Sat.’s Devo - Amen!

Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26; Luke 10:38-11:13; Psalm 76:1-12; Proverbs 12:15-17 When they came into the land God promised them and harvest their first fruits of the land, they were to bring them in a basket. They were to tell God who they were and where they came from starting with Abraham. They were to acknowledge all God did for them and how they lived in Egypt till they grew into a mighty nation. When they cried to the Lord for deliverance he brought them out with signs and wonders and brought them to this place. Then they were to set there basket down before the Lord. *** The third year was the year of tithing and all they gave would go to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow so that they would have plenty to eat. They were to ask God to bless them. *** Moses and the elders told the people to keep all the commandments that God gave them. They set up large stones and plastered them to write all the words of the law on them. They were set up on the side of the Jordan River in the promised land. *** Moses told six of the tribes to stand on Mt. Ebal and read the curses of the law and six of the tribes to stand on Mt. Gerizim and read the blessings of the law. *** First they read the curses. They would evoke a curse if they made metal images to worship, dishonored their parents, moved their neighbor’s landmark, mislead a blind man, perverted justice, lay with their father’s wife, an animal, or any relative, committed murder, took a bribe, or disobeyed the law. After every curse they were to agree with an “Amen.” *** In Luke, we read about how Martha complained about Mary who wanted to sit at Jesus’s feet leaving her with all the busy work. Jesus explained that Mary had chosen the part that no one could take from her. Mary had chosen the spiritual over the natural. *** One of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray and Jesus taught them the prayer he must have prayed every day. In it he first glorified God and prayed for his kingdom to come. Then he asked for daily needs, forgiveness and help to walk in righteousness. *** Then he told them a parable explaining how we can pray for others. The parable about the man who needed something for someone else. He went to his neighbor who represented God and kept on asking for help until he got it. Jesus explained that we must be like him when we are praying for others and keep praying till we get the answer. God is faithful and will answer our prayers. God is our Father and wants to bless us with gifts even more than we want to give gifts to our children. His greatest gifts are Jesus and the Holy Spirit. *** Lord, may we desire eternal things that will last past our lifetime. May we seek your kingdom, your gifts and your righteousness first. Thank you that you hear and answer our prayers.

Fri.’s Devo - Practical Laws

Read: Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19; Luke 10:13-37; Psalm 75:1-10; Proverbs 12:12-14 God gave them commands about the different people they encountered. No eunuchs, nor their descendants to the tenth generation were allowed in the Lord’s assembly. No Ammonite or Moabite were allowed in the Lord’s assembly for the same amount of time. They hired Balaam to curse Israel and refused to let them pass through their land when they came out of Egypt. God turned Balaam’s curse into a blessing and did not allow him to curse Israel. But, they were not to hate the Edomites because they were their brothers. They were also not to hate the Egyptian because they lived among them. After three generations, their children could enter into the assembly of the Lord. *** God had rules for their hygiene to keep them from sickness. God had rules for honoring one another, taking care of escaped slaves and fair business practices. It was important that they made promises only if they could carry them out. *** Divorced people could not marry again if they had married someone else in between that time. People were not to be kidnapped and trafficked. Laws to protect the dignity and rights of the poor were to be observed. Everyone was responsible for their own actions. They were to treat the foreigner, the orphan and the widow with the same laws and respect they did for others. They were to always remember that they were once slaves in Egypt. *** They were to share their produce with the poor. When a person was condemned in court, his penalty was to be swift and in front of the judge. *** Only if brothers are living together and one dies without an heir was his brother to take his brother’s wife as his wife, so that the offspring could carry on the name of the dead husband. If he doesn’t do this, he is to be publicly shamed. *** God reminded them of what the Amalekites did to them when they came out of Egypt. They were to make sure their memory was blotted out of the earth. *** In Luke, Jesus cursed the different cities that he performed great miracles in. The ones who didn’t repent would receive no mercy in the Judgment. *** The seventy-two that Jesus had sent out came back joyfully reporting how the demons were subject to them. Jesus knew because he had seen Satan falling from heaven like lightning. Satan was being unseated. They had power over all the powers of the enemy and the demons would not hurt them, but the more powerful thing was that their names were written in heaven. *** Jesus rejoiced greatly that his disciples were beginning to do the things he taught them. This was the kingdom of God coming to earth shaking up the status quo in the spiritual realm. *** Jesus was asked by a lawyer what he could do to receive eternal life. He told him to love the Lord with all his heart and others as he loved himself. When the man told him he did this, Jesus gave him the story of the good Samaritan to show him that maybe he wasn’t loving all others as himself. It wasn’t just the people in his circle he was the love, he was also the outcast and the Gentile. Jesus told him to go and show mercy to these people. *** Lord, may we set our affections on what and who you set your affections on. May we walk in the authority you gave us and not be afraid of the devil and his small power. Thank you that you are the God of the impossible.

