Is the Way You Think About God Healthy?

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. (Deuteronomy 32:1-4)

Moses was 120 years old, and his time to leave had come. He had led the nation out of Egypt and through the desert for 40 years. The next generation was now ready to go in and take the “promised land.”

As has been noted in a previous devotional, the people were able to enter and live in the promised land not because they were good people who deserved it, but because God was merciful and because he was fulfilling his promise to their forefather Abraham. They were in fact a stubborn and rebellious people. God knew that after they entered the land and had settled down there, that they would quickly stop serving him:

Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give. (Deuteronomy 31:19-21)

God gave Moses a song to teach them, so that when they were disciplined by God after they stopped listening to him and served other gods instead, they would remember the song and it would remind them who they were and who God was, and it would teach them how to repent and turn back to God.

This song teaches incredible principles about God and our relationship to him, and we have much to learn from it today! Notice how the introduction of the song begins in chapter 32 of Deuteronomy: Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD.

God’s words are life and nourishment to us. Just as God gives nourishment to the ground by providing rain for plants that allow them to grow, so he provides teaching to us that is nourishment that allows us to grow spiritually and enjoy a healthy relationship with him. The Israelites had learned this when they lived in the desert for 40 years, eating the spiritual food God provided from heaven. (For more on “spiritual food,” see the previous devotional on this topic.)

This special song written to bring the people back to God then makes several statements about God to begin the song: Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

If we are going to serve God and understand his purpose for our life, so that we can experience life and health, we must have a proper understanding of who God is. This statement at the beginning of this song states four things about God that we must understand and believe if we want to be healthy:

1. His works are perfect. God doesn’t make mistakes. The original world and universe that God created was perfect, including man. The problems we face in life today are the result of the choices the created beings have made. We messed things up, but they are not God’s fault. We can’t blame God for mistakes we have made, or for suffering from the results of mistakes others before us have made, which has resulted in a messed up world. God did not create bad things, but he does redeem them and he has a plan for the present and for the future to make things right again. We are imperfect, but God is not.

2. His ways are just. While God is a merciful God abounding in love and grace, he is also a just God. While life may be unfair, God is not. He does not show favoritism or change the rules. In order for him to be merciful to us and not give us what we deserve, justice had to be served. The punishment due to us was put on Jesus, the only perfect and good man to ever walk the earth. He didn’t deserve death on a cross, but willingly took it upon himself so that God’s justice would be served on him instead of us. We are eternally indebted to him, and can never make a claim that any of God’s ways are not fair.

3. He is a faithful God who does no wrong. God doesn’t forget about us even if we forget about him! He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is a solid unmovable rock that we can always depend upon. Being perfect, he does not make mistakes or mess things up. He can do no wrong. So while circumstances in life may change, God does not. He remains faithful to his promises and to his word, and we can depend upon him to always be the same God who loves us and cares for us, even when we turn our back on him.

4. He is upright and just. The word used for “upright” in Deuteronomy 32:4 is a Hebrew word that Moses used often in his writing, usually in referring to actions of people, in choosing or doing the “right” thing as opposed to the “wrong” thing. Some examples:

If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer. (Exodus 15:26)

And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. (Deuteronomy 6:18)

You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes. (Deuteronomy 12:8)

…if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 13:18)

God is always right, he is never wrong. When Moses ruled over the nation of Israel teaching them the laws of God and judging disputes, he appointed “chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.” These men were “men who feared God, who were trustworthy and hated a bribe.” If any matter was beyond their ability, or presumably if the judgments were not well received, they went to Moses to decide. (Exodus 18:21) Many legal systems in society today are based on similar principles, with lower courts in districts and then higher courts and judges, and finally a highest court of the land, or in the US a “Supreme Court.” But such a legal system is not 100% accurate, because the judges have to judge based on the evidence presented to them, and it is nearly impossible to know and possess all the facts. And the judges themselves are imperfect human beings.

Not so with God! He knows everything and has all the facts. So he is always right, and he is always fair. If you are not happy with God’s judgments, there is no higher authority to appeal to! You will have to be the one to change, not him.

God knew that once the people entered the promised land and received the inheritance he had prepared for them, that they would eventually stop serving him and serve other gods, breaking their covenant with himself. This would result in God’s judgment. The purpose of God’s judgment is always to bring his people back into a relationship with himself and begin serving him again. So this song was given to Moses to remind them who God was, and why they should be serving him instead of other gods.

These truths about God don’t change, because God doesn’t change. If we want a healthy life today, we must believe and have proper thinking about God so we can know him and have a relationship with him, finding meaning and purpose in our life.

