Staying on Course with God

Staying on Course with God Deuteronomy 5:22–33 (NIV84) 22 These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leading men of your tribes and your elders came to me. 24 And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. 26 For what mortal man has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.” 28 The Lord heard you when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! 30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.” 32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Proverbs 4:18–27 (NIV84) 18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. 20 My son [child], pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Hebrews 12:12–17 (NIV84) 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. Proverbs 5:21 (NIV84) 21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. What are the biggest challenges you are dealing with? During the past two weeks I listened to and watched the devastating historical footage of what people experienced during the time of the great wars. I’ve also seen horrible footage of the ravaging bushfires in California with more than 1000 people missing and where it seems that more that 600 people were virtually incinerated and reduced to ashes – with nothing left to even do DNA testing to ascertain beyond any doubt that those who are still missing are indeed deceased. Closer to home I’ve read that in-depth research shows that Australians are very concerned about war and terrorism on the global front especially when it is spilling over into local acts of terrorism like what happened in Melbourne in February when Momena Shoma plunged a knife into the neck of her homestead host 2 weeks after she arrived in Australia; or the Bourke Street incident 2 Fridays ago when radical jihadist, Hassan Khalif Shire Ali tried to run into pedestrians with his ute and at the end, by God’s grace, killed only one person. But, I think it would be a fair reflection if I say that most Australians are more concerned about more personal issue like the economy – especially unemployment [just talk to the people of the abattoir in Quoiba], housing affordability [just talk the people squatting in Hobart’s showgrounds], open and honest Government [not flips like the policy change regarding fruit fly support], governmental instability [not the leadership changes we see nowadays], affordable timely health care and the effect of the droughts on them personally. You see, for most of Australians, the THINGS that impact our immediate environment, our personal space, our safe space, concern us most and challenge us more than the greatest global or even local challenges humanity or society currently face. “Will I have money to pay my bills? Will my car situation be resolved? Will my family be safe? Will my children, grandchildren, keep the faith or return to the faith? Will my friends who have pneumonia or bronchitis be better soon? Will my health situation improve? Will my back pain issues be fixed? How long before the pain of my broken ribs will become bearable? Will the fruit fly incursion and the consequent restrictions be uplifted in January?” I’m sure you can add many more things! But are these things really the stuff that matters most? If we allow these things to occupy or lives, do we really focus on what matters most? I don’t think so. If I am right, then what are the things then that matters most? I would suggest that for Christians it should always be the things that matters most to God. Friends, as you are well aware, as imperfect as I am, I can approach this topic only from the perspective of a Christian. And again, at that, one who is not close to being perfect whatsoever. But my imperfections or the flaws in my personality and the weaknesses in my character or those in the people around me are not excuses for not focusing on what really matters for God. When I read my bible it becomes clear to me that from the beginning of human life on earth God voiced what He desired for mankind [you and me included]: to live in His presence, sharing in His joy about His creation and to enjoy Him as much as He enjoyed creating us. This truth caused the authors of the Westminster Catechism to say that man’s chief and highest end in life is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever! And how is it possible for us to achieve that end? There is only one-way: through entering into a lifelong relationship with God! The biggest challenge for the Israelites according to Deuteronomy 5 was dealing with the presence of God. Listen carefully – not His absence but His presence! Not His silence, but the fact that He was speaking to them, revealing Himself to them! What mortal man has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? And that bothered them greatly! They reflected on His presence and fear consumed them because the thought that their imperfection barred them from life in God’s presence. How often do we, as children of God, become quiet and reflect on this biggest challenge we face, individually and collectively, as the people of God – to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever? I would like to suggest to you that this aspect of our lives is perhaps more neglected than we think it is, yet the most important aspect of our lives. How often to you consider addressing the things in your life that cause you not to display the image of Christ: resentment, bitterness, jealousy, negativity, ill will, tension, and selfishness? How often do you ask: “What can I do, or what should I do to lessen the stronghold of these destructive character flaws in my life? How can the challenge to deal with these traits help me to development God’s image in me? How can I turn character blemishes into strengths? How can I convert my view on life to benefit God’s cause?“ But God wanted them to change so that they could live in His presence forever. He told Moses that much: “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! And God decided to put a program in place to enable the Israelites to keep His commands so that they could FOLLOW Him and be with Him forever. I will give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.” 