August 3, 2025 • 51 mins
Trusting that God keeps His promises sounds simple—until life gets hard. In this episode, Kate explores Deuteronomy 6:10 and the Hebrew idea of oath-making, “to seven oneself,” showing God’s unshakable commitment to us.
From creation to the resurrection, God has never failed to do what He said. Yet even Abraham, Moses, and Joshua struggled to trust Him fully. Their failures remind us that God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on perfect belief—but on His perfect character.
With raw honesty, Kate shares how God met her own crisis of faith with the whisper, “If I am your only reward, is that enough?” That question reframed everything, revealing that trust isn’t about outcomes but about knowing Him.
Ultimately, every promise finds its yes in Jesus—the true and faithful One who never wavered. If you’re doubting whether God’s promises apply to your impossible situation, this episode will point you back to the only One whose word never fails.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abitablecom and you're
listening to the AbitablePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can On this show.
I help you know and love Godmore by abiding in Him through
His Word yourself.
(00:21):
He swore God is not a man thathe should lie, or a son of man
that he should change his mind.
Has he said and will he not doit?
(00:43):
Or has he spoken and will henot fulfill it?
Those are Moses' words writtenabout God in Numbers 23.19.
They are connected to whatwe're talking about here today
in Deuteronomy 6.10.
This idea that God is a promisekeeping God, do you believe it?
I mean, do you really believeit?
(01:05):
Not just that you sing about it, way maker, miracle worker,
promise keeper, but do youbelieve it in the deepest part
of your heart?
Do I?
If not, why not?
And if so, is our beliefunshakable?
And if not, why not?
(01:27):
Today's episode is a tendermessage from the Lord directly
to our hearts, because there issomething he absolutely wants us
to know.
When he swears something, hemeans it.
Whatever he has promised willcome to pass it.
Whatever he has promised willcome to pass.
We can trust him.
He is safe.
(01:48):
God said there would be lightthere was.
He said humanity would multiplyand fill the earth they did.
He said sin would bring deathit did.
He said there'd be a floodthere was.
He said he would never floodthe earth again he hasn't.
He said he would make Abrahaminto a great nation he did.
(02:12):
He said Sarah would have a sonshe did.
He said he would give them theland he did.
He said he would deliver hispeople from Egypt he did.
He said the Red Sea would partit did.
He said he'd lead them by cloudand fire he did.
He said not one of his wordswould fail None did.
(02:35):
He said David would be king hewas.
He said the Messiah would comefrom David's line he did.
He said they'd go into exilethey did.
He said he'd bring a remnantback he did.
He said a virgin would conceiveshe did.
He said the Savior would beborn in Bethlehem he was.
(02:59):
He said the blind would see,the lame would walk they did.
He said Jesus would be betrayedhe was.
He said he would be pierced hewas.
He said he would die and riseagain he did.
He said the spirit would come.
(03:19):
He did.
He said the gospel would go tothe ends of the earth.
It is.
He said he's coming back, hewill.
Every word God speaksaccomplishes what he intends.
Every promise he makes he keeps.
Every time he says I will, hedoes.
(03:41):
This is the God of Deuteronomy6.10, our verse for today.
We're looking at just the firstpart of the verse.
And when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
to give you the God of Abrahamand Isaac and Jacob is the God
(04:03):
who always keeps his promises.
He always finishes what hestarts.
The God who swore by himself.
Quick aside, if you want thislist of promises made and
promises kept, the PDF downloadwith the verses is now in our
brand new Abitable Plus memberportal.
(04:24):
More on that at the break.
We need to take a look at thisHebrew word for swore he swore.
The Hebrew word is shabah,which is directly related to the
(04:49):
word for seven, shebah.
To swear an oath in Hebrew isliterally to seven oneself.
The number seven had deepsymbolic meaning in the ancient
Near East, especially incovenant and oath-making, and it
was associated withcompleteness and divine
perfection.
To seven oneself may haveinvolved repeating a declaration
seven times, performing aseven-fold ritual act, for
example, walking between piecesor offering seven lambs, or
(05:14):
invoking the number seven as amark of finality and sacred
commitment.
The God who sevens himself isthe God who always finishes what
he starts.
He's not a man that he shouldlie.
Hey, while I've got yourattention, I want you to know
that we're building somethinghere at Abitable that's growing
(05:36):
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the world.
You're here because you careabout this too.
By supporting us, you'rehelping us share the gospel and
teach people what to do withtheir Bibles.
A few bucks a month really doesmake a difference.
Our main podcast content willalways be free, and we only want
(05:58):
you to partner with us if theLord leads you to do so.
You can find out more at thelink in our show description.
Okay, so this episode's titleis God Swore.
Today, as I mentioned, we aretaking a look at the first part
of Deuteronomy 6.10.
Next week, we'll be combiningthe rest of verse 10 with verses
(06:19):
11 and 12, which are all aboutthe specifics of what God was
going to be giving them Greatand good cities, houses, wells,
vineyards and olive trees.
And we'll also look at thewarning that came with the
blessing, but for today we arelooking at the he swore promise
(06:39):
keeping nature of God, fromverse 10.
We need to envelop all of thisin a ton of context to better
understand what Moses wasreferring to in the past and in
the future.
What had God promised and whatwas the promised gift that was
coming, and how does all of itrelate to us today?
(07:00):
I want to share that God haslaid a message on my heart today
to proceed with both boldnessand truth, but also with
sensitivity.
What I mean by that is, I feellike he's laid on my heart this
sense that someone I'm going tobe talking to today is terrified
, that God isn't safe, that hecan't be trusted, that he's not
(07:24):
really true to his word and heisn't really the promise-keeping
, way-making, miracle-workingGod they sing about.
And to that person I want tosay this message is to you, from
God.
He wants you to know todayexactly who he is.
Know today exactly who he is.
(07:52):
Okay, so God swore.
What did he swear?
This verse references some landthat God promised to give and
the people he made the originalpromise to Abraham, isaac and
Jacob.
Let's clear up this picturewith some context, one of my
favorite things to do.
First, a quick review of whatthis land is and why these three
men, abraham Isaac and Jacob,are mentioned.
(08:14):
This land wasn't chosenrandomly.
It was promised, and themention of Abraham, isaac and
Jacob ties the people's presentjourney to a covenant that
predates them by generations.
God was not just delivering apeople, he was keeping a promise
.
What was the promise?
(08:36):
Here it is to Abraham inGenesis 13, 15-17.
15-17.
This is happening after Abrahamgraciously let Lot choose land
first, and Lot chose the lushJordan Valley.
Abraham was left with the lessdesirable hill country of Canaan
.
It's in this moment of apparentloss that God reaffirmed his
(09:00):
promise.
God says for all the land thatyou see, I will give to you and
to your offspring forever.
I will make your offspring asthe dust of the earth, so that
if one can count the dust of theearth, your offspring also can
be counted.
Arise, walk through the lengthand the breadth of the land, for
(09:21):
I will give it to you.
Here's the promise to Isaac,abraham's son, in Genesis 26.3.
In a time of famine, isaac isplanning to go to Egypt.
But God stops him in Gerar andrenewed the promise he made to
(09:58):
Abraham Sojour in Genesis 28, 13, and 15.
Jacob is on the run from hisbrother Esau.
After deceiving his father.
Jacob falls asleep in thewilderness and there he dreams
of a stairway to heaven.
And it's where God speaks tohim personally.
God says I am the Lord, the Godof Abraham, your father, and
(10:21):
the God of Isaac.
The land on which you lie Iwill give to you and to your
offspring.
Behold, I am with you and willkeep you wherever you go.
I will not leave you.
Why am I telling you all this?
Why did this land promisematter?
Well, the land wasn't justabout geography.
(10:41):
It was about God's presence,provision and purpose.
It was a place prepared, notearned, a home for His people to
dwell with Him in peace.
And each time God renewed thepromise, he tied it not just to
land, but to lineage and toloyalty.
(11:03):
He would be with them and hewould keep his word.
By the time we get to where weare today, deuteronomy 6.10,
moses is reminding the peoplethat they are about to receive
this land, not because they wererighteous, but because God is
faithful.
He roots that assurance intheir family history by saying
(11:26):
the land that he swore to yourfathers, to Abraham, to Isaac
and to Jacob, to give you.
God was often referred to asthe God of your fathers to
ground his people in thecontinuity of his promises.
He had not changed, he had notforgotten and he had not failed.
Now let's get some context forthis idea of swearing something
(11:50):
in an oath, because while thereare some clear differences in
oath-making then and now, ourmodern-day experiences are not
entirely removed from those ofthe Israelites at the time of
Moses.
So let's do some research.
What was their experience withpeople in power making, keeping
(12:11):
and breaking oaths?
I want to know this because Iwant to know their baseline for
hearing someone like God in thisinstance making an oath or a
promise or a covenant.
Here's what I learned In theancient Near East.
Covenants were widespread usedbetween kings and subjects,
among tribes and even betweennations.
(12:33):
Egypt, where Israel had livedfor centuries, had a top-down
system where Pharaoh was seen asdivine.
So treaties or agreements weremore administrative and
unilateral, often demandingtotal allegiance without mutual
responsibility.
Egyptian oaths were sometimessealed by invoking the life of
(12:56):
the king or the gods, but therewas little emphasis on mutual
heart-level loyalty.
Meanwhile, the Canaanite peoplethose are, the people living in
the land that the Israeliteswere about to enter with their
pantheon of local gods alsoswore oaths in the name of their
deities, often mixing religiousritual with political deals.
(13:21):
And here's the reallyinteresting part we can relate
to.
Covenant breaking was common,especially when it served
personal or national gain.
Deception, manipulation andbreaking of agreements, like the
Gibeonite trickery check it outin Joshua 9, reflected a
broader cultural norm where thepromise of power or security or
(13:44):
prosperity often trumpedfaithfulness.
We can relate to this, can't we?
To the idea of leaders abusingpower and breaking promises, to
the idea of those in powersaying one thing and doing
another when it benefits thempersonally, or financially or
politically.
In contrast, israel'scovenantal system was one of a
(14:07):
kind.
Despite what was going on aroundthem, they were part of
something radically different,not because they were special or
righteous, but because theywere in covenant with the one
true God who bound himself tothem in loyal love, chesed, and
who reflected his characterthrough justice, mercy and that
(14:30):
steadfast love.
This is what set them apart.
Their God always perfectly keptall of his promises.
As Christians, as followers ofJesus, this is true for us too.
The God of Israel is the Godand Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Jesus and the Father are one.
(14:53):
If we are in Christ, by grace,through faith, we have obtained
access to this samepromise-keeping God.
But every single day, in dozensof circumstances, through
hundreds of thoughts that passthrough our minds and in ways we
aren't even always aware of, wecan think wrong thoughts about
(15:13):
God, and if these go uncheckedit can completely derail our
correct thinking about His truecharacter.
In this case, we end uptwisting the very nature of His
perfect promise-keeping.
Here are three examples of whatI mean that you might relate to
.
First, we can be mad at God forbreaking promises he never even
(15:37):
made.
We think suffering means he'simpotent.
If life is hard, we think he'sindifferent.
If we lack, we think he'sholding back from us cruelly.
How good can God be when lifeis one disappointment after
another?
But the problem is God neverpromised perfect health or
(15:58):
prosperity or ease.
We listen more to who the worldtells us God should be than who
God tells us he is.
In His Word we pridefully makeGod in our own image, telling
Him what he should do for us andwhen.
And if he doesn't, we abandonHim.
The Israelites had seen God movein power, but when they got
(16:21):
hungry or thirsty or afraid,what did they do?
They grumbled against God,attempting to redefine him,
instead of them seeing him asthe merciful, slow to anger,
abounding in steadfast love Godthat he is.
They allowed theircircumstances to cast Him as a
(16:41):
God who hated them and theyrewrote their epic story of
deliverance into a tragedy ofGod's cruel abandonment.
This is a place I've beenbefore.
Have you?
Sometimes?
My sentiment toward God is evenless about anger and more about
hurt.
I feel hurt by God.
(17:01):
I don't understand what he'sdoing and because I don't get it
, my heart hurts and I'm sad.
Have you ever felt that way?
Super confused by God, evenhurt by Him?
Second, we think wrongly aboutGod in that he will lie to us or
betray us or abandon us, likeothers have.
(17:24):
I have a sweet friend that I'vebeen having this conversation
with recently Because of some ofwhat she's experienced
throughout her life.
Trusting God with her heartfeels really scary.
People who should have lovedand treasured and valued her and
made her feel safe didn't, whenthat is what you've known for
(17:44):
the majority of your life oreven for any part of your life
in a relationship that matteredto you.
It is so easy to transfer thatfear onto God.
If everyone else has lied to me, why wouldn't God If others
have abandoned me?
It's just a matter of timeuntil God does too.
Third, we think God will notkeep his promises to us because
(18:06):
we have not kept our promises tohim, because we haven't
perfectly held up our perceivedend of the bargain.
We think all of God's promisesare null and void toward us, or
at least some of them, and bybargain I mean whatever
theological garbage we've triedto add on to grace.
(18:26):
By faith alone, we rewrite therules based on our conditional
understanding of contracts andlove.
The concept of someoneperfectly keeping their promises
toward us despite ourrepetitive failures baffles us,
and because we can't comprehendit, we dismiss it as impossible.
(18:47):
Ultimately, because of all this, we're scared.
He's not safe, and if we're notin the word, we're going to
keep on being scared.
Scared because we won't havethe foundational truth of who he
is.
To combat any of these lies, Ihave to tell you what just
happened to me today, lest youthink that I have it all
(19:10):
together over here.
I had a colossal meltdown, likeready to quit this entire
ministry, pack up the shop andgo home.
And I'll tell you why.
I really want to be able toconnect with the people that I'm
serving, and I'm struggling todo that.
I'm not having success throughmy emails or through my social
(19:33):
media, and so something I'd beenpraying about and looking into
for a long time was trying tocreate a community, somewhere
where people could engage andask questions and I could
provide resources and I couldencourage them to connect with
one another and all kinds ofcool things would happen.
And so I hadn't really found aplatform until recently, and
(19:53):
today I launched which I'm goingto talk a little bit more about
in a moment.
I launched this membershipcommunity and I sent the email
out and I made the post.
I was super excited about it,and hour after hour after hour
went by in the day and not asingle person joined the
community and I'm not sayingthis to guilt you into joining
(20:17):
the community.
So stick with me for a second,because the Lord had a lesson
for me in it.
But I all of a sudden just feltthis overwhelming attack but I
couldn't identify it as that inthe moment.
I felt this overwhelming shame.
I felt like a loser.
I felt rejected, I felt like afailure.
(20:38):
I felt like man, lord, I mustnot be who you want me to be or
be doing the things that youwant me to be doing, because I
just can't seem to make thiswork.
And I started going down thisrabbit hole of all the reasons
that this ministry is failingand I went out and started to
(21:01):
talk to my husband, texted mymom, texted Beverly, my buddy
and sister and partner in crimeand everything here abidable,
and got beautiful encouragementfrom all three of them, just
reminders of what is true, andit was helpful, and I know that
they were praying for me.
But I ended up coming back intomy office and closing the door
(21:22):
and just dropping my face on mydesk and just sobbing and in
that moment I was like you know,I know myself and I know that
when I feel like a failure,because performance has been
such a sin of mine performing toearn, performing to prove in
(21:47):
that moment I knew that therewas a path, a very familiar path
, that I could take, where Igive up or at least I disappear
for a while, believing that I'mworthless, I'm not offering
anything of value here, and atthe same time I'm sitting here
(22:09):
crying my eyes out and thinking,lord, what do I know to be true
of you?
I've been in your word for fouryears.
Know to be true of you?
I've been in your word for fouryears.
What do I know is true rightnow?
And in that still small voice,it's like I just availed myself
(22:30):
to him.
And in that still small voicehe asked me a question and he
said if I am your only reward,if this thing never grows, gets
big or whatever your definitionof success is, you know, if I am
your only reward, is thatenough?
And I knew the answer instantly.
My answer is yes, it is enough.
(22:51):
Because I serve Him, because heis worthy, because he has
poured out everything for me.
I will pour out everything forhim, regardless of how it
appears to be doing on thesurface.
And then he just reminded me ofall the beautiful things that
have happened and all theincredible feedback that I've
(23:11):
gotten from some of you, andsome of the very exciting things
that are happening in otherplaces through Abitable that
aren't even in my own state.
And I swear to you, it was likethis darkness, like a
thunderstorm, with lightning andrain, just dark heaviness had
come over me and then, asquickly as it had come, it was
(23:35):
gone and I felt the sun shiningon my face again.
And I tell you that storybecause I want you to know that
I'm just a girl in this fightwith you battling for what is
true, and when you know yourselfand you know your habits and
your patterns and your you knowI've said this before like I
(23:58):
know what I would normally do inmy flesh, and it would be to
hide and to quit and to stick myhead in the sand and to believe
all kinds of lies about notjust myself, but what's most
scary, lies about God.
And that question like what doI know about you?
What do I know right now,that's true about who you are
(24:22):
Literally turned it from a storminto sunshine.
And I'm not special, you guys,I'm.
Literally the only thing that Ihave in my hand as a weapon is
the Word of God, and this is whyI abide.
