From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: We know that God causes all things, even the bitter things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Listen, I don't know what your Marah is, but God does. And you do. Maybe it's health. Maybe it's finances. Maybe it's marriage and family because that's just bitter.

God can take the Marahs and he can turn them to sweetness if you'll factor in the cross. In everything in life, factor in the cross. What to do when you don't know what to do? Factor in the cross because the cross changes everything.

Larry Nobles: Thank you for joining us today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve as he continues the message Bitter Sweet. It's from his series Got Trouble? What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do. At the cross, God changed the bitter things in life into sweet things, and he can also turn your bitter times into sweet times, even when you think it's impossible.

If you missed part one of this message from last time, you can listen again online anytime at fromhisheart.org and click the listen link. Plus, there's so much more there on our site to bless your life, so I hope you'll take advantage of that at fromhisheart.org. Now though, open your copy of the Holy Scriptures and turn to the book of Exodus chapter 15 and be ready to begin in verse 22. Here is Pastor Jeff with part two of the lesson called Bitter Sweet.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, the Red Sea where they had the great victory, the Red Sea where God parted the waters and drowned Pharaoh and his armies. He led Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. Anytime you read in the Old Testament about the wilderness, replace that with the word desert. Don't think of a forest. This isn't like Little Red Riding Hood. They went out into the wilderness of Shur, but it's desert.

They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah for they were bitter. Therefore it was named Marah, which means bitterness. Here is our question for today. What does God want us to learn from this Marah story, from this bitter waters story? I think there are three insights that the Lord put on my heart that he wants to speak to your heart.

Everyone can relate to this situation that the Israelites found themselves in at the waters called Marah. Insight number one: bitter things are part of life. They're just part of life, part of the human existence. Bitter things are unavoidable. As much as we don't like bitter things in life and the waters that they faced, the literal water, we'll use that as a picture of just things that come into our lives that we don't like, that we say, man, this is awful. This is a problem for me. This is a hardship for me. I don't like this, Lord.

The bitter things. Bitter things are unavoidable. And sometimes, often times for those who walk with God, your problems get harder in one sense when you become a Christian because now you have the world going against you. Now you have the devil coming against you. You start to walk with God and you feel the pressure of the world and the flesh and the devil. You didn't feel that pressure before. So the bitter things in life, they're unavoidable and they often come on the heels of great victory.

It's kind of wild, but they do. Let me set this up for you to see how strange this is that this story is in chapter 15. At the end of chapter 14, when God parted the waters, parted the Red Sea, you know they all thought they were going to die. God parted the waters, the two million people go through the dry ground because God dried it out so they could walk across it, and they go through the sea. And then when Pharaoh comes after them, the Lord causes the sea to go back together and they're wiped out.

Listen, the parting of the Red Sea was the greatest Old Testament miracle. Everyone talked about that. When they came into the Promised Land, you read in the book of Joshua, they didn't understand. Why did you guys wait to come into the Promised Land? We heard about you. We heard about your God, how he parted the sea. Wow. Who can stand up against this guy? I mean, it's big news all throughout the Old Testament. You see how many times God reminds them, you remember what I did to Egypt? You remember about that? You remember how I parted the sea?

But on the heels of that comes this Marah experience. Three days, 72 hours from the mountaintop to the Marah valley. Boom. Have you noticed how life can be like that? It's weird how things can happen like that when you have this huge mountaintop experience in just no time, bam, the Marahs come and they often come on the heels of great victory.

Insight number two: bitter things not only are they part of life, but they are used by God. God led them there. God was in control. Now, we read in this story that seven miles to the south of this place where the bitter waters were, there's a place called Elim, verse 27, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there beside the waters. Well, why didn't God just bypass the place with the bitter waters and they just came down and they could bypass that and go straight to Elim? That would have been a better way for the Lord to lead them. No, God led them to Marah.

He led them to the bitter waters. God uses that stuff in our lives. He led them to Marah. What for? What does God want to lead me to Marah for? To humble you. God uses the bitter things in life to humble us. Philippians 4:13 is a favorite verse of so many people. It says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can't do it through me. I don't have strength because apart from him we can do zip, zero, nada, nothing.

And we need to remind ourselves of that all the time. And so here God is teaching them, you guys need me. Don't get the idea just because Pharaoh's gone and this big issue in your life is over, that you don't need me for the little things in life because you need me every hour, every minute, every second. So God uses those things. He says that he might humble you, and he uses them to test us. Testing you, he says.

He says in verse 25, there he made for them a statute and regulation and there he tested them. What did he test? He wanted to see what was in their heart, so he tested them. Remember this: God is not the cosmic tease. God is the God who puts on a squeeze. The way he tests us, he puts the squeeze to us. In the world you have tribulation, thlipsis. That means pressure.

The pressure's going to come through difficult times, through bitter waters. And it's going to reveal what's in your heart. Now, because he says, I was testing you to know what was in your heart, so he uses those things to test us. Now, the self-centered heart grumbles and despairs when they come to the Marahs of life. Look at it again. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink, verse 23, the waters of Marah for they were bitter, therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying what shall we drink?

