Remember Where The Blessings Come From

Deuteronomy 8.10-18

Every move of God carries with it an inherent potential problem: God takes people, makes them His people, then blesses them abundantly. Eventually they get to the point of the possibility of forgetting where the blessings came from.

This is an ongoing "tension" in our walk with the LORD-the delicate balance between loving Him without allowing the good things He has given us to come between us and Him by forgetting where the blessings came from.

Ingratitude, self sufficiency, forgetting about God were problems for Israel and the are pits into which any of us can fall if we are not on our guard.

Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it come the issues of life.

The danger of prosperity may produce is pride as God blesses a people/ a nation.

1. In Times of "Not Having" We Sense Our Need of God More. -v.10a
When- go back to the time that precedes the "when".

When they were in the desert/ the wilderness they knew they needed God.
The hungry cry out, "LORD, help me!"
The satisfied ought to say, "Thank You, LORD!" Praise God from Whom All blessings flow!

Prayer often lacks Thanksgiving but is loaded with requests. The Ten Lepers who were all cleansed by Jesus illustrates this.

Those who have received God's blessings ought to be careful lest they say,
"I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." Revelation 3.17

The suffering of the third world reinforces this truth that when people are in need they sense their need of God and depend on Him.

2. In Times of Wealth We Can Forget The LORD God. vs.10-17
Forget= to cease to care, to ignore, to wither
One of the Easter Lilies we had in the church for Holy Week had drooped last week. I watered it in the morning. After church it had not revived. When Margot and Siggy came last Monday morning to clean the church it was up and vibrant again.

The water of His Word. The Spirit gives life. John 7.37-39; Acts 2.32-33, 3.19
Deuteronomy confirms that we need to go back in our memories from time to time to the root of God's blessings.

Wealth= strength, might, army
It is easy in times of prosperity to forget Him. His blessings must never replace the place Christ is to have in our hearts. In your hearts set apart Christ Jesus as LORD.

The wilderness. desert reinforces that God will provide. Jesus spoke about the deceitfulness of wealth that can actually choke out fruitfulness in the branch (Matthew 13.22).

Finally,

3. Remember Him- v.18
Remember= to recall to mind, to think of, make a memorial, record, mention- talk about
Who among the rich believes this verse? Not many! Some do like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithea but the rest of Sanhedrin didn't.

Avoid self confidence and conceit. Humble yourself- pray. Become like a little child- tender.

When men grow rich their "need" of faith greatly diminishes. Their "dignity" forbids them to bow and worship. The entrance to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has a low entrance point. Everyone, no matter who they are, must bow before the place where Christ was born.

Let the blessings of God point you to heaven,

Think of all the good things He has given.

Don't let your heart be deceived,
Everything we have we have received.

Testing the LORD

Deuteronomy 6.1-16

Do not test the LORD as you did at Massah.

G. Campbell Morgan said, "The best commentary on the Bible on the Bible is the Bible." Look at Exodus 17.1-17. Here we see what they did at Massah.

Difficulties which challenge our faith are tests. Are we going to walk by faith or by sight?

Testing the LORD is trying  to force Him to prove Himself by imposing conditions on Him. This was the 2nd Temptation of Jesus by Satan in Matthew 4.5-7. For us this could be praying before we leave on a trip for safety versus driving recklessly and dangerous and expecting God to protect us.

1. Do Not Test the LORD Your God. -v.16

Jesus' words in Matthew 5.7

Testing the LORD means to insist that He prove Himself trustworthy. It comes from presumption and unbelief- seeking to put God to the test versus trusting Him as we walk with Him.

Now God does test us. Deuteronomy 8.2-3
Testing Him is not believing even after we have seen Him work wonders Psalm 95.6-9

He tests us to show us what is in our hearts.- 8.2
In His tests are:
1- Lessons to be learned. (for life)
2- Grace to be received. He gives grace to the humble. -8.2,3
3. Growth to take place. - 8.3 to teach you Always around God's Word. We are in an ongoing work of being made more like Jesus.

2. The Incident at Massah Exodus 17.1-7

Massah= testing or proving
They forgot what God had done. This fits into the warnings about forgetting God throughout Deuteronomy once they got into the Promised Land. A key word  and theme we see over and over again in this book is "remember".

God does all He can to foster faith in His people. He gives us the ability to believe and the choice. We must choose. He had Moses use the same rod that he struck the Nile with. He ties in object lessons along with His Word.

This incident at Massah shows how they provoked the LORD by doubting His mercy, goodness, Providence and His Word.

This culminated with the terrible question:

Is the LORD among us or not?

Doubting God's kindness is insulting to Him. Complaining and murmuring shows that doubt.

There was a mountain of evidence of the LORD taking care of them in the past. There was no reason to doubt. They were without excuse.

God works in our lives to show us His love and care and to give us reference points for the future. Each of our lives have been a journey which could be written in a journal.

3. Love, Honor and Respect the LORD. Deuteronomy 6.4-5

Love is not manipulative. It does not demand its own way.

