BETWEENERS

Psalm 78:32-33 “For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.”

When I was a kid I lived in seeing distance of an old white wooden Baptist Church in Coldwater, Alabama. When my dad got saved in 1945, we started attending that church religiously, as the old saying goes. In fact, we attended every time the doors were opened, and I have been known to accuse my dad of going down and open the church doors so we would have a place to go.

I remember sitting in that church and enjoying the singing of the congregation as they sang the old hymns of the faith, many of which are being forgotten in the churches today. The singing was great. What was lacking in quality was surely made up in quantity. Some of those “old-timers” could really “belt it out.” But at least the singing was biblical because they were making “a joyful noise unto the Lord.”
Some of those songs were exciting to sing but some gave us a wrong view of the Christian life. One of my favorite hymns gave me the impression that “The Promised Land” was heaven and “Crossing Jordan” was the pathway to the final reward of the believer.

The reality is, the Promised Land and Canaan are not pictures of heaven, but are pictures of “The Victorious Christian Life.” When the Children of Israel crossed over into the land of promise, there were many, many battles to be won. I’m thankful that when we enter into our final reward there are no battles left to be fought. Jesus has won all the battles for us. But since Canaan is not a picture of heaven but of the victorious life, there are still many battles to be won if we are to live in victory.

The Israelites lacked the most important quality that was needed in their journey – Faith. Notice that verse 32 says that they “believed not for his wondrous works.” Even after all that God had done for them in protecting and providing, they still could not trust Him for the future. They had left Egypt but were not sure they could live in victory in the land of promise.

That’s the experience of too many Christians. They are “Betweeners.” They have been freed from bondage through the work of the Blood of Jesus Christ, but have not entered into victory through the power of His Resurrection.

I don’t know about you but I do not want to be a “Betweener.” I want to experience the victorious Christian life. I don’t want to live in defeat. I know that I have been saved from the “Penalty” of sin and will one day be saved from the “Presence” of sin, but I want to experience the victory over the “Power” of sin in my life day by day. As Paul would write in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, . .”

The children of Israel could have experienced the power of God as they entered the land but they just couldn’t walk by faith. And, there were consequences to their choice. Look at verse 33, “Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.”

Unbelief had shut them out from the land God had promised. What a vain thing it was to wander up and down in the wilderness instead of seeing God work miracle after miracle in their life. Can you imagine having to attend funeral after funeral for 40 long years until all those who had refused to enter Canaan had died. There are always consequences to not obeying God.

Apart from faith, life is vanity. It’s sad to see so many believers who are “Betweeners.” They could be living in victory, but they live in defeat. Oh, many of them have earthly treasures. They live in fine houses and drive the best automobiles and even dress in the latest fashions, but they are wandering through life in spiritual defeat. They have no real purpose. They have forgotten that as believers we’re to “. . . seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; . . . “ (Matthew 6:33).

The life of victory is lived by faith. The writer of Hebrews writes in 10:38, “Now the just shall live by faith: . . .” The average believer lives by sight. They have to see, reason and know the end before they start. This was what happened with the children of Israel. They had a hard time trusting God and doing what he had commanded them to do.

What is faith? Faith is just taking God at His Word and being obedient to it. Faith is not some mystic thing as many people think. God told the nation of Israel just exactly what they were to do. They just couldn’t take that step of faith and be obedient to God’s wish.

We’re to know what God wants us to do. Can we? Sure we can! We can know His will. He tells us exactly what to do in His Word, or there are principles contained in His Word that can be applied to every decision we have to make. So what should we do?

Read The Word Of God - This is a priority in the life of every believer who wants to live in victory. Have a daily time in which you feed your soul the nourishment it needs.

Meditate Upon The Word Of God - Think about what God’s Word has said to you. Make application of it to your circumstances and decisions.

Pray For Wisdom - God’s Word tells us that we can have wisdom because God wants to reveal how to have victory.

Be Obedient To What God Wants You To Do - You will make mistakes. You will fail. You will even sin. Confess your sin (I John 1:9) and continue to obey. You can walk in victory in the power of Christ’s Resurrection.

Let’s not be “Betweeners.” Let’s walk by faith and claim the victory Christ has already won on the cross.

That’s my view: what about you?