TEXT: Exodus 17:1-18:27, KJV

SUBJECT: “The Power of Positivity”

Key Verse: Exodus 17:12, KJV “And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?”

Introduction:     

REFERENCE	TEXT	THOUGHT
Proverbs 18:21	Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.	Positive Words
Hebrews 13:5	Let your conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.	Positive Attitude
Hebrews 13:6	So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is] my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.	Positive Outlook
Romans 12:2	And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.	Positive Thoughts
Matthew 15:11	Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.	Positive Words
Ephesians 4:31-32	Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:	Positive Words
Philippians 4:6	Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.	Positive Words
Philippians 4:8	Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.	Positive Thoughts
Ephesians 4:29	Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.	Positive Words
Proverbs 21:23	Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.	Positive Words

HEBRW DEFINITIONS: 

Phonetic Spelling:    (mas-saw)                Transliteration: Massah              MEANINGS: Provocation (unhelpful talk)

Phonetic Spelling:    (mer-ee-baw)          Transliteration: Meribah            MEANINGS: Temptation (unholy thought)

WEDNESDAYS WORD “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln

Positive thinking does not necessarily mean avoiding or ignoring the bad things; instead, it involves making the most of the potentially bad situations, trying to see the best in other people, and viewing yourself and your abilities in a positive light.

According to the Johns Hopkins Medicine, positive thinking is linked to a wide range of health benefits including:

• Longer life span
• Less stress
• Lower rates of depression
• Increased resistance to the common cold
• Better stress management and coping skills
• Lower risk of cardiovascular disease-related death
• Increased physical well-being
• Better psychological health

One theory is that people who think positively tend to be less affected by stress.

Chapter 17:1-16, KJV 

21 Positive Thoughts  to keep you sane during this Pandemic

¹ And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

In Numbers 33:12-14 it is said, that when the Israelites came from Sin they encamped in Dophkah, and next in Alush, after which they came to Rephidim. Here, therefore, two stations are omitted, probably because nothing of moment took place at either.

It’s possible to be in the will of God and still have to deal with a problem

Thought 1: The same God that just brought us through the water in chp 14, led us to water in chp 15, rained down bread and gave us quail in chp 16 is going to take care of what we need right now.

² Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?

When we have a problem it is much easier to blame someone than to think through the problem carefully and spiritually.

Thought 2: What can I do to help somebody else out in this situation?

³ And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

Regardless of his frustration Moses still had to lead while under the pressure of unfair attack, and he did the right thing in turning to God in prayer.

Thought 3. If the Lord brought us this far, He will take us even further

⁴ And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

Thought 4. When it’s hardest to pray, I need to pray harder

⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

The same thing that worked last time has not lost its power

Thought 5. I’ve got to keep moving forward

⁶ Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

God is with us during times of trouble

Thought 6. God is with me

⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?

⁸ Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Amalek was grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12), Deuteronomy 25:17-18 says: Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.

⁹ And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

Thought 9. I need to look at this from a different perspective

¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

“In their first movement God led them in such a way as to avoid the possibility of war (Exodus 13:17).

¹¹ And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

¹² But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

This amazing passage shows us that life or death for Israel depended on the prayers of one man but sometimes its hard to pray. Though this was Moses’ work to do, it was more than he could do by himself. Moses alone could not win the battle of prayer.

Thought 10: I may need to get some help

¹³ And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Praying Moses did not eliminate what Joshua had to do. The battle was won with prayer, but also through normal instruments – the work of the army, led by Joshua. “Prayer is a downright mockery if it does not lead us into the practical use of means likely to promote the ends for which we pray.”

Thought 11: I’ve got to do my best & trust God to do the rest

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

Thought 12: Some issues Ain’t my issues

¹⁵ And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:

Though Moses knew his prayer was important, he wasn’t foolish enough to think that he won the battle. As an act of worship he built an altar and praised the name of Yahweh-Nissi (THE-LORD-IS-MY-BANNER). Nissi describes a flag or a banner. The idea is that God is victorious in battle

Thought 13: God is my banner and He has me covered

¹⁶ For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Because of God’s strong command to battle against Amalek until they were completely conquered, many see the Amalekites as a picture of our flesh, the unspiritual aspect of man that makes war against the spirit. In this sense, “Amalek” constantly battles against the spirit and must be struggled against until completely conquered (Galatians 5:17).

Chapter Eighteen 1-27, KJV 

¹ When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt;

² Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,

³ And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

Thought 14: It won’t be like this always!

⁴ And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:

Thought 15: Gods Been good to me

⁵ And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:

Thought 16: God is going to protect my family

⁶ And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.

Moses was here re-united with his wife Zipporah and his two sons Gershon and Eliezer. Apparently, Moses sent his family back to Midian at some time, perhaps during the plagues of Egypt.

⁷ And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.

Though he was the leader of a nation, Moses honored Jethro both as his father-in-law and as a legitimate priest of God. His position of leadership did not make Moses proud.

Thought 17: It’s nice to be important but more important ….

⁸ And Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them.

⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

Thought 18:  I need to be happy for others when God blesses them

¹⁰ And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.

¹² And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.

¹³ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

¹⁴ And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

¹⁵ And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:

¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.

¹⁷ And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.

Thought 19: This person may have a point

Much to Moses’ credit, he was teachable; when Jethro said the thing that you do is not good, Moses listened to Jethro.

¹⁸ Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

¹⁹ Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:

²⁰ And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

For Moses to effectively lead and delegate, he had to teach the Word of God not only to those who would hear the disputes, but also those who might dispute. If the people knew God’s word for themselves, many disputes could be settled immediately.

²¹ Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

²² And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

Thought 20: Everything is not worth my time!

²³ If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

Jethro was careful to tell Moses that he had to be sure that God commanded this approach, and not Moses.

²⁴ So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

Thought 21: Everybody can teach me something

²⁵ And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

In Moses’ method of administration, some had a higher position than others. Yet God honored the faithful service of the rulers of tens as much as the service of the rulers of thousands. This was good for Moses. He could focus on the most important things and not be overwhelmed and overstressed by many smaller tasks.

²⁶ And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

This means that Moses had to fulfill an essential function of a leader: to develop and implement new leaders.

²⁷ And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

Prayer List:

Bro. Walter Harris, Brother of Mother Ruby Grant

Jordan McCoy, son of Bro. Eric McCoy