They grumble. They despair. You read especially in Exodus and Numbers, you read what it was like for those 40 years being with these people. Moses, what an incredible guy, because it was tough and every time bad things happened, they always turned on Moses. They would grumble at Moses. Were there no graves in Egypt, Moses? Why did you bring us out in the wilderness to kill us? Oh, and they would grumble. That word means to groan, to growl, to murmur.

New Testament, the Greek word in the New Testament for grumble, one of my favorite words, I've told you many times, goggyzmos. I like it because it's onomatopoeia. It shows you what that is. Goggyzmos. It's to grumble. That's what it is. And they were doing that in the Old Testament. Now it says that they were grumbling at Moses, but look what God says when they didn't go in the Promised Land because they were giants in Numbers 14. They grumble at Moses. This is what God says: "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they're making against Me."

Not one of those people ever said I'm grumbling against God. I'm grumbling against Moses. But God says no you're not, you're grumbling against me because Moses is doing what I'm telling him to do. Moses is following the pillar of cloud by day and the fire by night. And if you're grumbling at Moses, you're grumbling at me and God says that is fingernails on a chalkboard to me. And so God was putting the squeeze on them and what was coming out was faithlessness and despair and self-centeredness. It's all about me.

The Lord doesn't want that to be true in you and me. And if that's in there, it needs to come out. See, you have such a contrast here between the children of Israel and then Moses. When they said to Moses, what shall we drink? It says in verse 25, then he cried out to the Lord. See, the God-centered heart trusts and prays. Trusts and prays. Self-centered heart is going to grumble and despair. Oh we're going to die, there's nothing to drink.

You lose sight of the fact as the Lord says in the book of Psalms, how quickly they forgot my power, how quickly they forgot my works. I mean, think about it. You're already grumbling and it's been three days since you've experienced, not only seen but personally experienced, the greatest Old Testament miracle, the greatest thing that God had ever done for man. Wow. And you experienced that and in 72 hours you're already grumbling and griping and complaining and despairing. Isn't that just like us? That's just the natural tendency.

The natural tendency is to sing that Janet Jackson song, What Have You Done For Me Lately? Oh sure, you parted the Red Sea but that was three days ago. What's coming up now? And we forget what God has done. And it's you know why journaling is so important? I'm not great at it, but you know why it's so important? Because you remember what God has done.

You know what I'm better at doing is when I come across scriptures and I'll say the Lord really speak that into my heart in a quiet time, I'll star it and put a date and say what's going on, and then you come back and you see how God answered that prayer. And then when you're reading in the scripture again you see man, 1996 God did this, man 2003 God did this, and God came through. It's important to remember what the Lord has done because what he has done, he will do. God is a great God. Moses cries out, he trusts and he prays and he cried out to the Lord and the Lord answered him.

Now here's the thing. They need water to live. They're going to die. I mean, for sure Pharaoh was going to kill them, they all knew that. But if they don't hit some water soon, they're all going to die. You can't go for weeks on end without water, you're going to die. So this is a real need. But here's the challenge. The challenge for the people is to trust God and the challenge before God is to provide. They can't provide the water. They've been looking for water. They can't find any, all they found is this salt water pit. And so God has to provide.

In your situation, Proverbs chapter 3: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path." Your challenge is to trust him. And if you have to trust him all the way to the grave, that's okay. It's better to die in faith than to live in faithlessness. You trust God.

It's hard when you're hurting physically and you go into the hospital, and when you're hurting physically a lot of times you can be a crab because you don't feel good. Right? When you don't feel good, you're like a grumpy little baby, right? You're always crying, this isn't right, that's not right, don't like the food. Hey, God uses those bitter waters why? To get us to trust him, to get us to pray.

Insight number three: bitter waters, this is so critical, bitter waters are sweetened by the cross. Verse 25: "Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There he made for them a statute and regulation, and there he tested them, and he said, If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer."

That is the name Rapha, Jehovah Rapha, Yahweh Rapha, right there. I the Lord am your healer. Then they came to Elim where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there beside the waters. What do you do when you hit Marah? You throw in the cross. God showed Moses a tree. Now, was this a magic tree? No. I think it was a picture for us today to say you're going to hit bitter waters in life because everybody does. And the way you handle the bitter waters is to take the cross of Jesus Christ and you put it in those waters because the cross changes everything.

Exactly how are we to take the cross of Christ and apply it to those bitter times that come in our lives? Dr. Jeff returns to explain it in just a moment on From His Heart. If you are experiencing great trials in your life right now, and many are, if you're starting to wonder if it's worth it to keep going, Pastor Jeff has written a powerful booklet called Sticks and Stones: What to Do When the Going Gets Tough. And it's available in our resource center online. Again go to fromhisheart.org, go to the resource center and type in sticks and stones.

