Promise 14 from Deuteronomy 4:40

Deut. 4:40 - "' So you shall keep His statures and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.'"

This message comes up often from Moses. It is such a key to peaceful and fruitful living that Moses wants to make sure the Israelites get and hold onto. When I look at the states and the moral decline I see nothing but lack of peace, conflict, immoral people striving hard to make and keep their immorality and moral people fighting to keep morality legal and protected. As a nation we have totally neglected and many rejected the simple keys of peaceful and fruitful living; "1) You shall have no other gods before Me. 2) You shall not worship or serve any idols of other gods. 3) You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 4) Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. 5) Honour your father and your mother. 6) You shall not murder. 7) You shall not commit adultery. 8) You shall not steal. 9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. 10) You shall not covet your neighbours house, family or things." It is so simple but as a nation we have made it so complicated. May the Lord restore our land so that we may once again claim His promise of living in wellness and a long and happy life in the land.

Promise 13 from Deuteronomy 4:36-37

Deut. 4:36-37 - "' Out of the Heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. Because He loved your fathers therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power.'"

I love the personalness and intimacy of God that Moses is trying to point out to the Israelites; Words like "He let you hear, He let you see, He loved your fathers, He chose, and He personally brought you." God intentionally revealed His heart to the Israelites. It is funny that Moses didn't say, because He loves "you", but "because He loved your fathers." God does not forget His promises to those He loves. Even when they are not around anymore. It shows how important and how impacting our love relationship with Him is today. We have no idea how that relationship will impact the generations that will follow. God is intentional with us, to show us His heart, He lets us hear Him, see Him, and He personally chooses us so that we can see His great power. What a great God we have!

Promise 12 from Deuteronomy 4:30-31

Deut. 4:30-31 - "'When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.'"

This promise spans the width of many seasons in people's lives. No matter if you are in distress, or you are just turning back to God or have walked with Him without parting for years, God is a compassionate God who will not destroy you, who will not fail you and who will keep His promises. God never changes His character when we change ours. The Israelites had a lot to be concerned about. A lot to be fearful of, they had experienced plenty of loss and destruction (much like today). But in the moment of transition God reaffirms His goodness to them through Moses. He will pour His compassion on them and speak to them. They will hear His voice. He is confirming that He will remain close to them, He will not be silent, He will be their fan. His promise is for us as well. He does not remain silent, He shows us His compassion and walks with us each moment of the day and cheers us on.

Promise 11 from Deuteronomy 4:29

Deut. 4:29 - "'But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you search for Him  with all your heart and all your soul.'"

Moses is speaking to the Israelites before they enter the promised land. He is warning them to be careful to not make any type of images in effort to depict God and to not look to the heavens and begin to worship the stars or things in the sky either. God will scatter them if they do that and they will become slaves to people groups that worship idol gods. He told them however that it is while they are in the midst of heathen lands, in the midst of those who do not fear God, in the midst of those who worship gods made by man, they will find the Lord their God, when they seek Him with all their heart and soul. This verse is an encouragement to me as I am currently living in a land where many of the people do not fear God. It is easy to get discouraged when you are surrounded by corruption, faithlessness, a total disregard for God and an ignorance to the need for Him. But God promises us in His word, that from this place, I can cry out to Him, and I will find Him when I seek for Him with all my heart. Myself and my team do see where He is working in this land when we step back and look for signs of His presence. You will too, no matter where you are, find Him when you look for Him.

Promise 10 from Deuteronomy 4:7

Deut. 4:7 - "'For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?'"

It pains me when I think of all the people in the world who have no clue that God is so accessible to them. They either fear God so much that they try appeasing His "anger" through rituals, or they think they have to jump through many hoops to earn His attention, so many that they just don't bother and give up, or they just think their goodness is good enough to keep God's favour on them, so they have no need to approach them. There are others who, out of fear that they will have to give up their sin if they turn to God, choose to ignore He exists. What picture has our churches painted of God through history, that would cause so many people to misunderstand who He is? I know it is totally not the churches fault, but what have they done to remedy the situation? How difficult is it to say to someone in the work place, "Did you know that God will listen to you if you ring Him up? He'll pick up the phone, just dial His number, you'll see." Why are people so afraid to enter  a conversation about God, when they themselves know they can turn to Him at any time? I personally am so thankful to have such an intimate relationship with my Father God. I so long for others to know they can have that relationship too.

Promise 9 from Deuteronomy 3:22

Deut. 3:22 - "'Do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one fighting for you.'"

Moses is recapping the Israelite journey. He is reminding them of the promise that was made to Joshua, to not fear the kingdoms of the lands he will be passing through because 'The Lord your God will be fighting for you.' This is a promise that we all need to be reminded of every once in a while. When fear creeps up and holds us back from being all that God has freed us to be. Why is it so difficult some times to just rest in this promise and let God be God in our lives? Every individual has their own reasons. We just need to be sure we don't reason away the truth of the promise that God will fight for us when fear arises.

Promise 8 from Deuteronomy 2:25

Deut. 2:25 - "'This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.'"

If only this were the case today. Not in a "I'm afraid you'll wipe us out " fear but a fear where everyone will see the power of God working through us, so much so that it draws people to their knees before God. Maybe the 70's evangelistic approach of 'Turn or burn' was not totally a bad thing. There is not a "fear" of God in most people's hearts anymore. Our societies reflect that in the way they compromise on so many things that are not of God. May the Lord restore the fear in people's hearts once again so that they'll be drawn to Him. God did that once and, He can do it again.