Thurs.’s Devo - God’s Laws

Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11 God’s laws were given to keep the land pure. If a dead body was found and no one knew how he died, the elders of the nearest city were to offer a heifer that had not been yoked. He was to be brought down to a valley with running water and break its neck. Then the priest were to come forward and wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. This was their testimony that they didn’t shed his blood and didn’t see who had. By doing this they were removing any guilt from the people of Israel and atoning for his death. *** In this act the heifer stood for the man who died in a valley or veiled in secrecy. They washed their hands over him washing away the guilt of his death. *** If a man married a virgin captive from war and then decided he didn’t want to be married to her, he had to set her free to go wherever she wanted. He could not sell her or use her as a slave because he had humiliated her. *** If a man had two wives and loved one more, he could not take the right of the first born from the son of the wife he loved the least. *** If a man has a son who is a drunkard and a glutton and will not obey his father, he is to be brought before the elders of the city. They were to stone him and remove the evil from their land. *** If a man is punished by hanging on a cross, he must be taken down and buried on the same day because a hung man is a cursed man. To keep him hanging to the next day would defile their land. God’s mercies are new every morning. *** They were to restore any lost animals they found of their neighbors and help their neighbor in times of need. *** God hates mixture so women were to dress like women and men like men. They were not to sow two kinds of seeds together, or wear two kinds of materials together. God will not bless hybrids. *** They were not to kill both the young bird and the mother. Generations must not pay for the sins of their past generations. They were to take care to build with safety of others in mind. *** If a man accuses his wife of not being a virgin when he married her, and there is no evidence of her innocence then she was to be brought to the door of her father’s house and the men of the city would stone her to death. If her father can prove she was a virgin when she married then the husband was to be whipped, fined and could not divorce her all his life. *** The last line gives us a glimpse into what happened with Noah and Ham. To have relations with your father’s wife was to uncover his father’s nakedness. *** In Luke, we see Jesus becoming extremely determined and aware that he only has a short time left on the earth. He makes some statements that show how serious it is to follow him. Then he sends 72 believers ahead of him to tell the people that the kingdom of God has come near to them. Those who received the news would be blessed, those who didn’t would not fair well on Judgment Day. *** Lord, we know that you came near when you came to earth and you are near to us, even in us now. May we live the kingdom in a way that others would want to join us.

Wed.’s Devo - God’s Family

Read: Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20; Luke 9:28-50; Psalm 73:1-28; Proverbs 12:10 The Levite was set apart in every way. His inheritance came from the Lord. He was welcomed to enjoy the offerings for the priests and Levites any time he was near the place of worship. *** When they come into the land the Lord promised and they possess it, they were to rid it of all evil occult practices. God would not speak to them through the evil ways of their enemies. He would speak to his people through a prophet like Moses. A true prophet’s words will come to pass. *** They were to set apart three cities for cities of refuge to protect the innocent wrongly accused of murder. As they continued to be faithful to the Lord and continued to take more territory, they were to designate three more cities of refuge. *** When the Levites were deciding a case, they were to make their decision on the testimony of at least two witnesses. If a false witness is found, then he will receive what he wanted the man accused to receive. *** When they went to war, they were not to compare the size of their enemies armies, because the Lord was on their side. The priests were to encourage the army before they fought and remind them not to be afraid. It was the Lord who would give them the victory. *** The officers were to ask the soldiers if they had any unfinished business at home, or if they were afraid to fight. If any of this was true, they were excused from serving. *** When they came to the city outside the promised land, they were first to offer it the right to surrender. If they surrendered, they were to make slaves of all the people in the city. If they didn’t want to make peace, then they were to kill all the males and take the women and children and livestock as plunder. In the cities within the promised land, they were to kill everyone in the city and leave nothing alive so that they could not teach them their abominable ways. *** They were to leave all the trees that produced fruit and use the others for siegeworks. *** In Luke, Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain with him to pray. It was the eighth day which refers to the “new millennium.” Jesus transformed into his glory before them. They watched in awe as Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah. *** As Peter was preparing them to stay with them on earth, God spoke and told them to listen to Jesus, he was God’s son. Then, Jesus was there alone, and Moses and Elijah were gone. *** The next day, Jesus cast out an evil spirit from a man’s son. Jesus called them a faithless and twisted generation. When the demon manifested through the son, Jesus rebuked the spirit and healed the boy. He gave him back to his father. *** The crowd marveled at what Jesus did, but he told his disciples he was soon going to be handed over to the hands of men. They didn’t understand what he was telling them. Instead, they argued about who would be there greatest in his kingdom. Jesus brought a child before them and said that whoever receives a child in his name receives him and the one who sent him. The least among them will be the greatest. (I’m sure they didn’t get that one either.) *** John told Jesus that there was a man casting out demons in his name and wanted to stop the man because he wasn’t part of their following. Jesus told him not to stop him because if he is not against him, he is on his side. *** We can learn a lot from today’s reading. We are part of a big family of God’s. The Levite from another city and the believer from another group are all part of the same company of believers. Thou we are in the presence of the greatest prophets that lived like Moses and Elijah, the one we are to hear the most is Jesus. Jesus is the one who links us all together as one big family. *** Lord, may we not compartmentalize ourselves because we don’t go to the same church or believe quite the same. May we see other believers as our family and love and accept them as fellow workers in your kingdom.

