Larry Witzel explores the true meaning of innovation in ministry, emphasizing that it is not about trends or technology, but about creative obedience to the mission of God. He outlines five key behaviors that effective innovators share and encourages leaders to adopt these practices to enhance their ministry's impact.

Exodus — The Plagues — Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?

Join us as we study the Bible Study Guide for the third quarter of 2025 called Exodus. We are studying the lesson for week 4 called The Plagues.    

Text your prayer request to 979-575-2035.

Support us: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=a7a8a06e-85ab-4da7-ab62-0020abcd4211

https://www.facebook.com/aLifeSDAC

Subscribe to our YouTube channel http://tinyurl.com/aLifeSDAC

#ThePlagues #WhoHardenedPharaohsHeart #21July2025 #Exodus  #SabbathSchool #Week4 #AbundantLife #ThirdQuarter2025

What can leaders today learn from Moses, David, and Joash about funding large-scale church projects? Explore biblical blueprints that reveal how visionary leadership, sacrificial giving, and trust in God’s provision can unleash extraordinary generosity.

Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?

Read Exodus 7:3-13, 14, 22. How do we understand these texts?

Nine times in Exodus the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is ascribed to God (Exod. 4:21; Exod. 7:3; Exod. 9:12; Exod. 10:1-20, 27; Exod. 11:10; Exod. 14:4-8; see also Rom. 9:17-18). Another nine times Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart (Exod. 7:13-14, 22; Exod. 8:15-19, 32; Exod. 9:7-34, 35).

Who hardened the king’s heart—God, or Pharaoh himself?

It is significant that in the Exodus story of the ten plagues, in each of the first five plagues, Pharaoh alone was the agent of his heart hardening. Thus, he initiated the hardening of his own heart. From the sixth plague on, however, the biblical text states that it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod. 9:12). What all this means is that God strenghtened or deepened Pharaoh’s own choice, his willful action, as God had told Moses He would do (Exod. 4:21).

In other words, God sent plagues to help Pharaoh repent and to free him from the darkness and error of his mind. God did not create fresh evil in Pharaoh’s heart; instead, He simply gave Pharaoh over to his own malign impulses. He left him without God’s restraining grace and thus abandoned him to his own wickedness (see Rom. 1:24-32).

Pharaoh had his free will—he could choose for or against God—and he decided against.

The lessons are obvious. We have been given the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, obedience or disobedience. From Lucifer in heaven, to Adam and Eve in Eden, to Pharaoh in Egypt, and to us today— wherever we abide, we choose either life of death (Deut. 30:19).

An

UpSetters discuss what the Bible says about divorce and the tension between law and grace

Why do so many of us feel not good enough, unlovable, or like we don’t belong? Clinical psychologist Jessica Bishop explains how these “life’s lies” form, how they impact us, and how we can start to break free—through both psychology and grace.

To view the full list of schemas head to this link: https://www.attachmentproject.com/blog/early-maladaptive-schemas/

Read the article | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | X