Sun.’s Devo - Choose Life!

Read: Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20; Luke 11:37-12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 12:19-20 While they were still in the land of Moab, Moses called all the people together and told them what the Lord was adding to the covenant he had made with them on Mt. Sinai. He began by saying that the Lord had not given them eyes to see and ears to hear, nor a mind to understand. He had led them for 40 years through the wilderness and yet their shoes nor their clothes had not worn out. Had they even noticed this? God had provided all their food and water. He had given them victory over their enemies and given them their land. *** If they wanted to prosper in the land he was giving them they must obey his commands. The covenant he was presenting to them was full of blessings but also curses for disobeying it. This covenant would also stand to their descendants after them. *** They were not to adopt any of the evil purposes of the nations they had passed through or that they would find in the land or its bitterness would produce a root in them. This root of evil would bring forth poisonous fruit. *** Those who refused to obey God’s laws and chose instead to follow their own hearts would receive the curses written in the book. Their names would be erased from under heaven. They would be separated from the other tribes and destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah with nothing but salt and sulfur remaining. They would become a mockery of other nations. *** They were not being made accountable for what they did not understand about God, but of what he had made very clear to them. After experiencing both the blessings and the curses, if they choose to return to the Lord, the Lord will hear their prayer and restore their fortunes. He will gather them from where they had been scattered and bring them back to their land again and they will live in their land and be fruitful and multiply. It would be the same thing God told Adam and Eve - “Be fruitful and multiply.” *** God made it clear to them that what he was requiring of them was attainable. It was as close as to what they proclaimed with their mouth and what they put in their hearts. It was their choice and it is our choice. If they chose to turn away from God and worship other gods, they would be destroyed. If they chose to follow the Lord, it would be life and blessing for them. *** In Luke, the Pharisees were offended that Jesus didn’t do their hand-washing ritual. Knowing this, Jesus told them that they were so careful to make themselves look good on the outside with all their rituals, but their hearts were full of greed and wickedness. If they would do something self-less like to care for the poor, it would help them to get rid of their greed. *** Jesus explained that giving justice was even more important than giving God gifts. They were going to get a rude awakening when died. They loved the honor of respect on earth, but they would get none of it after they died. *** One of the religious experts told Jesus he was offended by what he said, probably hoping Jesus would tell the he wasn’t talking to them. But, Jesus told them that they were just as wicked. They imposed their laws that were so burdensome, they were just as guilty as the hypocrites. They even killed the prophets and then built monuments to honor them. Talk about hypocrisy! They would be held responsible for the murders of all God’s prophets from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah because all of them spoke of him. Now he was here, and they were going to do the same to him. *** They would not enter into God’s Kingdom and they were doing all they could to keep others from entering also. Jesus warned them that all they did in secret would one day be revealed for all to see. *** Jesus turned to his followers and called them friends. He told them not to be afraid of the religious order. They could only kill their body, but not their soul. He told them to fear God, He would not forget a single one of them from the least to the greatest. He alone has the power to throw them into hell or promote them to heaven. *** Lord, thank you that you are the only wise God and you are our Father. We choose life. We choose Jesus Christ as our Saviour and we choose to follow your Word.

Sat.’s Devo - Choose the Blessings

Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; Proverbs 12:18 Today we read the blessings and the curses which are the exact opposite of the blessings. The only requirement of walking in the blessings was to follow the Lord and obey his laws. That sound easy, but it was not for them. I have to remind myself that they were a new nation and didn’t have the Holy Spirit like we do which seals us. *** The blessings were simple: everything about their lives would be blessed. Their nation would be above all the other nations Their finances, family, occupations, and harvests would all be blessed. *** The curses are explicit and excruciating to read. God describes them in detail. Everything about them would be cursed. They would be pursued and taken over by them. These results would serve as a sign and a warning for future generations. *** We as a nation have been living in the curses which is plain to see if we open our eyes and look around. DOGE is pointing out so many ways they have stolen our money and put in their own pockets. We see that we have been slaves to an evil agenda bent on taking our lives, not blessing them. But… God is turning this ship around. We are starting to see the curses lifting and the blessing beginning to flow. It has already started and it will soon become a tsunami. Those who have been faithful are going to see the results of their obedience. *** It gives the Lord great pleasure in blessing and prospering us, may we never find ourselves in this place of chaos again. *** In Luke, Jesus cast a demon out of man who could not speak and he was able to talk. One in the crowd said it was because Jesus was the prince of demons. This man was trying to get Jesus so mad he would prove his power by giving them some great sign from heaven. Jesus didn’t fall for it. He explained that any institution that is divided among itself is destined to fall. If Satan’s kingdom is divided against itself, it will fall. But if he is casting out demons in the power of God then the Kingdom of God has arrived and it will overthrow Satan’s kingdom. *** Jesus explained that demons that are cast out of a person look for another person to enter. If it can’t find an open door, it will come back to the first person to see if they have filled their house with good things and closed their door to them. If they haven’t, then they will reenter and bring more demons with it. Then the person will be in worse shape than before. *** When they kept asking for a sign from heaven, Jesus told them the only sign he would give them would be the sign of Jonah. His resurrection out of the mouth of the fish was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. Jesus’ resurrection would be a sign to these people also. Even his disciples didn’t believe until he came back and appeared to him. *** Lord, may our eyes be filled with your light that they can see who you are and what you are doing on the earth. Thank you for all the wonderful things you are doing to save us and our nation. May we pass the test of abundance and be generous and faithful.

