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1. Prepare for testing
Deuteronomy 8:1-5
1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.
2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
Here we see that Moses was preparing the people to go forward. He feels responsible to prepare the people of God to get ready. Moses explains and teaches and really talks to the people if they are not getting ready they may not cross the Jordan River. It's encouraging seeing how much God really loves us. V5 As a father disciplines the son the Lord disciplines us V6 God is like a dad carrying us every day. How it will be if God say I am going to drop you man, you don't obey me I will drop you, God is always carrying us. When He carries us He is going to discipline us. Let us prepare for testing, it is good for us. God promised us many years ago testing will come but when it comes let us be ready.
Why testing comes?
a. To change our character. As we were growing we learn lot of other characters from the world like jealousy, selfishness, greed, pride, immorality. God said I want to change you so that you can become like me.
2. Testing comes to humble us. Vs2 God wants to teach from day one to till the day we die that we should depend on God.
c. Testing comes to make us spiritually taught.
We were grown up in a very comfortable situation; some of us are spoiled. God is not sentimental. He loves us so much but He is not sentimental. When God told them to move to Kadesh Barnea they were not willing to go, God said I am going to teach them some discipline. God made them to take a spiritual journey, which should have taken 11 days. But He took them 40 years to reach Kadesh Barnea. People didn't know where it was, for 40 years they were wandering in the desert. God did this to humble them and test them. God can lead us in good times and tough times. He loves us so much but if we go away from him He will discipline us. He will discipline us and still take care of us. When He carries, we will get some spanking, still He will carry us, He will not drop us.
2. Victory by Gods grace
Deuteronomy 9:1-6
1 Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.
2 The people are strong and tall--Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?"
3 But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.
4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you.
5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Get ready, Annakites who are powerful than you are going to attack you. Sometimes our enemies are stronger and greater than us. God said listen I will give you victory. God wants to give us victory not because we are righteous and our good deeds, but because their wickedness. God said listen don't think you are somebody. He wants us to be sober. He wants us to understand his grace, our sinful nature. God wants us to have sober heart.
3. Desire God not the World
Deuteronomy 8:10-13
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,
13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied..
God says I am going to give you every thing , I increase and even multiply every thing you have. One condition, we should make sure that we thank God and be grateful to Him. We need to make sure that we do not forget Him. Who gave all these things, we got every thing not because of our good look and our great deeds. Let us not forget to pray, let us take time to pray and meditate on Him. Let us delight in God. God is going to fulfill what's in our heart. We all have desires don't we, we may not admit and be open about it , every one of us have desires in our heart.
4. Don't follow sin
Deuteronomy 8:19-20
19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.
20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.
Bible says if we continue to forget and leave Him and if we go towards other foreign gods, and if we worship some thing else and bow down to that, it is not going to be a good ending. It's talking about the sins of our heart. Our sins have to be dealt with every day. Worries, discouragement self pity all these can take us out of God. Let us have Quiet times every single day and thank God every single day.
5. Praise him and enjoy life
Deuteronomy 8:10
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
When we are eaten and satisfied, let us praise the Lord. When we have great blessing and when we are satisfied, we need to praise the Lord. Life is hard some times, let us have fun. We got to enjoy the relationship with one another.
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