"It Is Not Too Difficult Or Beyond Your Reach...."

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach."  (Deuteronomy 20:11, NIV)

Jesus, in reality, says this at the end of every command, teaching.  He says it at the "end" of the Sermon on the Mount, indeed, every Word He utters in the Gospels are followed by and integral to, "....is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach."

This is, however, where humanity goes wrong.  They do think and live that the commandments of the Living Triune God are, "....beyond your reach."  They think and live that the Law/Word of God, revealed in and affirmed by Jesus, are unreasonable, picky, irrelevant, archaic, even "cruel and unusual punishment."  They believe and live that all the aforementioned railing on the Law and the Godhead justifies their rebellious ways; therefore, they agree with Sinatra: "I did it my way."

The world believes the lie.  You and I, on the other hand, believe that the Commands of Jesus are, "not too difficult for you or beyond your reach."  Some following verses say, "No, the Word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it."  If this is true in the First Covenant, it is also for sure within our, "reach," in the, "Better Covenant."  Because, "Jesus Christ is in you," means that His Life-Power-Righteousness -Law/Word is in us.

This is why the Holy Spirit goes on to say, "It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, 'Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us...?'  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, 'Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?'"  Nor is, "it," only in some meeting, some "anointed prophetic conference," or any other religious endeavor that we find His Indwelling Law/Word.  Let this sink into all of us, "....the Word is...in your mouth and in your heart," the same "location" of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that all You are and "have" for me is, "not too difficult for [me] or beyond [my] reach."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

From "The Road"

"Surely God is good to Israel,..But as for me...I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked....It troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood...."  (Psalm 73, NIV)

Now I would, as probably many others, deny that I have thought such thoughts as revealed in the first part of our text.  I do wonder, however, if such "passing" thoughts have affected us at times.

Psalm 73 is a reflection of man's reasoning.  There are aspects of it which many battle, at least from time to time.  We tend to look at life and make our own appraisals, come to conclusions, and too many times act thereon.  Such thoughts as the psalmist's may be fleeting, but they can pollute our walk in Jesus Christ.

The psalmist of 73 was battling defeatist thoughts when he was "outside the Presence."  When he "entered the Presence," he got smart.  The, "Better Covenant," reveals that when the veil of the Temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom, you and I were invited in, no more you and I here and God there.  Someone once suggested that not only were you and I invited into the Holiest of All, but also "God came out."  No more coming-and-going-relationship with/in our Glorious Triune God.

Too many who name the Name of Jesus live in the realm of "with."  The power of the Life in Jesus Christ is found in those wonderful Words of 2 Corinthians 13:5 and Colossians 1:27, "Jesus Christ in you, ('Jesus Christ in you, Jesus Christ in you')...the hope of glory."  If you and I walk in this central Biblical Truth, we need never fear succumbing to the carnal observations of the psalmist in the first part of Psalm 73.  Personally, I need more than a "with" relationship in the Godhead.  I need what the Cross, shed Blood Of Jesus, His Death and Resurrection "purchased"---- "Jesus Christ in you."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I sing a new version of an old song, "And He walks in me, and He talks in me...."  Amen.

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We are currently in Lake George, NY.  Saturday we head for Rochester, NH, until October 5, then on to Prince Edward Island, Canada.  We appreciate praying friends.  We pray for you.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2