Tues.’s Devo - The Feasts

Read: Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20; Luke 9:7-27; Psalm 72:1-20; Proverbs 12:8-9 The feasts centered around the different harvest times. The first feasts were in the spring at the time of the barley and wheat harvest. These were Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. After they harvested their first fruit, they were to count seven weeks and then celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. *** The next set of feasts were in the fall and they centered around the fruit harvests like grapes, figs and olives. These feasts were Roshashana or the New Year, Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement and Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles. *** At these three feasts, all the men of Israel were to come to the place designated and bring their offering to the Lord. They were to be times of great celebration and joy. *** All the city’s were to appoint judges and officials to judge the people fairly and according to God’s laws. They were not to show partiality or take bribes. *** Anyone found worshiping other gods or constructing altars for foreign gods were to be stoned to death on the evidence of at least two witnesses. Any cases that were too hard for the city judges to decide were to be brought to the Levites. *** When they came into their land, and they wanted a king, it must be the one the Lord chooses. He must be a fellow Israelite. He must not buy horses for himself or send the people to Egypt to buy horses, because God told them never to return there. He was not to have many wives or excessive gold and silver. All these things Solomon did. *** The king was to write for himself a copy of all the law which should be a reference for him to follow. He must do this to remind himself that he is not above his people. If he obeys the law, his kingdom will be established and continue to be passed down to his posterity. *** Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 says that God has made us kings and priests and we shall reign upon the earth. If we write God’s Word in our heart and obey it we will pass our legacy down to our posterity. *** In Luke, Herod heard about what Jesus was doing and was afraid that John, who he had killed, was now raised from the dead. Others said that Jesus was a prophet. Herod wanted to see Jesus for himself. (He would get to see him soon enough.) *** The disciples returned from being sent out and told Jesus all the wonderful things they saw the Lord do through them. Jesus took them apart to Bethsaida but the crowds followed. It was a desolate place and when Jesus had taught all day, the disciples encouraged Jesus to send the people home so they could find a place to eat and sleep. *** Jesus told the disciples to feed them. They could only find five loaves and two fish which was not enough to feed over 5,000 people. Jesus took what they had and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to his disciples to distribute. Everyone was satisfied and they took up twelve baskets of left-overs. *** Jesus asked his disciple who the people were saying he was. They told him that some thought he was John the Baptist, others one of the prophets. Then he asked them who they thought he was and Peter spoke up. He said that he was the Christ of God. *** Jesus told them not to tell anyone this. He would be rejected by the religious leaders and killed. He would rise on the third day. If they wanted to follow him that would have to take up their cross daily and follow him. They would have to be willing to lose their lives for him to save their soul. *** Lord, we have all answered the question of salvation. We have given our lives to you to save our soul. May we take up our cross today and bear it proudly for your name sake.

