This verse occurs at a time when Israel had disobeyed God. They were living for themselves and their own pleasure.

God told Moses, “I will wipe them out as a people and I will build a new nation from you.” But, Moses prayed for the Israelites and asked God to spare them.

And so Moses says to the congregation,”God has spared you. And now what does He require of you?”  Simply that you love Him with all your heart and do what His Word tells you for your own good.”

Here is a penetrating question: “Am I willing to do whatever it takes to obey God with courage and faith?”

Am I willing to trust God and put Him first in my finances by giving 10% of my gross income in worship to Him, even though that feels less secure to me?

If God is the Creator, the Great Counselor, the Almighty One, My Source, My Shield, My Defender, Am I seeking to put Him first in my day by taking the time to read and pray for 30 minutes?

Am I willing to serve Him with all my heart by unselfishly committing to volunteer in ministry?

Am I willing to step out and talk with someone about Jesus or invite them to church this week?

What is your step of obedience?

A lot of people confuse information with transformation. A lot of people know a lot about the Bible but they are not mature. There is no growth without doing what God says.

You need to respond to what God is asking of you in your heart now, so that He can give you what is next. There are no short-cuts in God’s character training.

What is your step of obedience?

Take it in faith. Take it with courage and trust in a God who is Good and Great.

You will never be sorry for giving your life fully to the One who created you and knows what is best for you.

Satan’s attack against Jesus is two-fold.  He challenges his identity with the Father.  And He challenges the Father’s provision in his life.

During Jesus baptism, right before this temptation, God identified Him as His beloved Son.  Satan is challenging the very words God has just spoken.

He does the same in my life and yours.  What is our identity?

God’s word says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”-John 1:12-13 (NIV)

You are a child of God.  God has declared it to be so through Jesus.

But Satan whispers in our hearts, IF you are child of God, and God is good, where is His provision?  Where is His help?  Why isn’t God taking care of this?  Why is this happening to you?  Why does He not intervene now?  Why does it have to be so hard?

It is at these times.  We need to stand.  Remind yourself, who God has declared you to be.  Remind yourself, that God is good and He is faithful.  He has promised to meet our needs on a daily basis.

Second, we need to wait.  Don’t panic, pray.  Don’t take things in your hands.  Wait for God’s provision.  Jesus could have turned those stones to bread.  He waited.

And, in God’s timing, immediately after His temptation, the angels came with a God prepared meal to meet his need.

Don’t romanticize this desert scene.  Jesus was at the point of starvation.  His life was not easy.  But, He lived to glorify the Father.  And He trusted fully in Him.

Matthew 3:14 says, “But John tried to detour him (JESUS), saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

John is sensing that he is a sinner.  He is totally inadequate to be the one who would baptize the King of Kings.  There are several reasons why Jesus was baptized.  But, I believe one reason is that He approved of John’s ministry.

Even though, he was flawed.  And even though, he was inadequate.  Jesus said publicly, “I approve of his service for Me.”

Something to think about fellow servants of Jesus.  He loves you.  Prepare your mind and body.  Confess your sins.  Strengthen your hearts with your King’s affirmation.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit is whispering to you, “I know you are flawed, but I want to use you.  I approve of your service for Me.”

In this passage, we see the Tri-une nature of God revealed.  This is mind boggling.  There are not three Gods.  There is one God in three equal but distinct Persons.  I don’t understand it.  I cannot explain it.  But, God reveals to us in His word.  This is His nature.

I am OK with the mystery of God.  The Bible is full of tensions that I cannot in my finite state solve.  If I could comprehend and understand God, he would be very small.

God has revealed Himself in creation, in His word, and He is most fully revealed in Jesus.  I know enough to bow before my King.  I know enough to worship my Lord.  I know enough to respond to His invitaton to know Him personally and spend an eternity getting to know Him.

By the way, you never exhaust getting to know an Infinite God.

The Tri-une nature of God is profound because it means, contrary to much of today’s teaching, God did not and does not need me.  There is perfect community, perfect harmony, total satisfaction within the Godhead.

But, He chooses to love you and me.  So, great is His love that He sent His Son to die for you and me in order to redeem us from our sin.

When love is demanding, it is not love.  When love is needy, it is not love.  It is restrictive, and smothering, and selfish.

