The Desert can be beautiful

Surprisingly full of life

Unless you’re in one…

Then it can be scary

Really scary

And deadly

Life in the Desert: A Biblical look at how we get in the Desert, and how to get out

Desert Longings DAVID

Psalm 63 1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

What brings us to the desert?

Sometimes, our wrong behavior

Jeremiah 17 Trusting in Man instead of God 5 This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

Hosea 2 Attributing to others what God provided 5 Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.' 8 She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold — which they used for Baal.

Hosea 2 God’s response? Shame 3 Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst. 8 She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold — which they used for Baal.

Hosea 2 No sense of God’s love 4 I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery.

Hosea 2 Success blocked 6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.

Deut. 28 Repeated warnings

Has God been warning you about anything lately?

Sometimes, our classroom is the desert

Deuteronomy 8 We learn about ourselves 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

Deuteronomy 8 We learn to wait for God’s provision 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

Deuteronomy 8 We learn to wait for His protection 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.

Deuteronomy 8 We learn to trust and obey Him as Father 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.

Deuteronomy 8 We learn handle prosperity 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land —a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

Deuteronomy 8 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Deuteronomy 8 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Deuteronomy 8 17You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

The desert prepares us for ministry

Matthew 3 Desert before Ministry in Jesus’ life 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 3 Practiced the Spiritual Disciplines 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Matthew 3 Tempted to abandon the Spiritual Disciplines 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Matthew 3 Perspective came with God’s word 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "

Fruit of the desert John 5: 19 The Son does nothing by Himself John 6:57 The Son lives because of God John 7:16 The Son’s teaching is not His own John 8:28 The Son speaks only what the Father taught Him

How to Leave the desert

Figure out how we got there

Wrong actions? Repent

In class? Learn the lessons

Watch out for the Enemy

Wait on God Matt.4:11 Matt.4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.