Author: admin

How much does God need to prove Himself to you? How many times does He have to be faithful? How often does His word need to be verified before you accept it as true for your life? God has an amazingly consistent and reliable track record in dealing with people. Yet we continue to doubt Him, to worry, and to hesitate to obey.

Our relationship with God is based on faith. Without faith, we cannot please Him. Yet God continually stands by His word and proves time and time again that He is trustworthy. It seems that God cannot do enough for some people to finally trust Him.

No people had ever witnessed the amazing miracles that the Israelites had. God had never made such amazing promises to a people before. So much hung in the balance of their belief. Yet their faith would falter. They would hesitate to trust the God who had proven to be wholly trustworthy.

God loves us with an infinite love, but He generally will not force His will upon us. He will invite is to trust Him and to obey. For those who refuse to believe, God’s promises will remain unrealized. We will only be able to wonder what our lives might have become, had we only believed.

For some Christians, people’s voices carry more weight than God’s word. We clearly hear what God is saying and we prepare to obey. But then someone points out how much it will cost, or how inadequate we are, or how difficult it will be to implement, and we shrug our shoulders and remain where we are. We have the audacity to allow one naysayer to cancel a divine command.

The Israelites knew clearly what God intended for them. God had already proven His ability to provide for their need and to fight on their behalf. Not once had God’s word proven unreliable. Yet with the negative word of ten men, an entire nation was prepared to defy a divine command. These men were respected in their tribes. They had influence. But they could not compare to God.

The sad truth was that the people were more wiling to listen to people than they were prepared to heed the voice of God. In reality, the ten men’s opinion was incorrect. It was possible to conquer the land. Their enemies would have crumbled before them. However, the consequence of listening to people was that the Israelites spent forty unnecessary years wandering aimlessly in the desert rather than enjoying God’s promise. Who are you currently listening to: God or people? Who is it you want to base your life upon?

Certain words are extremely powerful, either for good or for ill. The word “nevertheless” is such a word. Its power comes not from its length, but in its ability to cancel all that preceded it. In this case, the twelve Israelite spies reported that the Promised Land, which they had reconnoitered, was just as lush and beautiful as God had promised. It contained all the space and vegetation the Israelites required to prosper. Their report verified everything God had claimed.

But then comes that word: Nevertheless . . . This word has been the undoing of countless Christians and churches. “We know we should expand our facility to reach more people, nevertheless . . ..” “I know God wants me to go on that mission trip, nevertheless . . .” “I know God wants me to contribute to this cause, nevertheless . . .”

Some Christians are under the misguided belief that because they encounter problems, or they have doubts, or because they do not see how they can afford it, that they are justified in setting aside God’s clear command. In truth, when God speaks, there is no justifiable “nevertheless.” It matters not what the problems are once God has told us to move forward. Too many of God’s people are standing at the edge of the Promised Land listing all the reasons why they cannot go in. It is time to set our “nevertheless” aside and begin to claim the amazing promises God has waiting for us.

Every child of God has an inheritance. Our heavenly Father has prepared it for us and wants to give it to us. However, many of our heavenly gifts come with a price tag: faith and obedience. Scripture indicates it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). We may protest that we do believe, we just are afraid, or intimidated, or we feel inadequate. But the test of faith is whether or not we go up and claim the inheritance God has for us.

Tragically, there are those who would rather spend their life in a wilderness than exercise the faith to claim a Promised Land. These people could be enjoying much, but instead they remain satisfied with little.

You may have gone to church all of your life. You may have read your Bible for years. You may have sought to live a good, Christian lifestyle for years. But at some point you will stand at the edge of your Promised Land gazing out on all that could be yours. Then you will have to decide if you are satisfied merely with talking about faith and victory, or if you truly want to experience everything God has for you.

There comes a moment in every Christian’s life where talking about faith is no longer adequate. That is the time to advance.

Life is a journey. God meets us at one place in our life and then journeys with us as He takes us to where He wants us to be. There will be trials and challenges along the way. Parts of the journey will be pleasant and other sections will be difficult. But eventually we all come to our own Kadesh Barnea. Those are the times in our lives where circumstances look impossible. It is in those moments we must place our trust in God even though we can see no way for us to succeed.

The Israelites had experienced numerous miracles before they arrived to their Kadesh Barnea. They had witnessed ten plagues. They had walked across the Red Sea.They had stood at the foot of the awesome Mount Sinai. Yet they finally came to a point where their faith was tested like it had not been before. Unfortunately they would fail the exam. Forty years later, God would lead them back to this same place to see if they were prepared to finally move beyond that point (Numbers 20:1).

Are you at a crisis point in your life? Are you struggling to believe God for something, despite all you have experienced of Him in the past? We all have those watershed moments. How you respond to them will determine much of what happens in your life for years to come.

Leadership requires far more than an attractive appearance and impressive promises. What God demands in leaders are: integrity, humility, and courage. It takes integrity to be fair and honest even when you face pressures to show partiality. Some people expect favors or to be exempted from the same standards others face. One of your greatest temptations will be to compromise in the face of pressure from dominating or intimidating colleagues and clients.

God also expects humility. That is, no job, or responsibility is beneath you if it is good for your people. Godly leaders do not merely pander to the top executives while ignoring the shop floor laborers. No one is “beneath” you! Great leaders realize that every person is someone of value and so they treat them as such.

Finally, godly leaders demonstrate courage. They fear God, not people. They refuse to be bullied into compromising their convictions. They do not allow the loudest or most intimidating people to sway their opinions. Godly leaders are driven by principle, not fear.

Today’s leaders are often motivated more by popular opinion than by inner conviction. Reflect on these qualities in your life. At what level are you functioning with integrity, humility, and courage? How might you step it up a notch in these areas in the days ahead?

God’s method of administering people is to pick good leaders. When Moses had the responsibility of leading an entire nation of former slaves, the burden was immense. So God instructed His weary servant to choose additional leaders from each of the tribes. The answer was not to import executives from other nations. These administrators were to be home grown.

They were also to have qualities that mattered to God. Wisdom was the first attribute to be sought for. Wisdom includes far more than knowledge or technical expertise. There are people who are brilliant in their narrow field of endeavor but fools in working with people. A second prerequisite for leaders was that they needed to have understanding. These people had to be able to grasp the issues facing the people and to discern the best response. Such skills would be invaluable in administering a nation. Finally, they required knowledge. Some people desire to lead but they have not paid the price to acquire a grasp of the facts and technical details of the challenges that are facing them. Those chosen to lead required a depth of knowledge that could be drawn upon in finding solutions for the people.

What type of people are you gathering around you? What is the caliber of people you have chosen to work with? Do they meet the standard God set for leaders?

God has a purpose for every person. But His will for your life may not have begun with you. Your assignment may merely be the continuation of what He initiated in others years ago. If you are a leader in your church, God may have established that congregation a century ago. God’s will for it did not begin with your arrival! God may have begun a work in your family tree generations before you emerged on the scene. God may have been initiating a divine work in your community or company long before you arrived.

If those who went before us had not been faithful, we might not be where we are today. The key is to have the correct perspective. We must ask: “What has been passed down to me? What will I pass on to those who follow me?”

As great a man of faith as Abraham was, he never saw what Moses did. Nor did Isaac or Jacob. But they did fully experience God’s will for their life in their day. Likewise Joshua and his generation would experience God’s power in ways Moses would not. Each generation was meant to build on the ones that preceded it. How are you living, and leading? Are you acting as if everything began with you? Or, do you recognize you have been given a sacred trust from those who went before you? And, that those who follow you will one day take up your work and attempt to build upon it?

It was breathtaking, to say nothing of terrifying, to camp at the base of Mount Horeb, the awesome mountain of God. No one who was there would forget the peals of thunder, the flashes of lightning, the endless fire and smoke that ascended to the heavens, as well as the ear-piercing blasts of trumpets. After witnessing the ten plagues on Egypt and watching the Red Sea part, this was greater still. On the sacred mount, God had dictated His law to Moses in which the divine expectations for His people had been clearly delineated. It had been a defining moment for God’s people.

But, as with all mountain top experiences, it was time to move on. It might have been tempting to dwell at the foot of that great mount, but it would not have accomplished God’s purposes. God intended for His people to bring judgment on the wicked inhabitants of Canaan. God had prepared a wonderful inheritance for the Israelites where they could become a light to the nations. None of that could happen if they remained where they were.

Worship is a central aspect of the Christian’s life. It helps us regain a proper perspective on God as well as ourselves. But at a certain point, it is time to get to work. Some people come too little to the mountain of worship. Others stay too long. Once God has clearly spelled out His will for your life, there comes a time to break camp and begin the process of fully implementing what you experienced in worship into your daily living.

We are saved by grace, through faith, not by our works. There is nothing you can do to save yourself from your sin. However, once you are saved, God expects you to live like someone who has been made right with God. In fact, Scripture indicates that the proof we have been born again ought to be seen in the righteousness of our lives (1 John 5:2-4).

Being saved by grace does not exempt us from living holy lives. It ought to compel us to live for Christ with abandon. Christians ought not to live carelessly or casually. Every area of our life ought to be wholly surrendered to God.

The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day were fanatical about following God’s commandments. They went to ridiculous lengths at times, to ensure they were following Scripture’s teachings. Of course they missed Christ, and so their religious behavior was for not. But Jesus, rather than condemning their zeal, commanded His disciples to seek to live holy lives with even more fervency.

Would fervency for righteousness describe your life? Does a desire for holy living pervade everything you do? How serious are you about honoring God in every part of your life? How pleasing is your life, currently, to God?