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.