And it's just so happened thatright after that, I was on
Instagram and I saw this videofrom Jackie Hill Perry and she
(24:48):
was just in this moment that shewas sharing.
She was talking about Jesus inthe garden, just being
discouraged and tired and scaredand praying for the Lord to
take the cup from him, that itwould pass what he was about to
face and how hard and heavy itwas.
And what we know happened wasthat God sent an angel that
(25:12):
strengthened Jesus in thatmoment.
What he didn't give him wasease.
He gave him more strength.
That's what happened to metoday too.
Not in the same capacity in anyway, shape or form, clearly,
but just that God gave mestrength to not quit and to
(25:32):
remember who he is, that he issovereign, that he is in control
, that every word that comesfrom his mouth and and that,
ultimately, he is my reward andthat's who I'm working for.
And he, just like, helped fixmy eyes on Him, gave me the
strength to suck it up, to stopnavel-gazing, to remember it's
not about me and to keep going.
(25:55):
And I just wanted to share thatwith you guys today, because I
wanted to ask you if somethingdoesn't go how you want it to do
you worry that God isn't safe,that he like a strange thing to
ask, doesn't it?
Especially when scripture isfull of imagery about God being
(26:23):
our refuge, our fortress and ourhiding place?
Psalm 18 says the Lord is myrock and my fortress and my
deliverer, my shield and thehorn of my salvation, my
stronghold.
That sounds safe.
And yet I also think about thatfamous moment in the Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe, when MrBeaver is telling the children
(26:46):
about Aslan.
Susan asks is he quite safe?
And Mr Beaver replies safe.
Who said anything about safe?
Of course he isn't safe, buthe's good.
He's the king, I tell you.
And somehow that resonates,because what Mr Beaver is
(27:08):
getting at is that Aslan, justlike our God, isn't tame.
He's not predictable, hedoesn't follow our timelines or
our formulas.
Predictable he doesn't followour timelines or our formulas.
He has power beyond what we cangrasp.
He allows things we wouldn'tchoose, but he is always and
unquestionably good.
(27:29):
And it's that goodness, not theabsence of pain, not the
predictability of outcomes, thatmakes him trustworthy.
So is God safe?
If by safe we mean soft ormanageable or explainable, no.
But if we mean secure, sure,dependable, a place to rest your
(27:55):
whole soul without fear ofbetrayal, then yes, absolutely.
And that's what I want toexplore with you how the Word of
God anchors us in that truththat he is who he says he is,
that he keeps His promises andthat the more we know Him
(28:16):
through Scripture, the moreunshakable our trust becomes,
even when nothing else feelssafe.
So let's go to the Word againand we will.
Right after this crazy, excitingannouncement, don't skip this.
I think you're going to want tohear this.
(28:37):
Skip this.
I think you're going to want tohear this.
I am so excited to finally tellyou that Abitable Plus is here.
This brand new membershipcommunity even though it might
just be you and me is officiallylive, and this is your personal
invitation to be a part of it.
You can access everythingthrough the free Buy Me A Coffee
app.
(28:57):
It's super clean, easy to useand, honestly, is the perfect
alternative to mindlessscrolling on social media.
Why waste another 10 minutes onsocial media when you could
spend it being filled up byGod's Word and encouraged by our
community?
When you become a member,you'll get access to podcast
(29:18):
transcripts, bonus content likethe PDF of the Promises Made and
Promises Kept list that Ishared at the beginning of this
episode, with the versesreferenced, behind the scenes
posts, discounts, sneak peeks ofnew launches and even direct
voice message updates from me.
It's all designed to help yougo deeper in your walk with
(29:40):
Jesus, and to do it with peoplewho love Him too.
You are so wanted here, notjust because I desire to serve
you with this content, butbecause you have something to
offer this community too.
Just tap the link in the showdescription.
You can learn about the monthlypricing.
Download the app and come joinus.
Let's redeem our scrollingtogether.
(30:04):
And now back to the show.
We've established that we needto go to the Word to get an
accurate picture of God'sfaithfulness, and surely there
must be some people in the Wordwho model what it looks like to
trust God as a promise keeper.
Right Today's verse names a fewAbraham, isaac and Jacob.
(30:28):
And then, standing just outsidethe verse because he's the
author we have Moses, and thenalso Joshua, the one who would
eventually lead Israel into thevery promised land being spoken
of.
Surely these are the spiritualgiants.
Surely they never doubted God'strustworthiness.
(30:49):
Surely they always trusted thatif God swore something, it
would come to pass.
But here's the twist Every oneof them stumbled when it came to
trusting God's promises.
Abraham lied about his wifeSarah being his sister because
he didn't trust God to protecthis life from the Egyptians, and
(31:11):
then later laughed at God whenhe was told he would have a son.
In his old age, isaac repeatedhis father's pattern of fear,
lying about his wife.
To protect himself, jacobgrasped for the blessing,
deceiving and manipulating hisway into what God had already
(31:31):
promised.
Moses, overwhelmed byfrustration, struck the rock
instead of speaking to it and indoing so misrepresented God.
Joshua charged into battle withthe Gibeonites without ever
stopping to ask God what to do.
Each one of them got it wrong,but that's not the end of their
(31:54):
story, because after thosefailures, each of them kept
walking with God, and as theydid, they came to know Him more
intimately, and that's whatchanged them.
Abraham, after years of walkingwith the Lord, came to a moment
where he was willing tosacrifice the very son he once
(32:16):
doubted he would receive,because he believed that God
would keep his promise, even ifit meant raising Isaac from the
dead.
Isaac, the one who had lied outof fear, came to bless Jacob
with full trust in the covenantGod had made with Abraham and
named God's promises as theinheritance.
(32:38):
Jacob the deceiver becameIsrael, a man who wrestled with
God face to face, and by the endof his life he blessed his sons
while leaning on his staff inworship.
Moses, after failure, still metwith God face to face, as a man
speaks with his friend.
(32:59):
Joshua, after learning theconsequences of going without
God, became the one who stoodbefore the people and declared
as for me and my house, we willserve the Lord.
The shift wasn't in what theyknew about God, it was in how
well they came to know Him.
(33:20):
And that didn't happenovernight.
It happened over years ofwalking, failing, hearing his
voice being corrected, restoredand loved.
The steadfast trust they grewinto was forged through personal
relationship, not secondhandknowledge.
(33:41):
So if you feel like you'restill stumbling to trust God,
you are not disqualified.
You are in good company andyou're just in the middle of
your story.
Keep going, keep showing up.
You're not behind.
You're being formed.
(34:03):
Lean in for this part, okay.
Where even the best of men failto fully trust God, jesus never
did.
He is the greater Abraham, notjust a man who left his homeland
in obedience, but the one wholeft the glory of heaven to
enter our broken world andfulfill every promise of God.
(34:27):
Where Abraham faltered andlaughed at the seeming
impossibility of God's plan,jesus trusted fully, even when
it led him to death.
He is the greater Isaac, notmerely a beloved son laid on the
altar, but the son whowillingly gave himself as the
(34:49):
sacrifice.
Isaac asked where is the lamb?
Jesus was the lamb, the one whotrusted the father enough to be
pierced for our transgressions.
He is the greater Jacob whodidn't have to lie.
He is the greater Jacob whodidn't have to lie, manipulate
(35:09):
or strive for blessing, becauseall authority and inheritance
belonged to him and, instead ofstealing the birthright, he
shared it with us, making usheirs through his blood.
He is the greater Moses, notkept from the promised land for
striking the rock, but struckhimself, becoming the rock of
(35:31):
our salvation.
He not only led the people outof bondage, but brought us out
of sin and death, forever,fulfilling the law he himself
gave.
Fulfilling the law he himselfgave.
And he is the greater Joshua,not just a courageous leader who
(35:51):
led people into a physicalinheritance, but the one who
leads us into eternal rest.
Jesus didn't just fight theenemies of God's people with a
sword.
He conquered sin, satan anddeath by laying his life down.
And here's the good news Jesus'perfect trust is credited to us.
(36:14):
His record becomes ours.
Our response to histrustworthiness doesn't affect
whether or not he is trustworthy.
He is Always.
God's promises don't hang inthe balance of our belief.
He will do all he has said.
(36:34):
He has already done whatmattered most.
But this is also the power ofthe gospel Not just that God is
faithful despite our unbelief,but that he is so kind as to
transform us into people whotrust him.
The more we know Jesus not justfacts about him, but truly know
(36:57):
him personally the more ourunbelief begins to die, the more
we live like people who haveseen the risen Christ and are
sure he keeps every word hespeaks.
This is how we become people offaith not by trying harder, but
by staying close to the One whonever fails to believe the
(37:21):
Father, who always obeyed andwho lives in us by His Spirit.