God chose to create you and me, to love us, to walk with us.  It is not a demand.  It is not a need.  It is an amazing, unbelievable invitation!

One that causes my heart to cry, “God, thank you, thank you, for choosing to love me.  You don’t need me.  But, You still love me.    And You want me to live with You forever.”  Blows my mind and heart, in a good way!

If God directs the steps of our lives, he also directs from our perspective, what we would call the stops and detours.  Paul in Acts 16 tried to preach the gospel in Asia.  But, he was blocked twice by the Holy Spirit because the Lord had a different destination, a different plan.

Where am I headed?  God has always been good to me.  I have always ultimately experienced the provision of God.  I have always experienced God’s favor and Him opening doors.

Recently, I have been in a season, from my vantage point, that feels like closed doors, stops, and detours.

I know that sometimes things don’t work out simply because of our own sin, or lack of skill, or lack of wisdom, or other people’s sin, or the right timing, etc…

But, equally true is that if things don’t work out, come through, or open up in the way that we desire–they’re failure to do so is also directed from the Lord.

In these moments, I struggle for some rationale for myself and for others, when God does not answer in the way we believed or prayed He would.  All I have is—”It just is.”

God sees things we don’t and knows things we can’t.  And so, we trust Him no matter what.  He is still Good.  He will be Faithful.  He will provide sufficient courage for us to exalt Jesus in whatever situations come.

We don’t keep spinning our wheels asking, Why?  But, now what?  What is the next step you want me to take Lord?

We have situational difficulties, relational difficulties, and emotional difficulties.  Difficulties are a given in our lives.  They are unpredictable and impartial.

So, what can we do?

We cannot control our circumstances, but we can control our response.

You and I can choose to trust God in the midst of our fear, our anger, our confusion, our disappointments, and our hurts.

The Bible says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

God is with you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  He is sufficient for what you need to face today.  Praise Him today.  Trust Him with taking care of tomorrow.

I need to be reminded of that regularly.  This life is full of problems, trials, and difficulties.  And when I am in the midst of these, I can begin to feel like God is against me.  He has abandoned me.  You know, why doesn’t He just give me a little hope?  Why doesn’t He move?  I don’t understand.  Why does it have to be so hard?  Why does it have to be this way?

Someone once told me never to doubt in the dark what you know to be true in the light.

Here is the TRUTH.  This is LIGHT.

Romans 8:35-39 says,

³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep. ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

 ³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God is for YOU.  

God does not promise you explanations for your circumstances.  But He does promise that He is for YOU.  He promises His presence and the strength to handle today.  He promises that if you put Him first you need not fear anything else.

Once again, the Giver of Life pursued us.  Jesus gave His life for us.  If you have the Son, you have the life.  If you do not have the Son, you do not have life.

True life is available only through communion and connection with the life-giving God.

God’s  plan was to put us in community and to be a life-giving church.  A life giving church is made up of those who have believed in Jesus.  They have been radically changed.  

So changed, they whole-heartedly and fanatically embrace His mission to share Jesus life with a lost and dying world with everything they are and everything they have (time,energy,money).

They walk the talk.  Their Outlook schedule screams Jesus is number one.  Their finances scream Jesus is number one.  Their relationships scream Jesus is number one.  Jesus is first in their life and it is clear and it is evident!!

Jesus promise about His life-giving church:  I will build MY church.

Jesus Christ is the Head of all things.  He is the Head of the church.  He is the Senior Pastor of NewSpring.

Would a life-giving Savior, Jesus, who is life, preside over a dead, declining, or stagnant church?  NO!

It is His very nature to give life to whatever HE does.

NewSpring should grow because that is the heart of God.  He is all about LIfe.  And all living things grow.  He promises to build HIS church.

Lessons:

1.  Jesus is the Senior Pastor of NewSpring Church.  It is about JESUS!

-Is Jesus being honored in everything I do, we do?

-Is the Gospel being spread or hindered?

2.  Live for an Audience of One.

-Did Jesus approve of my day?

-Did Jesus like/love the service?

-Did Jesus like my decision?

The Bible is God breathed.  It is living.  It is the life-giving Word from the Giver of Life.

