FBT Daily Devotional: Exodus 13

FBT Daily Devotional

Faithbeyondtrauma.com

Give to Faith Beyond Trauma Ministries https://buy.stripe.com/dRmcN49009Wx0cpgVb4ZG00

Donate to Breath of Life Trauma Services https://donate.stripe.com/00weVdh2ieG22eS9VZds400

#trauma #faith #Faithbeyondtrauma #freedom #discipleship #healing #deliverance #carrolltonga #austellga #carrollcountyga #debtdoubtworrystressfearfree #brokenchains #fbt #traumarecovery #recovery #walkbyfaith 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

That's the Bible terms. All right. Well, good evening. We're going to be taking a look this evening at Exodus chapter 13. And there are two pieces that go along with this chapter. The first part talks about the firstborn, and the second part talks about crossing the Red Sea. And we are all very familiar with the crossing of the Red Sea. So I chose to focus this evening on this idea of the firstborn. Now, in the NIV version, the subtitle says Consecration of the Firstborn. Now you know to consecrate means to make holy or to dedicate to a higher purpose. Redeem means to buy back. So I've got two warm-up questions I'd like to ask you to think about while we are here. And I'll ask them again. So if you miss them, no worries. The first question is, what in your life do you treat as your own that God considers his? What in your life do you treat as your own that God considers his? The second question is, do you remember your deliverance as information or as identity? Do you remember your deliverance as information or as identity? Okay, so to kind of sum up this section first, God is claiming that what represents our future, our strength, and our legacy, right? He's claiming that what represents those things as teaching us that they were never ours to begin with. Okay, they were never ours to begin with. So let's talk about this thing called the firstborn. Now the firstborn is not just a child, it's a symbol. And in ancient culture, the firstborn represented the family line, it represented the inheritance, it represented the strength of the household. So when God says in the scripture, the firstborn is mine, he's not just talking about children. He is saying that part of your life that you would most naturally try to control, I claim that. All right, so let's look at how this played out in Egypt. Now, in Egypt, under Pharaoh, as we've already read in Exodus chapter one, children were killed. Lives were owned, and futures were controlled by a human ruler. Now, God says, Your firstborn is mine. And at first glance, that can seem kind of similar, but it's actually the opposite. So let's take a look at the difference. First of all, Pharaoh took life through oppression. God claims life through redemption. Pharaoh's claim led to death. God's claim preserves life and gives it purpose. Now, of course, we're in the Passover season, and so we need to make a Passover connection. Every Israelite firstborn lived because a lamb died. That firstborn lived because blood marked the house. That firstborn lived because judgment passed over them. So when God says, they are mine, it carries an unspoken truth that says, I did not take them from you. I spared them for myself. Now, if you look closely, there is a pattern of progression here that starts with the idea of being spared, moving over into being claimed, moving over into being dedicated. So if we break that down just a little bit, spared means they didn't die in Egypt. Amen. Claimed, God says they're mine. Dedicated says they must be set apart or redeemed. In other words, what he saves, he also sets apart. Amen. Let's talk about the donkey detail. Now, if you read this, then you know there's a mention there of the donkey, but if you didn't, no worries, I got you. This donkey detail gives a window into us. It's Exodus 13 and 13, and it commands the Israelites to redeem or to buy back every firstborn donkey. Now get this, with a lamb or break its neck if not redeemed. That small instruction is very easy to skip, but it is profound. First of all, donkeys were unclean, right? And they could not be offered. It had to be redeemed by a lamb or completely lost, right? The truth is not everything is naturally fit for God, but everything must be redeemed to belong to God. Let me say it again. Not everything is naturally fit for God, but everything must be redeemed to belong to God. So if we can kind of shift our thinking just a little bit from animal law to human reality. Now, as I'm reading just this, I read the whole thing, but the top section, I kept seeing or hearing this idea of repetition. So I want to point out some of the things that God has chosen to repeat. He repeats things because freedom can fade into normalcy. He repeats it because miracles can become memory. He repeats because memory can become story. And he repeats because story can become optional. Right? If I break that down, God builds remembrance. And as a teacher, I can appreciate this. He builds remembrance in three ways. First of all, speech. He says, tell your son. So that's one way to remember. He says, action, take some action, observe