Deuteronomy 29:2-9; Romans 11:33

How often do you stop to think about how good God has been in your life?

I wonder how many people here this morning have ever had a WOW God moment?

What’s a WOW God moment? It’s that period of time when something happens that makes you step back and just acknowledge that it HAD TO BE GOD!

Unfortunately, most people have, rather recognize, these a few times in a lifetime if their lucky.

A much smaller portion of people may have, or recognize more than a few of these over a lifetime.

Those that legitimately call on the name of Jesus probably have a few or more a year, if you’re conscientious and pay attention, you’ll recognize more than a few of these on a very regular basis.

But if we are wise, if we truly desire to live in the will of the Father, we should be looking at, and for, these moments constantly!

MIKE PROCTOR

Regardless of whether you answer that you “Often” or “Seldom” have “Wow God” moments, or maybe you have them regularly like my friend Mike. How does that make you act or respond to His Word?

I am going to read from Deuteronomy 29 this morning.

Deuteronomy 29:2–9 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 29:2–9 NKJV

2 Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land— 3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. 5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 7 And when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

Romans 11:33 NKJV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

PRAY

I want to preach to you for the next few minutes from the Title...

“WOW GOD!!!”

I think all of us can acknowledge the way too often we forget about the things that God has done for us in the past.

That’s not a statement of guilt or condemnation, it’s an unfortunate reality.

My hope this morning is that that’s a wake up call for all of us!!!

I think if we’re all honest, we can agree that the things He did for us last month, last year, or even further back, disappear in the busyness of life. We are generally a people always looking for the next new, the next big thing. We are looking for new knowledge, new experiences, new adventures. We want new revelations, but we miss the biggest revelations in what most people would consider the ordinary.

Romans 1:19–20 ESV

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Too often we get so busy waiting for God to do something else, we fail to praise Him and remember what He already did.

The reality is, we can’t forget the Wow Moments of the past because they are the foundation of the miracle we need today...

Too often we praise Him in the moment and the moments that follow something important in our lives, but unless it’s pretty big, we are pretty quick to move on and look for something new.

If we’re paying attention, we recognize the WOW GOD moment, but we have to be intentional about hanging on to them.

That doesn’t mean hanging on to the past. I think we have to be progressive in the things of God. We should be constantly trying to KNOW more, BUT NEVER FORGETTING WHAT’S BEEN DONE FOR US ALREADY!!

I love the definition of HOPE that I shared last week!

HOPE IS The confidence that integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past, with trusting responses in the present,

THE FAITHFUL will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.

There are a couple key’s to that…

1. Knowing the Redemptive Acts of God in the Past

2. Integrating Those Memories or that Knowledge into Action Today

3. STAYING FULL OF FAITH THAT HE’LL DO IT AGAIN

“Too often if we aren’t intentional and deliberate about being faithful, we fall back into the human condition. We become apathetic and complacent. We lose sight of the things that matter the most, and if we stay there too long, we become apostate. We end up relying on ourselves more than we rely on God and if we aren’t careful, eventually we forget about God all together.”

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses calls the entire nation around and says, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,”

You have seen water turned to blood, dust to gnats, frog and locust infestations….and still you have turned away, and have the potential to turn away.

I cannot imagine what it would take for a nation to turn away from a God that brought them out of so much, BUT WE’RE LIVING IT!!!

I say that then I think about all that God does for us!

As if salvation wasn’t enough, he still chose to allow me to step into His calling on my life.

He has healed me multiple times physically

He has healed Ann Marie

He has Healed Kristi

I have seen people get saved that most people never thought could or would.

We see these big things, we see the small things, and still yet if we aren’t careful, we go about life and get lost in the monotonous day to day junk.

We miss out on Rejoicing always, Praying without ceasing, Giving thanks in all things….

Too often we go about life like it is all about us!

We get caught up in ourselves and we act like the universe revolves around us…

Francis Chan Illustration

We look through history and we see people far greater than we are in the bigger picture.

We see Lincoln, Washington, Shakespeare, Aristotle…certainly some great men…

Even if we talk about Peter, Paul, John, James…

EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE FAILS IN COMPARISON TO JESUS…

EVEN USING THE WORD COMPARE NEXT TO ANYONE ELSE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

I believe we get to these places of apathy and complacency because we don’t take enough time to thank God for the wins in life.

We might give a social media shoutout for something that goes right.

We might give God some glory when we come through an illness or an injury.

But the key is to live in the victory.

The key is to dwell and bask in His goodness.

Isaiah 6:1–8 NKJV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Too often we begin getting close to that awe and majesty, and the truth is, IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE IF WE DON’T UNDERSTAND HIS GRACE AND MERCY.

IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE WE KNOW GOD HATES SIN, AND HOPEFULLY EVERYONE HERE KNOWS AND ACKOWLEDGES…WE ALL FALL SHORT.

So, when we start getting close to the shekinah glory, when we begin to enter His presence, many times we think about our failures.

We hear that voice of the enemy reminding us how imperfect we are.

We get scared to get too close to God afraid He might figure us out, or see through our mask.

BUT IF WE WILL JUST GET LOST IN THE WOW GOD moments

If we will push through into the holy of holies, if we will allow Him to take us into the special place where the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom…IF WE WILL JUST ALLOW HIM TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO US…

IF, IF, AND IF…WE MIGHT JUST EXPERIENCE HIM ONE MORE TIME

AND THEN ANOTHER

AND THEN ANOTHER

AND THEN ANOTHER…

If we will recognize the Voice of the Father, and shut out the voice of the enemy, we will have stories to share.

THE KEY IS TO SHARE THE STORIES.

THE KEY IS TO REJOICE IN THE STORIES

THE KEY IS TO BELIEVE THE STORIES CAN BE YOUR STORIES.

We have some friends that recently had a baby. The pregnancy seemed to be normal as far as we knew. But, shortly after the baby was born, there were problems. They ended up at childrens hospital, where they spent a few weeks. The doctors told the parents that there was at least some level of brain damage. The tests they did here in Mountain View that led to them going to Children’s were off the charts.

Literally, the numbers were 25% higher than the highest number on the scale. They ended up doing the test a total of 3x’s. As far as the medical professionals were concerned, this child needed a procedure to save its life. Our friends were convinced that their child was fine. The procedure they wanted to do almost guaranteed further brain damage. The doctors were dead set on doing the procedure…so set on doing it that they had a social worker standing in the room ready to sign an order for the doctors to carry on. But, like I said, our friends were convinced that their child was fine.

They asked the doctors to run the tests one more time. The nurses tried to explain that the results had been the same 3 times. They tried to make them understand that it wasn’t going to change. But what our friends knew was that people were praying!!!

To make this already long story short, they redid the test, and the number ended up well within the normal range actually, it was towards the lower side of the scale.

Some might say that these kind of stories are the wonders of modern medicine…MAYBE THAT IS PART OF IT… MODERN MEDICINE CAN AND DOES PLAY A PART, BUT HEALING AND DELIVERANCE ARE ALWAYS A RESULT OF THE GOODNESS OF MY GOD!

That is the Healing power of My Jesus!

That’s the benefit of a price He paid 2000 years ago, and the work that He still does today!!!

Too often we dismiss things to what we can see…

Connor’s Broken Arm

IF WE WILL JUST LOOK THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD.

IF WE WILL RECOGNIZE THAT WHILE WE ARE IN THE FLESH, WE HAVE SUPERNATURAL CITIZENSHIP AND WE SHOULD EXPECT SUPERNATURAL MIRACLES, WE WILL SEE GREATER WORKS!!!

Connor looked that Doctor dead in the Eye and said, “Jesus Healed me!”

The “WOW GOD” moments aren’t ours to hide and keep.

Those moments are for us to reveal and share!!!

In Joshua 3-4… MEMORIAL STONES

Joshua 4:1–7 ESV

1 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’ ” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

We have to not only live in, but share the AWE!

We have to proclaimHis mighty works.

We have to proclaim THE AWE OF GOD!!!

We have to pass this on to following generations!!

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY OF ANN MARIE’S JOURNEY AND ALL THAT GOD HAS DONE!!

Some was due to obedience.

Keep the Commandments

The passage we started with this morning in Deuteronomy talks about remembering God’s good works. I have focused on being in AWE of Him and living a WOW GOD LIFESTYLE, but look at the last verse I read…

Deuteronomy 29:9 ESV

9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

The Mosaic Law was encompassed in the Mitzvot. 613 laws given to the nation.

It’s funny as we read through Scripture we see how it goes from the 613 to get synthesized down into less.

Even in Moses recorded it into The 10 Commandments.

Micah asked what does the Lord require of you…Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with God

Jesus took it to 2 Love God, Love People

Habakkuk gets it down to 1 in Habakkuk 2:4

“…the righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul records it in Romans 1:16-17 “I am unashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God to salvation to all who believe to the Jew first and then the Gentile, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written the righteous shall live by faith.”

Romans 1:16–17 NKJV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

So, as I am reading Deut. 29 I read verse 4 “But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or ears to hear.”

I read that and I think WHY. Why don’t they understand. Read the following verses. Clothes haven’t wore out, shoes haven’t wore out. They have miraculously been provided manna from Heaven and water from a rock. They have been led by smoke and fire.

HOW DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND?

How do we go through these miraculous events and see God move and not take time to understand.

It goes back to faith. It goes back to taking time to seek God first.

It centers on our understanding of Who God is and ALL THAT HE DOES FOR US

It goes back to that definition of Hope…Remembering God’s redemptive acts of the past.

Faith starts in the Word daily!

Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Faith continues by spending time with other believers.

Heb. 10:25

Hebrews 10:25 ESV

25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Faith comes by not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together.

Faith comes as we build ourselves up in the Word, through the testimony of other believers (and sharing our own testimonies), it comes as we remember what He has done for us, and it comes as we seek Him in prayer.

This next part is the part most of us don’t like…

Moses said, I have led you for 40 years, your clothes and shoes didn’t wear out, you didn’t get any bread, wine or strong drink so that you would know I am God.

Deny the Distractions

Sometimes we have to get away from the pleasures and DISTRACTIONS of life so that we can KNOW God!

That’s the part we don’t like. We don’t like the idea of fasting from TV or Ice Cream or a big fat juicy steak, so that we can get closer to God.

We like our creature comforts. We like our delicacies.

But so did the Israelites. But, God was building up a nation, he was building a nation of priests that would exalt Him in the nations.

We don’t go from slave to free without dying first!

OLD THINGS HAVE TO PASS AWAY!

A common phrase I have a tendency to use is Context is King.

To understand any passage of Scripture we have to spend time in the entirety of Scripture

This context of this passage is in the giving of the Covenant.

The title of this book “Deuteronomy” means the second giving of the law.

The passage we read tonight is sandwiched between vv.1 and 9

The context of why Moses is commanding them to remember is so they will keep the commandments.

Deuteronomy 29:1 (ESV)

29 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.

This verse is a conclusion to what Moses had already written.

In keeping with the theme of context, I encourage you to go back and read chapter 28.

For 14 verses we read about blessing that the Israelites would receive for obedience and keeping the Law, but for 44 verses we read about curses for not keeping it.

I assure you that even today in the New Covenant there are blessings for obeying God.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND ALL THESE THINGS…