God doesn't need your trust tokeep His promises, but he will
graciously grow your trustthrough them.
Here's the big idea Even when Idon't trust God at His word, he
(37:43):
is still faithful to it.
Trust God at His word he isstill faithful to it, and I
still get Christ's perfectrecord of trust in the Father.
What God promised to Israel asthey entered the land is a
beautiful shadow of what he nowfulfills for us in Christ.
Let's not miss that ourfaithful, though imperfect,
(38:03):
moses was not allowed to enterthe promised land.
Because of his disobedience andunbelief in striking the rock,
which we'll delve into a littlemore next week I shouldn't be
allowed in the promised land.
I struggle with that sameunbelief and disobedience and
yet, because of Christ, I'll notjust be allowed in, but
(38:27):
welcomed in.
Does that not blow your mind?
I'm struck by the parallelsbetween Deuteronomy 6.10 and the
gospel promises we have asbelievers today.
Let me close with a few of them.
Here's our verse again,deuteronomy 6.10, and when the
Lord, your God, brings you intothe land that he swore to your
(38:50):
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaacand to Jacob, to give you.
Israel's story was one of beingbrought out of Egypt, out of
slavery, out of oppression, intoa land.
They didn't earn a place ofpromise, provision and peace.
They inherited a physical land.
(39:11):
We inherit a spiritual kingdom.
They were brought out ofslavery to Pharaoh.
We were brought out of slaveryto sin.
God kept his promise to givethem a land and in Christ, he
keeps His promise to give uslife.
Let's do a few, then versus now, from scripture to show how God
(39:34):
keeps His promises to not onlyIsrael back then, but to us in
2025.
Then God promised to bring themout of Egypt.
I am the Lord, and I will bringyou out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians.
Exodus 6.6.
Verses now God has brought usout of sin and death.
(39:56):
He has delivered us from thedomain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom ofHis beloved Son.
Colossians 1.13.
Here's another.
Then God promised them a landthey didn't build, with cities,
homes and vineyards alreadyprepared.
That's Deuteronomy 6, 10, and11.
(40:17):
Verses now God gives us arighteousness we didn't earn and
a place in his family we didn'tconstruct.
By grace you have been savedthrough faith, not your own
doing.
It is the gift of God.
That's Ephesians 2, 8-9.
Here's another.
Then God promised to drive outtheir enemies, not all at once,
(40:41):
but step by step.
That's Exodus 23, 30 andDeuteronomy 7 22.
Verses now God promises tosanctify us, to drive out the
idols and sins that have ruledus little by little, day by day.
Colossians 3 5 says put todeath, therefore, what is
(41:03):
earthly in you and Philippians.
Then the promised land was aplace of rest from war and
wandering.
You can see that in Joshua21.44.
Verses now Jesus is ourpromised rest, our Sabbath, our
(41:24):
peace, our home.
Matthew 11, 28,.
Come to me and I will give yourest.
In Hebrews 4, 9, there remainsa Sabbath rest for the people of
God.
Then God promised to be presenta cloud by day, a fire by night
and a tabernacle in their midst.
Exodus 13, 21, and Leviticus26.12.
(41:48):
Verses now he promises HisSpirit will dwell in us, not
near us in us.
1 Corinthians 6.19,.
You are the temple of the HolySpirit.
In Matthew 28.20,.
I will be with you always.
In Matthew 28, 20, I will bewith you always.
(42:10):
Here's one more Then the landflowed with milk and honey.
Symbols of abundance.
That's Exodus 3, 8.
Verses now Christ offers usliving water and true abundance,
a life rooted in him,overflowing with peace, joy and
purpose.
Him overflowing with peace, joyand purpose.
John 10.10,.
I came that they may have lifeand have it abundantly.
(42:31):
The promises of God to Israelwere good, but they were shadows
of something even greater InChrist.
We are not just brought into aland, we are brought into a
kingdom.
We are not just given cities wedidn't build.
We are given a righteousness wedidn't earn.
We are not just promised landthat satisfies for a lifetime,
(42:54):
we are promised life thatsatisfies for eternity.
And just as God fulfilled everyword he spoke to Israel.
He will fulfill every word hehas spoken to you Joshua 21, 45,
.
Not one word of all the goodpromises that the Lord had made
(43:15):
to the house of Israel hadfailed.
All came to pass.
God was to be remembered as theGod of their fathers, not
because their fathers wereperfect, but because God was His
.
Promises to Abraham, isaac andJacob weren't sentimental
gestures.
They were hard core evidencethat God keeps his word, no
(43:38):
matter how much time passes orhow often we fail.
And now, standing on the edgeof the land, moses is reminding
the people.
God has not forgotten you.
He is fulfilling what he saidlong before you were even born.
This is still who he is for us,and yet, as we talked about at
(44:01):
the beginning, we often struggleto believe it.
We fear that he might not besafe.
We quietly wonder if he willstill be faithful when we
haven't been.
We brace ourselves for theletdown, expecting him to
disappoint us the way othershave.
It's hard not to project thebroken promises of people onto a
(44:21):
God we cannot see, but Jesus isthe proof we've been looking
for.
He is the greater Abraham, whoobeyed without faltering.
The greater Isaac who laidhimself down in trust the
greater Jacob, who wrestled andprevailed and now shares his
inheritance with us.
The greater Moses, who speakswith God face to face.
(44:45):
And the greater Joshua, wholeads us into the true and final
promised land In Christ.
Every one of God's promises isyes and amen, not just to our
ancestors but to us.
Over and over and over.
God called himself the God ofyour fathers, anchoring the
(45:08):
Israelites' trust not in thepresent moment, but in his
unchanging character acrossgenerations.
This would become one of themost repeated phrases in
scripture the Lord, the God ofyour fathers, the God of Abraham
, of Isaac and of Jacob.
For Moses and the Israelites,this meant their obedience
(45:32):
wasn't rooted in fear or rulefollowing, but in trusting the
same God who had made impossiblepromises to their ancestors and
kept every single one.
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who would beblessed by what you just heard,
(45:52):
please share the AbitablePodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
buying us a coffee one time orby becoming a member or a
monthly supporter.
For those of you followingalong in the workbook, go ahead
(46:15):
and begin working on Deuteronomy6, 11 and 12 on pages 44 to 51
in your study workbook.
We're combining these verseswith the end of verse 11 because
they're all related in abeautiful way.
Ideally, you would have thissection done before you listen
to the next episode, number 63,titled you Are Not the Hero of
(46:38):
the Story.
Next week on the podcast, we'llwalk into the land of promise
great cities, full homes,abundant provision, all things
Israel didn't earn.
In this next chunk of scripture, moses paints a vibrant picture
of what's ahead.
Then he issues a sober warningtake care lest you forget the
(47:00):
Lord.
This episode will explore thesubtle danger of pride when life
is full, the deep mercy behindGod's generous provision and the
human tendency to claim whatonly he can give.
Moses is clear that this is aland with great and good cities
that you did not build andhouses full of all good things
(47:22):
that you did not fill, andcisterns that you did not dig,
and vineyards and olive treesthat you did not plant.
And then Moses says and whenyou eat and are full, then take
care lest you forget the Lordwho brought you out of the house
of slavery.
Next week, we'll also wrestlewith a hard question why did God
(47:45):
give Israel land alreadyinhabited by others, and what,
if anything, does this have todo with the battle for land in
that same region?
Today, it will be a conversationabout memory, mercy and the
temptation to make ourselves thehero of the story.
I'll pray for us and then closeus out with our memory work for
(48:05):
verse 10.
Lord, you are the God ofAbraham, isaac and Jacob, and
you are our God too.
You made promises long beforewe even knew to hope for them,
and you have never once failed.
Forgive us, father, for theways we've doubted you, for
projecting the pain of brokenhuman promises onto your
(48:29):
unshakable faithfulness.
Forgive us for bracing fordisappointment when you are the
God who delights to fulfillJesus.
Thank you for showing us whattrue trust looks like.
You obeyed in every place wherewe fall short.
You were faithful when we werenot.
You offered yourself up so thatwe could be called sons and
(48:53):
daughters, heirs to promisesthat cannot be revoked.
Spirit, help us believe it.
Help us remember that you arenot waiting for our perfection,
but walking us toward yourpromises, step by step, day by
day.
Teach us to trust you.
Teach us to walk forward, notin fear but in confidence, not
(49:18):
in doubt but in hope, not asslaves but as beloved children.
As slaves but as belovedchildren, welcomed into land
that we did not earn, becauseyou are the God who gives and
gives and gives, amen.
Let's close by doing our memorywork together.
(49:51):
I'm going to repeat all ofDeuteronomy, 6, 10, five times.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself, 10, 5 times
.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself not build.
