๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Tell us about a time you surprised someone with something special. Was it successful? Why or why not?ย
โข What is one instance of kindness you encountered that made an impact on you?
โข Have you ever done something foolish because you were emotional? What happened? What would have been a better response?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด.โโ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฒ-๐ณ
(Study ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฎ-๐ฒ)
The Israelites, Godโs people, had been living in Egypt since the time of Joseph (Exodus 1:5โ7). After Josephโs generation, the Egyptians realized that the Israelites were too powerful and attempted to gain control over the growing nation by making them work as slaves under harsh conditions. But God knew exactly what was happening. While God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, they would go through a time of oppression and slavery (Genesis 15:13โ16). Despite this, God miraculously led the Israelites on the road to deliverance, leaving behind their life of slavery to live in His promises.ย
Today, weโll talk about three ways that God relates with those who put their faith in Him, especially when they are undergoing oppression.
๐ญ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ.ย
๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฑ
God never forgets His people and His purposes. When God said He ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ the covenant, it meant He was about to fulfill His promise. But even when He sent Moses to speak to His people, they ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ (Exodus 6:9). Sometimes, we may find it hard to hear and believe Godโs promises when we are in a place of brokenness and pain. The truth is that He is always mindful of us. Have you ever been broken to the point of doubting Godโs promises? What does Isaiah 55:8โ9 say about His sovereignty?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ณ๐๐น ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ.ย
โ๐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ด๐ข๐ข๐ค, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฐ๐ฃ, ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต.โ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฏ-๐ฑ
No one is faithful the way God is, who remembers and keeps every promise. He established a covenant with His people, and He would be loyal to the covenant whether or not His people were faithful. This is just as true for us today. Was there a time you felt that you were unfaithful to God? What does 2 Timothy 2:13 say about Godโs faithfulness to us?ย
๐ฏ. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐๐น๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐.
๐๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ฒ
(Read also ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฒ:๐ณโ๐ด.)
God knows exactly what we want to say before we say a word (Psalm 139:4). In fact, He has the power and might to fulfill His promises and keep His covenant. He had the power to fulfill His promise of delivering the Israelites from slavery, as He foretold (Exodus 3:20). He also has the power to work and move in our situations today. How have you witnessed the power and might of God in the past? What is one situation you are believing God will move in today?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What is one promise from God that youโre holding on to? What Scriptures can you dwell on this week to remind you of His love and faithfulness?
โข Is there something youโre going through now that is breaking your spirit? How can you respond in faith rather than fear?
โข Name one person that you think needs to be reminded of Godโs sovereignty. Pray for this person and find an opportunity to encourage them personally.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Ask God for the faith to hear His voice even through painful situations. Hold on to His promises and His sovereign purpose for you.
โข Thank God for His great faithfulness to you that remains the same no matter what you do.ย
โข Pray for the perspective to see your situations through Godโs eyes instead of your own. Share your testimony of how God is doing this in your life with someone this week.