April 7
Deut 31:1-32:27 | PS 78:32-55 | Prov 12:21-23 | Luke 12:8-34
We read in Luke 12:31, "Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need." Consider the power behind this statement and at the same time how inadequate we often are at living according to it. To live out the life that God has paved for each of us we must pivot our eyes from the temporal and onto the eternal. To live the fearless life that He desires for each of us, in faith we must pivot our eyes off ourselves and what is before us, and onto God who truly knows, truly cares, and truly has the power to do what is necessary. Consider the recurring encouragement given by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 31:8, "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” But no sooner that God gives this message through Moses, He gives them another message, in the form of a song to be told beforehand when the people choose to abandon God, as depicted in 32:15, "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." Can we not see that the problem that occurred among the people of Israel is just as common today in those who claim to be of faith right now, here in America? God never changes, and sadly, neither do people.
Some might erroneously think that God adjusts to changing times. But this typology was seen many times throughout the pages of the Old Testament. We read in Deuteronomy 31:2-3, “And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said.” Realize the Jordan River represents the death of our old nature, as we read in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Also stated in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" The Promised Land is not a picture of heaven, because there are still many battles, etc. It represents life empowered by the Holy Spirit. Moses represents the law. The law is good, but by itself was incapable of bringing people through the Jordan and into the Promised Land, as Moses was not allowed to enter. Joshua, on the other hand, is Jesus in Greek, which means Jehovah is Salvation. It was Joshua who led them into the Promised Land.
We live in a world with so much stuff in the way of distractions. Everything, even good things, can easily take our eyes away from God and onto one earthly thing after another. Day after day, responsibility after responsibility, even ministries, as good as they are, can lead one's focus onto the task at hand and off of God who is the one who is above each and every task. We read in Luke 12:34, "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." We must ask ourselves what the desires of our heart are. The purpose of the One Year Bible Challenge is to get people to go through the entirety of God's counsel year after year. This needs to be our foundation. If we toss this aside, we are positioned to follow one rabbit trail after another, each one leading you further and further from the truth. Consider Moses' instructions, again remembering, those of us in Christ are now living in the Promised Land, in Deuteronomy 31:10-13, "Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses. Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”" Notice God’s Word was given to all, not to Rabbis, Pastors, and Priests who were to interpret it for them. Leaders can assist, but never must place themselves as a go-between, when the veil itself was torn in the Temple, and the only go-between that is now needed is Jesus, Himself. He will provide the tools necessary to understand if the heart and mind are truly seeking.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: