Gtcotr/ss051318
This
morning God wants every woman and each young girl to know how special you are.
In my decided opinion, there has never been a greater or more wonderful
creation of God than a woman. Every person on earth owes their life to a woman.
As the Bible says, she is the mother of all living.
On
a second note … I want to help each one of you have a better life. Allow me
this morning to share a fresh thought with you in hopes it will help you or
someone you encounter this week.
Give up the hope of a better past … it will keep you from having a
better tomorrow.
Live life with open hands … hands which are willing to let go and
hands that are willing to take hold. In both situations you can trust God
Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses,
when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he
was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
He
was a beautiful child? What in the world does that mean?
·
The
Greek word translated “beautiful” literally
means to be from the city or to be “citified”;
polished manners; of goodly behavior.
·
This
Greek word is only used twice in the New Testament. Both times it is used in
connection with Moses.
Acts 7 NKJV
20 “At this time Moses was
born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house
for three months.
·
“Well pleasing to God” =
same Greek word translated “Beautiful” in
Hebrews 11:23.
When
God tells us to do something special, some people do it by faith, like Amram
and Jochebed, the parents of Moses, and sometimes we just do it because it
comes naturally and seems right … this too is the work of God.
·
There
was evidently something special about Moses and it showed.
But,
as we will read later … there came a time when they could no longer hide him,
and it was time for his mother to let him go.
21 “But when he was set out,
Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.
22 “And Moses was learned in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
For
the rest of the story, let’s look at the account in the Old Testament Book of Exodus.
It was about 1600 years Before Christ and the Children of Israel had become
slaves to Pharaoh. In fear of their increasing numbers, Pharaoh made a law that
every male child born to the Hebrew women had to be put to death at birth.
However, God had other plans.
Exodus 1:22 So Pharaoh
commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into
the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
Exodus 2 NKJV
1 ¶ And a man of the house of
Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
2 So the woman conceived and
bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she
hid him three months.
3 But when she could no
longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt
and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s
bank.
4 And his sister stood afar
off, to know what would be done to him.
5 ¶ Then the daughter of
Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the
riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get
it.
6 And when she had opened it,
she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and
said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
7 Then his sister said to
Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women,
that she may nurse the child for you?”
8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said
to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother.
9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter
said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you
your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.
10 And the child grew, and
she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his
name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
God
had a plan to deliver His Children from bondage … However He needed help. So,
God found 3 women He worked through to accomplish His plan. One of the women
didn’t even believe in God.
The First
Woman: Jochebed, the mother of Moses …
·
Can
you imagine her concern about getting pregnant under those circumstances …
·
The
Bible says that Moses’ parents moved in faith to hide their newborn son … they
had faith they could protect him …
·
Then,
there was the realization that it was time to let him go …
The Second
Woman: Miriam, the sister of Moses …
·
Miriam
was willing to stand watch over her little brother …
·
She
exhibited such bravery to make her approach to the princess …
·
We
see her quick mind and her wisdom to offer her mother as a nursemaid for the
baby …
·
Then
we see the life-long commitment she made to her brother …
The Third
Woman: Pharaoh’s daughter, the adoptive mother of Moses…
·
Moses’
mother and his sister were both Hebrew women and as such had learned about the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob … they trusted Almighty God.
·
However,
Pharaoh’s daughter was raised to worship pagan idols and did not know the one
true and living God of the Hebrews.
·
Nonetheless,
she also had been created by the hand of God and God had designed her with
perfection in mind, just like all women. She was well able to be the mother
Moses needed in life.
·
Out
of all the women in the Bible, perhaps Pharaoh’s daughter exhibits the greatest
innate characteristics of woman and a mother.
·
Think
about it:
o She was a royal
princess, perhaps one of 60 royal daughters of Pharaoh. Her child would be in
line to be the next Pharaoh …
o She came to bathe in
the mystical waters of Nile River while her attendants walked the banks to keep
other people away and to keep her safe, with her privacy, and secure.
o The princess saw a
covered floating basket among the reeds in a side pool of still water along the
Nile.
o She sent one of her
maidens to bring it to her, expecting little.
o The Bible says that “when she had opened it, she saw the child, and
behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him …”
What
made this happen? God made that happen! How? By His creative design. This
mother’s love was already resident inside of her by God’s design. Something
brought it out … Pharaoh’s daughter fell in love …
·
Mothers
know that the cry of a child triggers something deep inside a woman. She
notices it most with the cry of her first child but that’s not the first time
it has happened in her life.
·
I
believe it is both a chemical and a spiritual phenomenon.
I
won’t pretend to know anything more than I have read during my research
supported by my observations and the experiences of others.
·
Medical
research shows there is a biological effect on a woman’s body when she hears a
hungry child’s cry or feels a cuddling touch. It brings about the release of a
hormone called “Oxytocin”.
·
It’s
been referred to by scientists as the “Cuddle Hormone”.
Wouldn’t you know that God created woman according to a perfect design.
·
Oxytocin
is thought to be The main pair bonding hormone
in the female anatomy. This means that when a woman is stimulated by touch or
sound, oxytocin is released into her system and then she is more open to
bonding with another person than at any other time.
o Perhaps this is why
we should pay closer attention to the dating game and unguarded exposure to
physical and emotional contact among our youth, as well as young adults.
o People fall in love
every day with people they spend time with.
·
For
Pharaoh’s daughter, it took only a second … one cry … one cuddle … and God’s
creative design took over. Resistance was futile.
·
How
did this moment affect Pharaoh’s daughter? Without hesitation:
o She discarded the
laws, demands and desires of her father.
o She went against her
culture, her custom and her religion.
o She crossed social, national,
economic and even royal bloodlines and boundaries.
o She put herself at
risk of being belittled, dis-inherited, left out, left behind and ridiculed.
o All because she fell
in love … love at first sight … it captured her and demanded her life … She
gave herself freely and completely.
o The woman in this
woman came alive … it took her by surprise - she never had a chance – she was
smitten with Moses …
In
all the Mother’s Day sermons I’ve ever heard, I’ve never heard one sermon on
Pharaoh’s daughter. However, I believe she is not only a vital part of this
story but also a great example of a mother and of the willingness and the
God-given abilities of a woman to love without bounds.
These
three women in this story exemplify the best. Here are three considerations I
have drawn from my studies of them this week:
A Mother
must have Open Hands
·
A
willingness to let go and a willingness to take hold according to life’s
demands.
·
Sometimes
by faith and sometimes because it’s the only thing that seems right in the
moment.
·
Either
way … both are the work of God.
A Mother
must have an Open Heart
·
To
trust God beyond your reach
A Mother
must have an Open Mind
·
A
commitment to love like no one else will
o A different culture
o A different race
o A different religion
o A different
socio-economic stratum
o In a difficult day
o To be the one …
sometimes the only one
o Against all odds
We
should all live life with open hands … hands which are willing to let go and
hands that are willing to take hold. In both situations we can trust God.
Open
your hands; Open your hearts; Open your minds and enjoy being the woman God
intended and created you to be.
Thank
those of you who are biological mothers, step mothers, adoptive mothers, foster
mothers, spiritual mothers and mothers to be … you are the best of the best. God
bless you … Happy
Mother’s Day!