Fri.’s Devo - May We Be

Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26; Luke 10:38-11:13; Psalm 76:1-12; Proverbs 12:15-17 Once they got settled in their land and experienced their first harvest, they were to bring a basket of their produce to the place of worship and proclaim that they were wandering Arameans who lived in Egypt as a foreigner. There they grew into a large nation. When they became oppressed by the Egyptians and made to be their slaves, they cried out to the Lord. He heard their cries and brought them out with his power - with signs and wonders. He brought them to this wonderful land and now they are offering a gift of thanksgiving to the Lord. *** Every third year they were to bring a special tithe of their crops for the foreigners, Levites, orphans and widows so they would have food to eat. With this gift they were to proclaim that they had followed all of God’s laws and that their gift was ceremonially clean. They were to ask God to bless them and the land. *** When they crossed over the Jordan they were to set up stones at Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster and write the curses on them. They were to also build an altar there using uncut stone and offer a burnt offering to the Lord. These stones are still in existence in Palestine. *** The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin were to stand on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people that would be theirs if they obeyed the commandments of God. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali were to stand on Mount Ebal and proclaim the curses. These mountains were right across from each other. Mount Gerizim is believed to be Mount Moriah where the Samaritans went to celebrate the feasts. The woman at the well in John 4:20 referred to this mountain as being the Mountain they worshipped on. It was the mountain that they believed God had chosen to place his name. *** Today, we read the curses. Tomorrow we will read the blessings. The curses sound a lot like the Ten Commandments. *** In Luke, we have the story of Mary and Martha which is such a reminder to us of what is really important. We get so distracted by what is going on around us, it is easy to forget that stopping and sitting with Jesus is much more productive that running around doing all the stuff we think is important. The lesson is: we have to first “be” before we “do”. When we are in the presence of the Lord, we get strategy, power, energy, and blessing to then go out and do the things God has called us to do. We know we are being the “Martha” when we feel stressed and out of sorts. Mary is content and at peace. Martha is in a tizzy and judgmental. *** Jesus was asked how they should pray. Jesus gave them a prayer that we have all memorized and heard many sermons about. He started out praising God and proclaiming who he is and praying his Kingdom to come to earth. He prayed for their daily needs then asked for forgiveness for their sins. He prayed strength to stand against temptation. This is how we pray for ourselves. *** Then Jesus told them how to pray for others. The essence is you pray until you see the results. Then he explained that you have to learn how to receive and believe that God gives good gifts to his children. *** Lord, teach us to live in your presence and choose to enjoy your peace. May we seek you first in all we do. It is your will that we desire above all.

