The LORD Provides Leaders

Yes, the LORD will provide the leaders of the church and elsewhere.

“¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” – Deuteronomy 18:18 (ESV)

The people of Israel had Moses to lead them out of Egypt. As his time grew to an end, the LORD let known that He would provide leadership for them afterward. This leader would come from the people and he would speak the Word of the LORD as Moses did.

This demonstrates that God has a plan for us and will provide what we need, when we need. In this case the need would be leadership. God chose the next leader for the people prior to the need for him to take over. This would allow for the smooth and efficient transition from Moses to the next and it would all be as he LORD had intended.

I have experienced this myself a number of years ago. I was a member of the pastor search committee in our church. As committee members, we had reviewed all the applicants and even went to visit one at his current church. After offering to position, he turned us down. We continued to pray that God would provide the right pastor for his church and we kept coming back to the one. So we contacted him and he accepted. This was the man provided by God for our church when we needed him.

The LORD does not just provide for our physical needs. He provides for all of our needs. His provision even extends into the people needed in our lives.

When was the last time someone was provided for you? Are you even aware that the LORD will provide even the right people? What if you gave yourself fully to the LORD with the knowledge that He will provide all that you need when you need, even the people you need?

We are Chosen

Chosen as the people of God.

“⁶For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” – Deuteronomy 7:6 (ESV)

Here we see the designation of chosen to the Israelite people. They were chosen to receive the promised land and were blessed beyond what they could imagine.

“¹³He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.” – Deuteronomy 7:13 (ESV)

As the chosen of the LORD, there was bounty given. And the people would experience great. The journey to this point was long and hard and those who were rescued from Egypt gave way to their families to come to experience the promised land. But, as the chosen people, the Israelite people would receive the LORD’s bounty.

And we are God’s chosen people as well. We all have the opportunity to accept Christ as our savior and when we do, we are added as heirs in heaven.

“¹³For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” – Romans 10:13 (ESV)

And yes, we ALL have the opportunity. We are chosen by God to receive His gift of salvation and we will receive His bounty. We have to reach out and ask for the gift and then not only are we given it, but we have to receive it. In other words I have to be sincere and treasure the gift of salvation and devote myself to the LORD in return.

When I do accept the gift of salvation and devote myself to the LORD, as the Israelite people were instructed, I will receive the gift fully. It will be demonstrated that I have been chosen by the LORD as His and my reward will be great.

We are chosen to be the people of God. We do however have to accept the gift of salvation for that to be demonstrated to the world. Wholly and fully we are to accept Him and devote ourselves to Him, and we are rewarded.

What is your thought on being chosen? Are you know that you are chosen? What if you looked at it from the perspective that you are chosen, but you do have to ask for salvation, and then receive the gift fully to demonstrate that you are chosen?

Seek the LORD Again

I will disobey the LORD. There, I said it. I have to remind myself daily that this is going to happen. And I am not alone and it has been this way since Adam and Eve in the garden.

This morning I was reminded this form the passage I am in from Deuteronomy. I am in chapter 4 with all of the commands and calls for obedience. I see that the people were given instruction to not worship idols, and if they did, they would be driven across the land and perish. There they would continue to worship idols.

“²⁶I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.” – Deuteronomy 4:26-28 (ESV)

See that in worshiping idols away from the land they were promised yields nothing for them. These idols do nothing for the people. They are left to doing things on their own and realize that it is the LORD who was providing for them and not the idols they were worshiping. So, they turn back to the LORD.

“²⁹But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.” – Deuteronomy 4:29-30 (ESV)

The same can be and is available for me. I will disobey the LORD. But, I have the opportunity to turn back to and obey Him. I will sin and yet He is there waiting for me to repent and turn back to Him where He accepts me with open arms.

“³¹For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.” – Deuteronomy 4:31 (ESV)

I have to admit that I will disobey the LORD. I also have to remember that He knows and will wait on me to realize my disobedience and repent and return to Him. I will seek Him again and He is ready for my return.

What are your thoughts on disobeying the LORD? Are you willing to admit it and are you worried you can’t come back from that disobedience? What if you realized that you will disobey and know that you can come back through realizing, repenting, and seeking the LORD once again?

No Stopping God’s Will

The Israelite people were headed to the promised land. They were following the path that the LORD had for them. Nothing was getting in their way or would stop them.

“²¹Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²²’Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.’ ²³But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.” – Numbers 21:21-23 (ESV)

Sihon would not let Israel pass through his land. Think about this, they would be on the “highway” which had been established as a trade route. Israel did the decent thing of asking for permission to pass through on that highway and Sihon said no. Now, yes the Israeli group was a rather large one, but, they indicated to stay on the road and even asked. Sihon not only said no, but went out to destroy Israel as well.

This is where we find that the LORD will not be stopped.

