Red Sea Crossing

This is the Truth Network. The time of year, Resurrection Day, looking forward to building up to the celebration of that time, which includes the commemoration of the Jewish Passover and all that took place, that miraculous display of Almighty God on behalf of His people, and bringing them out of Egyptian slavery across the Red Sea, which was supernaturally opened for them to cross over on dry land, by the way. And so, as we remember that and we focus there, we realize that there's a whole new beginning waiting on the other side. If you're standing on the bank of the river, looking at the other side, and the other side is free, and your side is filled with bondage, you will do everything you can to get to that side of the river. Correct?

Yes, correct. So you know there's a new thing waiting. It's a new season. And at the beginning of anything new in your life, it's really important for you to recognize that that's what's happening, because you're going to need to declare where you're going and why.

Why are you going there? Because God gives us supernatural authority that He intends for us to use to establish boundaries along this new path. It's like a guardrail, if you will, so that along the way you don't get off track, which may have happened in the season that we're leaving, right? We'll talk more about that in a minute, but that's why you'll need to declare those boundaries from the very start. You're going to need those to fortify you. You're headed into a new season, and that always means change, and change always means choices.

So let's look at a few. First of all, and this is kind of, you know how they say in the department stores, clean up on aisle three, or you know we need maintenance at the rear of the store, things like that. You know, I'm thinking we need to do a little cleanup here so that we leave some baggage on this side of the river. Don't take it across with you.

You're not going to need it there, that is for sure. The very first thing is just to remember, listen, life isn't fair. You know, sometimes a little child will say, that's not fair.

Well no, it's not. That's a great life lesson. Life isn't fair. But your first choice, one of the important choices, is instead of depending on life to be fair always to you, you need to believe God's plan.

That's the first choice that I would just say is really important right here if we're lining up some choices we need to make. I always want things to shake out in my favor, I'm sure you do, but fairness, humanly speaking, actually ended with Adam and Eve, and actually many Bible heroes experienced extremely unfair treatment. So we just need to understand this. We have an enemy, his name is Satan, and he is determined to withhold from you and me in every way possible. And while that is true, and it is true that life is not fair, it is also true. And the real more powerful truth is God has a plan. Jeremiah 29.11, he has plans for you to prosper you, not harm you, plans to give you hope, plans to give you a future, and bottom line, that's the plan. That's the better plan, the bigger plan, the more powerful plan, choose that one. Don't get all caught up in anything that's not fair.

Satan is the author of an unfair plan. God is the author of justice, which leads us to the next choice. Believe God's justice will prevail in your life, because sometimes we are waiting for justice to prevail in our lives.

That's my experience, probably yours too. When you think of it this way, justice is when we get what we deserve, so it's really tough to resolve it in the heart when instead of what we deserve, we receive unfair or unjust treatment. When justice is withheld, and even though we are innocent, our accusations are not right. Those accusations against us are repeated sometimes until even other people are questioning our integrity, our judgment, or our innocence in a matter, and so we might suffer unjustly. But here's the thing, and this is really so true, you'll see it again and again, just when you think that truth will never be uncovered, will never come to the surface, the Lord just has a way of suddenly coming onto the scene, and when He does, everything changes. It might take an hour or a day, it might be longer, even a lifetime, there are some of those you know, but God is the truth teller, and He is the deliverer, and He knows how to right the wrong that's been done to you. So don't be afraid. If you face false accusations, exaggerated claims, justice may seem like a dream now, but vindication by the Lord's hand is not impossible and it is not impossible to hope for. You need to choose to believe God's justice will prevail. And thirdly, this is one of many choices we make, but this is key.

This is really key. If you're going to enter this new season, cross from one side of the river, one Red Sea crossing from one side to the other, this is your Red Sea crossing, okay? You need to make this decision. You need to choose to move on. Don't stay where you are. Don't keep telling the same story. Don't keep reading the same script. Don't keep bemoaning the same wrongs done to you. Don't continue lamenting what you've lost. Don't rehearse it in your mind.

Don't say it out loud. You need to move on. We've got to remember the past seasons of our lives basically two ways. First, for the good that we can glean from the experience, because we do learn through difficult times. And secondly, for the changes that that season demands, and that's what I'm talking about.

There is a demand being placed now. The season is demanding that we change, and this is so necessary to transition into the next thing that God has for you. In the process, learn to leave behind those negative things, things like emotions. Negative emotions are culprits of emotional baggage that make for a very unhealthy lifestyle. And by the way, family generational dysfunction.

So you need to separate from those lifestyles, forgetting and forgiving yesterday's negatives and the give and take in relationships in life in general, so that you can focus instead on what you gain from the benefits that you learned. Anytime, anytime in this season that you are under a burden of care, one of the things that happens is we begin to close up and withhold the gift of God that is on the inside of us. The gifts and the purposes of God that places us in, you know, the way that we participate in capturing the kingdom for our Father.

I hope that doesn't sound heavy, but we each have a role to play is what I'm saying. So you don't want to withhold, get into a habit of withholding the gift of God, the purposes of God that are on the inside of you, but rather allow them to flow through you. We're talking about moving on and transitioning well, so you don't want to miss an opportunity to let the gifts of God flow through you, those that He placed there, because it will come at the expense of everyone else. You know, the missing part becomes the most important part, the most needed part, because it's missing.

It's not there. So you don't want to be missing from the equation. You want to join the body in manifesting the will of God in the earth, and that's why it's important to leave all this emotional baggage on the side of the river that you're leaving, come on over across this Red Sea. You're going to be able to go over on dry land because you serve a supernatural God, and then your enemies will not have the same access to follow you into this new season.

That's actually the Exodus story, isn't it? So don't squander what God has placed inside of you. Don't do that. The treasure inside of you is an offering. It's meant to be given away. The Lord calls you. He sends you. He draws you to a specific geographic location to live among certain people, and the spiritual gifts He has given you place a demand upon your spiritual storehouse.

Listen, this is God. He's gone ahead of you. He's moving in you and for you.

He is leading. Your part is to forgive, to change, to transition well, because again, it is time to move on. So just in closing today, listen, this can be your Red Sea crossing. God brought the Hebrew nation out of that Egyptian slavery and into a new beginning, and so just in celebrating that memory, that air, the atmosphere is charged with this new possibility. So you're at the beginning. Declare where you're going and why. Use your God-given authority to set up some boundaries, some guardrails, so that you will be focused and able to move unhindered in what is new that is being unveiled now.

It's happening now, and it is time. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org, where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365-day devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time.