Thurs.’s Devo - Our Responsibilities

Read: Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19; Luke 10:13-37; Psalm 75:1-10; Proverbs 12:12-14 If a man is made a eunuch, then he is unable to bear children. Spiritually, this would be a person who is unable to bear the fruit of the Spirit. We would call this person a psychopath today or the seed of Satan. Not every eunuch fell into this category - I’m just pointing out a picture. I wonder if the second verse we read today has to do with trans-gendering a child at birth or manipulating its DNA. The word for “illegitimate” in the Hebrew means “mixed seed.”This is serious business to the Lord. This is what happened in Genesis 6. *** The Ammonites and Moabites heard of all the things the Lord had done to the Egyptians and yet they didn’t fear God enough to help the Israelites with food and water when they left Egypt. They hired Balaam to curse Israel instead. Their descendants would not be able to enter into the assembly of the Lord for ten generations. “Ten” is the number of testing. So they would not be able to participate in worshiping the Lord until God had tested their hearts over a period of time to see if they were repentant. *** The third generation of Edomites and the Egyptians could enter the assembly of the Lord. “Three” is the number meaning “conform”. So it means that the Edomites and Egyptians would have to conform to the laws of God before they could be allowed to worship with them. *** Most of God’s laws are self-explanatory. God is holy and requires us to be holy also. We are to treat others fairly and with compassion. We must never forget that we were once slaves to sin until we met Christ who set us free. We must have the same patience and compassion for others as we needed and still need. *** We are not to take advantage of another person’s hospitality but only honor their possessions. To divorce a woman, a writ of divorcement must be signed and the divorce be made legal, then both are free to remarry. If this is not done, then to remarry would be to commit adultery since the person was not legally divorced. Jesus addressed the Jews about this because they were not legally divorcing their wives. *** The poor man who had to make a loan has the right to choose what he gives as a promise of repayment. The person loaning the money must not come into his house to get it or he might choose something else to take that that man doesn’t want to give. This reminds me of the story that Nathan gave David about the little lamb (talking about Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 12). The bottom line is that God wanted them to honor the poor and be kind to them. Justice must be given to the foreigner, the orphan and the widow; all of them have no protector. They were to remember that they were once in their shoes. *** Two brothers living on the same property are covenanted together so if one of them dies without an heir, it is the responsibility of the living brother to give this sister-in-law a son so that his brother’s name would not die. This is about family inheritance. The man who doesn’t help his brother receive his inheritance is to be shamed. We are going to be held responsible for upholding and praying for our family. We must do our part to preserve our family name because we bear the name of Christ. *** The bottom line of God’s laws were to fear the Lord and remember what he did for us. *** God reminded them that when they got rest from all their fighting and possessing they were to destroy the Amelekites and erase their memory from under heaven. They were never to forget this! *** In Luke, Jesus reminded Karazin and Bethsaida of all the miracles he did in their cities. They would be held responsible for this encounter they received. They received all the miracles and yet didn’t receive the one who did them. *** Jesus saw Satan fall from his throne and told his disciples so they would know he now has no power. He gave us the same authority he had over all the power of the enemy. We can now walk on the devil and not be hurt. We can do this because our names are written in heaven in his book. *** Jesus was filled with joy as he saw how God had skipped over the religious hierarchy and given his treasures to the lowly of the earth. He told his disciples how blessed they were to be able to see and hear spiritually what the prophets had wanted to see and hear. *** Lord, help us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Just like the despised Samaritan had compassion on the stranger on the side of the road, help us to have your compassion for those we see who is in need physically or spiritually. Help us to see beyond our physical eyes and hear beyond our physical ears. Thank you, for all we have comes from you.

Wed.’s Devo - God’s Laws

Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11 Today’s reading is so full of details there is no way I can address them all, but I will deal with a few of them. *** First, it was the Levitical priests that God had chosen to decide all legal and criminal cases. Christians are the ones who are to judge over the people. God never separated the church from the state. The church was to rule the state. The heifer that atoned for the unsolved murder is Christ. He allowed his will to be broken to die for all of our sins. *** In verse 15-17 we see the description of Jacob with Leah and Rachel. Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, but she had his first born son, Reuben. Jacob honored him as the first born until he slept with Jacob’s concubine and lost his position. *** A stubborn and rebellious son was to be brought to the elders of the city and all the men were to stone him. When the parents had done all they could do to discipline the son and he still didn’t repent, they did not try to cover for him but took him to the elders to be judged. All of the elders then used their words (stones) to bring the son to repentance. Another way of looking at this is that we bring our rebellious children to the throne of grace and fast and pray for them. We speak God’s Word over them and let his Word kill the old man in our children’s hearts. We continue to pray until they repent and turn to the Lord. We never give up on our children. *** We are to take responsibility for things that happen around us. There is a reason we see the things we see. *** God hates mixture. He is pure and holy and the things he made are pure and holy also. He does not want us mixing seed and creating cross-breeds in people, animals or food. *** They were to be honest in everything. They could not accuse their partners of things they didn’t do just to get out of the marriage. If a man defiled a woman outside of marriage, he had to marry her. If we did that today, I think boys would think twice before having sex with any girl they met. Marriage would become honored and holy again. *** In Luke, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He sent messengers to prepare for his arrival in a Samaritan village, but because they knew he was on his way to Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover, they refused to welcome him. The disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven and burn them up but Jesus rebuked them. Instead, they stayed at another village. *** As they were traveling, Jesus met people who said they wanted to follow him but when it came down to following through on the promise they all had excuses. Jesus concluded with telling them that anyone who started their walk with him and then looked back at what they were missing was not fit for the kingdom of God. (Remember Lot’s wife.) *** Jesus sent 72 other disciples out to prepare for his arrival at those towns. They were to tell them that the kingdom of God was very near. They were to allow the people to take care of them and provide their needs. What they were bringing them was worth all their expenses. If they refused to welcome them, they were to wipe all offenses off their shoulders and abandon them to their fate. *** It is not our job to save people, it is our job to tell them about Christ. It is their job to receive the good news. We will get the same reward whether they receive or not. We are God’s servants in the field. We cannot determine the harvest. *** Lord, may we be diligent to share your good news and prepare the way for others to find your Kingdom.