These four truths about God are in direct opposition to the teaching and thinking about evolution that modern society is founded upon. Those starting with a belief in evolution view life and circumstances from a viewpoint that is contradictory to the views of God and his character. Instead of believing in a God who is perfect and in control, evolution sees a system that is evolving through impersonal natural forces, eliminating the weak and imperfect in favor of the strong (survival of the fittest.) Instead of trusting in a faithful God, it sees a “dog eat dog” world where one has to “look out for number 1” - ourselves. Instead of trusting a God who is right and just, evolution sees the strong and more “evolved” eliminating the imperfect and weak, passing judgment based on power and strength rather than moral laws based on a Creator’s character and the existence of a “final judge” that is higher than the man-made courts here on earth. Evolution offers no real hope, because things are constantly changing and evolving, and there is no master plan or higher power controlling things. One must find their self-worth by comparing themselves to others, resulting in either arrogance (I am better than most people and know more than most) or feeling weak and helpless (most people are better than me and I need others to take care of me, like the government or the medical system.) Both extremes are unhealthy belief systems leading us away from a relationship with God, quite often resulting in sickness and disease.

So what is the belief system that affects your thinking today? Is the way you think about God healthy? Do you believe that we are created by God in his image as part of his “perfect works”, that he rules over the universe controlling everything in a fair and honest manner bringing about justice at the proper time, and being faithful to love and save those who trust in him? Or do you believe God is inactive and passive, allowing the natural forces of evolution to take place where everyone must fight for themselves, with the strong and healthy surviving, and the weak and feeble being eliminated? One belief system results in a healthy life and a strong relationship with God, and the other one results in loneliness and a weak relationship with God (if one exists at all) with a life often dominated by sickness. Even if you intellectually believe in God as the Creator, it is highly likely that many of your thoughts are based upon an evolution foundation which you are not even consciously aware of. If you are sick and are only seeking physical solutions to your health problems, for example, a change in the way you think about God and his control over your health might be in order. What you think and how you view the circumstances in your life has a profound effect upon your physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Some verses in the Bible about our thoughts and what we think:

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. (Matthew 15:18-20)

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:11-14)

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

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He Will Never Leave You!

He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

The time was drawing close for the Israelites to finally cross the Jordan River and take possession of the “promised land.” But their leader for the past 40 years, Moses, was not going with them. He was 120 years old now, and he was not going to be the one to lead them into the promised land. So he reminds both the people and Joshua, their new head, who it was that actually was going to be with them and leading them.

To the nation he says: “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not go over this Jordan.' The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken… Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:2-6)

To Joshua: Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 31:7-8)

Later, the Lord would speak directly to Joshua and tell him the same thing. God was clearly telling his people to go in and take the promised land, and no matter what the opposition looked like, he wanted them to be sure they knew that he would never leave them, and that they had no reason to be afraid of any difficulties they might face.

How about today? For those of us entering into Jesus’ kingdom, the Kingdom of Light, does this promise apply to us also? Yes! Jesus said:

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote the same truth for us today: He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU. (Hebrews 13:5)

As has been written previously, when we enter the Kingdom of Jesus through rebirth, a spiritual kingdom at present, we become a minority people in this world. When we listen to his voice each day and walk the path he has laid out before us, we find it is a very narrow path that very few are walking. The spiritual forces in the kingdom of darkness unleash all their power against us, trying to get us off that narrow path. We go against the crowd, with much opposition.

But what a wonderful promise, a sure promise that we can depend upon each day, that Jesus our King will never leave us, that he will be by our side every moment, and that we have nothing to fear! Think of the incredible implications of such a truth:

• No matter how lonely or abandoned you feel, Jesus is by your side 24/7 intimately concerned about everything you are doing! I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20)
  

• He is the eternal light switch that we can turn to at anytime and flip on, to shine a light on our path if it becomes dark and we find we have lost our way, or made some wrong turns in life. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)
  

• When we find ourselves in a mess due to our own stupidity or selfishness, and when all others have turned against us or are angry at us, he is right there beside us still loving us and accepting us in spite of our mistakes. I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. (Hebrews 10:17)
  

• When we feel guilty for giving in to temptation, and feel “dirty” because of some things we may have said or done, he is right beside us ready to forgive and cleanse us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
  

• When we feel tired and our problems seem to overwhelm us, he walks beside us and offers to carry all our burdens. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
  

• When life in this world treats us unfairly, he walks beside us reminding us that he rules in the spiritual realm, and that justice will ultimately be served in his court one day because he rules over all the nations. Indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8)
  

• When we are sick and weak, he feels our pain, having already suffered to the point of death on a cross for our sins. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24) We can turn to him at any time for strength and healing. And many followed him, and he healed them all…. (Matthew 12:15)
  

• When we are facing financial difficulties, he walks beside us reminding us who we are, and that we are co-heirs with him as owners of the universe: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ… He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:16,17,32)
  

• He understands the grief of a lost loved one. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled… Jesus wept. (John 11:32-35)
  

• He knows and understands the betrayal of a close friend. And as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." (Matthew 26:21)

Yes, Jesus has promised to never leave us, and has assured us that we do not have to be afraid. But he wants us to turn to him each day not only when we are in need, but also when we are happy and rejoicing in the good gifts that he gives to us, recognizing that everything we enjoy in life is a gift from God: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17) Do you appreciate him? Can we ever thank him enough for loving us when we don’t deserve it, and for giving to us a place in his kingdom? Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

The Israelite’s struggles did not end the day they finally entered the promised land. In fact, they were just beginning! There were giants in the land living in fortified cities that were not going to just hand things over to them. But God made it clear that they were not to fear them, and that he would never leave or abandon them.

The same is true today. When we enter the spiritual kingdom of Jesus through spiritual rebirth, we receive a great inheritance, but our struggles are just beginning. The king of darkness and his spiritual forces will not just hand their territory over to us. They will oppose us and seek to destroy us. But Jesus walks by our side with a power the opposition cannot overcome. Light always overcomes darkness. Therefore we have nothing to fear, because Jesus will never leave us! So be sure you are walking in the light, and not stumbling in the darkness. Turn to Jesus today and trust him, by following his leading!

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

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Life and Prosperity or Death and Destruction: Which will You Choose?

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 30:15-18)

The past few devotionals have looked at how the second generation of Israelites that came out of Egypt were able to finally enter in and conquer the “promised land.” We saw how the first generation was unable to receive the promise because of their unbelief. The second generation, under the leadership of Joshua, was able to enter in and receive what was promised to them through their forefather Abraham, not because they were more righteous than their parents, but because they believed in God’s mercy and obeyed his voice.

In the book of Deuteronomy we have recorded Moses’ last words and instructions to the generation of Israelites about to enter into the promised land. He reminded them that they were God’s favored people, and that they had made a commitment to serve God by promising to obey God’s voice: “You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.” (Deuteronomy 26:17-19)

The biggest single distinction that was supposed to exist between God’s favored people, the Israelites, and all other nations, was that they were to serve him with a willing heart, and no one else. They were to seek his voice, and not the voice of other gods. The wicked nations around them, including the ones they were driving out of the promised land, practiced idolatry in turning to other gods for help.

Moses then proceeded to list both blessings and curses for the people as they would live in the promised land. Blessings if they would continue to serve God and seek his voice, and curses if they were to serve other gods (idolatry) and listen to their voices.

The Blessings:

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

The curses for serving other gods are found in Deuteronomy 28:15-68, and are too numerous to list here, but include: “afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting… all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.” These curses which were the result of the people turning to and listening to other gods, were meant to draw the people’s hearts back to listening to God and serving him. But continual disobedience would result in destruction, just like the example of Pharaoh (see: The Voice of God: Your Path to Healing or Suffering).

Today, we live in an age where Jesus has already come and fulfilled BOTH the covenant promise given to Abraham and the requirements of the Law given by Moses. He defeated the power of sin, which is death, by coming out of the grave with a new resurrected body. The presentation of “life and prosperity” or “death and destruction” is still before us, but the stakes are much higher today! We don’t stand before a physical kingdom here on earth (the “promised land”) as the Israelites did, waiting to receive the inheritance of a physical location on earth. Instead, we stand before Jesus’ spiritual kingdom, with the offer to become co-heirs with him in that kingdom. It is an eternal kingdom, which has its current foundation in heaven:

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them… And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant... See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29)

Under this New Covenant that Jesus established, the blessings are far greater and the curses are far worse, than the blessings and curses that were under the Law given by Moses. When we disobey God’s voice and serve other gods today, it results in a spiritual separation from God. Listening to God’s voice and obeying it, however, results in the blessings of living in God’s presence in the spiritual kingdom of Jesus.

Which will you choose today: life and prosperity, or death and destruction? If you are currently not walking in the Kingdom of Light where Jesus rules, you face a future of total destruction away from God’s presence. You need to immediately change your course and come into the Kingdom of Light. For those who have already come into the Kingdom of Light but are not experiencing life and prosperity, is it because you are not listening to the voice of your King and obeying it? Are you following the ways of the world, and those who walk in darkness, building upon a faulty foundation which will soon be destroyed? For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

While there certainly can be physical causes of sickness that can be addressed in the physical realm, we see continually throughout the history recorded in the Bible that sickness is often the result of a spiritual problem: our sin. If the cause is spiritual, the solution and the healing are spiritual also. Seeking physical remedies will not result in healing if the problem is a spiritual problem:

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored? (Jeremiah 8:22)

Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain have you multiplied remedies; there is no healing for you. (Jeremiah 46:11)

A spiritual problem resulting in sickness needs a spiritual solution:

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:14-16)

So which course are you on today: life and prosperity or death and destruction? If you are facing health challenges today, are you seeking and obeying God’s voice in the matter, or are you seeking physical remedies for spiritual problems? Are the people you consult with on health issues qualified to deal with your sins and spiritual problems?

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Do You Deserve a Break Today?

Do not say in your heart… “It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,” whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)

Forty years after their march out of Egypt, the Israelites are finally on the verge of entering and conquering the “promised land,” the land that God had promised to them as part of his covenant with Abraham. But Moses wants to make one thing perfectly clear about their occupation of this land, a land flowing with “milk and honey” and with beautiful cities that they did not build: they did not deserve it. God was NOT giving them this land because they were a righteous people. In fact, it was quite the opposite. They were a stubborn and rebellious people who didn’t deserve anything. Even forty years of wandering around the desert did not really change them that much. Moses drives home this point by recalling their history, and stating: “Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 9:7)

The first time when their parents were on the verge of entering the promised land some forty years earlier, they failed to receive the promise of entering the land because they did not obey the voice of the Lord: “And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.” (Deuteronomy 9:23-24)

QUESTIONS: 1. If even the second generation, the grown-up adult children of those who came out of Egypt, were no more righteous than their parents, how was it that God still gave them the land? 2. How were they able to enter the promised land when their parents failed, since they were no more righteous than their parents?

ANSWERS: 1. God was still willing to give it to them because he is a merciful God, the God of second chances, and because he made a covenant with their forefather Abraham. God cannot break his promise, even if we are unfaithful 2. The second generation of Israelites out of Egypt were able to enter the land and conquer it the second time, because they believed in God’s love and mercy (unlike their parents) – not because they were righteous, or deserved it. Living in the desert for forty years eating manna and not having their clothes wear out apparently taught them a thing or two about trusting God and listening to his voice. But they had no more success in obeying the Ten Commandments and becoming righteous than their parents did.

So the two principles that had to be in place for the Israelites to receive the land that was promised to them was: 1. God had to be a merciful and loving God and give them what he promised, even though they did not earn or deserve it. 2. The people had to believe that God loved them and was a merciful God in order to receive the promise. God was just as loving and merciful to the first generation of Israelites out of Egypt, but they could not receive the promise of God’s blessings because of their unbelief.

Hundreds of years later, when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Israelites were carried out of the promised land to captivity in Babylon, Daniel recognizes these same truths about God’s love and mercy, and appeals to him on the basis of that love and mercy and his promise to Abraham to allow them to come back into the land:

I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules… To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws… As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly… Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy… O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. (Daniel 9:1-18 – italics added)

Things are no different today for those of us living under the new covenant. While advertising campaigns in the media may try to convince us that “you deserve a break today,” the fact is that we do not “deserve” anything good! We are all created by God and we are all accountable to him. James makes it clear that we are all guilty of breaking God’s laws and deserve nothing: For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. (James 2:10) Our only hope is God’s mercy, and receiving his promise of salvation through Jesus as the final fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham. It is not anything we deserve. This truth is taught throughout the New Testament:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

So we really do NOT deserve a break today! If we got what we deserved, it would be punishment for not fulfilling God’s purpose for which he created us. All of us have failed to live up to God’s standards. But just like the naughty Israelites who finally got to enter the promised land because they finally believed that God was merciful and was giving it to them, even though they didn’t deserve it, we too must simply believe that God actually loves us and wants to give us all the blessings he has promised for his children – even though we don’t deserve it!

Do you believe that God loves you and is merciful, giving you eternal life in his Kingdom through belief in Jesus even though you don’t deserve it? Just as this belief in his mercy was required for the Israelites to enter the “promised land,” so it is required of everyone today who wishes to enter Jesus’ spiritual kingdom. For more on this topic, please read the foundational article on being recreated spiritually, which is the first step to obtaining real health.