As we mature in our walk with the LORD we learn to trust His Providence.

William Cowper's lines:
Judge not the LORD by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His Grace.
Behind a frowning Providence,
He hides a smiling face.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds you so much dread,
Are big with mercy and shall break,
With blessings on your head.

Walking with the LORD we discover quickly that we can trust Him. The peace of God at the moment we believe at salvation is foundational.
We discover as Spurgeon said, "When we cannot trace His Hand, we can trust His heart." We may not understand. That is precisely when we need to trust Him for His grace. It is at the times when the LORD is testing us, when we are going through the fire or deep waters and spend time alone with Him that the greatest growth takes place and of our love, honor and respect for Him become more precious. I Peter 1.3-9

Do not put the LORD Your God to the test. Trust Him in every test.

Walk with Him right into heaven. Psalm 23.6

Do Not Worry About What Is Up Ahead

Deuteronomy 1.19-46
v.22

When Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow," He meant it literally. Do not worry about the next day. For us, "Do not worry about Monday." He also meant it in reference to our tomorrows- in essence the future.

This is not a message against planning. The wise plan and are prepared.
This is a message about going ahead of God and not looking to Him for direction.
It is not a message which despises using our brain.
It is a message about completely trusting the LORD for tomorrow, for our tomorrows.

Proverbs 3.5-6

The reasoning of the spies sounded good but it wasn't sound. It left God out of the planning.
He deserves to be at the center. It is the wisest thing to put Him at the center. Life becomes balanced when Christ is at the center and all things revolve around Him. If something or someone or some love gets that place you are out of balance.

Worrying is placing your problems at the center.
It can take on different forms:
*It can be fretting in our hearts and minds.
*It can be trying to figure out how God is going to work.
*It can be taking all sorts of action to find out what is ahead.

1. Sending Our Thoughts Ahead. -v.22a
Let us send men ahead.
Look at v.21 They had God's Word.
Look at vs. 32-33 They had a visible proof of His Presence.
v.33 He went ahead of them They ended up getting ahead of Him. See how bad this was. They put themselves in God's place. They became the leaders of their own thinking and figuring out how they could take on the enemy.

I Corinthians 10.11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the Fulfillment of the Ages has come.

Sending our thoughts ahead we can imagine horrible scenarios.

v.39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive... they will enter the land!
This thinking ahead leaves God out.
With God's Word, God's Presence and God's Record of His Faithfulness in the past v.30 they still projected, without reliance on God.

To not believe God's Word is to make Him out to be a liar.
To not acknowledge His Presence is to trample the Son of God underfoot (Hebrews 10.29a)
To not allow the Past Faithfulness of God to encourage and help us face the future is to insult the Spirit of Grace. (Hebrews 10.29b)

Do not take thought about tomorrow. Matthew 6.34

Another thing we need to watch out for as we seek to obey Jesus' instructions concerning not worrying about tomorrow is:

2. Spying Out Rather Than Listening to God. -v.22b
Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us....
This was not God's idea, neither is there any record of them seeking the LORD about it.
Once again this sounded good but it was not sound. Like the erroneous teaching today that God wants everyone rich. Sounds good- eliminate poverty, everyone has a piece of the pie, etc. But it is not sound teaching. Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you."

Look at what this action begot. vs.26-28

Here is an example of human policy over Divine Wisdom. God will take care of enemies. This was true under the Old Covenant for Israel and is true under the New and Eternal Covenant for Christ's Church.

Don't be anxious about anything Philippians 4.6 Anxiety leads to poor decisions- decisions based on anxious worrisome thoughts and not on God's Word. Never make a major decision in time of distress- Fenelon.

Finally... Watch out for:

3. Setting Your Mind On Your Own Understanding. -v.22c
Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.

The way we take- the route
What is up ahead- the towns we will come to.

v.32 is the solution Proverbs 3.5-6 is the way to live.

For some of us Jesus' words, "Do not worry about tomorrow" seem impossible. Before you beat yourself up remember a whole generation (600,000 plus men) failed in this area. Jesus taught us to pray for forgiveness for our debts, trespasses and sins in the LORD's Prayer. If you fall short you have an Advocate with the Father.

For those of us who are strong in the faith, let us bear with the weak, encourage the timid and be merciful to those who doubt. God help us as we make our way to Heaven. Let's see to it that no one misses the grace of God.

Alive Forevermore!

Revelation 1.9-18

We are told in John 20.1 that the event of Jesus' Resurrection took place on the first day of the week. Let's read that stirring account John 20.1-20.

John had received The Revelation of Jesus Christ (v.1) on the LORD's Day (v.10)
He is describing Jesus in these verses in His Resurrected Glorified Body/ Christ words to John (vs.17-18) are full of assurance and blessing. Each time Jesus spoke of Life and Death and Life about Himself or His followers He spoke with grace, blessing. peace, hope and heaven. He spoke of eternity.

In His Own words, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever!"

1. Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." John 11.25
He spoke these words at at the home of Mary and Martha while their brother Lazarus lay in the tomb. He speak these words to us today, we who have laid loved ones who were His friends in the grave. He speaks these words to us about our own death if He does not come back before our days are over.

Christ brings hope to His followers when they are in the lowest places in their lives. In Grief, heartache, sorrow and even depression Christ is there! C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our consciences but shouts in our pain."

Jesus raised the dead while He was here on earth so that those who followed Him would believe. Lazarus was one of those He raised. One day God will bring with Jesus all those who have died in Him. This promise is for His disciples today and through the ages: I Thessalonians 4.14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

There are a lot of people I am looking forward to seeing when Jesus comes again. What a Blessed Hope we have because Jesus rose from the grave!
He is the Life. Eternal Life is both quantitative (everlasting/no end) and qualitative Revelation 21.4 No more death, mourning, crying or pain

I am alive forever and ever.

2. Jesus said that On the third day He would be raised to Life. Matthew 20.19
He always spoke of His Resurrection when He spoke about His death. The cross was always tied in to eternal life and defeating death.
We should always speak of life when we speak of the death of someone who loved the LORD.
I love D.L. Moody's words, "One day you are going to read in the paper that Dwight L. Moody had died. Don't you believe it! For on that day I shall be more alive than I have ever been!"
Alive= Life
Forever= without end

Here on earth we expect to experience death, mourning, crying and pain
When we are on the other side these things will be done away with.
The New Jerusalem is a city without a cemetery- the only one!

Jonah - Matthew 12.39-40

I am alive forever and ever

3. The reactions to this news among His followers all ended in joy.
We already spoke of Peter and John and Mary Magdalene John 20.8-9, 10-18
There were the two on the Road to Emmaus Luke 24.13-35
There was the other Mary Matthew 28.1-10
There was Thomas John 20.19-29
There is you and I today v.29

I am alive forever and ever

Coming Into Jerusalem

Matthew 20.29-21.11

Reading the Gospels you find a major portion of each one devoted to Jesus' final week in Jerusalem. Reading through the Gospels you see Jesus' Words concerning what we call Holy Week, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. He spoke about His Passion to His disciples about His sufferings, death and Resurrection. In fact He always tied in His death on the cross to the His Resurrection.

We read in Luke 9.51 As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. This was long before the final week. He had Jerusalem and His death there in view when He created the heavens and the earth. We are to told in Revelation 13.8 that He was the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. God sent His Son to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world. This is part of the account with Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus told him (vs.14-15) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

With full knowledge of this Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday nearly 2,000 years ago. He rode in knowing it was His final days on the earth. He knew the cheers of the crowd shouting, "Hosanna" would be "crucify Him" of another crowd on before the week ended. He knew this Passover would be transformed into the LORD's Supper, which we take, proclaiming the LORD's death until He comes.

Notice some things about Jesus as He came into Jerusalem on this day.

1. Jesus answered to the Title, LORD, Son of David". 20.29-34

*That is Who He Is.
Matthew 1.1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.
21.9
Mark 12.35-37
*His Hour had come John 2.4, 12.20-28
He repeatedly told people whom He had healed not to tell anyone Who had done this. He knew that this would bring about conflict too early. Now the gathering storm was about to burst. He had spoken of His hour not yet coming previously. This is why He came John 12.27

So Jesus answered the call of Blind Bartimaeus while still in Jericho but
*He was headed to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast v.29

Coming to Jerusalem...

2. He Wept Over the City. Luke 19.37-44
He is weeping over cities in America today which are destroying themselves.
He is weeping over cities around the world where people are in darkness. Jonah 4.11
Bob Pierce's prayer, "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God."

Jerusalem,
the center of worship, where Solomon built the temple.
the capital of Israel.
the place where the nations could come to worship (Court of the Gentiles)
the place where the Nation of Israel in its infancy was saved- Abraham and Isaac on Moriah

*They missed their day, their opportunity
Don't miss it- follow the LORD this day! Obey Him fully.

*It would have brought them peace.
Jerusalem destroyed 17 times, conquered 40.
Peace was within their grasp and they missed it.
Christ welcomed into a heart, a broken home, even His Church where He knocks to re-enter would bring peace within. If He is rejected hope is lost. Peace is eluded.
Jerusalem is now doomed to destruction, the consequence of shutting Christ out.

Finally as He comes into Jerusalem...

3. The Crowds Shouted "Hosanna" As He Rode in on a Donkey. 21.1-11
Psalm 118
vs.10-11
Jerusalem asked. The Galileans answered.
The whole city was affected, shaken, quaking, trembling agitated.
The disciples did what He said. His disciples do. -v.6
Many looked at Him as a temporary deliverer, one who would overthrow the Roman occupation and restore the kingdom to Israel. But His kingdom is not of this world. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and deliver people from the kingdom of darkness into His glorious light.

Now He makes intercession for the transgressors and His Church Isaiah 53.12

This is why He came into Jerusalem in Palm Sunday.