Shadow Of The Mount

Deuteronomy 1:6-8 "The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: [7] Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. [8] Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."

We can be one of four different types of Christians.

1. We can be the Christian who, on hearing God speak, does nothing because he is not certain what God wants. Because he does nothing, nothing is accomplished, and God's wish is not carried out.

2. We can be the Christian who, on hearing God speak, does nothing because he or she fears to take action. A good example of this is the believer who is called to teach, but refuses the call because he is afraid of speaking in public. Or the believer who is called to give, yet fears that giving will economically impact his own life.

3. We can be the Christian who, on hearing God speak, does nothing because he is comfortable where he is. These believers make the statement that "it was good enough for my parents, so it's good enough for me".

4. There is the Christian who, though he fears the call, moves to obey that which God has told him to do. This is the Christian that God wants us to be, the serving and active Christian.

For eleven months Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai (Horeb) after receiving the Law of God through Moses. The Scripture repeatedly tells us that our God is an awesome God, omnipotent in His power, all seeing, and everywhere. Yet Israel, like many in the Church today, forget the following principle:

Though our God is indeed Sovereign, within His decrees He gave us free will to work with Him in His Plan. God promised Israel a land of milk and honey, and promised that He would help them occupy that land. But in order for them to attain that promise they would have to break camp, leave the mountain where they were comfortable, and go.

I can understand their reluctance in leaving the shadow of the mountain. God told His people to go out to a land inhabited by Amorites and Canaanites, to kick these people out of that land, and take it over. The Amorites were descendants of Canaan who were fierce mountain dwellers, giants among men. In Amos we read:

Amos 2:9  "Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath."

The Canaanites were eleven nations, all descended from Canaan, who were known for their fierceness and evil. The Canaanites invented child sacrifice, mothers often throwing their own children on the fires of their Satanic altars. The Amorites were bad enough, but the Canaanites along with the Amorites - No thank you, God!

In 1977 God called me to teach, yet I refused. How could I stand in front of people, being so shy? Yes, I was and still am in many ways shy. Finally, in 1981 I stepped out from under the shadow of the mountain, confronting the Amorite of shyness and the Canaanite of fear of rejection, and started teaching a Sunday School class. With dry mouth and racing heart I stepped out - and taught. Today my mouth rarely dries up, and my heart only races for about 1 minute when I get in the pulpit. Brothers and Sisters, God is able to take the land for us if we step out on faith!

Too many Churches and too many believers have stagnated in the faith by living in the past. T.D. Jakes stated: "We can no longer allow our past to destroy what God has for us in the present.". The Apostle Paul states it another way:

Philippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, [14]  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul was not saying that we shouldn't remember the past. He himself often looked back in sorrow at his earlier days when, as an unbeliever, he tormented the Church of Christ. We should learn from the mistakes of our past. One of the secular jobs I held, years ago, was that of a welder. When I was new to welding the man who taught me warned me that all of the metal would be fiercely hot, even if it was in an area I was not welding. One day I forgot that rule and grabbed the far end of a piece of metal I had been welding. Let's just say, the experience didn't last long, though the pain did!

Only a fool touches a hot stove, gets burned, then forgets the experience. We need to learn from our mistakes. But on the same hand, we do not need to live in the mistakes of our past. As believers we must continually reach out with God at our side with the intent of following what He has told us to do. God has great things in store for Okapilco Baptist Church. God has promised Okapilco a land of milk and honey. We can and will grow: but we must enter the land regardless of the Amorites and the Canaanites.

If you as a person and you as a Church are uncertain as to what God is telling you to do, the try this: ask God again. In the book of Judges we read the story of Gideon. God told Gideon to destroy the altar of the false god Baal, and build a Godly altar in it's place. When Gideon obeyed, the Baal worshippers were enraged and rose up against Israel. God told Gideon to gather an army of men from Israel, and lead them against these unbelievers. How did Gideon reply?

Judges 6:36-40 "And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, [37]  Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. [38]  And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. [39]  And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. [40]  And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground."

Many have viewed Gideon's actions before God as an act of unbelief, but this wasn't the point. God understands our weaknesses, He understands our fears. When Gideon put the fleece on the ground the first time and found it full of water, though he believed there remained a small nagging doubt in his heart. So he asked God to "say it again", but with opposite results. The next day Gideon lifted the dry fleece and knew in his heart that he was called to serve the Living God. And guess what - he did what he was told!