God gives us “a break”, but not because we deserve it. It is an act of mercy and love. And now our response is to give others “a break” even if they don’t deserve it: So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13)

Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (Matthew 18:23-35)

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:14-15)

If you have been reborn into the Kingdom of Light, you have received God’s incredible mercy and love which you never deserved. Are you in turn being merciful to those around you? If not, you are preventing the flow of God’s river of forgiveness in your own life. Not receiving God’s love and mercy on a daily basis, and in turn extending love and mercy to others, results in spiritual sickness that can manifest itself in many physical diseases. So the steps to spiritual health are to: 1. Receive God’s love, mercy and forgiveness in your own life, and 2. Extend love, mercy, and forgiveness to those around you, even if they don’t deserve it. If you do this, you will have incredible power for healing in your life today that no doctor or medicine can provide!

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Who do You Listen to When You are in Need?

You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this. (Deuteronomy 18:13-14)

The day had finally come. After God had performed mighty miracles to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and destroy Pharaoh’s army, and after marching through the desert for many days, they finally had come to Mt. Horeb. This mountain was the place where God had first met Moses in the burning bush and had told Moses to bring them out of Egypt, so that they might serve God instead of serving Pharaoh as slaves. They had come to Egypt under the rule of Joseph, but during the course of their 430 years in the land they became so numerous that the Egyptians feared them and made them into slaves. This transition from a favored people to an oppressed people over the course of hundreds of years apparently caused them to forget God and his covenant with Abraham. But finally they begin to cry out to God in their bondage, and God listened to their cry and sent Moses as their deliverer: Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Exodus 2:23-24). So they marched out of Egypt with all of the wealth of Egypt, and after some trials and testing, they stood before God on Mt. Horeb:

All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin." So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.'" (Exodus 20:18-22)

Standing before God on the mountain, and hearing his voice speak to them for the first time, they were terrified, and they wanted no more of God’s direct voice speaking to them. So they requested that Moses be the one who listens to God’s voice and then Moses would tell them what God said. Moses became one of the first “prophets,” someone who receives the word of God and reports it to others.

Forty years later, as the next generation of Israelites was preparing to receive their inheritance of the “promised land,” Moses gave them a strict warning and reminded them of their first encounter with the voice of God on Mt. Horeb:

When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen-- just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-16)

The fact that all of us have built into us a desire to call out to a higher being or higher power when we are in extreme distress or trouble, and find ourselves in situations where we have no control and are powerless, gives testimony to our “createdness” – that someone else is in control of the universe and our existence. The Israelites had the heritage of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to know that God was their creator and that he had established a covenant with them. So in their distress they knew who to call upon for help. They did not call upon the Egyptian gods or their idols. Moses warns them to continue to seek the voice of God through the prophets as they enter the land of Canaan, and to not follow the practice of the other nations who listened to “anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead.” These types of people obviously had some kind of power to help people in the short term, or else people would have stopped going to them and they would have gone out of business. So they became snares even to the Israelites at times, and we even have one record of the first king, King Saul, going to a medium when he needed help (I Samuel 28:6-20), and that medium did have the power to bring up Samuel from the dead temporarily. But it did not accomplish any useful long-term purpose for Saul.

So who do you go to and listen to today when you are in trouble and have great needs? Western culture today has been built upon a foundation of evolution which generally has no place for fortune tellers, mediums, sorcerers, etc. (although they do still exist). Instead, our present culture has replaced these people with other professionals such as scientists, doctors, psychologists, and other “experts” who all too often are setup in place of hearing the direct voice of God (and even in opposition to it), which is available to all of us free of charge. Because of the effect of evolutionary teaching we exalt the physical over the spiritual world, and seek answers to our problems only in the physical world, since evolution denies the existence of God and the spiritual realm. Are our ways in Western culture really any different from those cultures that Moses warned against in Deuteronomy 18? Our idols and those we listen to might be different, but are not the effects just the same? Are we not much better off seeking the voice of God when we have great needs?

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament is a book that explains how the way we approach God today under the New Covenant that Jesus instituted is different than how the Israelites approached God under Moses when the Law was given. Yet one thing has not changed at all - our need to listen to the voice of God:

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them… And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant... See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29)

If you read through the foundational articles on this website, you will understand that to hear the voice of God one must be reborn spiritually into the Kingdom of Light where Jesus rules in the spiritual realm. If we are still walking in the kingdom of darkness, we are limited to simply being able to cry out to God and hope that he hears us, but not being able to hear what he has to say to us personally, because we don’t know him (much like the Israelites in the day of Moses.) But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:26-28) So for those not yet in the Kingdom of Light, being recreated spiritually through the rebirth process is the first step to being able to hear God’s voice. For those of us already in the Kingdom of Light, we need to listen to our King and stop listening to the world! So who are you listening to today?

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

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