DO YOU KNOW HIM ??  JEHOVAH-RAPHA       	Pastor Bob Chroninger 
Trinity C.U.  3-18-01 A.M.   	(pronounced.. raw-faw)	 Exodus 15:22-27       
	Are You getting to know God Better?  Take the journey with me and let's discover more and more 
about our Wonderful LORD.  If you don't know His name(s), you probably don't know Him as well as you 
should or could. Here's another combination...  Jehovah-Rapha...  "I am the LORD that healeth thee." Moses 
had just had a GREAT experience in delivering Israel from Egypt. There was rejoicing.. and victory celebrations
and then just three days from deliverance... No Water!... Then they came to Marah.. there was water, but it 
was bitter... what a situation.... 
I.  THERE WILL BE PROBLEMS...  (No Water.. or Bitter Water) 
  A. Problems lie in the path of God's Leading! 
    1. You will find there is not much between your songs and your sorrows 
    2. Your faith will be "tried"... must be "tried"  1Pet.1:6-9 
	- Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Financially... 
	- Relationships, Plans, Needs, Wants... 
	- It is your personal "proving ground"...  25 b 
    3. Your "bitter" waters need not make a "bitter" spirit.. 
	- A bitter spirit will trouble you... 
	- A bitter spirit will defile many others..   Heb.12:14,15 
	- A bitter spirit is overcome by His Grace.. and your diligence.. 
  B. Problems are Either Educational or Punitive..
 ** Now.. how will you react when problems come? (Murmur & complain.. or) 
    1. God usually trains us up with difficulties... Jas.1:2,3 
    2. God said.. "if you hear my word and do it your "house" will stand when the storms come"  Lu.6:47-49 
  C. Problems Are Solved At The Cross 
    1. Moses joined the "Prayer Group" rather than the "murmurers"  25 
    2. Moses received instructions from the LORD.. (showed him a tree) 
	- Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for us to be "right" with God 
	- Jesus died on the "tree"..  Acts 13:28-30; Gal.3:13; 1Pet.2:24 
    3. Moses found that "grace" was sufficient..   2Cor.12:9 
	- God's grace is sufficient... but I must believe and appropriate it 
	- God's grace received prevents a "bitter" spirit 
    4. Moses used what God provided!! 
	- I don't have to provide the cure... just apply it !!! 
II.  THERE WAS A "PROPOSITION"...  26  (a "proving" ground) 
  A. The "IF" of An Open Ear.. 
    1. If you will diligently hearken... "hear intelligently.." God's voice 
    2. If you will "give ear" to His commandments.. 
  B. The "IF" of An Obedient Life.. 
    1. If you will do that which is right in His sight..  26 
    2. If you will keep (as in bondage or to serve) all His statutes.. 
	- Just because they were delivered from Egypt they were not to think they had no LORD over them! 
	- God had loosed their bonds in Egypt... they were to be His servants.. 
III.  THERE WAS A PROMISE...  26 b 
  A. Disobedience would leave them "exposed" and vulnerable... 
    1. A warning to the "wise"...  the red lights at the railroad crossing are not there to 
       scare you... but to warn you!
	- Abuses... alcohol, tobacco, STD's, Self-centeredness.. 
	- Disorders.. (it's not what you eat.. it's what's eating you) 
  B. Diligence would appropriate the Promise... 
    1. It Required Faith... in Jehovah-rapha.. 
	- I am the LORD that healeth thee.. 
	- Not just the healing of the waters... but YOU! 
    2. It Required Obedience.. (Faith without works is dead) 
	- It is "I" that needs "healing" more than the waters need changing! 
	- It implies that in obedience the LORD keeps us.... 
	   - But, He may "lower the hedge" on occasion.. notice Job! 
    3. It Required Understanding.. 
	- It is more than physical.. it spiritual!  Isaiah 1:1-6 
	- It is the "malady" of the soul.. of much more consequence!! 
	- It is "by His stripes we are healed"  Isaiah 53:5 

ONLY ONE WAY TO GET OUT OF THIS WORLD.. DEATH..  (Except the Rapture) 
  THE MOST IMPORTANT HEALING IS THAT OF THE SOUL! 
     WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD... 
         AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL!?!?!?   Mark 8:36