​Whenever you are watching a war movie and one of the battlefield generals issues the order to “sound retreat,” you know whose side is losing.
 
Israel was perfectly positioned. Right where God wanted His people. Behind them Pharaoh’s bloodthirsty army was in hot pursuit. In front of them, the Red Sea’s white-capped waves presented an impenetrable wall of water impeding further progress.
 
Stage set for a miracle. Israel was poised to witness a powerful deliverance from God’s mighty hand.
 
So, what did God’s hand-picked people do? Sound retreat.
 
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people” Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.” Exodus 14:12b-13
 
Crying out to Moses, the people whined “Why in the world did you bring us out here to die in the desert? Can’t you see oh fearless leader that it would be better if we were slaves again in Egypt? Pharaoh would take better care of us than God.” (Roll paraphrase of verse 12).
 
Moses’ rebuttal was straightforward. “Straighten up gang. Stop being so scared. Stand by, look and see what the Lord is going to do for you today. Keep your mouths shut while God fights for you. Exercise faith. Trust God. Go forward. Then look back to see Pharaoh will never harm you again. He and his army will be lying dead on the bottom of the sea.” (Roll paraphrase of verses 13-15).
 
Read verses 16-31 for the rest of the story. Moses, by faith, held his staff toward the Red Sea and God parted it! Pharaoh and his pursuing army were drowned. Israel was delivered. Moses was vindicated, God was glorified. His chosen people Israel learned a lesson, at least for a while.
 
When you know what God’s will is and He directs you to go forward, never retreat.
 
To retreat is to invite defeat.
           
Retreat is always the path of least resistance. Anybody can go backward. But death hovers over the backdoor. Live in reverse and you will end up in a hearse!
           
Advance is the path that requires the most persistence. Not everybody goes forward because it always costs to be successful. It takes guts to leave the narrow, deep ruts of the past to plow a new, wide highway to the future where God’s richest blessings are found.
 
Retreat is the choice of losers. Advance is the choice of winners.
 
Reasons For Retreating
 
            1. Challenging circumstances suggest making a U-turn.
 
            2. Going forward by faith does not seem to make sense.
 
            3. You feel pressure from the devil to go back.
 
            4. Retreating seems easier than advancing.
 
            5. People around you are retreating.
 

• If you choose a lifestyle of retreat, you will end up in the land of regret.

 
Reasons For Advancing And Resisting Retreat
 
            1. Jesus Christ is bigger than circumstances.
 
            2. Christians walk by faith, not by sight.
 
            3. The devil travels backwards. God travels forward.
 
            4. The price to go ahead is always less than moving backwards.
 
            5. Men can miss God’s will. Resist the herd mentality.
 

• Never retreat from who you are, what you believe, what you do and what you are dreaming.

             
Are you facing a challenging situation? Are you tempted to retreat and run away from the opportunity before you? Are others around you sounding the retreat and inviting you to go backwards with them?
 
Decide that your future is forward, not backwards.
 
Discipline yourself to trust in God’s plan, not man’s. Look forward to going forward and discovering what the Lord has prepared for those who refuse to retreat.
 
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER RETREAT when God has called you to GO FORWARD!!!
 
“I will in travel in any direction as long as it is forward.”   David Livingston, Missionary
 
“Then Joshua said to the people “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord.”                                                     Joshua 6:7
 
A Word For Your Week: If you do not RETREAT, you will not be BEAT!

​Who does not like a good celebration?
 
You and I love to celebrate events like birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, accomplishments, graduations and whatever else is a good idea (or excuse!) for throwing a party!
 
I want to suggest today that you and I as followers of Jesus Christ celebrate God’s goodness. Often.
 
Our scripture comes from what is called the Song of Moses that Israel recorded in Exodus 15.
 
“Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?” Exodus 15:11
 
God’s chosen people had just been miraculously delivered from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army (Exodus 13-14). Redeemed, relieved and rejoicing, Israel threw a sanctified party as they headed for the Promised Land. Slavery and poverty behind them—freedom and prosperity ahead of them—it was time to celebrate.
 
What Almighty God had done for them was worth singing and shouting about!
 
Israel rehearsed WHAT GOD HAD DONE “the horse and rider He hurled into the sea” (verses 1-5), and HOW GOD DID IT “Thy right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy” (verses 6-10). Then the jubilant people gave credit where credit was due. With singing and dancing, Israel declared God’s glory (verses 11-21).
 
Their celebration reaches a fitting crescendo or climax in verse 11. A question is posed. “Who is like Thee—majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? Among all the gods men worship, who is like the God of Israel?” The answer is obvious: NO ONE!
 
Why? Because only the Living God could and did part the Red Sea for His people and save them from the enemy’s sword. What a DELIVERANCE and what a DELIVERER!
 
Regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, J. Sidlow Baxter remarked ‘There is no substitute because there is no equivalent.”  For Bible believing Christians, there is no God but Jesus. He is the true and Living God. As King of Kings and Lord of Lords, all creatures, in heaven, earth and hell will one day confess His name and bow in reverence to Him (Philippians 2:8-11).
 
