Many Waters, By Pastor (Mrs) Modupe Afolabi
Bible Text: Exodus 15: 20-26
“And Miriam the Prophetess the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to Jehovah for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea..”
We are moving forward and going closer to our visions and ascending the ladder; this is a reason to thank God.
It is an honour to be in Leeds to share the word about moving forward and be detached from the dangers of the past.
The Bible Text is taken from exodus 15: 20-21 shows us how the women in Israel felt after God performed a miracle. It is very interesting, God has just performed a big miracle in the lives of the Israelites after years of captivity, the Lord God grant them freedom; Miriam brought her timbrel and played; the children sang and rejoiced glorifying the name of God.
All of a sudden, as they matched on they looked to the right hand side wilderness, the left wilderness, in front is the red sea and behind them were chariots of the Egyptians coming for them, they looked up heaven was too far , the ground refused to open, they were at a cross road. What is going to happen? Then they started complaining and murmuring to Moses. “Why did you not leave us in Egypt for there are graves in Egypt”…But God was on their side and He performed a miracle, the Red Sea parted for them!
May be you are in such a situation, two months into your marriage the wedding was called off, you have weeks left on your visa and you don’t know what to do still, may be the doctors have said your pregnancy needs to be evacuated or the baby will die, or you have been living too long in stagnancy no progress financially; career; whatever crossroads you are, whatever situation or circumstance you have found yourself, whatever red sea is in front of you that is hindering your progress, stopping you from moving forward; right now the God Almighty, Jehovah, El-Shaddai, Elohim would part that ‘red sea’ for you in Jesus name. The Lord God is able to do all things; not only is He able but also willing to help you.
After crossing the red sea, the Bible says that the Israelites got to a place and found no water. They forgot that the God Almighty who caused the waters to be walls can also make it. I enjoin us not to limit God, God is able to do exceedingly above what we think or ask for. God can do anything with water.
So many times we limit God when we are limited in our knowledge, in our thinking and imagination.
In Exodus 15: 23, The Children of Israel got to a place and could not drink of the water in this place and called the place “Marah”. That leads to the question: Which is better; No water or bitter water? In our todays’ world context; the question will be like; No husband or bitter husband? No womb or a womb that miscarries? Some people might say none is better; which is good, but note that bitter water can be changed; a miscarrying womb can be healed.
I pray in the name of Jesus whatever situation you might have found yourself today, whatever entanglement you might have found yourself in, whether you were implicated, it was imposed on you, inherited or you walked into it knowingly or unknowingly contrary to the will of God for your life; the Lord God will deliver you in Jesus name. You will be set free by the God of deliverance, the Great Deliverer.
Please when you find yourself in a situation where you are asking yourself what do I do? The best person to speak to is God Almighty. The children of Israel found themselves in such a situation at Marah. You can go to God; your friends, your mother, father; they would not have the answers but only the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Beginning and the End, the God who knows everything have all the answers. Jeremiah 33:3, “call unto me and I will answer thee and will show thee great things and difficult things which thou knowest not.” It is crucial that you make Jehovah your first point of call. For He is the Mighty One, the King of Kings. No wonder we sing this song “Call on Jesus He will hear, Call on Jesus he will answer, El-Shaddai is His name, Call on Jesus He will hear”. Adonai is His name, Merciful God is His name, the Fountain of Living Waters is His name, the High and Mighty one is His name.
The Bible says the Israelites cried unto Moses and murmured, which is easier to do; to cry or murmur? Some people murmur rather than cry unto God, it is easier to murmur than cry unto God but it is spiritual to cry to God. It is observed that men hate it when women murmur. Another word for murmur is nag and no one likes a nagging person, not even God.
Exodus 15: 26, “the people murmured unto Moses for Water and Moses cried unto the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree…”. When God showed Moses the Tree, Moses did not ask what to do, I pray that in our walk with God, God will grant us wisdom to know and understand what He reveals to us. God will always reveal. He goes through different means, through dreams, visions and sometimes an impression would be formed on your heart. You want to make a decision, you have 5 forms to fill, you filled the 5 forms and they all called you for interview and they all gave you employment; you need to put it to the Lord in prayers. 4 brothers have spoken to you that God revealed it to them that you are the one to marry, put it to the Lord in prayers, either they are all lying or one of them is telling the truth.
When God reveals, you need to ask God for interpretation because if it is wrongly interpreted then you have missed it big time. After God has interpreted, we need to apply; there is need for divine wisdom for right application. Therefore revelation, good interpretation and proper prompt application help to walk with God and I pray that will be your portion in Jesus name.
Some of us have seen things, someone said Pastor I had a dream; she sees herself wearing her primary school uniform and playing with her friends, she was glad to see her old friends. She interpreted the dream as the need to pray for her old friends. Meanwhile the dream can be interpreted as her going backwards either in her career or in life generally; she needs to pray. To conquer in life and have many waters we need to get divine revelation, proper interpretation and prompt application.
When a child is born the midwife detaches the placenta from the child, I pray for you today that whatever it is that is forcefully attaching itself to your life contrary to Gods will; I forbid and detach it from you in Jesus name. You will not be associated with failure, backwardness, sickness, in Jesus name.
The Bible says God showed Moses a tree and Moses knew what to do with it, Moses cast the tree into the waters and the waters were made sweet and he built an ordinance of sacrifice to the Lord.
There is a testimony I would like to share; my parents were separated for 19 years of marriage; after been manipulated for 19 years they yielded to Gods’ love, to the glory of God they are back together, my father is in his 80s and mother in her 70s. The last time I went to visit them I saw a recent picture where my father carried my mother on his laps. I pray for you today that the enjoyment you should have in the morning would not be given to you in the evening in Jesus name; breakfast would not be served to you as supper. You will enjoy your life, you will enjoy your marriage, at every season of your life, and your blessing would not be delayed or substituted in Jesus name.
The Bible says the bitter water was made sweet, that bad job can become sweet, that disrespectful wife can become respectful, that horrible husband can become loving, the disobedient children can become obedient, and that messed up business can flourish in Jesus name. Do not give up, just trust God, God is the present help in time of need; Some people can be present and unable to help, others can be able to help but absent but God will always be there; He is our present help in time of need. He will not fail you, He will not disappoint you, he will not tease you and walk away, He will be your strong tower, and He will be your story in Jesus name.
Exodus 15: 26, The Bible says that, “and He said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God and wilt do that which is right in His eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians for I am Jehovah that healeth thee”. There is a condition to many waters as stated in the verse. Note that men of God like Pastors are the voice of God and if you listen to your Pastor, with God’s leading it should be well with you. Someone said Pastor I want to leave my Husband, Pastor says don’t let go but let God. Pray fervently always for the Bible says the fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much, in your marriage pray.
The Israelite came to Elim where there were 12 stands of waters. These 12 represents strength. Thus amongst no water, bitter water and many waters, which is the best? Many waters is the best. As you walk through life, from Egypt God will take you to Elim and give you many sweet waters of breakthrough, success and favour in Jesus name.
Many Waters, by Pastor (Mrs) Modupe Afolabi, Executive Administrator, RCCG UK Central Office, was delivered at RCCG Everlasting Father’s Assembly, Leeds on July 20th, 2014.