Isaiah 56:1  Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice:  for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

I see this as a High School camp WORD but also a Student Ministry WORD. God is telling us to walk worthy and be holy so that He can pour out his righteousness and salvation on us. Not only that, but it is “near to come.” God I praise You. Thank you for Your faithfulness to us!

Deu 30:1  And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Deu 30:2  And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
Deu 30:3  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
Deu 30:6  And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

These are verses that hit me so hard in so many different ways. I see the stages God has taken us through as a ministry and my heart becomes “Oh Father, Please circumcise our hearts. Please move in us and protect us from ourselves and satisfy us from ourselves and don’t allow us ever to turn back again. God be merciful to us! Move us on out of Deuteronomy into the Promised Land of Joshua.”

“Never court anything  but the approval of God” Oswald Chambers writes. He says, “As Christian workers, worldliness is not our snare, sin is not our snare, but spiritual wantoning is, viz., taking the pattern and print of the religious age we live in, making eyes at spiritual success…  We have the commercial view - so many souls saved and sanctified, thank God.”

What is your standard of success?  I’ve found the above to be true of me so much of my life but what a joke!  How pitiful that we would want or need to please anyone other than the One who was slain for us. He is THE ONLY standard of success. The question is, “Does God approve of this work?”

I’m reading through Deuteronomy again. This time I’m seeing something from Deuteronomy 2 and 3 that encourages me. It is in these two chapters that God instructs Moses and the Israelites as to what their inheritance will be and what it will not be. It speaks of the inheritance of Esau and Lot’s ancestry and tells Israel that God has given that land to them and therefore they should not attempt to take it. And then we see Moses recounting how the land would be divided out among the tribes within Israel. The Lord had given the specific tribes within Israel specific inheritances.

What does this mean for us both individually and corporately??? - Two things. . . First off, God gives each of us what is ours to have. We can work and toil and sweat and manipulate and bargain and strive to obtain that which is not ours to have and still never get it. - because God has not reserved that for us. So we might as well yield to what God’s will is for us and pray like Jesus, “Not my will, but thine be done.” Relax and rest and believe what God has given us. You won’t get more than is set aside for you anyway. But there is another part of this which may seem contradictory, but isn’t.

Secondly, keep in mind that God had granted these land inheritances prior to Israel entering the land. In other words, they had promises that were already theirs in God’s eyes but not yet received in their hands. So what was left for them to take possession of these things? - They had to fight and toil and sweat and strive!!! In other words, they had to literally go to war to receive the things God had reserved for them. This is where we are as a ministry right now. . . The “check is in the mail” for us to receive but there are obedience issues and faith and yieldedness issues that God is waiting on us to fulfill.

A review from yesterday’s message - We looked at Deuteronomy 4:9 - Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently…

You keep His Words – Because they bring life to your soul.

Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 

You keep His commandments – Because your choices can defile you.

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 

You keep your promise – Because it prevents you from becoming double-minded.

James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

You keep your mouth – Because your mouth can defile your soul.

Matthew 15:11  Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 

You keep your thoughts – Because your thoughts determine the strength of your soul.

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

These points are soooooo critical to your success as a believer.  Remember Proverbs 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 

All of your life flows from your heart. Therefore, make the keeping of that delicate instrument called the soul/heart your utmost priority. Put it on the very top of everything you do.