Friday, November 8: Deuteronomy 16- Keeping God central in life .

Three feasts with the Lord at their core. Three different celebrations of God’s goodness, provision and deliverance. With each one, people were to travel to the place where the Lord would put His name.

Passover, remembering God’s deliverance. Weeks, celebrating God’s provision. Tabernacles remembering God’s protection. God was the core of their personal and corporate life and these feasts, plus the travel to and from the central place, all reinforced God’s centrality in their lives.

The question slides into my mind, “Lord, how do I keep You central in my life?”

What a wonderful question to ponder this day… keeping God central… keeping God at my core… remembering the Lord… who He is and all He has done…

Lord, time ticks because You created it. Days, seasons, years, they are all Your invention. Life itself, from the sub-cellular to the macro, are Your creation. You are over all and in all and through all, the creed reminds us. Nothing would be if it were not for You.

We should naturally keep You central to life, and yet we don’t. Sin has veiled my (our) heart. I ask for forgiveness, for substituting anything for You.

Lord, outside my window, light is just brightening the sky and the features of my yard are beginning to be visible, imperfectly, but yet their features are emerging from the blackness of night. Lord, please cause the eyes of my heart to see you today. Show me Yourself, unveil even for a moment the eyes of my Heart that I might worship You.

Through my Savior Jesus, I pray. Amen.

 

Thursday, November 7: Deuteronomy 15- Provision for the people.

From the get go, this chapter is challenging me in regard to my generosity toward people in need. The overall sense of the opening 2 paragraphs is that if the people were faithful, God would provide enough for all Israel to live and not be poor. At the same time, some brothers/sisters may be poor. Thus those with more than enough should give (lend, but with a clear understanding that in the 7^th year debts are canceled) freely and good heartedly to those in need. The NIV uses the words openhanded and freely to describe the kind of giving God enjoins. God would provide enough for all, but God’s distribution plan is that those with plenty will give (lend) to those without. In other words, people on top of the ‘have’ pyramid need to be generous so that all people in the pyramid have what they need.

And this is precisely the rub… world-wise, I am on the top…

Oh, God, am I being faithful in my care for those brothers of mine in need? Even as I begin this prayer, Matthew 25 fills my mind. Pictures of children I have seen and met in Nigeria, Nicaragua, Liberia, and  Mexico fill my thoughts. Missionaries I know are serving without being fully funded. People in my church don’t have good or enough food.

Oh, Lord, blast away the hardness of my heart, my Sinicism, my fear of giving…

Through Jesus, my Lord, who gave EVERYTHING… I pray. Amen.

 

Wednesday, November 6: Deuteronomy 14- Living Differently.

I found myself contemplating verse 2: for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

I started with the phrase you are a people holy to the Lord. God was directing them to live in a way that was different and distinct from the other peoples around them. Some of the rules God set before them had a health or hygienic backing but others seem simply to create a distinction with the peoples around them. Peruse the list of clean and unclean animals. Is there really a health reason to not eat pig? I don’t think so.

Another case is road kill (see verse 21). God’s reason doesn’t seem to be health or hygienic. If the reason was health or hygienic, why would God allow Israel to give it and or sell it to foreigners or aliens living in their towns?

No, it seems that God was making a distinction for Israel, different rules for them to show that they are different and distinct from other peoples.

My mind played with this thought. Why did God want the distinction? Could it be that in living differently Israel’s neighbors might see the difference and then ask them, “Why do you live like this?”

To which Israel could respond with a declaration about the Lord, their God. Thus an opportunity to share the Lord with others is created!

From its inception, Israel was to be a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:3). What a thought… Israel’s holiness to the Lord as an opening to witness and sharing of God’s greatness!!!

As Christ-followers we called to live differently from the general population. Maybe the way I love others or handle my finances or spend my weekends (keeping Sabbath) are injunctions from the Lord, in part, so that I live differently. And maybe, just maybe, my living differently will open doors to sharing Whom I follow and why…

What a thought…

Lord, my heart is drawn to praise You for Who You are. The wonder of Your name. Your amazing majesty. You are Creator and Sustainer… You deserve my praise simply because You are! Praise to You, Lord God.

I pray for the Holy Spirit unction to sense open doors to share who You are with others I meet. Through Jesus and for Your glory, I pray. Amen.

 

Tuesday, November 5: Deuteronomy 13- Faithfulness to the Lord.

Moses has one thought in mind as he delivered this word, absolute faithfulness to the Lord. No turning toward other gods. He uses 3 illustrations to drive home his point.

A prophet who foretells accurately some miraculous sign but then tries to lead people to a god other than the Lord. Do not trust this prophet even though his miraculous sign happens! Do not stray from the Lord.

A loved one or close friend who invites you to follow any god other than the Lord. Do not trust them and do not stray from the Lord.

An entire town decides to follow some other god and they invite you to join them. Do not join then, do not stray from the Lord.

So how does one safeguard him/herself from straying after other gods? Each person must know the Lord; then you will know if someone is trying to steer you toward some other god.

For me, knowing God’s Word, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is paramount. Prophetic people, loved ones, even groups of people can be wrong. They can intentionally try to lure me away from God, but when I possess a good knowledge of The Word, I can ‘smell a rat’ when they begin luring me.

For me, knowing the Word well, spending time in the Word, and seeking to grow closer to the Lord regularly are the best safeguards from being lured away from the Lord.

How about you? How do you safeguard your walk with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, protecting yourself from the lure of false gods?

Lord, to You I pledge my life, my will, my all… Amen.

 

 

Monday, November 4: Deuteronomy 12- On-going presence.

 

God promises a place of His presence throughout this chapter. In the new land, God will establish His place. There and there only were Israelites to offer tithes, sacrifices and make their sacred vows. There and only there!

Like the tabernacle among the traveling Israelites, this place would be God’s holy space among His people.

Before God would show the place for His presence, the Israelites were to destroy and remove all remnants of the gods of the nations they were expelling from the land (1-3).

I found it interesting that Israel was to ‘cleanse’ the land and as they did they were to seek the Lord regarding the place He would choose for His dwelling place. Israel was also told not to inquire about those foreign gods, not to dabble with or seek them, ever.

Their God, our God, is a jealous God. He sets the rules. And God does not tolerate competition for our loyalty.

I began to ask myself, “Do I allow the gods of my world, materialism, independence, money/security, self-reliance, etc., to gain a foothold in my thinking and in my living?”

God gave Israel His on-going presence.  In Christ we have God’s presence, too. But now in Christ, it is not a temple or physical place, it is God, the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, and is always with us. I can worship God at any moment, in any place, because God is with me…

Oh, Blessed Lord, I worship You right now. I praise Your greatness, God above all gods. I recall Your deeds of salvation, both the OT acts of deliverance and Jesus offering His life for me. I marvel at Your creations. Light is dawning and nature in all Your beauty is rising out of the darkness before my eyes.

Praise be to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Saturday, November 2: Deuteronomy 11- How is faith passed along?.

How is faith passed along?

On the one hand, faith is always lived in the present tense. On the other, key events of the faith happened in the past.

For Israel, poised to cross the Jordan, the chapter begins recognizing that the children were not present when God did his great saving acts of the exodus. Moses acknowledged this in verses 2-6: Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm…  Then he concludes like this. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done (7).

In reality only Moses, Caleb and Joshua actually saw those events. Everyone else in that generation died in the wilderness. And yet, the forefathers had passed on the truth and experience of those events such that their children lived as if they lived through them personally.

And now standing on the verge of the Jordan, Moses was reminding them to pass along the truth to their children as their parents had passed it along to them.

This must be done with and for every generation.

In verse 19 Moses gives part of the how to transfer faith from one generation to the next. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. It is easy to focus on the word ‘teach’ and miss the rest. Teaching here is not merely the impartation of knowledge and facts.  It is the living of life in light of those facts, in such a way that faith is seen in you morning, noon and night. When you sit, and walk, and lie down and get up…

The transfer of living faith occurs throughout the day in any and every occasion…

Am I living in such a way that any moment and every moment could be a teachable moment about the God I serve….His love, His acts, His deeds?

This requires more thought…

Lord, may I live as if I witnessed Christ’s life, death and Resurrection first hand. May what Jesus did, centuries ago, so fill me that I live as if I were there… as if I saw Jesus heal, heard Jesus teach and I felt His embrace following the Resurrection. I pray this through the name of my Risen Savior, Jesus. Amen.

 

Friday, November 1: Deuteronomy 10- A good day with the Lord.

I had a few moments of thought as I read today.

First, I realized that it is good to pause occasionally and remember the deeds of the Lord and where he has taken me throughout life so far. Reminding myself of God’s care and leading in days past is an encouragement for the days still to come.

In verse 10, it struck me that Moses told the people, Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and the LORD listened to me at this time also. The first time Moses was on the mountain he listened. I’m guessing he was in awe and filled with wonder. This time he spoke and the LORD listened to him. Moses and the Lord had direct communication. That blows me away! It also helped me to realize that our relationship with God grows and God invites us into closer communion as we can handle it.

I found in verse 12 a helpful summary of the life of faith. I made note of the descriptive verbs God used…

Fear the LORD

Walk in all His ways

Love Him

Serve Him

Observe the LORD's Commands

I am helped by summary statements like verse 12-13.

I found myself rolling these three thoughts over and over.

I hope you had a good day in God’s Word, too. Did He show you other things?

Lord, thank You for taking time to meet with me today. I pray that my thoughts and time with You this morning will prepare me for this day in order to live faithfully for You all day. Bless You, Lord. Talk with You soon. Amen.