Hold On

Hello everyone.

I want to backtrack a little bit to something I saw in Deuteronomy 11.  What I want to talk about today comes from Deut. 11:22 and 23: It says, "If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him and to hold fast to Him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you."

God tells the Israelites that following Him involves three things, 1.) Loving Him, 2.) Obedience to Him and 3.) Holding fast to Him. God says that if they will do these things that He will give them great victory over nations that are both larger and stronger than they are.  This must have been a comfort to them, knowing that God would protect them and give them victory in situations that were larger and stronger than they were.  The good for us is that the same principle still applies. If we will follow God - loving Him, obeying Him and holding fast to Him, He will will give us victory in situations that are both larger and stronger than we are.  Certainly we all face situations that are bigger than we are.

I think that we all understand the idea of love and obedience are things that we understand, but the phrase "hold fast" is not something that we say a lot.  So what does it mean? It basically means "cling."  God wants to hold fast, or cling to Him, particularly in situations that are larger and stronger than we are, since they are not larger and stronger than Him.  It reminds me of  Ps. 63:70-8:                                            Because you are my help,
                                 I sing in the shadow of our wings.
                            I cling to you;
                                 your right hand upholds me.

David wrote this in the Desert of Judah as people were chasing him in an effort to kill him, and he could say this.  Having someone try to kill you trumps any situation I have ever been in.  He looked to God for his help and because God helped him, David felt secure enough to sing in the shadow of God's wings. (Who knew God had wings?)  He would cling(hold fast) to God and he recognized that God was holding him up with His right hand. So then question becomes, "Where do we look for our help and comfort in our times of need?"  If we are holding fast to anything other than God, we are fighting a losing battle.  Too often I have looked to other things, particularly food, to deal with stressful situations that were larger than me. It never helps long term.  Eventually I end up in a position where I must depend on God.  Then I have victory.  I would be better off, if I just went there first.  May we all have those victories n those situations that are larger and stronger than we are, knowing that God's powerful right hand will uphold us.  Then we can have the kind of security to sing in the shadow of His wings.
Tom

Qualifications for a King

Hello everyone.

Today, I am going to share something I've seen in Deuteronomy recently about leadership.  In Deut. 17:14-20, God reveals that He knows that some day Israel would ask for a king so that they can be like the nations around them.  It gives some instructions for the new king. It  says, in verses 18-20:

"When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of  this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.  It is to be with him, and he is to read all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left.  Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel."

Now prior to the passage above, god does gives some other instructions about not accumulating too much stuff or taking too many wives.  That such things would lead them astray.  Israel's history, of course, proved God correct in all of that.  But I want to focus on the part of these instructions written above.  It says that the new king must go to the priests and get a copy of the law, then set down and copy it word for word on his own scroll.  He was to carry his copy of the law around with him and read it every day.  So a good king was going to have God's word on his heart and read it every day. So then, what was this daily Bible study going to do for the king? 

It would help him know God better and respect Him more (learn to revere the Lord his God.)  It would help remain obedient (follow carefully all the words of this law.)  It would keep him humble (not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites.)  It would keep him faithful (not turn from the law to the right or to the left.) There is a lot there and it is all good.  So a good king was going to stay in God's word. 

This is good, but my guess is that no monarch's will actually read this post.  But I think this good instructions for any kind of spiritual leadership, because these attributes all thing that we should want.  Any leader, (or any disciple for that matter,) should desire a deeper relationship with God, to be more obedient to Him, to be humble in our dealings with our fellow disciples and to stay faithful. So how do we do that?  Do we need to literally write our own copy the Bible down and then carry it with us everywhere we go? I don't know, but we do need to do whatever it takes to keep God's word on our hearts and then study every day.  This will bring only positive things to us.
Tom

Who God is and what He wants

Hey everyone.

I've continued my study of Deuteronomy and wanted share a little bit from it.  In Deut. 10:12-22, God spells out who He is and what He wants from his people, and I wanted to share those things with you, today.

In Deut 10:12-13, it says, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?"  It breaks down like this; What does God ask of His people:

• Fear God.
• Walk in obedience to God.
• Love God.
• Serve God with all your heart.
• Serve God with all your soul.
• Observe God's commands.

It sounds a lot like the discipleship of the New Testament, doesn't it?  The standard of obedience to God has really always been the same.  Total. Complete.  Giving our heart and soul to it.  Even in the Old Testament, this was God desired of His people.  Why should God expect so much of his people?  He answers that in the verses (Deut. 10:14-18) that follow where He describes Himself.  This is what He says:

• God owns the heavens.
• He owns the Earth and everything in it.
• He is God of gods.
• He is Lord of lords.
• He is the Great God
• He is Mighty.
• He is Awesome.
• He shows no partiality.
• He accepts no bribes.
• He defends the cause of the fatherless.
• He defends the cause of the widows.
• He loves and cares for the foreigner. 

This a long list of God's attributes, and in the middle of all this, He tells them that He had chosen them and placed His love on them.  Throughout Deuteronomy, God has reminded them of what He had  done for them in leading them out of Egypt and bondage.  So with regard to who God is and what He had done for them, God was not expecting too much out of His people.  Likewise, if we apply this to ourselves, God is the same God and has rescued His people from much (a different slavery, perhaps.)  Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable for God to call us to the whole-hearted, whole-souled service.
Tom