Wednesday, February 17, 2016

February 18, 2016

"I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:3-5

God called His people OUT of Egypt through His Prophet Moses and by the power of His hand! He called them INTO the wilderness in order to bring them THROUGH it! And then God called His people OUT of the wilderness so He could bring them INTO Canaan to dwell and find rest!

Bringing His people into Canaan was the reason God brought them out of Egypt! It had been his plan and purpose for them for five centuries since He first called Abraham out of Haran and promised to make of him a great nation.

In fact, when God called Abraham He told him that there would be a 400 year period of captivity for His people but then He would bring them back to possess Canaan. (Genesis 15)

God always keeps His promises!

The bondage in Egypt and the weary wandering in the wilderness was allowed only to cause them to long for Canaan!

Aren’t you glad to be out of Egypt?

Do you long for Canaan?

Is the wilderness causing you to be weary?

What is it that makes Canaan so alluring?

It was a land where they could enjoy freedom!

It was a land where they could enjoy fruitfulness!

But most of all it was a land where they could enjoy God! And you see that portrayed in these several verses above.

They could enjoy His possessions! What could be better than taking possession of what He had provided for them and promised to them (“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west) and to be possessed by Him at the same time?!?!

Also, they would get to enjoy His presence! (“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”)

Thirdly, they would get to experience His power! (No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.)

Those are the blessings of Canaan! None of them are available in Egypt or in the Wilderness but ALL are available in Canaan!

And they are available to all of God’s children including you!

Will you claim them? 

Will you come into Canaan?



February 17, 2016

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.”  Exodus 13:17-18

When God led His people out of Egypt through His chosen leader, Moses, they entered into the wilderness for what should have been a two week journey to the Promised Land of Canaan.

The wilderness is a tough place to be. It may be better than Egypt but it’s not nearly as good as Canaan. We all tend to spend much more time in the wilderness than we should.

In the Exodus account, a projected two week trip became a 40 year trek. That’s what doubt and disobedience will do for you! Even though they were out of Egypt it’s clear Egypt wasn’t out of them. When they were in Egypt they were slaves to the Pharaoh but once they entered the wilderness they found themselves slaves to fear so they entered the wilderness “ready for battle”.

Little did they know that the battles they would fight would be waged in their hearts and in their minds.

When you have lived in bondage all your life, you have to learn how to be free. Some of the “freedom factors” that must be mastered while in the wilderness are:

·         Relationship
·         Responsibility
·         Role
·         Right thinking

God called them out of Egypt because He wanted them to live in an intimate relationship with Him. He wanted to be their father and their friend. But slaves only know taskmasters. Slaves have to learn how to love and how to be loved.

Slaves don’t have choices or options. Their taskmasters tell them what to do, when to do it and when to stop doing it. But freedom offers options and choices and decisions but it is also accompanied by the responsibility of those choices because decisions have consequences. Former slaves have to learn to handle responsibility.

While in Egypt as slaves the Hebrews had well-defined roles. They served at the command of their masters. Their role was to please their master well enough to limit the scorn and abuse he would inflict upon them. God called His people out of slavery to become His sons and daughters and residents of Canaan. It was a vastly different role they had to learn.

Servants and slaves aren’t paid to think. Their thoughts and ideas don’t matter and no one asks them for an opinion. Years of being subjected to slavery caused them to think like slaves. The worst bondage of all is bondage of the mind. The dominant thought of a slave is “I can’t”. Freedom begins in the mind and free people have to learn to think right.

The wilderness is where slaves learn to be free. It is where they learn to develop a relationship with God, take on the responsibilities of obedience, the role of a God-follower and learn how to transform their thinking.

These are some of the wilderness battles they faced and Moses was afraid they’d return to Egypt.

I’m wondering this morning, does any of this sound familiar?