11-22-15
“Transformation That Leads to Commitment”
Today we return to the series “Living a Life of Daily Dependence on God” based on our theme scripture,
which is the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, in Matthew 6:11: “Give us today our daily bread.”
As you know the main scripture story we have been looking at in this series is the story of the Israelites
journey out of Egypt. Last week we left the Israelites after they had rejected God’s plan of sending them
into the Promised Land. The people did not listen to Joshua and Caleb’s pleas for them to do as God
wanted them to do.
In Numbers 14:29-35 we see God’s response to the rebellion of His people:
29 In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in
the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with
uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your
children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have
rejected. 32 But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for
forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. 34 For forty
years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know
what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to
this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this
desert; here they will die.”
So the first generation of Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the desert.
In Joshua chapter one, we find a new generation of people who survived the 40 years in the desert
gathering around their new leader Joshua, who would finally lead them into the Promised Land. Let’s
read verses 1-6 of Joshua chapter one:
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2
“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into
the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your
foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great
river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to
stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave
you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land
I swore to their forefathers to give them.
In the next section of Joshua chapter one, we see God telling Joshua to obey the Law, and then we see
Joshua telling the people to obey the Lord. He tells them that if they will follow the Lord, then the
Promised Land will be given to them.
In verses 16 and 17 of Joshua chapter one, we see how the people responded to Joshua’s new
instructions about the Promised Land:
16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send
us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be
with you as he was with Moses.
There was a big difference between the original adults who had left Egypt and never entered the
Promised Land and their children who did enter the Land. The adversity of the desert destroyed the
parents, but the children chose to believe in their God.
The people who entered the Land with Joshua had lived their entire lives depending on the sweetness of
God’s daily provision. Their dependence on God transformed their character. Yes, they watched their
parents struggle, but these people who entered with Joshua knew God. They had experienced God’s
miraculous provision day after day. Their decision to obey God before they entered the land was an
indication that living on “manna” had made their faith and trust in God very strong. They were willing to
walk into dangerous new territory, because they believed in God’s ability to bring victory after victory.
Forty years earlier their parents decided God could not overcome the people occupying the Promised
Land.
Even though they had experienced God’s ability to overcome Pharoah’s army, had seen God part the
Red Sea, and had been living on manna, they were still unsure about whether God could be absolutely
trusted.
But now, the children of those who did not trust God, stood on the shores of the Jordan River, and with
great faith answered God’s call to move into the land of milk and honey. They had been transformed by
living on manna, and they were ready to take the land. They knew there would be adversity in taking the
land, but they were ready to go.
Many of us, like the Israelites, are trying to find the strength to follow God through our own days of
struggle, pain and adversity. So I want us to take a close look at the spiritual transformations that
helped these second generation Israelites to overcome adversity and keep following God.
There were several key transformations in the lives of these trusting people of Israel.
First we see that they had an obedient spirit.
Again, in Joshua chapter one, we see Joshua calling them to go into the Land.
I can imagine some of them who were around 60 years of age remembering how they had stood at this
point with their parents 40 years prior. They watched their parents decide to turn away from the
Promised Land. Maybe they were tempted to turn away also. They, like their parents, had a choice to
make. Would they obey God and go in, or would they just keep wandering in the desert?
They chose to go in. They had learned that following God’s plan was always the best plan. So they
chose to obey.
As we seek to keep following God through our own adversity, we also must choose. Life is jammed with
adversity. Even as we follow Christ, there are tough times.
Hopefully we’ve already learned, probably the hard way, that our own resources are never enough to
make it through even one day.
I know I have learned this truth. Too many times I’ve come up against a struggle and chosen to try to
plow through it with my own resources. Each time I’ve tried to do it on my own I have just made the
struggle worse. I have learned that if I haven’t fully devoted my life to Christ, I will never have enough to
make it through one day’s troubles. I have also learned that when I choose an obedient spirit, when I
choose to rely on God, I can trust Him to give me whatever I need to face the struggle and not run away.
As I’ve chosen to face it and trust, God has transformed me on the inside.
Obedience is the key to a transformed life.
The second thing we see that transformed the hearts of the Israelites was they were not distracted by
abundance.
When these people moved into the Promised Land they were able to take advantage of the incredible
abundance of this new land.
Can you imagine, after eating the same thing for 40 years, how good fresh grapes and oranges and milk
and honey must have tasted?
In Joshua chapter 5 we see that once they entered the new land, the “manna” stopped. Let’s read
chapter 5:10-12:
10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho,
the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the
produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate
this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the
produce of Canaan.
The “manna” stopped, because God knew these people could be trusted with the abundance of the
Land. He knew their hearts. He knew they would not be greedy, but rather thankful. He knew they
would still depend on Him to provide for them.
We live in a land of abundance. So we must learn to enjoy God’s blessing without losing the attitude of
daily dependence on God.
We must resist the temptation to hold on too tightly to our material blessings. They can’t be our
ultimate source of safety and security. There is no doubt God wants us to enjoy the abundance, but as
we enjoy it, He wants us to also use it for His purposes. He doesn’t want us to hoard it. He wants us to
give a lot of it away. If we are completely surrendered to trusting Him to provide, we will actually
joyfully give our abundance away.
One of the richest men, this world has known, was R. G. Le Tourneau from Texas. He was a self-made
business man. Early in his adult life he made a commitment to God to give 90% of his income to God
and live on the left over 10%. For the rest of his life he gave and gave and gave. At the end of his life he
was still a very wealthy man. He shared, “In my hour of greatest distress I found my greatest asset in
the form of a new partner. I took this partner into business with me. I did the muscle work and my
partner told me how to do it. His name is God.”
What are you relying on, your abundance or your God? If you are relying on God, He will abundantly
bless you so you can give and rely on Him even more.