And when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
(50:19):
to give you with great and goodcities that you did not build,
and when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
to give you with great and goodcities that you did not build,
and when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob
(50:40):
Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob togive you with great and good
cities that you did not build,and when the Lord, your God,
brings you into the land that heswore to your fathers, to
(51:03):
Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,to give you with great and good
cities that you did not build.
Deuteronomy 6.10.
Remember, you are able to abidein the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abitablecom and you're
listening to the AbitablePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can On this show.
I help you know and love Godmore by abiding in Him through
His Word yourself.
(00:21):
He swore God is not a man thathe should lie, or a son of man
that he should change his mind.
Has he said and will he not doit?
(00:43):
Or has he spoken and will henot fulfill it?
Those are Moses' words writtenabout God in Numbers 23.19.
They are connected to whatwe're talking about here today
in Deuteronomy 6.10.
This idea that God is a promisekeeping God, do you believe it?
I mean, do you really believeit?
(01:05):
Not just that you sing about it, way maker, miracle worker,
promise keeper, but do youbelieve it in the deepest part
of your heart?
Do I?
If not, why not?
And if so, is our beliefunshakable?
And if not, why not?
(01:27):
Today's episode is a tendermessage from the Lord directly
to our hearts, because there issomething he absolutely wants us
to know.
When he swears something, hemeans it.
Whatever he has promised willcome to pass it.
Whatever he has promised willcome to pass.
We can trust him.
He is safe.
(01:48):
God said there would be lightthere was.
He said humanity would multiplyand fill the earth they did.
He said sin would bring deathit did.
He said there'd be a floodthere was.
He said he would never floodthe earth again he hasn't.
He said he would make Abrahaminto a great nation he did.
(02:12):
He said Sarah would have a sonshe did.
He said he would give them theland he did.
He said he would deliver hispeople from Egypt he did.
He said the Red Sea would partit did.
He said he'd lead them by cloudand fire he did.
He said not one of his wordswould fail None did.
(02:35):
He said David would be king hewas.
He said the Messiah would comefrom David's line he did.
He said they'd go into exilethey did.
He said he'd bring a remnantback he did.
He said a virgin would conceiveshe did.
He said the Savior would beborn in Bethlehem he was.
(02:59):
He said the blind would see,the lame would walk they did.
He said Jesus would be betrayedhe was.
He said he would be pierced hewas.
He said he would die and riseagain he did.
He said the spirit would come.
(03:19):
He did.
He said the gospel would go tothe ends of the earth.
It is.
He said he's coming back, hewill.
Every word God speaksaccomplishes what he intends.
Every promise he makes he keeps.
Every time he says I will, hedoes.
(03:41):
This is the God of Deuteronomy6.10, our verse for today.
We're looking at just the firstpart of the verse.
And when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
to give you the God of Abrahamand Isaac and Jacob is the God
(04:03):
who always keeps his promises.
He always finishes what hestarts.
The God who swore by himself.
Quick aside, if you want thislist of promises made and
promises kept, the PDF downloadwith the verses is now in our
brand new Abitable Plus memberportal.
(04:24):
More on that at the break.
We need to take a look at thisHebrew word for swore he swore.
The Hebrew word is shabah,which is directly related to the
(04:49):
word for seven, shebah.
To swear an oath in Hebrew isliterally to seven oneself.
The number seven had deepsymbolic meaning in the ancient
Near East, especially incovenant and oath-making, and it
was associated withcompleteness and divine
perfection.
To seven oneself may haveinvolved repeating a declaration
seven times, performing aseven-fold ritual act, for
example, walking between piecesor offering seven lambs, or
(05:14):
invoking the number seven as amark of finality and sacred
commitment.
The God who sevens himself isthe God who always finishes what
he starts.
He's not a man that he shouldlie.
Hey, while I've got yourattention, I want you to know
that we're building somethinghere at Abitable that's growing
(05:36):
biblical literacy and love forGod, one person at a time around
the world.
You're here because you careabout this too.
By supporting us, you'rehelping us share the gospel and
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A few bucks a month really doesmake a difference.
Our main podcast content willalways be free, and we only want
(05:58):
you to partner with us if theLord leads you to do so.
You can find out more at thelink in our show description.
Okay, so this episode's titleis God Swore.
Today, as I mentioned, we aretaking a look at the first part
of Deuteronomy 6.10.
Next week, we'll be combiningthe rest of verse 10 with verses
(06:19):
11 and 12, which are all aboutthe specifics of what God was
going to be giving them Greatand good cities, houses, wells,
vineyards and olive trees.
And we'll also look at thewarning that came with the
blessing, but for today we arelooking at the he swore promise
(06:39):
keeping nature of God, fromverse 10.
We need to envelop all of thisin a ton of context to better
understand what Moses wasreferring to in the past and in
the future.
What had God promised and whatwas the promised gift that was
coming, and how does all of itrelate to us today?
(07:00):
I want to share that God haslaid a message on my heart today
to proceed with both boldnessand truth, but also with
sensitivity.
What I mean by that is, I feellike he's laid on my heart this
sense that someone I'm going tobe talking to today is terrified
, that God isn't safe, that hecan't be trusted, that he's not
(07:24):
really true to his word and heisn't really the promise-keeping
, way-making, miracle-workingGod they sing about.
And to that person I want tosay this message is to you, from
God.
He wants you to know todayexactly who he is.
Know today exactly who he is.
(07:52):
Okay, so God swore.
What did he swear?
This verse references some landthat God promised to give and
the people he made the originalpromise to Abraham, isaac and
Jacob.
Let's clear up this picturewith some context, one of my
favorite things to do.
First, a quick review of whatthis land is and why these three
men, abraham Isaac and Jacob,are mentioned.
(08:14):
This land wasn't chosenrandomly.
It was promised, and themention of Abraham, isaac and
Jacob ties the people's presentjourney to a covenant that
predates them by generations.
God was not just delivering apeople, he was keeping a promise
.
What was the promise?
(08:36):
Here it is to Abraham inGenesis 13, 15-17.
15-17.
This is happening after Abrahamgraciously let Lot choose land
first, and Lot chose the lushJordan Valley.
Abraham was left with the lessdesirable hill country of Canaan
.
It's in this moment of apparentloss that God reaffirmed his
(09:00):
promise.
God says for all the land thatyou see, I will give to you and
to your offspring forever.
I will make your offspring asthe dust of the earth, so that
if one can count the dust of theearth, your offspring also can
be counted.
Arise, walk through the lengthand the breadth of the land, for
(09:21):
I will give it to you.
Here's the promise to Isaac,abraham's son, in Genesis 26.3.
In a time of famine, isaac isplanning to go to Egypt.
But God stops him in Gerar andrenewed the promise he made to
(09:58):
Abraham Sojour in Genesis 28, 13, and 15.
Jacob is on the run from hisbrother Esau.
After deceiving his father.
Jacob falls asleep in thewilderness and there he dreams
of a stairway to heaven.
And it's where God speaks tohim personally.
God says I am the Lord, the Godof Abraham, your father, and
(10:21):
the God of Isaac.
The land on which you lie Iwill give to you and to your
offspring.
Behold, I am with you and willkeep you wherever you go.
I will not leave you.
Why am I telling you all this?
Why did this land promisematter?
Well, the land wasn't justabout geography.
(10:41):
It was about God's presence,provision and purpose.
It was a place prepared, notearned, a home for His people to
dwell with Him in peace.
And each time God renewed thepromise, he tied it not just to
land, but to lineage and toloyalty.
(11:03):
He would be with them and hewould keep his word.
By the time we get to where weare today, deuteronomy 6.10,
moses is reminding the peoplethat they are about to receive
this land, not because they wererighteous, but because God is
faithful.
He roots that assurance intheir family history by saying
(11:26):
the land that he swore to yourfathers, to Abraham, to Isaac
and to Jacob, to give you.
God was often referred to asthe God of your fathers to
ground his people in thecontinuity of his promises.
He had not changed, he had notforgotten and he had not failed.
Now let's get some context forthis idea of swearing something
(11:50):
in an oath, because while thereare some clear differences in
oath-making then and now, ourmodern-day experiences are not
entirely removed from those ofthe Israelites at the time of
Moses.
So let's do some research.
What was their experience withpeople in power making, keeping
(12:11):
and breaking oaths?
I want to know this because Iwant to know their baseline for
hearing someone like God in thisinstance making an oath or a
promise or a covenant.
Here's what I learned In theancient Near East.
Covenants were widespread usedbetween kings and subjects,
among tribes and even betweennations.
(12:33):
Egypt, where Israel had livedfor centuries, had a top-down
system where Pharaoh was seen asdivine.
So treaties or agreements weremore administrative and
unilateral, often demandingtotal allegiance without mutual
responsibility.
