An Exchanged Life

 

 

An Exchanged Life

 

November 3, 2008

 

 

 

This morning, I experienced one of those mornings when the eyes open very early, and I do mean early, like 4:00 a.m.  When this happens, I roll over and begin to thank God for whoever comes into my mind.  This morning it was the healing of a baby boy named Owen and a dear friend's granddaughter named Lexi.  At 4:30, I got out of bed for a drink of water and went back to sleep, but that was not in the plan.  

 

This thought came into my mind: Why don’t you get up and read that book on your nightstand, the one you started many times but have never gotten through?  So, I rolled out of bed, knowing that those kinds of thoughts do not come from me, and I believe by faith that God must be speaking to me.  The book on the nightstand was written by Major W. Ian Thomas: “The Saving Life of Christ.”

 

I have no intention of doing a book report. Still, I would like to share what Major calls “A New Principle,” it is the principle of an exchanged life – “ . . . It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). That is not a new principle for me, I’ve had it taught to me. I’ve also taught it, I have not always been successful in living it out.

 

Major points out John 6:29, Jesus replied to the crowd, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  Major made this statement: “That is the work of God.  It is your living faith in the adequacy of the One who is in you, which releases His divine action through you.  It is the kind of activity that the Bible calls ‘good works,’ as opposed to ‘dead works.’  ‘Good works’, are those works that have their origin in Jesus Christ, whose activity is released through your body, presented to Him as a living sacrifice by faith that expresses total dependence, as opposed to the Adamic independence (Romans 12:1,2).

 

So, what happens when we exchange something?  Something is replaced; it may be a good exchange, or it might be a bad exchange.  My brother Fred, who is older, would sometimes want to exchange something he had for something I had. Never, and I mean never, do that while you are young with a brother who is three years older, you will not like the exchange.  But Jesus tells us in Luke 14:33, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”  The minimum demand is all that we have, that means you and me and all that we possess.  Let me quote from page 31: “He has got to recognize his bankruptcy so that his sole wealth is vested in the One whom God has credited to him in the person and by the presence of His divine Spirit.  This is the condition for discipleship.”  I wonder if somewhere down deep I’ve read this and said, " That’s just too much, that's just too hard, I will just settle for less than being a disciple.  If so, then God calls me a carnal Christian.

 

Major states on page 43, “The carnal Christian is the one who has received the Holy Spirit and all the fullness of Christ, yet ignores His presence and struggles to live the Christian life as though Christ were not there.  He is the one who constantly begs and pleads for all that God has already given him, but which he will not take.  He is the one who will not step out by faith upon the glorious fact that Christ is his life, and therefore his victory!  The Christian life is an exchanged life.”  ‘I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.’ 

 

When a person comes into Christ, they are a new creation and are free from the penalty of sin; they are no longer under condemnation.  A new creation will also have a new or radical change of walk.  Major tells us on page 49, “A walk under entirely new management, revolutionized according to an entirely new principle of life.”   Major tells us that the Christian who is living the exchanged life is first a disciple, and “he has relinquished the right to do what is right in his own eyes and has submitted to the totalitarian dictatorship of Jesus Christ.”  

 

On page 53, Major asks the following questions; they may make you mad, but they will for sure make you question your walk.  He asks, “What have you been doing since your redemption?  Still, what is right in your own eyes?  Are you sold out for Jesus Christ?  Do you still claim the right to choose your own career?  You do not have that right!  Do you still claim the right to choose the wife or husband you will marry?  You do not have that right!  Do you still claim the right to use your leisure hours as you please?  You do not have that right!  Do you still claim the right to spend your money as you please?  You do not have that right!  Do you still consider that you have the right to choose where you will spend your vacation?  You do not have that right!

 

The moment a man, woman, boy, or girl gives the Holy Spirit the right to re-establish the sovereignty of Jesus Christ within his soul, he does not even have the right to do what is right in his own eyes – let alone what is wrong!”

 

After reading the questions and getting over the fact that I do not like to be asked those kinds of questions, I talked it over with Jan at breakfast.  This is what I believe to be true; the statement I made earlier was not true in light of these questions.  I stated the following: “(Galatians 2:20).  That is not a new principle for me; I’ve had it taught to me, and I’ve also taught it. I have not always been successful in living it out.”  It is the very last part of the sentence that needs changing.  I have sometimes been successful, but in light of the questions, I have often done what is right in my own eyes.  I have concluded that it is not the “exchanged life” I have often lived, but it is living in self-imposed poverty.

 

Major often made this statement when he was teaching: “I can’t, God never said I could, He can, and He promised He would.”  God does not expect me to perform for Him; He is a big God, but He does want me to seek His face, and expect Him to do it all through me.  My goal is to be able to say to each of you that I am no longer doing what is right in my own eyes; Christ, who is my life, is doing it all through and for me.  What is your goal?

 

From our back porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Fourth Plague: Flies

 

 

Exodus 8: 20-32

 

August 26, 2025

 

The Fourth Plague: Flies

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.  Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.  But on that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.  Thus, I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen. ”And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt, the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”  But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?  We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us.” So, Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”  So, Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord.  And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained.  But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

 

As a follower of Christ, are you more like Moses or Pharaoh?  I hope you did not answer before giving a lot of thought to both men.  Our first account of Moses as a man was watching an Egyptian mistreat a Jewish person, and Moses killed that dude, and his next encounter was with two Jewish men in some kind of fight, and Moses broke it up, and one of them said Are you going to kill us as you did the Egyptian?  That was when he got out of town, in fear that Pharaoh would hear and kill him.  Is that Moses, you're like, the one that trying to help God out by using the tools of this world?

 

What about Moses the shepherd, a shepherd who was despised by the Egyptians, but as a son of Pharaoh's daughter, he was a prince.  He left that life and married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian.  Our next encounter with Moses the shepherd is, he sees a bush on fire, but not consumed.  Now that our first view of Moses is that God could use him to be His Messenger.  As he approached the bush, Moses heard the voice of God, saying, Moses, take off your shoes, for the ground is holy ground.  Would you have heard that voice? A better question would you be willing to cut off the noise and listen to God’s voice?  Moses was in a quiet place, a pasture; he left the sheep to see the bush that was burning but not consumed.  Are you willing to put yourself in a quiet place with the word of God and listen for God to tell you His plans for your life?

 

The next time we see Moses is asking his father-in-law if he can leave, being subject to the authority God had put over him.  Are you willing to do that?  That is the kind of man or woman God will use.

What about Pharaoh? He's the top guy. Is that your goal?  He had people doing what He desired to be done. Is that your goal?  He was not to be trusted; he said one thing and did another. Is that the person you are?  He began to fear what God might do, but refused to bow down to a Holy God. Is that you?

John 21 20-22 is a good word to us; ^“Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”  Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

 

 

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Third Plague: Gnats

 Exodus 8:16-19

 

August 25, 2025

 

The Third Plague: Gnats

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’”  And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.  The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So, there were gnats on man and beast.  Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

I can only imagine the problem this caused, gnats all over you morning and evening, in your food, everywhere.   My wife enjoys plants inside and outside of our home, and at times we have gnats.  I read that Perlite over the dirt will keep them out. It helps, also, that you have sink gnats, and there are ways to control them.  But those are just small problems.

I was thinking, has God allowed the evil one, the devil, to plague of fear and hate and evil so that we as a Church would awaken to our need of seeking the Face of God and doing the “IF”.  Many of God’s promises begin with If, the most common one quoted is 2 Chronicles 7:14, ^“ if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

So that brings up the question, who is He addressing then?  The chosen people, the Jewish race.  Who does that apply to in 2025?  First, let us address who it does not apply to, not those who go by the title of Christian, or those who are members of a so-called Church.  Not to any denomination, and not to a person because they were baptized as a child or adult.  Water never dies for anyone, nor has it saved you.

So, what is required to be a people of God?  I believe Scripture tells us it requires faith, that God will give to all who seek truth.  It also states it requires an understanding that you are a sinner and need God’s forgiveness.  An understanding that your good deeds are as filthy rags to a Holy God.  One must come with not one thing to offer God, and receive all that God has promised to be a child of His.

Let us look at the Scriptures;  John 1:12-13,  ^“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”  1 Peter 2:9-10,  ^“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

My testimony was a process of being asked to attend a Bible study at a Holiday Inn in Corpus Christi, Tx.  I went in wondering why the man who invited me was going.  For six months, I attended that Bible study, and I began to grasp that the men there knew the God I was only informed about.  For most of those months, I tried to make deals with God about becoming one of His.  God does not make deals; there is only one way, and that is by Jesus. He tells us He is the door to the Father.

Six months later, I’m in Victory, Texas, staying in a hotel, and about 10 p.m. I put the key in the door and heard a voice, it say tonight the last night my Spirit will deal with you.  What did I do? I ran to that hotel Bible, and it opened to Romans chapter 10, and my eyes went to verses 9-10.  This is what it states: because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  That night in a hotel, I exchanged my identity from Baptist to the start of dying to all that I put before my relationship with God. I confess, I had nothing of worth to offer Him, but I desire to become a son and receive the grace and forgiveness only He could give.  I exchange nothing of value and receive becoming a people of God.  I often go to 2 Corinthians 13:5; you might need to do that.

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Second Plague: Frogs

  

Exodus 8:1-15

 

August 24, 2025

 

The Second Plague: Frogs

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.  But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.  The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”  And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’”  So, Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.  But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”  Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.”  And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.  The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.”  So, Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.  And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.  But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

A request to Pharaoh, and a promise, the request, let my people go, and if you do not, I will send a plague of frogs.  God always keeps His promises, and the frogs covered the land, got into their beds, and the food.  So, what did the source of evil Pharaoh, the magicians, say? No big deal, we can also make frogs come on land, big problem; they had no secret ways to make the frogs go away.  So, all they did was add more frogs.

