On the eve of going to the cross, and aware of the horrors which awaited, Jesus turned his focus to the disciples and his provision for them. Jesus promised not to leave them as orphans but would instead come again and would also impart the Holy Spirit to his believers.
Author: the Josh Benner Blog
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That the Son may be glorified – John 14:13-14
Prayer is something that most Americans say they do daily, yet it’s a vibrant prayer life that is a challenge for many. In this message, we look at the purpose of prayer and the transformative impact it can have in the life of a believer.
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Sermon: Shameless – Romans 1:16-17
The gospel is a message that offends the world and Christians can sometimes be tempted to water down the message. But as Paul begins his letter to the Romans, he says “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” This passage gives a great summary of the gospel while also telling us who it’s for and how it works.
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Sermon: Show us the Father, Part 3 – John 14:8-14
In this passage, Jesus tells disciples that those who believe in him will do greater works than he has done. But how can that be? It is because of Jesus and his ministry that the church has been enabled to have a worldwide ministry of reaching people with the good news of the gospel. This ministry is something that all Christians are called upon to share in and take part in.
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Christians too often settle for less
In Numbers 32, the Israelites are pursuing the Promised Land when some of the tribes decide that they would prefer to stay outside the land.
The chapter begins with: “Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock (Numbers 32:1).” The passage goes to their request to stay in the land: “And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan (Numbers 32:5).”
They didn’t want to go to the Promised Land!
What they wanted was unwise. What they wanted was settling for less than God’s best, settling for a land that wasn’t the Promised Land.
It’s an interesting situation.
They do offer to support the other tribes in the pursuit of the land. So it’s not that they’re totally abandoning their brothers and sisters. But this is still them making a decision that undermines the wisdom and goodness of God.
They have the promise of the land and they think that something else will be more suitable.
Their issue is thinking the they had a better plan for them than God had for them.
They didn’t trust that God was good enough to give them something better than what they had found.
While the Israelites are on the Exodus journey, this is the first passage where they lay claim to land, but it’s groups settling for land that wasn’t their land.
They have the promise of the land and they think that something else will be more suitable.
Their issue is thinking the they had a better plan for them than God had for them. They didn’t trust that God was good enough to give them something better than what they had found.
I think we so often settle for less.
It’s easy to focus on what’s comfortable. On what brings the immediate satisfaction. They took what they saw in front of them and decided that the land God had promised hundreds of years before to Abraham would somehow be better.
They played it safe rather than walking in faith.
It’s easy to be a Christian in America but to really go on living like the rest of society.
It’s easy to know that he has promised you land and yet to say, “My kingdom come, my will be done.”
It’s easy to settle for a relationship with God that’s cold and dead. It’s a challenge to pursue him daily. In the good times, you feel like you don’t need him. And in the bad times, it can be tempting to want to blame him.
It’s easy to want to just go it alone.
It’s easy to focus on what you have, what you want, what your goals are, and to have a heart that has little to no real love for Christ.
It’s easy to settle for less.
God wants you to be blessed. He wants you to have a life that is totally oriented and focused on him. But we choose less. We say, “Nah, I’m good right here. The rest of you can go on and know God more deeply.”
Never settle for less than God’s best.
It’s easy not to push. It’s easy not to pursue God, not to pursue holiness, it’s easy to want to go our own way.
It’s our default.
God freely gives grace and that’s the good news of the gospel. Without that, what a sad life that would be. Trying to earn it, never having assurance. In his goodness, God promises eternal life through the cross.
But then we have a choice to make everyday about how we are to live.
Never settle for less than God’s best.
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