The cost of following the Lord is the learning to obey God. Israel began their journey by following the leader God sent to them, but never understanding who God was or how to follow him. Our journey with God is often much the same way, we join his team without understanding there is a journey with Him, or even a pathway in which to follow Him. Our journey with God as a believer is one of obedience, but the yoke and burden is light. When Jesus say that the yoke was light, I wonder what he meant. Yet Jesus is clear about the burden of faith, he teaches us to pray through our obedience to do so and answer to prayer, even if the answer is no, we still learn to pray. Jesus told us to watch and we learn to watch for the hour of destruction to come to the world because he shows us the evil of the world and it destructive fury. At the time of Moses the walk of faith was still quite along ways off to seeing even the Messiah coming. Yet the Messiah was with them with the words of instruction. Jesus is the word of God that would become flesh at this point in scripture. It would become flesh when he became the Son of Man, the bread of life in the wilderness, the hope to Israel in the storm. Yet the word of God was to bring hope to not only Israel but everyone that heard and believed, like Rehab the harlot who protected the spies and found protection when Israel destroy the city where she lived.

Take note this passage of scripture is part of yesterday lesson, but I went back because the first point made yesterday is the children of Israel would know who sent the manna and the quail. Today lesson is to learn obedience in following God. Manna came with instruction on how to store it, how much to gather and how long to keep it even how long it would keep for the Sabbath day of rest. Anyone not obeying would find not only it stank but worms were within it. Normal human instinct would be to gather extra, but soon Israel learned that God would provided not manna on Sabbath day from the sky, but would provide manna enough for Saturday and it would stink not when kept for the extra day because of the Sabbath day rest day for God. Israel would rest on the Sabbath to because of it. Israel followed in God's example of rest because of the manna, but also learned that not to obey God's instruction concerning gathering only for one day, would mean stinky manna and worms. Israel was to trust in God's supply and not their own way of thinking.

God is not going to give you anythings without instruction. God showed Moses at the burning bush a miracle of his staff turning into a snake and how then to pick it up and it would become a staff again. Magicians of Pharaoh was able to duplicate it. They could duplicate the leprosy. However not all the plagues of Egypt could they duplicate. Many things the world can duplicate in the since of following God, but there other things man obeys God in that must come from instructions of God. It is the faith and the walk of learning to trust Jesus that one is able to not just stand on God instruction but learn to follow God to the letter to whatever his instruction are because his instructions will not cause a stink or will worms be found.

Obedience to God to see miracles of God comes with the journey of faith and obedience. I use to wonder about these super Christian stories of faith and wonder how they came to be. Then one day I realized it has to come with learning to trusting and obeying in God. It truly is that simple. Jesus gave the disciples instruction when they seen tribulation coming to watch and pray for the kingdom of God was at hand. We may wonder at these words but it significant for both the journey through tribulation and the journey of the final tribulation. Final tribulation in regards to the second coming of Christ. Tribulation of the journey is about disasters that come and go in life, to the death and destruction of man during the journey of life. Yet there is a final tribulation the children of God wait for and it is the second coming of Jesus.

What we do during the time of his coming is important. It is important as the obeying God in the wilderness for the children of Israel was. When things began to happen in the wilderness, their disobedience in the journey was going to come to a halt until the next generation came to learn to trust in God and to obey him. See the spies of Israel went and checked out the promise land only to find giants their, and Israel was afraid of the giants. Unwilling to trust in God to take them into the promise land. There unwillingness to trust would get them forty years or death in the wilderness, but it would not keep them necessarily from eternal promiseland, only the earthly one. God did not just throw away his people. The next generation would enter the promise land on faith that God would take the enemy out of the land of Israel. He would do so with bees going before them in one passage of scripture.

Sometimes there is not enough faith despite all God does for a people, for them to complete the journey of faith into the promise land. The other day whether true or false someone offered me a gold mine. It would of been an easy gold mine to take, but there was a price to it. A price of sacrificing to my choice of who I bowed too. I thought to myself that would or could never be, because of life circumstances, so I refused the offer but it was truly a nice one. Do I know the door God wants to open for me. No but I do know that if I follow and obey Him, that the right door will open by his hand and not the hand of the world. Is it scary. Why live in fear of the door God wants to open, beyond to reverence God's awesomeness. Be not fearful of what the world will offer you, because the gate is wide to many that will take it and find unrest for the soul.

Israel learned the structure of law with obedience to the law of manna, yet it did not teach them faith only obedience. Many obey the laws of our land but do not trust in our government, so it is with God, many obey God by common sense knowing if they do it will go will for them in life, but they do not trust God for the journey head and miss the promise land of this world we live in. God was trying to teach Israel one missed meal from disobedience is far less then a meal gained by obedience. God wanted more then obedience to his instruction, he wanted them to trust and believe in him and his word.

Can you trust and believe in God today, or is your obedience one of knowing if you do, then you life will be of peace and not constant turmoil. God loves people that obey him, but obedience without trust is not faith. Belief without obedience is no more then who Satan is. You can be a devil, or you can be a child of God with promise or a child of God with no promise. Where are you today in your faith, a child of promise or only like to be the devil never following in the footsteps of God except to take advantage of healthy living?

Dear Heavenly Father, you give us life through your Son Jesus who is also the bread of life, or manna in the wilderness. Give us faith in your Holy word and help us not to depart from it, but to trust in you to provide for us and to open the doors of promise by obeying you. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Mark 13:28-37 KJV
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.