32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. In the Christian world this process of change and growth is called discipleship. To be a disciple is to be Christ’s student or apprentice—one who loves and worships Christ, imitates His life, and understands and obeys His teachings. Discipleship takes place in relationship. Discipleship is the task of training believers to become mature followers of Christ, growing in their knowledge of, love for, and obedience to the Lord. I cannot and will not be a follower of God through Jesus without having a relationship with Jesus. It takes place in a context of prayerfulness and accountability. As Christians our frame of reference regarding discipleship is Jesus calling people to become His disciples that we read about, for instance, in Mark 1:17 (NIV84) where Jesus said to a group of fishermen: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Or Mark 2:14 (NIV84) where as He walked along, Jesus saw Levi son of Alpheus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. There is a truth revealed in Mark 3:14 (NIV84) that I believe we often miss or if we pick it up we conveniently ignore. Listen with me to the verse: “He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach…” nine out of ten times we focus on the twelve being designated to be apostles, which as a verb literally means “to be send out” and as a noun “the sent ones – those being sent out”. But we miss the first bit of the sentence: “that they might BE WITH HIM.” This is what it means to be a disciple: to enter into a lifelong relationship and to be with Him forever. So, disciples are not there merely to learn from a teacher; no, they are there to share his whole life with him, to participate in everything that he stands for without reservation. And friends, this is nor a New Testament concept. It is a complete biblical [old and new testament] concept. This is exactly what God desired from Adam and Eve, and what they failed to achieve. This is what God desired from Abraham, Moses and all the Israelites and what they failed to achieve. This is why Jesus came – to enable us to become the disciples of God who enter into a lifelong relationship with God, participating in everything He stands for without reservation! Disciples FOLLOW the One who called them! Jesus’ disciples literally follow Him around. However, they also left behind their former lives to devote themselves fully to him. And as long as what they are following Jesus, their caller, they are His disciples… Before we can go out to make disciples, as we are told in Matthew 28:19-20, we need to follow without reservation. Christian Discipleship is the process of devoting oneself to Jesus to learn from and become more like Him. It involves the process of learning Jesus’ teachings and following after His example in obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. And once we have become disciples we also follow in His footsteps by calling others to become disciples through teaching what Jesus taught. Friends, I believe that because we are so consumed, often even obsessed, by our personal [often very selfish] challenges, the art of true biblical discipleship is lost in many of our faith communities. Scripture talks about training and education, describing the process of being instructed to adopt a certain way of life – God’s way of life. But so often we can only focus on or care about our own way of life! And we feel upset, deprived, stepped upon, under-appreciated even used, or abused because life doesn’t happen the way we want it to. It is with this as backdrop that I plead with you to reconsider what it means to belong to God; what it means to FOLLOW Jesus; Yes, fundamentally, what it means to be a Kingdom of God inheritor forever. THIS is the biblical approach and challenge of discipleship, both in precept and by example. In our Deuteronomy 5 text, disciples, like Moses, are challenged to stay with God, to get what it will take the Israelites to learn to BE CAREFUL to do what the Lord our God has commanded them to do. And there you have it: Disciples are told to walk in ALL THE WAY that the Lord their God has commanded so that they may live and prosper in His presence forever. Note, it is not merely a call to walk IN God’s way. It is a call to walk in ALL THE WAY that God has commanded us. And what does this in ALL THE WAY consists of? – it means not 50% of the way, not 80% of the way, not 98% of the way – no, it means 100% or ALL the way, fully and completely. I think Deuteronomy 28:1-14 gives us a perfect explanation of all the way and its consequences. “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.” (NIV84) I believe this is what God passionately desires for those who FOLLOW Him ALL the way! This is my take on Deuteronomy 5:29 Where God reminisced: “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” So what must happen for us to follow God all the way? This is where our second reading becomes relevant. I’d like to suggest to you that the list of nouns in Proverbs 4:20–27 supply us with a framework for discipleship where we can FOLLOW God ALL the way. Proverbs 4 reminds us that the “ear” must receive and retain the words of God (verse 20). The “eyes” must be riveted to them in their written form (verse 21) and must at the same time be fixed on the path to spot any obstacle or deviation (verse 25). The “heart” serves as a vault within where the treasures of God’s wisdom are guarded and from where they can be withdrawn and skilfully employed (verses 21 and 23). The force in Proverbs 4:23 is to see the heart as the origin and its “outgoings” as the life-giving waters that refresh disciples and those around them. The “mouth” and “lips” are conduits that the water of the heart (wise and sound decisions and observations) flows from, in either fresh or rotten form (verse 24). The “eyelids” (the literal Hebrew) are probably better under stood as “gaze,” quick, discerning flashes of insight and perception (verse 25). The “feet” do the actual walking, following directions of heart and eye; the safety of the journey depends on their ability to implement quickly the commands they receive (verses 26–27). The “right [hand]” and the “left [hand]” (the literal Hebrew) symbolize the trend to stray aimlessly to one side or another of any chosen path; they are seen as symbols of the options to flounder that seem so strikingly attractive and that demand tireless discipline to resist (verse 27). Can you see, FOLLOWING God ALL THE WAY involves the WHOLE of our being. In my