Category: “Listening to God” Devotional

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+018

 
Deuteronomy 18 (ESV)

Abominable Practices

9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

A New Prophet like Moses

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

 

REFLECTION:

• God clearly stated that the Israelites should worship only the one true God. He does not permit His people to consult those who try to discern and control the future by witchcraft and occult methods.  In fact, behind all these, is the trap that Satan set for Adam and Eve.  “The serpent told the Woman, ‘You won’t die. … You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ….’”(Gen 3:4-5, MSG)  Therefore, God does not want Israelites to have anything to do with these practices.
• Then, God promised to provide a prophet like Moses to teach them. It refers to the long line of Old Testament prophets whom God used to speak to Israel (e.g., Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel).  The New Testament points directly to Jesus as that prophet (Acts 3:22-23).  Through Jesus, God speaks to us in a way that surpasses the Old Testament prophets, even Moses. (Heb 1:1-2, ch 3).
• People today are still attracted by astrology, palm reading, etc. and still try to know and control the future. Satan continually tries to tempt and confuse believers by providing untruthful and twisted messages through all kinds of methods.  We, who have believed in Jesus, understand that the Bible is God’s Word.  Through the wisdom and revelation by the Holy Spirit, and the support and fellowship of fellow believers, we are able to understand and live out God’s will for us now and for the future.

 

PRAYER: 

Father in Heaven, You are a God who desires to reveal Yourself to people! Please give me a humble heart and a quiet spirit, so that I can hear Your still small voice, see Your works, and not forget Your grace. Please give me wisdom, so that I can discern the devil’s schemes and not fall into his traps. I know that the devil uses seemingly plausible arguments to deceive people, causing them to follow their own pride and desires, ultimately leading them to be bound by sin and unable to free themselves. I know that the ideas of divination, fortune-telling, and astrology may sometimes seem accurate and reasonable, but they are all just tricks of the devil to tempt and deceive people. They are all false and baseless lies. Father in Heaven, I want to listen to Your teachings every day, and lay down all my doubts, fears, and anxieties, trusting in You alone. Please be with me, so that I can resist the schemes of the wicked, not follow the path of sinners, or sit in the company of mockers. May I delight in Your law, meditate on it day and night, like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. May everything I do prosper. Amen!

 

HYMN:

Way Maker – youtu.be/pChRU2gUz-E

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+017

 
Deuteronomy 17 (ESV)

Laws Concerning Israel’s Kings

14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

 

REFLECTION:

• This passage records God’s warning to future kings of Israel against acquiring the trappings associated with wealth. This warning, however, did not deter David and later Solomon from acquiring great wealth.  Today we all know stories of contemporary leaders who take office with good intentions, but whose service is later compromised by money.  What is so seductive about money and what it can buy?  How do they keep us from living a life of simplicity?
• Simplicity/Frugality: The inward reality of single-hearted focus upon God and His kingdom, which results in an outward lifestyle of modesty, openness, and unpretentiousness and which disciplines our hunger for status, glamour, and luxury.

 

PRAYER:

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me today about living a life of godliness and simplicity. I live in a wealthy country where my daily needs are more than met. Please give me a heart of godliness, to cherish and appreciate everything I have now, knowing that it all comes from Your blessings. Give me wisdom and humility to know how to handle abundance and poverty, because I brought nothing into this world, and I can take nothing out of it. I should be content with clothing and food. I want to remember those who are struggling and in need around me, and help them practically. If I encounter hardship and poverty in the future, please give me faith to rely on You for everything. Please remove pride from my heart, so I won’t be fixated on the power, wealth, and glory of the world, because all of these will pass like the dew on the grass. Please mould me to experience the richness of life, joy, and peace of the soul. This is true wealth. Amen!

 

HYMN:

Song In My Soul – youtu.be/FX1Fjdfbg8Y

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+016

 
Deuteronomy 16 (ESV)

Passover

1 “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose, to make his name dwell there. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. 5 You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, 6 but at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7 And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8 For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks

9 “You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. 11 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. 12 You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Booths

13 “You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. 15 For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.

 

REFLECTION:

• Three times a year (v.16) Israelites were to appear before the Lord to offer Him thanks for agricultural bounty and, in some cases, for historical deliverance. He saved them from Egypt and now provides the crops that sustain them.
• Today, we should look back in the past to thank God for Jesus, the Passover Lamb who saves us (1Cor 5:6-8) and provides for us.

