{"id":21807,"date":"2022-05-31T22:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T05:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_1_34-46-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-05-24T13:30:53","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T20:30:53","slug":"deuteronomy_2_1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_2_1-15\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Not Let Envy Eat You Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 2:1-15\u00a0 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi\u00a0 GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 2:1-15.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 2:1-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then we turned back and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea, as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to me,
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own.<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.'”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So we went on past our brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.<\/strong>”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0(The Emites used to live there–a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave them as their possession.)
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 1-13:\u00a0 Moses recounts how God specifically warned that first generation of Israelites not to provoke or harass the people living in the lands that they passed by, especially after they themselves had lost their chance to enter the Promised Land.\u00a0 So God warns that first generation of Israelites not to touch the descendants of Esau living in the land of Seir, or the descendants of Lot living in the land of Ar.\u00a0 \u201cFor I will not give you any part of their land\u201d, God said in both cases (v5, 9), since God had given those lands specifically to those other groups.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if God knew that this first generation of Israelites would be tempted to take over the lands of other peoples after having lost out on their own Promised Land.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Especially when we have yet to come into all the good things that we desire for our lives, we can be tempted to envy and covet what other people have.\u00a0 But God knows that\u00a0harbouring envy is the quickest way to live in frustration and discontentment<\/strong>.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God tells us not to covet what others have.\u00a0 What is envy, how do you know if you struggle with envy and how do you overcome it?\u00a0 In a message from October 2019 called \u201cThe End of Envy\u201d, I try to address all those questions.\u00a0 In that message I share 4 tips on overcoming envy.\u00a0 They are (1) Admit you have a problem with envy; (2) Don\u2019t let comparisons control you; (3) Focus on the good in your life, not the poo in your life; and (4) Let God\u2019s unconditional love define your worth.\u00a0 For practical tips on how to take each of those steps, check out \u201cThe End of Envy\u201d message here:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/www.thrivechurch.ca\/weekly-sermons\/2019\/10\/13\/october-13-2019-the-end-of-envy-thanksgiving<\/a>.\u00a0 I hope you find that message helpful!<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is committed to giving you the inheritance He has assigned to you, but He will not do it at the expense of taking away from what He promised or assigned to someone else.\u00a0\u00a0We must have the humility to remember that the world does not revolve around us.<\/strong>\u00a0 Instead of envying the success of others, may we have the maturity and the patience to wait for God\u2019s best for us to come in His time.
\nDeuteronomy 2:14-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had sworn to them.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.<\/p>\n

On verses 14-15:\u00a0 That first generation of Israelites had rejected God\u2019s leading over and over again, looking down on His provision and taking His grace for granted.\u00a0 It got to the point where God vowed that none of that generation would enter the Promised Land, except for Caleb and Joshua.\u00a0 And indeed that is what happened.\u00a0 Moses reports in verses 14-15 that this entire first generation (other than Caleb and Joshua) had been eliminated from the camp.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 We can either follow God\u2019s leading or reject it.\u00a0 It\u2019s our choice.\u00a0 But if we keep fighting against God instead of going with Him for long enough, one day we will get what we wished for: an existence devoid of God\u2019s leading, presence or blessing.<\/p>\n

Father, I pray that I would not be eaten up by envy, but that I would be at peace and content with what I have. May I rest in the truth that Your plan, Your provision, and Your timing for my life are the best, and that I\u2019m the most at peace and the best off when I trust in You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi\u00a0 GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 2:1-15.
\n\u00a0
\nDeuteronomy 2:1-13 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Then we turned back and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea, as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to me,
\n3\u00a0\u00a0“You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-13:\u00a0 Moses recounts how God specifically warned that first generation of Israelites not to provoke or harass the people living in the lands that they passed by, especially after they themselves had lost their chance to enter the Promised Land.\u00a0 So God warns that first generation of Israelites not to touch the descendants of Esau living in the land of Seir, or the descendants of Lot living in the land of Ar.\u00a0 \u201cFor I will not give you any part of their land\u201d, God said in both cases (v5, 9), since God had given those lands specifically to those other groups.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if God knew that this first generation of Israelites would be tempted to take over the lands of other peoples after having lost out on their own Promised Land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21807"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21810,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21807\/revisions\/21810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}