TVCC Students,
It was so great to see so many of you out last night having fellowship before service and engaging with the Lord during worship and teaching. We are continually humbled to be a part of your journeys with the Lord. Last night we finished up Deuteronomy 1 as Moses took the newest generation on a quick trip down "memory lane" one more time to remind them of the consequences their parents had experienced because of disobedience. Here is a recap:
Deuteronomy 1: 26-42: When we look at the nation of Israel as a whole, we see a picture of how the Lord deals with us on an individual basis throughout our lifetimes. Just as Israel as a nation would have seasons of rebellion due to unbelief, discipline from the Lord in order to bring them back to the Lord, and restoration after the Lord had led them to repentance, so we too have seasons individually of rebellion, discipline, and restoration as the Lord uses this life to refine us and mold us as His children through faith in Christ. For Israel, the promised land represented nearness to God and being established in His presence through walking in faithful obedience. For us, we are offered a spiritual promised land. When we choose to walk in faithful obedience to the Lord, we experience a nearness to Him, a security, peace, and joy that nothing else can compare to.
~1:26-32: As we saw last week, Israel had been enslaved to the Egyptians and were basically an entire nation with nothing. When the Lord called them to leave Egypt they did not have weapons to fight against their enemies. They were completely without defense against the enemies that they were supposed to overtake when possessing the promised land. The Lord was to be the Victory. He was going to defeat their enemies by His power so that He would get the glory, not them (Exodus 14:14). The same is true for us on a spiritual level. We were all slaves to sin, without hope of releasing ourselves (Romans 6). We were dead in our sins without hope of life again (Colossians 2 & Ephesians 2). We had no hope and needed the Lord to completely rescue us from the slavery and death that we were in. Our freedom and life is completely His doing through the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf so that in all things, He gets the glory (1 Peter 4:11)! Christ is our Victory!!
Q: Do you realize how desperate you were apart from Christ? You were dead in your sins and He made you alive. He accomplished your salvation for His glory and your good. What does it look like for you to live thankfully for this completely undeserved, amazing gift of life and freedom that He has given you through His death and resurrection?
~1:33-35: As Moses explains the life of the past generation that had died in the wilderness, we see something so similar to our own lives. Despite all that the Lord had done for that generation by taking them from Egypt through the Red Sea, leading them by a cloud by day and fire by night... despite all of this, Israel still thought that the Lord was against them! They kept saying to Moses that they thought the Lord had taken them from Egypt just to have them destroyed! We are so similar in a spiritual way. The Lord frees us from our bondage to sin and offers us His presence though at times it might require that we make some changes to the way we are living in order to enjoy His presence unhindered. We grumble and complain, thinking that He his commands are just out to destroy us and that He doesn't want us to enjoy life. How narrow-minded we can be. His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). They are for our good and for His glory! His ways are higher than ours and though we might not always understand why He is calling us to certain things that may be uncomfortable and hard, we must learn to trust Him and obey.
Q: What is an area of life where you have felt like the Lord was trying to "ruin" your life by calling you to do something hard or uncomfortable? Are you still in that situation now or has He allowed you to see, looking back, that this really was for your good and His glory? We encourage you to meditate on Isaiah 55 (especially 8-9) and remember that His ways are higher than ours!
~1:36-40: Moses calls the new generation to see that the old generation had not been able to enter the promised land because of their disobedience. The Lord had allowed the nation of Israel as a whole to see that sin lead to bitterness and death (wandering aimlessly in the desert without seeing the promised land). Jeremiah 2:17 shows us that it is bitter for us to forsake the Lord. Just as God let Israel feel the bitter sting of sin, so He will often let His children (those who are in Christ) feel the bitterness sting of sin in order to bring them to repentance and trust in Him. The Lord disciplines His children just as a great father disciplines his children (Hebrews 12).
Q: In what areas of your life have you felt that the Lord was letting you feel the bitter sting of sin in order to bring you to repentance and to a more trusting and intimate relationship with Him once you saw that His ways were better?
~1:41-46: In wrapping up his lesson to the new generation, Moses reminds the new generation that Israel had tried unsuccessfully to defeat their enemies apart from the help of the Lord. Once Israel had disobeyed and been called to wander in the desert, they tried to have delayed obedience apart from the Lord's help. This was a disaster. They were defeated and completely discouraged. The same is true for us spiritually. We must remember continually that just as the Lord redeemed us through His power, He sanctifies us through His power. We do not have enough willpower to walk with Him and obey Him apart from His Spirit. We are saved by grace through faith and we are sanctified by grace through faith! We cannot just muster up enough energy to obey His commands on our own. To overcome this world and our sin, it is completely necessary that we continue to behold Him. We must continually see that pursuing Him is better and that His Spirit leads us in victory. This happens as we meditate on His Word and on who He is. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are changed as we behold Him. He is worth pursuing.
Q: What does it look like for you to genuinely trust in the Lord on a daily basis to help you overcome the spiritual enemies that you encounter? What does your life look like when you try to muster up obedience and good works on your own, apart from the Spirit of Christ?
Dear Students,
It is an honor and joy to walk through Deuteronomy with you all and see the great things that the Lord wanted for Israel and the great things that He has in store for us spiritually as we seek to follow and trust Him. It is so important that we learn from Israel that it is empty and bitter for us to walk in sin. Jesus is better! Only Jesus satisfies!! Just as Israel's weapon against their enemies was trusting in the Lord physically to defeat other armies, our weapon against the spiritual battles that we fight is to trust in the Lord. Ephesians 6 tells us what the armor of God is. The Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) is one of our greatest defenses. We pray that this week you will have sweet and intimate times with the Lord and that He will continue to refine you, showing you that His way is better. We pray that you will enjoy intimacy with Him and that you will continue to overcome the dark areas in your life as you walk in His Spirit and are conformed to His image through meditation on His Word. We love you all!
With hope,
~Sonny and Casi
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