God’s Guide to Freedom: A Forty-Day Guide through Exodus

By Carl Barrett

In a society where so many people feel helpless and hopeless, they need to grasp onto someone who will release them from the bondage preventing them from attaining the beautiful things God has in store. So often, we don't know how to fight our spiritual battles, leading to a weakened and defeated spirit. This state of delusion and confusion is only the work of a dark force that's keeping people shackled in chains and suppressing their glorious life of liberty in Jesus Christ.
We all long for a life full of peace, purpose, and a plan that will lead to a glorious journey with the presence of our Lord every step of the way. The reality of believing in Jesus, obeying his word, and knowing the truth brings spiritual freedom. And such a privilege includes freedom from the bondage of falsehood! "For his truth sets us free!"
This forty-day devotional guide through Exodus will show us times of being in bondage--to a stage of deliverance--to wandering in the wilderness--and how to rely on the strength and guidance of an Almighty God. And that's where spiritual freedom comes to the surface in our "intentional" lives!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Apr 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666762648

Carl Barrett

Carl Barrett is the founder and executive director of Monday Blues to Sunday Pews Ministry. He's the author of God Values Our Daily Steps, God's Guide to Freedom, God's People Count, and Searching for Your Comfort Zone. He has served as a mentor, teacher, and preacher in multiple prison facilities. He has also served as an instructor for National Fatherhood Initiative and is currently the first impressions ministry leader at Central Tyler Baptist in Tyler, Texas.

Book preview

God’s Guide to Freedom

A Forty-Day Guide through Exodus

Carl Barrett

Monday Blues to Sunday Pews

God’s Guide to Freedom

A Forty–Day Devotional Guide through Exodus

Monday Blues to Sunday Pews

Copyright ©

2023

Carl Barrett. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

199

W.

8

th Ave., Suite

3

, Eugene, OR

97401

.

Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199

W.

8

th Ave., Suite

3

Eugene, OR

97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-6262-4

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-6263-1

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-6264-8

10/20/22

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©

1996, 2004, 2015

by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois

60188

. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Chapter 1: Undeniable Reverence

Chapter 2: A Real Desire

Chapter 3: Stand Out for God!

Chapter 4: Telltale Sign

Chapter 5: Warning Signs

Chapter 6: Clear Message

Chapter 7: God’s Instruments

Chapter 8: Heart of the Matter

Chapter 9: God’s Distinction

Chapter 10: God’s Splendor

Chapter 11: When God Speaks

Chapter 12: Living Testimony

Chapter 13: Our Wilderness

Chapter 14: Moving Faith

Chapter 15: Our Song

Chapter 16: Conditional Hearts

Chapter 17: Complaining Spirits

Chapter 18: Godly Focus

Chapter 19: God’s Treasure

Chapter 20: God’s Guidelines

Chapter 21: Godly Servants

Chapter 22: Godly Treatment

Chapter 23: Godless Behavior

Chapter 24: Continual Commitment

Chapter 25: God Includes Us

Chapter 26: Removing Masks

Chapter 27: Shining Lights

Chapter 28: Utilizing Our Gifts

Chapter 29: Prepared Holiness

Chapter 30: A Sweet Aroma

Chapter 31: Dedicated Purpose

Chapter 32: Blindsided

Chapter 33: God’s Goodness

Chapter 34: Godly Experience

Chapter 35: Fruitful Faith

Chapter 36: The Ordinary

Chapter 37: Precious Commodity

Chapter 38: Godly Stewardship

Chapter 39: Every Detail

Chapter 40: Glorious Journey

Bibliography

About the Series

Monday Blues to Sunday Pews is a grassroots series of Christian books that will lead us on a journey through each book of the Bible, one step at a time. They will cover key verses and topics within each chapter that were life-changing then and are still life-changing today. They will inspire and encourage the intentional believer to move from a rut of complacency to a life that brings value to the Lord by how they live. This journey, will broaden and deepen our knowledge of God’s expectations for each of us. We will learn the importance of obtaining the message from God’s word and sustaining it daily through real-life application!