Promise 7 from Deuteronomy 2:7

Deut. 2:7 - "'For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness, These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.'"

The Israelites are approaching Mt. Seir, the land of the sons of Esau. Moses is instructing them to not provoke them by taking anything, but to purchase all that they need. I don't think the Israelites would consider their 40 years of wandering a time of blessing, but Moses saw the Lord's blessing in it. He reminds them that they lacked nothing. It is interesting that usually when one goes through a wilderness experience their main focus during that time is on all the things they think they are lacking. This is a good example of the fact that God sees the BIG picture of what is going on during those times while our focus is so narrow. God provided so much so during the wilderness years that the people had the means to purchase all that they needed. It is as Kris Vallotton (Bethel Church, Redding, CA) explained once, "When God created the world He spoke, but when He created man and animals He was silent as He formed and fashioned them into creation." During the wilderness experiences, when it seems that God is silent, God is forming and fashioning us so that we have the means to purchase what we need after we come out of the wilderness. He strengthens us, equips us and gives us the wisdom in to how to draw from His Kingdom riches in order to bring glory to Him. So you see? There is never any lack when God's hands are shaping and forming us in the wilderness.

Promise 6 from Deuteronomy 1:38

Deut. 1:38 - "'Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him for he will cause Israel to inherit it.'"

Imagine being Joshua at that moment when He hears God say that he will be the one who causes Israel to inherit the land. I wonder if Joshua believed this when he heard it? Or did he just settle into his destiny that God laid before him? I don't believe God sends pastors or missionaries and others in ministry into their areas of ministry with the anticipation that they will fail. God sets people up for success, no matter how difficult the task is before them. That success is still dependent however on their faithfulness and the encouragement of others., God promises a great inheritance for those who are brought into the Kingdom. He chooses the leaders to do that. It is up to the leaders to step into their destiny and bring the people into their inheritance. When others encourage those in ministry to stay in that place of destiny the Kingdom expands.

Promise 5 from Deuteronomy 1:35-36

Deut. 1:35-36 - "'Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the Lord fully.'"

Wow, what a tribute straight from God. Of all the thousands of Israelites from the tribes of Israel, God have special recognition to Caleb (and Joshua too). Caleb followed the Lord fully. It is quite sobering to think of the thousands who didn't, even though they saw myriads of miracles and the Lord's cloud and fire go before them day and night. Even though they heard His voice and was present in their camp. Even though they witnessed the power of God in His fullest. They still didn't follow Him fully. It is even more sobering when I think of the times I've not followed Him fully. God is a loving God, He will reward those who seek after Him and who will believe what He says is true and who abide in His presence without wavering. He is a gracious God and calls His children to himself. He delights to reward His faithful children.

Promise 4 from Deuteronomy 1:31

Deut. 1:31 - "And in the wilderness where you saw how  the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you come to this place."

I love this picture of the Father God. Moses is saying to the Israelites, "Remember how He carried you all the way?" The Heavenly Father carries His beloved sons and daughters through life's trials. He doesn't stay at a distance and points toward the way out of our trials. He carries us through the wilderness taking every blow that we do. Do you remember how He carried you, all the way until now?

Promise 3 from Deuteronomy 1:30

Deut. 1:30 - "'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.'"

Moses is recalling the events which happened at the edge of the promised land, to the Israelites. "This is what I said to you, remember?" We all need reminders of who God is and what we've seen Him do before in our lives. We need those reminders so that we know what God is capable of regarding our current situation. It is so easy to fall into despair when faced with challenging circumstances. It's easy to lose hope. It's easy to start questioning our own judgement and decisions on a manner.  A friend of mine is packing her house right now to move from the UK to the US to go to school (this was written July 2012) God has made it very clear that this is what He has set before her and her family. Her husband's job  is finished, all four plane tickets are purchased, they have a buyer for their home and they leave in a couple of weeks. Suddenly, boom! Two links down the buyer line, someone backed out of a deal to purchase a home, causing her buyer to not be able to purchase my friends' home. Ability to attend this school is dependent on the sale of the this house. My friend is in a ripe position to begin questioning whether or not she and her husband heard God's voice clearly. If we can only look at what He has done before, we can have that hope, she can have that hope that God will do it again. He brought one buyer He'll do it again and bring another. He promises to go before us, to be the estate agent, to fight for us. We've seen it before, we'll see Him do it again. (They did leave for school and three times the buyer fell through, they are still waiting for that buyer.)

Promise 2 from Deuteronomy 1:17

Deut. 1:17 - "'You shall not show partiality in judgement; you shall hear the small and great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgement is God's. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.'"

Moses is speaking to the heads of the tribes. He is giving them instruction on how to be the judge during disputable cases. After he tells them that they should treat all men as equal,  he continues to encourage them to "not fear man because the judgement is God's." There is a lot of freedom in this statement, however most of us don't utilise the freedom God is offering us. We still choose to fear man. We fear what other people think, how they will react, how they will treat us. So, we strive to not make waves, to keep others comfortable around us. Jesus certainly didn't bother Himself with how others felt when He spoke out the truths of the Kingdom. If He is the perfect model for us, why don't we follow His lead? I must admit, for me, this is my greatest challenge and also the greatest hindrance to seeing the full power of God working in me and around me. The promise here is that we don't NEED to fear, because we are fearing things that are not our responsibility to take on. They belong to the Lord!