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.

Sun.’s Devo - The Kingdom is Here!

Read: Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23; Luke 8:40-9:6; Psalm 71:1-24; Proverbs 12:5-7 God warned them of people who would dream dreams about the future but then try to get them to worship other gods. These false prophets are testing them to see if they would give up the Lord to follow them. They were to put them to death and purge the evil from them. Even if these people were in your family, you were to throw the first stone and not stop till they were dead. *** How does this apply to us today since we live in the dispensation of grace? We stand up to the falsehood of dead religion and tell those trapped in it the truth. Our words are stones. If they won’t listen to us, we pray the Word over them until their old man is dead and they are saved. *** When they began living in the land, if they found out an entire town was worshipping other gods, they were to attack the town and destroy all the people and burn the town as a burnt offering to the Lord. To us, this would pertain to a church or religion that was worshiping other gods. It must be exposed and shut down. We have churches in America that claim to worship Satan. They should be shut down. *** We went over the food they were to eat before so I will just summarize it. The split hooves had to do with rightly dividing the Word of truth to give us balance. Chewing the cud had to do with meditating on the Word and letting it come back up to meditate on again and again. The fins help guide us and keep us upright. Scales cover us like the blood of Christ and the shield of faith. *** Every seventh year, they were to cancel any debts owed and no one should be poor among them. They were to lend to the poor even if they knew they would not get it back because of the Jubilee. God would bless them for being generous. In other scripture we learn that when we give to the poor, we are lending to the Lord. He will repay with interest. *** They were to set their Hebrew slaves free at the beginning of the seventh year. If he wanted to stay with the master, the master was to pierce his ear to the door and he would be his servant for life. We are at the end of the sixth year (the sixth thousand year) and are entering into the Jubilee. We can choose to become God’s slave by piercing our ears to the door. The door is Christ, he is the way to the Father. We commit to hear his voice and obey. It is a covenant we can choose to make. *** We are to give our first and best to the Lord, because he gave us everything. He is always to be first in our lives. In Luke, Jesus healed a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years - the whole lifespan of the little girl who ended up dying. The woman and the girl stood for two generations of Israel. The older generation was bleeding for lack of a healer and the younger generation was going to die for lack of a savior, but Jesus stepped into the scene and stopped both of those outcomes. He healed the older generation and brought life to the newer generation. Twelve is the number for government and the Kingdom of God had arrived, so everything was changing. *** Lord, may we see your Kingdom coming. May we respond to the changes because life and healing is here.

Sat.’s Devo - A New Day

Read: Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32; Luke 8:22-39; Psalm 70:1-5; Proverbs 12:4 Moses continued his speech. He reminded them that the Egyptians had still, after 40 years, not recovered from what happened when God visited them with plagues and great wonders. *** Most of the people he was talking to had not seen all those things happen because they weren’t even born and their parents were children or teen-agers at the time. Their parents were to tell all the things they saw to their children so they would know who God was and what he expected of them. *** God told them to obey his commands so they would have strength to enter their land. This land is not like the land of Egypt that needed irrigation. God watches over this land to bring rain and help the land give of its fruits. They will live in great prosperity and joy as long as they obey the Lord. Obeying the Lord is how they show they love him. *** God would help them by putting fear in the hearts of the inhabitants so they would be easy to drive out. *** They were to proclaim the blessings on Mt Gerizim and the curses on Mt. Ebal. “Gerizim” means “cut off” and Ebal means “confusion”. So hearing the blessings of obeying the Lord and the curses of not obeying the Lord cuts off all confusion - it was plain and simple and the choice was theirs whether they would choose to be blessed or cursed. *** They were to tear down and destroy every place the past inhabitants worshiped their idols and silly gods. God would choose a place, once they got settled where they would bring their sacrifices and offerings to worship him. This is the only place they would be able to eat their offerings given to the Lord. They were free to have bar-b-ques in their homeland but not do it as a way of worship to the Lord. They were never to eat meat of an animal that was still alive. They were to kill the animal and drain its blood from it making sure it was dead. *** In Luke, Jesus had told this disciples that they were going to cross the lake to the other side. It grew night time and a huge storm rose up. The disciples woke Jesus up and told them they were about to drown. Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and it stopped fighting them. He asked his disciples where their faith was. Satan was warning them they were coming into his territory, but Jesus rebuked him and went anyway. No wonder, when they got there, they met the man who was full of demons. He had terrorized the people and lived in the tombs with the dead. When he saw Jesus, he immediately bowed and exclaimed who Jesus was - Son of the Most High God. The demons in him begged Jesus not to torture them. He was filled with legions of demons who begged Jesus not to send them to the pit. Jesus gave them permission to enter into a bunch of pigs nearby. The pigs ran, out of control over a cliff into the lake and drowned. The herdsmen who were watching the pigs, went into the town telling everyone what they had seen. People came to see for themselves and saw the demon-possessed man sitting on the ground listening to Jesus teach. They were so afraid, they begged Jesus to leave their territory. Jesus left the man who had been delivered there to share his story with everyone. When Jesus came back, the people were then ready to receive him. *** Sometimes it is hard to process something new and people need some time. We need to keep that in mind as everything in our day is changing and becoming new. We need to be patient with people because we all “see” at different times. The people of Israel and the days of the disciples were all new, and they were facing paths they had never navigated before. We are entering into a new day also with the Lord, and we will need to adjust as we go and be willing to change. *** Lord, help us have patience with those who can’t see yet, as you have patience with us. Open all of our eyes to see into the ways of your kingdom. May we make the corrections along the way that we need to make to navigate this new day.

