Read: Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27; LUke 12:8-34:Psalm 78:32-55; Proverbs 12:21-23
Moses had always led them and now he was going to die. The Lord himself was going to pass over the Jordan into the Promised Land ahead of them. He would destroy the nations before them and take possession of their land for them. He kept telling them over and over to be strong and courageous.
Moses wrote down the law and told them to read it every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles. (I can’t imagine only getting to hear God’s Word once every seven years!) When he finished writing it he had it put in the ark of the covenant.
Moses called Joshua to the Tent of Meeting where he commissioned him to be the new leader. Moses taught them a song of praise commemorating everything the Lord had done for them so they would not forget. In his song he tells how the Lord divided the earth into sections and gave them out to nations. He took one man out of these sections which was Jacob. Jacob was just a man he found in the desert that he decided he would love him and raise him to be his inheritance out of the whole earth. There was no foreign god in Jacob so he chose him. He raised him up to follow him but his children would rebel and abandon God for other gods. Then God would raise up a different people and make them his people. These Gentiles would provoke his first children, the Jews, to turn back to him. God would have totally blotted out the name of the Jews except he didn’t want his enemy, the devil to be able to taunt him with winning.
In Luke, Jesus is trying to teach his disciples the difference between the riches of the world and the true riches of God. It is not evil to be rich in material things, but the riches of God far surpass anything money can buy. There is no comparison. We, as his children, never have to worry about whether we will be taken care of. Our father in heaven is more than willing to do that.
Lord, increase our trust in you.
Saturday, April 7, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
Fri.’s Devo - Choose This Day
Read: Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20; Luke 11:37-12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 12:19-20
Moses called the people together to remind them of their past with the Lord. He reminded them of how God provided for them in the wilderness and helped them to defeat their enemies. If they would worship him and obey his commands then they would prosper in the new land he was giving them. If they refused to obey his commands then they would be uprooted from the land and taken to another land where they would be slaves.
He started his speech out telling them that after everything the Lord had done for them, they didn’t have a mind to understand or eyes to see or hears to hear the Lord. He told them in the middle that God reveals his secrets to his children if they can catch it. He ends with telling them to choose what they want - the curses or the blessings - life or death.
We all know they chose the curse and death, but God gave them a “way back” clause. All they had to do was to return and he would shift them from the curses to the blessings.
In Luke, Jesus had just nailed the Pharisees for their rituals of washing and tithing when their hearts were so corrupt. They told Jesus that what he told them offended them so he continued to list their offenses. (I would have loved to have been there to see their faces.) The experts of the law were responsible for showing the people who God was but instead, they showed them how impossible it was for them to come to God because they were so unclean. The Pharisees were all talk, no heart. They looked good on the outside but Jesus knew their hearts.
They left mad and more determined than ever to shut Jesus up and catch him in a lie. The followers of Jesus, however, were growing and growing in number. Jesus knew what was in the heart of the Pharisees so he tried to prepare his disciples for the persecution he knew was coming for them.
This same persecution may one day come to us. We need to remember that we overcome by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony and that we love our lives not unto death. Death is victory for a Christian!
Lord, give us a heart to understand your revelation and truth. We choose this day to walk with you.
Read: Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20; Luke 11:37-12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 12:19-20
Moses called the people together to remind them of their past with the Lord. He reminded them of how God provided for them in the wilderness and helped them to defeat their enemies. If they would worship him and obey his commands then they would prosper in the new land he was giving them. If they refused to obey his commands then they would be uprooted from the land and taken to another land where they would be slaves.
He started his speech out telling them that after everything the Lord had done for them, they didn’t have a mind to understand or eyes to see or hears to hear the Lord. He told them in the middle that God reveals his secrets to his children if they can catch it. He ends with telling them to choose what they want - the curses or the blessings - life or death.
We all know they chose the curse and death, but God gave them a “way back” clause. All they had to do was to return and he would shift them from the curses to the blessings.
In Luke, Jesus had just nailed the Pharisees for their rituals of washing and tithing when their hearts were so corrupt. They told Jesus that what he told them offended them so he continued to list their offenses. (I would have loved to have been there to see their faces.) The experts of the law were responsible for showing the people who God was but instead, they showed them how impossible it was for them to come to God because they were so unclean. The Pharisees were all talk, no heart. They looked good on the outside but Jesus knew their hearts.
They left mad and more determined than ever to shut Jesus up and catch him in a lie. The followers of Jesus, however, were growing and growing in number. Jesus knew what was in the heart of the Pharisees so he tried to prepare his disciples for the persecution he knew was coming for them.
This same persecution may one day come to us. We need to remember that we overcome by the blood of the lamb, the word of our testimony and that we love our lives not unto death. Death is victory for a Christian!