 

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for speaking to me through today’s scripture and teaching me how to number my days. How fleeting is my life on earth? Day by day, year by year, my days fly by and I experience many hardships. Yet because I dwell in Your house, my heart is filled with joy and happiness no matter what I face. Looking back on my past years, I have lacked nothing because You are my shepherd, making me lie down in green pastures, leading me beside still waters, and reviving my soul, guiding me in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. As I and my brothers and sisters speak of Your grace, my heart is filled with gratitude. Heavenly Father, I want to dwell in Your house all my life, and Your grace and mercy will always be with me. From the beginning of the year to the end, though I may be busy, my heart finds rest in Your embrace. Although my time on earth is short, I have the hope of eternal life that You have given me, and I will one day return to a more beautiful home in heaven, entering into Your glory, and forever being with You. Amen!

 

HYMN:

House of the Lord – youtu.be/IqfV0zeEvT8

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+015

 
Deuteronomy 15 (ESV)

19 “All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. 21 But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. 23 Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

 

REFLECTION:

• Every firstborn animal sacrificed to the Lord was to be free of serious defects. God is absolute holy and mighty, and is worthy of our worship and service with our very best gifts.  The principle here is that the best belongs to God, not what is left over.  In this way we show how we love God with all our heart, mind, and body.
• PGC doesn’t have its own church building yet; we rent a school and use its facilities. However, we can begin to learn to give the best to God’s family instead of donating the second-hand furniture or old computer to church.  Today many of us think we are being generous when we give second-hand equipment and furnishings to our churches.
• When I attend services this week, look around. Is the ministry of our church being hampered by its dependence on substandard accoutrements?  If so, inquire of the situation.  If need be, make the pledge to purchase something for the church in a quality better than I would purchase for my own home.  How would I feel?

 

PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me again today how to offer my sacrifice. You love me so much, You give me life and breath, lead me on the path of righteousness, and teach me to seek the truth. You forgive and pardon my disobedience, and gave Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ to sacrifice Himself on the cross for me, washing away all my sins with His precious blood, and saving me from the power of death. O God, Your grace and mercy toward me are higher than the mountains and deeper than the sea! How can I repay You for all Your kindness to me? By offering my best to You. I would rather lack for myself, and make Your house rich. I will not only offer my excess money, time, and energy to the church, but also sacrifice my own interests to care for my brothers and sisters, just as my Lord Jesus Christ did for us. I want to imitate the sacrificial love of my Lord Jesus Christ and follow His command to love others as myself. I understand that the true meaning of sacrifice is not to give away my excess without hesitation, but to willingly give myself up to please You. I am willing to do so, and ask You to strengthen me. Amen!

 

HYMN:

Give of your best to the Master – youtu.be/yfnTB9cU8ww

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+014

 
Deuteronomy 14 (ESV)

22 “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23 And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses 26 and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

28 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

 

REFLECTION:

• As already described, Deuteronomy is a covenant renewal, reaffirming the relationship between the Great King, Yahweh, and His servant people, Israel.  Here we see that the people are to bring tribute to their King.  This tithe, or a tenth of the yield (or its monetary equivalent), was to be used in the worship of God, and every third year the tithe was to be used for the support of those who were not able to work the fields themselves (Levites, whom God set apart for special service to Him, widows, orphans, and resident aliens). 
• Although the NT might not have specific instructions on tithing, we ought to remember that Jesus did not simply “tithe” His life for us, but rather gave it all.  As Tim Keller says, “tithing is a minimum standard for Christian believers.  We certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position of giving away less of our income than those who had so much less of an understanding of what God did to save them” (Counterfeit Gods, 62).

 

PRAYER:

Merciful Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me through today’s scripture how to give my possessions. You said that I should tithe all of my possessions to You, and You will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that will overflow my cup. Merciful Heavenly Father, You are an abundant God who lacks nothing, and You do not need earthly possessions. How much more are You like a human father who asks his child for a toy, which the child regards as a precious possession? What use is this toy to the father? I know that You do this to cultivate an unselfish giving heart in Your child, to teach Your child Your great love, so that the child’s life can continue to grow and mature into a person who can bring you joy. Heavenly Father, I understand that Your grace and love are all in Your earnest expectation of Your children’s growth. I am willing to follow Your teachings and repay Your love by tithing all of my possessions to You, for I understand that my life is created by You, my path is led by You, and everything I have is given by You. Amen!

