Whenever we
find ourselves in difficult situations or important crossroads, we tend to go
to God in prayer to find out God's will. We usually expect God to give us clear
instructions as to what we should do, so we can live a gentle and easier life.
Or we want to be told what to do so as to avoid loss or punishment.
Moses had to
constantly seek God's will. However, what the scriptures tells us about God's
will, does not show the easiest path or perfect choice. Instead, it gives a
message that suggests some things, like the future belong to God.
Deuteronomy
29:29 ESV
[29] “The
secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed
belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this
law.
We are
instructed to know God's law so we can follow it in obedience. God knows what the future is and does not
need to tell His people to know the future but to have the faith to trust
God.
We know that
God is good and His law is good. We need faith to follow God and please Him
with our obedience. God's will for us in now. We need faith now.
We might make
the wrong decisions and suffer for this. We can change our directions or plans
later. That is life. We learn from our mistakes and that is good. However, it
is also important to ask ourselves why we are changing our plans or decisions.
Are we changing our decisions to honor God or please ourselves.
To live the
will of God, it means maintaining our relationship with God through faith,
prayer and obedience.
Matthew 22:37
ESV
[37] And he
said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.
It is easy to
think about all the possibilities that might happen in the future. We can waste
much energy and time on worrying about things that might never happen.
There are two
types of will with God. Gods will of delight and God's will of permission. God
allow different events happen even if God is not happy about it
We see this in the parable of The Prodigal Son
or the crucifixion of Jesus.
How to live
in God's will? We will not get a clear map or instructions how to live God's
plan. This is unrealistic, but God does give us His word. We can live in faith
knowing the character and laws of God.
We need to
trust God enough to obey God now in present and not worry about the future
God put the Israelites in the desert for forty years after rescuing them from Egypt. The Israelites could have gone through the Philistine territory to arrive at Canaan earlier. So why not let them arrive earlier.
We have to go through suffering and hardships. It is a truth shared by all. Being a Christian does not exempt us from hardships, and we endure these tough times for different reasons.
And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV
We have not yet been perfectly transformed and still need training just as the Israelites needed training. They had to develop their faith and spirituality. God needs to make us humble. This is because an arrogant person cannot fully accept God as their creator and savior.
God gave food and water when the Israelites were humble and submitted to God. When the they were proud and felt entitled to food or water, God showed them their true relationship to God. The result was the Israelites better understood that they could not live without God.
Even though we may profess and truly believe in God, we might need to be humbled by God. Our relationship sometimes needs to be shaken so we understand what has happened.
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4 ESV
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV
God also needed to give a message. In fact, we need to hear the messages of God. We are taught that God's word is our bread. Without the word of God, we will starve. His word will guide us and sustain us.
Not only do we need to know God's word, we need to practice it. God needs to test us to see if we would keep his commands. We can study and talk about God's word, but if we do not practice it, we are fake followers.
Our spiritual battles can only be won if we follow God's commands. God knows what is best for us and wants to train us to succeed and do what is right and pleasing to Him.
When we are going through difficult times, we can be assured that God is with us and wants us to be humble and rely on Him. Let us draw closer to Him in the good times and the bad.
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.
This is the final Sunday of January 2020 and the last sermon for the 2020 foundational message which is.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
As a church we need to embrace these words and hold onto it to experience God.
It is the intention of God to give us His joy and we need to repent of anything that is preventing us from experiencing God's joy. We need to love God. We have all had success and failures and we are reminded of these failures. Moses has the same words for us which is to love God with all our hearts. The way to do this is to put the words on our hearts.
When our emotions fail us, we need to get our intellect to push us on to loving God. And when our intellect fails us, we need to have our will push us to love God.
We also need to commit the words of God to our family and teach them to our children. God's words needs to become the impetus of everything we do. We need to strive to know him in everything we do.
Not only will the words of God will govern our household but will also allow others see that I am Christian. My lifestyle will demonstrate how Christ is working in me, and this witnessing will be organic and genuine so that people will truly see God’s work. The intention of God is to bless His people who honour Him.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"
John 7:38 ESV
, and
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
God counts on us to channel His blessings. We must take action and put into practice God’s words.
