ClassicDevotionSeries: "DAILY FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD" -Andrew Murray

DAILY FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

  • 1. The first and chief need of our Christian life is, Fellowship with God.

    The Divine life within us comes from God, and is entirely dependent upon Him. As I need every moment afresh the air to breathe, as the s sun every moment afresh sends down its light, so it is only in direct living communication with God that my soul can be strong.

    The manna of one day was corrupt when the next day came. I must every day have fresh grace from heaven, and I obtain it only in direct waiting upon God Himself. Begin each day by tarrying before God, and letting Him touch you. Take time to meet God.

  • 2. To this end, let your first act in your devotion be a setting yourself still before God. In prayer, or worship, everything depends upon God taking the chief place. I must bow quietly before Him in humble faith and adoration, speaking thus within my heart: "God is. God is near. God is love, longing to communicate Himself to me. God the Almighty One, Who worketh all in all, is even now waiting to work in me, and make Himself known." Take time, till you know God is very near.

     

  • 3. When you have given God His place of honor, glory, and power, take your place of deepest lowliness, and seek to be filled with the Spirit of humility. As a creature it is your blessedness to be nothing, that God may be all in you. As a sinner you are not worthy to look up to God; bow in self abasement. As a saint, let God's love overwhelm you, and bow you still lower down. Sink down before Him in humility, meekness, patience, and surrender to His goodness and mercy. He will exalt you. Oh! take time, to get very low before God.

     

  • 4. Then accept and value your place in Christ Jesus. God delights in nothing but His beloved Son, and can be satisfied with nothing else in those who draw nigh to Him. Enter deep into God's holy presence in the boldness which the blood gives, and in the assurance that in Christ you are most well-pleasing. In Christ you are within the veil. You have access into the very heart and love of the Father. This is the great object of fellowship with God, that I may have more of God in my life, and that God may see Christ formed in me. Be silent before God and let Him bless you.

     

  • 5. This Christ is a living Person. He loves you with a personal love, and He looks every day for the personal response of your love. Look into His face with trust, till His love really shines into your heart. Make His heart glad by telling Him that you do love Him. He offers Himself to you as a personal Saviour and Keeper from the power of sin. Do not ask, can I be kept from sinning, if I keep close to Him? but ask, can I be kept from sinning, if He always keeps close to me? and you see at once how safe it is to trust Him.

     

  • 6. We have not only Christ's life in us as a power, and His presence with us as a person, but we have His likeness to be wrought into us. He is to be formed in us, so that His form or figure, His likeness, can be seen in us. Bow before God until you get some sense of the greatness and blessedness of the work to be carried on by God in you this day. Say to God, "Father, here am I for Thee to give as much in me of Christ's likeness as I can receive." And wait to hear Him say, "My child, I give thee as much of Christ as thy heart is open to receive." The God who revealed Jesus in the flesh and perfected Him, will reveal Him in thee and perfect thee in Him. The Father loves the Son, and delights to work out His image and likeness in thee. Count upon it that this blessed work will be done in thee as thou waitest on thy God, and holdest fellowship with Him.

     

  • 7. The likeness to Christ consists chiefly in two things--the likeness of His death and resurrection, (Rom. 6:5). The death of Christ was the consummation of His humility and obedience, the entire giving up of His life to God. In Him we are dead to sin. As we sink down in humility and dependence and entire surrender to God, the power of His death works in us, and we are made conformable to His death. And so we know Him in the power of His resurrection, in the victory over sin, and all the joy and power of the risen life. Therefore every morning, "present yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead." He will maintain the life He gave, and bestow the grace to live as risen ones.

     

  • 8. All this can only be in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. Count upon Him to glorify Christ in you. Count upon Christ to increase in you the inflowing of His Spirit. As you wait before God to realize His presence, remember that the Spirit is in you to reveal the things of God. Seek in God's presence to have the anointing of the Spirit of Christ so truly that your whole life may every moment be spiritual.

     

  • 9. As you meditate on this wondrous salvation and seek full fellowship with the great and holy God, and wait on Him to reveal Christ in you, you will feel how needful the giving up of all is to receive Him. Seek grace to know what it means to live as wholly for God as Christ did. Only the Holy Spirit Himself can teach you what an entire yielding of the whole life to God can mean. Wait on God to show you in this what you do not know. Let every approach to God, and every request for fellowship with Him be accompanied by a new, very definite, and entire surrender to Him to work in you.

     

  • 10. "By faith" must here, as through all Scripture, and all the spiritual life, be the keynote. As you tarry before God, let it be in a deep quiet faith in Him, the Invisible One, who is so near, so holy, so mighty, so loving. In a deep, restful faith too, that all the blessings and powers of the heavenly life are around you, and in you. Just yield yourself in the faith of a perfect trust to the Ever Blessed Holy Trinity to work out all God's purpose in you. Begin each day thus in fellowship with God, and God will be all in all to you.

     

     

  • Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest

    aBibleStorywithJackKelley: "Davids Story" Part 4

    David’s Story, Part 4 – 1 Samuel 23-26

    That day the Lord showed me that opportunity does not equal mandate. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean it’s the Lord’s will that you should.

     

    A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

    This was the lowest period of my life. Saul was hunting me without reason and had just killed 85 priests simply because one of them had showed kindness to me. I was a fugitive in the very country where I was supposed to become King! The one good thing is that the Lord was drawing me closer, and I found myself seeking His direction constantly. I wrote Psalm 27 to recall my feelings then.

    I heard that the Philistines were harassing the people at Keliah and looting their threshing floors, so I asked the Lord if we should attack them. When the answer came back yes, I got the men together, but they expressed concern about going. I asked the Lord again and He again told me to go, saying He had given the Philistines into our hands. So we went and were victorious, just as the Lord had promised.

    But Saul found out we were there and immediately came after us. He thought he saw a great opportunity. Keliah is a gated, walled city and he figured he could trap us inside and finish us off like sitting ducks. When I heard he was coming, I inquired of the Lord again. He told me to get my men out of there because the people of Keliah were going to betray us even though we had just saved them! I couldn’t win for losing.

    But while it seemed that men constantly betrayed us, we still had the Lord on our side, and He is always faithful. Since we had honored Him by obeying His command to go, He wasn’t going to dishonor us by letting Saul capture us. We left immediately and escaped into the surrounding hills.

    Saul was never far behind. One time we were on one side of a mountain while he and his army were on the other side. They would have caught us that day if the Philistines hadn’t attacked a village in the area, diverting Saul’s army from chasing us. Later I saw this as one of many examples in my life of a promise the Apostle Paul would one day make for you in yours: God is working everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28).

    We hid out for a time in En Gedi. It’s a lush oasis in the desert just west of the Dead Sea. Today there’s a Nature Reserve there where you can hike up a narrow canyon beside a flowing stream. At the top there’s a waterfall that looks like it’s coming right out of the sky to form a beautiful pool with greenery all around. It’s a natural fortress and a refuge and it served me well. Later, when I wrote Psalm 32, I remembered En Gedi as my hiding place where the Lord filled my heart with songs of deliverance.

    One day we were hiding in the back of a deep cave there when who should walk in but King Saul himself. He was looking for a cool place to take a nap and didn’t know we were there. While he slept my men tried to convince me to kill him, but I refused. I stole up to him and cut off a corner of his robe instead.

    After he got up and left I went after him and shouted for him to stop. When he did, I showed him the corner of his robe and told him I could have killed him but didn’t out of respect for him and his position. I said I had never done anything against him, nor would I, so why was he after me? “Who are you hunting,” I said, “A dead dog … or a flea?” (A dead dog is helpless against attack and a flea is so insignificant as to be of no consequence.)

    Saul admitted I was right and thanked me for not killing him. He said he knew I would be king of Israel some day, and asked me to promise not to harm his family when that happened. I promised.

    That day the Lord showed me that opportunity does not equal mandate. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean it’s the Lord’s will that you should. For me to have killed Saul in his sleep would have taken events out of God’s hands and destroyed my chances to maintain the moral high ground in my ongoing dispute with Saul. I believed that when the Lord decided to take Saul out, He would do so in a way that wouldn’t cloud my integrity, and until then even though Saul was determined to kill me, he was still my King and deserved my respect. Over 1000 years later, the Lord’s brother would say the same thing about Satan. (Jude 8-9)

    My encounter with Nabal was a different matter entirely. Here was a man whose very name meant fool. How he wound up married to a woman like Abigail is anybody’s guess. He was a rich man with huge flocks and herds so maybe that’s what made him attractive. After voluntarily protecting him, his family, and his herds from the Philistines for some time, I sent 10 men to see if he would return the favor by giving us something to eat, since we were out of food. He turned them down flat, insulting me in the process.

