To Think or not To Think

Sometimes, the key to victory lies not 

on our ability to think, 

but rather --on our ability to keep 

ourselves from thinking.

For out of man's heart come all kinds of evil imaginations: murder; adultery; sexual immorality; theft; false witness; slander.

(Matthew 15:19)

Therefore, guard your heart.

(Proverbs 4:23)

. . .and you cannot guard your heart by yourself. Only God can do that.

(Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 8:26-27; II Corinthians 12:10; Isaiah 40:29)

So put your heart in God's Hands, and also your whole life.

(John 14:6; John 3:16; Jeremiah 29:11; John 10:10)

© 2010, Karl Zion M. Remojo

Moses' Despair: Part the First - His Disobedience

Moses was 80 years old when God called him to lead a large noisy squandering complaining ungrateful ambivalent crowd of 1 million Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land – Canaan. For 40 years, he strived with them, stretching his patience to uncommon limits. Yet when the time came when the Israelites were just about to reach Canaan, when they were just a stone’s throw away from the Promised Land, the Lord – Moses’ Friend – reminded Moses: “Sorry friend, you cannot go with them.” Heartbroken as he was, Moses knew the reason why. This can be traced from an earlier part of the journey where in Moses disobeyed God’s command (Numbers 30:1-13). Here’s the story. . .

When the Israelites were at Kadesh, in the desert of Zin and when their supplies of food and water were already depleted, they were pretty darn tired and thirsty to the bone. So they did what they do best; they did the most effective and most logical thing to do for them; with one voice, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron saying: “Why the heck did you bring us up from Egypt to this terrible place!? There’s no food to eat and no water to drink! D*mn it!

So Moses and Aaron consulted the Lord. The Lord commanded them to speak to a particular rock, and that rock will pour out its water. However, when Moses and Aaron faced the mob, the pressure brought about by the people and the hot temper of Moses got the better of Moses. Instead of speaking to the rock to yield its water, Moses raised his staff, and hit the rock instead. The community was able to drink, but the Lord was not pleased. He was not pleased at all.

As a verdict, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not trust Me enough to honor Me as Holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” So to make the long story short, the next generation of Israelites – under the leadership of Joshua – did reached the Promised Land. But as for Moses and Aaron – with that single and seemingly simple act of disobedience – they never got a taste of Canaan. Moses was not able to reach his dream land.

With these thoughts in mind, I asked the Lord: “Is it actually possible that Moses died with despair? Can a man of God die with despair?"

The answer came rather quick. . .

continue. . .

© 2009, Karl Zion M. Remojo

An Invitation

Moses' Despair: Part the Second - A Man of Weaknesses

Part I
If one will look at it on a natural point of view, compared to other bible characters like Joshua, David or Paul, Moses was the least (no offense Sir Moses). He was timid. He was shy. He was fearful, hot-tempered, and incapable of exercising his authority over the people. He wasn’t as brave and daring as Jonathan; he wasn’t as intelligent as Joseph and Daniel, or as tactful as the apostle Paul. Naturally speaking, he was a failure.

But what is actually the measure of a leader’s success?

You see, a leader’s success – or anyone for that matter – should be looked upon based on the thing he sought, the thing he looked for, his goal, his purpose. If Moses’ goal was to be the most beloved and respected leader of Israel; or the most famous bible character; if his ultimate desire was to step on the land of Canaan and maybe even kiss it, then I say – Man! He indeed died with despair!

But this was not the case. Moses lived to love God. He lived to please Him – and with that, he was quite successful according to the bible (Exodus 33:17). Why did God Almighty delighted on Moses so much? It was because Moses was weak! God’s Glory is made perfect in weaknesses, and man! The guy had a lot of them! No wonder God delighted in Him so much – so much that He (God) even gave Moses what he did not ask for. Moses did not ask for fame. But look at how the Pharisees in Jesus’ time would defend their arguments by saying “Moses said. . .” or “According to the law of Moses. . .” Look at the children’s bibles in our days – the front cover is almost always an image of Moses leading the Israelites in crossing the red sea. Moreover, the story of Moses is one of the first stories told by Sunday school teachers to their pupils, and one of the first bedtime stories told by parents to their children. People from different parts of the world, and of different religions know Moses. In the long run, Moses did become one of the most beloved, respected and famous bible characters. God gave Moses what he sought, and much more.

continue. . .

© 2009, Karl Zion M. Remojo
An Invitation

Moses' Despair: Conclusion

previous
When he left Egypt to run away from Pharaoh, Moses was already as good as dead. This argument is strengthened by the fact that when God called him, he was already 80 years of age! His life was as good as over. This knowledge made Moses even more grateful. He knew that he couldn’t have gone far without God. He was an ordinary person who could have lived an ordinary life with an ordinary job as an ordinary shepherd, and died an ordinary kind of death, but he knew he got lucky, or more rightly put, he got called. These experience and encounter molded Moses to develop an attitude of gratitude.

You see, it matters a lot to have the right attitude. According to Pastor John Maxwell, a leader can indeed succeed even without having the right attitude. But the difference is that he would not be able to enjoy his success as a leader with the right attitude would.

You may call this person, or that person successful; you may call him/ her a failure. But all of that depends on how you define failure and success. That depends on whether that person was able to reach what he sought for or not. Our friend Moses reached what he sought for.

With the above premises, I therefore conclude that in the issue of fulfillment, and in the decision between ego integrity and despair, good old Moses did not die with despair. He left the earth rather satisfied. Indeed, full of hope and gladness, he slept.

© 2009, Karl Zion M. Remojo

An Invitation