NO VICTORY LAPS!

  Wide-eyed and unbelieving, the Israelites have traveled the distance from the land of Goshen, Egypt as freed slaves and now they are at the threshold of the Land promised by to God to them.  Even with the promise of the Land, God going before them, a land of "milk and honey", Moses and Aaron,  the  report is given and the people choose to believe the report of the majority of the spies, and rebel against the LORD GOD.  Moses intercedes in prayer for them, God forgives their rebellion, however the cost for rebellion and unbelief will be forty years..."a year for each of the forty days you explored the land..you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you."  HE reminds them that they have tested HIM and disobeyed against HIM ten times.  Upon hearing the consequences of their rebellion, they mourn, weep bitterly, confess they have sinned, and agree to go up to the place the Lord promised them. 

 Even though the cloud of the Lord nor the Ark of the Covenant has left the Tent of Meeting, the people
prepare to go up, regardless.   Moses gives them the grave warning:  You are disobeying the LORD in going up, the LORD is not going with you, you will not succeed!  When we are intent in operating in the control of our "flesh" rather than obedience and yielding to the control of the Indwelling Spirit, there will be no victory.  Scripture records, "Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the hill country"..they came down, in defeat of being attacked and beaten by the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in the hill country.  

Of course, the Israelites at this time did not have the Indwelling Holy Spirit, but they had God speaking and guiding them with His presence of the cloud and a pillar of fire, Moses and Aaron.  They had information!  Moving to you and me...in our presumption (pride), defeat or success, what have we done under the control of flesh?  What has been the cost to ourselves and our relationships?  Proverbs 13:15, says it so much more direct, "Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard."  Our Loving Father intends the way of the flesh to be hard/perpetual, rough so that we will turn away from those choices.  The danger of the flesh route for the Christ follower is that being unfaithful, a transgressor, a rebellious person can become my mindset or personae...the way I choose to operate which will affect my every relationship!   Oh Holy Spirit of God finger the presumption!  Forever learning.  In process.  #IHAVETHREESONS.   How I desire to make a victory lap!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THOSE SEEING CAN BECOME BLIND

Image
John 9 is the story of the healing of the blind beggar.  Not only is it a marvelous story of the miraculous healing of the man as he is given his sight, but a sad story of the religious of whom Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind ." The religious have seen the miracle, even though it has taken place on a Sabbath, and they interview the man and his parents for their stories and understanding. I find it so thrilling that the healed man speaks so articulately and logically with the religious in their "interview" with him.  His statement, " Now that is remarkable!  You don't know where HE comes from, yet HE opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners.  He listens to the godly man who does His will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." What truth he has spoken to the religious wh
Read more

REHEARSALS

Image
  I wonder how much time do I give to rehearsing God's goodness and how He has intervened in my life to "save" me from myself?  How alike the Israelites I can be, complaining about what goes wrong, how it affects me, and what I lack.  As a Christ follower, I have the Indwelling Holy Spirit to give me remembrance NOT of my complaining and grumbling, but of a recall of God's faithfulness to me.  It is recorded in Psalms 78 and 106 that " They forgot what He had done, the wonder He had shown them", "They did not remember His power--the day He redeemed them from the oppressor...", "They did not remember Your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.", "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel.", and "They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt...". Contrast with me, God's remembrance: Ps. 106:44-46, "But He took note of their distress
Read more

ORDER AND DESIGN

Image
    I do not have OCD, but I do confess that I like order in my home.  Now that I am retired, I am not so much into spotless, but "picked up" and "kinda" clean. (Do not open drawers and closets!) I might go to more trouble when I know I am having company, but otherwise, I remove the clutter that seems to reproduce on its own.   When I began the reading in Genesis in January, I was again taken with the with the orderliness and design of God in creation, and have seen Him use Moses and Aaron to ORDERLY marshal the Israelites to move out of Egypt. How do you move some 600+ males and that is not even wives and children? Animals also?  They have been one year+ out of Egypt, and have been camped at Mt. Sinai where God has given them laws for their spiritual and physical welfare.  God gives Moses the design of the Tabernacle and Moses is able to bring together the workers to complete the Tabernacle.   The clip art at the top is the positioning of the 12 Tribes and the
Read more