Deuteronomy 32:48-52 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Pastor Kyle continues that the second lesson is for us to focus on the progress over imperfections. God makes a way that, though we are sinners saved by grace, we can live in relationship with Him until our natural death. God is grieved when we sin, but makes a way for us to get back into a right relationship with Him. 1 John 1:5-9 tells us that “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The way that we get right with God is by repentance. Repentance simply means real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a Being of infinite benevolence. This is called evangelical repentance, and is accompanied and followed by amendment of life. Repentance (metanoia, 'change of mind') involves a turning with contrition from sin to God; the repentant sinner is in the proper condition to accept the divine forgiveness. The prodigal sons and daughters may fall in sin, but they repent of it, get back up, seek our heavenly Father for forgiveness and walk in the Spirit. Jesus said in Luke 13:3,5 “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Psalm 130:3-4 “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”
Life is a learning experience trough education by teachings and study, training and experiences, using available resources or by God-given revelation. God wants to see progressive growth and maturity in His children. When we focus on perfect or failure, we focus on the gap between us and God instead of the God that bridges that gap. Sin created a gap, but Jesus bridged that gap between us and God at the Cross. Our Savior paid an atoning sacrifice for our sin; it is finished and there is nothing we can do to earn or achieve salvation. What do we do to find that bridge? In Mark 1:14-16, “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Jesus, as our Savior and Lord, asks that you and live a life of worship and obedience to His commandments, statutes and the Word of God in return, while continuing to make progress growing into the likeness of Christ in an intimate relationship with God. We need godly, healthy reflect to learn from our sins and mistakes in order to progress on paths of righteousness. Regret your sins, repent of them, get right with God and move forward. From bondage thinking to free in Christ. Psalm 124:1,8 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side – [we would not be where we are right now, we’d all be lost and nobody would enter the gates of Heaven] - let His people now say, Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
If you and I are going to create a God-sized legacy for our lives, we have to stop focusing on how imperfect we are in the flesh, focus on whose we are and how far we are progressing on growing into the likeness of Christ and walking forward in righteousness with the Lord, making steps towards the goal that God wants us to accomplish in our life on this side of eternity. See the Promised land with God.
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
A legacy of a life well-lived for the Lord by a person used by God with vigor unabated. Always keep the fire for God in your heart. Get that passionate fire in your life, because if you don’t then you are not going to have the drive and stamina to achieve everything that you are wanting to accomplish. The struggles in our lives are real. Let struggles not define you, but let the struggles in life drive you to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s what you do in that struggle that defines your legacy. In those struggle, we can choose to walk away from God or run to His mighty but loving arms. We come through the fire to be refined to greater faith, devotion and passion to follow Christ with vigor unabated. That’s the best legacy we could ever leave.
In Christ, Brian
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