BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah- kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin and because you did not set Me apart as holy in the midst of the Israelites. For you shall see the land opposite you at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I give the Israelites (Deuteronomy 32:49-52, AMPC). There's no question about it, that's a sobering story. It demonstrates just how serious disobedience can be. There is a bright side to it, however. I realized that one day, when I was feeling sorry for Moses and thinking how awful it was that he went through that whole wilderness experience, put up with all the aggravations of it year after year, and then didn't get to complete the journey into the Promised Land. As I thought about how he died on Mount Nebo, and how God personally buried him, it dawned on me: Since Moses was a saint of God, when he died he went to Paradise! He went to the real Promised Land! He bypassed all the fi ghting and wars that were required to take possession of Canaan, and went straight to the reward. So I never feel sorry for Moses anymore. But the fact remains that Moses cost himself a major victory on the earth because he yielded to the wrong impulse. He yielded to the pressure of his emotions instead of the direction of God. He didn't do exactly what the Lord told him to do, and his disobedience was an expensive mistake. Little Promptings Can Open Big Doors Of course, Moses' experience was more dramatic than most of our experiences will be. None of us carry the kind of responsibility he did, so when we miss the mark the results aren't usually quite so catastrophic. Our opportunities to obey or disobey, connect or disconnect with the plan of God, don't normally involve honoring God (or dishonoring Him) before an entire nation. They more often involve everyday choices that are made when very few people are watching. But even those choices can cause us to connect or disconnect from God's Master B V O V : 2 1 Plan for our lives. They can unexpectedly cost us dearly, or bring us great rewards. That's why obedience is always best. You just never know to what part of God's plan one simple step of obedience might connect you. Ken and I found that out big-time some years ago when we were facing one of the many fi nancial challenges we've encountered since we fi rst stepped out into ministry. In a way, we were in a situation similar to the one in which Moses found himself. It was not nearly as serious, of course— just similar. We were badly in need of money to pay past-due bills for our television broadcasts. We'd faced that need before, and God had been faithful. But this was the most onerous defi cit we had experienced. We began to think about selling our lakefront property to bring in the extra money. Although we hadn't been instructed by the Lord to do it, we were assuming it was the right thing to do. We hadn't signed the papers on the deal yet, but the plans were all drawn up. We were right on the verge of fi nalizing the sale when, as I was driving home one evening, I had a very clear impression from the Lord in my spirit. I sensed He was saying, Don't do it. Don't make that deal. You'll regret it. It was very strong. I knew it was the Lord. When I got home, I told Ken about it. "OK," he said, "we'll call it o ." Remember in Proverbs 8:1-2 about wisdom Nothing is going to work for me spiritually if I'm violating the commandment of love." How have I been treating people?

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