Lord, give us a heart to understand your revelation and truth. We choose this day to walk with you.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Thurs.’s Devo - The Kingdom of God
Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; Proverbs 12:18
I would encourage you to read the blessings out loud over yourself and your family. These are our promises and the reward of obedience. Who wouldn’t want these blessings? Obviously, many people. The curses take up so much more room to write because God wanted to spell it out to them what would happen if they disobeyed and went after other gods. They would be able to see themselves when they read it and know exactly which one they were living in.
In Luke, Jesus cast out a demon from a man that was mute and the Pharisees explained he did this by the power of Beelzebub who was the prince of demons. Jesus pretty much told them they needed to choose sides. They either needed to decide Jesus did his miracles by the finger of God or by the devil. If he did them by the finger of God then the kingdom had come. A kingdom is a government ruled by a king. Jesus was declaring God’s kingdom had come to earth.
Jesus was also teaching them about demons. Demons need a host to live in and prefer to dwell in people. If they get cast out then they will look for a place to live. If they can’t find some place to rest then they will come back to the person he left and bring many more with them. If the person they left has filled the empty space with God, then there won’t be any room for them and they will have to leave again. They will keep coming back but not as often. Satan and his demons are really bad losers so they don’t like to lose their home. But, it’s not their home…we are to be the temple of the Holy Spirit and they are not welcome there.
The religious leaders wanted a sign from Jesus that he was the Messiah. He had already given them a plethora of signs so he told them the only one he would give them would be the sign of Jonah. Jonah was the sign of resurrection from the dead. Then he spoke of the Queen of Sheba who would be at the resurrection condemning them because she believed after she saw the natural things of Solomon. These people had seen so much more than the natural at work; they had seen the supernatural.
Lord, we choose your kingdom! May we be filled up with your Word and your truth.
I would encourage you to read the blessings out loud over yourself and your family. These are our promises and the reward of obedience. Who wouldn’t want these blessings? Obviously, many people. The curses take up so much more room to write because God wanted to spell it out to them what would happen if they disobeyed and went after other gods. They would be able to see themselves when they read it and know exactly which one they were living in.
In Luke, Jesus cast out a demon from a man that was mute and the Pharisees explained he did this by the power of Beelzebub who was the prince of demons. Jesus pretty much told them they needed to choose sides. They either needed to decide Jesus did his miracles by the finger of God or by the devil. If he did them by the finger of God then the kingdom had come. A kingdom is a government ruled by a king. Jesus was declaring God’s kingdom had come to earth.
Jesus was also teaching them about demons. Demons need a host to live in and prefer to dwell in people. If they get cast out then they will look for a place to live. If they can’t find some place to rest then they will come back to the person he left and bring many more with them. If the person they left has filled the empty space with God, then there won’t be any room for them and they will have to leave again. They will keep coming back but not as often. Satan and his demons are really bad losers so they don’t like to lose their home. But, it’s not their home…we are to be the temple of the Holy Spirit and they are not welcome there.
The religious leaders wanted a sign from Jesus that he was the Messiah. He had already given them a plethora of signs so he told them the only one he would give them would be the sign of Jonah. Jonah was the sign of resurrection from the dead. Then he spoke of the Queen of Sheba who would be at the resurrection condemning them because she believed after she saw the natural things of Solomon. These people had seen so much more than the natural at work; they had seen the supernatural.
Lord, we choose your kingdom! May we be filled up with your Word and your truth.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Wed.’s Devo - Blessings or Curses
Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26; Luke 10:38-11:13; Psalm 76:1-12; Proverbs 12:15-17
I wondered why first fruits was not mentioned when the feasts were talked about but it was because First Fruits was a feast of the promise land. When you have no land you can’t have any first fruits. So, today, God gave them the law about the First Fruit festival. By the third year they would have their fields producing and ready to give to the Lord. A tenth was to be set aside for the Levite, the fatherless and the widows so they would be taken care of.
When they crossed the Jordan, they were to set up some large stones that they coated with white plaster and wrote the law on them. They were to set them up on Mt. Ebal. Half of the tribes would stand on Mt. El and pronounce the curses of the law and the other half of the tribes would stand on Mt. Gerizim and pronounce the blessings. First they did the curses. It is a choice which mountain we want to live on. Looking at the curses the way to avoid them is just to put the Lord first and honor all people. Sounds a lot like the same thing Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31.
We can all relate with Martha and Mary. It is much easier to do than to be still. It is our nature to try to make things happen and work when God desires most that we be still and wait on Him.
God promises to give us as much as we need. All we have to do is ask, seek and knock.
Lord, we choose to live in the blessings. We pray for discernment to know when we are unknowingly choosing the curses.
I wondered why first fruits was not mentioned when the feasts were talked about but it was because First Fruits was a feast of the promise land. When you have no land you can’t have any first fruits. So, today, God gave them the law about the First Fruit festival. By the third year they would have their fields producing and ready to give to the Lord. A tenth was to be set aside for the Levite, the fatherless and the widows so they would be taken care of.