If God has placed a call to serve in your heart but you do nothing, you will end up with exactly nothing. Ask the Father again, for what He has said once He will say again. Your Heavenly Father loves you and wants only the best for you. He wants you to join Him in fulfilling His Plan. True happiness as a believer does not come from comfort nor stagnation, but only comes when we make the decision that we will do what God has called us to do.

Often as believers we lose the promises of God by allowing our own fears to "talk us" out of acting. When Israel got to the boundaries of the Promised land Moses sent in a team of spies to "scope out" what they would be up against. When the spies returned, Joshua and Caleb gave one response while those who lacked faith gave another:

Numbers 13:27-33 "And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. [28] Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. [29] The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. [30] And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. [31] But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. [32] And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. [33] And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

All the spies agreed - the land was indeed wonderful, yet only Joshua and Caleb wanted to try and take it whereas the others were paralyzed by fear from faithlessness in God. Believers, either you can rule your fear, or your fear can rule you.

Missionary Hudson Taylor, on his first trip to China, was on board a sailing boat that was all but driven by the tide on shore where cannibals awaited them. The Captain of the boat became frantic. Knowing that Mr. Taylor was a man of God, he anxiously went to him. ‘Mr. Taylor,’ he said, ‘I have done everything that can be done to save the people on my boat. In a very short time now our boat will be on shore. We will all be caught and eaten unless your God helps us. You believe in a God who answers prayer - pray that He will save us.’

‘I will,’ responded Mr. Taylor, ‘providing you will set your sails to catch the wind which my God will send.’ ‘You mean set my sails when there is not a breath of air stirring?’ asked the captain. ‘Why, I cannot do that. I would become the laughing stock of the entire crew.  No, I will set the sails after God has answered your prayers.’

‘Then I will not pray,’ Mr. Taylor firmly answered. ‘If you do not have enough faith in my God to set your sails, then I will not call upon Him for help.’  When the captain realized that Mr. Taylor meant what he said he threw aside his pride and set the sails as if the wind were up and blowing in the right direction. In the meantime, Mr. Taylor went to his knees calling upon God for help.

After some time Mr. Taylor heard a knock at his door. ‘Who is there?’ he asked. ‘It is I’, the captain responded. ‘Are you still praying for the wind?’ ‘yes, I am,’ answered Mr. Taylor. ‘Well, ‘ replied the captain, ‘you'd better stop praying, for we have more wind than we can manage already.”

If you would only "set your sails" to serve God, He will provide the power!

As believers, we should never have the feeling that we're standing alone when God calls us. As long as we each are functioning within God's Plan, according to His Word, we will succeed in all that we are called to do.

Joshua 1:1-5 "Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, [2] Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. [3]  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. [4]  From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. [5] There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Moses led Israel to the very edge of the promised land, but was never allowed to enter it because he disobeyed God at the last moment. Moses died and was buried overlooking that land. After his death God called Joshua to lead Israel, and when He did so He promised him I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Many times we as believers fail to answer the call of God because we begin to look at our own limitations, our own failings. We are, after all, human and not up to the task. Yet rest assured that if God calls you to serve Him He will equip you for that service. When we say "It's impossible", God says:

Luke 18:27  "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

For our every doubt God tells us:
 
 

I'm too tired	I will give you rest (Matthew 11.28-30)
I can't go on	My Grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12.9)
I just can't figure it out	I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3.5-6)
I can't do it	You can do all things (Philippians 4.13)
It's not worth it	It will be worth it (Romans 8.28)
I can't manage	I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4.19)
I'm afraid	I have not given you the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1.7)
I'm worried	Cast all your cares on Me (1 Peter 5.7)
I'm not smart enough	I give you wisdom (1 Corinthians 1.30)
I feel all alone	I will never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13.5)

Believers, God is calling each and every one of us today to work together to accomplish His Plan on the earth. We must move out of the shadow of Horeb and start our journey for Him. Paul tells us:

Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, [21] to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

The world is dying for lack of Christ. Are you ready to join God in reaching this lost and dying world? Are you ready for the joy of serving Christ? Now is the time to commit not only your eternal life, but your physical life to God's will.
 

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