02/22/2023
When we are preparing to do something that frightens us or we are disheartened by events in our lives, have we forgotten that we are not alone? If we know who our God is, that He is all powerful, and that He goes before us, then these emotions, our fear and dismay, are signs that our faith in Him is not as strong as we have thought. Giving into fear and dismay are signs that we do not believe He will help us as He promised, or that we don’t believe He is able. So trust in our Lord, and know that these emotions that we are feeling are fed by the dark one, and aren’t right or true. In hard times lean on our Lord and know that He is able and there always.
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.””
Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV
Moses was 120 years old and unable to lead Israel into the Promised Land when he said these words to Joshua before all of Israel. He said them openly so that everyone would hear them and be reassured by their affirmation of God’s strength, truth, and power. Sometimes we need a Moses in our lives to speak these words to us, to remind us of who Jesus is, and that we can depend on our Heavenly Father just as completely as He did.
“Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.”
Deuteronomy 31:7 ESV
How often do we hear the promises of God ringing in our ears, but allow them to grow silent in our hearts? How many times do we say to ourselves that our God is true, able, and that He goes before us, but still doubt and live in fear? How often do we proclaim the gospel of Jesus as the truth but then live out our lives as though it were a fable, a myth, or a fairytale? We need to be reassured just as Joshua and Israel needed to be reassured, and to have our faith bolstered within us. How many times do we need to hear the truth repeated so that we will be reminded of who our Father is, and never forget? We need to hear it over and over, and read it in His Holy Word every day. To this end, do we have a Moses in our life? Do we speak the gospel of Jesus to one another as a reminder of our faith, and His unfailing truth?
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:16 ESV
I have a Moses in my life but I call him my spiritual mentor. His name is Jack, and he is older and wiser than me in the Lord and Jesus Christ. His counsel in faith has reassured me on many occasions when I found myself fearing something, or feeling dismayed by events in my life. He has spoken truth to me in hard times, and prayed with me when I was still growing as a babe in Christ.
For years we would sit together and discuss God, Jesus, and our faith. I would sit with him well into the night as my faith grew stronger. We prayed together for hours each week, and saw miraculous things occur as a result. We were a prayer team and together we prayed for others and each other, I found that he strengthened me just as Moses strengthened Joshua, and as we prayed in intercession for others our prayers not only reached the mercy seat of God, but reassured all those who knew of them, or heard them uttered. Do you have a Moses in your life that waters your faith and helps you pull the weeds from the garden of your faith and belief?
“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:5-7 ESV
Then there are those who are of similar faith and growth in Christ who also need the strength of one another. I know an amazing pastor who preaches in a way that I am unable to, this is his calling. However, my calling is quite different, and so when we are together we strengthen each other’s faith, taking turns being a Moses to one another. When he was younger, this pastor had an older mentor in his life too; his mentor’s name was Jesse, and one morning as we broke bread together he confided in me that I had become his Jesse… there is no higher honor or calling than to become a mentor and encourage a friend in their faith. During his sermons he encourages me in my faith, and in this way he likewise becomes assumes the role of my Jack. We take turns in this way being Moses and Joshua to each other.
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17 ESV
Do you have a spiritual mentor, a Moses, or someone who is like a Jack to you? Are you serving as a Jesse to someone else? Do you allow your faith to become an encouragement to others, and by so doing are you fostering a new generation of strong believers? It is important that we be a faithful agent of strength to others, and open your heart to provide spiritual guidance of a mentor. Sharpen the iron of a brother, and allow him to sharpen you… in this way the fear and the dismay we are tempted to feel will be overcome by the reminder of God’s Word, and the gospel of Jesus… our faith in The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost will thus be passed from generation to generation throughout eternity.
“O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”
Psalm 71:17-18 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for those who have spoken your Word into my life. Thank you Lord for allowing me to not only strengthen the faith of my peers, but to mentor the young as they grow in their belief. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who leads us from childhood to old age in our belief. Praised be your name for every opportunity you have afforded us to speak the wisdom of your Word into the life of another, and for every babe we have helped as they were born to Christ. Merciful are you who brings your Holy Spirit and the elders of your church into our lives. Blessed are we who sit at the feet of your teachers, preachers, saints, and other great men and women of faith. Father, your grace flows over us always, from the moment we are swaddled, until our hair grows grey and thin, and we become wise and fixed forever in you. Call us to those who you have set aside to become a Moses in our lives, and through them give us the amazing strength of Jesus as we go out into the world around us and disciple new generations of believers… new children for your table. Wash us continuously in the blood of Jesus so that we might be free of sin, and made untouchable by the temptations of Satan as he uses them to breed fear and doubt in the lost and unfaithful. Call us to you and remind us that you are with us, and that you go before us always. Send your Spirit to open our eyes, and your prophets and saints to speak your amazing truth and encouragement to us. Seat us at the feet of your teachers and messengers so that one day we too will become the voices of Moses, Jack, and Jesse to all the Joshuas within your earthly family, and to the Israels of the world that we have been sent to witness to. Praised be your name, and the name of Jesus. Great are you whose Word is the strength and way of our faith, and blessed is your Son Jesus through whom all men must come to you.
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV
Rich Forbes