Why? Because only God’s only begotten Son died for our sins and is risen from the dead! Believers have been delivered from Satan, sin, death and the grave! Because He lives, we live! What a DELIVERANCE and what a DELIVERER!
           
How about you? When God has been good to you, do you celebrate and shout His praises?
 
Are you born-again? Filled with the Spirit of God? Delivered from sinful habits? Healed from sickness or disease? Have finances been provided? Relationships been restored? Then you have plenty to shout about!!
 
Praise Him! Unashamedly and joyfully declare with your lips Lord Jesus, there is absolutely nobody like You. You are holy, majestic, all-powerful, and have worked spectacular wonders on my behalf. Therefore, I give You the awesome praise due Your name.
 
By the way, make some noise when you praise the Lord! Celebrations in scripture are not silent or secretive. Search the Word. Praise parties are open and public, vocal and vibrant. So, get with it Christian. Make some holy noise because of what your Holy God has done for you.
 
Whenever you need a spiritual boost, rehearse what good things God has done for you, then rejoice! Be a celebrator! Shout His praises! Tell somebody how good God has been to you. They and you will be glad you did!
 
“With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord, and in the midst of many I will praise Him.”                                                                               Psalm 109:30
 
A Word For Your Week: When you feel tempted to pout, SHOUT! Never doubt His work in your life. SHOUT His praises for helping you out.

​Do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to do something significant for you?
He does. The Bible tells us so in Luke 18:35-43 and Mark 10:46-52.
Scenario. A blind man named Bartimaeus is begging along the roadside. He heard a multitude passing by. Bartimaeus asked what the commotion was about. The crowd told him Jesus of Nazareth was on His way to Jericho. Bartimaeus called out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The leaders of the procession told him to be quiet. In other words, shut up. Bartimaeus cried out even more, upping the volume, declaring once again “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Jesus stopped. He commanded Bartimaeus be brought to Him. Jesus questioned him. Then He said to the boisterous, hopeful, blind beggar, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” Bartimaeus’s response “Lord, I want to regain my sight.”’
Jesus said to Bartimaeus “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God. When the people witnessed the miracle, they also praised God.

• Don’t you love this blind man’s determination? Bartimaeus would not be denied. He had something on his mind and heart. He plowed through the disapproving crowd to get the Lord’s attention.

 Observations

• Bartimaeus’s need was real. He had lost his vision. Blindness made life very difficult.
• People tried to shout Bartimaeus down. They did not care about his need.
• Bartimaeus believed Jesus was the Son of David, the Messiah.
• Bartimaeus, hopeful and determined, asked Jesus to show him mercy.
• JESUS STOPPED. In the middle of the throng following Him, He heard and singled out the voice of one man who had a need and was brave enough to ask for help.
• Bartimaeus had a private conference with Jesus. The Lord asked questions about his request. One on one with Jesus. What an afternoon for Bartimaeus!
• Then Jesus fulfilled Bartimaeus’s request to regain his sight. IMMEDIATELY BARTIMAEUS’S VISION WAS RESTORED!
• Jesus restored the formerly blind man’s sight because of his faith.
• Bartimaeus followed Jesus and gave God glory for the miracle he received!
• The crowd stood in awe, praising God for the miracle they witnessed.

 Application

1. People like you and me have legitimate needs that Jesus wants to meet. The Lord always responds favorably when we ask with faith according to His will found in the Bible.
2. Jesus knows what you and I need.  He wants to hear from us in response to His question “What do you want Me to do for you?” Simply, tell Him what you need! What you want Him to do for you!
3. There is not anything too big or complicated for God to manage. Jesus is willing to do things for His followers who look to Him with simple, childlike faith.
4. The Lord is no respecter of persons. My need is just as important as Bartimaeus. And so is yours.
5. When Jesus asks us what He can do for us, frivolous, fanciful, fantasy, selfish requests are not what He is looking for. He longs to fulfill the needs we have that are based on the Word of God.
6. Just a thought: Is our miracle on hold because we have not responded with faith when Jesus asks “What do you want Me to do for you?”

Could it be that some of our needs go unmet because we do not really believe that Jesus wants to do something for us? Just asking.
And is it possible that God wants to do more for us than we think He wants to do for us. Just asking.
Rubber Meets The Road
Jesus is waiting for you to ask Him with faith to do something that will dramatically change your life! Small, medium or large…. Jesus wants you to know He loves you cares about your needs.
If Jesus said to you today “What do you want Me to do for you?” what would you ask for?
Are you living close enough to Jesus so that when He asks you what He can do for you, you will hear and answer?
Seriously and humbly, what do you want the Lord to do for you?
Go ahead. Tell Him what you need. Be straight up. Jesus cares about you and your request.
I challenge you to ask with faith according to His will and watch what the Lord will do!
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” Hebrews 11:1-2
“And this is the confidence we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him. “I John 5:14-15
A Word For Your Week: Jesus is waiting to do something significant for you.

