Article Display
Email  |  My Account  |  Donate
Let's take a journey through the book of Deuteronomy. I want to show you how God's message to hearken is interwoven throughout everything that happened to Israel.

Deuteronomy 4:1 sets the tone of God's recurring message to Israel:
Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
(Deut. 4:1)
What was Israel's part to fulfill in order to go in and possess the land? They had to take the basic Bible course to victory; they had to hear and do.

The children of Israel were learning the same lesson that we have to learn today: every time they held back from obeying God, they gave defeat a place in their lives. On the other hand, every time they stepped forward by faith and did what God told them to, they gave victory a place to manifest. It was—and is—just that simple.
Keep therefore and do them [God's statutes]; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
(Deut. 4:6)
Keep God's words and do them. That was to be the key to Israel's demonstration of divine wisdom and understanding in the sight of all nations.

God told His people exactly how to live, what to do, what to eat, how to conduct themselves, how to worship and how to give. He wanted them to stand out as something special because He wanted every nation to know that there was a God in Israel. He wanted His people to be a witness to Him.

If you are a parent, you should understand God's desire. Don't you want your child to stand out as someone special? You don't want your child to be backward, weak and defeated. No, you want your child to shine! You want him to be a winner.

Well, God feels the same way. He wants His children to have the best, be the best, love the best, obey the best and hear the best.

So in this scripture, He tells Israel how to shine. Keeping and doing the Word would be their demonstration of wisdom—the one thing that would cause other nations to say, "This is a wise people."

But it couldn't be a haphazard effort. In Deuteronomy 4:9 and 29, God tells the children of Israel what it would take for them to walk in wisdom and to make their way prosperous:
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons....

But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
(Deut. 4:9, 29)
In order to make God's Word work for themselves, the Israelites would have to be diligent about letting God be God in their lives. They would have to seek Him with all their hearts and souls.

The same is true today. We have to be diligent in order to live a bold lifestyle of faith, because the world around us is going in a different direction. For each of us, obeying God's Word has to become our whole life.

God has to be the first thing we think about in the morning and the last thing we think about at night. His ways have to find place in our hearts until everything we do—even the little things—are overshadowed by the Word of God.

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries

Author Biography

Gloria Copeland
Web site: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
 
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
Read more...

About Us

The online ministry of cfaith has been helping people discover faith, friends and freedom in the Word since 2000. Cfaith provides a unique and comprehensive collection of faith-building resources for the worldwide faith community.

At cfaith, you can strengthen your faith and deepen your understanding of the Word of God by digging into the vast collection of teaching articles, streaming audio and video messages, and daily devotionals. No other website offers such a unique and extensive collection of spiritual-growth resources aimed at helping you grow in your knowledge of the Word.

Read More...

 

 

Support Us

Why support cfaith?


(All contributions are 100% tax deductible)


SUPPORT CFAITH WITH ONE CLICK!

For every Internet search you make using
goodsearch, cfaith will receive one penny!

GS Logo 250x38

Contact Us

Business Hours:


Monday—Friday: 9 a.m.—5 p.m. CST
Saturday & Sunday: Closed

Phone:

(763) 488-7800 or (800) 748-8107

Mailing Address: 

CFAITH.com
9201 75th Avenue North
Brooklyn Park, MN 55428

 

Login Form

Please ignore the “Secret Key” field; it is not needed to log in to cfaith.

Login Change Article

Spring360x442
You need to enable user registration from User Manager/Options in the backend of Joomla before this module will activate.