At the end of each chapter, as you pick up some missing nuggets in your life, you will have the opportunity to plant and share those nuggets that impacted you on our website—www.mondaybluestosundaypews.com. They will be stored like a journal and used as a testimony for others, and maybe as a reminder for you in the future. But most importantly, Monday Blues to Sunday Pews will donate over half of our proceeds to support the mission field, help the needy, and assist organizations in distributing God’s word, globally. Remember this passage in Matt 16:24: We’re called to be intentional followers of Jesus Christ—daily!

•Monday—Meditate on one Scripture in an area where you need help to refresh your mindset.

•Tuesday—Tell someone about your daily journey as you begin. Someone needs to hear it, too!

•Wednesday—Walk with a close friend and share your experience, as you’re walking with God!

•Thursday—Thankful for one thing that happened this week. Showing gratitude is a huge step.

•Friday—Focus on another area in your life that needs improvement; we all have them.

•Saturday—Share one significant impact from the week with someone who also needs uplifting.

•Sunday—Serve in some capacity in your church or community—connect, serve, and grow.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank so many people at Central Tyler Baptist for their words of encouragement because those words motivated me to push forward with this second book. I especially want to thank Brandon Varnell for his help in putting together some pieces of the puzzle behind the scenes for Monday Blues to Sunday Pews.

Also, thanks to many friends across the country and back home in East Texas who inspired me to move forward, as well. Their kind words of inspiration are priceless; they gave me the drive and determination to press on!

Thanks to Church Without Walls International (CWOWI—Oklahoma) and Foundation for Farming, based out of Zimbabwe, for their support in Africa, North America, Europe, and parts of Asia. I would personally like to thank Blackaby Ministries International once again for their words of motivation and support!

As this book relates to our freedom in Jesus Christ in all that he did for us on the cross, I am also grateful that we live in a country where we have the liberty and unbelievable freedom to praise the Lord in our homes and God’s house—and even on the streets. This is a shout-out to all the men and women who have and still serve this country sacrificially and selflessly. Without your devotion to serving this country, I may not even be able to write this book on all the liberty we have in Jesus Christ as Savior. To be able to share this with so many is due to the freedom we have in this great country. We should never take their service for granted, as we should never take for granted what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

About the Author

Carl Barrett is the founder and Executive Director of Monday Blues to Sunday Pews Ministry—partnering with other Christ-based organizations globally to help the needy, support the mission field, and increase the distribution of God’s word worldwide. He’s the author of God Values Our Daily Steps and Searching for Your Comfort Zone. In addition, he’s the First Impressions Team Leader at Central Tyler Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas.

He’s served as a personal development mentor for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and teacher and preacher in state penitentiaries and detention centers in multiple states. He has also served as an instructor for National Fatherhood Initiatives.

He holds a BSBA from Madison University and studied biblical and theological studies at Texas Baptist Institute and Critical Issues in Christian Apologetics at Biola University. In addition, he’s attended many seminars and certified programs at some of the largest institutions in the United States in the areas of human relations development, motivational leadership, and the empowerment of engagement.

Carl’s aspiring passion is to help people apply the truth of God’s word into their lives so they can live it out for the glory of God—as his representatives of Jesus Christ on this earth. He would tell you that it starts in our homes—then throughout our neighborhoods, community, church home, and abroad. Our bio as Christlike followers is essential to our Lord and the building of his kingdom in our everyday life!

Opening Story

He was helpless and hopeless, and freedom was not even a word in his vocabulary because it seemed pointless and beyond his grasp. He didn’t know how to fight his battles and, a little less—how to progress and move forward. He always appeared confused and at a crossroads in his daily life—he left the impression of being beaten down mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. You could see the scars externally and sense the cries of his pain internally. The only words embedded in his mind were worthless, doubt, shame, discouragement, dissatisfied, annoyed, anger, and frustration. His feelings toward people were full of disappointment and disheartenment. No one could extend words of comfort that could lift him from the pits of his sorrow because the sense of abandonment was so deep that he didn’t see any escape. He had this perception—no one could release him from the shackles of his bondage.

His rough and confusing upbringing was more than anyone could bear. He had no vision for the future—because of the obscured life he lived every day. The DNA line he inherited was full of every opposing vice, which led him to believe they’d enslaved him to a life with no purpose—a lifestyle that could lead anyone to ask: "Is this what life is all about?" Ingrained in the depths of his body, soul, and mind since childhood was a powerful feeling of "no way out. It haunted him for years, and he often contemplated his own" way out of this valley of darkness. These ugly dark traits entrapped him in a life that he thought was normal and so often left him with an overwhelming feeling of depression and defeat.

