The Plague of Frogs - Christine Caine

Posted on August 28, 2006 at 10:06 PM - Post Comment

These are my notes from an incredible sermon by Christine Caine when she visited our church in April.

From Exodus 8, "Frogs were everywhere - on the beds, in the ovens, in the palalce, in the homes and on the people".

The Lord says to Pharoah, through Moses "Let my people go that may worship me"

Pharoah summons Moses and Aaron and tells them  to pray to the Lord to get rid of the frogs and Pharoah would let the people go.

Moses says to Pharoah "I leave to you the honour of setting the time for mr to pray", in other words, When do you want freedom from the frogs?

Pharoah replies, TOMORROW.

Why wait till tomorrow for your plague to be over? Why spend another day with depression, scars from abuse or whatever afflicts you?

What are Your Frogs?

Are they stress, doubt, lonliness, insecurity, etc, etc, etc?

God is ready and able to set us free. When do we want it?

Don't put of till tomorrow what you could or should do today. Guilt and shame form only when something hasnt been dealt with. Deal with something straight away, with wisdom and not emotion and you can avoid the formation of guilt and shame.

Why do people put off freedom and victory?

Why don't people succeed but instead dwell in their mediocrity?

Because of:

1. Fear of Failure.

2. Fear of Success.

3. The task is too big and daunting. Where do I start? Its like eating an elephant - one bite at a time.

4. Some reason against the process of change -  transformation

5. They don't want to lose control.

We create diversions, so we dont see the need to change. 

1. Busyness:

We live unaware of the frogs. We become so busy that we can't hear them. But we need to face reality, everyone can see our frogs but us, because we can see everyone elses! If you want to change, ask a trusted friend what they see as your frogs. You need too to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what the frigs are, you need to live in the light, denial is no defense.

2. Mental Diversions:

We lie to ourselves

We talk ourselves out of change

We judge ourselves by our intentions. Ask yourself do you judge others by their intentions or their actions? Intentions are a good start but they never make it to the finish line.

3. Emotional Diversions:

Numbness of emotion. Not feeling pain, covering up or switching off our feelings.

Choosing short term gratification instead of the process of change which is not easy but necessary to be transformed into the likeness of Christ - our ultimate goal, to be more like Him.

Why are you running?

What do you fear?

1. Live like this - not tomorrow, but today.

Don't wait to be healed, claim it

Take Action Now - T.A.N

Live life regardless of your circumstances

Do what you know is right

If your ship hasnt come in yet, swim out to meet it !

Arise int he midst of your circumstances - and that will release the hand of God.

2. Deal with your past -

or it will be in every day of your future.

Forget behind, press on to the future.

Refuse to be stuck in the past.

The frogs have become part of your identity, eg, thats Rebecca, insecure and approval seeking. Everyone can see your issues, your frogs, except you.

3. Replace a "Have to do it" mentality with "I want to  ..."

I fyou have to you wont want to. Wanting to breaks the bondage of legalism.

4. How am I going to finish it?

How am I going to be in ministry and as fruitful tot he Kingdom as God wants me to be?

Don't worry about the end - how am I going to finish the race, instead just start it.

Be faithful with the today

5. Replace Perfectionism mentality with fun!

Following God is not about missing out on something.

There is nothing greater than having a known purpose in life, than living for the purposes of God

and remember

He has a purpose for you!

This may sound silly

Posted by gryphonn on August 31, 2006 at 12:12 AM - Link

I can understand the frog analogy 'on the people'. But what issues can ovens or beds or palaces have to cause them to be covered in the frogs of guilt?
I really don't want to offend you or your beliefs, as I can see you can understand that the Bible is a parable, not a supposed historically accurate reference of history. I find that too many 'Christian' religions place a literal meaning upon the Bible, but consider other non-Christian religious texts as fables or works of the devil.
For the record, I have my own faith, based on the teachings of Buddha and the folowing two books:
Jonathon livingstone Seagull
and
The Prophet By Kahlil Ghabran
My basic tenet is:
Benefit Others
If you cannot benefit others, at least do them no harm.

I hope I haven't offended you, as I respect your belief.

Untitled Comment

Posted by BecsBlogWorld on August 31, 2006 at 10:22 PM - Link

Thanks for reading my blog.
The thing is the ovens and beds dont have issues, its Pharaohs people who were afllicted by these frogs everywhere. The were offered a solution to their problems and rather then Pharoah yes I will have it now he said, well Moses its up to you when the problems get sorted.
Basically the sermon was about claiming whats yours, taking whats been offered to you and doing it now, not tomorrow but now.

For the record if the bible said there were ten plagues then I believe it word for word.

I appreciate hearing your opinion.

Bec