Deuteronomy 1 - Steve Wiggins Daily Devotional

“When the L_rd heard the sound of your words, He grew angry and swore with an oath: ‘None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the L_rd completely.’ The L_rd was angry with me also because of you and said: ‘You will not enter there either. Joshua son of Nun, who attends you will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it.’” Deuteronomy 1:34-38

There are some say, “I’ll believe in Yeshua if I could see Him.” That is, they would believe if they could understand Him. When it comes to following Yeshua: Seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. Joshua and Caleb believed G_d’s promise, so they saw the victory BEFORE the battle.

I love roller coasters…but I used to be terrified of them. Even as an adult, I would perform concerts at theme parks and watch my band mates enjoy the rides. They’d say, “Come on!” But I’d always find some excuse not to. All the while, I was paralyzed by the terror of being out of control and something tragic happening. Isn’t that silly?

Here’s how I overcame that phobia. My wife made me! We were given VIP (no line) passes to the Universal theme park, and she made me ride the rides with her! After a couple of rides, I was having the time of my life. All it took was for me to BELIEVE everything would be OK, then I SAW how much I had missed-out on all those years.

It’s much the same with following Yeshua. Many are paralyzed by the fear of what might happen if they left everything familiar in the world, and trusted Yeshua.

Some things cannot be known “this side of the cross”. You simply have to trust the Bible & the testimony of believers around you, matched by their observably changed lives. Then, believe & go for it!

Like Caleb and Joshua, believing is seeing. They believed G_d’s Word, despite the overwhelming odds they saw with their eyes. G_d honored their faith, and punished the faithlessness of those of Israel whose fear overrode their faith.

How small was the remnant of Israel, from the generation that Moses led out of Egypt? The remnant consisted of 2 guys: Caleb and Joshua.

So, in our generation, will you receive the reward that awaits the faithful, or will you suffer the rebuke of the vast majority of faithless people in our midst, who lay-aside G_d’s Word, in favor of their own “expert analysis”?

Blessings,
~Steve Wiggins, Associate Leader, Worship Leader
Shuvah Yisrael
Daily Devotional, Friday, June 13, 2014