 

HYMN:

All To Jesus I Surrender – youtu.be/SW8EA7DEQ2M

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+013

 
Deuteronomy 13 (ESV)

1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

 

REFLECTION:

• In this passage, we have the first of two (see 18:15-22) provisions concerning prophets. Here we learn that, though certain prophets’ words turn out to be true, if they lure Israel to false gods, then they are by definition false prophets and should be put to death.  This text alerts us to the fact that false prophets may actually utter true prophecies, and we are thus warned not to be deceived into following their advice.  Indeed, we should “test the prophets.”
• Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. …… You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:1-4)

 

PRAYER:

Father in Heaven, thank You for sending Your only Son to the world to accomplish the great grace of redemption for us! Dear Lord Jesus, You are not only my saviour but also the Lord of my life. Because I believe that You are the Son of God, my Saviour, and the Lord of my life, I am justified and have become a child of the Heavenly Father. Moreover, the Holy Spirit of truth lives inside me, guiding and protecting me every day, helping me discern true and false teachers, and leading me on the right path. O Triune God, You are eternal and Your mysteries are unfathomable, and Your grace is so vast and deep! You are far greater than the king of the world, the devil Satan! My Lord Jesus Christ has overcome this world, abolished the power of death, and with my faith, what have I to fear? Holy Spirit of goodness, please teach me to recognize the devil’s tricks. Although he has failed, he still prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Please grant me wisdom and strengthen my faith so that I may discern the false and deceitful words and not be taken captive by the devil. Amen!

 

HYMN:

As the Deer – youtu.be/LthkibTzuj8

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+012

 
Deuteronomy 12 (ESV)

1 “These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. 5 But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, 6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13 Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14 but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.

 

REFLECTION:

• God tells the Israelites not to “worship the Lord” in the ways of the Canaanites. Instead, they are to seek the place that God chooses.  This law recognizes that places of false worship are dangerous, since they might tempt the Israelites to serve the wrong god.
• Although few of us today would be tempted to worship a false god as such, we have many idols that tempt our hearts to put them first and God second. These can include our families, what other people think of us, financial security, etc.  We must root out the desire to worship these things and focus on the true God.
• What are the advantages and dangers in our choosing where we want to worship?
• What was the reason that I joined PGC? Was God involved in the decision process?

 

PRAYER:

Father in heaven, You are a God deserving of honor, glory, worship, and praise! You created me and oversee my life. Thank You for giving me the breath of life and allowing me to live freely in this beautiful and abundant world. Thank You for fulfilling Your amazing plan in my life, and for reconciling me to Yourself through the precious blood of Your son, Jesus Christ, making me Your child. I am especially grateful for teaching me through today’s scripture that I should worship You with spirit and truth, and use all my heart and strength to fulfill Your will and glorify Your name. Father, please give me a heart of reverence so that I may meditate on Your word every day and obey Your teachings. I know that my worship is often shallow and lacking in substance. Many times I come before You with impure hands and a heart that still clings to the idols of the world. Father, please purify me. May Your word be like a sharp sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. May Your Spirit refine the impurities in my life, so that my life may reflect the heavenly glory like refined gold. May Your will be done in my life. Amen!

 

HYMN:

The Heart of Worship – youtu.be/0XsB0ltXmRs

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+011

 
Deuteronomy 11 (ESV)

8 “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, 9 and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

13 “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15 And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

 

REFLECTION:

• The book of Deuteronomy takes the past and puts it together with the present in such a way that we can move into the future with a heightened expectation of having God’s promises fulfilled in our lives. Deut 11:1-17 does this in the transitional setting of moving from the old year to the new year.  In the middle of the passage is this sentence: “It’s a land that God, your God, personally tends – He’s the gardener – He alone keeps His eye on it all year long” (v12).
• The entire calendar is under the sweep of God’s caring eyes. Past and future are held together by His love and His promises.  Because God sees the beginning of the year and end of the year in a caring way, we’re able to link up our past with our future.  Once we see God in the year past, we can respond to Him properly in the year ahead.  The one great thing we know about the year ahead is that God is in it.  His presence in it is more significant than anything that is there, in fact, everything is in God!

