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The Abidible Podcast
#063 "Moses' Final Plea: Remember Who Brought You Here" (Deut. 6:11-12)
On the edge of the Promised Land, Moses warned Israel: “When you eat and are full, take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt.” Abundance often makes us forget our dependence on God.
Moses knew this struggle personally—his own disobedience at Meribah cost him entrance into Canaan. Yet instead of hiding his failures, he wrote them down, reminding us that he was never the hero of the story.
In this episode, host Kate traces Israel’s journey from slavery to abundance and uncovers our own temptations to dictate how God should give or to take credit for His gifts. But she also reveals the astonishing grace of Christ—the true hero who redeems our forgetfulness with His faithfulness.
Ready to break the cycle of forgetting God when life is full? Join our abidible+ membership community for exclusive resources including our new guide: "You Are: A Guide to Praising God for Who He Is Based on What He's Done"—designed to help you remember the Giver behind every blessing.
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Hey guys, this is Kate from abidible. com and you're listening to The Abidible Podcast. I'm just a regular wife and mom who's had my life transformed by learning to study the Bible on my own. If I can, you can. On this show, I help you know and love God more by abiding in Him through His Word yourself.
Kate:Moses didn't get to enter the promised land. Have you ever spent any time thinking about that? Our guy, Moses, who we have been with for the last eight weeks in this series, wasn't allowed into Canaan. God wouldn't let him in. Let's look at our new set of verses today and then we'll circle back on this idea of Moses not entering the land. In the end of Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 10, and then into verses 11 and 12, Moses is describing this land that we talked about last week. He said to the people the land that God is giving you, as he promised to his fathers, is land with great and good cities that you did not build and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns, wells that you did not dig and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. This is what the land is going to be like, Moses says. He paints a vibrant picture of how blessed they will be to enter this land. But then he issues a sober warning and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Kate:Today we're going to take a closer look at Moses' story, with an important contextual understanding that the man telling Israel not to forget the Lord had himself forgotten God. We're going to be able to see this command not coming from a perfect hero, as Moses is so often painted, but from a flawed and broken man who knew firsthand the grief attached to forgetfulness. We'll see this command as less of Moses shaking his finger at the people and as more of a father pleading with his children to not make the same mistakes he had made. Moses was a very different man by the end of his life, and we're going to take a look at how and why. We're also going to identify the two main problems we have with remembering the good things that God has done for us, and we'll do that in light of the people we can relate so closely to, the Israelites. What had their circumstances been like both in Egypt and in the wilderness? We need to have this in the front of our mind to understand this temptation to forget God. It's a temptation we all face to forget God and to believe that we are the hero of the story when we are not. Moses wasn't the hero of the story. Joshua wasn't the hero of the story. When the Israelites conquered Canaan, they weren't the heroes of the story. There is only one hero of the story.
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Kate:Okay, so back to Moses. When I get to heaven, I hope I get to sit at Moses' feet and hear his stories and learn from him for at least a few decades. I admire Moses so much. His story is unbelievable. He got to see God work so many mind-blowing miracles and he was so bold and courageous and faithful. I love him and one of the things I love most about him is that he wrote his own story with full transparency. Think about it as the author of the Pentateuch of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Kate:Moses could have sanitized the events he was a part of in order to make himself look better. I would have been massively tempted to do that. I don't want to record for all time the most embarrassing and shameful moments of my entire life. I would absolutely want to clean up the record to paint myself in a better light. Maybe Moses was tempted to rewrite the story a little bit, but he didn't, because he knew he wasn't the hero of the story and because of that, when we study the Bible, we get to see Moses as the man that he was, as the friend of God who, yes, met with him face to face, but as a man who was also imperfect in many ways. In this "God is One series on Deuteronomy 6, 4 through 13,. We've already talked about a few of Moses' massive mess-up, sin moments. I still want to briefly give you a list of examples now. But what I'm really getting at, what I really want to talk about, as I said at the beginning of this episode, is what prohibited Moses from being allowed to enter the promised land.
Kate:Here are some of the moments where we see Moses forgetting God as a result of his own moments of fear or doubt, or anger or pride. The first few are all from Moses' interaction with God at the burning bush, exodus 3: 11. But Moses said to God who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? Moses doubts his worthiness and ability to carry out God's call, even though God, in verse 12, promises to be with him. Moses' fear reveals a lack of confidence in God's empowering presence. Then in Exodus 4:1, it says Moses answered but behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice. Again, Moses questions the effectiveness of God's call and seems to distrust that God's power will be enough to persuade others. Then in Exodus 4:10, he says oh my Lord, I am not eloquent. I am slow of speech and of tongue. Moses here expresses anxiety over his speaking abilities. Despite God's repeated reassurance, Moses focuses on his own limitations and then, in Exodus 4: 13-14, he just says oh my Lord, please send someone else. This is a pivotal moment of outright resistance. Is a pivotal moment of outright resistance, God responds with anger in verse 14, showing that Moses' hesitation has crossed from honest doubt into disobedience.
Kate:Here's another crazy example from Exodus 4: 24-26. It says At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him, Moses, and sought to put him to death. Before reaching Egypt, Moses had neglected to circumcise his son, a covenant sign given to Abraham. Moses' wife, Zipporah, intervenes and performs the circumcision. This moment of spiritual negligence shows Moses' failure to fully honor God's covenant command. And then here's the big one. It's what I started the episode with, the action on Moses' part that led him to not being allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Kate:If you've ever thought about this part of the story and felt that God was being harsh or unjust, or you just didn't understand, let's take a moment to figure out what really happened. This is from Numbers 20:7-12. It says and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying Take the staff and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron, your brother, and tell the rock. Tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock so water would flow to the Israelites in the wilderness, but instead Moses struck it and spoke rashly to the people. He was super frustrated with the relentless grumbling and stubborn ungrateful hearts of the people. And we see in this action that Moses was also angry with God for not correcting the behavior of the people. So instead of speaking to the rock, he cracked his staff against it twice.
Kate:This act of disobedience was a misrepresentation of God's character, as David Gusick says. "What Moses did was an unholy thing. He made God look no different than an angry man or one of the temperamental pagan gods. He did not reflect the heart and character of God before the people and it cost him entrance into the promised land. God said this is Numbers 20, 12,. Because you did not believe in me to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people, you shall not bring this assembly into the land Devastating. Can we just pause here for a moment and grieve alongside Moses and his friend God. A line had been crossed and the consequence for that decision permanently doled out. Friend, even Moses sinned. Even he was unable to perfectly uphold the very law he'd been tasked with giving the people.
Kate:This moment at Meribah is the clearest example of unbelief and unfaithfulness in Moses' life. This was not just a personal failure, but a public distortion of God's holiness and mercy. The ESV study notes say "as the prime mediators of God's law to Israel, moses and Aaron had to be exemplary in their obedience. Their failure to follow the divine instruction exactly led to their forfeiting their right to enter Canaan. Some have suggested that another factor was involved, since God had told Moses in the earlier incident getting water from a rock I will stand before you there on the rock. That's from Exodus 17.6,. Moses should have known that God was present here on the rock as well. Therefore, moses speaking to the rock would be actually speaking to God. And so when Moses struck the rock with his staff twice, it was a serious manifestation of anger against God, and it is not surprising that God punished Moses severely. I love Moses, but he is not the hero of the story. Moses for all his faithfulness and intimacy with God, had very real moments of fear of man, fear of failure, self-doubt and insecurity, neglect of God's covenant, public disobedience and unbelief. Thank God he was willing and humble enough to write it all down.
Kate:Returning to our passage here in Deuteronomy 6, we remember that this is Moses' farewell sermon to the people. He is standing on the plains of Moab, just outside the Promised Land the people are about to enter. He will not go in. This is the Moses who has endured confronting the most powerful man on earth, with the plagues of God in Egypt, the deliverance of his people out of the house of slavery, the pursuit of Pharaoh and the parting of the Red Sea. He has experienced the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, the manna from heaven, water springing out of rocks, the holy mountain of God, the failures of the people speaking with God face to face and 40 years of taxing, arduous, burdensome leadership in the wilderness. Now he's reminding the people of God's promise to their fathers. And he's not a man of doubt anymore.
Kate:Let me read you Exodus 8. Yeah, I'm going to read you the whole chapter because it is that important to our verses today. As I read it, think about our guy Moses, who has publicly and profusely failed, now pleading with the people to remember. "he whole commandment that I command you today. You shall be careful to do that. You may live and multiply and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, and you shall remember the whole way that the Lord, your God, has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Kate:Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God." Deuteronomy is a book about God's grace and mercy. He gives and gives and gives. This is a description of the land where they're going. It's like moving into a $30 million mansion after living in a van down by the river. Remember where they're coming from.
Kate:For 400 years, this people lived in Egypt as slaves, likely in or near the Nile Delta region called Goshen. They likely lived in small, cramped, mud-brick houses, which were often just one room and probably shared by extended family. The land around them was agriculturally rich, but they were slaves. Because of their oppression, they had no rights to ownership or rest in this fertile land. They faced daily grueling physical labor making bricks without straw, building store cities like Pithom and Ramses, and working in the hot sun under constant surveillance. For food, they were completely dependent on what was rationed or left over likely simple grains, onions, leeks and fish. And they faced tremendous violence. Their babies were murdered and beatings were common. They were despised and their lives were considered expendable. In short, the Israelites had roofs over their heads but no rest, no freedom and no dignity.
Kate:Then they entered the wilderness. For 40 years they lived in portable tents made of animal skins, goat hair or woven linen. These structures were temporary and functional and were clustered around the tabernacle by tribe. They were nomadic, moving frequently at God's direction with the pillar of cloud and fire. For food, god provided daily manna, occasional quail and water from miraculous sources. The environment was a hot desert with extreme temperatures and severely limited vegetation. Though imperfect, their community was organized and deeply spiritual. It was literally centered around the presence of God. Here's the key contrast to Egypt: Though physically uncomfortable, they were free and God dwelled in their midst. They had daily provision, divine direction and a growing sense of identity as God's people. This is where they'd been. Where does Moses say they're going? They are about to enter the promised land, Canaan.
Kate:The first homes they would inherit were established homes. These were stone or mud brick houses, likely two-room homes with courtyards, way more permanent and spacious than anything they'd ever experienced. They would also be given wells for water, no longer waiting for water to spring from a rock in the desert. These cisterns would have already been hewn out of the rock. Instead of scarce vegetation, they would be given established vineyards and mature olive trees. Can you imagine how incomprehensible this would have been to the people? Mercy upon mercy, blessing upon blessing, and all already in place. And that's not all. In this new Promised Land there would be a radical shift. Now they would be landowners rather than slaves. They would experience security, walled cities and stable agriculture. The promise here was one of rest and abundance. Moses confidently promises all this on the edge of the promised land. Think about the transformation that has taken place in Moses to make these promises at this moment in time. Spurgeon says,
Kate:"We cannot but notice in this passage the confidence with which Moses assured the Israelites respecting their ultimate success in reference to their occupation of the land of Canaan. They had not yet passed over Jordan, yet does he speak to them as if they were in full possession of the land, so certain was it that God would fulfill to them all the promises that he had made unto their fathers? There is now no doubt for Moses. He's been tried and tested along with the people in the wilderness. Moses now knows God's promises will stand, despite his own unfaithfulness, despite the stubbornness of the people, and even without his physical presence leading them into the land. But he says be careful, watch out, beware when you eat and are full, when you are surrounded by good things and blessing on every side, do not forget that all of it is from the Lord.
Kate:Pride and ungratefulness. We have two problems. Just like Israel did, we want to tell God how he ought to give His gift because we think we know better than he does, and we don't want to acknowledge God as the giver of gifts because we want to claim all the credit. We think we know better than God and we want his goodness to be on our terms. Let's talk about problem number one. We want to tell God how he ought to give his gifts. We see this over and over again with the Israelites in the wilderness.
Kate:God provides daily manna, a literal miracle falling from the sky every morning and they say we are so tired of this bread, we want meat. Numbers 11: 4- 6 says, oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish, oh, the delicious fish that we ate in Egypt. But now there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. They wanted God's provision, but only if it matched their personal menu preferences. Then there's the golden calf in Exodus 32.
Kate:While Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving God's word for the people, they decide they want a god they can see, a god they can control. Verse 1 says, "Up make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, we do not know what has become of him. God's presence wasn't enough if it didn't look the way they wanted it to, and this attitude didn't magically disappear when they crossed the Jordan into the promised land. It's not as though the temptation to dictate the terms of God's gifts evaporates once we step into blessing. In Joshua 7, right after the miraculous victory at Jericho, god gives a clear command Don't take anything devoted to destruction. But Achan decides to upgrade the gift of victory by keeping a beautiful Babylonian cloak and some silver and gold for himself. Joshua 7.21 records his words I saw among 1 Samuel 8,.
Kate:Israel demands a king "like all the other nations, instead of receiving the Lord as their king. Verse 7 says the Lord said to Samuel they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. God had given them his leadership and protection, but they insisted on rewriting the terms. We still do this today. We may not be asking for quail or Babylonian cloaks, but our hearts whisper the same demands. Lord, I'll be content when you give me this job instead of the one I have. God, I'll trust you to provide, but only if it feels safe and familiar. I'll serve you wholeheartedly once my schedule finally frees up. I want spiritual growth, but without hardship, pruning or wilderness seasons.
Kate:We keep trying to direct the Giver. And this same heart posture shows up when we talk about the land of Israel. Psalm 24: 1 reminds us "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. God owns it all. He can give his creation to whomever he chooses. The Bible is very clear. God gave this land to Israel as an everlasting possession.
Kate:Deuteronomy 7:1 lists the nations that they were to drive out the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. Deuteronomy 7:10-11 says "he repays to their face those who hate Him and commands Israel to be careful to obey Him. Deuteronomy 12.31 tells us that the people in Canaan were doing every abomination the Lord hates, even burning their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. This wasn't a random land grab. Deuteronomy 9.4-6 says God didn't give Israel the land because of their own righteousness, but because he had set His love on them and sworn an oath to Abraham, isaac and Jacob. As GotQuestions put it, the conquest of Canaan was an act of God's judgment on an extremely wicked culture. The Canaanites' practices, including child sacrifice, had reached a point where God's justice required their removal.
Kate:And here's the important thing for us as believers today, God's covenant promise to Israel regarding that land still stands. None of those original Canaanite nations are the ancestors of the modern Palestinian population. The political realities today are complicated, but the biblical foundation is simple. This is the land God promised to Israel and that promise hasn't expired. When we resist that or try to redefine it, we're doing the same thing Israel did in the wilderness, telling God how he ought to give His gifts. And that brings us to our second problem with remembering what God has done. If the first problem is telling God how he ought to give His gifts, the second problem is what happens after we've received them. We take the credit ourselves. This is exactly what God warned Israel about in Deuteronomy 6:12.
Kate:"Take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Through the prophet Jeremiah, god paints this heartbreaking picture. And you, o generation, behold the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of thick darkness? Why then, do my people say we are free, we will come no more to you? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me. Days without number. Jeremiah 2, 31-32. In other words, god is saying have I ever failed you? Have I been cold toward you? Saying have I ever failed you? Have I been cold toward you, unkind, neglectful? Of course not. God had been their light, their life, their constant provision, and yet they acted like they didn't need him anymore. Can you relate to that?
Kate:David Guzik puts it plainly: "God planned to bring Israel into an abundant, prepared land. In this abundant blessing God had for Israel, there was an inherent danger that they would forget the Lord who brought them out of the land of Egypt. This cycle would be repeated throughout the history of Israel, especially in the time of the judges. God would bless and obedient Israel, and they would prosper. They would begin to set their heart on the blessings instead of the Lord who blessed them. God would allow chastisement to turn Israel's focus back upon Him. Israel would repent and obey again, and God would again bless and obedient Israel, and they would prosper. And bless an obedient Israel and they would prosper.
Kate:We usually fail to appreciate the danger of success and prosperity; we agree there is a theoretical danger in those things, but rarely think it applies to us." Isn't that so true? We all nod along and say yes, yes, success can be dangerous spiritually, but then we silently assume I'm the exception, I can handle it. John Trapp warns about that exact mindset.
Kate:"When times are good, it is much easier to forget the Lord who brought you out from the house of bondage. When there are no adverse circumstances compelling the remembrance of God, we are no sooner grown rich, but we are apt to utter that ugly word. This I may thank myself for and Israel's history proves the point this wasn't just a wilderness problem. Forgetting the giver followed them right into the promised land. Judges 2, 10-12 says and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers. The next generation didn't even know what God had done. They were living in the blessing but had lost the story. Can you relate to that? This is 2 Chronicles, 26, 15-16. King Uzziah was marvelously helped till he was strong, but when he was strong he grew proud to his destruction. Success swelled his head and he crossed lines God had drawn for his own good and Hosea 13, 5-6 says it was I who knew you in the wilderness. But when they had grazed they became full, they were filled and their heart was lifted up. Therefore they forgot me."
Kate:If we're honest, we do the exact same thing today. God provides the job you prayed for, and within a year you're sure it was your own networking skills. God restores your marriage and soon you're convinced it was because you finally learned how to communicate better. God opens a door for ministry and before long you feel entitled to the platform. God answers a financial prayer and you attribute it to your own hard work and smart planning. God heals and you quietly credit the doctor alone.
Kate:The danger of full cupboards and comfortable lives is that we start to believe we filled them ourselves. But Deuteronomy 8: 17-18 pushes back. We read this. "Beware lest you say in your heart my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth. You shall remember the Lord, your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. And 1 Corinthians 4, 7 asks the humbling question what do you have that you did not receive? If, then, you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Even our desires to do good come from Him. Philippians 2.13 says For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. The antidote to forgetting the giver is humility, continually pointing every blessing back to the one who gave it and refusing to believe our own press. We'll be right back after this message.
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Kate:And now back to the show. We've seen the pattern. Moses failed. Israel failed. We fail. Not because the gifts weren't good, but because our hearts aren't good. Paul Tripp says it so well. "Christian maturity is not about arriving at the point where you no longer need grace, but about a deeper sense of need for, and appreciation of, the grace that you've been given. Moses' warning in Deuteronomy 6.12, when you eat and are full, take care lest you forget the Lord wasn't just a call to mental recollection.
Kate:Forgetting God isn't a lapse in memory, it's a moral choice, it's a turning of the heart. Hopefully you looked up the Hebrew word and saw that this word "forget means to cease, to care, to mislay, to be oblivious of from want of memory or attention. In Jeremiah 2, that verse that I read, where it says God says my people have forgotten me, days without number. The note there is that God is saying my people have grown weary of me. So this is not just a memory lapse, it's a moral choice. Like I said, it's a turning of the heart. The ESV study Bible notes say to forget is less a memory problem than a moral one. It's more a parallel to disobedience.
Kate:And here's the sobering reality. Israel was walking into a land dripping with grace--c ities they didn't build, vineyards they didn't plant, houses they didn't fill-- and they still wouldn't have the power to keep themselves from forgetting the Lord. Moses didn't fail because the law was unclear. Israel didn't fail because God's promises were weak. We fail because our hearts are bent toward pride, toward self-reliance and toward sin. The law could warn them. The law could guide them. The law could convict them. But the law could not change them.
Kate:And so the story is building here to a tension so great that it demands resolution. If Moses, God's chosen leader, who met with him face to face, couldn't obey perfectly... if Israel, God's chosen nation, couldn't remain faithful in the land... if we, God's people today, are still so quick to forget, then who can? The hero we need isn't Moses, it isn't Joshua, it isn't Israel and it definitely isn't us. That's why the gospel is the best twist in all of Scripture, because it answers the tension the Old Testament leaves hanging in the air. Moses didn't enter the promised land because the law stops short. It shows the standard but can't meet it for us. But then there is this moment in Matthew 17, the Transfiguration. Where is Moses? He's standing in the Promised Land, next to Jesus. The law couldn't get him there, but Jesus could. And there's the hero of the story.
Kate:All God had ever been trying to do was to show us his goodness. From the first page of Scripture, we see it-- light breaking into darkness, order into chaos, and beauty into emptiness. And what did God do? He called it good. But time and time again His people spat back at Him, "your goodness isn't enough. We'll take it from here. And in the greatest act of goodness the world has ever known, he sent his goodness to us.
Kate:Not just a law, not just a land, but a person. Jesus, the real hero of the story, the God who created every good thing in Genesis 1, now steps into his creation in human flesh, just as Titus 3 says" For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures. But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us. Did you hear that? Once slaves just like Israel and Egypt? Jesus himself said in John 8, 34, truly, truly, I say to you everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The law could reveal our slavery, but it could not break our chains. But what the law could not do, jesus could our chains. But what the law could not do, jesus could. And here is my aha moment. I've read the gospels dozens of times, but I had never made this connection until I saw a video this week.
Kate:Moses did enter the promised land, maybe not physically, but certainly spiritually. Think about it. God told Moses in Deuteronomy that he wouldn't set foot in Canaan because of his disobedience at Meribah. And in the Old Testament that was true. He died on Mount Nebo, looking into the land from a distance. But then, in Matthew 17, we're taken up a mountain with Jesus. It's the transfiguration. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become white as light and suddenly there's Moses standing in the land next to Jesus. Do you see it? The law couldn't get him there, but grace could. Moses is standing with Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, on either side of Jesus, the One who fulfills them both. The transfiguration is like God saying, "his is my son, the fulfillment of every promise, the true hero you've been waiting for. It's not just about Moses getting his feet on Canaan's soil. It is a preview of the real promised land, god's presence, and the only way any of us get there is through Jesus.
Kate:Here's the big idea. Moses isn't the hero of the story. Israel isn't the hero of the story. You are not the hero of the story. Jesus alone is the hero of the story. If you've been living like you're the hero of the story, making your own rules, writing your own script, and you've never bent your knee to the true hero, the author of life, the God of all good gifts, you can do that today. I implore you don't wait.
Kate:The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And in Romans 6.23 that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Jesus himself said in Mark 1 15, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. And in Romans 10 9-10, paul writes If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's the invitation To turn from your sin. Lay down your pride and trust the only one who can save you. Jesus died in your place, rose again in victory and offers you forgiveness, freedom and life with Him forever. If that's your step today, talk to Him right now. Confess your sin, tell Him you believe and surrender your life to Him. And for those of you who already belong to Him, what now? Well, live like he's the hero. Give Him the glory in your work, your rest, your relationships and your victories.
Kate:Let gratitude replace pride. When you see blessing, remember the Giver. When you see provision, remember the Provider. When you see yourself tempted to take the credit, stop and say, "not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to your name, give glory. That's Psalm 115.1.
Kate:Charles Spurgeon put it this way: "Pride is the peculiar sin of prosperity, and pride stands side by side with forgetfulness of God. Instead of remembering whence our mercies came, we begin to thank ourselves for these blessings and God is forgotten. Be it ours to remember that it is God who gives us strength to get wealth or get position. It is God who gives us strength to get wealth or get position and therefore, unto Him be all the honor of it and never let Him be forgotten. That is exactly why I have created a new Abitable Plus member resource called you Are a guide to praising God for who he is, based on what he's done.
Kate:It launches today and it's designed to help you break the cycle of forgetting God when life is full. It's a simple, powerful tool to help you name the things God has done for you, just like Moses urged Israel to do in Deuteronomy 6: 11-1 2. Inside you'll find a list of 100 things God has done straight from Scripture, as well as space for your own personal faith-building journaling, and tools for making this a family activity that even your little ones can join in on. My family put our "God-did-this cutouts right on our fridge by our water dispenser. You can switch these out each day or each week as a tangible reminder of what God has done. It's just a practical way to obey this command, to remember the Lord who brought you out of the house of slavery, and it's available to all Abidable Plus members.
Kate:What's powerful about this guide is that it follows an important biblical pattern that I want to talk to you about. All throughout Scripture, God's people are told to look back-- not to live in the past, but to declare it. Because what God has done is not just history, it's revelation. Every miracle, every rescue, every act of power or mercy or grace is God making himself known. This is the pattern. We know who he is because of what he's done and when you forget who he is, the Bible says, remember. What you rehearse will shape what you believe. So join our membership community, snag this guide and rehearse this truth: the God who made the heavens and the earth, the God who brought you out of your Egypt, the God who sent His Son, the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he has not changed and he will not fail you now. Because here's the truth. God didn't just bring you out of slavery to sin--H e brought you into fullness in Christ.
