Totally Committed

After the holidays, our brains are saturated and in withdrawal from all that marks the season with joy and excess. Now that we are striving to find a rhythm, both new and familiar, let's return to our study of Deuteronomy. Having studied Provision and Obedience, let's look at Commitment.

Read Deuteronomy 29-30

. . . The LORD your God is making this covenant with you who stand in His presence today and also with all future generations of Israel. . . The LORD made this covenant with you so that no man, woman, family, or tribe among you would turn away from the LORD our God to worship these gods of other nations . . . if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. . .Today I give you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. . . Choose to love the LORD you God and to obey Him and commit yourself to Him, for He is your life. . .

The Israelites are God's Chosen People, a covenant-people. The warnings of Moses will become reality. Israel and Judah will both choose to worship idols, choose to follow the rituals of religion but without the right intention. Both will fall as predicted because they are not totally committed to the Lord. (You can read the following references for an account of their fall: 2 Kings 17 for Israel's exile to Assyria; 2 Chronicles 36 for Judah's exile to Babylon.)

God provides the way for the Israelites to remain separated from the pagan culture of this new land, provides a guide to purity and faithfulness that would signify that they belong to Him. Their faithfulness to God through the Covenant would provide all they need in their Promised Land. To be successful they need to remain committed to God.

Commitment is not easy. Remaining faithful to God requires us to seek God at every turn. While God provides all that we need and more, unless we seek Him in obedience and follow with sincere commitment, we, too, will miss the blessings. In our faith journey, God gives us a choice, too. We can choose to worship the Lord, choose to love the Lord wholeheartedly, or we choose to go another way, choose the way of the world. Our commitment to God's Promises defines the depth of our faithfulness and the height of our joy!

The LORD your God will make you successful in everything you do. . . God will delight in being good to you. Deuteronomy 30:9

Even though the Israelites wander from God in their new land, He never stops loving them. He will restore them. Even if you have wandered from Him, God still chooses to love you! He will restore you! Jesus Christ became the New Covenant for all people. Through Him, our relationship with God can be restored. God is totally committed and chooses us!

Consider this!

• What would be the consequences of the Israelites' total commitment to God?
• How do you demonstrate your total commitment to God? What are your consequences when you choose another way?

Lord, I am amazed that You choose me ~ choose to love me with my doubts and failures, choose to reach out to me when I look the other way, choose to heal me with all my wounds, choose to rescue me when I wander so far away. You are totally committed! Forgive me! Encourage me! Strengthen me! I long for my intentions to be pure, faithful, committed. I long for Your Delight! Amen.

dho

Christmas Day ~ 2008

Affirmation of Faith on this Holy day

I believe that Christmas is more than a time for parties and ornaments; it is a time for remembering Christ and the incarnation of God's love in human flesh.
I believe there are gifts more important than the ones under the Christmas tree, such as the things we teach our children, the way we share ourselves with friends, and the industry with which we set about reshaping the world in our time.
I believe that the finest carols are often sung by ordinary voices, from hearts made warm by the wonder of the season.
I believe in the angels' message that we should not be afraid - that the Child of Bethlehem is able to overcome all anxieties and insecurities.
I believe in prayer and quietness as a way of approaching Christmas - that if I wait in silence I will experience the presence of the One born in the stable, for He lives today as surely as He lived then.
I believe in going away from Christmas as the wise men went - "another way." I want to be different when these days are past - more centered on Christ, more thoughtful, more caring.

sent to me on angel-wings ~ unknown author

Embrace Obedience

We have been studying the first 2 chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses' review of God's Provision for the Israelites in route to their Promised Land. Surprisingly, they reach the border of the promised destination only to hesitate, doubt and rebel. Left wandering in the wilderness for forty years, the time is now here. Moses records his reminders to them before they enter Canaan, the land promised Abraham.

Deuteronomy is divided into 4 sections: Provision - Obedience - Commitment - Leadership. The previous devotions examine ~ Provision. Continuing, an overview of the next section finds Moses giving a refresher course on the Lord's Commands (the Law) and the need for obedience.