Also this month our special thank you gift for your support of any amount is a brand new series entitled God and Money: What the Bible Says About Managing Money. Now, money is a major cause for worry and bitterness in many families and this new series will help to calm your nerves, build your faith and bring you peace in trusting God in the bitter times. This series is available on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs or an immediate MP3 digital download when you make your gift today of any amount to From His Heart. Call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org. And a big thank you for standing with us to tell the world that no matter how big the storms, you'll discover that no storm is too big, valley too deep or hope for help a longshot. Trust him, trust him, trust him and visit our resource center for a lot of help there from Pastor Jeff. Call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org. Now let's conclude today's message called Bitter Sweet. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: The cross turns the bitter to sweet. The scripture says this, First Peter chapter 2 verse 24: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed." Isn't that interesting? It talks about the cross being a tree and then it says by his wounds you're healed and in Exodus 15 it talks about the name of the Lord the healer, Yahweh Rapha, Jehovah Rapha.

The cross changes everything. When Jesus died upon the cross, the scripture says there was an earthquake and the rocks split and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The veil of the temple, don't get the idea the veil of the temple is like a bride's veil that you lift up, that's this thin little piece of material. The veil of the temple was 60 feet tall, 30 feet wide and as thick as my hand. It took 300 priests to move the thing. I mean, this thing is big and heavy and tough and God tore it in two from top to bottom.

The veil of the temple is what separated the people from God, from the Holy of Holies, from God's holy presence. And when Jesus died, that veil was torn apart so that God is saying, now you can come into my presence. Now you can receive forgiveness. Now you can receive healing. Man, it changes everything in life. Do you need changing in life? Let me ask you something. When you hit the bitter waters of life, this is what can happen easily to you and to me.

We hit the bitter waters and the bitter waters are out there, but the longer that we grumble and gripe and complain and despair, the bitter waters they come inside of us. We become a pool of bitterness because somebody hurt us, because somebody lied about us. We get bitter at a teacher for messing us over so we think. We get bitter at a coach because he didn't play us. We get bitter at an employer because they fired us. We get bitter at this person and that person and the other person. And hey, it might be legit, that person really tooled you around and really messed you over.

But if the bitterness comes inside, then you become bitter and you need God to heal because bitterness is like a cancer, it just takes over. I always liken it to the Spiderman 3 where he had this black stuff that would come upon him and it just took him over and he became this evil Spiderman. That's the way bitterness is, it just starts to engulf you and then you get bitter about everything in life. The Lord says I want to heal you. I want to take that all away.

Ephesians 4:32 says be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. When people hurt you, you gotta forgive them. How do you forgive them? Just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. You throw in the cross. You put in the cross. The cross changes everything. And the cross turns every negative to a positive.

Every negative is turned to a positive by the cross. Now, you think about it in math. What's a negative? What's a minus sign? It's a horizontal bar. That's minus, that's a negative. And how do you turn a negative to a positive? You add a vertical bar to it. You add of a vertical outlook. And the cross is that vertical outlook on the minus. So you put a plus sign on top of a minus sign and you get a plus sign.

And God says that's what you need to do. You want to take all those negatives, you want to turn them into a positive? Put in the cross in that Marah. Factor in the cross. Romans chapter 8 verse 28, I heard a sermon on this years and years and years ago when I was in college and had hair like Fabio. I heard this sermon and it was called the Chemistry of the Cross and it was on Romans 8:28 and it was how God takes all things and he works them together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. And we know it.

God can take the Marahs and he can turn them to sweetness if you'll factor in the cross. In everything in life, factor in the cross. What to do when you don't know what to do? Factor in the cross because the cross changes everything. Joseph had a glimpse of the cross in the book of Genesis. And in Genesis chapter 50 verse 20 he tells his brothers, you meant evil against me but God meant it for good. God used it for good. God turned it around for good. And we know that God causes all things, even the bitter things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

Listen, I don't know what your Marah is, but God does. And you do. Maybe it's health. Maybe it's finances. Maybe it's marriage and family because that's just bitter and your home is a bitter, bitter place. Whatever that Marah is, maybe it's just school and your schoolwork. Maybe it's the fact that you so want to get married and there's nobody on the horizon. Maybe it's the fact that you so want to have a baby and you're not able to have a baby and that's just bitter waters for you. Whatever your bitter waters are, if you will take those to the cross and lay those at the foot of the cross, God will turn the bitterness to sweetness. God will do a miracle just like he did in Exodus chapter 15. Will you do it?

Larry Nobles: In your life, are you at a place of bitter waters today? Maybe you know someone close to you going through a difficult time. This encouraging outline from scripture that Pastor Jeff has focused on today may be what God uses to turn bitterness into sweetness in your life and in their lives. If this message touched your heart, but you didn't hear part one from yesterday, go to the listen link online at fromhisheart.org.

We'd also love to hear how this program has been a blessing to you today and anytime you listen throughout the year. Just go to fromhisheart.org, click the contact us link. Pastor Jeff will surely be encouraged. Well, thank you for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles and we trust you'll be here tomorrow for the next and final message from the series Got Trouble? What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do. Here's some of what's in store.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: So when life comes and smashes you and knocks you down, and maybe you say that's my story. Jeff, life has hit me out of the blue. Disaster has come, divorce has come, disease has come. How do you get up when you're down? Join us for the lesson How to Get Up When You're Down. That's Friday here on From His Heart.