Kate:Just like Israel walked into cities, homes, wells and fields, they didn't labor for, you now stand in grace you didn't earn, life you didn't build, and blessings you didn't manufacture. Think about it. For Israel it was great and good cities that they did not build. For us it's the Kingdom of God and the Church we didn't create. For Israel it was houses full of all good things that they did not fill. We get the indwelling Spirit who lives in us and every spiritual blessing in Christ. Israel got cisterns they did not dig. We get living water freely given. Israel was given vineyards they did not plant. We get fruitfulness that flows from abiding. And finally, Israel had olive trees they did not plant and we've been given anointing and peace we didn't earn. This is grace upon grace.
Kate:By the way, if you want all the verses I've mentioned in today's episode, the transcript is available now in our abidible+ community. I want to close by saying this to you in love: You didn't earn your place. You were invited in. You didn't fill this house, God did. You didn't dig for living water. Jesus offered it to you freely. You didn't plant this vineyard. It's his fruit in you. And you didn't graft yourself into the tree. You were brought near by his mercy. So remember, the hero of your story is not you, Not Moses, not Joshua, not Israel. The hero is Jesus and he's still writing his story through your life. And that's it for this episode.
Kate:If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share The Abidible Podcast with them. Keep spreading the word so we can make much of the Word. Drop us a review and tell us what you love and what you're learning. Check out the link to learn more about partnering with us by buying us a coffee one time, by joining our abidible+ membership community for $10 a month, or by becoming a monthly supporter For those of you following along in the workbook...
Kate:Go ahead and begin working on our final verse in this series, Deuteronomy 6:13, on pages 52- 55 in your study workbook. You can also complete your final recap section on "God is One found on pages 56 to 58. Ideally, you would have these sections done before you listen to the next episode, number 64. Sections done before you listen to the next episode, number 64. In this episode we will see what it means to fear God, serving Him and swearing by His name alone. The verse next week is Deuteronomy 6, 13. It is the Lord, your God. You shall fear Him, you shall serve, and by His name you shall swear. Next week we will also summarize our entire series in Deuteronomy and then I'll be temporarily signing off the podcast for my major surgery happening next week. More details on that in my final episode on Monday. I'll pray for us and then close us out with our memory work for verses 11 through 12.
Kate:"Oh my gosh, lord, god, you are the hero of the story. Please, lord, forgive us for the times when we try to rewrite the story and put ourselves and our name in the spotlight in big, bold letters underlining ourselves and the things that we think that we've done in our own strength and try to get ourselves the glory. Lord, please forgive us for dictating to you how you are supposed to give us gifts, when you are supposed to give them and in what measure. Please forgive us for forgetting that the whole earth is yours and everything in it and everyone in it, and that you are the author of life and the creator of all and the giver of good gifts, that you know what you're doing and you are good and you are in control and your promises stand and are true and are firm.
Kate:God, I thank you for your Word and for people like Moses, who we can relate to on so many levels, because we fail, we fall short, we doubt, we have people-pleasing tendencies and we are afraid. And so, Lord, I thank you that your Word is true and transparent and we can see in each story the work that you do in people, how you took Moses from a stumbling, stuttering, fearful, doubting man into the leader who brought his people to the edge of the Promised Land and still, despite his own inability to go in, declared the promises that you had said would happen, believing it wholeheartedly. I thank , L ord, for Jesus, who is the ultimate fulfillment. He is, the greater Moses, the greater Joshua, the greater Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the fulfillment and the hero that we've all been waiting for. He came and did what the law was powerless to do and what the prophets told would happen, and we are just so grateful for Jesus. Lord, we thank you for the work that he does and is doing in our lives. We thank you for any one person who maybe gave their life to you today in the podcast, would you just plant the seeds of truth in them and water them and grow them into a disciple who understands who you are as the good Giver of all gifts and when you bless them and bring them into the Promised Land and the blessings that you have for them and the gifts that you have for them, and even the challenges and the testing that you have for them, that that person would stand firm and steadfast in the faith. Lord God, help us to be a people who remember, who remember what's true, who declare what you have done and who eagerly await all of your promises one day in heaven. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, let's close by doing our memory work together. I'm going to repeat Deuteronomy 6: 11 through 12, five times. Say it out loud with me or quietly to yourself.
Kate:"And houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant-- and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."
Kate:Deuteronomy 6: 11-12. Remember you are able to abide in the Bible. We'll see you next time. Until then, let's abide.