And at just the right time, Someone was stirring within him, telling him there was a way out—a way to be unchained—and within his grasp, there was deliverance. But it came down to this: choosing to move from this dark place and surrendering to Someone more powerful than those inner thoughts and feelings that he possessed. For the first time in years, he knew something had to change in his life! Finally, he came to this point of reality—"It’s time to either move on and grow—or stay and be led astray." He longed for complete freedom from this horrible pit of despair—so it was time to move forward and be free at last! He was willing and ready to choose a life with so much more to offer!

Preface

Oh, the beauty of our salvation in Jesus Christ is glorious! It’s perfect and complete because we’re saved from the penalty of our sins. We have been redeemed, reconciled (made right), justified, forgiven, and adopted into God’s family. But it does not stop there! Once we become Christians, now comes the spiritual warfare, the battles, and the fiery trials. During these times, we cry out for spiritual freedom from those pitfalls in our life. Even though God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Ps 103:12), our old sinful nature still craves specific desires. Our lives do not stop at the point of salvation—now we’re called to spiritual growth and being doers of his word, and that’s where we can experience the true freedom we have in Jesus Christ. We’re called today to be his bondservants—not slaves to our sins!

Christian freedom involves living under God’s extraordinary grace: "For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom 6:14). We must understand that freedom in Christ doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want—it’s all about being free from the power of sin so we can be a slave to righteousness (Rom 6:17–18) and bringing glory and honor to his name!

So, today, if you had the formula for spiritual freedom, would you apply it to your life and seize the opportunity to release yourself from an area of spiritual bondage preventing you from growing closer to Christ? First, we need to understand spiritual freedom. It’s when our lives align with the power of God’s Spirit and reveals our choice in the only One who can deliver and free us from any circumstance. It’s identifying who is Lord over our life, and we’ve surrendered it all to him. When we’re at that point of submission—willing and ready to receive his support—we will know who holds the key to our freedom! There will be no doubts!

The critical solution comes down to this! (1) How badly do we want a close relationship with God? (2) Are we willing to give up control of our weakest areas and submit them to him? And here’s the gut punch! (3) Do we want to seek him more than our selfish desires? So, here’s the answer—it starts with you and me! Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do—you must keep moving forward." Moving forward is pressing on from the past to the future with determination and never giving up, but it requires one critical component—choosing life in Christ!

Freedom in Christ is a treasure we all must pursue daily because it’s the open door to our life story of how God freed us from our pit of ugliness to his new creation. It portrays who is at work in our lives, that we’ve nailed those hideous desires on the cross, leaving them there forever. What a beautiful portrait when we demonstrate Christ’s sacrifice on that tree was not in vain. God has a purpose for you and me; And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death . . . Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit (Rom 8:2, 5 NLT).

God’s encouraging words tell us in these following passages the key to our growing, knowing, and living out the freedom of Christ in our lives. First, John 8:32 (NLT) says, And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free; Gal 5:13 (NLT) reminds us, "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love; and 1 Pet 2:16 (NLT) provides a direct hit: For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil."

People emphasize the importance of being delivered from a sinful or harmful vice—and that’s essential—for it drives us into a right relationship with God. But it’s true liberty in Christ—when we break away from those chains and press on in a strong relationship of faithful service for our Lord. Because that is the life God intended for you and me—especially when we have the Greatest Guide of all! This freedom equips and prepares us to draw closer to his love, mercy, and grace, which will empower us to serve him more freely and effectively because we’re no longer bound to anything—but him! God can deliver anyone willing to accept his help, for God’s word reminds us in Deut 30:15–20 that we’re free to choose life so that we may live fully, both now and in his kingdom. He wants us to choose a life of prosperity in Christ—and not opt for the other way, which can enslave us in darkness!

Second Corinthians 3:16–18 (NLT) tells us, "But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So, all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." His Spirit becomes our power source and energy that will move us in a motion that glorifies God the Father. He can drive us away from those ugly traits to a life with so much more to offer. A choice that should be easy as followers of Jesus Christ!

