The Good Land

Joshua 24:20-21,23-24‬ - "If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good." And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD!" "Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” 

I had written this particular blog awhile ago but never got around to posting. After yesterday's blog, I thought it appropriate to post now. Perhaps the timing is better!

The foreign gods we are to put away are the things of the world. As Christians we are considered foreigners in this world because when we have received Christ we have a heavenly kingdom to think about. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful [worldly] desires, which wage war against your soul. (‭1Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭11) 

Like I said last time, Adam and Eve were ushered out of the good land. Jesus ushers us back in through His forgiveness of our sins, those sins the two in the garden did not at first have. None of us are good. None of us are free from sin...until we receive Jesus Christ.

Then when God has given us the good land, after receiving Christ, we should want to cling to it because of His goodness. We must be obedient to listen, obey and serve Him. Just as God gave Israel the Promised Land, God gives us our heavenly kingdom. Israel had to follow Him, though. Did they always do it willingly? No...those who struggled most were the older people who had known the life of captivity in Egypt. That complaining is what held them back, caused them to wander forty years in the desert. Plus, they did not make it to the Promised Land. They'd forgotten about all the signs and wonders of God that released them. It was a form of rejection of God. Only the next generation, who had not known captivity, but were steadfast in following God, who daily saw Him at work, entered this Promised Land.  

As God has shown, His judgment fell upon those elder Israelites. (Numbers 14) This will happen to those who do not think God is to be revered today, who choose not to follow Him. The kingdom of heaven is reserved for true followers.

Our lives, once given to God, are fueled by our obedience and His goodness. We must remember this. It is He who urged us into relationship with Him. It is He who gave His only Son to die for our sins. It is He we should be eternally grateful to. Joshua reminded Israel of the goodness He displayed:

“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed." (Joshua‬ ‭23‬:‭14)  God is the same today as yesterday. 

Joshua also reminded Israel, like God has reminds us, if we are not willing and obedient:

"[If you transgress] the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the 
anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.” (‭Joshua‬ ‭23‬:‭16‬)

But the LORD...

Deuteronomy 3:26-27 - "But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: "Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 

Moses was a godly man; however, when it came time for the people of Israel to cross over the Jordan river to possess the promised land God had promised them, Moses was not allowed to go. He had angered the LORD...because the people angered him.

Forty years and one whole generation of Israel who had been told they would enter into their promised land had come and gone. They had grown weary of their travels, were disobedient to the God who was providing all their needs daily. They were thirsty and complained to Moses about this God. In his anger over their complaint Moses took it to God and bitterly complained about them. God said to speak to a rock and water would be theirs to soothe their grumbling yet again.

Once before these grumblers complained about water and God ordered Moses to strike a rock with his staff. Water poured out. This time, in his anger, Moses again struck this rock. Water did come, but at a price. Moses was disobedient...he needed only to speak to the rock. He had disobeyed God.

Sounds like a menial thing, right? But when God wants you to do something, you do it His way. His was is the right way. I was talking with a friend the other morning about how we sometimes feel we are not quite always right with God. Feel is the word. We can let our feelings get in the way. God doesn't call us to do something big every day. We hear His voice often as we read His Word, think about Him, meditate on His Word. But He doesn't always call us to just get out and do some huge thing every day. It's all the little things we do each day. I knew I heard from God when He told me to leave my church. That was a huge thing! I didn't want to! I didn't understand why until I started questioning Him. Why, why, why?? You will see this happen, and get this and know this...were the answers that came in time. All I could do is obey...and some day I know those things will come about.

But for Moses' indiscretion, however, he was not allowed into the Promised Land. Seems like a crushing blow. Although disheartened, Moses knew he had done wrong...and he went on to plead with the people, See what the LORD has done to me. Pay attention. This is as an example to you. You wandered 40 years in the desert because of your disobedience. Many of your people died. If you want to cross over to the land He has promised you, you must be obedient, that you might live. I wrote about this yesterday. Deuteronomy 4:1 - Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you.  

There is a reason we have a Bible, why God chose to inspire the men who wrote it...that we might know Him, His power, His commandments, His Way to eternal life, His right to determine what must be done to receive this eternal life. For Israel it was direct obedience to God who was with them, yet unseen. For us it is through Jesus Christ, who can be with us always, yet unseen, if we receive Him into our lives and obey what He tells us, which is the very heart of God, the very things He hears His Father tell Him. Jesus is God also and the Holy Spirit, once we have received Christ, will teach us things because He also is God. Oh, I love the mysteries....

When you seek the Lord and receive Him, you will see all He has done for you and what He will do as a result of your obedience. It is imperative to never forget where you have come from...what He has done to make positive changes in your life...to keep His commandments, to know them and never forget them.

Deuteronomy 4:3-4, 9 - Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you. Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren...

Confession From the Heart

Numbers 32:11, 13-15 - Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me... So the Lord ’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until ALL the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to INCREASE STILL MORE the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again LEAVE THEM IN THE WILDERNESS, and you will destroy all these people.”

From captivity to freedom. The story of Moses leading the people out of Egypt to enter into a land God had promised them. There is so much to glean from this account. It is the story of salvation. It is a most vital story. Like Moses, Jesus leads us out of captivity. Moses is a type of Jesus.

We will never enter our promised land without receiving Christ, without obedience to Him. The promised land can be our paradise, through Christ. It has been discussed that Jerusalem, where Jesus will return one day soon, was the center of the garden of Eden. God started life in the garden, banished Adam and Eve from that garden when they sinned. We are all separated from God as a result of their sin. Jesus said on the cross to one of the other sinners, "Today you will be with Me in paradise," when this thief confessed Jesus and hurled these remarks at the other thief: Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. (Luke 23:40-41)
He offers that same paradise statement to each person who confesses Jesus as Lord. That promised land.