Egyptian oaths were sometimessealed by invoking the life of
(12:56):
the king or the gods, but therewas little emphasis on mutual
heart-level loyalty.
Meanwhile, the Canaanite peoplethose are, the people living in
the land that the Israeliteswere about to enter with their
pantheon of local gods alsoswore oaths in the name of their
deities, often mixing religiousritual with political deals.
(13:21):
And here's the reallyinteresting part we can relate
to.
Covenant breaking was common,especially when it served
personal or national gain.
Deception, manipulation andbreaking of agreements, like the
Gibeonite trickery check it outin Joshua 9, reflected a
broader cultural norm where thepromise of power or security or
(13:44):
prosperity often trumpedfaithfulness.
We can relate to this, can't we?
To the idea of leaders abusingpower and breaking promises, to
the idea of those in powersaying one thing and doing
another when it benefits thempersonally, or financially or
politically.
In contrast, israel'scovenantal system was one of a
(14:07):
kind.
Despite what was going on aroundthem, they were part of
something radically different,not because they were special or
righteous, but because theywere in covenant with the one
true God who bound himself tothem in loyal love, chesed, and
who reflected his characterthrough justice, mercy and that
(14:30):
steadfast love.
This is what set them apart.
Their God always perfectly keptall of his promises.
As Christians, as followers ofJesus, this is true for us too.
The God of Israel is the Godand Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Jesus and the Father are one.
(14:53):
If we are in Christ, by grace,through faith, we have obtained
access to this samepromise-keeping God.
But every single day, in dozensof circumstances, through
hundreds of thoughts that passthrough our minds and in ways we
aren't even always aware of, wecan think wrong thoughts about
(15:13):
God, and if these go uncheckedit can completely derail our
correct thinking about His truecharacter.
In this case, we end uptwisting the very nature of His
perfect promise-keeping.
Here are three examples of whatI mean that you might relate to
.
First, we can be mad at God forbreaking promises he never even
(15:37):
made.
We think suffering means he'simpotent.
If life is hard, we think he'sindifferent.
If we lack, we think he'sholding back from us cruelly.
How good can God be when lifeis one disappointment after
another?
But the problem is God neverpromised perfect health or
(15:58):
prosperity or ease.
We listen more to who the worldtells us God should be than who
God tells us he is.
In His Word we pridefully makeGod in our own image, telling
Him what he should do for us andwhen.
And if he doesn't, we abandonHim.
The Israelites had seen God movein power, but when they got
(16:21):
hungry or thirsty or afraid,what did they do?
They grumbled against God,attempting to redefine him,
instead of them seeing him asthe merciful, slow to anger,
abounding in steadfast love Godthat he is.
They allowed theircircumstances to cast Him as a
(16:41):
God who hated them and theyrewrote their epic story of
deliverance into a tragedy ofGod's cruel abandonment.
This is a place I've beenbefore.
Have you?
Sometimes?
My sentiment toward God is evenless about anger and more about
hurt.
I feel hurt by God.
(17:01):
I don't understand what he'sdoing and because I don't get it
, my heart hurts and I'm sad.
Have you ever felt that way?
Super confused by God, evenhurt by Him?
Second, we think wrongly aboutGod in that he will lie to us or
betray us or abandon us, likeothers have.
(17:24):
I have a sweet friend that I'vebeen having this conversation
with recently Because of some ofwhat she's experienced
throughout her life.
Trusting God with her heartfeels really scary.
People who should have lovedand treasured and valued her and
made her feel safe didn't, whenthat is what you've known for
(17:44):
the majority of your life oreven for any part of your life
in a relationship that matteredto you.
It is so easy to transfer thatfear onto God.
If everyone else has lied to me, why wouldn't God If others
have abandoned me?
It's just a matter of timeuntil God does too.
Third, we think God will notkeep his promises to us because
(18:06):
we have not kept our promises tohim, because we haven't
perfectly held up our perceivedend of the bargain.
We think all of God's promisesare null and void toward us, or
at least some of them, and bybargain I mean whatever
theological garbage we've triedto add on to grace.
(18:26):
By faith alone, we rewrite therules based on our conditional
understanding of contracts andlove.
The concept of someoneperfectly keeping their promises
toward us despite ourrepetitive failures baffles us,
and because we can't comprehendit, we dismiss it as impossible.
(18:47):
Ultimately, because of all this, we're scared.
He's not safe, and if we're notin the word, we're going to
keep on being scared.
Scared because we won't havethe foundational truth of who he
is.
To combat any of these lies, Ihave to tell you what just
happened to me today, lest youthink that I have it all
(19:10):
together over here.
I had a colossal meltdown, likeready to quit this entire
ministry, pack up the shop andgo home.
And I'll tell you why.
I really want to be able toconnect with the people that I'm
serving, and I'm struggling todo that.
I'm not having success throughmy emails or through my social
(19:33):
media, and so something I'd beenpraying about and looking into
for a long time was trying tocreate a community, somewhere
where people could engage andask questions and I could
provide resources and I couldencourage them to connect with
one another and all kinds ofcool things would happen.
And so I hadn't really found aplatform until recently, and
(19:53):
today I launched which I'm goingto talk a little bit more about
in a moment.
I launched this membershipcommunity and I sent the email
out and I made the post.
I was super excited about it,and hour after hour after hour
went by in the day and not asingle person joined the
community and I'm not sayingthis to guilt you into joining
(20:17):
the community.
So stick with me for a second,because the Lord had a lesson
for me in it.
But I all of a sudden just feltthis overwhelming attack but I
couldn't identify it as that inthe moment.
I felt this overwhelming shame.
I felt like a loser.
I felt rejected, I felt like afailure.
(20:38):
I felt like man, lord, I mustnot be who you want me to be or
be doing the things that youwant me to be doing, because I
just can't seem to make thiswork.
And I started going down thisrabbit hole of all the reasons
that this ministry is failingand I went out and started to
(21:01):
talk to my husband, texted mymom, texted Beverly, my buddy
and sister and partner in crimeand everything here abidable,
and got beautiful encouragementfrom all three of them, just
reminders of what is true, andit was helpful, and I know that
they were praying for me.
But I ended up coming back intomy office and closing the door
(21:22):
and just dropping my face on mydesk and just sobbing and in
that moment I was like you know,I know myself and I know that
when I feel like a failure,because performance has been
such a sin of mine performing toearn, performing to prove in
(21:47):
that moment I knew that therewas a path, a very familiar path
, that I could take, where Igive up or at least I disappear
for a while, believing that I'mworthless, I'm not offering
anything of value here, and atthe same time I'm sitting here
(22:09):
crying my eyes out and thinking,lord, what do I know to be true
of you?
I've been in your word for fouryears.
Know to be true of you?
I've been in your word for fouryears.
What do I know is true rightnow?
And in that still small voice,it's like I just availed myself
(22:30):
to him.
And in that still small voicehe asked me a question and he
said if I am your only reward,if this thing never grows, gets
big or whatever your definitionof success is, you know, if I am
your only reward, is thatenough?
And I knew the answer instantly.
My answer is yes, it is enough.
(22:51):
Because I serve Him, because heis worthy, because he has
poured out everything for me.
I will pour out everything forhim, regardless of how it
appears to be doing on thesurface.
And then he just reminded me ofall the beautiful things that
have happened and all theincredible feedback that I've
(23:11):
gotten from some of you, andsome of the very exciting things
that are happening in otherplaces through Abitable that
aren't even in my own state.
And I swear to you, it was likethis darkness, like a
thunderstorm, with lightning andrain, just dark heaviness had
come over me and then, asquickly as it had come, it was
(23:35):
gone and I felt the sun shiningon my face again.
And I tell you that storybecause I want you to know that
I'm just a girl in this fightwith you battling for what is
true, and when you know yourselfand you know your habits and
your patterns and your you knowI've said this before like I
(23:58):
know what I would normally do inmy flesh, and it would be to
hide and to quit and to stick myhead in the sand and to believe
all kinds of lies about notjust myself, but what's most
scary, lies about God.
And that question like what doI know about you?
What do I know right now,that's true about who you are
(24:22):
Literally turned it from a storminto sunshine.
And I'm not special, you guys,I'm.
Literally the only thing that Ihave in my hand as a weapon is
the Word of God, and this is whyI abide.
And it's just so happened thatright after that, I was on
Instagram and I saw this videofrom Jackie Hill Perry and she
(24:48):
was just in this moment that shewas sharing.
She was talking about Jesus inthe garden, just being
discouraged and tired and scaredand praying for the Lord to
take the cup from him, that itwould pass what he was about to
face and how hard and heavy itwas.
And what we know happened wasthat God sent an angel that
(25:12):
strengthened Jesus in thatmoment.
What he didn't give him wasease.
He gave him more strength.