Let us embark on a journey through Exodus. In this expedition, we will get a strong sense of the Israelites’ distance from Almighty God, an undesirable space created by sinful choices and disobedience. God never wants us to be far away because he desires his children to feel his closeness so we can move with him in all his glorious ways. When we don’t move with God, he will use his almighty power to get our attention—as he did with the Israelites! This journey through Exodus will open our eyes, hearts, minds, and spirits to a life God has in store for you and me. One filled with promises and provisions that he can sufficiently supply. This journey will reveal that God will meet us right where we are and when we’re willing, he will set us in motion for his purpose and plan in living a productive life! The key is—are we ready to move with him?

Introduction

The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for over four hundred years, and many felt helpless, abandoned, and hopeless (if not all). I could see God’s children crying out: "Where are you, God? They longed for an escape from this bondage—a deliverance from the shackles of imprisonment that barred them from freedom. Their lives were scarred physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This valley of darkness left them in a pit of despair with no glimpse of freedom. Generations would experience a life of slavery with no apparent hope in sight. I can only imagine seeing them staring up to the heavens in the lowest moments of their lives and asking, Lord, is this it?" So many of them wanted lasting security and freedom! And then it happened—for in God’s timing, when he moves, he moves in mighty ways!

From Mount Sinai, God would say these powerful words to Moses. "I’ve seen the misery of my people in Egypt and heard their cries for deliverance from the harsh slave drivers, and I’m aware of their suffering. It is time for them to be rescued!" (Exod 3:7–8) So, God will now work through one man some of the most remarkable miracles recorded in the Old Testament. Because now, his children are preparing to leave from the weight of their destructive bondage and horrific experience that they’ve encountered for centuries. But now more than ever, they must follow God’s lead—they would have to move when he said move because he’s leading them to a land that he promised their forefathers—one with great riches and so much more to offer than their pit of despair.

God would meet the Israelites right where they were. He promised them he would be there throughout the journey—leading the way day and night. He reassured them that when obstacles appeared, he would remove them and even promised to fight their battles. No matter the severity of the storms, he would be their Deliverer, Shield, Protector, and Sustainer. He would be their long-term security because he had a glorious future waiting for his children. His plan of redemption will play out right before our eyes in the power of his word.

But despite all the continual evidence of God’s love, power, protection, and provisions, the people of Israel complained and yearned for their hideous comfort back in Egypt. Almighty God provided for them physically and spiritually, but their emotional and personal ties back to that pit of bondage were their only desire. They did not have faith in the One True God, who would fulfill his promise and lead them to a land flowing with milk and honey. Their focus was more on themselves, which would lead to their unbelief and disobedience. It’s like they never wanted to be delivered from bondage!

You could sense the anger and discontent they carried over from those years of bondage while wandering in the wilderness. All they had to do was trust God on a journey that would take eleven days, but now it would take forty years! Why? They were unwilling to take the land God promised them and their forefathers because, in their minds, the current occupants could not be overtaken. Even though God told them they could, and he would always be with them, they still lacked belief in God’s word and promises, leading to consequences. Because of their lack of faith and disobedience, he cursed them with forty years of wilderness wandering until the unbelieving generation died! After that, they would never step foot in the promised land. Their disobedience and unwillingness would delay a life with many promises of God’s blessings. I can only imagine, for some of these true believers, an intense feeling of loneliness and void, which could lead anyone to a state of overwhelming spiritual defeat. I see this unbelievable story in the Bible on the power of God at work like never before, and I must ask myself this question. How could God’s children not see the value of what he had in store for them?

We must never forget—that there is a clear spiritual value when we move with God, for he always has a better outcome! Faithful followers of Jesus Christ will do what it takes to press forward—for they possess a genuine saving faith that will endure the test of times. They will not hold back their trust in the One who provided their spiritual freedom. We see it in their words and deeds, for their anthem is in this statement: "I want more of the Lord and less of the world!" They’re the embodiment of "living sacrifice, meaning they’ve offered themselves entirely to God—posed for his pleasure, purpose, and plan throughout the journey. God’s word reminds us in Job 17:9 (NLT), The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger."

As we take this journey through Exodus with God as our guide, he will