When Jesus teaches us to pray he tells us to long for the reality of heaven here on earth. What he doesn’t tell us to ask for is to escape earth so we can go to heaven. When we see that we are called to be citizens, ambassadors, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven here on earth we begin to see that our hope is not to leave this place but to set up outposts of goodness and beauty right where we are that point to the kingdom yet to come.

The gifts of humility, contentment, and trust are best received in the wilderness, but they are easily forgotten in the Promise Land. Moses’ last words to the Israelites can be summed up simply as “remember." He warns them of the dangers that come with forgetting where they came from and who brought them there: pride, entitlement, and self-reliance. The Israelites’ story reminds us all that gaining the Promise Land and forgetting God is ultimately a loss.

When the Israelites find themselves on the threshold of the Promise Land they are faced with the decision to trust God and move forward or to reject God and head back to Egypt. Their threshold moment helps us understand our own, what to do when we are headed into unknown territory and there are giants all around. We can be on the lookout for God’s goodness and grow in trust, or we can retreat in fear and miss out on what God has for us.

Impatience, inconvenience and influence can often lead us to taking matters into our own hands and finding our own way forward, apart from God. The idols of our lives seem to offer certainty, comfort, and control, much like the golden calf did for the Israelites at Mount Sinai. But when we really step back and see them for what they are, we realized that all idols are empty things made by our own hands using God-given resources.

When people decide to follow Jesus, they are set free from the bonds of sin and death and given a new identity. But much like the ancient Israelites who wandered in the wilderness, Christ followers often find themselves taking one step forward and two steps back. They praise and then forget. They trust and then question. They might even wonder if God is really present with them. Despite the grumbling of his people, God is always faithful to provide.

God’s rescue of the Israelites out from captivity in Egypt is the defining narrative of Israel. But freedom from bondage required more than just leaving Pharaoh’s territory, God also had to set them free from the mindset and fear imposed by Pharaoh as well. The Israelites show us that even when God shows up in miraculous ways it is still hard to trust when the forces of chaos and oppression are bearing down on us. The freedom God wants for us is greater than we could ever imagine, but getting there is no easy journey.

Living in the wisdom of God might seem foolish to some, kind of like relying on a kid sheriff who rides into town on a tortoise. Yet Paul tells us that even God’s most foolish-looking plan is wiser than any human plan. We see God’s wisdom most fully in the message of the cross, even if it is a stumbling block to some or folly to others.

Temptation is all around us, trying to lure us in and trap us - kind of like three dinosaurs setting out bowls of chocolate pudding for an unsuspecting little girl…What leads us to temptation and how do we resist? James tells us when we change our focus we find the freedom and life offered to us in Jesus.

Life is full of bears, whether we go looking for them or they find us. When we face suffering in our lives it is tempting to try to go over it or duck under it, but in the end we simply have to go through it. But Paul reminds us that even in the midst of suffering we can glory in God’s goodness and love. We have to go through it, but we don’t have to go through it alone.

Our busy lives and the many distractions that fill them often compel us to hurry through our days. This hurry causes us to miss the beautiful ways God wants to reveal himself to us. If we don’t mindfully slow down and wait- we risk suffering from chronic “hurry sickness” and “misliving.”