Tag: Deuteronomy

Devotional 209: The Wilderness of Sin

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Exodus 16:1-4
Bread from Heaven

16 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

The children of Israel complained against the Egyptians, then they grew angry with G-d, then they grew angry with Moses and his family, then Moses’ family grew angry at Moses along with the rest of Israel.

They would not be satisfied because they would not submit, and we’re like that with the G-d we pray to, claim to love, say we worship, and vow to glorify. While our intentions are good, and we fulfill the vows as long as we see a manifestation of our prayers and the fulfilling of our desires, what happens when we don’t see them?

Did G-d not send them a deliverer? Did G-d not afflict their enemies? Did G-d not have them take wealth from the land that enslaved them? Did He not provide for them in the wilderness instead of leaving them to die because of their cowardice in the face of His promise to deliver them a land He provided for them, when they had to expend some effort to attain the blessing with a guarantee of victory?

Remember too, their cowardice in sending Moses to the mountain to speak with Him alone instead of gathering in His presence.

If we are the flock, and sin is the wilderness, let us be mindful that when we wander from the Savior that the Father sent us, we are as prone to murmuring and attack as any of the grumbling Israelites.

Recall that they watched Dathan and his cronies and their families fall into the earth, and Miriam plagued and put outside the camp, yet they didn’t stop complaining to the point where Moses asked G-d to kill him rather than continue to lead them and fail. (Numbers 11:15)

Then they tested G-d to the point where Moses then had to intercede to keep the tribes from destruction. (Deuteronomy 9:13-14)

They left the manna and hoarded the quails, not listening to either Moses or G-d.

One could ask, and some have: If G-d is omnipotent, why do we need to expend any effort in purifying ourselves and re-establishing fellowship? Is it not the Father’s role to come to the children?

But He has, in the sending of His Son, Jesus. And as we are the ones who’ve sinned because of our rebellious hearts, it is we who must expend the effort to be reconciled.

He’s even made that easy for us, in that all we have to do is believe and obey what Jesus told us. Through faith in Him, there is no covering, no sacrifice, no ritual as with the pagans. There is confession, repentance, faith, prayer, obedience, and carrying out the commission to go and make disciples of all nations, not just the ones that look like you.

The choice to serve is ours. So are the blessings, and so are the consequences.

Our Father’s plan to reconcile, redeem, and restore us to rest in His kingdom, in the presence of His eternal glory under the scepter of His holy Son, has been given to us, as is the guarantee of our own victory over Satan if we believe with no sensory proof as the pagans seek.

It will not cost us nothing, as when David bought the farmer’s threshing floor despite the man offering it freely to his king. Indeed, it may cost us our very lives. But He gave His for us, in the face of our rebellion and unbelief.

What can we offer Him that He needs? What vow can we make that we won’t break? What acts can we do without expectation of reward? What territories can we enlarge and not cause harm?

We are not called to only hear, but do, His will on earth, as it is in Heaven. If He tells us to do it, that means it can and should be done, because He also tells us that all things are possible with G-d.

Are we doing it? Will we?

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven,

There are days I seek the wilderness, but not to isolate myself to pray and meditate on Your holy Word, but to the wilderness of sin to indulge my flesh in its backsliding, tuning out the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Do not commit this sin. It is rebellious in the Lord’s sight, and your confessions and repentance have now been rendered lawlessness, for which the Son will cast you out,, and the Father utterly destroy you, as if you never were, cut off without remedy.’

The covenant of grace is not a license to sin, and the atonement of Christ’s blood is not to be taken for granted. One may still die in their sin, and be purged at the harvest, for we are reminded that not everyone who says ‘Lord’ will enter. (Matthew 7:21)

It is indeed a foolish sheep who seeks to leave its Shepherd and walk alone in the dark, with no light of Heaven to guide it, walking in the territory of the wolf and serpent.

Call to us once more, Lord Jesus, and receive our wretched presence into Your flock so the enemy does not snatch us from Your mighty hand.

Quench in me the desire to wander, to go astray, to lead astray, and be a danger to myself and my immortal soul.

Let me return to You from the wilderness of sin.

Seal Your Word to my spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

Devotional 208: Spiritual Grasshoppers

The Old Testament sets before us the examples of love, grace, mercy, and justice the Father has for us.

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1 Samuel 17:10-11

10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Numbers 13:32-33

32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7)

Throughout the Bible we see the Father working through the unlikely, the flawed, and the broken, as we are inherently sinful because the Tree of Knowledge was violated by disobedience. Therefore G-d is just in following through on the physical and spiritual rebuking we incur as a decision to go against Him.

Railing against His sovereignty to discipline His creation we would do well to remember that it is we who break the connection of fellowship with Him, and we are admonished to remedy the breech and seek Him while He may be found. (Isaiah 55:6)

Israel’s trials and redemptions serve as a macrocosm of our individual rebellion. We want to be in control, and set G-d aside for when we need Him, but the ‘problem’ is this: He is omnipotent, sovereign, and holy. He will not compromise with our sinful natures.

If we ever believed we’d never stray from G-d if He manifested Himself to us as He did to the Israelites, (Deut: 7:6) we’re only lying to ourselves. They were so easily prone to grumbling, sin, and backsliding that G-d asked Moses the following question:

11 Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? (Num: 14:41)

In turn, Moses asked G-d this:

15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” (Num: 11:15)

As elaborate, long, and repetitious as it may seem, G-d’s presence among the Hebrews seems, the Old Testament sets before us the examples of love, mercy, grace, and finally, justice the Father is capable of showing.

Through the Apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, we are told the war between spirit and flesh is ongoing, and death is the only thing that can stop it. It will remain so for all generations of mankind, before the sinless Son comes to purge the Kingdom of all Satan’s works.

“The choices are simple. Living them ain’t easy.” (Find Him by Cassandra Wilson New Moon Daughter ℗ 1995 Blue Note Records)

“Nevertheless, because You have said…” (Luke 5:5)

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven

I would not test Your patience, provoke You to anger, or bear Your punishment, including the utter destruction of my very soul. It is the fate of the wicked and faithless, from which Your Son, in conveying Your love for me, has called me out of their company.

Today, and now, I thank You for sending Him to me, for He has counted me worthy to reveal the truth of Your Word to me, and seal me to Heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit, that I might glorify You in thought, word, and deed as I walk in His light back to You.

Forgive me, sovereign Father, and remember my sins, transgressions, iniquities, backsliding, and rebellion no more, through my faith in His redeeming blood on Calvary’s cross.

I choose to serve You, partaking of the covenant of grace and mercy extended to those who are not Your people. (1 Peter 2:10) (Hosea 2:23)

With the praises of a grateful heart, I bless Your holy Name.

Amen.

Devotional 116: The Kingdom Within

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Luke 17:20-30

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

22 Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them.24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

The Father has done His part to reconcile us to Him: it is through faith in the atoning work of the cross through the Son.

They are one of will and purpose, but Jesus was obeying the Father’s command, for He was the only one who could. Yet, G-d let Him be tempted, mocked, brutalized, scorned, and challenged, that He might know what we face in our weak and mortal flesh.

Yet, He didn’t sin.

It was painful for Him to be apart from the Father, painful to the point where He accused the Father of abandonment.

Matthew 27:46

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

The sky went dark because as our sins were upon Him, the Father couldn’t look on it. The physical disconnect was palpable to our Christ. When it was over and He prayed before His ascension, He said:

John 17:5

5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

I imagine the anticipation made Him want to go as soon as possible.

Do we seek the presence of G-d like that?

Do we ask Him to restore us to our former glory of the day we felt that presence, and knew we’d been called out of the world?

Do we ask Him to rekindle the passion of our first love for Him, or do we begin to doubt in the day to day of taking up our crosses, denying the lust of the eyes, participating in the grueling quest for money, crucifying our flesh, and walking the narrow road?

Do we grow weary of doing good, and remaining steadfast in an increasingly hostile and mocking world that would like nothing better than a dead G-d? They would have it so the whims of the wealthy can be imposed, and their price exacted, on those of us who fear and follow Him.

Yet the Father tells us this:

Deuteronomy 7:9-11

9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

When you love and trust someone, and they advise you, and have the power to benefit you greatly, you will heed their advice because you believe they will cause you no harm.

Jesus tells us:

John 14:1

 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

And again…

Matthew 18:3

2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Our Lord is not telling us to become or think like little kids, but to also trust, wait, and manifest the Spirit of righteousness and love within us, as children accept with no expectations or preconditions.

So then, if all we need to manifest the will of the Father on earth is indeed already within us, (“Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven), are we trusting that what He told us is true, and do we release it with the power of faith, or do we lean on our own limited, human understanding and honor Him with our lips, and not our hearts and obedience?

Will He marvel at our faith, or our unbelief?

We must be ready, for when the day comes, there will be no more time to prepare.

Therefore I pray:

King Jesus,

You tell us the kingdom is within us, but we are not profitable for heavenly things, and these are words we cannot bear, though we know them to be true because You do not lie.

You told Your disciples that the prince of this world had nothing in You, but he does in us, Lord, and it’s compelling, strong, and evil. His presence brings blight upon our earthly forms, and damnation of our eternal souls.

Sometimes he covers the path to condemnation and death with pretty things that camouflage his slithering, cursed form.

Remind us then, that we have all of Your words, and that not one of them shall pass away, outlasting both Heaven and Earth. You reassure us, as Peter said, with the words of Life. 