Lesson:

1. The Bible is powerful and accomplishes the purposes for which God intended it.  It bears witness of Jesus and equips for every good work.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 says, “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas.  You accepted what we said as the very word of God which, of course, it is.  And this word continues to work in you who believe.“

“We have Jesus Christ our Lord.  We have no one else.  We have the Bible.  We have nothing else.  In light of revelation we can go fearlessly forward.”  -Donald A. McGavran

I think sometimes our expectations of our journey with Chist are wrong. We think following Christ means he will make our lives safe, secure, and prosperous. But, God does not make that promise.

In Hebrews 11, the great Hall of Faith, you see that some are delivered from their circumstances in this life.   And yet, others are not. Some are delivered out of the mouth of lions. Others are eaten alive. And yet, they are all called–faithful.

As a parent (I am Dad, but I believe Mom’s have these feelings), my bent is to want a life of safety, security, and prosperity for my child.

We want them to experience a part of the American dream. I do not think that is all bad. Every parent wants the best for their kids.

But perhaps “best”  is only defined in material terms versus the eternal.

I am challenged to teach and release my kids not to live safe lives, but lives that are significant, holy, and faithful.

Jesus definitely was an example of such a life. And Mary had to release Him.

The words I’ve heard most often this last week are “war”, “recession”, “unemployment”, “terrorism” , “pandemic”– not exactly positive, upbeat terms.  

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:18,  “I rejoice and I will continue to rejoice.”  

Amazingly, when Paul wrote this verse, he was in prison.  He wasn’t on a Cruise in the Bahamas. We have a misconception that if I could just change situations then I would be happy.  If I could just get out of this job/this marriage/this school/whatever… then I’d be happy.  

But the fact is, you’re always going to have problems in life. Even if you get out of one problem, there’s another problem.  

If you’re only going to be happy once all your problems are solved, you’re never going to be happy.  You have to learn to be happy in the circumstance.  

The word “happy” comes from the word “happenstance” which is the word that we get “circumstance” from. Happiness is external.  It depends on outside forces.  I go to Disney World and I’m happy.  I leave Disney World, I’m not happy. But joy is internal, it’s from the inside.  

Paul had every reason to be unhappy and unjoyful because of his circumstances.  Yet, he was joyful.  How can we do that?

View your circumstances from God’s view.

Life is about perspective.  How someone views their problems greatly affects how they handle their circumstances.

Paul said this,  “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”  

Paul says, I’m in prison.  But, I see the best even in the worst. He saw God working in his problems.

Paul says,  I’m chained 24-hours a day to Praetorian Guard.   A Praetorian Guard — the palace guard — were the crack, elite troops of the Roman empire.  They were handpicked by Caesar. They were his bodyguards.  They were the highest paid people in the empire.  They would serve for twelve years and after twelve years they would retire and they were made leaders in the Roman empire after retirement.  

There was not a more strategic group of people Paul could have witnessed to.  He had one chained to him 24-hours a day, for two years.  God brought the most influential people in Rome, chained them to him, and let Nero pay for it.  Incredible!! 

Tell me:  Who was the real prisoner?  That’s what I call a captive audience.  These men watched Paul write the New Testament.  

The Bible says in the fourth chapter of Philippians, the word got out from them, as they would go back into Nero’s palace so that many of Nero’s family became believers.  In fact, history tells us Nero had his mother, his wife, and his children killed because they all became believers.  

Paul could have felt sorry for himself.  Paul could of quit saying, “God, You told me You wanted me to preach the gospel, and then You throw me in prison.  That’s great thanks alot.”

But, He didn’t.  He trusted in a God who says, he will work all things to good for those who love Him.  

He trusted that no matter what evil was thrown at him.  God was with Him.  God was for Him.  God would redeem it.  And ultimately, He would deliver him in this life or the next.

Ultimately, Paul’s life was not about him.  It was not about his comfort, his success, his self-actualization, his prosperity.  His life was about proclaiming the name of Jesus wherever He was, period!

We have what is reality for Paul, not just some philosophical musing.  This is reality.  

He says, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  

He says, “As long as I live, my purpose in life is to live for Jesus Christ, because when I die, it’s gain.  I’m going to heaven.  I’m out of here.  No more chains, no more problems, no more hassles.

How would you fill in this blank?  “For me to live is ______________________________.”  

Life is not about you.  It is about Jesus!  Make Him the purpose of your life and you will find the joy, the peace, and strength you are looking for in all the wrong places.