Mon.’s Devo - The Kingom of God Has Come

Read: Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23; Luke 8:40-9:6; Psalm 71:1-24; Proverbs 12:5-7 God warned them that prophets and dreamers would arise and try to get them to go after other gods. It would be a test to them to see if they would follow them. They were to purge the evil from their midst, even if it was their kin. Anyone who drew them away from the Lord were not to be allowed to live. Whoever discovered their evil tactic, were to be the first to throw the stone of death. *** If a whole city turns from God and begins to worship other gods, God’s people were to go to war against that city and kill its inhabitants. All of the spoil from that city was to be burned. *** There were certain animals that would be sinful to eat because of what that animal symbolized, or what that animal ate. What they ate represented what we are to eat spiritually. We are to eat the Word of God and things that are good and true and righteous. The animals they were allowed to eat had to have cloven hoofs, which mean they stand on a firm foundation. The Word is rightly divided and gives us stability. They were to eat animals that chew the cud. This is a picture of a person who meditates on the Word and what he hears before he swallows it as truth. *** They were to eat fish with fins and scales. The fins help it stay upright and the scales cover and protect it. All of these things are what the Word does for us. They were to tithe from the net worth of their field every year. They were to bring it to the place of worship and offer it there and eat it as a family. If they lived too far and had too much to bring, they could sell it in their town and bring the money to buy it again in the place of worship. *** At the end of three years, their tithes were dedicated to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow. *** At the end of seven years there was to be a kind of jubilee where all debt was to be released against their neighbor or kin. This did not apply to foreigners, only their own people. *** If they continued in God’s laws they would be a nation who lent to others and would not need to borrow. *** They were to be kind and giving to the poor. If they had a Hebrew slave working for them, they were to release him in the seventh year with provisions of food, drink and animals. They were to remember where they came from. They were once slaves themselves and God redeemed them. If that slave wants to stay and serve his master then his ear would be nailed to the door of the master’s house with an awl. This would make him his slave forever. *** We were once God’s servants, but when we make him our Lord, we are having our ears pierced to the door which is Christ. We are fellowshipping in his suffering which included being nailed to a tree. God no longer calls us his slaves, but his friends and his family (John 15:15). *** All the firstborn males of the herd and flock were to be dedicated to the Lord. If it was blemished it was to be eaten in the town and not brought to the Lord. They were never to drink its blood. The only blood we are to partake in is Christ’s. *** In Luke, Jesus returned to Galilee and was met by Jairus who was a ruler of the synagogue. His 12 year old daughter was dying. He came to beg Jesus to come to this house and heal her. On Jesus’ way to his house, a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came to touch his garment hoping to be healed. When she did, Jesus felt healing power leave his body and heal her. When Jesus found the recipient of his power he told the woman that her faith had healed her. *** Jesus continued to the house of the child and found she had died. He told everyone she was just sleeping and he went and woke her up from death and her spirit came back to her body. Jesus was demonstrating to the people that he alone had power over sickness and death. *** Then, Jesus gave this power and authority to his disciples and sent them out to heal and proclaim the kingdom of God. We have been given the same power and authority and mandate to heal the sick, cast out demons and proclaim the kingdom of God. *** Lord, may we walk in your authority and power and may your kingdom come.

Sun.’s Devo - Choose Blessings

Read: Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32; Luke 8:22-39; Psalm 70:1-5; Proverbs 12:4 Moses is still instructing the people what to do when they enter into the land, so that they can maintain their blessings from the Lord. The number one thing he told them was to love the Lord and keep his commandments. They had witnessed the miracle at the Red Sea. They saw how they passed over on dry land, while the Egyptians had been drown in the sea. They had witnessed what happened to Dathan and Abiram when the earth swallowed them because they rebelled against God and Moses. *** Moses encouraged them to be strong and courageous and to go in and take the land the Lord had given them. This land is not like the land of Egypt where they had to irrigate to get water. This land is full of rivers, hills and valleys. God blessed this land and it will be a blessing for them as long as they keep his commandments. *** The key to their blessing was in their heart. If they continued to love the Lord and do his commands and teach them to their children they will live long in the land and be blessed. God will drive out their enemies before them. They will flee in fear of them because of their God. *** The choice was theirs either to walk in God’s blessings or to walk in the curse. When they came into the land they were to set the blessing on Mt. Gerizim and the curse on Mt. Ebal. Then they were to cross the Jordan and take the land as their possession. They were to tear down all their altars of idolatry and burn them. They were to seek a place of worship that God could put his name on and that is where they will bring their burnt offerings, their sacrifices, and their tithes and offerings. They were to always take care of the Levites. *** When they came into the land, they could eat meat as long as they drained the blood from it. All offerings to the Lord were to be eaten in the place designated for worship. *** They were not to imitate the worship of the heathens in the land who even sacrificed their children in the fire. *** In Luke, Jesus and his disciples were headed across the sea to the land of the Gerasenes. Every time they went to this land they faced a storm first. The demons did not want Jesus to enter their land. This time Jesus was asleep in the boat. He was awakened by his disciples to do something about the storm. *** Jesus spoke to it and rebuked it and it stopped. Then, he rebuked the disciples for not doing it themselves. He had demonstrated to them already how to do that. The legions of demons were waiting for him on the other side. They all resided in one man. When Jesus went to cast them out of the man, the demons begged Jesus to let them enter into the pigs that were close by. Jesus allowed them to and the pigs ran over the cliff and all drowned in the water. When the shepherds, who were watching the pigs saw this, they ran into the city and told everyone. *** The people came out to see Jesus and the man who was now sane and clothed. They were so afraid, they told Jesus to leave. The man who was delivered begged to go with Jesus but he told him to stay and be his witness. The next time Jesus would come there, the people would receive him with open arms because of this man’s witness. *** We will have trials and tribulation, but we can choose to go through them calmly in peace by our faith. *** Lord, your ways are always perfect. May we exercise our faith to speak to our storms and tell them to be calm. May we speak to our soul and tell it to be calm. Thank you for the peace that surpasses our understanding. We choose to obey you and walk in your blessings.