As dawn was breaking on the horizon of the morning of October the 6th, 1972, sitting alone in his 1947 Chevy parked alongside the Spokane River, a depressed, distraught, emotionally and spiritually lost twenty-year old young man was overwhelmed by the love of God and surrendered his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That guy was me.
Fifty years ago this Thursday my life changed for time and eternity.
“For God so loved the world (including me!) that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16
As I write, my heart is overflowing with unspeakable joy while warm tears of humble gratitude flow down my cheeks. Every single day I rejoice remembering that moment when I realized that Jesus shed His life blood on a cruel Cross and rose from the dead to forgive me of my sins and graciously grant me the free gift of eternal life. I am so grateful God gave me the grace to say yes to His Son Jesus!
One year later, October 1973, God called me to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. Are you kidding me? Steve Roll a preacher! God has a hilarious sense of humor! No one who knew me before I became a Christian would have ever imagined or guessed I would be a man of the cloth. I marvel that my heavenly Father put me in the ministry.
It has been my priceless privilege, undeserved honor and inexpressible joy of lifting up the name of Jesus to thousands of people for forty years of full-time Christian ministry.
The Christian hymn “Amazing Grace” is my all-time favorite worship song. John Newton, once a slave-trader who gave his life to Christ, wrote these immortal words. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.
 In the movie “Amazing Grace,” which I highly recommend you view, Wilbur Wilberforce asked Mr. Newton, “What do you know about being a Christian?” Newton replied “I know two things; I am a great sinner. Christ is a great Savior.”
I get what Newton meant. I, Steve Roll, is a great sinner. Once I was spiritually lost and blind. But now I see what God’s will and plan for my life is because of my great Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus saved Steve Roll from sin and himself.
 
 
What Salvation Through Faith In Jesus Means To Me

• First and foremost, I am going to heaven, not hell! There is a space reserved in heaven for me. (I Peter 1:3-5). Jesus is preparing my place in glory even now (John 14:1-3).
• My Heavenly Father loves me unconditionally. Jesus loves me period. No if’s, ands or buts! His never-ending love for me has shown me how to love myself and others.
• God’s magnificent, precious promises in the Bible are for me. Yes, me. Jesus is the promise keeper I have needed throughout my life. I am so thankful He keeps His Word!
• God has never disappointed me. Life has. People have. I have disappointed myself. But my Heavenly Father never has and never will. It is not in His fatherly character to disappoint His sons and daughters (romans 10:11). I wish you could know what it means to me that God will never let me down, fail, forsake or abandon me. Security in Christ is a wonderful thing! Great is God’s faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:22-23).
• Jesus believes in me. His Word says so. The Holy Spirit reminds me that I can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13). I can and choose to comeback from setbacks in His mighty name! Before I met Jesus, I spent too much energy and time not believing in and beating up on myself. No more beating up on me because Jesus took a beating for me and empowers me with His resurrection power to life victoriously!
• Jesus has given me His joy (John 15:11, 16;22). His joy is my joy and is manifested through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. I like being a Christian who daily strives to walk by faith in the joy of the Lord!
• I thank God for grace that covers my flops, failures and fumbles. I know how imperfect I am. How weak my human flesh is. I am so grateful the Lord picks me up when I fall and He has taught me how to pick myself up (II Corinthians 12:7-10, II Corinthians 4:7-11, 16-18)
• I am at peace with God and myself (John 14:27, Philippians 4:6-7). With the help of the Holy Spirit, I am constantly working on Christlikeness and spiritual maturity. Being at peace with God and yourself is indescribeable!
• Without question one of my greatest joys has been to have Jo Ann, my beloved wife of forty-eight years, by my side. She is the godly, virtuous, Proverbs 31 woman. Her simple, straightforward, steadfast, unshakable, faith in God has taught me volumes about trusting in the Lord.
• I wake up every day looking forward to the day the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24). I wonder if this might be the day when the Lord splits the eastern sky and returns in His glory to take His chosen people home to heaven. “Even so Lord Jesus, come quickly!”

Having walked with the Lord for five decades, I am realizing more and more that God’s love for me in Christ is an endless, bottomless, inexhaustible well of His grace, mercy and lovingkindness.
 There is so much I still yearn to learn about His saving grace to me. There are two things I choose to do in whatever time I have left on earth. One, I will spend the rest of my life getting to know my Lord and Savior better. Two, I will share my faith with lost souls and do my best with God’s help to win them to Christ!
My reader, if you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, rejoice! Share your faith with others. If you do not know Christ, seek Him right now and receive Him into your heart by faith.
Paul’s confession of faith is my confession. “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed in and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him util that day.” II Timothy 2:12
A former wretch like me is now an unashamed, blood bought, born-again, Spirit-filled, heading for heaven son of the Living God! Thanks be to God for so great a salvation!
My faith journey continues. Having believed and received salvation through Christ, I long for the day when a once lost twenty-year old but a now found seventy-year-old sees Jesus face to face in heaven (I John 3:1-3). What a glorious day that will be!!!!
“Thank You Lord for saving my soul, thank You Lord for making me whole. Thank You Lord for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free.”
On my 50th spiritual birthday, my spirit cries out Hallelujah! Glory to God!
​