“²⁴And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. ²⁵And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.” – Numbers 21:24-25 (ESV)

Sihon came to destroy God’s people and instead was destroyed.

I have to remember that when I am in God’s Will and doing that which He has for me to accomplish, He will not be stopped or defeated. I may not see the end result in the moment as Israel was turned away to take another route. But, stopping God’s Will is not going to happen. God will provide the way to complete the task He has for us whether to go around the obstacle that is presented or, as with the case of the Israelites, He will take us through the obstacle. The ultimate thing to remember is that there is no stopping God’s Will.

What happens when you encounter obstacles? Do you work hard to find a way through them on your own? What if you focused on God’s Will and realized that there is no stopping His Will?

Careful What You Ask for, You Might Just Get It

Isn’t that the point. Asking for something and expect to receive it. I would think so. But, what if I received and was not really as happy about it as I thought I would be.

This is what happened to the Israelite people with the LORD. You see, God provided manna for them to each when they were in need. They were satisfied from a consumption of sustenance perspective. They had even gotten to the point of not just consuming it, but they were making bread cakes with the manna to mix it up as opposed to just eating what was provided. But, as is the case even today, they developed a lack of contentment and began complaining about not having meat to eat.

Aren’t we that way as well. We have what is needed, a house, a car, food, work. And yet, even with all of that, we still want, a bigger/better house, a newer/more expensive car, elegant food, high paying job. We lose our contentment as we desire for things that are “better”. We had found a way to make due with what we had and yet, we continue asking for more.

Well, God heard the people and decided to give them what they ask for.

“¹⁸And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.’” – Numbers 11:18 (ESV)

And just like that, the people would have what they were asking. The LORD was providing for them as they had requested. And doesn’t that happen for us as well. We ask the LORD and He provides, even to the tune of what we want.

But, the LORD was teaching them a lesson at the same time.

“¹⁹You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’” “33While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague.– Numbers 11:19-20 & 33 (ESV)

And there it is. The LORD provides in so much bounty that it would consume them entirely. The people got what they wanted and even more. The more was not expected, but they got it anyway. The LORD provided the meat for them and in true human nature they consumed it to the point of gluttony.

Aren’t we very much the same today. We ask for things from the LORD and He provides and we simply consume without the appreciation for it. We only become gluttonous. We cannot get enough of what we ask and turn away from the LORD in the process.

I have to remember that it is not what I have that makes me who I am. It is being content that what I have is enough. It is okay and encouraged to ask for things from the LORD. He wants us to ask and even tells us to do so. But it is the why we are asking that is important to remember, not the what we are asking. I have to remember that it is about needs and not wants. I have to remember to be content in the provision of the LORD. I have to be careful asking, as I may just get it.

What are you asking for from the LORD? Are you asking out of want and find yourself gluttonous? What if you kept you asks to your needs and when provided, were thankful and generous to others with what you receive?

Repent and the LORD Remembers

The LORD will act accordingly when we spurn Him. When I walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to me. After all, that is me not wanting or seeing the value in Him, so why should He want or see the value in me. But, what happens when I repent and come back to Him?

“⁴⁰But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, ⁴¹so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, ⁴²then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.” – Leviticus 26:40-42 (ESV)

I will spurn the LORD and walk contrary to Him. And He will walk contrary to me in discipline to me. I deserve it all. But, He is waiting on my to turn back to Him. He is waiting for me to humble myself in the heart and “make amends” to where I hurt Him. When I do, He remembers the covenant He has in place with those who came before me.

This passage is of course well before the coming of Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection for my sins. It does though demonstrate that the LORD is waiting on me to come back to Him. He, even in my contrary walk with Him, is still with me. He is there to ensure that the discipline I face is for the turning away from Him, but He is still there waiting.

“¹³For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” – Romans 10:13 (ESV)

When I call on His name, He remembers and turns back to me to protect, comfort, and love me.

What is your view of turning back to God? Are you aware that He is just waiting for you? What if you were to repent and turn back to Him, call on Him and bask in His remembrance of the love He has for you?

Spurn the LORD and…

“¹⁴But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, ¹⁵if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, ¹⁶then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.” – Leviticus 26:14-16 (ESV)

And what you see in the above verses is just the tip of the wrath of God. It is up to me to follow the LORD and obey His commandments and statutes. When I am in concert with the LORD, I will receive His bounty in my life. And when I am contrary to Him, I get the opposite.

The LORD is a jealousy God and is deserving of my worship and love. When I turn from Him, He will not provide for my pleasure. The LORD will work contrary to me when I am contrary to Him.

“²¹Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.” and “²⁷But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, ²⁸then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins.” – Leviticus 26:21 & 17-28 (ESV)

There are consequences to actions. When we are obedient to the LORD, the consequences are bounty provided. When we are contrary to the LORD, He will discipline us accordingly. I have to remember this as I proceed through this life here in this world. I have a choice to be obedient, but when I spurn the LORD, I will be held to account.

