In this message, Pastor Matt explains two ways God strengthens our hearts that we might bear the good fruit of faith and godliness. 1. God strengthens our hearts by the promises of his Word 2. God strengthens our hearts by his constant faithfulness
One idea I consistently return to in my life is this: Why do we make the decisions we do? Why do I choose this over that? And even more pointedly—why do I sometimes act so beastly? There are moments when I instantly know I’ve chosen something monumentally stupid. I recognize it the second I do it, and I think, Why? If I could just think one moment ahead, I wouldn’t do this.
A couple of weeks ago we were doing family worship. We had just finished, and something happened—I was upset with my wife about something (that was actually my fault). Then one of the kids did something, and right after reading the Bible, I slammed it down hard on the lampstand table in our living room. Immediately I thought, Why did I just do that? I had just treated God’s Word—something that should be handled with the deepest respect—with anger and disrespect. It was like Moses smashing the tablets of the Ten Commandments, except far less justified, because I was in the wrong. It would be as if Moses, after already getting in trouble for striking the rock, went and smashed the tablets too. Why do I act in ways that contradict what I’ve decided to do? Why am I driven in those moments by instinct, emotion, and impulses that override my conscious thought?
This is a lot like New Year’s resolutions. Most of them fail—not because the goals are bad. Reading the Bible more, spending less time on your phone, exercising, eating healthier—these are all good ideas. We usually believe in them when we make them. They fail because we’re driven by deeper forces beneath the surface.
Picture this: You decide, “I’m not going to overeat on all these Christmas sweets.” But then evening comes, you feel sad or distracted, and before long you’ve eaten half a box of chocolates. You feel sick almost instantly and think, Why in the world did I do that? I just told myself not to! Yet here we are again.
Why do so many of our plans, intentions, and conscious goals fail? (Maybe I should have waited two weeks to preach this—after everyone has already fallen off—but right now you’re all thinking, “I’ve kept every resolution this year!”)
This brings us to our new sermon series: We are beginning the book of Deuteronomy.
Your first question might be, “Where is this book, and why haven’t I heard much about it?” It’s the fifth book of the Bible, the last of the five books of Moses. Deuteronomy is essentially Moses’s final speech before he dies—his last will and testament. He begins speaking on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year. In about forty days Joshua will lead the people into the land, followed by thirty days of mourning for Moses. This is Moses’s mature reflection on God’s work, His law, and what it means as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.
The name “Deuteronomy” comes from Greek: deuteros (second) + nomos (law)—“second law.” It’s a kind of recap and restatement of the law, including the Ten Commandments given a second time.
Deuteronomy is surprisingly important. It is the third most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament (after Psalms and Isaiah) and the second most quoted by Jesus Himself (at least ten direct quotations). This book sets the standard for the rest of the Old Testament: kings and judges are measured against it, prophets call Israel back to it, and even Revelation echoes its blessings and curses.
So Deuteronomy is a kind of lynchpin in Scripture. Understanding it opens the door to much of God’s covenant dealings with His people.
We began today by asking why our plans fail. Deuteronomy opens with Moses recalling a massive failure from 38 years earlier, when Israel stood at the edge of the Promised Land at Kadesh Barnea and refused to enter.
Moses reminds them:
“See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deut. 1:20–21)
But then comes the heartbreaking summary:
“Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God.” (Deut. 1:26)
They failed to follow through. This connects directly to our own lives. We often blame the plan (“I need a new diet, a new technique, a new app…”), but very often the plan isn’t the problem. The failure comes from deeper things in the heart.
We shouldn’t think of ourselves as machines or widgets that just need a new part or better instructions. We’re more like plants. You don’t fix a struggling plant by swapping out components—you care for it with water, light, time, and attention.
Jesus uses this organic picture Himself:
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit… The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43–45)
We don’t do bad things and then become bad. We do bad things because something is already wrong deep inside. The question isn’t “How do I get better fruit from this bramble bush?” It’s “How do I become a better tree?”
Israel ultimately failed because their hearts were hard. The great promise of the new covenant in Christ is a new heart—a soft heart of flesh that can love and follow God’s law because it is written within us.
We don’t just need a little fertilizer or better technique. If the tree is dead, you need a chainsaw, a new planting, and new life. That’s what Jesus offers: He takes out the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh. And we need this life not just once, but day by day. Jesus says:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Every good fruit, every victory over sin, every act of obedience comes through abiding in Christ.
In Deuteronomy 1, we see specific wrong beliefs about God that led Israel to fail. In verse 27 they said:
“Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of Egypt to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us.”
They believed God was against them. This is the same lie Satan loves to whisper in our trials: “God doesn’t care. He’s forgotten you. He hates you.”
But God’s actions in the wilderness tell the opposite story: He gave them hunger so He could feed them with manna. Thirst so He could bring water from the rock. Giants and fortified cities so He could display His power and receive their praise.
What you believe deep down about God—your practical theology—matters most in the moment of decision.
God strengthens our hearts in two key ways:
- Through the promises of His Word
Moses says, “The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt.” (Deut. 1:30)
God’s promises are light for our leaves—day by day they strengthen us so we can stand in trial. - Through constant faithfulness and thanksgiving
“In the wilderness… you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.” (Deut. 1:31)
God carried them tenderly the whole way. Yet they grumbled constantly. They trained their hearts in complaint instead of gratitude.
Thanksgiving is like fertilizer for the roots. When we train ourselves to thank God in every circumstance—to remember the thousand blessings alongside the one or two burdens—our instincts change. In the moment of trial, we remember: God loves me. He has carried me all this way.
Caleb is the beautiful exception: “He wholly followed the Lord.” Because of his faith, he and his descendants would inherit the land he walked on. In the same way, Christ has walked the path of obedience perfectly, and through Him we inherit everything—earth and heaven.
As we begin 2026, let’s think long-term. What kind of person do I want to be in 2066? What kind of church do we want Valley Alliance to be?
A strong, vibrant, growing people who seek the light of God’s Word and the fertilizer of His promises and thanksgiving—so that we grow deep roots, strong character, and the practical theology to choose rightly, moment by moment.
Without Christ we are dead trees, fit only for firewood.
But in Him we become new plants, full of life and potential.
He gives us His Word as light, His faithfulness as nourishment, and the call to respond with constant thanksgiving.
Let’s pray.
Lord, forgive us for every time we’ve reached for a quick fix when we needed to reach for You. Thank You for Your constant presence. Thank You for Your Word and its precious promises. Thank You that day by day You have shown up, shown Your power, and remained faithful. Shine Your light into us. Grow our faith, day by day, in You. Thank You, thank You, our great and gracious God. Amen.