Tues.’s Devo - Spiritual Warfare

Read: Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20; Luke 9:28-50; Psalm 73:1-28; Provers 12:10 The Levites got no land allotment for themselves so they lived off the gifts given by the people to the Lord. God specified what they could have of the things given to him. They got the best because they got everyone’s first fruits. *** They were warned not to pick up any of the customs of the people living in the land at the time. Their customs were detestable to the Lord. They dealt in magic and demons where God deals in supernatural miracles and angels. God promised to send them prophets to tell them what his words since they didn’t want God speaking directly to them. They will know he is a real prophet if what he says happens. *** When they come into the land they were to set aside three more cities of refuge. They already had three for the tribes who stayed east of the Jordan. These would be for the innocent who is accused of murder. He may run there and be tried justly. As they take over more land, they were to establish more cities of refuge. *** If someone murders a person outright, he is to be handed over to the avenger of blood (the relative of the man killed) who is to kill him. The people are not to feel sorry for the murderer because he killed an innocent person. All crimes are punishable only if there is more than one witness. *** If someone bears a false witness against another then they must impose on the accuser what he intended for the other person. This is the way you rid the nation of sin. *** We are seeing this happening in our nation. The corrupt politicians have brought so many false accusations against President Trump and now they are coming back around to catch them. They are going to get what they intended for President Trump. We are to rejoice because evil is being rid from our nation. *** When they went out to war to face armies greater and more powerful than them, the priest was to encourage them that God was going with them and would give them victory. Then the officers would ask if anyone had just built a new house and not dedicated it, or planted a vineyard and not harvested the first crop, or just gotten engaged to a woman and not marred her yet. If they answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions they were to go back home and finish what they started. *** To us, this means that we cannot fight demons if we are not trained or experienced in spiritual warfare. We must grow in our spiritual walk first, get baptized, bear some fruit, enjoy our new life with Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit, then we can engage in spiritual battle. *** Anyone who was fearful or faint-hearted must also go home or his fear would spread to the other warriors. *** After the officers weeded out the troops, they were to appoint the unit commanders from what was left. *** When they approached a town to attack it they were first to offer terms of peace. If they refused the terms, they were to attack and kill all. They could keep the women, children, livestock and other plunder. This only applied to distant towns outside their borders of the land God had given them. To the towns within their borders, they were to completely destroy and kill them so they couldn’t teach them how to worship their gods. *** If the war dragged on, they were not to cut down fruit trees to use for weapons. They could only cut down trees that didn’t bear fruit. *** People are trees (Psalm 1). In wartime, only those who are bearing fruit are protected from destruction. *** In Luke, on the eight day, Jesus took Peter, John and James up on a mountain. As Jesus was praying, he transformed into his glorified body. Moses and Elijah appeared with him and began talking about how Jesus was going to leave this world in Jerusalem. Peter and the others had been asleep and woke up to see all of this. Moses and Elijah were about to leave so Peter wanted to make three shelters for them. A cloud came down and covered all of them and from the cloud, God said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” When the cloud lifted it took Moses and Elijah with it. *** ‘Eight’ is the number of new beginnings. God wanted the disciples to see that this was a new day and Jesus was about to be taken up just like Moses and Elijah was. Jesus was going to defeat death. *** When they came down from the mountain, they were met with a man who was manifesting the power of demons. The disciples couldn’t cast them out but Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Jesus then told his disciples that he was going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. These enemies were the same ones who had attacked the boy. *** Instead of understanding what Jesus was saying, the disciples argued about who was the greatest. Jesus brought a child to them and explained that it was the humble and innocent that will be exalted in his kingdom. Those who honor the least, are honoring God and will be honored by God. *** Lord, help us to manifest your kingdom and your love. May we fight the good fight of righteousness and truth.

