Day 33, Friday, March 30, 2012
We have a lot to learn not only from the wilderness experience of Jesus, but also from the Israelites, as their experience has a plenty of similarities with Jesus. Out of the crucible of the wilderness experience God has an amazing way of producing some godly leaders. For example, Moses and Jesus both chose their disciples before finishing their earthly missions. For today’s devotional, please read Deuteronomy 31-6-8. These are Moses’ parting words to the people of Israel and to his beloved disciple, Joshua. What a great legacy Moses left for his followers—to be strong and courageous along with the promise of God who will not leave, fail, or forsake them. A whole generation of young leaders was inspired to cross over to the Promised Land by Moses’s words. They become more significant if one considers that they are spoken by a veteran leader who has been trained by God mainly through the crucible of a series of wilderness experiences. You might imagine that Moses must have become a very bitter, frustrated, and negative person after all the wilderness problems he has been through. In spite of being faithful and a man who did as the Lord commanded him, Moses was barred from entering the Promised Land. On the contrary, we find that at the end of his life, Moses oozes confidence and courage in God through his presence and words. He challenges and motivates the new generation to press on to the Promised Land to make it theirs.
Jesus, too, came out of the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit and the confidence of God’s power and presence was reflected daily in his ministry. Immediately after return from the wilderness, Jesus also chose the Twelve and prepared for the ministry ahead (see Luke 5:1-11). It is a given that the wilderness experiences of our life can make us bitter and negative. What is the crucible of wilderness doing to you and your confidence? Are you turning your negative thoughts into positive ones so that you, too, can become an instrument ofencouragement and motivation for others to follow Christ? If you are in the leadership position, are you doing your best to develop a second line of leadership who will carry out the mission of God? May God turn our crucible of wilderness a matter of His glory. Amen.
Related articles
- Deuteronomy 3:27b-28 Bible Verse for the Day (momsfirstscreenn.wordpress.com)
- God Is Faithful (bryancaudle.wordpress.com)
- God’s Grace in The Wilderness! (psalmsofpraisewomensministries.wordpress.com)