In Deuteronomy 6:10-15, we read that we need to be careful not to forget all that He has done. God wants to bless us, but let us be vigilant that we are obedient to God. For some of us it is easy to overcome adversity, but it is easy to forget when things become comfortable. God intends to bless us but we need to be committed in good times and bad times.
For 2020, let us make every effort to worship and praise God for all that He has done for us. Also, let us make every effort to be obedient to His word and seek His guidance as we walk in His blessing and protection.
Continuing with last week's topic of walking in God's
blessings, we look at God's words to the Israelites before they entered the Promised
Land. The Red Sea had been crossed, but not the Jordan River. Moreover, except
for three people, everyone else from the previous generation had died before
crossing the Jordan. It was the new generation that would enter the Promised
Land, and they had concerns.
The next generation knew how the previous generation had
failed, so they asked Moses how they could act so they would not fail. Moses
told the Israelites that God had said,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might."
Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV
By your heart, we understand that this means our whole
being. Even when our emotions tell us differently, we need to have our will
push us on. Even when our circumstances show us differently, we still press on
with our commitment to God daily.
Our entailment for the love of God involves putting His
words on our heart. This means patterning our lives according to the word of
God.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your
heart.
Deuteronomy 6:6 ESV
Most Christians do not really know God, and until we know
God, we cannot love God. Reading the word of God allows us to know God. By
praying to God, we show that we want to know God more. We need to make
sacrifices to read and learn about God.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my
Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
John 14:6-7 ESV
We need to teach God's laws to our children.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall
talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV
God wants us to love him so that things will be well with
us. God wants us to be successful, to be blessed and to be protected for us and
the generations to follow. God wants us to pass on His words to your children
and everyone on your household.
that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and
your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I
command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear
therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and
that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord , the God of your fathers, has
promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 6:2-3 ESV
Your lifestyle should be transformed. What you say needs to
be demonstrated through your actions. This is truly God working in your life to
be seen by others.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 6:8 ESV
We cannot teach God until we know God. We need to study God
and His word. Then we can teach our children about God. The best heritage that
we can pass on to our children is not material wealth but the love of God.
We also need to act in a way that people outside our homes
would see that we are unique because we are God's people. We need to act in a
way that others would be drawn to God's way and love.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on
your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:9 ESV
It is only when we truly and completely follow God that we and
future generations will be blessed, and those outside of the church will see
God’s goodness and glory.
In the New Year, we need to be alert to what God wants us to hear. God has plans and instructions for us, so we need to heed this for blessings and survival.
This year the Onnuri message is "Love the Lord Your God with All your Heart."
In the Exodus journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Israelites had seen the power of God and experienced many miracles. They put their confidence in God after God had destroyed Pharaoh’s pursuing army. They gave glory to God. Later in Exodus 17, the Israelites complained because there was nothing to drink and they believed they would die. They quickly forgot about what God had done. Many died and there were many demonstrations of love, contempt, mistrust, faithfulness, and death over 40 years.
In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are about to enter the Promised Land, but they have wandered for 40 years because of mistakes they had made. Moses gives them these words to encourage and direct them.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
In 2020, just like the Israelites who were about to enter, we need to hear these commands. The command is clear that we need to focus on God with all that we have. God is our master, and we are His servants.
But not only are we to serve God with all that we are, but also we are to love God. God wants us to give our lives to God. It means that God will control our lives. In everything we choose to do, it needs to be distinct to God.
The Israelites were very aware of the history they had and how they failed and were punished. They also remember all the times they praised God when things went well and then they moved away from God. To experience the goodness of God Moses gave these instruction to move towards God and stay with God.
Do everything possible to make those words (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) a part of you.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:6 ESV
We need to give back our love back to God by governing ourselves to His word. We have to keep them all the time, every day and especially when we find ourselves have fallen. His mercies are new every morning.
