Let My People Go
“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my People Go…” (Exodus 5:1 – KJV)
Pharaoh was no easy task master, and as the word of the Lord began to go forth unto him his heart continually rejected the Word of the Lord. Unfortunately, millions are in the very place that Pharaoh was some 3,500 years ago. They hear the word of the Lord, but do not embrace the word, and a deep hardness results. The writer of Hebrews says, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” He continues “…lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:7, 12-13 – KJV
Pharaoh is here seen as a type of Satan, the more the word of the Lord went forth the more he would oppress the Children of Israel. Pharaoh said, “Ye shall no more give the people straw to make the brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves” (Exodus 5:7). When the believer starts hearing and walking in the word of the Lord, Satan will do all he can to keep the child of God from going forward. I may also add that Satan will do all he can to keep you from hearing the word of the Lord in the first place, or confuse you when the word of the Lord is given! (Matt. 13:19)
Some years ago I remember turning on a Christian radio network, and hearing a man make the statement “the answer to your problem is found in the Cross.” I heard the word, and I knew in my spirit it was right, but yet I did not know how it was right? What did he mean that the answer to my problem was in the Cross? This went on for a number of months and after a while I just turned off the radio station since for whatever reason I felt I knew all there was to know about what the man was saying. However, some weeks or months later there came to be a deep struggle in my personal life, and really not knowing what to do I began to search for that radio dial again! This time when I listened I was in a different place than before, I was in a place of desperation!
I needed help, and to be honest I struggled to understand what was being said, but thank the Lord He began to give me the understanding. I was doing all I knew how to do in my fight against the powers of darkness, nevertheless, what I needed “to know” was how to “Walk after the Spirit,” which is the answer to live a victorious life in Christ (Rom. 8:1, 4).
In my life I was not walking after the Spirit even though I was "doing" all of the right things, but rather the path I was walking on was that of flesh! My faith was in me, and many of the good things I was doing to try to live for God. They were all good things in so many ways like fasting, or studying the word of which I have always held dear, or worship, prayer etc., and yet my error was that my faith was in those things. Can I tell you that Satan does not care if your faith is in yourself, or things, for he has respect only to one thing - when your faith is in the Cross! That is where he was defeated, and where all sin was atoned for (Gal. 3:1; Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:14-15).
In fact it is the Holy Spirit’s job to apply the work of Christ’s redemption to your heart and life, yet, if your faith is in you, and your efforts, and not in what Christ did, then His work is frustrated! (Gal. 2:21) The Holy Spirit will always lead your faith to the Cross (i.e. under Grace), and the Flesh will always lead you to religion (i.e. under Law), which one will you follow? (Rom. 6:14; Gal. 5:18) This is a struggle that began even at the dawn of time exemplified by the life of two brothers - Cain and Able. Able by faith brought forth a lamb, and Cain brought forth the work of his hands (Gen. 4:1-4).
If you walk after the flesh you will be in bondage, but if you walk after the Spirit, the Spirit will bring liberty and freedom to your life (Gal. 5:1). I trust you will choose to “Walk after the Spirit,” which is your faith placed in the Finished work of the Cross. The benefits are too numerous to count, but just to name a few… (1) No Condemnation (Rom. 8:1), (2) The Grace of God reigning in your life (Rom. 5:21, 6:14), (3), The fruit of the Spirit manifesting in your life (Gal. 5:22-23), (4) The ability to stand against the wiles of the Devil in the evil day (Eph. 6:10-11), (5) the power of sin broken (Rom. 6:3-5).
Yes, the Lord’s desire is that His people are free, and He has provided the Way, the Way of the Cross!
Will you choose it?
God’s Luv & Best to you! In Christ – Clint
PS- (Special thanks to my son Gabriel for his help on this -Love you son!)