mind Proverbs 4 reminds us that life is too short and too precious to waste selfishly on personal challenges that take some of our focus way from following God. If we’re walking ALL THE WAY following Him, God promises to protect our path, direct our path, and perfect our path. All selfish focus on our challenges can offer us is danger, diversion, discontent, and disillusionment – all of these ultimately leading to death. To choose between these two options is really a no brainer. Therefore our challenge is not to allow the things that cause us not to display the image of Christ: resentment, bitterness, jealousy, negativity, ill will, tension to so consume so that we stop following Jesus. We are called to rise above our circumstances and to FOLLOW God ALL the way. We are called to rise above our interpretations of the situations we find our self in and to FOLLOW God ALL the way. We are called to nurture an attitude where we pay attention to what God says and to FOLLOW God ALL the way. We are called to cultivate habits that reveal that we listen closely to Gods words and that we are committed to FOLLOW God ALL the way. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Deuteronomy 11:19–21 (NIV84) reminds us that FOLLOWING God ALL the way is not something that we keep to ourselves. It becomes a community thing. It becomes something to share. We are told: “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.” Paul witnessed about this to the Colossians. “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:28–29 (NIV84) To this end we should labour too. This brings me to our third passage. Friends, Hebrews 12:12-17 reminds us that the Christian life – the life of a disciple – is the ‘route march of the people of God’ (Montefiore). Hence the encouragement: Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. This passage vividly pictures God as a challenging coach or commanding officer who pushes us to our limits, encouraging us beyond what we think we can attain. Consider His words of encouragement: The first encouragement is quite simply: “be strong and go straight. Cast aside your gloomy attitude and press on.” When the pressure and opposition build, we must not be paralysed with fear and inaction. We must get involved in the challenging contest. Although we may not feel strong enough to push on to victory, we will be able to accomplish it as we follow Christ and draw on his strength. Then we can use our growing strength to help those around us who are weak and struggling. The second is the call to maintain harmony: “Make every effort to live in peace with all men.” The thing that we often miss when we read this exhortation is the emphasis on making every effort. Christians pursue harmony. It is not a call to passively live in peace with all people. No, it is an approach where we do everything we possibly can to maintain harmony. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV84) Paul exhorted God’s people in Thessaloniki: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.” We cannot get around it. Believers, as the salt of the earth and light in the world, must pursue peaceful relationships. Verbs such as “pursue” and “seek” show us that it may not necessarily be easy to do, but God still calls us to do it. The third command mentioned in this passage is the challenge to pursue holiness. In this onward march believers must not only live in loving harmony with one another, but also in vital personal holiness before God. In Christ they have been sanctified (Hebrews 10:10); that is part of Christ’s saving work. But here holiness, like peace, is also a quality for which one must earnestly strive. It is an ambition that must be pursued throughout the whole of life. Without it no-one will see the Lord. Finally disciples are encouraged to acknowledge God’s grace. For us to follow after holiness, we must rely upon God’s grace. We cannot pursue it in our own energy. We have no need that outstrips God’s grace, and we never will! Even if we fall into deep sin, greater grace is available, as Paul said: “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20b). Possibly, like us, some of this church’s membership had drawn back or fallen short of that grace. They began their life of faith only by God’s saving grace and are now reminded that it is only by grace that it can be continued and pursued to completion. Therefore, this solemn warning: Make sure that you rely constantly on the promised grace. Sadly in our day not many believers are practicing the art of discipleship any more because our focus are too often on our own issues. But I would like to encourage you to look beyond that. When life is not going your way; when you don’t get what you believe you deserve, when people don’t treat you like you believe they should, learn not to mope or to retaliate, but to tough it out graciously and affably by God’s grace. This approach causes others to run tough with us. This approach helps others to run their race with God well too. Discipleship includes not only the weak assisting the weak, the bloodied, blistered teaming up to help each other, limping along arm-in-arm, but also the strong teaming up with the weak. Friends, I believe that the real joy of our journey trough life FOLLOWING God ALL the way is finishing In His Presence. Before we lose hope, though, we can remember God’s sacrifice. Jesus’ work of redeeming us has reversed our fate. The threat is gone—and that changes everything. Our lives are infused with the incredible purpose of His costly death. We have a renewed sense of hope because of His resurrection. Friends, the cross puts everything in perspective. It is the new focus of our gaze. From His sacrifice to the time when redemption is complete, we are meant to live intentional lives that reflect His purpose. Keeping our eyes on Him helps us to stay on the path. Therefore, I’m challenging you to eradicate the root of bitterness that Satan is sowing into our lives that cause us to miss God’s mark for you. Learn not to focus selfishly on the things other people do that cause resentment, bitterness, jealousy, negativity, ill will, and tension in your life. Rather learn to focus on FOLLOWING God ALL the way, glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever. If we do this we will live well and finish life well – filled with contentment and harmonious joy.