The Right Choice

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Hebrews 11:24, 25.
In the schools of Egypt, Moses received the highest civil and military training. Of great personal attractions, noble in form and stature, of cultivated mind and princely bearing, and renowned as a military leader, he became the nation’s pride.
All who occupied the throne of the Pharaohs must become members of the priestly caste; and Moses as the heir apparent, was to be initiated into the mysteries of the national religion…. But while he was an ardent and untiring student, he could not be induced to participate in the worship of the gods. He was threatened with the loss of the crown, and warned that he would be disowned by the princess should he persist in his adherence to the Hebrew faith. But he was unshaken in his determination to render homage to none save the one God….
Moses was fitted to take pre-eminence among the great of the earth, to shine in the courts of its most glorious kingdom, and to sway the scepter of its power. His intellectual greatness distinguishes him above the great men of all ages. As historian, poet, philosopher, general of armies, and legislator, he stands without a peer. Yet with the world before him, he had the moral strength to refuse the flattering prospects of wealth and greatness and fame….
Moses had been instructed in regard to the final reward to be given to the humble and obedient servants of God, and worldly gain sank to its proper insignificance in comparison. The magnificent palace of Pharaoh and the monarch’s throne were held out as an inducement to Moses; but he knew that the sinful pleasures that make men forget God were in its lordly courts. He looked beyond the gorgeous palace, beyond a monarch’s crown, to the high honors that will be bestowed on the saints of the Most High in a kingdom untainted by sin. He saw by faith an imperishable crown that the King of heaven would place on the brow of the overcomer.
Conflict and Courage p. 81
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Prayer Requests
—– My wife is in her last six weeks of medical school and she is due to have a baby in 12 weeks. She needs strength as she is very tired. We are also trying to find out where God would have us be. That includes me finding employment and us finding house. We have one car that is becoming unreliable and need to find a new one. Our ministry is launching a new project but we are having lots of obstacles. Please pray that the Lord would open our senses so that we can understand how to cooperate with him. Jeff
—–Please continue to pray for Eileen. Pray that the doctor’s office will quickly schedule the MRI so she can get treated and heal. Rose
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Dear Friends,
One evening, my grandfather thought of a new game to entertain me. It was actually a game that he had played when he was a boy, but it was new to me. Giving me a sheet of paper and taking one himself, he explained that we would each draw the head of something and then fold the paper just so a little of the neck was showing. It was important that the other person not see what we drew until the game was over. Then we traded papers and drew the body and arms. Again we traded papers and drew the legs. Only then could we unfold the papers and see the entire picture. One time my grandfather drew the head of a chicken while I drew a girl. When we finished our drawings, we had a chicken with a girl’s body and chicken legs and a girl with a chicken’s body and girl’s legs. Another time my grandfather drew a lamp and another time a fish. Most of the time they were very funny like that. I never knew what he was going to draw.
Just as I couldn’t see the drawing that my grandfather was doing on that sheet of paper until all was finished, so we are not always able to understand what our Great Re-creator is doing in our life—we cannot see His completed “drawing” until He is finished. Through the circumstances of life, He molds our character. Through disappointments, heartaches, and trials, we learn to rely upon His leading, His strength. Through the changes we experience, we learn to appreciate His unchangeableness.
Yet, how often we fight against this process and make it difficult for Him to work, even so, He patiently picks up the pieces and begins again. Jeremiah was given a vision of this molding process. “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, . . cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand.” Jer 18:1-6 Isaiah adds, “O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” Isa 64:8
Oftentimes, our Heavenly Father chastens us in order to bring about the needful results. Solomon admonishes, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Prov 3:11,12 Paul explains this more fully, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” Heb 12:5-15
Let us allow the Holy Spirit to work in our life cooperating fully with Him, waiting patiently for the “drawing” to be complete. Let us pray “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” that by “beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [we] are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Ps 119:18; 2 Cor 3:18 Let us submit ourselves to God’s shaping of our life, that we may resist the devil more fully; for we have the promise that if we do, he will flee from us. (James 4:7)
Rose