Let’s Cross Over

This morning, I read Deuteronomy 1, and this is what God wants for us.

Have you ever felt like you live but don’t move? Do you feel like life is one big Ground Hogs Day? Mundane. Nothing new. Monotonous. Are you sick and tired of it? Are you willing to ask the question why?

The book of Deuteronomy starts out saying that the people are sitting “east of the Jordon.” We read that it took “11 days to go from Horeb to Kadesh.” The next verse says it had been 14 years. I read this and asked why? Why have they been sitting for so long?

In the next few verses we hear God say to His people “Go in and take possession!” “Break camp and advance!” MOVE! Get off your blessed assurance and take what I’ve given to you. God brought these people out from slavery – He set them free! He defeated the enemy through Moses’ leadership, but they failed to cross over and enter into all that God had prepared for them.

As Christians we’re called to move. To go in and take possession – break camp and advance! When we don’t we get frustrated, discouraged, and over time we get lulled to sleep. We live in a world that seems impenetrable. The dark seems to be taking over what light remains. The injustice is everywhere. The hurt and the pain exists in every family. Hate is a byword. Division is running rampant. We’re overwhelmed. We’re consumed. We don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. We think it is a hopeless cause! But it is NOT! 

This is NOT our fight; it is God’s!

God says… “I have given you this land.” It’s yours… take it (Deut. 1:8)! “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deut. 1:21); and yet, we read the people “were unwilling to go up; they rebelled; they grumbled, complained and blamed” (Deut. 1:26-27).  God is telling us we have stayed long enough! It’s time to cross over! He wants us to know that He is going to take back what the enemy has taken. He is going to fight injustice. He is going to restore all that has been torn down. He is going to bring hope to this world through the gospel of Jesus Christ! He is going bring joy to sadness. Life to despair. Hope to the hopeless. Love to the hurt, pain, and abuse. He is alive. He is active. HE IS IN US! He is “going before us, will fight for us, He will carry us, as a father carries His son, all the way until we reach our final rest” (Deut. 1:30-31). 

This is NOT our fight; it is God’s!

Let’s cross over and enter into all that God has prepared for us!

Pastor Joe