Fri.’s Devo - The Nations are the Lord’s

Read: Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29; Luke 6:12-38; Psalm 67:1-7; Proverbs 11:27 Moses continued retelling their story. He was telling the children their past and the past of their parents so they would always remember what God had done for them. *** God gave them examples of other nations he had displaced to give their land to others. For example, he had helped the Moabites who were the descendants of Lot the land of Ar which had been occupied bye the giants called the Emites. The Emmites had been strong and numerous and their name meant “terror”. God had helped the Moabites drive them out and take their land. He told them this so they would not be afraid of the giants in their land and they would know that God would help them also. *** Reading all the changes in the kingdoms of the would helps us to see that God really does rule the nations. God told them in advance that he was going to turn over to them the land of the Amorites. They were to attack them and this conquest would make all the other nations fear them. When they got to the land of the Amorites, they went to King Sihon of Heshbon and offered to pay him to let them cross through their land. He refused, giving them a reason to attack them. God gave them the victory and they took their land and occupied it. They did the same to King Og of Bashan. They destroyed them and killed all of them. Their land became the inheritance of Reuben and Gad and half of Manasseh. *** Joshua was put in charge and God allowed Moses to go up on Pisgah Peak and look over the land God had given them. He would not be going over the Jordan with them because he disobeyed the Lord. Joshua would lead the people across the Jordan and give them all the land God had promised. *** In Luke, Jesus spent the night on the mountain praying. When he came down, he gave the names of his disciples: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon, Judas, and Judas Iscariot. *** A multitude of people came to Jesus on the mountain to hear him preach and be touched by him. He blessed them because they were teachable and knew they needed a savior. They would be rewarded in heaven. But those that depended on the riches of this world would not be rewarded with blessings. They would be hungry later and their reward would be sorrow. *** Jesus taught them to pray for their enemies and not to treat them as they were being treated but as they would want to be treated. Instead, they were to pray for their enemies and love them. The measure of good they gave would determine the amount of blessings that would return to them. It works in the negative also. *** Lord, in our Psalm we read that when the nations praise you, you richly bless them. we pray that the whole world would sing for joy because you govern them with justice and guide them. May you bring justice to us now and guide us to serve you.