A “spiritual map” to follow—The Inherent Word of God
- As you look at your life, do you see yourself wandering in the wilderness?
- In a similar fashion, when looking at the life of the church where you fellowship, do you see the family of God wandering in the wilderness?
OR
Do you see yourself and the family of God where you worship conquering the promised land?
“From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river,
(The Book of Joshua 1: 4 NASB)
the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites,
and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.”
Each believer has a spiritual map, one that directs your spiritual life. Are you living in the land of promise OR Are you living in the land of wandering wilderness? Are you walking in victory OR Are you walking in defeat?
When the children of Israel were captured and taken to Egypt, they were forced to live in a place where they did not want to be and to perform tasks as slaves to the Egyptian taskmasters. For sure, the children of God did not wish to be slaves, performing hard labor, and forced to live in a land where they should have never been, but they did toil there for a long season. Over four hundred years passed before the LORD intervened, before the sons of Israel, “about six hundred thousand men on foot,” journeyed on foot OUT of EGYPT (Exodus 12: 37b NASB)
However, just because they left behind years of captivity, life was not immediately easy and pleasant. In fact, the Bible records how the children of Israel continued to look back on Egypt, contemplating what they had left behind, even yearning for that life. It’s crazy to consider how they could leave captivity, to escape, only to look back with eyes of fondness, but they did. Sure, the children of Israel, led by God’s chosen servant, Moses, did look forward to the Promised Land, but they faced struggles in the midst of the wilderness. They looked forward to the conquer of the Promised Land, to their conquest of the land of Canaan, but in reaching the land promised to them by God, they encountered struggles and trials within their wilderness journey.
We are no so far removed from the children of Israel. As believers in Christ Jesus, we journey through life, embarking on the glorious journey to the promised land of heaven, gifted to us through God’s salvation, we too face trials and struggles. We too disobey God, and we often look back over our shoulder to the captivity of Satan where we once dwelt.
Therefore, we must be reminded, DAILY THROUGH GOD’S WORD, how the victorious Christian life is not an end to all our problems. This side of heaven, we will face conflicts, we will endure strife, and we will even see victory as the devil is defeated day-after-day from claiming victory over us. In knowing this, we must remember that the Christian Life is “a series of new beginnings” (Alexander Whyte).
We have received a “spiritual map” to follow—The Inherent Word of God.
We carry within us the Promises of God, the truth we are to share with those we encounter. Just as the LORD spoke to His servant Joshua after the death of Moses, we too are to traverse, daily stepping into God’s Holy Word, cognizant of the teachings the Holy One is showing us, remembering (as the LORD spoke to Joshua)—
“Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you,
(The Book of Joshua 1: 3-4 NASB)
just as I spoke to Moses.
From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river,
the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites,
and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.”