this. Another way to get it into muscle memory. He says, identity. Put some kind of sign in your hand to help you remember. So if they were to forget the cost of their deliverance without some way to be reminded of it, they would eventually lose the meaning of that deliverance. Amen. The firstborn is remembered because it represents the undeniable truth that what was spared by God must be surrendered back to him. So I'm going to ask you those questions again. What in your life do you treat as your own that God considers his? Do you remember your deliverance as information or as identity? Now let's talk about some of those things we call mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, that God quietly calls his. I am so glad that you asked me what those things were. Let's talk about the most common areas that we hold on as ours, right? First of all, our time. We say, my schedule, my day, when I'm ready. But if God is Lord, then even time is not neutral. Time reveals who we actually serve. Let's talk about those gifts, talents, and abilities. We say, This is my ability. I'll use it when it fits me. But Exodus 13 would whisper that strength, that first and best, God says, It is mine. How about our children, our legacy? We say, My child, my family. But the firstborn principle says, entrusted to you, but ultimately mine. Not for control, but for stewardship. How about our plans and direction? We say, This is what I'm going to do next. This is the path that I've chosen. But God often interrupts plans, not to harm us, but to align us. And if we remember, James 4 and 15 says, if the Lord wills, that's taking a moment to acknowledge him. And if the Lord wills, we will do this or that or go here or there. How about our pain and past? We're in beyond. We know about pain. We know about past, right? This one is often overlooked. We might say, well, see what happened to me or my wounds. But even here, God says, that too I can redeem and repurpose. And sometimes we hold on to pain because it feels like the only thing we fully own. Selah. Pause and think about that one. How about our identity? This is probably one of the deepest layers yet. We say, This is who I am, this is how I function. But God says, You are who you who I say you are. You are who I say you are. And that can feel like both freedom and loss at the same time. So why is it so hard to relinquish, Lord? There's tension there in relinquishing things to you. Well, relinquishing feels like we're losing control somehow. It can feel like a risk, it can feel like exposure. But here's the truth about that, right? We don't struggle to give things to God because they are valuable. We struggle because they are where we feel most secure. And I'm gonna say that again. We don't struggle to give God to give things to God because they're valuable. We struggle because they are where we feel most secure. Right? So let's talk about some ways to relinquish these things. Well, we can name it specifically. We cannot surrender to those things that we won't name. Instead of saying, I give everything to God, perhaps we could consider saying, I release my need to control this outcome. I need that one. I release my need to control this outcome, right? We both can't be in the driver's seat. It's either us or the Holy Ghost. I release my timeline for this situation. Gotta work on that one because Lord, you know if you don't do it within my time. So I release my timeline for this situation. Offer it back daily, not just once. Relinquishing is rarely a one-time act, and we all know that. It sounds like, Lord, this is yours again because I picked it back up. That's not failure, y'all. That's formation. Let obedience interrupt preference. Okay? When you feel prompted to speak, when you would rather stay quiet. When you feel led to move, but you would rather stay comfortable. How about choosing obedience over preference? Use what we've been given. Don't hoard it. The firstborn was not hidden, it was presented. So your creativity should be expressed. Your insight should be shared. Your influence must be used. And I'm hurrying. Create physical or rhythmic reminders. Remember in Exodus 13, they had signs on the hands. They had words spoken aloud. They had stories that were told. We can speak it daily in prayer. We can journal it intentionally, or we could tie it to some sort of routine, right? Because what is not rehearsed is often reclaimed by habit. So there's a deeper exchange. Consider this: that God does not take without giving. When we relinquish control, we receive peace. When there is ownership, we receive purpose. When we relinquish that, when we relinquish fear, we receive clarity. But understand that the exchange only happens after release, not before. So what we refuse to release will quietly rule us. But what we surrender to God becomes aligned, it becomes protected, and it becomes purposeful. And I'll close with the same two questions. What in your life do you treat as your own that God considers His? And do you remember your deliverance as information or as identity? And with that, I yield so we can go to breakout rooms.