"Candidates for Failure"(Deuteronomy 1:1-8)

 Deuteronomy 1:1-8

 The Israelites were almost at the promised land in Canna. The journey by foot should only had taken 11 days, but instead it took 40 years. The fact was that the Israelites still did not fully trust God and were not permitted to enter the promised land. Despite several miracles, providence and fulfilled prophecies, the people murmured every time there was a problem. It was the same when the Israelite scouts went in.

 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”

Deuteronomy 1:28 ESV

 The fear was not just caused by the serious threats that they faced. It was their hearts.

 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God,

Deuteronomy 1:32 ESV

 

There are three types of people.

1.       Those who are without plans.

2.       Those who make foolish plan.

3.       Those who make wise plans.

We want to be like the third kind of person who seeks God to make wise plans.

 We also need to be aware that our success and failure on different goals may make us candidates for failure.

1.       Failing to succeed on the right thing.

2.       Succeeding on the wrong thing

3.       Failing on what God wants me to do.

4.       Succeeding on what God wants you to do.

 

Here are two type of candidates who will fail in the kingdom of God.

 

 Candidate 1

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:13-17 ESV

 James warns us of making plans especially for our own gain and profit since it does not include God. We should put God first in our plans.

 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

 We need to ask what the will of God is in our life. By seeking God first, we will find the will of God.

 

Candidate 2

 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Luke 12:16-20 ESV

 The rich man has so much that he no longer needs to worry and can now retire. However, God tells the rich man that it is time for him to die. The rich man does not seek God on how to use his wealth. This is his mistake. The rich man did not understand the sovereignty of God and focused on his pleasure.

 We live in a world that indulges in the self. Yet, we are called to be channels of blessings. As we give away, God will give.

 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39 ESV

 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23 ESV

 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 ESV

 We need to know Jesus and accept Jesus as our savior. 

 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7 ESV

 Jesus calls us to serve and make disciples.

 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 ESV

 Let us make our plans according to God’s will so that we would be candidates for success.