in Judah, that they need to fear the Lord. He said, I’m the One who drew the boundary of the sea in the sand and though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against that boundary. He also said, I am the One who sends the rain in its season, the autumn rains and the spring rains, and I am the One who keeps for you the weeks appointed for the harvest. Sounds pretty sure that the harvest will surely come! Again in Deuteronomy 11:13-17, God talked about sending the rain in its season for the land, the early and the latter rains, that the grain, wine and oil harvests may be gathered at the appointed time. But, He goes on to say that, turning aside from God, committing sinful worship of idols, can stop the rains from coming. If ever, America needs to repent of her sins, it’s now, so that the spiritual latter rains can come upon the church and the harvest of souls can be gathered in.

In John 19:28-30 when Jesus uttered the words “It Is Finished,” He meant a lot more than just the fact that his life on this earth was nearly over. Hebrews 2:10 tells us that Jesus’ obedience to the Father was perfected in his suffering on the cross, and through that suffering, Jew and Gentile were united in one spirit; the reign of eternal death was conquered and salvation was made available to all. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that the full payment for our sinful transgressions, our wicked iniquities, our peace, and our healings, were all finished on the cross. Thank You, Jesus for finishing it all on the cross.

When the Israelites were miraculously delivered by God from Egyptian bondage and slavery, they left Egypt with a vast amount of goods which was a fulfillment of scripture. Those goods were contributed by those people whose hearts were moved upon by the Holy Spirit to be used to build the tabernacle, where God himself would dwell and meet with the people. God endued two leaders, Bezelel and Oholiab, with very specific ability, intelligence and all knowledge and all craftsmanship to build the tabernacle, and he gave every able man the knowledge to perform the work under the guidance of these two leaders. In Exodus 36:6, Moses gave the command to the people to stop giving, because they’d given so much that it was much more than was needed to complete the job. The contribution, the hand-picked team, and the all-sufficiency of God are quite a winning combination.