God leads in details: ‘Turn & take your journey. Now rise & cross…’

God made sure Moses not miss the right time to act in this second round after 40 years of going round in circle in the wilderness. Here is a narration by Moses about what God told him. Note the details God gave to Moses about the forthcoming journey for His people. Also note how carefully Moses recorded down the instruction and in turn instructed the people. The purpose of their going, the geography, the names of the places and the people there and the boundaries. The Lord also stated whom they should avoid and the reason. God specifically advised them to pay for what they consume. Most importantly, He assured them of success by reminding them of His protection and supplies over the past forty years and by foretelling what He would do to their enemies in the near future. Awesome!

“On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,  “The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’” (Deuteronomy 1:5-8)

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.

2 “And the Lord spoke to me, saying: 3 ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. 4 And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.

7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’
13 “ ‘Now rise and cross over the Valley (Wadi) of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. 14 And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them.
24 “ ‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’” (Deuteronomy 2:1-24)

the NOW time for plentiful harvest: Do not limit God

Luke 5:4

Luke 5:4 New Living Translation (NLT)
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon (Peter), “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

What did Jesus tell Simon Peter?
Key words: “Now”, “Go out”, “where”, “deeper”, “nets” and “catch”. Jesus issued a command with a specific time limit and an urgency. He also specified where, with what and for what purpose.

Did it work? Peter and his business partners had been fishing all previous night and didn’t catch a thing. But he decided to do exactly what Jesus said, “But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”

And what happened when he acted on the word revealed by Jesus?
“And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!”

Key phrases:
1. Jesus “says so” to Peter specifically. Peter received the revelation.
2. Peter responded to Jesus, “I’ll let the nets down again”. Peter obeyed Jesus’ words exactly. He took the boat back to the deeper place and let down more than one net because Jesus said “nets”. indeed, all his nets were filled to breaking point!

When we receive a word from the Lord to meet our needs we can expect the Lord to give plenty and not a handful. Peter’s case is not an isolated one. God has demonstrated His superabundant supplies in the case of the widow with one last jar of oil in Elisah’s time. He filled all the empty vessels she borrowed and stopped only when she ran out of vessels. (2 Kings 4:1-6) Jesus would have filled more nets with fish but Peter ran out of nets.

The vessels and the nets we put out often limit the amounts we receive.

Lesson learned: Don’t limit God.

Bible in Diagram: John 17:1-5

THE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE, HONOR AND GLORY

John 17:1-5

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life —to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.   I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

What Jesus did on earth glorified God. he knew what His assignment was, how and when to finish it. He was totally focused. He knew His original source and was confident of returning there. His journey on earth was not in vain. He accomplished. He also gave us a glimpse of what it’s like:
A place of honor and glory.
Awesome!
(TO BE CONTINUED)

at the time when kings go out to battle, Christians, where are you? (Revised Oct 24, 2020)

2 Samuel 11:1

We are called kings and priests to God. (Revelation 1:6) Kings go out to battle. Great kings do not stay back in their comfortable palaces (comfort zone) and wait for news. They do not send a second in command instead. They go out to do the battle themselves, not as a figurehead!

This is the lesson we learn from King David and how his decision not to go to the strategic point of victory had cost him beyond anything he had achieved. Those who stay in their own comfort zone never achieve anything of lasting value. Worse, They could even lose all they have valued.

The world today sees through such hypocrisy. We are not persuaded by mere words. We want to see kings who effectively walk their talks. So are Christians seen by the world at large.

Praise God for there are some hands-on kings, many raised from senior citizens, and we need successors!

We pray that there are kings who have the right value, who can hear the Lord clearly, make the right decision at the right time, for the right motive that aligns with God’s will, regardless of what others who are ignorant of God’s strategies may scorn and mock you. The Bible is full of examples of adversaries from two different perceptions. The perception from the wise and the perception from the fools. The Bible also tells us very specifically who wins and why, how to be wise and how not to be fools.

History records how wise kings operate strategically and boldly.

King David was a wise king when he listened to the Lord. He failed big time when he chose not to listen. He was wise when he aligned his heart with the heart of God.

2 Samuel 11:1 records an incident when David failed to listen to the Lord.  It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It was not a big war but the cost borne by David was colossal when he made a decision not to go with his generals to battle. Why? because he would have avoided seeing Bathsheba and nothing would have happened. The history would have been re-written.

1 Corinthians 2:12 assures that we can have great wisdom regardless what Goliaths are out there: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual…16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”