What does your obedience look like with the LORD? Are you spurning Him? What if you understood that there are consequences, even with the LORD for your actions?

The LORD Provides Bounty

Bounty: 1: something that is given generously, 2: liberality in giving: generosity 3: yield especially of a crop – Merriam-Webster Online

This morning I continue my study on the word “will” and find myself in Leviticus. I know, riveting words written about the law. But, that is it when you really study the different laws and their impact.

I am in chapter 26 in the passage, as titled in my bible, “Blessings for Obedience”. Here the LORD has given instruction on how to approach the worship of Him. He then provides the condition:

“³If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,” — Leviticus 26:3 (ESV)

The LORD says, do this and if you do… He identifies the actions required and then the reward for doing so. Isn’t that how it should always be, and isn’t that how the LORD has always been with His instruction. He tells us what we shall do and then what the reward is for doing so. He did it in the garden with the man and woman, He did with Noah, and here He is with the Israelite people. Follow my commands and you will be rewarded.

“⁴Then I will give you…” — Leviticus 26:4 (ESV)

And the reward is great and wonderful and more than we could imagine. As we continue to read in the passage, the LORD provides, rain for the crops, crops of wheat until time for grapes, and grapes until time for planting. And He provides peace and power to overcome. And all of this in generous supply.

What a reminder to me about following and giving glory to God, He will reward for the work done and that reward will be great. His provision will be generous and I will not need anything beyond His reward. I am to do His will and reap the bounty in return.

What is your approach to the LORD? Are you looking for reward from Him? What if you obeyed Him knowing that He will provide bounty?

Careful, You May Be Drawn In

I am reading this morning and I see a warning from the LORD. It is one that we should be aware, yet it is something that we often allow ourselves to believe we have under control. We will get drawn into sin even when we know better and have the LORD on our side.

“¹⁵Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. ¹⁶Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.” – Exodus 34:15-16 (CSB)

The LORD had conquered the people in this land for the Israelites. Some of them remained in the land and lived among the Israelites. Where we are to love others, we are also responsible for bringing the LORD to them. If you remember, Jesus ate with tax collectors to bring the gospel to them. The difference is that Jesus would not be drawn into their lifestyle and beliefs. Jesus even warned His apostles to not get drawn in.

“¹⁴And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” – Matthew 10:14 (ESV)

The LORD provided guidance to the people that they have to take care not to be drawn into the lifestyle of the former inhabitants of the land. It would be a subtle, slow, draw that would seem completely innocent in the beginning. And, the people would have the attitude and thoughts that they would be able to resist. Maybe they could for a minute, but would soon find themselves in the midst of turning from God and turning to gods.

We find this in our time today. We “accept” and tolerate others and their beliefs, only to find that acceptance to overtake our own beliefs and slowly get drawn in and turn away from God and turn to their gods. Our approach should be that of Jesus to bring the gospel to them. If and when they reject us, we are to shake the dust off our feet and move on to the next to avoid being drawn in.

What is your approach to others? Are you accepting and tolerant to coexist with others? What if you were to be careful of being drawn in and when they exhibit a lack of acceptance of you, you move on to the next?

The LORD of Second Chances

How often do we get a second chance? Well with the LORD, it seems as though I am getting them all the time. And the second chances continue beyond the second. Even in beginning, the LORD demonstrated His forgiveness and offered up the second chance.

“¹The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.’” – Exodus 34:1 (ESV)

Notice the words that are used in the above verse by God, “Cut for yourself…like the first…which you broke”. Moses was given the second chance to present the word of God, the Ten Commandments, to the Israelites. Moses had broken them and the LORD was redoing them.

I know that I find myself irritated at having to do things over and over again because someone did not appreciate it in the first place, and/or there was no appreciation for the work in the first place and therefore no responsibility was taken. With Moses, he spent time with the LORD, the LORD created the writing on the tablets, and Moses threw them down and broke them.

Now, Moses was angry and pointing out to the people the error in their ways. I believe that the people would not have appreciated the Word of God, the Ten Commandments at the time. But, God knew they needed His Word, the Ten Commandments and despite the actions of Moses firstly, He went through the process once again. The LORD had granted the second chance.

I have made mistakes and as a sinner will continue to make mistakes. No matter the time I spend in the Word of God, I will still wander away and sin. I need a second chance. Thankfully, the LORD provides those second chances that come with my repentance. The Israelite people were the chosen people of God and He afforded them the second chances. I am a child of God and He affords me second chances as well.

What is your thought on second chances? Are you of the thoughts that we get one chance and then we move on? What if you repented and accepted the second chance that the LORD affords for you as a child of His?