Bad to Worse, Fruit of the Spirit

Ex 5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: ‘ Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”

:2 And Pharaoh  said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

:3 So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

:4 Then the King of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.”

:5 And Pharaoh said, “Look the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!”

:6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,

:7” You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.

:8 And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, “Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

:9 Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it and let them not regard false words.”

:10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says’ Pharaoh: ‘ I will not give you straw:

:11 Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.”

:12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

:13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, “Fulfill your work, your daily quota as when there was straw.’”

:14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?

:22 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?

:23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”

Ex 6:6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

When God sent Moses to rescue Israel from slavery, things went from bad to worse. It needed to be done. They had been crying out to the Lord to help them.

Ex 2:23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of their bondage.

Moses agreed reluctantly to go speak to Pharaoh. Only after a lot more trouble for a lot of people did Pharaoh agree.

When we set out to do something good, even when we are certain that God wants us to do it, we shouldn’t be surprised when the situation gets worse before it gets better.

It doesn’t mean we are doing something wrong. It reminds us that we need God to accomplish everything and that the devil is trying to stop us.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

:23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The choices we make in life help form how we turn out in the end.

1.       What are we immersed in? Is it the love of God? Have we spent time with the Lord before we go out and about our day or are we having bad attitudes and hateful temperments?

Do you get calloused? Do you say ugly words? Get grumpy?

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

2.       Do we get so angry we get a red face and smoke billowing out our ears. There are many verses about anger.

Eph 4:26 Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath.

3.       Are you discouraged?

It’s easy to get that way. We all have times we get down, but we must work on not allowing ourselves to stay down. Reach out to the Lord to get back up, find joy in Him. We must rely on His strength and not our own.

Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

4.       Do we allow the world to affect us? Do we need to change our choice of TV shows, books, magazines, or friends?

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We are to be Christ-like.