    “Well,” I declared, “Nobody treats me like that. Especially after all we’ve done for him.” I told the men to buckle on their swords and we set out to have a little “chat” with Nabal, thinking to make an example of him for repaying good with evil. I took 400 men with me and left 200 behind to guard our camp.

    When his wife Abigail heard what Nabal had done, she knew right away what a huge mistake he had made, and what the likely consequences would be. Hurrying to gather up a large amount of food, she loaded several donkeys and set out to intercept us.

    When she saw us coming she dismounted and bowed low before me. She told me she knew what her husband had done, and took complete responsibility for it herself. She asked me to please accept the food she had brought and forgive her husband for his foolishness. He was just living up to his name.

    Then she said that she knew God was with me and would build me up into a lasting dynasty because I was fighting His battles. “Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live,” she admonished me. “When the Lord has given you all the good things He’s promised, you don’t want to have on your conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged yourself. It’s best to leave these things in the Lord’s hands.”

    Abigail was a sensitive, intelligent woman and her whole demeanor touched me deeply. I thanked her sincerely for her sound advice and for helping me avoid what would have been a terrible mistake. Then I accepted the food she had brought us and sent her home in peace.

    When Abigail got home her husband was in the middle of a drunken party so it was the next morning before she told him what she’d done for us. He had a heart attack right on the spot and 10 days later was dead.

    I don’t know if you’ve ever been stopped before taking matters into your own hands, but I’ll bet there’s been more than one occasion in your life when you haven’t been, and have charged ahead on your own only to make a terrible fool of yourself. I had almost done the same thing myself.

    “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord, “It is mine to repay.” (Hebr. 10:30) Again I learned the wisdom of separating opportunity from mandate. Had Abigail not warned me off, I would have deprived the Lord of a golden opportunity to show His favor toward me in the sight of those around me. I sent for the newly widowed Abigail and asked her to marry me, and she agreed.

    Much later, the Apostle Paul would confirm the Lord’s desire that His people live in peace to whatever extent possible, and not to take revenge but leave room for God’s wrath (Romans 12:18-19). It’s so important for us to remember that the Lord has already marked our enemies for defeat, so the victory is ours. We need only live up to that which we’ve already attained (Phil. 3:16) by showing them the same mercy and grace He has shown us. (Romans 12:20-21)

    Shortly after the episode with Nabal and Abigail, My men and I were staying in the Desert of Ziph, south of Hebron. Someone from there reported this to Saul, who immediately gathered 3000 men to hunt us down. He camped near the road to Jeshimon so we stayed out in the desert.

    One night I spied on Saul’s camp from a nearby hillside and located the place in the center of camp where he and Abner, his commander in chief, were sleeping. I hurried back to our camp and got Abishal to join me. Together we crept into Saul’s camp right up to where he and Abner lay sound asleep. Abishal wanted to kill Saul but again I refused, telling him to steal Saul’s spear and a water jug, both of which had been placed right near Saul’s head. I told Ashibal that Saul’s life was in the Lord’s hands, to either end early or not as He saw fit.

    We took the spear and water bottle and slipped away up the hill above the camp. The Lord had kept Saul and his men asleep while we were in their camp, but now I hollered out to Abner and woke him up, chiding him for not protecting the king. As proof of my accusation I told Abner to look around for the king’s spear and water bottle.

    By now Saul was awake too, and again I told him I could have killed him and didn’t, out of respect for the Lord’s anointed. Again I asked why he was after me, and again he thanked me for sparing him and admitted that his hunt for me was a mistake. He asked me to join him in the camp, but I refused, knowing it was a trick to try and capture me. Instead I had him send a messenger up to retrieve his spear as final proof that I could have killed him.