But as the scripture above states, we will not see the promised land without first following Jesus and wholly following Him. The wandering in the wilderness of the world will continue. The sinfulness of man will continue to increase. The anger of the LORD will continue to grow. The people will one day be utterly destroyed for their lack of belief in and obedience to God/Jesus.

We can confess Jesus in two ways. One is from our heart and one is from our mind. If confession is not from the heart it has no meaning. Nothing has changed. We have not crossed over to enter the promised land. God knows what lies in the recesses of both our heart and mind; nothing is hidden from Him. He knows... What we say, how we feel, react, live, is all taken into account. I picture God with a clipboard and checklist for each of us and He's making notes. (Now I know He doesn't need to really do that...) Our sin will find us out. Will we ever be perfect? No. But we must make a conscious effort to do as He says and not deliberately sin.

To inherit eternal life, Jesus tells is, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength (Luke 10:25, Matthew 22:36-38). This is the first commandment...to have no other gods before Him. Confess your sins like the thief, confess Jesus as Lord...from your heart.

Numbers 32:23 - But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.

Let Us...Enter In

Hebrews 4:1,11,14,16  - Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it...let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience...let us hold fast our confession...let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace...

Oh, the richness of these verses. I mentioned the other day about entering into God's rest. This rest I said is the presence of God. It's having faith in Him and trusting that He can be all we ever need.

The Book of Hebrews was a teaching to converted Jews, those who in that day received Christ as their Messiah. The reason it was written was to strengthen and encourage them in their belief because of the persecution they received when they converted. I could take a rabbit trail here, but I edited those paragraphs out! Phew, some of you might be thinking.

The message is for all of us, however. When we enter into relationship with Jesus, we enter into His rest. We are allowed access to God through Jesus Christ. We are allowed to enter into His presence without fear. We do not need to go through anyone else.

The scriptures above describe, first, anyone today who has heard the truth of Jesus and about God's rest, who have heard the Gospel preached but who may still be wary of entering in. The second part is not to let that understanding and entering slip by, like Israel did when they wandered for forty years in the wilderness. (More to follow.) Today people still avoid entering into God's rest, choosing Christ. Let the wandering cease. Enter in.

The third part of the scripture describes those who have entered into rest, who have received Christ, who have confessed Jesus and the importance for them to hold fast to this confession and continue in obedience to follow Him. The fourth part is also for believers...because we have received Christ we now have access to God. We do not need to fear entering into His presence. We receive mercy anew each day. And in so doing, His rest, His presence, His guidance, His help is always before us.

This is the rest we are given. Before we know Christ we are separated from God. There has been a separation since Adam and Eve. But God...gave us His Son Jesus that we might regain what Adam and Eve once had, communion with God.

This is knowing the truth and being set free. When we enter in there is a freedom we have. There will be a day when everyone will know the truth. Everyone will know one way or the other whether they have embraced Jesus or embraced the world's idea of diversity. 

As I see all that's happening in this world, I see where there is no rest because God is not always a part of the picture. I see what this country once stood for eroding completely. It no longer stands on the views of the founding fathers of God and country. Honesty, integrity and truth have been lessened, just as the Church has given in to the way of the world, choosing to water down the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The truth of Jesus is less harsh and more palatable to those people the Church wants draw in. No one wants to hear hard words. You've heard me say this many times.

But for those of us who understand the times, understand who Jesus is--for real--who stand by the truth of His Word, we have entered into His rest. This rest, His presence, is marvelous. If we continue in His rest the things of the world can aggravate or frustrate us, but we also can cling to the knowledge of the good things God has for us. 

This rest, again, is for everyone. It's all about entering into relationship with Christ and receiving Him. All it takes is asking Jesus. Asking and believing. No works are necessary. All He desires is you...first and foremost...you. He desires your allegiance to Him, your faith and trust in Him for all things in your life. 

When you give yourself into His rest, giving Him your faith and trust in Him, not the world, not your family, not your church, He will handle the difficult times. There is nothing we can do apart from God to make this world better. We trust God to take care of us individually. When the world around us crumbles, when governments fail, when life is not so secure as it once was, we can know without a doubt that our God has us securely in the palm of His hand and we can rest, assured of our future. 

Receive Christ and enter in--the foremost act of obedience. Then Jesus can be our bridge to God. He can be our mediator. He can receive our prayers Himself. We are allowed bold access to the throne of God through Christ Jesus to receive grace and mercy. His mercy and grace is new and available to us each day. All we need do is confess our allegiance to Christ. Confess Christ and enter in.

For some it is difficult to confess Christ. The world tells us one thing, which I myself believed once, you don't need God. It's all about you. But He tells us another thing, that it's not always an easy road to take following Him, that we might be alone in this walk, but it's well worth it in the very end:  Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:14 ) 

There's another part of the scripture I started with where God is quoted saying, "So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest."  I left that out in order to emphasize it here. It's a quote from Psalm 95. It is a call to obedience. 

Psalm 95:7-11 -  Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, "It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways." So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."

This is the reference to their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. God offered His people rest but in disobedience they failed to do so. Because they did not accept His rest, His presence, in time He offered it to another group of people...those who chose to believe in Christ. 

You will note in the Psalm Today, if you will hear His voice... that is what the Lord still says. Today is not too late. Tomorrow might be. Do not harden your heart. The world view is a hardened heart. It is the wide road to destruction. Don't wander in your wilderness another day but heed the voice of God. Don't enter into the same type of disobedience Israel did, but instead enter in to God's rest, His glorious presence.

Hebrews 4:11 - Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience...that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.