 

Now, if you want to get a leader's attention, since a plague on his nation, and he is in trouble.   We saw that in COVID, and the evil one used people like Bill Gates and his partners to use their clout to control the global response, with little oversight.  And now we know that the drug they pushed may have made many in the drug business rich, and they did great harm to many, and still are.  We still have magicians, and they know how to harm, but their drugs did not come close to the promises made.

 

We also witness that Pharaoh was a liar, and God had already told Moses the truth.  Do you recall the little man who claimed he was science? He was also a liar.  Not much has changed, we have a source of truth, his name is Jesus, and we still have the ones control by the evil one.

 

“Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.  The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.”  And that's what happens.  Yes, the old is forever new, men lie, and God always keeps His promises.

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

  

 

                                                                  ​                                          Exodus 7:14-25

 

August 17, 2024

 

The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.  Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent.  And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed.  Thus says the Lord, “By this, you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.  The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”  And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.  And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.  But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So,  Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.  Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.  And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

 

Wake up, people, and I’m referring to all people, but especially the USA.  What does God want the Egyptian to understand, and you? “That He alone is God.” But just like in the USA, where Satan guides the hearts and minds of its people through the deception of this world's magicians, they come in many forms, the media, the politician, and they are easy for Satan to control by two of his false gods, money and power.   Today in the USA, we have two people running for the office of  President and Vice President who hate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and they are trying to deceive the American voter into believing they have changed their spots, but a leopard never changes its spots or desire.  Now, if you are not a believer, you do not believe in Satan or God, and I have only this question: where does evil come from and good?

 

I have wondered why the media, both papers like the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and others, would knowingly tell lies, and it came to me that they like the money, and they obey those who control them.  So once again, we find it is the Love of money, that little god they are bowing down to above all else.   The Bible talks about such people; in fact, Jesus, the source of Truth, tells us it is not money that is evil, but it is the love of money, where a person will give up integrity and morals and choose evil to have money and power.   

 

If the real Church, not what shows up on Sunday, but the Church, would stand against evil and allow Christ to shine in their lives, we might see God withdraw the blood from the Nile of our nation.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

                                                             Exodus 7:1-13

 

August 16, 2024

 

Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.  You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.  But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.  The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”  Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.  Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

 

In the USA, we honor the men, both firefighters and policemen, who ran into the burning Twin Towers to save lives.  Is that not what God is asking Moses to go back to his people, who were slaves in Egypt, and bring them to freedom?

 

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’”  So, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.  Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.  For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.  Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

 

I may be in error in saying this, but I never heard of anyone other than Moses and Aaron that God gave this authority, yet how did the magicians and sorcerers do so?  They also were given the authority, but not from God, but the evil one, and he is a created being who has powers to deceive.  Now they were able to make their staffs into serpents, but God always has the last say in matters of His authority over all things.  So, Moses's staff swallowed up their staffs.

 

What is the Application we find in today's reading? It has nothing to do with serpents or staff; it has everything to do with obedience.  “Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.”

Are you about your Father's business, as I start my morning, that is my prayer, let Jesus be seen in me as I go.  Has He not said, ^“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)  Many who go by the title of Christian have put that light under a blanket, not on the lampstand where their lives make a difference,

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

 

Exodus 6:14-30

 

August 15, 2024

 

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben.  The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon.  These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans.  The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years.  The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations.  Amram took as his wife Jochebed, his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years.  The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.  The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.  Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.  The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites.  Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.

These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.”  It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.

On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,  the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you.”  But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

 

Often, as we look for application in God’s word, we see the hand of God in the length of life.  Today, without modern medicine, life would be much shorter, and yes, we who look and believe see the hand of God.

But if you are a seeker of truth, you will see the unbeliever not beliving in God but in themselves.  The thing both Morses and Arron would learn is that God never expects anything from them but obedience, and that is the whole truth for all who God used like Moses, to be His man of the hour.  Today, in both the USA  and Israel, we find ourselves under attack.  Israel is at war, and the enemy of hate who came to kill, steal, and destroy is using godless people like the leaders of Iran to be his tools.  We are in a different battle in the United States of America, the evil one is using the media, and men who have great wealth, who hate freedom, the Bill of Rights, and God, to try to destroy us.  What is the tool the evil one is using, money in all cases, and power, to control and rule?   The owner of the media tells those who work for them what to say and not say, so truth is not the goal; it is money.  And the same is true for many in all areas of government, money, and power, and their father is the real enemy, the devil.

 

We have raised a generation of people who have been pampered and self-centered, being fed lies about this nation and Israel, and their god is stuff.  Please pray that the Church will wake up and stand not for a political party, but for Truth. Jesus is the Truth.  

 

Note: Money is not a god you can trust.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice