Journaling Through John in July: John Chapter 1

Who do you say I am?

Read: John chapter 1 and Genesis 1.

The Word. The light. The Word became flesh. The only begotten from the Father. The way of the LORD. The One whom you do not know . . . who is among you. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. The Son of God. Rabbi (teacher). Messiah (Christ). Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote. The King of Israel.

Look at all the things said about Jesus in just chapter one! Amazing! This is not a complete list, just a beginning. Later in the Gospels, the disciples are recounting all the things the people had said about Jesus, so He asks them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20, Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27).

The answer to that question shapes our life. It is the foundation on which we build. If we believe Jesus was a good man and a good teacher, then we will listen to some of what He says, especially when life is difficult and answers are needed. Of course, we may dismiss other lessons from Jesus if they don’t align with our core beliefs or the direction we desire to go. We will pick and choose his teachings if we think he is simply a good teacher.

If we see Jesus as savior, we will ask for His forgiveness and be thankful for what salvation offers. But, if He is only our savior, then our lives will look a lot like the world with a little bit of thankfulness sprinkled on top. We can know Jesus is the Son of God, but if we’ve never read the scriptures and contemplated who God is, then our thoughts will be shallow and simple.

John introduces his book with many facets of the character of Jesus. There are many more. Like a single cut crystal that casts many little rainbows when the sun shines through, we can see each one of the characteristics of Jesus as the scriptures unfold. In fact, Psalm 119:130 tells us this: “The unfolding of your word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” John calls Jesus “the Word” in chapter one. As we literally unfold the pages of scripture to watch how the revelation of Jesus unfolds, we will see more and more of who Jesus is. More than teacher. More than savior.

“But who do you say that I am?” That question is directed specifically to you. Are you willing to unfold the scriptures, stand in the Light, and answer it?

Questions/Responses:

How do verses 1-5 and verse 14 tie into creation? What does this reveal about Jesus?

Verse 18 tells us that Jesus, the begotten, has explained God, the Father. What have you learned about God the Father from chapter one?

Where do you see Jesus responding individually to people? What do his individual responses reveal about Jesus? Who do you say Jesus is? Where do you feel your understanding is lacking?

Take some time to pray about what you've learned and what you want to learn.

Not now, Lord

Pulling the carpet back, I knew we were in trouble. My parents installed that carpet before I was born - golden shag over beautiful oak floors. After my parents’ divorce, my dad never upgraded the house. At 92 and needing memory care, Dad left me with the task. The carpet wasn’t the problem. Padding that used to be a soft spongy cushion was now just brick. It clung to the wood beneath. And it wasn’t coming up! After scraping for hours, I finally called Frank, my floor expert, to tell him the tragic news. “No worries,” he said. “I can do it.” I thought he would have some super-quick floor guy trick. He sent me a video a few days later of his process. Sharpen chisel. Scrape this way. Scrape that way. All the while, brick red shards fly through the air. Clear away shards. Do the next little section. On his hands and knees, with just a little chisel, he painstakingly scraped away all of the padding. I thought for sure he would be frustrated and annoyed, but he is an artist at heart. When it was finished, we talked. Frank said, “It took a while, but I enjoyed the process. These are beautiful floors.” The Lord used this hardened padding to reveal some things about my current struggle. Have you ever had something the Lord has nudged you to do, and yet you keep putting Him off? That’s me. All. The. Time. Sometimes I question: “Is that you Lord, or am I making this up?” Sometimes I rationalize: “Oh that doesn’t make any sense.” Sometimes I refuse: “Not now. I’ll do this other thing first.” But as time moves forward, my opportunity is gone. God’s nudges often have expiration dates, and immediate obedience is hard for me. In my struggle, the Lord led me to Hebrews 3:7: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness. . .” If you hear His voice. . . I know I’ve heard His voice. Do not harden your hearts . . . Is that what I’m doing when I put God off with my “Not now” response? Later in Hebrews 3 we learn that a hardened heart comes from the deceitfulness of sin and from unbelief. I am challenged by this. What am I not believing the Lord for? Through prayer and the word, I realized that unbelief is a root that bears the fruit of disobedience. There are many branches that stem from unbelief, but fear is often the branch that grows from my unbelief and ripens into disobedience. Fear of my future. Fear that bad things will happen. Fear of the unknown. My dad, the keeper of the golden shag carpet, instilled in me the demanding sense to stick with what is safe, stick with what you know. But, my Father in heaven does not follow that principle. He often calls us out into the unknown, into places where we’ll be challenged, into new places that He will show us, but maybe not right now. He asks us to obey anyway. If we hold fast to Christ, we will get to that new place, but that requires faith in God. What is faith? First, we must believe Him. Then, we must obey. Believing + obeying = faith. There was a whole generation of Israelites who didn’t believe the Lord, even though they saw His glory and His miracles. Their unbelief led to fear and their fear ripened into disobedience. Their lack of faith hardened their hearts to God’s voice, and they died in the wilderness, never receiving their promised land. Their “not now” closed the door of opportunity the Lord was holding open for them on that day. I don’t want to be like them. I don’t want a hard heart. “Lord, help my unbelief!” is my cry. And my sweet savior brings me hope: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh . . .” (Ezekiel 36:26). Did you hear that? Like Frank scraping off the hardened padding to reveal beautiful oak floors that are clean and fresh, our Lord can remove our hardened hearts. The calluses built from years of “Not now, Lord” can be stripped clean and ready for what’s new. At creation, God looked over each day’s work and thought, “It is good.” I imagine Him looking back at us, His workmanship, after scraping away the hardened places in our hearts, and making us clean and beautiful and thinking, “It is very good!” This process requires believing and often immediate obedience, but our faith pleases the Lord. One day, we’ll get to stand with Him and look back over His work in our life, and together we’ll exclaim, “Isn’t it beautiful!” and our soft hearts will swell with joy at His glory shining over us. Lord, let it be!

From Grief to Joy

I was mad at the world, at coronavirus, at the news, media, politicians. You name it. I was mad. I went to bed mad. That’s never a good thing. Sleep eludes you when you’re mad. It was a fitful night, so by 4:00 A.M. I was ready to get up. What do you say to the Lord in your morning prayer time when you’re mad like that? I decided to just tell Him how mad, mad, mad I was. Like a dark thunder cloud, I dumped all of my mad on His listening ears. It felt good to get it out, but it didn’t solve anything. You need some resolution when you’re mad. “Lord, help me understand. Help me see clearly through all of this,” I pleaded. Instead of starting my new Bible study, (I just couldn’t that morning.) I decided to run through my scripture memory cards. When I flipped to Nehemiah 8:10, I stopped. “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength,” God’s word says. Do not grieve. Yes, that’s what I was doing: grieving the loss of the world I knew. I think we all are grieving in our own way. Better to acknowledge your grief and move through it than be stuck there. Bitterness grows on stagnant grief. “For the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Do you know what makes our LORD joyful? Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before Him.” His joy was the completed work of God, the Father, our salvation. Jude 24 tells us Jesus will present us blameless before the Father with joy – a picture of our salvation. Our salvation brings Him joy! Knowing we are saved in our Lord Jesus Christ is our strength to persevere. Hold on to this truth! Do not grieve. These things are temporal, but your salvation is eternal. Do not grieve. Fix your eyes on the Lord, for He is good. Do not grieve. Others need the message and hope of salvation, so there is much work to be done. “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Those words do not change the situations around me, but they sure do change the way I look at them, the way I look at myself. It is necessary to grieve, but we are not to anchor there. God is still moving and He is still calling us to follow Him. So, let us not beach in the shallows where the waters stagnate, but in the deeper waters where the current flows, let us move with our Lord, allowing our grief to be washed away in His love and redemption, for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

The Safety That Lasts

Do you feel safe? Are you anxious and worried about the future? I know so many people who are just feeling unsafe right now. Anxiety and worry can fill thoughts, shape days, and rob joy. While washing hands, wearing masks, and social distancing might help our sense of safety, the truth is this isn’t the kind of safety we really need. No. Our true safety goes much deeper than that. There is a scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis that describes a spiritual safety we need to be aware of. “Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion” . . . “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver . . . “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He the King, I tell you.” Jesus is our king, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and he isn’t safe either, but he is good. What do I mean by he isn’t safe? I think you must consider two things here. First, we are told throughout scripture to fear the LORD our God. He is a powerful creator, capable of anything. He has revealed Himself and called us to be His children, to follow Him. When we refuse His grace and sanctification through Jesus, when we refuse the goodness that He offers, He promises justice, and no doubt about it, we deserve it. The Bible warns in Hebrews 10:31, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” We don’t want to hear this though. No one wants to think about God’s justice. It isn’t a typical topic of Bible studies or Sunday morning sermons. Maybe that’s because people just want to feel “safe” and pastors and teachers don’t want to lose their audience. They will talk about God’s love all day long. That makes us feel “safe.” But here is the beautiful thing: God’s unsafe justice and His safe love are all wrapped up into one: Jesus on the cross. Think about it. “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God loved us and sent His Son, Jesus, to take our penalty, and He poured out His justice on Jesus instead of us. Love. Justice. Jesus. No wonder those who turn away from Him deserve His punishment. He offered the ultimate gift and they refused. If you have never seen Jesus in quite this way before, if you do not know Jesus as your savior from God’s justice, then take the time now to talk that out with God. He is offering it to you. He has already poured out the justice for your sins on Jesus. If you understand that and accept the free gift of grace and salvation that he offers, you will be saved: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). This is the ultimate safety, safety from God’s wrath, and no one can grant it except Jesus. Accepting His offer is the most important thing you will ever do in this life. When we are in a right relationship with God as His redeemed children, we are safe from His wrath, but that doesn’t mean He won’t put us in unsafe circumstances. Have you ever felt the Lord prompting you to tell someone about Jesus, someone you know doesn’t want to hear? You probably felt unsafe. How about money? Did giving that amount placed on your heart make you feel unsafe? Have you ever known to your core that you needed to speak up about that ungodly practice at work or among your friends, and felt unsafe to do it? Where is your “safe” line? Listen. Jesus never promised us we would be “safe” in this world. In fact, he promised quite the opposite: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Christians throughout history have been opposed, challenged, martyred. Unsafe! These things are foreign to us. We have lived in a culture of very little resistance for a long time. Our muscles to stand firm in our faith and proclaim the Gospel are weak and immature, but the time has come for us to exercise, gain strength, and grow. Here are some things you can do: 1) Put your trust and hope in Jesus alone. Continually remind yourself of this. Stay focused on Jesus. Turn off the TV. Open up your Bible. Our hope and eternal safety are in Him. 2) Study His Word daily. You can’t stand firm in God’s truths if you don’t know His Word. Know what God says, not just your favorite devotional or Bible teacher. Read His Word for yourself. Someone else’s interpretation might help you, but it can never replace the power of His words on your mind. Then, go and do what He says to the best of your ability. Struggle through it. If you goof up, start again. Don’t give up. Persevere. That’s how you grow in Christ. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of you faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work in you so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). 3) Don’t be afraid to tell others about Christ or stand up for your Christian beliefs. Your words might make the difference between life and death for someone. You might make them uncomfortable. You might both feel “unsafe,” but better to feel unsafe than God’s wrath and justice for them, and the Lord’s disappointment in you. The devil is ramping up his campaign against us. We can see it all around. Now is not the time for the Church to hide behind a mask of indifference. Don’t be sidetracked by the cultural battles being fought around us. The enemy will use our emotions as a distraction, but having the mind of Christ will turn these into opportunities to reach out in wisdom and love. Our focus is Christ! We have been placed in this specific time for a specific reason. God chose you and put you here on purpose. He has something for you to do, someone for you to influence with His Good News. What an honor this is! Think about the multitude of Christians throughout history who longed to see the day Jesus would return. Many of the pieces are already in place. Let’s not shrink in fear, seeking a false safety. Let’s stand on the Rock, proclaim the Word of God, and watch Jesus be glorified. You, O child of the King, can do this!

Stepping Clear of the Emotional Trap

Do you ever let your emotions get the best of you? Aristotle told us long ago that people will respond with their emotions even when facts are more logical. The Bible says it this way: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). It’s true for me. I bet it’s true for you too. This is why advertisers and propagandists use emotional responses. They play our emotions so that we respond in particular ways. Emotions can be good things – love, joy, affection, but what happens when our emotions are used to manipulate us? 2020 has been filled with emotions. Between the pandemic and the riots, we’ve had a pretty emotional year. There is a philosophical term for how this emotional frenzy has evolved: Hegelian Dialectic. Here is how it works. A crisis is either used or created that usually pits one side against another. The reaction to this crisis is fueled so that emotions on both sides are stoked higher and higher, like adding fuel to a fire. (Notice how the emotions are used, not logic.) Then a response is created that will subdue the raging emotional fire, pushing one side further, while the other must concede. The response that is offered will be one that people would not have agreed to before, but because of the emotional turmoil, it is accepted and often a new normal is formed. Ultimately, the outcome is guided by the crisis-giver/revealer who had an intended goal all along. Sadly, the new normal has problems of its own so that the cycle continues allowing for more opportunities for crisis and further pushing. I’m sure you can see how the Hegelian Dialectic fashioned summer events. Mandating masks and defunding police are not things we would have considered in 2019. I share these physical events not to ruffle feathers, but to give you a clear picture because I would like to suggest that this philosophical idea of crisis-reaction-response first started in the spiritual realm, and is used by our enemy to lead us away from God. Consider Eve. In Genesis 1, God created the world and all the creatures, including man. In Genesis 2 God placed Adam over this new creation as a caretaker. Adam was given one rule: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die. When Eve encounters the serpent in Genesis 3, he poses a seemingly innocent question to Eve. It is meant to create a crisis: “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The serpent wants to draw attention to the one thing forbidden. Unaware of his game, she responds, “but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.” The crisis! She can’t eat from the tree! That’s terrible! And using an emotional appeal that fuels her need to feel included, the serpent offers a response: “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Eve wants to be like God. She wants to be wise. She wants to taste the fruit. And even though logic tells her not to do it, her emotions win. The serpent took the crisis, fueled her emotions, then pointed her to a response that appealed to her emotions, but led her away from God. Do you see how the serpent guided her response? The most pernicious thing about this whole encounter is that the enemy made it seem like he was helping her. Oh, the deceit! Our enemy, the devil, does this very same thing to us on a spiritual level. He takes a little crisis – an insult, a feeling of inadequacy, a bit of jealousy – and fuels the emotions. Maybe we ruminate on it or remember similar situations or some event adds to it. Whatever it is, his goal is to whip up our emotional reaction so that he can offer a deceitfully helpful response. And when the suggested response comes . . . we act on it. The response Satan offers is always counter-Christian because his goal is to lead you away from God. The crisis doesn’t matter as long as he moves you further from God to live in the flesh. Galatians 5 tells us that our flesh is against the Spirit: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” These responses are the things Satan offers to us as a quick fix to satisfy our emotions. Instead of this, Paul encourages us to walk by the Spirit for “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). But here is the thing – these responses are usually not a quick fix. We must choose the fruit of the Spirit, and that means overriding the flaming emotions and opting out of the provided responses. Paul says, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25). In other words, we have ignored those quick-fix fleshly fruits and offer forgiveness, mercy, and grace - things that go against our emotions. Oh, this is not easy! But as Christians, we offer them anyway because we are called to do this. This is walking in the Spirit. We grow His fruit one decision at a time. This is defeating our enemy because we chose to step out of the trap and follow our Lord Jesus Christ. When you are faced with an emotional situation whether it is personal, social, or political, don’t fall for the enemy’s tactics. If you know to look for the trap, you can step clear of it and avoid getting ensnared. All you need to do is see the situation for what it is – a ploy to lead you away from the Lord. Then you can rely on the wisdom God offers in His word, and the strength of the Holy Spirit within you to step clear and walk with Him. His grace is sufficient for you and His power is made perfect in your weakness. You have everything you need to overcome. Praise the Lord!

Songs of Hope in the Dark

It had been a sleepless night. Thoughts of coronavirus, food shortages, eLearning, and people I know who are now sick rolled through my mind. Just a few short weeks ago the virus was far away, but now it was on my doorstep robbing me of sleep and peace. As I laid in bed trying to sleep, I could hear the birds outside my window. They were beginning their morning chatter. Still exhausted, I rose anyway. I didn’t want to miss the morning concert. I threw on my robe, grabbed my cup of coffee, opened the window in my living room to make for better listening, and I plopped on the couch in the dark.

Did you know that the birds begin singing each morning before the sun rises? One bird, perched all alone, will sing out a few notes. Another bird of the same species, perched all alone, will answer. Then a new bird will call out from somewhere. A bird of that species will answer in the distance. On and on it goes until they are all awake and all singing. The sky is still dark. The sun has not even peaked the horizon, but the birds are in full chorus. The sky is liquid with silvery sounds. Beautiful!