That's what happened to metoday too.
Not in the same capacity in anyway, shape or form, clearly,
but just that God gave mestrength to not quit and to
(25:32):
remember who he is, that he issovereign, that he is in control
, that every word that comesfrom his mouth and and that,
ultimately, he is my reward andthat's who I'm working for.
And he, just like, helped fixmy eyes on Him, gave me the
strength to suck it up, to stopnavel-gazing, to remember it's
not about me and to keep going.
(25:55):
And I just wanted to share thatwith you guys today, because I
wanted to ask you if somethingdoesn't go how you want it to do
you worry that God isn't safe,that he like a strange thing to
ask, doesn't it?
Especially when scripture isfull of imagery about God being
(26:23):
our refuge, our fortress and ourhiding place?
Psalm 18 says the Lord is myrock and my fortress and my
deliverer, my shield and thehorn of my salvation, my
stronghold.
That sounds safe.
And yet I also think about thatfamous moment in the Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe, when MrBeaver is telling the children
(26:46):
about Aslan.
Susan asks is he quite safe?
And Mr Beaver replies safe.
Who said anything about safe?
Of course he isn't safe, buthe's good.
He's the king, I tell you.
And somehow that resonates,because what Mr Beaver is
(27:08):
getting at is that Aslan, justlike our God, isn't tame.
He's not predictable, hedoesn't follow our timelines or
our formulas.
Predictable he doesn't followour timelines or our formulas.
He has power beyond what we cangrasp.
He allows things we wouldn'tchoose, but he is always and
unquestionably good.
(27:29):
And it's that goodness, not theabsence of pain, not the
predictability of outcomes, thatmakes him trustworthy.
So is God safe?
If by safe we mean soft ormanageable or explainable, no.
But if we mean secure, sure,dependable, a place to rest your
(27:55):
whole soul without fear ofbetrayal, then yes, absolutely.
And that's what I want toexplore with you how the Word of
God anchors us in that truththat he is who he says he is,
that he keeps His promises andthat the more we know Him
(28:16):
through Scripture, the moreunshakable our trust becomes,
even when nothing else feelssafe.
So let's go to the Word againand we will.
Right after this crazy, excitingannouncement, don't skip this.
I think you're going to want tohear this.
(28:37):
Skip this.
I think you're going to want tohear this.
I am so excited to finally tellyou that Abitable Plus is here.
This brand new membershipcommunity even though it might
just be you and me is officiallylive, and this is your personal
invitation to be a part of it.
You can access everythingthrough the free Buy Me A Coffee
app.
(28:57):
It's super clean, easy to useand, honestly, is the perfect
alternative to mindlessscrolling on social media.
Why waste another 10 minutes onsocial media when you could
spend it being filled up byGod's Word and encouraged by our
community?
When you become a member,you'll get access to podcast
(29:18):
transcripts, bonus content likethe PDF of the Promises Made and
Promises Kept list that Ishared at the beginning of this
episode, with the versesreferenced, behind the scenes
posts, discounts, sneak peeks ofnew launches and even direct
voice message updates from me.
It's all designed to help yougo deeper in your walk with
(29:40):
Jesus, and to do it with peoplewho love Him too.
You are so wanted here, notjust because I desire to serve
you with this content, butbecause you have something to
offer this community too.
Just tap the link in the showdescription.
You can learn about the monthlypricing.
Download the app and come joinus.
Let's redeem our scrollingtogether.
(30:04):
And now back to the show.
We've established that we needto go to the Word to get an
accurate picture of God'sfaithfulness, and surely there
must be some people in the Wordwho model what it looks like to
trust God as a promise keeper.
Right Today's verse names a fewAbraham, isaac and Jacob.
(30:28):
And then, standing just outsidethe verse because he's the
author we have Moses, and thenalso Joshua, the one who would
eventually lead Israel into thevery promised land being spoken
of.
Surely these are the spiritualgiants.
Surely they never doubted God'strustworthiness.
(30:49):
Surely they always trusted thatif God swore something, it
would come to pass.
But here's the twist Every oneof them stumbled when it came to
trusting God's promises.
Abraham lied about his wifeSarah being his sister because
he didn't trust God to protecthis life from the Egyptians, and
(31:11):
then later laughed at God whenhe was told he would have a son.
In his old age, isaac repeatedhis father's pattern of fear,
lying about his wife.
To protect himself, jacobgrasped for the blessing,
deceiving and manipulating hisway into what God had already
(31:31):
promised.
Moses, overwhelmed byfrustration, struck the rock
instead of speaking to it and indoing so misrepresented God.
Joshua charged into battle withthe Gibeonites without ever
stopping to ask God what to do.
Each one of them got it wrong,but that's not the end of their
(31:54):
story, because after thosefailures, each of them kept
walking with God, and as theydid, they came to know Him more
intimately, and that's whatchanged them.
Abraham, after years of walkingwith the Lord, came to a moment
where he was willing tosacrifice the very son he once
(32:16):
doubted he would receive,because he believed that God
would keep his promise, even ifit meant raising Isaac from the
dead.
Isaac, the one who had lied outof fear, came to bless Jacob
with full trust in the covenantGod had made with Abraham and
named God's promises as theinheritance.
(32:38):
Jacob the deceiver becameIsrael, a man who wrestled with
God face to face, and by the endof his life he blessed his sons
while leaning on his staff inworship.
Moses, after failure, still metwith God face to face, as a man
speaks with his friend.
(32:59):
Joshua, after learning theconsequences of going without
God, became the one who stoodbefore the people and declared
as for me and my house, we willserve the Lord.
The shift wasn't in what theyknew about God, it was in how
well they came to know Him.
(33:20):
And that didn't happenovernight.
It happened over years ofwalking, failing, hearing his
voice being corrected, restoredand loved.
The steadfast trust they grewinto was forged through personal
relationship, not secondhandknowledge.
(33:41):
So if you feel like you'restill stumbling to trust God,
you are not disqualified.
You are in good company andyou're just in the middle of
your story.
Keep going, keep showing up.
You're not behind.
You're being formed.
(34:03):
Lean in for this part, okay.
Where even the best of men failto fully trust God, jesus never
did.
He is the greater Abraham, notjust a man who left his homeland
in obedience, but the one wholeft the glory of heaven to
enter our broken world andfulfill every promise of God.
(34:27):
Where Abraham faltered andlaughed at the seeming
impossibility of God's plan,jesus trusted fully, even when
it led him to death.
He is the greater Isaac, notmerely a beloved son laid on the
altar, but the son whowillingly gave himself as the
(34:49):
sacrifice.
Isaac asked where is the lamb?
Jesus was the lamb, the one whotrusted the father enough to be
pierced for our transgressions.
He is the greater Jacob whodidn't have to lie.
He is the greater Jacob whodidn't have to lie, manipulate
(35:09):
or strive for blessing, becauseall authority and inheritance
belonged to him and, instead ofstealing the birthright, he
shared it with us, making usheirs through his blood.
He is the greater Moses, notkept from the promised land for
striking the rock, but struckhimself, becoming the rock of
(35:31):
our salvation.
He not only led the people outof bondage, but brought us out
of sin and death, forever,fulfilling the law he himself
gave.
Fulfilling the law he himselfgave.
And he is the greater Joshua,not just a courageous leader who
(35:51):
led people into a physicalinheritance, but the one who
leads us into eternal rest.
Jesus didn't just fight theenemies of God's people with a
sword.
He conquered sin, satan anddeath by laying his life down.
And here's the good news Jesus'perfect trust is credited to us.
(36:14):
His record becomes ours.
Our response to histrustworthiness doesn't affect
whether or not he is trustworthy.
He is Always.
God's promises don't hang inthe balance of our belief.
He will do all he has said.
(36:34):
He has already done whatmattered most.
But this is also the power ofthe gospel Not just that God is
faithful despite our unbelief,but that he is so kind as to
transform us into people whotrust him.
The more we know Jesus not justfacts about him, but truly know
(36:57):
him personally the more ourunbelief begins to die, the more
we live like people who haveseen the risen Christ and are
sure he keeps every word hespeaks.
This is how we become people offaith not by trying harder, but
by staying close to the One whonever fails to believe the
(37:21):
Father, who always obeyed andwho lives in us by His Spirit.
God doesn't need your trust tokeep His promises, but he will
graciously grow your trustthrough them.
Here's the big idea Even when Idon't trust God at His word, he
(37:43):
is still faithful to it.
Trust God at His word he isstill faithful to it, and I
still get Christ's perfectrecord of trust in the Father.
What God promised to Israel asthey entered the land is a
beautiful shadow of what he nowfulfills for us in Christ.
Let's not miss that ourfaithful, though imperfect,
(38:03):
moses was not allowed to enterthe promised land.