Mon.’s Devo - The Feasts

Read: Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20; Luke 9:7-27; Psalm 72:1-20; Proverbs 12:8-9 God had seven feasts that he shared with the people so they could begin celebrating them. The Passover was to be celebrated in Abib, the first month on their religious calendar and the seventh month on their civil calendar. They were to sacrifice a lamb in the place God chose for them to worship. They were to eat it with unleavened bread which would begin the feast of Unleavened Bread. This was to commemorate when they left Egypt and slavery. Unleavened Bread would last a full week in which they were to eat no leaven. Seven weeks later they were to celebrate the harvest of grain called the Feast of Harvest or Pentecost since it was 50 days later. They were to bring God a portion of their first fruits of harvest. These celebrations were in the spring. *** In the fall, they were to celebrate the last feasts in the fall. The only one mentioned here was the festival of Shelters or Feast of Tabernacles. This was to celebrate the grape, fig, and olive harvests. This was to be a happy time. The main three where the men were required to come to the designated place were Unleavened Bread, Festival of Harvest, and Festival of Shelters. They were not to come empty handed but with a gift for the Lord. *** All of the feast represented set times that God would visit his people. Every year God follows his feasts and on certain yearss, he demonstrates them in a way everyone can see. He did this when he sent Jesus to die on Passover, be buried on Unleavened Bread, and rise on First Fruits. He sent his Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2. He will complete his feasts when he comes again on Feast of Trumpets, judges the world on Day of Atonement and sets up his Kingdom on Feast of Tabernacles. *** Every town was to have just and honest judges. They were never to set up idolatrous altars anywhere but especially not near God’s altar. *** They were never to offer defective gifts to the Lord. He hates that. Anyone found to be worshiping other gods was to be fully investigated. There must be more than one witness. If they are found guilty, they must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. *** If there is a case too hard for the town judge to determine, the case must be taken to the priests for them to examine. Whatever they say must be done to the person by the letter. *** When they get settled in their land and decide they want a king like the other people have, then it must be one of their own people and they should let the Lord choose him. This king should not have an army of horses or buy them from Egypt because they were never to go back there. This king should not take many wives because they would turn his heart from the Lord. He must not accumulate lots of gold and silver for himself. He must copy the law on a scroll and read it every day as long as he lives so he would learn to fear the Lord by obeying it. This will prevent him from turning away from God’s commands and he and his descendants would reign for many generations in Israel. *** In Luke, Herod Antipas heard about all the miracles Jesus was doing and wondered who he was. He heard that some believed he was John who had come back to life. This was disconcerting since he was the one who had had John beheaded. He kept trying to see Jesus. *** Meanwhile, the disciples came back after Jesus had sent them out to do the miracles they had seen him do. They came back with great stories of all they had witnessed. *** Jesus led his discipled to Bethsaida but the crowds followed. Jesus taught until late in the afternoon. The disciples told Jesus to send them home so they could go eat. Jesus told them to feed them. They had just gone out by themselves and done the things they had seen Jesus do, now they needed to do them with Jesus with them. They only had five loaves of bread and two fish and there were over 5,000 people. *** Jesus had them sit in groups of 50 and prayed over what he had. God bless the bread and the fish and they began distributing it. Everyone had all they wanted and 12 baskets of leftovers were picked up. *** When Jesus was alone with his disciples, Jesus asked them who the people thought he was. Some thought he was John the Baptist, some Elijah and others a prophet risen from the dead. Then he asked them who they thought he was. Peter said, “You are the Messiah, sent from God!” Jesus then told them not to say that out loud. He was going to be killed, but he would rise on the third day. *** What is so ironic about all this is that everyone of their theories about who Jesus was had to do with someone who had risen from the dead and was now walking among them, and yet, they had such a hard time believing that Jesus was actually going to do this. *** Jesus told the crowd that if they wanted to be his follower, they must take up their cross daily and follow him. What they proclaimed publicly would determine their eternal destiny. He promised that some of them would not die till they saw the Kingdom of God. In other words, there were many who would really believe unto salvation. *** Lord, help us to believe every promise in your Word and not doubt even when it comes to those in our family that it looks impossible to save. Your hand is not short but can reach to the lowest valley and the highest mountain. You, who left the 99 to save the 1 will complete everything that concerns us. We believe, Lord. Help our unbelief.