Today’s Reading:
Deuteronomy 8
All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.
Deuteronomy 8:1-5 NASB1995
I heard the Spirit of the Living God say,
I have been enough in the desert. I have been your Comforter, your Guide, your Confidant and your Provider in the desert. When everywhere you looked was desert, I was there with you — a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. I was there, guiding you, leading you through the indistinguishable, through the seemingly impossible to navigate, endless sands of the desert. I was enough. I have been enough. These are days of new terrain. You no longer have sand under your feet and in your shoes and covering you, marking you, constantly reminding you that you are in the desert. You have hit solid ground. I have placed your feet on a road to travel, a path forward. Now that you can see the path, will you trust Me? Will you lean on Me? Will you still desire for Me to lead you, guide you and comfort you? Will you still desire my voice to be sweet and soft in your ears at all times now that I have given you a path forward? Or will you lean on your own understanding? Will you run ahead and leave Me behind?
Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Deuteronomy 8:6-14 NASB1995
This is a new testing ground. The new test is, when you can make logical sense of your surroundings, of advancement and clearly see a path forward, will you cling to me still? Will you lean on Me still? Will you wait on My voice, My instruction and My strategy still? Training in the desert was different. If you ran ahead in the desert, you were lost in the desert by yourself. You didn’t have any idea of where to turn or what to do. But if you run ahead now, you have a clear path. You can run ahead. This is the new testing ground. The test is: will you desire My Presence and My heart, My voice above progress? Will you desire My face above your to do list? Will you seek Me in the quiet place and make room for Me wherever we go?
This place we are going has more stimulus. It has more opportunity, more distraction, more voices and more fun. The test is to prioritize Me. The test is to now clear the noise and see what I Am breathing on, what My favor is resting on and what it is not. The test is leaning on my chest and finding my strategy before the sprint race of every day. The challenge is not making every day filled to the brim but leaving margin, leaving space for detour assignments that I have for you along the way. The challenge is to go at a pace that allows you the space to listen to people, to love on people to be present with people — not just to advance. These are the challenges of the new terrain.
He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 8:15-20 NASB1995
But congratulations my dear. You have left the desert. Take up the challenge. Choose to draw nearer to me than ever before. The land of plenty has many distractions and options that are not of Me. If you keep your head on My chest, you will be able to cleanly navigate this crowded, busy place. Your seeking of My face, My heart, My strategy, My wisdom, My instruction will keep your feet on the appointed and correct prophetic path.
How to Respond
- Pray, Lord, help me to choose a posture of humility as I move forward. Thank You for setting my feet on a new path. Thank You for taking me out of the desert. Help me to prioritize You above all. I don’t want to run ahead or make decisions based on logic and my own preferences. I want to keep my ear on Your chest and be moved by the impulses of Your Spirit, Your voice, Your guidance.
- Declare, I will trust in the Lord completely, and will not rely on my own opinions. With all my heart I will rely on him to guide me, and he will lead me in every decision I make. I will become intimate with him in whatever I do, and he will lead me wherever I go. — Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT
- Declare, So above all, I will constantly seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to me abundantly. — Matthew 6:33 TPT
- Decree, The Lord has moved me out of the desert and set my feet on a firm new path. I will choose the Lord above advancing. I will choose and make time for the Lord above all of the options, distractions, voices and fun that are easily found in this new place. As I seek the Lord first, He will add all of the things my heart desires to me. He will bless me with abundance.
For more encouragement from The Glory & the New Wine, check out the post from this day in years past:
2024:
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2022:
