“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” – Deuteronomy 7:9

Have you ever met an intellectual genius?   I’m talking about someone who has a much better than average IQ.   An intellectual genius is uniquely gifted with a great capacity and drive to learn. They learn faster than others.   They love learning.   It can be as though all they want to do is learn. They read more than others. They read things others don’t read. Their minds are naturally curious, thus they are ever seeking and ever acquiring knowledge.

An intellectual genius loves to fill his or her mind with knowledge. He/she loves to know and understand things in detail.

Question: Wouldn’t it be a shame to be an intellectual genius and know something great and fantastic, but not believe it?

Imagine if you knew the combination to a safe that you were told had 10 billion dollars in it.  Imagine that this safe was left for you as an inheritance. Now imagine that the person you trusted who told you about this safe and its combination told you that the only way you could get to the safe was if you traveled a great distance to a safe place in the world and opened it for yourself. Imagine that there is no solid evidence that the safe exists. There are no third party validations.   There’s no one you can call and ask about it. You have to completely trust the person who told you about the safe and its combination.

What would you do?

If you’re obsessed with just learning, you might be satisfied with learning. You might be curious in learning about the safe. You might want to know what model safe it is. You might want to know how many safes of that type were produced. You might also want to know everything about the journey you’d have to embark upon.   How far would you have to travel? Where would you stay?   What would be the currency wherever you are? How much would the trip cost?   You might gather all kinds of knowledge, then decide, “You know what? This trip is not for me. I’m not willing to pay the cost of the trip. This safe to me isn’t worth the trip. I’m happy knowing about the safe, but I don’t need the money. What would I do with 10 billion dollars anyway?”

Sometimes, I can be this intellectual type (I dare not call myself anything close to a genius!), learning about God, but not believing His word. I call this kind of knowledge head knowledge. Another term for it is “intellectual ascent.”

Intellectual ascent can be an enemy of destiny. If we are not careful, we can foolishly choose familiarity and comfort over our destiny, because of our unbelief. We can die a slow death, missing out the life God has for us.

God has a great inheritance for us. Our inheritance is our destiny. To receive our inheritance and to reach our destiny requires that we put our faith in God.   How much are we missing out on because we are so comfortable with less than what God has for us, settling for too little, and not hungry enough for our destiny?

I like to think of knowledge in two ways: head knowledge and faith knowledge.   Head knowledge acknowledges a testimony intellectually, but does not believe it. Faith knowledge, as I call it, acknowledges a testimony intellectually, and believes it.

While the Bible does not use the phrase “faith knowledge” it defines “faith” in the manner that I describe “faith knowledge.” According to Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” Faith means to know a thing as you believe it.    

In the journey of faith, there is a transition every believer experiences.   It’s a journey from believing to knowing.

There comes a point in each of our lives, when each of us is confronted with a Deuteronomy 7:9 moment.  

For the children of Israel, this was a moment of testing.   Would they believe God’s word? Or would they succumb to their fears?

The journey into the promised land was no cake walk for the Israelites. According to their natural eyes, they would have to battle stronger, better resourced, and more numerous foes in order to get into their promised land.

Their promised land represented:

– The place of destiny God had for them

– Their eternal possession, place of rest, and place where the blessing of God would be evident

– The place they could not enter into under their own strength

For us today, I believe we too have a promised land, but our promised land is a spiritual destination, not a physical place. I believe our promised land today is life in Christ.   The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21 “To live is Christ…” To Paul, to live was not to reach a physical place.   To live was to follow in the steps of Christ, as led by the Spirit.

There are battles we all face as we strive to enter into our promised land, life in Christ.   Satan is right there, prowling around like a roaring lion (seeking to intimidate us) looking for someone to devour.

I learned once that lions roar to proclaim territory and to alert straying members of the pride.   In like manner, Satan will battle with us for territory.   There is certain “land” he wants to occupy.   There’s the battlefield of the mind, for instance where Satan will try to have dominion. Satan and his “pride” of demons will roar, claim dominion, and seek to intimidate us.   But, just as God went before Israel into battle, He is fighting for us.   This is why we must KNOW God’s word.   We must KNOW that the enemy is ALREADY defeated. We must KNOW that God has given us authority over the enemy. We must put on the full armor of God, not be intimidated, and be led by the Spirit as we claim our promised land.

