Thursday, October 31: Deuteronomy 9- Recognize who you were.

As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of God’s pounding. Reminding Israel who they were, a stiff-necked rebellious people. I felt like a defendant standing before the Judge right before sentencing. “Mr. Israel you have been convicted of the following crimes.” Then the Judge begins reading the list of crimes.

It was painful as I stood and listened to God’s crime list against Israel. I knew a list could easily be drafted for me as well.

Guilty. Israel and I are guilty.

Then I remembered Israel was standing on the plains opposite the Promised Land. As guilty as they were, they were about to inherit God’s promise and march out under God’s protection.

This was not a sentencing hearing. The Judge was not going to throw the book at them. Instead this was a probate hearing and the Judge was about to award them the inheritance of a prized and loved Son!

Israel and I may be guilty but we were also loved. And love covers a multitude of sins (1Peter 4:8, see also Proverbs 10:12)!

My mind flashed through numerous NT passages where similar pictures were painted of we who are being saved.

For example, Ephesians 2:1-5 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live …. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts…. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.

Recognize who you were, relish in your salvation and rejoice because in Christ you no longer have to live as you used to live! This is what I heard from the Lord in my time with Him today.

Recognize who you were, relish in your salvation and rejoice

because in Christ you no longer have to live as you used to live!

Oh, God, I sit awed at what you did for me, for all Your people. You took a broken potsherd of a person and You restored me to life full and rich with Your love, provision and care.

I pray, Lord, that my life reflects You, so that as I live people will praise You, the Creator and Restorer of lives!

To Your honor and glory, I choose to live as a response to Your amazing mercy and grace.

Through Jesus Christ, my Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.

 

Wednesday, October 30: Deuteronomy 8- Grace before meals as heart protection.

Moses gives an incredible string of instruction in verses 10-18, the essence of which I have printed here. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God…. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, … 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. … You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 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 forefathers, as it is today.

It is so easy to grow satisfied and to believe the comfort we have ‘earned’ is all a matter of our doing. I am quite prone to laud myself when things are going well. Moses might as well have been listening to the words of my heart, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."

But Moses shows that it is a dangerous state when God is left out of the equation…when God’s role and God’s grace are forgotten.

In verse 10 I heard God’s remedy for a puffed up heart. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. And if I substitute the word ‘things’ for the word ‘land’ it becomes even more personal and practical for ME.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good things he has given you. This simple thought caused me to see how helpful pausing to pray a simple thanks-filled grace before meals can be.

In those 60-seconds of ‘grace’, I acknowledge God’s role in providing what I am about to eat. In those 60-seconds, my mind focuses on God who provides, not only food, but shelter, family, health, etc.… These 60-seconds put a shield of protection around my heart and mind, warding off arrogance and self-reliance, while at the same time creating space for dependence, thanks and appreciation to grow.

Who would have thought that those simple 60-seconds could be so helpful and God-life breathing?!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above you heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

 

Tuesday, October 29: Deuteronomy 7- A tough word.

The unfolding work and plan of God is difficult to swallow at times. Destruction of all the peoples of the land God has given Israel. It is difficult for me to fathom this and to answer the questions of people who ask, “Is this loving?”

How does one balance love and hate; mercy and justice?

How difficult it can be to be the person who executes punishment on behalf of the Sovereign. That was Israel’s role. They were God’s sword of justice against peoples who hated Him.

How difficult that must have been.

A HUGE caution floods my heart… world history has seen many atrocities committed in God’s (god’s) name. My heart sighs, “Bill, it is not yours to judge others. Walk with the Lord and do right. Live faithfully unto Him and leave the judging to Him.”

I cannot stay with these thoughts. I look back to the chapter and focus on verse 9: Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. A positive faith-building nugget in a sea of judgment.

My heart begins to sing praises to my Lord God Almighty…

Oh, God, You are faithful! My life is a living testimony to that. You have protected, saved, inspired, encouraged and helped me at more times and in more ways that I can count. You have been faithful to Your people throughout the ages… Praise be to You, Lord God!!!

And You call me to faithfulness to You. You call me to keep Your covenant. Oh, God, please send Your Holy Spirit to flood my life so that I may have the strength, Your Spirit empowered strength, to do so. I am fully dependent on You. I apply my will to the task of following You, know that my strength will not be sufficient, I need Your power. I pray this trusting that You, who have begun a good work in me, will bring it to completion.

Thanks be to You, Oh Lord, my God. Amen.

 

Monday, October 28: Deuteronomy 6- This passage makes sense.

One of the central statements in the OT is called ‘the Shema’ (the first word of verse 4 ‘listen’) and is recited by pious Jews daily. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

God is one… God is alone. God is #1. There is no other god but our God. To recite this truth everyday must leave a deep impression if it is recited with any conviction!