    “The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not harm His anointed,” I said. “As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”

    Then Saul blessed me, predicted I would do great things and we went our separate ways. Psalm 54 is my tribute to the Lord for protecting me there.

    These three events contained powerful lessons for me. As I mentioned earlier, they taught me that opportunity does not equal mandate. But they also showed me how different God’s ways are from ours. By nature we’re impatient, self-centered, and task oriented. We’re always jumping the gun on God’s timing, thinking that He needs our help to get things done.

    We have the examples of Abraham and Moses to show us the folly of that kind of thinking. Abraham grew tired of waiting for God to deliver on His promise of a son. When Sarah suggested using Hagar as a surrogate wife, He agreed and helped create a problem that still results in daily bloodshed in your time. (Genesis 16) When Moses single handedly undertook the rescue of God’s people from their bondage in Egypt by killing an Egyptian soldier, he set God’s plan back 40 years and caused a whole generation of our people to suffer and die in slavery. (Exodus 2:11-25)

    Both these men were acting on promises God had made to them but grew impatient, as if they thought He had forgotten about them or needed their help to get the job done. Showing me that Saul was His problem, not mine, gave the Lord more time to prepare me for my role as the leader of His people. I would have deprived Him of that time had I acted out of my human nature.

    I already knew that He would protect me every moment of every day in the interim. (As Peter would later say, He knows how to rescue Godly men from trials while holding the wicked for judgment. 2 Peter 2:9) So I didn’t waste any time by waiting for the Lord, and I wouldn’t have saved any by moving out ahead of Him. These lessons that were so true for me in my situation are just as true for you in yours, for our Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebr. 13:8) See you next time.

    RayStedman: "The Purpose Of Marriage"

    The Purpose Of Marriage

    A devotion for January 18th

    Read the Scripture: Mark 10:1-12

    For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one (Mark 10:7-8).

    There are a great many implications in this statement. First, you recognize that it does away with all such notions as homosexual marriages. There are no such things. These pathetic misrepresentations are but a poignant commentary upon the twisted, distorted ideas that prevail in society today. It takes a man and a woman to be married. Marriage is one man and one woman, and it always has been, from the beginning.

    But what our Lord makes clear is that this relationship is the highest relationship possible in life. It takes priority over all others. Closer even than the tie of blood is that of marriage, in the mind and heart of God. It is a closer relationship than with any children who follow. People are to become husbands and wives before they become fathers and mothers. This indicates a priority of relationship. A man is closer to his wife, and a wife to her husband, than they will ever be to their children. Though we may not feel that way, nevertheless, it is the truth.

    What, then, is the purpose in marriage? It is to become one. This is what marriages are for. Two people who are disparate, distinct, and different individuals, with different personalities, different gifts, blending their lives together so that through the process of the years they become one flesh--that is what marriage is. It is not something that happens instantaneously when you get married. The wedding service does not make you one. The first act of sex after marriage does not make you one. It begins the process, but it does not finish it. It takes the whole marriage to accomplish this. Marriage is the process of two people becoming one.

    Therefore man and woman are not to live together as roommates. Marriage is not going your separate ways and having your separate careers and merely sharing a house and a bed together. Nor are they to split up over every problem or difficulty that arises between them; they are to work them out. They are not to separate; they are to choose to be together, to spend the rest of their lives together, in order that they might merge their lives together. Therefore they stop being rivals and start to become partners. A successful marriage, therefore, is not one without problems; it is one where the problems are being worked out, where the husband and wife do not split but stick together, face up to their problems, discover the hardness of heart that is there, and learn how God can soften it. In other words, it is a process, not a single production. It is a pilgrimage, not a six weeks' performance. It is intended to be a public portrayal, not a private predicament. It is a lifelong contract, not a renegotiable franchise, as many presume today.

     

    Thank You for these plain and clear words that help me understand what is involved when we choose a wife or husband and what Your purpose is in it. Help me to walk in these ways.

     

    Life Application: Has the cultural perception of marriage corrupted our perception of God's plan for this foundational relationship? How does malpractice of marriage violate God's intention?

    Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest

    TheStoryBible: "The Story of Noah and the Great Flood" (c)

    TheStoryBible: "The Story of Noah and the Great Flood" (b)

    TheStoryBible: "The Story of Noah and the Great Flood" (a)

    BobCaldwell: "FORGET LOVE AND YOU LOSE"

    CLICK FOR THE DESIRED DAY'S DEVOTION: MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY

    TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2011 (TOP)

    FORGET LOVE AND YOU LOSE

    (DEUTERONOMY 7:12-8:20)

      "When your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." -Deuteronomy 8:14

    God is love and He makes it abundantly clear to us in His Word that He loves His people. In loving us He finds pleasure in blessing us just as we are naturally drawn to bless those we love. God promises to give Israel a land overflowing with blessing. He looks forward to prospering the womb of each woman, the herds, grain, and their fruit trees with abundance. They will lack nothing! (7:13-15; 8:7-8)

    But with this promise of blessing God includes a warning. The warning is that God's love can be taken for granted. Before long instead of God's love being the source of the blessing in our lives we can begin to actually think it is the result of our own efforts! God is forgotten and the blessings God gave us begin to replace God. Our hearts drift and we fall into the self-deception that we don't really need God!

    Knowing this reoccurring theme in fallen humanity, God taught and tested them in the wilderness. Their every drop of water and every piece of manna came from God's loving care. The cloud that covered them from the sun and the fire that warmed them at night came from God. They were taught and tested to live in humble dependency upon God. The end goal was to bring them into a land where they would be given great blessing and wealth through the land God gave them (8:18).

    God still seeks to teach us a life of humble dependency and to steer clear of the self-idolatry that feeds us with the delusion that we are the source of the good things given to us by God. That false conclusion will cause the loss of everything. Remember the point of our existence is to love God and be loved by Him. Keep this in our hearts and all is well. God finds joy in blessing us, the object of His love. Yet when we forget our purpose and we lose everything. God will not share our hearts with anything or anyone. He is a jealous God! Only when we enjoy all other things in and through our love for Him will God give us "all other things." Stay in love and stay humble.

    NKJV BIBLE TEXT

    Deuteronomy 7:12-8:20

      Blessings of Obedience

    12 "Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. 13 And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you. 16 Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

    17 "If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?'— 18 you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed. 21 You shall not be terrified of them; for the LORD your God, the great and awesome God, is among you. 22 And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 23 But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. 24 And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

    DEUTERONOMY 8

    Remember the LORD Your God

    1 "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

    6 "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

    11 "Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17 then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.'

    18 "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.

    Blessings of Obedience

    v. 13 He will love you and bless you – Here God is promises to bless Israel with physical blessings, which the pagans around them knew nothing of. He vows to express His love by blessing Israel in a supernatural way as long as they truly desire to remain and walk in a covenant relationship with Him. He promises that their land will be blessed in order to constantly provide abundant food, their livestock blessed to produce offspring, and their homes blessed with many healthy children.

    v. 15 will take away from you all sickness – This is another aspect of God's promise to Israel of supernatural blessing. He repeatedly promises to give Israel divine health, and that as long as they follow Him with their whole hearts and lives, they will never have to suffer from the diseases that the nations around them experience. It is important at this point to remember that these blessings were conditional, based on Israel's willingness to remain in covenant relationship with God.

    v. 20 God will send the hornet among them – This is a promise of supernatural deliverance and victory. The Lord says that although Israel will not be able to deal with all of their enemies because many will hide themselves in rocks and holes, God will send Israel supernatural help and defeat its enemies even by using the smallest of insects if He so chooses.

    v. 22 God will drive out – God's care and provision for Israel even extended to the timing of their victories. Rather than driving out all of their enemies at once and allowing the land to be overrun by predators and wild animals, which could destroy the fields and vineyards, God allowed them to take the land little by little so that they would inherit fields and cities still being maintained.

    v. 25 burn the carved images – Included under the ban of Israel's holy war was all of the images of the pagans, even if they were covered with gold. Because the idols were abominations, the Hebrews were to consider everything that had to do with them an abomination. They were to be destroyed.