I want to share a few simple, yet powerful points from Deuteronomy 7:9 that I believe God is speaking to us today to help us enter into life in Christ and walk in the Spirit:

• The Lord our God is God. In Deuteronomy 7:9, we find two words used to describe our deity: “Lord” and “God”.   The Hebrew word translated “Lord” is the word “Jehovah/Yahweh”.   Jehovah/Yahweh” specifies that God is present, accessible, and near.   The Hebrew word translated “God” is the word “Elohim.” Elohim speaks of God being powerful, mighty, and strong.   It’s one thing to know God is present, but if you don’t also know He is almighty, you might think your foe can defeat the God who is with you. In like manner, it’s one thing to know God is almighty, but if you don’t know His presence, you might question whether or not He will indeed be present with you to fight for you.  Aren’t you glad Jesus said He’d never leave you nor forsake you? Aren’t you glad that His Spirit dwells within you? The battle for life in Christ is winnable because His Spirit lives within you and His power dwells within you. He is present with you and He is mighty.

• God is faithful. The journey into life in Christ can be an intimidating one, especially for our natural hearts and minds.   After all, to follow Christ is to deny ourselves (including the passions and desires of our flesh), take up our cross, and suffer with Christ to do the will of the Father.   This is what it means to be a child of God and be led by His Spirit.  Satan will do everything he can to discourage us from thinking we can win this battle to be like Christ and walk in the Spirit.   He did everything he could to discourage the Israelites from entering into their promised land. For us, the promised land (life in Christ) may be so intimidating that Egypt (the world) may look like a better option.   After all, Egypt is more comfortable to our flesh. Egypt doesn’t require that we believe God’s word.   Egypt doesn’t challenge our faith.   Egypt doesn’t demand much of us.   Some people say Christianity is just crutch and a way for people to escape the painful realities of this world. For God’s chosen people, it’s actually the opposite. Egypt, the world, tempts our flesh as an escape from the battle for the promised land.   We have a destiny. Let’s proceed towards it.  God’s path always tests us. I believe God tests us every moment we are awake.   We can yield to Him, or we can go our own way. I’ve failed a gazillion tests through the years…probably more than that.   God is so merciful.   He’s working everything together for our good. I find myself hungry for the shorter/more obedient path to my destiny.   So, I often pray, “God give me the grace to walk in step with you…and to pass every test.”

• God is a God of covenant and steadfast love.   God is in covenant with His children. By God’s grace, I have peace which comes from Him that I am His child. There is no greater security I have than to know that I am His.  I know that I am His because by His grace, I am surrendered to Him. He has moved upon my heart to live for Him and to be led by His Spirit.   Though I’m not perfect, I’m striving to be.   I’m seeking His grace (power and strength) that I might be fully surrendered to Him.   This is what it means to be a child of God.

There’s a confidence God wants us to have that we are His.  He doesn’t want us to be arrogant, misled, or deceived.   We must fear Him, and do what His word says.

We have a responsibility.   We must do as Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Love [God] and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations.”

I find it interesting that this verse says “God keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments. Some might wonder if God’s covenant is conditional. For instance, does God break covenant with those who do not love him or keep His commandments? I would argue that His covenant is made with those who will keep His commandments. He knows already who will keep them, and thus He will keep covenant with those who do.   He has chosen those who will love Him and keep His commandments, and by virtue of His choosing, He has entered into covenant with them.   Consider Jeremiah 32:40: “I will make with them an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from doing good to them.   And, I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they will not turn from me. “ God, Himself, puts the fear of Him in our hearts. Our peace comes from recognizing His grace at work in our lives as a sign of His covenant with us.

Now for the challenge:

Is anything keeping you from entering into life in Christ or from walking in the Spirit?

Whatever enemy/enemies you see in the land, ask God for the grace to believe His word.   He can make all grace abound to you.  God is present with you and ready to show you His might.

Live the life (God meant for you to live).