The Promised Land: Little by Little

SCRIPTURE
Exodus 23:29-30
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.


OBSERVATION
The Lord told the Israelites that He was going to give them the Promised Land as their inheritance, BUT that He was not going to give it to them all at once. Instead, they were going to have to conquer the Promised Land little by little. He gave them a practical reason for this — if He were to give them the Land all at once, they would not be able to handle it.

If God had given the Israelites the land all at once, their numbers would not have been sufficient to populate the land and much of it would have gone unmanaged and unmaintained because their population was not large enough to be able to inhabit the cities and govern the territory. As a result, the cities would have deteriorated and the land left unproductive.


APPLICATION
If the Israelites are a spiritual example of our own walk of faith, then we can draw a direct correlation between their physical Promised Land and our spiritual Promised Land. In our own life, there is territory that God desires us to take and govern. This territory is vast and beautiful but God gives us only as much as we can handle at any one time. As we walk in victory in our lives, then He gives us more and more territory.

Every victory results in a little more maturity and increases our ability to rule the territory that God gives us. If God were to give us all He desires to give us all at once, we would be unable to handle it! Instead of instantly becoming super-Christians, we would instead by destroyed as our immaturity attempted to handle our newly found power and authority.

So instead, He gives us territory that is enough to challenge us — challenge our faith, our gifts, our knowledge — and stretch us. As we learn the things He wants us to learn and walk in victory in the areas He is calling us into, then He gives us a new challenge. Little by little we "inhabit the land" He has given us as an inheritance — a territory we already have as a birthright but which we are not ready to possess in actuality.

So today, the key for me is to walk in victory in the areas He is calling me to. My concern is not the territory of tomorrow, but the faithfulness required today. While I must always fan the flame of desire to possess my entire Promised Land, I must not forget that the process is more about victory in the current battle then it is about the entire war.

I must live in this tension. I cannot become complacent and assume that today's victories will carry me through tomorrow. The Israelites made this mistake far too many times and ended up leaving pockets of their Promised Land unconquered as they made peace agreements with the enemy because it was convenient or easy. At the same time, I cannot become overly aggressive and try to take territory that I am not ready for.


PRAYER
Lord, help me to see the challenges that are important for me to fight today. Continue to stretch me, continue to challenge me, continue to move me onward. But help me to consolidate the territory you have given me up to this point. Let me never become complacent and make the assumption that yesterday's victories need never be revisited, lest I give back territory to the Enemy because of a lack of vigilance. Amen.

A Prayer of Power

SCRIPTURE
Acts 4:29-31
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

OBSERVATION
When the church in the book of Acts got together, they prayed. And when they prayed, the Holy Spirit showed up!


APPLICATION
Pray together with the church and ask the Lord for power. He will respond with the Holy Spirit's empowerment!

PRAYER
Lord, this morning, I ask that you would teach us how to pray bold prayers together with the Body of Christ. We need your power, we need your courage and we need your wisdom to walk in the midst of a godless generation. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we might speak Your Word boldly! Amen.

Something is Between Us

SCRIPTURE
Exodus 20:18-19
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."


OBSERVATION
God was willing to have more of an open relationship with the Israelites, but they were too afraid of His awesome power and thus they begged Moses to be their go between. Years earlier, Moses himself, did not truly believe that God could deal with his shortcomings and begged for a go between, Aaron.


APPLICATION
How often do we seek to put something between us and God? He desires to have a one-on-one relationship, but we are always looking for ways to put distance between us. Sometimes it is because we feel unworthy, sometimes it is because we are afraid, but always it is because we don't trust Him fully.

PRAYER
Forgive me Lord for putting the responsibility for my faith on others' shoulders. Instead of withdrawing, I commit to pressing in. instead of looking to a man to hear God's voice for me, I want to hear your voice. You've put Your very Spirit inside of me and have broken down every wall of separation, now help me to live like it! Amen.

Enough for Today

SCRIPTURE
Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.


OBSERVATION
The Father loves to provide for His people, and He always does. But what He chose to give the Israelites was a portion sufficient for their daily needs. Everyday they were reminded that their provision was from the Lord. Everyday, they were dependent on His supply. When they tried to store the manna He provided, it did them no good. The provision was for today.


APPLICATION
God will always provide enough for today. I want to hoard. I want to store up for tomorrow. I want to have a security blanket. He gives me enough for today. If I am truly dependent on Him, then I need not worry about tomorrow, for it will take care of itself (just like Jesus said).

PRAYER
Lord, help me to trust in You everyday. Not in bank accounts, not in pantries full of food, not in false security. Help me to rely on you continually and completely. Amen.

Exodus 2:24-25
"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them."

I absolutley love that God calls himself in to rememberance about His covenant. I mean, here is GOD, He hears the cries of help coming from His kids, no matter that they probably had gotten themselves in to this mess. He just starts remembering His promises and He looks at His kids and He, GOD is "concerned". Being a parent, I understand a small amount of this hearing and remembering and being concerned and as an earthly parent these things move me every time! How much more God!!!

That I can be sure as one of His kids that he'll hear my cries for help, He'll remember his promises even if I can't and He will be concerned, He actually cares.

Father, I thank you for the rest that comes in just knowing You care, that in the middle of a storm, there is great peace in knowing you. I'm thankful that you are a God who never abandons.

Make The Best Of It

SCRIPTURE
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you."
Genesis 45:1-5

OBSERVATION
Ealier this week, during devotional time with the rest of the band at rehearsal, we talked about how Joseph was awfully magnanimous towards his brothers, considering that they beat him, threw him in a well and then sold him into slavery. But here, Joseph reassures them in their terror at meeting him again, now as a powerful statesman, and explains that, amazingly, they should not be angry because God has used him to save lives!

APPLICATION
I want to take from this passage that I should always look to make the best of any situation, no matter how dark it may be, and look toward God for hope and strength. That's what Joseph did throughout his life and it served him very, very well.

PRAYER
Dear Jesus, thank you for hope. Thank you for Your unending strength that I can lean on, no matter what. When I find myself in a dark place, bring this story of Joseph to my rememberance so that I can look toward Your light and let You lead me out into victory. Amen.

Paula Aiton
Worship Department
Woodwinds/Section Leader

A Different Focus

SCRIPTURE
So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”Gen 43:2

OBSERVATION
When people read through these chapters, they usually focus on Joseph. But when you only read these two chapters, the focus falls on Jacob's family. It probably took a long time to eat all that grain. I wonder how Simeon felt locked up in prison, waiting for his family to get him. He was only going to be there until his family returned for him - only a few short weeks, right? As time went on, I bet he began to lose hope. Had his family forgotten him? Were they too afraid to rescue him? Would he spend the rest of his life in prison? What would happen if the famine ended before Jacob's family ran out of food?

APPLICATION
How often are we in a desperate situation? Do you feel locked up in prison waiting for someone to rescue you? It's hard when we don't have the full picture. Eventually, Simeon was reunited with his brothers. Not only did he get out of prison, he had a feast. The steward of Joseph's house cleaned him up and took care of all his needs. And in the end, he found out that his lost brother was alive and doing extremely well for himself.

PRAYER
Lord, please give me the patience and understanding I need to make it through my situation. I thank you in advance for the rewards you'll give me when I successfully make it through this trial. Amen.

John Kuyper
Worship Department
Tenor/Section Leader