Category Archives: Deuteronomy

Posted on

Revivals: Much Ado or Much To Do

Get Off Your Spiritual Mountaintop And Move On To Your Spiritual Mandate!

Once in a while, God breaks through in a group of people’s lives and what we call a “revival” breaks out. Such is the case currently in a Christian university chapel in Asbury, Kentucky. While much is being said about this revival, there is nothing new about God stirring the hearts of his people. In fact, we see several times in both the Old and New Testaments where spiritual awakening occurs. Interestingly, what I would argue is a common thread in each case is the instruction the Holy Spirit gives those who are enjoying their “mountaintop” moment in God’s presence: “Get off the mountain and move on,” God told the Israelites. “As they were coming down the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus gave them orders.” After the spiritual awakening on Mount Zion in Acts 2, Acts 8 tells us, “So a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, that all except the apostles were scattered … and they preached the word wherever they went.” A mountaintop experience is wonderful and necessary from time to time, and there is nothing wrong with longing for extended and life-altering times in God’s glorious presence, but we are not to fixate on the experience. We must resist the urge to set up camp there so we can live forever in the warm afterglow. We should never rate the rest of our Christian experience against our revival, but rather we should see that mountaintop moment for what it really is: faith fuel for the assignment ahead. Of course, a spiritual awakening is a little bit of heaven on earth, yet God’s presence remains a down-to-earth deal that calls us to so get off our high and “go give ‘em heaven.” A lost world is waiting for fired-up believers!

The Journey// Focus: Deuteronomy 1:6-8

When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, “You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.”

“Get off the mountain and move on,” God told the Israelites. “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave orders” to Peter, James and John on the way back down the Mount of Transfiguration. On Mount Zion, the book of Acts tells us, “So a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, that all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria….And those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

We love a mountaintop experience—what we might call a spiritual high— an experience so wonderful that we never want to lose the emotional euphoria of its warm afterglow. We never want to lose those fuzzy feelings we had at the moment of salvation, or an ecstatic encounter with the Holy Spirit, or when we cried our eyes out at the altar during summer youth camp, or at a revival meeting when God’s presence seemed so thick you could slice it

The problem with those kinds of experiences is that we tend to fixate on them, and then rate the rest of our Christian walk against them. Unfortunately, nothing can quite live up to the warm fuzzies of a mountaintop high.

We love to stay on the mountaintop with Moses as God delivers the Ten Commandments. We never want to leave that moment with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. We don’t want to get out from under the flow of the Spirit in Jerusalem to go into the rest of the world. After all, it is so spiritual…and it feels so good! Going back down the mountain is a drag. This down-to-earth business of Christianity is way overrated.

But obeying God always means we have to “get off the mountain to go possess the land.” We have to leave the sanctuary, the worship service, the warm incubator of our small group Bible study and get back into the game of extending the Kingdom on God’s behalf.

Moses had been on the Mountain Sinai for forty days talking with God. The top of the mountain was covered with special effects not even Hollywood could replicate. Peels of thunder so loud and flashes of lightning so bright no one else dared to wander up Sinai. In fact, the people had been warned that even touching the mountain as their leader communed with their God would bring instant death. Talk about the third rail.

Who wouldn’t want to stay in that holy moment? I sure would! I would want to can that spiritual experience and pull it back out of the can everyone once in a while—okay, a lot—to whiff the fumes of that intoxicating spiritual high all over again.

Here’s the deal: God never intends for us to fixate on the mountaintop experience. We have not been called to park our spiritual fannies in a spiritual high. Those amazing moments are meant for fuel to empower us for some spiritual assignment: to possess the land, to minister to the people, to take the Gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and to the “uttermost part of the earth.”

I am not down on mountaintop experiences. They are wonderful, and necessary from time to time. Just don’t fixate on them. Resist the urge to set up camp there so you can live forever in their warm afterglow. Don’t rate the rest of your Christian experience against them. Simply see them for what they are: Fuel for the assignment ahead.

Then get off the mountain and back in the game. Authentic faith is a down-to-earth deal. So bring a little of that heavenly high with you, get back down there, and go give ‘em heaven!

