Tag: Exodus

The Second Time Around

Today’s reading Deuteronomy 1:1 – 33

 

It seems to me that God is talking directly to me through these scriptures. In today’s reading Moses is charging the tribe of Israel to go into the Promised Land. This is the beginning of his farewell speech. The sermon that Moses is given is titled Deuteronomy which literally means “The Second Law“. This is the second time God is speaking through Moses to the tribe of Israel to give them God’s commandments. This is at the end of the 40 years that the tribe of Israel since they have been freed from Egypt and has been in the wilderness.

The time that the tribe spent in the wilderness for these forty years was not in vain, this time that they had there was for reflection and understanding God‘s purpose for the people. Actually, God had the Promised Land ready for them directly after they exited Egypt.  Moses sent twelve elders or leaders of the tribe to scout out the promised land.  From the reconnaissance, ten of the twelve hesitated and did not want to go to the promised land because of the perceived risk and dangers( Numbers 13) . Because of the majority of the leaders of the tribe, the people had to endure 40 years of reflection and endurance,  before  they could go to the promised land.

In Deuteronomy, this is the beginning of the entrance to the promised land. This is the second time that the tribe has been given the instructions to go into a claim the promised land. This is a call to action that we must not forget or put aside. God is calling us to do things a second time. We cannot allow others to influence us when God has promised us amazing things. God is calling us to move , get up and go, and keep moving. We may have outside influences that try to stumble us or try to change us, but we have to be aligned and in tune with God to move toward the promise.

Deutoronomy 1: 5-8 

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

 

Time to go: 

  • In this particular passage Moses is giving us time to go. We have to move, we cannot think about any of the risks or dangers. We must act now. We must move now. God has it ready for us and is expecting us to move. The time to go is now.

Get out of your way

  • A lot of times we overthink and over analyze situations. Is this the right time? Do we have enough money? I have to finish these other things first. I’m not healthy enough. What about the lights in the house? Did we turn off the gas to the stove? Who’s going to take care of the yard and take out the trash? I don’t have the right shoes. I don’t have enough clothes…. All of these are obstacles that we place in front of ourselves when God has already planned and provided everything that we would need on the journey and everything that we would need at the end of the Journey. Everything that we could possibly think I’ve got it already thought about that and has had planted and thriving for us before we even knew the journey was going to be made.

Move forward

  • God wants us to move forward. We know what’s in the past. We know where we have come from. We have been practicing for this journey for a long time, the children of Israel practice for forty years. Do you need 40 years to practice when God has it ready for us now?

This is a passage and a message for me in particular. There have been things that I have put on the back burner for quite some time or I have allowed obstacles to slow my progress. But God is showing me that the time is from now to move all these things for the better of me. Is God speaking to you as well? If I’m telling you that is time to move on things that you have put on the side? Has God prepared you for a journey that he’s ready for you to take? Is this the second, third, or fourth time that God has revealed this to you? When will you take his prompts and move forward?

Be blessed

 

My Salvation

How do you describe God? What words do you usually use? Deliverer, comforter, loving, just, redeemer, etc. There are endless words that can be used to describe God. Throughout all of Scripture, we are constantly learning more about the character of God. God is described in so many different ways, but what truly makes us believe and have hope in Him is that He is our salvation.

What does it mean that God is our salvation?

In Exodus 15:2, we see that Moses describes God as his salvation, “The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him”. Moses and all the Israelites have just been saved from the Egyptians. The Israelites, since the time of Abraham, believed in God as their Creator, but now, they are coming to a different understanding of Him, he has now become their hope and freedom from slavery. The Israelites have been delivered from 400 years of slavery. They know that God is for them, and is willing to save them! Moses is rejoicing and trusting that God is the only hope that He has.

In God, we have hope, and we are saved from our enemies. For the Israelites, their enemies were the Egyptians. Our enemies look a little different today. Sometimes we face physical enemies, but more than likely, we are facing “the enemy” through sin. Depression, anxiety, racial tensions, poverty, lust, etc. These are the tactics that Satan uses to try and lead us astray. Since we can say that God is our salvation, we have hope from sin!

Jesus Christ is our salvation and hope! In John 3:16, we see that Jesus says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. God loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die a horrific death, so that we may be saved from our enemy and sin! God is our salvation through Jesus Christ!

In our salvation through Jesus Christ, we have confidence in being worthy of freedom from our enemies and sin! Psalm 27:1 says, The LORD is my light and my salvation; who shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”. We are not only saved through Jesus, but we are made into a new creation. God protects us in our salvation and promises that He will be with us forever.

Jesus Christ is our salvation. He is the only one that can free us from the bondage of sin. The salvation that Jesus provides is eternal. It gives us hope for the future. This salvation that Jesus grants us is to be shared with everyone. How are you sharing this joyous message today? I encourage you to lean into understanding the Gospel message more, so that way you can continue conversations in your daily life around the salvation that Jesus gives us.