 

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for watching over and protecting me from the beginning of the year to the end. I am grateful for the spring and autumn rains You send, which bring me abundant and peaceful life, and make my body and spirit strong and healthy. I thank You for the sunshine and blue sky that make my path smooth and my career successful. I also thank You for the ice, snow, and storms that I encounter, which challenge and temper my will. Father, whether in times of ease or difficulty, I know that You are with me, and my heart is full of the peace that You have given me. When my life is going smoothly, please keep me alert, so that my heart will not become dull or be tempted to become proud and disobedient to Your commandments. When my journey encounters rough seas, please make me steadfast and calm, so that I will not be fearful and forgetful of Your grace, and sway with the changing circumstances. Father, I desire to dwell in Your temple all the days of my life, to gaze upon Your beauty and enjoy Your presence. Even if my body is weary, my spirit can find rest in Your arms. I want to look forward to each day of my life with hope, until I inherit the heavenly inheritance and return to the even more beautiful home above. Amen!

 

HYMN:

Sovereign – youtu.be/KaO8U70M9Hs

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+010

 
Deuteronomy 10 (ESV)

10 “I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. 11 And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.

 

REFLECTION: 

• In today’s passage:
• What words or phrases touched me specifically?
• What aspects of God’s character stand out to me? Why?
• What commands are particularly emphasized? Why?
• Express to God my thoughts about living in His presence. Is living in God’s presence important to me?
• In what areas would God consider me “stubborn” (v16)?
• Tell God my thoughts on poor and needy people (widows, orphans, single parents, migrants, refugees, etc.). Have an honest conversation with God and tell Him if I am willing to accept these people into my life.

 

PRAYER: 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for speaking to me through today’s scripture and helping me understand what You desire from me. You do not require me to do anything difficult, but only to fear You, follow Your path, love You, serve You with all my heart and soul, and keep Your commandments and laws. Everything You have commanded me is to bring blessings upon me, just as a loving earthly father would ask of his child. Father, I thank You for doing great and awesome things for me, which I have personally experienced. You sent Your only beloved Son to sacrifice Himself for me, to save me from sin, to give me a brand new life, and to receive the title of Your child and the eternal blessing of life. What You require of me in return is to obey Your will, so that I may receive more grace and achieve a life of holiness and glory. Father, please give me wisdom, so that I may better understand Your fatherly heart and experience Your great love more deeply. May I not consider Your commands burdensome, but willingly accept Your training and live a life on earth that reflects the life of heaven. Please allow me to accept those who live in difficult circumstances and are spiritually impoverished with love, just as You have accepted me, so that they may also see Your glory and receive the eternal blessings of life. Amen.

 

HYMN:

Majestic – youtu.be/RFN48Dm9YVo

 

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Deuteronomy+009

 
 Deuteronomy 9 (ESV)

11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’

13 “Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people. 14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the Lord bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also.

 

REFLECTION:

• The golden calf that Israel made on the plains of Sinai was the ultimate affront to God.  God had delivered His people from slavery; Israel ignored Him and chose to worship an idol.  God had fed and protected Israel; they decided to praise a creation of their own hands.  In the most basic way the golden calf was a total rejection of God.
• Moses reminded the Israelites of the incident with the golden calf not to make them feel ashamed, but to let them know of God’s greatness and mercy, that He had once again granted Moses’ plea and had not destroyed the Israelite people.

 

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, today’s scripture once again makes me feel Your greatness and mercy! Looking back on my life, I painfully realize that I have sinned against You time and time again, just like the Israelites did, and yet You forgive my sins and transgressions over and over again, just as You forgave them. I have been stubborn and refused to acknowledge You; I have made all kinds of idols for myself, including the glory of the world and the pride of this life; I have also been lazy and indulgent, not reading the Bible or engaging in spiritual prayer, but sinking into the pleasures of the flesh and completely forgetting Your grace. Heavenly Father, as a sinner like me, You have not abandoned me! You have repeatedly used Your cords of love to pull me back to Your side, and used Your way of life to influence and nurture me. Today, with a grateful heart and a repentant spirit, I once again confess my sins to You, including those hidden sins that I am not even aware of. I pray that You will forgive me one by one. You are faithful and just, and if I confess my sins, You will cleanse me of all my iniquities. Thank You for Your great mercy in forgiving my sins, and I pray that You will continue to shape me, so that I may live a holy life. Amen!

 

HYMN:

Goodness of God – www.youtube.com/watch?v=690BkuwNsJ8