Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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. 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. 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. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Deuteronomy 8:1-4
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Think about the course of your life. It has had its share of joy and pain. There have been ups and downs…highs and lows…good times and bad times…but you have made it to this appointed place and time as you read these words the Lord is placing on my heart for you right now.
Indeed, just being here right now…me writing and you soon to read…is a blessing in and of itself. Consider that God doesn’t have to grant us one single day…and yet He continues to bless us with life…and even more for those who believe and trust in His Son Jesus…those who have gained the promise of eternal life.
Yes, the Lord has brought us through every part of our life’s journey to this day and this time…just as He brought Israel through the forty years to the place and time in which they listened to Moses speak in our scripture today. We see where Moses reminds Israel that all along the way in their journey, they were led by the Lord.
During that time, they didn’t have it great all the time. No, there were times of hunger and thirst, times of failure and discipline…times of humility and testing. Maybe you can relate to Israel a little bit…maybe you have had your own personal exodus as you marched toward the promised land.
So why did Israel have to go through all that they went through? Why all the hardship? I mean, weren’t they God’s chosen people? For that matter, why do we go through so much trial ourselves? Aren’t we God’s children?
Well, let’s look back into our scripture to see why God did what He did then…and why He is still doing it today.
For God had to humble Israel to teach them that they couldn’t make it in life without Him. If everything had always been made easy for Israel, they would have taken God for granted. And they would have no reason to have faith. For faith isn’t born out of good times but rather out of trouble. Our faith is truly tested and refined when we enter into challenge and affliction. It is during these times that we realize how very helpless we can be short of the Father helping us to make it through the difficult times. We realize that we don’t “live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Remember these words the next time you’re challenged in the midst of temptation and tribulation. Jesus did. Remember these verses in Matthew?
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' “ Matthew 4:1-4
Jesus had been on His own personal journey...a forty day and forty night exodus into the desert. When He was hungry and at His most vulnerable point, Satan entered the picture. Jesus, he thought, was ripe for the picking. He thought wrong.
For even in His weakened state, Jesus was able to ward off Satan. How? By using the word of God…the word that man cannot live without. And He did so to teach us how to deal with Satan in our own lives. You see, we have an advantage over the Israel of the Old Testament. We have Jesus to use as a reference.
God was with His Son as He was tempted. He helped His Son get through that difficult trial and test…just as He was with Israel during their exodus. And the good news is that He is still Emmanuel…God with us…today. Let us never forget that as we go through whatever life might bring our way…and know that there isn’t anything that we’ll go through that will defeat us because God is with us…and He will deliver us through our journey now and forever. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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