Deuteronomy 9:1

Deuteronomy 9:1 says, Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,  Moses told the people of Israel that they were to cross over the Jordan that day to go and possess a land that was full of nations greater than them and filled with cities with walls that were very high.  We as followers of Christ need to always look to God for victory in our battle with the world today and never view the world as too powerful for us to overcome.  Verse two adds, A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!   Moses warned them that the land was full of giants, but they were not to let this dishearten them.  When we see giant obstacles in the world today as followers of Christ, we should never allow them to discourage us, but we need to simply continue to look to God for the victory,  Verse three  continues, Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.  Moses said that God would go before them to bring down all their enemies so that they could destroy them.  As Christians, Jesus Christ has gone before us to defeat all our enemies spiritually, and all we have to do is live by faith in Him.  Verse four states, Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.  Moses warned the people of Israel not to begin to think that it was because of their spiritual superiority over other nations that they were victorious.  They would be victorious because of Who their God was and not because they were inherently better than the people of other nations.  We as Christians in America can never believe that we are somehow morally superior to people in other nations simply because we were born here.  Verse five adds, Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Moses said that the people of Israel would not be successful because of their righteousness, but that they would be successful because of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We today are not specifically successful because of our own righteousness, but are successful because of God's promise to restore mankind to Himself by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ Who paid the penalty for our sins.  Verse six continues, Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.  Moses further warned them to not think that God gave them the land because of their righteousness, because they were a stiffnecked people.  We will never have salvation because of our own righteousness, because at some point in life we were a stiffnecked person who did not put their faith in Jesus Christ.  As followers of Christ, we are simply a sinner saved by grace, no better than any other.