When God spoke to the Israelites
through Moses and urged them to choose life and prosperity over death and
destruction (Deut. 30:11-30), he was fully aware of his sovereignty. But this sovereign God honored his people so
much that he made them partners in creating the best possible life. This partnership began in the Garden of
Eden. The sovereign God punished man for
their disobedience instead of overruling man's actions because of his sovereignty;
how can humans be held accountable for their actions in the world of a
sovereign God? Yet at the same time out
of his sovereignty, he made the clothes of skins and cast them out of the
Garden so that man could have a second chance in creating the best possible life.
This same sovereign God who
punished Adam and Eve for their disobedience is also the sovereign God who
rewards those who seek him diligently (Heb. 11:6) even though he grants grace
for life to go on even if we do not seek him diligently.
Therefore, as believers who claim
to be the children of this sovereign God, let us seek him diligently. In seeking him diligently, let us not forget
that our faith matters. The writer of Hebrews
in 11:6 says "it is impossible to please God without faith" and
according to Jesus "everything is possible for him who believes"
(Mark 9:23). Paul takes this a step
further by claiming "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me" (Phil. 4:13). We could go on
and on to see how Bible values the attitude of faith in matters of life in this
world and also for the world to come.
I am fully aware that many of us
struggle in life from one way or the other.
Some of these struggles have been there for a long period of time and
now it appears as if you will never be able to overcome them. But I want to encourage you by saying that there
is absolutely nothing beyond God's ability to change or transform. When you read statements like this, it makes
you throw out, right? But I tell you, when I used to hear or read a statement
like this, that is how I used to feel when I was going through my struggles in life. But early in life I made Mark 9:23 the verse
of my life and even when I saw the impossibilities surrounding my life, I kept on
repeating and believing that promise along with others that spoke to my
struggles. After years of standing on these
verses, I can testify to you that Jesus means what he said. The tree did dry from the bottom at Jesus'
words (Mark 11)!
So, if you are struggling in your
health, keep believing and speaking the promises of healing. If you are struggling in your finances, keep
believing and speaking the promises of God's provision. If you are struggling in your marriage and
family, keep believing and speaking God's promises of a happy and blessed
home. If you are struggling with certain
sins that beset your walk with God, keep believing and speaking the promises of
God's forgiveness and complete victory in Christ. If you are struggling with some kinds of
addictions, keep believing and speaking the promises of God's ability to set
you free from all bondage. If you are struggling
with broken relationships and hurt, keep believing and speaking the promises of
God's healing and restoration in which even your enemies will come to live in
peace with you. If you are struggling
with the loss of hopes and dreams, keep believing and speaking in God's ability
to restore the years locusts have eaten from your life; keep believing and
speaking God's ability to make all things new.
Whatever may be the struggle…never lower your faith in God's ability to
do the impossible in the face of seeming impossibility!
The choice is yours to believe
and dream even when there is no evidence and if you are a constant believer and
speaker of God's promises, you will look back and praise the Lord like never
before when you begin to see him act on your behalf. You will finally say "I never thought
this was possible…but God"!
Or, you can choose not to believe
in God's promises and allow your struggles to dictate the course of your life
until it ends in losses and misery of all kinds only to realize how much you
missed while on earth. You hoped and
wished for a better day but that day never came, and now you stand before the
Lord trying to tell him what went wrong with you while on earth! As you stand before the Lord in the portals
of glory; your mind rushes back to earth and…
Church attendance could have been
much more joyful. Worship could have
been a delight. Prayer could have been a
pleasure. Charity could have been a
treasure. Marriage could have been a
paradise. Friendships could have been
richer and deeper. Health could have
been robust. Material life could have
been a blessing. The journey through
earth could have been an amazing adventure and discovery. But all those amazing possibilities were squandered
because you chose to allow the struggles to dictate our stay on earth instead
of God's promises.
That is why, Moses the man of God
commanded Israelites to make up their minds to choose life and prosperity by
"loving God" by "walking in his ways" and "keeping his
commands and decrees" (Deut. 30:15).
Saint John sums up Moses' instructions in two commandments; 1) believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and 2) love each other (1John 3:23). Faith and love will see us through the
struggles of this life. Therefore, let
us choose faith and love and in doing so, we will inherit life and prosperity!