When they crossed the Jordan, they were to set up some large stones that they coated with white plaster and wrote the law on them. They were to set them up on Mt. Ebal. Half of the tribes would stand on Mt. El and pronounce the curses of the law and the other half of the tribes would stand on Mt. Gerizim and pronounce the blessings. First they did the curses. It is a choice which mountain we want to live on. Looking at the curses the way to avoid them is just to put the Lord first and honor all people. Sounds a lot like the same thing Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31.
We can all relate with Martha and Mary. It is much easier to do than to be still. It is our nature to try to make things happen and work when God desires most that we be still and wait on Him.
God promises to give us as much as we need. All we have to do is ask, seek and knock.
Lord, we choose to live in the blessings. We pray for discernment to know when we are unknowingly choosing the curses.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Tues.’s Devo -Walk in Holiness and Truth
Read: Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19; Luke 10:13-37; Psalm 75:1-10; Proverbs 12:12-14
God is a holy God and he demands that we be holy if we want to walk near to him. Can you be a Christian and not be holy… I don’t know, but you can’t be a follower of Christ and walk unholy because he didn’t walk in sin. Every sin or unclean thing had to go outside the camp.
Vows are really important to God. Vows are made with our mouth - we speak them. When we do, we either bring a blessing or a curse on ourselves depending on what the vow is and if we fulfill it. Satan is a legalist and he will make sure we are punished or the curse will come on us if we don’t annul it. We do that by asking God to forgive us for making it and pronouncing that it is of no affect, out loud.
God had many laws protecting the poor. We judge them and say they could find a job and choose to live better but God doesn’t do that. He makes allowances for them and tells us to be generous and kind to them. He always reminds them that they were once slaves and poor.
We are to always remember that once we were not saved and didn’t have the truth. We cannot judge the life of an unbeliever because they haven’t been given a new heart. Nor can we judge the lifestyle of a new believer, because they have not yet been discipled. We need to have compassion and patience like Jesus did.
Jesus told his disciples a very important thing. He said that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Satan has no more power and authority than what we give him. He is a deceiver and a smoke screen. He wants us to believe that he still has power but he doesn’t. Jesus’ disciples saw this when they went out and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus gave us power and authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm us.
Jesus didn’t give this revelation to the religious leaders but to the common man. We are the ones who he invested his great secrets with.
Lord, may we walk in your truth and in holiness and love.
God is a holy God and he demands that we be holy if we want to walk near to him. Can you be a Christian and not be holy… I don’t know, but you can’t be a follower of Christ and walk unholy because he didn’t walk in sin. Every sin or unclean thing had to go outside the camp.
Vows are really important to God. Vows are made with our mouth - we speak them. When we do, we either bring a blessing or a curse on ourselves depending on what the vow is and if we fulfill it. Satan is a legalist and he will make sure we are punished or the curse will come on us if we don’t annul it. We do that by asking God to forgive us for making it and pronouncing that it is of no affect, out loud.
God had many laws protecting the poor. We judge them and say they could find a job and choose to live better but God doesn’t do that. He makes allowances for them and tells us to be generous and kind to them. He always reminds them that they were once slaves and poor.
We are to always remember that once we were not saved and didn’t have the truth. We cannot judge the life of an unbeliever because they haven’t been given a new heart. Nor can we judge the lifestyle of a new believer, because they have not yet been discipled. We need to have compassion and patience like Jesus did.
Jesus told his disciples a very important thing. He said that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Satan has no more power and authority than what we give him. He is a deceiver and a smoke screen. He wants us to believe that he still has power but he doesn’t. Jesus’ disciples saw this when they went out and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus gave us power and authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm us.
Jesus didn’t give this revelation to the religious leaders but to the common man. We are the ones who he invested his great secrets with.
Lord, may we walk in your truth and in holiness and love.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Mon.’s Devo - Strange Laws
Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11
Today, we read about some of God’s laws that seem strange. They were pertinent to their time but we have to remember that they are spiritual to us. Murder had to be atoned for and the elders of the closest town were responsible. Every life is important to the Lord.
God wanted women to be honored and treated fairly. By the time Jesus came to earth, the Pharisees had added over one hundred laws against women. They believed they were inherently evil. That is why Jesus was so tender towards women. He wanted to give them back their dignity and status.
I’ll address a few of these strange laws. The one about men not wearing women’s clothing and vice versa is a picture of men taking on women’s roles and women taking on men’s roles. Men are to be the picture of God who we all submit to and women are a picture of the church which we all honor and respect. God lovingly rules and we faithfully submit.
Another strange law was that they were not to plant two kinds of seeds in their garden. Our garden is our heart and their are only two kinds of seeds. One is the Word of God and the other is the tares of the devil. When we plant both seeds we are defiling our hearts. The clothes of wool and linen are the same thing.