You know our weaknesses, but You also command us to remain strong, fearless, and faithful to the Truth You’ve shared with us. Let us keep an ongoing spirit of godly repentance, that our shallow fellowship with You may deepen, and the power of sin be dulled.

The seeds of the Kingdom of Eden are within us, dormant in a fallow field, awaiting the harvest. In the meantime we sow, and drink from the Water of Life, take shelter beneath the Holy Vine, follow the Good Shepherd, give thanks for our Savior, and praise the Son of G-d to whom all things were given. May the seeds of Eden become the fruits of the Father’s divine will on the new and sinless Earth, created anew and purified for all who believed.

This day, we bow before You, O King, and cut the stones from our hearts that they may be tender to receive Your eternal Word. Let our ears hear the lessons in the parables, and receive comfort in the prayers, blessings, and assurances from Your lips, believing with our mustard seed faith that nothing will take us from the power of Your nail-scarred hands. 

Impart to us, the disciples of this age, the power of the Holy Spirit so that unbelievers shall see the signs and wonders that follow us, and the love we demonstrate for each other that will bring them like gathered wedding guests taken from the streets.

Let us be of one accord so they see us as lights on a hillside, that we might point them to You, as You point them to the Father.

Let the kingdom within us shine forth as the noonday sun, that they may see, and hear, and be saved. 

Keep our steps sure, our hearts steadfast, and our faith as a threefold cord, not easily broken.

Keep our souls humble, that we may not exalt ourselves and be cast down.

May it be done to us according to our faith.

Amen.

Devotional 96: Take Possession

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Deuteronomy 1:8

8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’

They had the Father’s promise they would be delivered and be given good land, and after all He’d performed to deliver them from Egypt in spectacular fashion, they took their eyes off Him, and turned them not only downward, but inward, and became as grasshoppers in their own eyes.

If we profess to be faithful to a G-d unseen, yet all powerful, how is it we limit ourselves? Why do we limit ourselves? Usually, a whole host of earthly reasons that have nothing to do with G-d not doing what He said. (Numbers 23:19)

19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

If deliverance and salvation were valuable enough that Jesus should come down to die for our sins that we might be raised to life, what is its value to us?

Grace is undeserved, Love is unconditional, but Salvation is going to cost. There has to be some effort on our part to attain that which we claim to believe.

Matthew 7:7

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

And again:

Matthew 7:24

Build on the Rock

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And once more: (Matthew 11)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,and you will find rest for your souls.

We still have to go meet Him, though He’ll meet us where we are. We have to ask for Him to come in; He’ll not do so otherwise.

Revelation 3:20

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

When there are altar calls, or if someone is just crying in the dark at their worst hour, and their final moment of despair, there has to be some effort extended. He’s at the door now, but He won’t always be there.

Luke 22:37

37 For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”

And though He was speaking here of the crucifixion, it is no less true for when He comes again. There is the day of G-d’s wrath, where He will deal with the unbelievers and the rebellious.

We must take possession of G-d’s promises, repeat His Word back to Him, for even He tells us it’s higher than His name, and His name is above all. Imagine G-d, holding His Bible over His head, then go back to when Moses was weary, and his officers lifted up His arms, or when the serpent staff was lifted, and the Israelites were healed.

When Christ was lifted up, we were all healed. Do we receive that? Do we believe it?

Go open the door, while He yet tarries.

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven, 

Today I take possession of all that is in Your hand for me,  Your good plans to give me a hope and a future through the atoning work of Your Son.

I take possession of my salvation, walking it out with reverent fear.

I confess to You that it was not always so, nor is it still. There are times when I’ve left the door closed, and stayed silent when the mocking began. I was a coward and a backslider, as Peter was among the Jews when Paul rebuked him. There are times, to my shame even now, when I am still those things.

I take possession then, of the covenant of grace, of the chance to repent, and receive Your gracious restoration when You look at me and ask if I love You, and You give me beauty for ashes, even as You dry my tears, renewing me in heart and spirit.

I take possession of the joy of Your love, the promise of eternal life, and deliverance from death and hell.

Anoint me again, Father, with the oil of righteousness, the balm of forgiveness, and the incense of praise that pleases You. 

I would confess my Christ boldly before men, that He may confess me to You,  so I may be saved. 

Let me remember that like the workers in the vineyards, Your will is sovereign, and I am rewarded for the work I complete, tested to see if it will stand. Help me to build it on spiritual rock, that it would not be toppled, or consumed by Your testing fires. Help me to seal it against he who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. 

I take possession today, not only of the promise of cross, but of the stone that was rolled away to reveal that my soul’s redemption was so valuable, You sent Your Son to receive it by faith in me. 

Let my life therefore reflect my faith in You.

Let it be done to me as You have said.

Amen.