Stop being Stubborn

🌿 21 Days Through Deuteronomy – Day 5

📖 Deuteronomy 9–10

Ok, I'm on spring break, and we've got a zoo trip this morning, I'm excited, trying to get moving but first let me sit down for a minute and see what Moses and the Israelites are up to today 😄

     Today we're about to cross over the Jordan River( but we're gonna be on the banks of the river for a bit. In case you didn't know, they don't actually do it till we get to the Book of Joshua...Longest ending ever)

        But the people in the land are bigger, Stronger, More powerful. And everything about it should and does feel intimidating right... But God. God will do it. And Moses kind of stops them in their tracks here. Before you go any further, let's be real for a second.

      This isn't happening because you're good.

      This isn’t happening because you got it all right.

      In fact he says it straight, you've been stubborn and you've been a rebellious people.

And he walks them back through it.

         Remember The Golden calf, How fast they turned away. How quickly they forgot God even after everything He had done. And at first it feels like why go back there right now?

But then it clicked for me... This is a new generation. Some of them were too young to remember. Some of them only heard about it.

And Moses is making sure of one thing... We're not repeating that.

And we can all understand that. I know I do.

I've spent years trying to cut things off from past generations, not just for me but for my children and their children. Because just because something was "normal" doesn't mean it was right. And just because it was passed down doesn't mean it gets to come with me.

    And then Moses reminds them, after all of that after the golden calf, after they messed it up, he went back up the mountain. God had him carve out new tablets. God had already made a way to restore what they broke. He didn’t cancel them. He didn’t walk away. He kept and renewed the promise.

       So now here they are, right on the edge of the Promise Land, not because they earned it

but because God stayed faithful anyway. And then Moses brings it all down to this....

What does God actually want from you?

🌟 Walk with Him.

🌟 Love Him.

🌟 Serve Him.

👉 "Change your hearts and stop being stubborn." (10:16)

      And that's really it. After everything, all the history, all the reminders, it comes down to that.

      Not just outward obedience, but a heart that's actually willing. A heart that's soft toward God. A heart that doesn't keep resisting Him.

And sitting here this morning that's the part that’s sticking with me. Because I don't want to just look like I'm following God and still be holding onto stubborn places in my heart.

 And i have to take a moment and ask myself, Is there anywhere I'm still resisting God Anywhere I know what He's saying but I'm still holding back?

Because I don’t want to carry that into what's next.

👉 What stops with me?

👉 And where is God asking me to soften instead of resist?

🎯 Today's Anchor

"Change your hearts and stop being stubborn."

 Deuteronomy 10:16

Alright, Thats Day 5.

Time to go see some animals 🦒😄

But I'm taking this with me today....

👉 I don't have to be perfect

but I do need to stay soft toward Him.

No more carrying old patterns.

No more resisting what I already know.

Just walking forward with Him. 💛

Love Pastor Mandy 

Ark of Hope Ministry 

Daily Reading Deuteronomy 9-10