Read Deuteronomy 8:1-9:6 (complete text on obedience - Deut. 4:44-28:68)

. . . Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey His commands. . . He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD. . . Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to occupy the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. . .
I will say it again: The LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are righteous, for you are not - you are a stubborn people.

The Promised Land lay before them but would require obedience to enter. Once before they stood on the threshold of this God-offered possibility, but refused to go forward. Andrew Murray writes (in his book A Life of Obedience; p.69-70): The land of promise that has been set before us is the blessed life of obedience. We have heard God's call to us to go out and to dwell there . . . We have heard the promise of Christ to bring us there and to give us possession of the land. . . But do we desire that all our life and work be lifted to the level of a holy and joyful obedience?


A desire to be obedient is not the same as being obedient. Murray continues with this response to how we must embrace obedience: It can only be reached by an inflow of the power of the Holy Spirit. By a faith that grasps a new vision and lays hold of the powers. . . which are secured to us in Christ. How does Abraham respond when God first gives the promise? By faith Abraham obeyed . . . And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (see Hebrews 11:8). Through faith, we find obedience that grasps a new vision. Our ability to be obedient comes from Christ, the Bread of Life.


Deuteronomy 10:12-13 describes God's expectations: And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires you to fear Him, to live according to His will, to love and worship Him with your heart and soul, and to obey the LORD's commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good.

Consider this!

• What faith challenges did the Israelites face as they entered their land of promise?
• If you embrace obedience, what hope waits in your land of promise?
• What is required to experience "real life"?

Lord, You call us to new hope within a world of old doubt. You offer the Bread of Life to a starving people. You secure our faith through the living Christ. And what do You ask of us? To love You with obedient hearts. Forgive our greed for the land of promise held tightly by selfish desires. Open our hearts to "real life" so we can embrace the blessed life of obedience. Amen. ~ dho

Preparation and Promise

Deuteronomy Chapter 2 begins Israel's return to the wilderness, with God's instructions leading them. Because of their disobedience, the journey to the Promised Land ultimately takes another thirty-eight years. These chosen pilgrims must learn reassurance in God's Presence, must know security in God's Provision, must find joy in God's Promise. Rebellion of the heart interrupts; God's judgement prepares. And so, they wander in the wilderness in preparation for God's promise.

Read Deuteronomy 2:1-25

The LORD your God has blessed everything you have done and has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you and provided for your every need so that you lacked nothing. Deuteronomy 2:7 NLT

This chapter opens with Moses remembering how God sends the Israelites back into the wilderness for a long time, and Then at last the LORD said to me, 'You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn northward'. (Deuteronomy 2:2-3) Now begins the journey back to Kadesh Barnea, the entry to the Promised Land. Verse 14 reminds, So, thirty-eight years passed from the time we first arrived at Kadesh Barnea . . . until all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness. God leads this new, more faithful generation back to the border of the Promised Land. God's faithfulness remains true; God's judgement rendered, His people are now prepared to follow.

How often we complicate God's Plan for our lives, prolong the journey with our self-sufficient attitudes, our self-confident plans, our self-serving agendas. Our disobedience interrupts; God's discipline prepares. The sooner we accept God's Unfailing Love as His Promise to us, recognize God's Abundant Blessings as His Provision, trust God's Enduring Presence, the shorter our journey to the promised land He chooses for us.

Consider this!

• What did the Israelites lack? What was their turning point?
• How is the journey to your promised land going? What preparations does God need you to make?