The rest of the chapter has to do with honoring women and making sure she is protected and justified. This is how the Lord feels about the Church.
In Luke, it was getting closer to the time Jesus was to be taken to heaven. I love that it says that rather than, it was getting closer to the time of his death. The way Luke says it is so positive. Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples to go ahead of him and prepare the hearts of the people so that when he got there, they would be ready to hear the good news. Jesus was setting a prototype. He sent them in pairs as lambs among wolves. He sends us out the same way.
Lord, may we walk in love proclaiming the good news.
Today, we read about some of God’s laws that seem strange. They were pertinent to their time but we have to remember that they are spiritual to us. Murder had to be atoned for and the elders of the closest town were responsible. Every life is important to the Lord.
God wanted women to be honored and treated fairly. By the time Jesus came to earth, the Pharisees had added over one hundred laws against women. They believed they were inherently evil. That is why Jesus was so tender towards women. He wanted to give them back their dignity and status.
I’ll address a few of these strange laws. The one about men not wearing women’s clothing and vice versa is a picture of men taking on women’s roles and women taking on men’s roles. Men are to be the picture of God who we all submit to and women are a picture of the church which we all honor and respect. God lovingly rules and we faithfully submit.
Another strange law was that they were not to plant two kinds of seeds in their garden. Our garden is our heart and their are only two kinds of seeds. One is the Word of God and the other is the tares of the devil. When we plant both seeds we are defiling our hearts. The clothes of wool and linen are the same thing.
The rest of the chapter has to do with honoring women and making sure she is protected and justified. This is how the Lord feels about the Church.
In Luke, it was getting closer to the time Jesus was to be taken to heaven. I love that it says that rather than, it was getting closer to the time of his death. The way Luke says it is so positive. Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples to go ahead of him and prepare the hearts of the people so that when he got there, they would be ready to hear the good news. Jesus was setting a prototype. He sent them in pairs as lambs among wolves. He sends us out the same way.
Lord, may we walk in love proclaiming the good news.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Sun.’s Devo - Spiritual Warfare
Read: Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20; Luke 9:28-50; Psalm 73:1-28; Proverbs 12:10
The Levites were to be totally provided for by the people They were to receive the people’s tithe of grain, wine, oil and wool. The Levites would represent the mature believers or church leaders. We pay our tithe to the church and the church pays salaries out of the tithe to the people who work for the church. Special offerings were designated for the upkeep of the temple.
Since the people freaked out when God spoke to them out of the fire on Mt. Sinai, they asked God to speak to them through men instead. God agreed and sent them prophets. He gave them ways to know if they were true prophets of him or not. If what the prophet prophesied came true, then he was God’s prophet.
When they got into their land and settled, they were to set up cities of refuge where people could run to if they accidentally killed someone ad there was no witness. If they had no malice or history of malice in their heart toward this person then they could present their case to the priest of the city and stay there in safety. But if the person had reason in his heart to want to hurt this person, the elders of his town would come to the city and bring him back for punishment.
God wanted justice and truth to be the rule of his land. If they went to war and realized that the odds were against them, the priests were to come out and encourage them reminding them that it was the Lord who was going to battle for them and He would win.
The officers were to send home the men of three different scenarios. They all stand for the same type of person. It was a person who was not ready or mature enough to fight. We don’t fight against flesh and blood but against principalities and spiritual beings in the heavenlies. As we mature, we learn how to wield the Word of God in war against the devil.
The Levites were to be totally provided for by the people They were to receive the people’s tithe of grain, wine, oil and wool. The Levites would represent the mature believers or church leaders. We pay our tithe to the church and the church pays salaries out of the tithe to the people who work for the church. Special offerings were designated for the upkeep of the temple.
Since the people freaked out when God spoke to them out of the fire on Mt. Sinai, they asked God to speak to them through men instead. God agreed and sent them prophets. He gave them ways to know if they were true prophets of him or not. If what the prophet prophesied came true, then he was God’s prophet.
When they got into their land and settled, they were to set up cities of refuge where people could run to if they accidentally killed someone ad there was no witness. If they had no malice or history of malice in their heart toward this person then they could present their case to the priest of the city and stay there in safety. But if the person had reason in his heart to want to hurt this person, the elders of his town would come to the city and bring him back for punishment.
God wanted justice and truth to be the rule of his land. If they went to war and realized that the odds were against them, the priests were to come out and encourage them reminding them that it was the Lord who was going to battle for them and He would win.
The officers were to send home the men of three different scenarios. They all stand for the same type of person. It was a person who was not ready or mature enough to fight. We don’t fight against flesh and blood but against principalities and spiritual beings in the heavenlies. As we mature, we learn how to wield the Word of God in war against the devil.
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