Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20020918.htm

DEUTERONOMY: GETTING OTHERS TO BE VICTORS, NOT CASUALTIES
Part IX: Recalling Past Lessons From Trials To Lead Others To Trust God Now
(Deuteronomy 8:1-10:11)
  1. Introduction
    1. In seeking to disciple others in the Lord, a key tool used by Moses is the tool of rembrance, that recollection of God's past dealings with us as evidence of His present intentions.
    2. Because we tend to forget lessons learned in challenges of the past when facing temptations of the present, we view Moses' effort to use recall to motivate his listeners on effectively following God in the present:
  2. Recalling Past Trial Lessons From Trials To Lead Others To Trust God Now, Deut. 8:1-10:11.
    1. Moses realized the people of Israel needed to be motivated to obey the Lord for blessing, so toward that end, he reminded them of God's dealings with them in past trials of FAITH, Deuteronomy 8:1-2a.
    2. Moses claimed recalling past trials of faith supplied invaluable insight into their CONTINUED needs for God's help in their earthly lives, Deuteronomy 8:2b-10:11:
      1. Moses reminded the people how God had humbled them in the wilderness wanderings to exhibit their true character and expose if they would truly obey God from the heart, Deuteronomy 8:2b.
      2. Moses reminded the people God had humbled them in the wilderness to reveal Himself as the Source of all temporal blessings as opposed to materialism being that source, Deuteronomy 8:3-4.
        1. He told how God had humbled them by allowing them to be hungry only to feed them miraculously with manna from heaven, Deuteronomy 8:3a. This was done to reveal man does not live by physical bread only, but by faith in the Word of God, Deuteronomy 8:3b.
        2. Moses reminded the people how God had kept the clothes of the people from becoming old as they traveled in the wilderness, an amazing miracle covering forty years of time, Deuteronomy 8:4a.
        3. He reminded the people how God had kept their health good as symbolized in not allowing their foot to swell as they journeyed on foot for forty years across the wilderness, Deuteronomy 8:4b.
      3. Moses reminded the nation God had humbled them in the wilderness to reveal He deals with His own as a father does his own son, Deut. 8:5: God punishes His own when they sin so they will obey Him!
      4. Consequently, Moses relayed WHY he recalled these trials of faith, Deuteronomy 8:6-10:11:
        1. Moses clarified Israel needed to recall that all blessings came by God's grace alone, Deut. 8:6-9:6.
        2. He claimed Israel needed this recollection because she had previously repeatedly failed to trust the Lord quite drastically even when Moses had ascended the mount to get the Law, Deut. 9:8-23! Only because of his intercession for the nation had God in grace not destroyed Israel, Deut. 9:24-29.
        3. Moses reminded the people how following their being forgiven by God, additional measures had to be arranged to keep Israel faithfully depending upon God for help, Deuteronomy 10:1-11: (a) Moses told how he had to produce a second series of tables of the Law since Moses had in fury destroyed the first copy when he saw the people practicing idolatry, Deuteronomy 10:1-5. (b) Moses reminded the people how Aaron, his brother had died in the wilderness for sin as a motivation to cause the people to look to God as even the leaders of Israel were vulnerable to failure, Deuteronomy 10:6-7. (c) He told them of his past arranging for the Levites to gain no material inheritance so as to keep them always depending upon the Lord and thus influencing Israel as her teachers to trust God also, Deut. 10:8-9. (d) Moses reminded the people how God had decided to spare them a second time for their sin due to his second intercession for them in Deuteronomy 10:10-11.
Lesson: Since even believers have a sin nature that can easily be tempted to lean on idols for their livelihood stability instead of the Lord, in discipling others, we can REMIND them of their OWN past trials of faith, trials of impoverishment and humiliation where God ALONE was the Solution. In doing so, we can minimize CURRENT trials of faith that might rise due to FORGETTING to trust the Lord!

Application: One of the greatest services we can do in the discipling process is that of REMINDING others of lessons ALREADY learned in their OWN walk with God. This is why Paul writes Timothy would be a good minister if he "put the brethren in remembrance of these things" of God, 1 Timothy 4:6. Let us then teach NEW truths, but NOT NEGLECT to REMIND our disciples of the OLD ones!