Adonai ~ You are majesty and mystery, power and presence. You breathe life into all creation, but I do not understand how. You provide for my every need, and I do not lack anything except humility and gratitude. Forgive me when I choose 'good', and You desire 'best'. Prepare my heart as it struggles in the wilderness and waits before Your promise. Prepare my life to enter the promised land You choose for me! Show me how to be more aware of Your Presence. You are Promise ~ then and now and to come! Amen. ~ dho

Rebellion or Trust

As Moses retells the story of God's promise and judgement to the Israelites, we see the struggle with faithful obedience and trust. God leads them from bondage and servitude through the wilderness to the land He desires them to live, only to have them rebel against Him, to refuse to enter the land. Of the twelve scouts that explored the new area, only two, Joshua and Caleb, believe they should proceed. Moses pleads with the Israelites to remember God's presence with them. God is angry and tells them to return to the wilderness. (See Numbers 13:25-14:25 for another account of this time)

Read Deuteronomy 1:26-45

"But you rebelled . . . 'Don't be afraid! The LORD your God is going before you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you again and again here in the wilderness. . .Now He has brought you to this place.' But even after all He did, you refused to trust the LORD your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day. . .
The LORD [said] . . . turn around now and go back through the wilderness
(Deuteronomy 1:26-40 NLT)

There is much in this passage and reading it in Numbers (referenced above is helpful). Basically, only two scouts want to go forward while the other ten remain fearful and refuse. God is angry. After all the supernatural help the Israelites have received, they still do not trust God's promise. God's Judgement is for them to return to the wilderness until not one from this wicked generation is left to enter the land promised to Abraham's descendants - except Caleb, who has followed the LORD completely and Joshua, who will lead the people into the land.

Apparently, God's constant, unfailing presence is not enough. His abundant provision for their journey through the wilderness is not enough. The Promised Land, a land explored and found to be magnificent and flowing with milk and honey, is not enough. So, this journey from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea changes course, from the boundary of promise back to years of wilderness. We find ourselves standing next to the Israelites, forgetting and questioning and doubting God's presence, provision and promise. Trusting requires stepping out in faith ~ with God.

Consider this!

• What resources did God deny the Israelites?
• If God's promise and provision and presence are not enough for you, what would be enough?

God of Promise ~ You give me everything I need and more. Forgive me when I turn around at the edge of more and say 'no thank you' to enough. You are more than enough! Amen. ~dho

Faithless Doubt

Continuing the study of Deuteronomy, we hear Moses retelling the story of the Israelites standing at the edge of their promised land, Canaan, but full of uncertainty. Despite God's Provisions through the great and terrifying wilderness, the Israelites are unsure how this land would become their own. Forgetting the Protection of Yahweh in their rescue from the Egyptians after 430 years of slavery, their faith waivers.

Read Deuteronomy 1: 19-26

"Then, just as the LORD our God directed us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness . . . we arrived at Kadesh Barnea, [Moses] said to you, 'You have now reached the land that the LORD our God is giving us. Look! He had placed it in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God or your ancestors, has promised you. Don't be afraid! Don't be discouraged!' (Deuteronomy 1:19-21 NLT)

They arrive! Generations after the promise is given Abraham, Moses leads God's chosen people to the border of Canaan. Moses reminds them of God's Provision, Protection and Promise! BUT, they hesitate. Deciding to sent scouts to explore the area, one man is chosen from each of the twelve tribes. In verse 25, the scouts report that the land the LORD our God [has] given us [is] indeed a good land, but immediately verse 26 reveals Moses recollecting, "But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to go in."

A faithful response to God's promises can be compromised by doubt. The scouts report to Moses the land is a magnificent country - a land flowing with milk and honey . . . But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large. . . (Numbers 13:27-28). Despite God's numerous miracles and manifest promise, they doubt Him; they refuse to enter Canaan. Standing at Kadesh Barnea the opportunity to step into the long awaited Promised Land is there for the taking, but fear and doubt create hesitation.

Consider this!

• Contrast God's Promise to the Israelites with their response.
• Do you trust God to provide all you need? If not, will you?

Lord, You are Yahweh ~ the God of Promise! When uncertainty clouds my thoughts, You remain. When doubt disturbs my hope, You remain. When fear threatens my heart, You remain. I can trust You because You always remain faithful to Your Promise. It is in Your unfailing promise ~to love me, to redeem me, to be with me ~ that I place my faith. Amen! ~dho