I thought God made Israel great after they received their inheritance. I was wrong. God made them great while they were slaves in Egypt!

Acts 13:17, “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.”

New American Standard Bible

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They were in Egypt for 400 years. Nothing can stop God’s blessings!

Acts 13:19, “When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance – all of which took about four hundred and fifty years.”

New American Standard Bible

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When you add in the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, you see it took a thousand years to take Israel from a family to a great nation! God is making us great right here and right now!

Let’s look at David…

Acts 13:22, “…I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.”

New American Standard Bible

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Many times, people referred to King David as “a man after God’s heart.” We leave the last part out – “who will do all My will.”

David killed the giant Goliath. He spent 15 years running from Saul in the wilderness. He had 2 opportunities to kill him but didn’t.

“The wilderness is where the Word is heard and we’re formed into a person of the Word. The promised answers to our prayers may not be found in the promised lands, but in wildernesses. Every wilderness, every desert – is not where God deserts – but is where God woos with whispered Word. But you will have to be still to hear his whispered Word.”

June 9, 2022 email from annvoskamp.com

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For the rest of his life, he was the one who destroyed the seven nations in the land of Canaan.

Following God’s heart, and doing all of His will, means:

• facing giants,
• years of loneliness,
• being unjustly treated,
• fighting those who are opposed to God’s purposes.

We remember the glamor of being king. We forget the impossible and excruciating road David walked to get to the throne. (His parents were murdered while he was in the wilderness running from Saul.) And we forget that he was human.

“Centuries later, the Gospel of Matthew mentions David’s ‘slimy rotten’ predatorial, power-abusing, libido ingratiating sin in the family tree of Jesus where we read, ‘Jesse [was] the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah) …’ (Matthew 1:6, emphasis mine)

This same David wrote nearly half of the Psalms. He is the one about whom God would later say, “…a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” (Acts 13:22) Most notably, he is also the one that the New Testament writers had in mind when they repeatedly called Jesus ‘the son of David.’ If you have ever doubted Jesus’ love, affection, and never-give-up love for you, are you willing to reconsider?”

“Rotten Bananas, Bent Humans, and Delicious Grace” Scott Sauls, from the book, “Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen: How God Redeems Regret, Hurt, and Fear in the Making of Better Humans

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Acts 13:48, “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”

New American Standard Bible

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That means us! We are appointed to eternal life!

Hebrews 3:12, 13, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13) But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

New American Standard Bible

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Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”

New American Standard Bible

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Hebrews 6:11, 12, “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12) so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

New American Standard Bible

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Hebrews 6:19, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”

New American Standard Bible

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Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

New American Standard Bible

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Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

New American Standard Bible

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“When God is first, everything changes!”

Pastor Monte Knudsen, 6-12-22, fcoc.net

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Believing brings a promise of rest, an assurance of hope, removal of sluggishness, inherited promises, an anchor of hope, sanctification (just as if I had never sinned), gifts, and faith that speaks even after we die!

It’s time to click on the “Save me, Jesus, Prayer” above. God wants to make you great!

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