Going Deeper: Is there a “spiritual high” from your past (an ecstatic experience, a fruitful time of ministry, a wonderful season in an amazing church family, a dramatic period of spiritual growth under a gifted spiritual leader) against which you tend to measure current experience? Stop doing that! Repent of worshiping that experience and instead ask God to show you how he intends for that “high” to fuel you for the kingdom assignment setting before you today.

Posted on

Core Curriculum in the School of Resurrection

Everybody Gets Cave Time

SYNOPSIS: Easter has come and gone, and Christ is still risen! But perhaps you’re in a tomb-like experience — you’re in ‘the cave” — and you’re wondering where his resurrection power is for your life. Perhaps you’re complaining to everyone else but God about your cave. If you are, you’re missing a great opportunity to pour out your heart to the only one who can do something about it—the One who conquered death and rose from His cave. So, try talking to the Resurrected One — and be patient, He does His greatest work in caves.

Moments With God // Psalm 142:1

A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer. I cry aloud to the LORD; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy. I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.

We all prefer to live in the sunshine of God’s grace, but from time to time we get the “cave” instead. “Cave time” is just core curriculum in the school of spirituality maturity. Call it whatever you want: the pit, the prison, the desert, the wilderness—the cave is basic training for believers.

Joseph had a prison; Moses had the desert; Jeremiah had a pit, Daniel had a den, Paul was in and out of jail so many times, like Motel Six, they “kept the light on for him.” Even Jesus had a wilderness. Oh, he got a cave, too. He once spent three days in one. If Jesus had “cave-time,” the cave won’t be optional for you. Every believer gets “the cave.”

What is the cave? The cave is a place of death, it’s where you die to self. The cave is the place of testing; it’s the blast furnace for moral fiber. The cave is where your mettle gets tested, your maturity gets revealed, and your heart gets exposed! Put a person in the cave of distress, discouragement, or doubt, and true character will show up. And if you are brave enough to open up to the truth about yourself, the cave will reveal just how much work God still has to do to get you ready for great things.

Do you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really obey him? (Deuteronomy 8:2)

Likewise, the cave is a place of separation. Not only does God reveal the true you in the cave, but he also strips you of every misplaced dependency. In the cave, God separated David from everything he had once depended on, and all that was left for David was God himself.

Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to both you and your ancestors. He did it to help you realize that food isn’t everything and that real life comes by obeying every command of God. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

The cave was perhaps the most frustrating period in David’s life—but in hindsight, it turned out to be the most fruitful. That’s because the cave is also the place of forging. The cave is where God breaks you down in order to build you up.

For all these forty years your clothes haven’t grown old, and your feet haven’t been blistered or swollen. So, you should realize that, as a man punishes his son, the Lord punishes you to help you. (Deuteronomy 8:4-5)

That’s what God does in the cave. And by the way, God does some of his best work in caves. It was there in the cave of Adullam that David wrote three of his most moving psalms—Psalms 34, 57, and 142, including our key verse:

I cry aloud to the Lord…I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble.

If you are in a cave and you are complaining to everyone else but God, you are missing a great opportunity to pour out your heart to the only one who can do something about it. Good things always happen when you get honest with God. So, try talking to him—and be patient, God does great work in caves.

If you doubt that, just remember that empty cave on the outskirts of Jerusalem. For three days, it held a crucified body. But God does great work in caves—the best of which is resurrection. Perhaps that will change your mind about caves.

Take A Moment: If you are in a cave experience, I would encourage you to pray the prayer of Scottish hymn-writer George Matheson, “My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorns. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross: but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross: teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.”

Posted on

The Beauty of a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

God Is Never Without A Purpose; God Is Never Without A Plan

If there’s a test in your life that‘s stressing you to the point of cracking, even if you have to “faith it ‘til you make it,” just know this: God is at work! He never allows a test that is not without a purpose and a plan. God’s purpose is to show you that you cannot do life apart from Him—and knowing that is the greatest form of knowledge. God’s plan is to bring you to a place of humble dependence on His immutable goodness and constant provision—and there’s no better place to be. So if you’re having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, stop and thank God for yet another building block to a better testimony!

Moments With God // Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

Like Alexander the Horrible, have you just come through a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? Maybe it’s not just the day, it’s the season you are in that makes you feel like you are on a losing streak—with no end in sight. Perhaps the weight of an unwanted burden is straining your capacity—and if one more thing is added, you will break. It might be that personal failures and shortcomings are constant reminders of your incompetence—you just don’t measure up. Maybe it’s not just your day that is really bad, horrible, and no good—it’s your life, it’s you!

Or so you think. But there’s some really good, terrific news for you! If there is a test in your life that is stressing you to the point of cracking, even if you have to “faith it ‘til you make it,” just know this: God is at work! Moses reminds you that God never allows a test that is not without a purpose and a plan. The purpose is to show you that you cannot do life apart from Him—and knowing that is the highest knowledge a human being will ever attain. The plan is to bring you to a place of humble dependence on His immutable goodness and constant provision—and there is no better place to be. So thank God for tests!

Slowly read and absorb these verses again from the Message translation:

Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God’s mouth. Your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t blister those forty years. You learned deep in your heart that God disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child.

Whatever the test you are enduring, stop what you are doing, set aside your raw emotions, fears, frustrations, disappointment, and anger to reframe your thinking so that you are focusing on God’s purpose and plan for you. Realize how privileged you are that God has allowed, or even caused, and always uses what you are going through for your gain and His glory. Use your test as a building block for our testimony. Think of these wise words from Hebrews 12:7-11,

Endure hardship as discipline. Remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

So you see, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day is really not so terrible, horrible, and very bad after all. Reframe your hardship, or your test, as the discipline of your loving Father, because “God disciplines those he loves, as a father the child he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:12)

Got a test? Congratulations, it means you are incredibly loved.

Take A Moment: What is your current hardship? Embrace it as God’s discipline, which you are to embrace as love. And the best way I know to do that is simply to say “God thanks!”

Posted on

You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet!

Overruling Grace

SYNOPSIS: When God took Moses up to the top of a mountain before he was to die, then told him to look over a land that he had anticipated for forty years but could not enter because of his sin, I suspect that God also whispered in Moses’ ear, “buddy, you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Fast forward nearly 1500 years later to Luke 9 and you will see that through God’s grace, Moses actually got to experience the Promised Land after all, and in a way that the original entrance into Canaan could not compare—not by a long shot—when the resurrected Moses, along with Elijah, got to meet with Jesus in Galilee on the Mount of Transfiguration!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 34:1-4

Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho—the city of palms—as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.”

I have always felt bad for Moses and, to be honest, a bit miffed at God on this one. I mean, can you name a better, more godly leader in human history than Moses? He was absolutely brilliant in getting two million reluctant Hebrews out of Egypt. He was as patient as the day is long in putting up with their constant, whining, bickering, criticizing and rebelling. He was closer to God than any human being before or after—he spoke with God face to face. He was the most humble man in all the earth. Probably the best summary of his life are contained in the editor’s words (probably Samuel) in Deuteronomy 34:10-11,

There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.

And yet God wouldn’t allow Moses into the Promised Land. For one mistake—he smote the rock from which God brought forth water—instead of speaking to it as the Lord had commanded. In that act of anger and disobedience, God said to Moses, “you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, so you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (You can read the story in Numbers 20:1-13)

Now I am sure there is more to this story than we read in the text. Likewise, I am just as sure that even though I am trying to “dumb down” the degree of sin in Moses disobedience, all sin his offensive to a holy God. And I am quite sure that my feelings about Moses’ punishment have to do with my own fear of punishment, for if Moses got in trouble for such an understandable mistake, I don’t stand a chance. But still, the punishment here seems disproportionate to the sin. Yet God is God and I am not. And he never makes a mistake; his judgments are right and fair, even though we cannot always comprehend.

However—and this is a big one—when God took Moses up to the top of the mountain that day and told him to look over a land that he had anticipated for forty years but could not enter, I suspect that the Lord also whispered in his ear, “buddy, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Here is what I mean: If you fast forward nearly 1500 years from Deuteronomy 34 to Luke 9, you will see that through God’s grace, Moses actually got to experience the Promised Land after all, and in a way that the original entrance into Canaan could not compare—not by a long shot:

Jesus took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his exodus which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-31)

Moses, who had taken God’s glory from himself and received the just punishment for it, now appeared in God’s glorious splendor inside the Promised Land. Moreover, he spoke with God the Son about a true and better Exodus, the deliverance for the entire human race from the ultimate bondage of sin and death through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Moses got to experience the Promised Land in far greater fashion than what he was originally denied. Truly, what he saw on Pisgah Peak wasn’t anything compared to what he saw in Luke 9.

Now how awesome and encouraging is that for you and me! If and when we blow it by failing to trust God or by taking his glory for ourselves, while we will experience the painful consequences that sin always produces, we can, and should, still anticipate God’s grace. No matter how disappointed we may feel as a result of our mistakes, or God’s punishment, the good news is, like Moses, God whispers to our spirit, “you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Going Deeper: Today, do you need God’s grace to cover your mistakes or to lift you from discouragement? Humble yourself before God, because his Word promises that in response to humility, God gives more grace. (James 4;6)

Posted on

God Loves His People

God’s Love Will Hold Me Fast Today

SYNOPSIS: In the midst of the reading of God’s law—which we in the modern world often think of as restrictive and onerous—Moses reminds us that “God loves his people,” and that “all his holy ones are in his hands.” Now understand that the love of God described in this verse, as well as throughout the whole Bible, is not simply an emotional love. As Moses pictures it in Deuteronomy 33:3, it is a practical love. His love for his people—“his holy ones,” Moses calls them—leads him to hold them in his hands. In other words, God’s love is a love that is tender and close, it is a love that protects and provides, it is a love the gives and guides, and it is a love that is constant and unrelenting. And don’t forget, it is a love that will hold you fast throughout this very day.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 33:3

Indeed, God loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands.

God loves you and me! As many times as we have heard that, as much as we know that to be theologically true, sometimes we forget it. Sometimes the knowledge of our Creator’s indescribable love for us in our heads doesn’t travel to our hearts where it impacts us at the deepest part of our being. I hope today is not one of those “sometimes” for you; I think you need to hear this loud and clear today: God loves you!

John the Beloved, the Apostle of love, said it so simply yet profoundly in 1 John 3:1,

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!

What a great verse! It is profoundly simple yet poetically beautiful and incomprehensibly grace-filled—and it is personally true: Indeed, God loves his people—that means you; you are held in his loving hands. Of course, John is also the author of the most well-known, well-loved verse in the entire Bible—John 3:16,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16—someone has rightly said that John captured the whole Bible in just one verse. There is not a simpler, yet more profound truth in Scripture than this: God loved the whole world so much that he gave his Son to die for it. But let me remind you that even though the verse comes to us grammatically in the past tense, there’s nothing past tense about God’s love. God still loves the world! His love is present tense.

Likewise, let me remind you that even though the love of God described here is universal, it is also a profoundly personal love for you and me. Yes, God so loved the world, but he didn’t just look at it as one big mass of nameless faces. When the Father looked at the world and loved it, he was looking at you, his cherished child. St. Augustine, the 4th century North African Bishop, one of the most influential figures in church history, said it this way,

God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.

Now understand that the love of God described in these verses, as well as throughout the whole Bible, is not simply an emotional love. As Moses pictures it in Deuteronomy 33:3, it is a practical love. His love for his people—“his holy ones,” Moses calls them—leads him to hold them in his hands. In other words, it is a love that is tender and close, it is a love that protects and provides, it is a love the gives and guides, and it is a love that is constant and unrelenting.

Notice also that God’s love is expressed in the midst of the giving of his law to guide his people. That means his love cannot be known in its breath and depth apart from walking in his ways and living according to his will. In that sense, there are conditions to his love: you and I can neither understand it nor experience it in any old way we want; we can only come into an experience of divine love through our obedience to God. And that, obviously, is why it is reserved for his holy ones—those who have responded to his call by lovingly surrendering their lives to him and have thus become his very own people. Yes, while God loves the world and sent Jesus to die in order to redeem it, the world will never know that love apart from the experience of redemption.

Now, back to God’s love for you. Did you realize that if you were the only person on this planet, God’s love for you would still have led him to send his Son to die for your sins? Just for you, there would still be a John 3:16. I hope that you will take that simple truth into the core of your being today, because at certain times on this day you will need to lean into it. Yes, God loves you!

Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex intellectuals of the twentieth century. He wrote volume after massive volume on the meaning of life and faith. A reporter once asked Dr. Barth if he could summarize what he had said in all those volumes. Barth thought for a moment and then said,

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Go with that today, and nothing much can go wrong for you!

Going Deeper: Write the words, “Jesus loves me this I know” on a 3×5 card and place it where you can see it throughout the day. Several times today, read the card out loud to yourself (or to anyone who may be listening if you like).

Posted on

Songology

If Is Doesn't Teach Theology, It's Best Not To Sing It

SYNOPSIS: The music of the faith is meant to teach us theology—songology, we might call it. Not so much systematically, but for sure, artistically, emotionally, and viscerally. Church music should be evaluated by this and this alone: what it teaches us about God and our relationship to him. If it doesn’t teach doctrine, inspire trust and lead us to obedience, then no matter how lovely the lyrics or moving the melody, perhaps the best thing we could do with it is to toss it in the “we’re done with it” bin.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 32:4,9

Moses recited this entire song publicly to the assembly of Israel: I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! …For the people of Israel belong to the Lord; Jacob is his special possession.

I love church songs—hymns, simple choruses of the faith and modern worship music. But I’m a little bit weird; I don’t just love the music, it’s the lyrics that move me—or not. When a song teaches good theology, I’m a fan! Let’s call it songology. I think that is what the music of the faith is meant to do: teach us theology—not so much systematically, but artistically, emotionally and viscerally. If it doesn’t, no matter how lovely the lyrics and moving the melody, I am okay with tossing it into the “we’re done with it” bin. Don’t worry; it won’t be lonely. There is a great multitude of other church songs there.

Moses wrote a song for the Israelites toward the very end of his days as their leader. He was about to “go the way of all the earth.” That is code for, “I’m about to die.” He was passing the baton of leadership to Joshua, and in his final words to Israel—which went on for several chapters—he was rehearsing their history with God over the past forty years. His last will and testament was at times charming, profound, moving and tender, but then it would take a turn into deadly seriousness: Moses was not pulling his punches with their characteristic whiny and rebellious nature. He was also letting loose on what he feared most: that they would wander from God and end up in full on spiritual rebellion in the future, probably sooner than later, knowing them. Fearing that, he warned them in no uncertain terms of what the consequences would be for their unfaithfulness to God.

To put the exclamation mark on his words, he wrote this song that comprises Deuteronomy 32. The song is not just a happy little ditty from their happy old granddaddy. No, much of the song is a foreboding alert—again, he is putting into writing that which will stand as a prophetic testimony against them when they have sunk into rebellion and are experiencing the nasty consequences.

You can listen to the song for yourself. Make sure you read the entire score because while it is often harsh, it reminds us of some very important theology—the doctrine of God that should be heard again in our generation and passed on to the next. But for time’s sake, let me just mention a few bits and pieces of this songology that stuck out to me:

  • The Doctrine of God: He is our strength, just and fair, perfect in all his ways and utterly righteous. This is especially critical to grasp as you read of the punishment he will unleash on the persistently rebellious. If you read only the imprecatory portions of God’s warning, you will think of him only as an angry Deity. He is not at all. And he would be none of the things God should be if he didn’t do what he warned he would do.

He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! (Deuteronomy 32:4)

  • The Reality of Sin: Sin is not simply a mistake, nor is it merely satisfying our preferences. Sin is not God’s children exercising their freedom; it is full on rebellion against the just and righteous Creator. In fact, to persistently live in rebellion against God should call into question the legitimacy of their spiritual heritage.

But they have acted corruptly toward him; when they act so perversely, are they really his children? They are a deceitful and twisted generation. (Deuteronomy 32:5)

  • The Rule of God: Perhaps forgetting that God is our Father, our Maker, and the One who established us on the planet is the fundamental reason we sin against God. If we kept in mind that our lives are not our own, we would never ask, “what do I want?” but “what does my Owner desire from me?” God has supreme right and authority of rulership over us.

Isn’t he your Father who created you? Has he not made you and established you? … He established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court. For the people of Israel belong to the Lord; Jacob is his special possession. (Deuteronomy 32:6, 8-9)

  • The Sovereignty of God: God’s self-existence, his supreme authority, his authorship of salvation, his Fatherhood over all mankind are not just lofty doctrine that only the theologians grasp and appreciate; this is practical and meaningful theology for our everyday lives. Theology serves as a continual reminder that we must never allow the goodness of life to lull us into independence from the very One who gives us our life, supplies our every breath, and deserves our moment-by-moment loyalty.

But Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed! Then they abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation. …You neglected the Rock who had fathered you; you forgot the God who had given you birth. (Deuteronomy 32:15,18)

  • The Praiseworthiness of God: the obvious implication of all this theology is that our response of worship, now and as the ceaseless activity of our lives, is only right and fitting. The sovereign, life-giving, just, fair and righteous God alone is worthy to be praised.

I myself am he! There is no other god but me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one can be rescued from my powerful hand! …Rejoice with him, you heavens, and let all of God’s angels worship him. Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles, and let all the angels be strengthened in him. (Deuteronomy 32:39,43)

Yep, there’s good songology in Moses’ hymn. And while we don’t know if the music that accompanied it was moving, if the band was hot, if he had backup singers and dancers (which I kind of doubt) or if it hit the Billboard Top Ten Chart, we do know that the words of the song were literally inspired by the Holy Spirit for our benefit. In fact, Moses himself said as post-commentary on the song,

These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River. (Deuteronomy 32:47)

If that is literally true—which it is, by the way—then we had better start singing.

Going Deeper: Take a few minutes today and pour over this song. Then pull out your own bits and pieces of the theology contained in it. Write it down, and add your own commentary. It will be a meaningful exercise in worship.

Posted on

Way Out In Front Of You

Let Go of What You Know and Follow God

SYNOPSIS: Faith never plays it safe, never settles for the comfort zone, and never rejects the unknown. Following God means letting go of what you know and what you see for the risky adventure of pursuing what only God knows and sees. God said to Abraham, the father of our faith, “leave your land and go to one I will show you.” That wasn’t the last time God said that to a person of faith. If God said it to the father, he says it to the children—he is saying it to you: “Go!” And remember that where you go, God is already there.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 31:6

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Not only does God have your back, he’s got your front! In fact, he is way ahead of you. If you are his child, wherever he is leading you, literally, he is leading you. That means he is out ahead of you, which is what “leading” means. What that also means is that God already is where he is calling you to go.

Now I don’t know about you, but that gives me great comfort in my own journey of faith. And I need that because letting go of what I know and what I see for the risky adventure of pursuing what only God knows and sees requires courage, in large doses.

To be sure, faith is an investment of trust! God said to Abraham, the father of our faith, “leave your land and go to one I will show you.” That wasn’t the last time God said that to a person of faith. If God said it to the father, he says it to the children, and since you are a spiritual child of Abraham, God is probably saying that to you right now. So if you are going to obey God’s call to steps of faith, you will have to risk your trust.

Moses had led the Israelites to the edge of their Promised Land. He had proven himself formidable, fearless and skillful as their leader. They had come to rely on him as the voice and arm of God. But he could go no further; they would have to go on without him. And while God had graciously selected Moses’ associate, Joshua, to now lead them into battle ahead, the people were nervous. This was a new thing; Joshua was not proven as a leader to the same degree as Moses. That is why God reminded them that no matter who their human leader would be, it was God himself who would be way out in front of them.

Now think of what that implies for your steps of faith. When you are a God-follower, you are led only to where God already is. You cannot take a step that God has not already secured. Sure, you may not see where you are stepping with your natural eyes, but faith calls you to see what God has promised as firm reality. And firm reality means that where God already resides is the guarantee of your victory. That is precisely why God exhorts you to be bold and courageous.

From the human view of things, steps of faith are risky, uncomfortable and stretching. No doubt about that! You well know that if you are processing a faith decision right now. And if you are, as you are processing what faith requires of you, let me encourage you to listen to those that have already gone before you on a journey of faith—Moses, Joshua, the Israelites and everybody else in the Great Cloud of Witnesses. (Hebrews 12:1) They will say that while you may think you are going where no man has gone, the reality is God is already there. They would know—they went there, too. And they will assure you that wherever you go in response to faith is where God already is, and as you go to where God already is, you cannot lose.

God is way out in front of you; he has personally gone ahead of you. Therefore be strong and courageous!

Going Deeper: Where is God calling you to greater steps of faith? Perhaps he is prompting you to witness to a co-worker. It could be that he is speaking to you about giving of your finances. Maybe he is asking you to serve in a ministry. Possibly he is even calling you to make a major life change in order to follow him. Wherever he is calling you, he is leading you. And wherever he leads you he is already there with your victory in his hand. So be courageous and go for it.