Fri.’s Devo - The Sower and the Seed

Read: Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22; Luke 8:4-21; Psalm 69:19-36; Proverbs 12:2-3 Moses gathered the people to speak to them before they crossed into the land the Lord had for them. They were going to come up against people that were giants who lived in towns with walls that reached to the skies. How coincidental that their first town they came to, it would be the walls that would come down. *** God went to great detail to let them know that he was not giving them this land because of their righteousness or because they deserved it, but because he had promised their descendants and made a covenant with them. They were stubborn and rebellious and had proved it the whole forty years in the wilderness. He was also giving them the land because the people living there were so wicked. *** Moses reminded them of all their sins in the past because Moses stood for “the law” and that is what the law was for. It was to set a standard so people could see their sin through it. Thank God, we live in the day of grace! God reminds us of our future. *** Moses told the people what God required of them. They were to fear Him and live their lives pleasing him. They were to love and serve him with all their heart and soul. The law was for their good if they obeyed it. He told them to change their hearts and stop being stubborn. God is a god of justice and loves the foreigners as well as his people. God had proven to them that he was powerful and worthy of their praise. In Luke, Jesus gave the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus explained it to his disciples later because they were permitted to know the secrets of the kingdom. God hid these secrets in his parables. The sower was God; the seed was his Word. God scattered his Word everywhere but where that seed fell determined if it would grow and prosper. The places it fell were in the hearts of people. Many seed did not grow because of trauma, clutter, indifference and shallowness. But those who had hungry hearts devoured the seed and it grew and produced a huge harvest. *** Jesus then talked about a lamp. Lamps are light-bearers and should not be hidden but put on a stand so everyone could benefit from its light. We are the light of the world. We are to let our light shine and not cover it with our shame and insecurities. *** Jesus warned them to watch HOW they heard when they listened to his teaching. If they listened with open hearts, they would be given more, but if they listened with cynical hearts, they wold lose what little understanding they had. *** Jesus’ natural mother and brothers came to see him but couldn’t get close because of the crowd. When Jesus heard they were there, he said that his mother and brothers were those who hear God’s word and obey it. I’m sure he went to see his mother and brothers but he was making the point that they were his natural kin on earth but his spiritual kin were just as dear to his heart as them. *** Lord, thank you for your love. May our hearts be fertile and receptive to your teachings, your discipline and your love. May we be a light in the world of your goodness and truth.

Thurs.’s Devo - Victory!

Read: Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20; Luke 7:36-8:3; Pslam 69:1-18; Proverbs 12:1 God listed the seven nations they were to conquer. They were stronger and more in number than the Israelites but the Lord would hand them over to them. They were to completely destroy them and make no treaty of peace with them or make marriages with them. If they did, these nations would lead them to worship their false gods and it would lead to their destruction. God would become their adversary. *** God made it clear that the reason he was helping them was because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had chosen to love them. His covenant would last a thousand generations. “A thousand generations” is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 16:15 and Psalms 105:8 talking about this same promise. If this is a literal time period then it means 4,000 years. He adds, that he lavishes his love on all who love him and obeys his commands, but doesn’t hesitate to punish those who don’t. *** Besides his love, God’s blessings include abundant provision, fertility, protection, health and victory. He will put the diseases, meant for them on their enemies instead. They were to show their enemy no mercy or it would come back to bite them. *** The same power that God used to take out the Egyptians, he would use against these enemies. God would drive them out little by little so they would be able to take the land as soon as they were destroyed. He would make them so confused, they would not be able to stand against God’s people. *** They were to plunder them but not take the gold or silver used to make their idols. This must be destroyed because it is defiled. *** God warned them to not let all the years they spent in the wilderness be in vain. They were tested and refined in the wilderness so they would be able to obey the Lord now in their time of victory. This is a word for us today. We are witnessing the take down of a very evil system that has plagued us for thousands of generations. Now that it is slowly being dismantled, we must occupy its place and remember all we have learned as slaves. Our only hope of being successful is to follow the Lord and do it his way. We must not forget the Lord who brought us out of bondage and rescued us from slavery. We must remember that he is the one who gives us power to succeed. If we don’t we will be destroyed just like them. *** In Luke, Jesus had been invited to eat at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. A woman who was known for her immoral lifestyle came in and began pouring perfume on his feet. She began weeping and wiped her tears from his feet with her hair. Then she began kissing his feet. It was obvious, this woman was having a spiritual moment of intense emotion. We can only guess what was going on in her heart as she did this. But, the Pharisee thought that if Jesus was a prophet, he should know what kind of woman she was and not received her. *** Jesus, being a prophet, did know who she was and what Simon was thinking. He told Simon a story about two men who each owed a man unequal amounts of money. The man forgave them both. Jesus asked Simon, who he thought would be the most grateful. Simon said, probably the man who was forgiven the greatest debt. Good answer. *** Simon fell right into the trap. Jesus told him that he hadn’t offered Jesus water to wash his feet when he entered his house or the courtesy of oil for his head. She had offered both. She was the man in the story who had owed the greater debt of sin and God had forgiven her. Now she is so grateful that she is offering what she has. Jesus turned to the woman and told her that her sins were forgiven and that her faith had saved her; she could go in peace. *** The Pharisees at the table missed the whole meaning of the parable and stumbled over the fact that Jesus forgave her sin. It reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 23:24 to the Pharisees, “You strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.” *** In the last paragraph it talks about the women who followed Jesus. Mary Magdalene had had seven demons cast out of her. I wonder if they were the same seven principalities over the nations that had to be cast out of the land God was giving them. *** Lord, thank you for salvation for us who recognized we need a savior. Thank you for setting us free from slavery, not only in our soul but in our nation. Uphold our leaders to follow you with wisdom and discernment. Let them win victory after victory. To you be all the glory!