Because of his disobedience andunbelief in striking the rock,
which we'll delve into a littlemore next week I shouldn't be
allowed in the promised land.
I struggle with that sameunbelief and disobedience and
yet, because of Christ, I'll notjust be allowed in, but
(38:27):
welcomed in.
Does that not blow your mind?
I'm struck by the parallelsbetween Deuteronomy 6.10 and the
gospel promises we have asbelievers today.
Let me close with a few of them.
Here's our verse again,deuteronomy 6.10, and when the
Lord, your God, brings you intothe land that he swore to your
(38:50):
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaacand to Jacob, to give you.
Israel's story was one of beingbrought out of Egypt, out of
slavery, out of oppression, intoa land.
They didn't earn a place ofpromise, provision and peace.
They inherited a physical land.
(39:11):
We inherit a spiritual kingdom.
They were brought out ofslavery to Pharaoh.
We were brought out of slaveryto sin.
God kept his promise to givethem a land and in Christ, he
keeps His promise to give uslife.
Let's do a few, then versus now, from scripture to show how God
(39:34):
keeps His promises to not onlyIsrael back then, but to us in
2025.
Then God promised to bring themout of Egypt.
I am the Lord, and I will bringyou out from under the burdens
of the Egyptians.
Exodus 6.6.
Verses now God has brought usout of sin and death.
(39:56):
He has delivered us from thedomain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom ofHis beloved Son.
Colossians 1.13.
Here's another.
Then God promised them a landthey didn't build, with cities,
homes and vineyards alreadyprepared.
That's Deuteronomy 6, 10, and11.
(40:17):
Verses now God gives us arighteousness we didn't earn and
a place in his family we didn'tconstruct.
By grace you have been savedthrough faith, not your own
doing.
It is the gift of God.
That's Ephesians 2, 8-9.
Here's another.
Then God promised to drive outtheir enemies, not all at once,
(40:41):
but step by step.
That's Exodus 23, 30 andDeuteronomy 7 22.
Verses now God promises tosanctify us, to drive out the
idols and sins that have ruledus little by little, day by day.
Colossians 3 5 says put todeath, therefore, what is
(41:03):
earthly in you and Philippians.
Then the promised land was aplace of rest from war and
wandering.
You can see that in Joshua21.44.
Verses now Jesus is ourpromised rest, our Sabbath, our
(41:24):
peace, our home.
Matthew 11, 28,.
Come to me and I will give yourest.
In Hebrews 4, 9, there remainsa Sabbath rest for the people of
God.
Then God promised to be presenta cloud by day, a fire by night
and a tabernacle in their midst.
Exodus 13, 21, and Leviticus26.12.
(41:48):
Verses now he promises HisSpirit will dwell in us, not
near us in us.
1 Corinthians 6.19,.
You are the temple of the HolySpirit.
In Matthew 28.20,.
I will be with you always.
In Matthew 28, 20, I will bewith you always.
(42:10):
Here's one more Then the landflowed with milk and honey.
Symbols of abundance.
That's Exodus 3, 8.
Verses now Christ offers usliving water and true abundance,
a life rooted in him,overflowing with peace, joy and
purpose.
Him overflowing with peace, joyand purpose.
John 10.10,.
I came that they may have lifeand have it abundantly.
(42:31):
The promises of God to Israelwere good, but they were shadows
of something even greater InChrist.
We are not just brought into aland, we are brought into a
kingdom.
We are not just given cities wedidn't build.
We are given a righteousness wedidn't earn.
We are not just promised landthat satisfies for a lifetime,
(42:54):
we are promised life thatsatisfies for eternity.
And just as God fulfilled everyword he spoke to Israel.
He will fulfill every word hehas spoken to you Joshua 21, 45,
.
Not one word of all the goodpromises that the Lord had made
(43:15):
to the house of Israel hadfailed.
All came to pass.
God was to be remembered as theGod of their fathers, not
because their fathers wereperfect, but because God was His
.
Promises to Abraham, isaac andJacob weren't sentimental
gestures.
They were hard core evidencethat God keeps his word, no
(43:38):
matter how much time passes orhow often we fail.
And now, standing on the edgeof the land, moses is reminding
the people.
God has not forgotten you.
He is fulfilling what he saidlong before you were even born.
This is still who he is for us,and yet, as we talked about at
(44:01):
the beginning, we often struggleto believe it.
We fear that he might not besafe.
We quietly wonder if he willstill be faithful when we
haven't been.
We brace ourselves for theletdown, expecting him to
disappoint us the way othershave.
It's hard not to project thebroken promises of people onto a
(44:21):
God we cannot see, but Jesus isthe proof we've been looking
for.
He is the greater Abraham, whoobeyed without faltering.
The greater Isaac who laidhimself down in trust the
greater Jacob, who wrestled andprevailed and now shares his
inheritance with us.
The greater Moses, who speakswith God face to face.
(44:45):
And the greater Joshua, wholeads us into the true and final
promised land In Christ.
Every one of God's promises isyes and amen, not just to our
ancestors but to us.
Over and over and over.
God called himself the God ofyour fathers, anchoring the
(45:08):
Israelites' trust not in thepresent moment, but in his
unchanging character acrossgenerations.
This would become one of themost repeated phrases in
scripture the Lord, the God ofyour fathers, the God of Abraham
, of Isaac and of Jacob.
For Moses and the Israelites,this meant their obedience
(45:32):
wasn't rooted in fear or rulefollowing, but in trusting the
same God who had made impossiblepromises to their ancestors and
kept every single one.
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who would beblessed by what you just heard,
(45:52):
please share the AbitablePodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
buying us a coffee one time orby becoming a member or a
monthly supporter.
For those of you followingalong in the workbook, go ahead
(46:15):
and begin working on Deuteronomy6, 11 and 12 on pages 44 to 51
in your study workbook.
We're combining these verseswith the end of verse 11 because
they're all related in abeautiful way.
Ideally, you would have thissection done before you listen
to the next episode, number 63,titled you Are Not the Hero of
(46:38):
the Story.
Next week on the podcast, we'llwalk into the land of promise
great cities, full homes,abundant provision, all things
Israel didn't earn.
In this next chunk of scripture, moses paints a vibrant picture
of what's ahead.
Then he issues a sober warningtake care lest you forget the
(47:00):
Lord.
This episode will explore thesubtle danger of pride when life
is full, the deep mercy behindGod's generous provision and the
human tendency to claim whatonly he can give.
Moses is clear that this is aland with great and good cities
that you did not build andhouses full of all good things
(47:22):
that you did not fill, andcisterns that you did not dig,
and vineyards and olive treesthat you did not plant.
And then Moses says and whenyou eat and are full, then take
care lest you forget the Lordwho brought you out of the house
of slavery.
Next week, we'll also wrestlewith a hard question why did God
(47:45):
give Israel land alreadyinhabited by others, and what,
if anything, does this have todo with the battle for land in
that same region?
Today, it will be a conversationabout memory, mercy and the
temptation to make ourselves thehero of the story.
I'll pray for us and then closeus out with our memory work for
(48:05):
verse 10.
Lord, you are the God ofAbraham, isaac and Jacob, and
you are our God too.
You made promises long beforewe even knew to hope for them,
and you have never once failed.
Forgive us, father, for theways we've doubted you, for
projecting the pain of brokenhuman promises onto your
(48:29):
unshakable faithfulness.
Forgive us for bracing fordisappointment when you are the
God who delights to fulfillJesus.
Thank you for showing us whattrue trust looks like.
You obeyed in every place wherewe fall short.
You were faithful when we werenot.
You offered yourself up so thatwe could be called sons and
(48:53):
daughters, heirs to promisesthat cannot be revoked.
Spirit, help us believe it.
Help us remember that you arenot waiting for our perfection,
but walking us toward yourpromises, step by step, day by
day.
Teach us to trust you.
Teach us to walk forward, notin fear but in confidence, not
(49:18):
in doubt but in hope, not asslaves but as beloved children.
As slaves but as belovedchildren, welcomed into land
that we did not earn, becauseyou are the God who gives and
gives and gives, amen.
Let's close by doing our memorywork together.
(49:51):
I'm going to repeat all ofDeuteronomy, 6, 10, five times.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself, 10, 5 times
.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself not build.
And when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
(50:19):
to give you with great and goodcities that you did not build,
and when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,
to give you with great and goodcities that you did not build,
and when the Lord, your God,brings you into the land that he
swore to your fathers, toAbraham, to Isaac and to Jacob
(50:40):
Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob togive you with great and good
cities that you did not build,and when the Lord, your God,
brings you into the land that heswore to your fathers, to
(51:03):
Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob,to give you with great and good
cities that you did not build.
Deuteronomy 6.10.
Remember, you are able to abidein the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
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