Believing God is One, places responsibility on our shoulders… to love this God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Loving God, adoring God, serving and following God with all of who we are… this is the response of faith and belief in this God!

And if I truly love the Lord God with heart, soul, strength then verses 6-9 make practical sense. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

I would want my children to love God as I do (6). And loving God with everything of who I am means I would likely talk about Him in the natural occurrences of life (7). And I would look for ways to place reminders in my life, so in my humanness and sin-filled prone to wander-ness, I stay connected with God’s Oneness and His directives (8-9).

Question is, do I believe God is One?  God alone is the Lord God Almighty?

Do You?...

Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I believe! I believe You alone are God and You are One! I believe Your Word is perfect and all I need to live a life faithful to You. I believe You!

Alleluia. Amen.

 

Saturday, October 26: Deuteronomy 5- Our first-person God .

I have been slightly confused the last couple of days. Moses is speaking to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land, but he has been speaking to them as if they have all seen the wonders of God who brought Israel out of Egypt. Problem is the generation, who lived in Egypt and saw first hand all God did, died during the 40 years of the desert wanderings because of their faithlessness. How could those standing before Moses have first hand knowledge of all God did?  Thus my confusion.

As chapter 5 opened, I saw an answer to my confusion in verse 3. It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

God stands above and beyond time. God created time and although He understands time and chooses to enter time for us and for our sake God nonetheless is beyond time and not confined by time.

This allows God to be always present with those of us who are alive and also allows God’s covenants to be ever present with those who are alive.

Technically, according to calendars and clocks, God did make His covenant with Israel’s forefathers.  However, since God is beyond time, He also made that same covenant with all of His people throughout time. So as they stood on the plains overlooking the Promised Land, God could speak to them in the present tense as if they were there when the miracles and covenants were made because for God they were… It [the covenant] was … with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

This same ‘beyond time-ness’ of God is evident in the celebration of the Passover, which is always celebrated –even by Jews today- in the present tense as if the present-celebrants were liberated from Egypt.

Anyway, I am awed by God, our God, the one and only God, who is beyond time yet chooses, for our sake, to step into time to rescue and save us.

I hope you can shout ‘Amen’ to this…

Lord God Almighty, maker of time and space, I praise You. I praise You for the wonder of who You are. Beyond time, yet mindful of me (us) and that we are confined by time. You enter my time (our time) to reveal Yourself to us, to save us, to love us and to invite us into Your eternal reality through faith in Jesus Christ. [HP1] 

Alleluia. Praise be to You, Lord God Almighty! Amen

 

 

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 [HP1] I figured this out, so ignore it….just make corrections in it.

Friday, October 25: Deuteronomy 4- Keep God's decrees.

Moses stood on the plain opposite the Promised Land and taught the people, one final time, the decrees of the Lord. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you (1).

Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time (40).

As I read and meditated on this chapter today, the bolded words above drew me in. It wasn’t enough for the people to hear God’s Word or even to know God’s Word (‘know’ as if it were facts to be mastered for some test). No, the point of Moses’ final words was that the people would follow them and keep them, God decrees and commands.

There is a substantive difference between knowing and following, hearing and keeping! And this is what God was impressing on my heart today!

Looking back over Moses’ words, I find it fascinating that following and keeping God’s decrees comes with a promise… living in the land of God’s promise.

During OT times, ‘land’ was a physical reality defined by the lands God was giving to His people Israel. Now in the NT times, I take ‘land’ more metaphorically, in that we are living in the realm of God’s kingdom, God’s blessing. We are living in the place of God’s care and love.

God’s call is to follow and keep His decrees and God even blesses us when we do this… my take away for today in God’s Word.

God, I need to begin with following and keeping. I admit I do this inconsistently. I still give into sin and stray from Your way. Forgive me and give me strength to stay strong with You.

Holy Spirit, lead me. I recommit my surrender to You and my desire to listen for Your voice in order to follow it… Praise be to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

 

Thursday, October 24: Deuteronomy 3- Remember.

Standing on the plains across from the Promised Land, Moses reminds the people of the mighty acts and deeds of the Lord.

It is good to remember and to be reminded of what God has done in our lives and in the lives of His people throughout the generations. So many of the Psalms recount the exploits of the Lord.

It is good to remember… and it is good to be reminded of what God has done. Recalling God’s faithfulness in the past gives us strength to trust God for the future…

Before praying and closing down my time with the Lord, I took some time to

·         Remember God’s many deeds in my life.

·         Recall God’s saving acts, particularly Jesus’ work during the incarnation.

·         Remind myself of the many ways God showed Himself to be faithful and mighty throughout the centuries from the time of Acts to the present.

Lord, You have been there for Your people throughout the ages. … a mere thank You seems so insignificant compared to the wonder of Your love and faithfulness.

Praise be to You, Lord God. …

Amen.