Next we see that the Israelites were transformed because they chose to only worship God.
The first generation of Israelites who left Egypt turned to worshipping a golden calf when they thought
God had left them. The second generation committed to worshipping God alone.
We see them making this commitment in Joshua chapter 24.
After all the land had been given to the people, Joshua as an old man, stood before the people and had
a conversation with them, which we read in chapter 24:19-24:
19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God.
He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he
will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.” 21 But the
people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the LORD.” 22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against
yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied. 23 “Now
then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD,
the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”
There were a lot of other “gods” in and around this new Promised Land. Eventually these other “gods”
were the downfall of the nation of Israel, but these second generation Israelites chose the Lord as their
God. They knew they could not go against Him as their parents had. They said: “We will serve the
Lord!”
There are a whole lot of other “gods” in and around us today also. Most people in our world are
worshipping these other “gods”. They have decided to worship the material instead of the eternal.
Not me! “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”
How about you? There is only one God and He alone can transform your heart and life.
The next transformation the children of Israel experienced had to do with dealing with sin quickly.
In Joshua chapter 7 we see Joshua confronting Achan and his family for stealing some things that
actually belonged to God. While in battle Achan had taken some of the spoils of battle and kept them
for himself. When the Israelites went out on their next battle, they were beaten badly. The Lord
revealed to Joshua that Achan’s stolen goods were the reason for the defeat. Joshua then took swift
action. Achan and his family were stoned to death and all they possessed was burned.
Fortunately, we live after the cross of Jesus today. God’s forgiveness and grace is available when we sin.
But what shows in Joshua and the Israelites is that they were so committed to God that they had to deal
severely with anyone who wasn’t. They would not allow sin to hang around where it might gain a
stronghold and pollute the whole nation of people.
You see, if we are going to be totally dependent on God, then we can’t let sin hang around in our lives.
We can’t be on God’s side and on the side of sin at the same time.
Again, there will be adversity in our daily lives. If you face that adversity with a divided life where you
are giving some of you to God and some of you to sin, there is a strong chance that when the adversity
comes, you will choose sin and not God.
I’ve learned that when sin tells me it is the way to victory over adversity, sin is always lying. I’ve never
won a life battle by choosing sin. I have won countless life battles by choosing God.
People, we must let God daily search our hearts to show us if we are letting sin hang around us. If He
reveals sin, we must confess it and then He will take it away from us. We must do whatever it takes to
get sin out of us.
The way to transformation of heart and life for the Israelites is the way to transformation for us also. In
order to stay totally dependent on God, we must have an obedient sprit. We must not be distracted by
abundance. We must choose to only worship God. And, we must deal with sin quickly.
Because the Israelites had transformed hearts and lives, they were ready to take the land God had
promised them. If our hearts and lives have been transformed, then we too can move forward and
follow God into a whole new life He has for us.
The new life will not get easier. It will probably stay difficult. Satan won’t just give up and walk away.
We will have to keep daily surrendering to the Lord all we are and have.
So let’s look at several commitments we need to make that will assist us in living this life of daily
dependence on God.
Commitment #1: We must be willing to move into what God has for us without knowing where He will
take us.
God’s call is to follow Him. If we totally trust Him, we don’t need to know how we are going to get
there. He knows the way. That’s enough for us.
Commitment #2: We must be willing to attempt the impossible.
God will call us to do things that we know are beyond our ability to do. But, if we are depending on Him,
nothing is impossible. God is able even when we aren’t. If we are willing to follow, God will accomplish
the impossible through us.
Commitment #3: We must obey even when it doesn’t make sense.
In Joshua chapter 6 we see that it did not make sense for the Israelites to walk around the city of Jericho
for seven days. It didn’t make sense for them to shout after a long day of walking. They did these things
because God told them to do it. They said by their actions that they were going to trust God no matter
how foolish they looked. God’s way often runs counter to what seems to be the smart way to go. If we
want life transformation, we must obey no matter what.
Commitment #4: We must be willing to go into God’s plan when most other people would run away.
I’m a chicken! How about you? I want to know in advance what the dangers are. If it appears too
dangerous, I’m not going. Sometimes we chickens never really experience God’s complete plan for us
because we run away before we get to the final destination. I’m tired of running away. I want to know
what God really has in store for me. How about you?
Commitment #5: We must be willing to attack obstacles when others would give up.
Transformed people who are daily depending on God see the obstacles, but they also see beyond the
obstacles. They see that once the obstacle is conquered, God will do something awesome. If God says
go, committed people know what God told Isaiah in Isaiah 54:7, “no weapon forged against you will
prevail.”
Commitment #6: We must be willing to sacrifice when others would hoard resources.
When times get tough, people who are daily depending on God will keep making sacrifices. They will
keep giving. They will keep being generous.
Everything around us screams, “Hold onto what you’ve got.” Transformed people give anyway.
Commitment #7: We must be willing to stay on God’s path.
With God there are no detours. It is either following Him or following Him. If we’ve trusted Him to
provide, if we’ve been the recipient of His provision in the past, we won’t look for Route B in our present
adversity. We will stay on Route A with Him.
I told you at the beginning of this series that these messages would probably be more for me than for
you.
I hope you are growing in daily dependence on God, because I know I am. I am daily faced with
obstacles, giants, barriers, doubts, fears, anxiety, even times of depression. This daily depending on God
just isn’t easy. But I am sick of the negative consequences of trying to overly depend on myself or on
other people. I am discovering great freedom in choosing to believe that God will come through. As I’m
letting go and choosing to trust God, I am seeing Him work in ways I’ve never seen Him work before. I
am making these seven commitments today.
I am not making them blindly. I am making them with my eyes, my mind and my heart fully focused on
God. I know God will come through for me. He is enough for me.
How about you?