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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-07-08 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 (VOICE) |
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Text: |
4 When the Eternal your God has driven them out ahead of you, then don’t begin to believe He gave you this land because you’re so good and righteous! It’s just the opposite; He is giving you their land because those other nations are so bad! 5 It’s not because you’ve conducted yourselves so well or because you have such pure hearts that you’re going to take the land; the Eternal your God is driving out those other nations ahead of you because they’re so wicked. He’s keeping His word, the promise He made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 I’ll say it again: the Eternal One your God isn’t giving you this good land because you’re so good. You’re stubborn, obstinate people. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Moses wanted his people to be reminded who was in charge of the mission they were about to take, for there was nothing they could have said or done that could warrant the overthrowing of the much larger towns they would encounter on entering into the Promised Land. If God was to act based on the goodness of the Israelites, they probably would never have made it out of the wilderness. I believe that we could see where there would be lots of lessons in this story for us also! Let’s apply this Scripture to our lives… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| We may tend to look at this story as such an obvious case. After all, we remember from reading the story about how the Israelites turned their hearts away from God right from the very beginning of their journey, and very soon after seeing God’s miraculous hand at work at various times. I believe that God knew that as these people entered the land, overcame towns and settled in, there would be a higher likelihood of them pitching a party to celebrate, rather than a huge praise service to give God the glory. So I feel like God inspired Moses to warn them ahead of time. So friends, what is God pointing out to us through this scripture? I believe that a fair number of us are willing to help the poor; visit the sick; encourage the depressed and console the mourning, but what do we expect back? Please don’t quickly respond ‘nothing’, because we gloat in our achievements when we hear our names mentioned in recognition, or mentioned in the newspapers for having helped someone. May I suggest that you try seeking God’s face for Him to show you where the needs are? Then try meeting those needs without calling your pastor to see if he approves, for you are following God’s instructions. If you can meet the need anonymously and not tell anyone else that you did it, I believe you will have something to celebrate with God. Think about it, when God blessed you with the income and abilities to help others, He didn’t send a message to your pastor so he could have the church celebrate your income and talents. Therefore, when you give, as unto the Lord, give in His precious name, so that He might be glorified! He gave it to you and you shared some it. Since it all originated with Him, then He deserves the credit and the praise! Start by tithing to your local church, as instructed in Scripture. When you’re comfortable with that, and realize the praise that God receives through the work of the local church, and that you survived financially in spite of giving a tenth right off the top, then you will be comfortable taking that to the next level. God told us to test Him and see if He wouldn’t bless us beyond anything we could give or imagine. Try it friend! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father, who are we that a King should die for us and provide the only means into heaven to live eternally with our awesome God? The love, the gift of eternal life, the provisions of each day and the gift of family and friends, way exceed anything we could ever have thought or planned. The gift of the Holy Spirit to help us in our daily walk, makes this whole journey on earth possible. Thank You Lord Jesus for every gift You have given to me. May I live the life You have designed for me, so that all that I do and all that I am, may bring glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
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