I’ve enjoyed this phenomenon for years. I get up early to go sit and listen. I always imagine the birds are singing to the LORD, heralding the morn, praising Him for a new day and for His faithfulness. “Let all creation sing,” rings through my mind as I enjoy the symphony.

But as I sat on the couch this particular Sunday morning, I was struck by the symbolism offered in this daily occurrence. The birds sing while it is still dark. They sing knowing the morning will come. They don’t start singing after the sun has already risen. No, they sing before. They sing praising the Lord for what He will do. They sing in hope.

I couldn’t help but think about my church family, about Restoration’s first online service, about all the sweet words of encouragement, all the prayers being offered, all the ways that His people are singing right now. . . singing while it is still dark. Friends, these are dark times, but our Lord is faithful. He will prevail. The dark cannot stop the Light from getting through. Our singing, our praying, our sharing His good Word and the hope of the gospel is a symphony of praise to the Lord and to the world around us. I cannot help but think about Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Easter is on the way – a time of renewal, a promise of what is to come. The hope of Christ is particularly comforting when the world is crazy. So while we have the quiet time at home, let’s turn off our devices. Let’s open up His word and sit by His side and hear what He has to say. Things may seem dark, but we have Christ, the Light of the world! Let his word richly dwell in you. Fill your mind and your heart with Him. Then, sing on Church! Sing to wake the world to the good news that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him. Our God is faithful. A new day will come! Let all creation sing!

Deuteronomy: Lessons to remember as we walk to the Promised Land - Chapters 33-34

CHAPTER 33-34:

Excitement and nervousness filled Layna as she laced up her walking boots and headed out on the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile series of trails through Spain that follows ancient pilgrimage routes to Galatia and the tomb of St. James. Layna is the daughter of our family friends, Mike and Renee. This was her senior trip and she had skipped her graduation to go. I thought her parents were crazy. There were too many unknowns in my book. I tend to have roots instead of wings when it comes to this sort of thing. But Mike and Renee have always been the kind of parents to nurture both roots and wings in their children, so they made sure Layna had the opportunity to fulfill her dream. She was determined to walk the entire 500 miles in a month.

We walk for pleasure or for exercise, but this kind of walk is different. This is a commitment of the heart, mind, and will to accomplish a task that is full of grueling physical work, emotional roller coasters, and the unknown. As Layna stepped out into the Spanish sunshine that day, she had no idea what was ahead of her: pain, pleasure, heartbreak, the thrill of triumph. All were possibilities, but she was ready for whatever awaited ahead. I’m sure that’s how the Israelites felt as they stood on the edge of their own possibilities listening to the final words of Moses. Put yourself in their walking shoes as you listen to the blessings of Moses in chapter 33.

Remember, these words were not recorded by Moses but by Joshua after the death of Moses.
As you read, make a list of each tribe and a summarized version of their blessing.

Read Deuteronomy 33:1-29.

Is there anything that stood out to you about the blessings?

The ancient custom of a father blessing his children before he died was serious business. The blessings often told of the son’s character, his strengths and weaknesses. The blessing would reveal the father’s hope for the son and his thoughts about the son’s future. They were highly regarded by the people in the Old Testament because they were a sort of inheritance. Remember Esau and Jacob? Esau traded his inheritance, his father’s blessing, for a bowl of stew that Jacob had cooked. Esau had such low regard for the blessing his father Isaac would give to him that he felt a bowl of stew was worth more. The foreshadowing in this trade points to the trades the Israelites would make in the Promised Land – their blessings from God for the idols of the land.

God has blessings for you. What have you traded them for?

Esau, no matter how much he pleaded or cried, was unable to get his blessing back. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you can retrieve your blessing, even if you’ve traded it away. Jesus has redeemed it, bought it back, and he offers it to you.

How will you thank Him?

Read Deuteronomy 34:1-8.

Who buried Moses?

Why do you think God would bury him so that no man knows where his grave is located?

Read Jude 8-9.

Biblical authorities believe that the archangel Michael, who watches over Israel, was the one who buried Moses. He did this in order to keep his body hidden from Satan, who would have used it as an object of worship or for some other evil plan. Moses had been a powerful instrument of God, and it would have been easy to bait followers with his bones and then switch their hearts to worship Moses instead of God. As humans, it is our tendency to worship the created rather than the creator. God was preventing this bait-and-switch worship from happening.

Where do you see bait-and-switch worship happening in our culture?

Have you ever fallen for a bait-and-switch and ended up focused on something other than God? Explain your answer.

Read Deuteronomy 34:9-12.

What words describe how Moses knew God?

How are you able to know God in this way?

What are you thinking here at the end of the book?

So here we are. We have hiked to the end of Deuteronomy. I don’t know about you, but I feel like it is a little anticlimactic. Where is the big battle? The victory? The big hoorah at the end? I’m a little disappointed. Moses walks up into the mountains and is gone. And what are we left with? A promise of what can be possible, but the disappointing realization that the Israelites didn’t fully receive the blessings they were told could be theirs. They were like Esau and traded their blessings for something that gave immediate gratification but was far less valuable in the end.

I’ve jokingly said for years that I’m a mixed up soul because I have a romantic hope of the happy ending, but I am fully aware of the reality we live in. It often leaves me disappointed. But here is the thing: there is nothing to be disappointed in when we realize the physical journey of the Israelites is a picture of our spiritual journey with Christ. Moses is a foreshadowing of Christ. Moses took the Israelites out of Egypt. Christ takes us out of the world of sin that enslaves us. Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness to grow them and teach them how to rightly worship the LORD their God. Christ walks with us through our own “wilderness” of life and shows us how to live our lives for Him and be a reflection of His glory. Moses encouraged the Israelites to live in obedience in their actions, equipping them with all the laws that would help them. Christ encourages us to obey Him through faith, equipping us with His Word and His Holy Spirit to walk through the sanctification process as His redeemed people. While the Israelites had agreed to a covenant with God through the Law, we have agreed to a covenant with God through Jesus Christ. Ours is the better covenant. We get the big hoorah . . . if we listen. See what I mean? I'm the romantic and the realist!

The book of Hebrews does a great job comparing the old covenant given to Moses on Mount Sinai with the covenant offered to us by Jesus in the Last Supper in Matthew 26:28 and explained in Hebrews 8. The New Covenant that Christ offers is ratified once and for all with his perfect blood. No need for continual sacrifice because God’s own Son was the ultimate atoning sacrifice for our sins. Hoorah! But the warnings are still there. We have a choice to make – blessing or curse, life or death. This is our reality. Will you choose life?

As I walk through this life as a child of God, sometimes I am like Layna setting off on a new adventure and excited with the expectations of things to come. Sometimes I get weary with the work and I want to make a trade like Esau and the Israelites. Sadly, sometimes I do trade my blessings for things far less fulfilling. When that happens and I realize the mess I’ve made, my only option is to repent, find my way back to Jesus, and be thankful for my better covenant and the fact that I can choose life.
God’s mercy is full of restoration.

Deuteronomy was a call to be faithful. That call is still being made today. Our call is to remain faithful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are still called to love, to remember, to fear, to obey, and to teach. Our reward is still the promise of blessing. We may not always know what our future holds on this journey, but we can always know the One who walks with us, and we can always know the Promised Land awaits. Our happy ending is possible because our hope is in Christ. Won’t you walk with Him? My prayer is that you will. Amen!

Lesson to Remember: Our hope is in Christ.

A Way to Walk: We are not guaranteed a smooth journey in life. We are guaranteed that our Savior will be with us no matter the course. Jesus will be the most steadfast Rock in your life. He will never leave you, never forsake you. Cling to Him. He will see you home.

Post Script:
If you have taken the time to read this, know that I am completely humbled. Our days are busy and there are many other Bible teachers who are far more eloquent, knowledgeable, and engaging. This has truly been an exercise in my personal walk of faithfulness. God has called me to write, but I often trade that blessing for what seems to be more pressing things to do - like dishes and laundry. The truth is nothing is more important than what we do for Christ. This Bible study is my gift to Him. I do not know how He might use it, or what need it might fill for you, but I am extremely grateful to be part of His work. My hope is in Christ. I pray that your faithfulness will continually grow as you purposefully walk with Jesus, and that you'll remember the lessons learned in Deuteronomy. I'll leave you with the Shema prayer found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Amen!

Jennifer