February 12 - Deuteronomy 7-10
God is so wonderful in that He can love us inspite of our short-comings, and He can make us into something beautiful. He chose the Hebrews not because they were a large nation and inspite of the fact that they were a stubborn people. God loved them, and He wanted them to become all they could become. He made a covenant with them that He would be their God and bless them if they would love Him back and obey Him. The problem is that Israel had a difficult time remaining faithful to God. God promised them all sorts of physical blessings, if they would just continue to follow Him in love. He gave them His laws for their own good, but their hearts were drawn away by pride. It is just amazing to see such a loving, generous God, who wants to shower us with blessings, but we are so set on going our own way. This is true for Israel after He had been the one to bring them out of Egypt and sustain them through the wilderness. For us it is true after Jesus is the one to save us and to change our hearts from the blackness of sin.
To help us stay faithful to the Lord, let's remember some of the truths presented here. God will drive out our enemies little by little, not all at one time. It is a continuous process of trusting Him for victories over Satan since we can't defeat Satan ourselves. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. It is a prideful heart that is lifted up against God that brings us down. It is God who gives us the power to get wealth, so we should not boast in our wealth. God blesses us out of His grace and mercy, because none of us ever really deserves a blessing because of our own merit. God can forgive us even when we make a huge mistake like the golden calf, but we have to endure His consequences for our sin. Intercessory prayer makes a difference in God's kingdom like it did when Moses interceded for the Hebrews.
Finally, focus in on Deuteronomy 10:12, 13. Spend some time meditating on these two important verses. They tell us what God requires of us. Yes, it is Old Covenant, but God's heart has not changed. Listen to His heart when He says He is looking for us to fear Him, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve Him, and to keep His commands. That is a wonderful concise statement of what we need to do to hold up our part of our relationship with God. Believe me, He will do His part with joy.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 11-13.
To help us stay faithful to the Lord, let's remember some of the truths presented here. God will drive out our enemies little by little, not all at one time. It is a continuous process of trusting Him for victories over Satan since we can't defeat Satan ourselves. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. It is a prideful heart that is lifted up against God that brings us down. It is God who gives us the power to get wealth, so we should not boast in our wealth. God blesses us out of His grace and mercy, because none of us ever really deserves a blessing because of our own merit. God can forgive us even when we make a huge mistake like the golden calf, but we have to endure His consequences for our sin. Intercessory prayer makes a difference in God's kingdom like it did when Moses interceded for the Hebrews.
Finally, focus in on Deuteronomy 10:12, 13. Spend some time meditating on these two important verses. They tell us what God requires of us. Yes, it is Old Covenant, but God's heart has not changed. Listen to His heart when He says He is looking for us to fear Him, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve Him, and to keep His commands. That is a wonderful concise statement of what we need to do to hold up our part of our relationship with God. Believe me, He will do His part with joy.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 11-13.