    Chapter 8

    Remember the LORD Your God

    v. 1 be careful to observe – Chapter 8 is a continuation of Moses' exhortation to Israel concerning the importance of honoring God above all else, so that they may prosper and remain blessed in the Promised Land. They are reminded of God's faithfulness to them over the past 40 years, even in some of the things that they might otherwise consider hardships, such as the times that God has chastened them. All of that was to be seen as blessings from God and a reminder to remain faithful to Him.

    v. 2 to know what was in your heart – God allowed Israel, as He allows us today, to go through difficult times of testing in order to reveal what was really in their hearts and how steadfast they were in their commitment to obey Him. Israel learned valuable lessons in the wilderness, lessons they were not to forget, including how easy it is to wander away from God in their hearts even when they have evidence in front of them (e.g. supernatural miracles such as the plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea, the pillar and cloud, and the manna in the wilderness). This chapter emphasizes the importance for Israel to do all that must be done to remain faithful to God when things are easy and they are at rest in fruitfulness.

    v. 3 man shall not live by bread alone – God reveals that it was He who allowed Israel to taste hunger in the wilderness, and that He allowed it so that they could realize that their source of life was not physical bread but God. Jesus quoted this verse in response to Satan's temptation in Matthew 4:4.

    v. 4 your garments did not wear out – During the 40 years Israel spent wandering in the wilderness, Israelites wore the same shoes and clothing that they had on when they left Egypt. God had ensured supernaturally that they did not wear out.

    v. 5 so the Lord your God chastens you – Again, God reveals through Moses that the difficult times which Israel had experienced in the wilderness were all part of a divine plan for their good. The Lord allowed them to encounter trials and tribulations to reveal to them the true condition of their hearts and give them opportunity to repent of sinful attitudes and grow in godliness. In Hebrews 12:5-11, the author reveals that God still deals with us in much the same way. He reminds us that if we encounter difficult times as we follow Jesus, it is often by God's hand. He is chastening us so that we may grow in holiness.

    v. 10 then you shall bless the Lord – To "bless" means to kneel before and adore, speaking the praises of. Moses reminds them to be a people continuously expressing thanks to God for His many blessings, knowing that offering up praise keeps God's people mindful of how great He is and how good He has been to us. This is one primary way to keep our hearts centered on Him and to avoid the backsliding, which Israel eventually experienced because of their disobedience to commands such as this.

    v. 14 forget the Lord your God – Moses reminds them that the greatest danger to spiritual health is usually not trials, tribulations and battles but rather peace, prosperity and contentedness. Again, the greatest dangers facing Israel in the Promised Land were not the giants or the wars they fought in taking it, but rather the blessings they experienced once they settled in the Promised Land. Trials have a way of keeping us centered and focused on the Lord, while prosperity often causes us to forget Who it is that has blessed us and how much we need to press in to Him for our very life.

    v. 18 who gives you power – This is a reminder that it is the Lord who gives some people the ability to prosper more than others, and that if a person is able to experience abundance it is a gift from God. In 1 Corinthians 4:7, Paul reminds us to consider that the only ability any one person has to differ from another is a gift from God and not of ourselves. Everything we have, we have received from God. Daniel 5:23 reminds us that even our very breath is a gift from God and our drawing the next breath depends on Him. The purpose of these passages is to draw our focus away from ourselves as our source and back to the Lord as the giver of every good and perfect gift, so that we may walk more faithfully with Him.

    BobCoy: "The lesson of loss"

    Devotionals by Active Word

    Pastor Bob Coy photo
    The lesson of loss
    Tuesday, January 18, 2011
    Print
    Subscribe

    This Psalm has to be one of the saddest sections in the entire Bible. It describes the way the Israelites wept and lamented after they were torn from their homeland and were carried off into captivity by the Babylonians. Their hearts were shattered as they let go of the land that their God had given them. It was all misery, mourning, pain, and poverty.

    But here's what's interesting: For literally hundreds of years the Lord had warned His people about the reality of this happening. As Israel spiraled deeper and deeper into the sin of idolatry, God sent one prophet after another to proclaim the judgment that would fall if they didn't repent. For the most part, they didn't listen. They went right on living as they had, until the gavel of judgment finally fell.

    Now they were in mourning. If only they had taken God seriously back when He first warned them.

    It's been said that you don't appreciate something until it's gone, and sadly, that's often the case. Israel is a prime example of this. They didn't appreciate the privilege of living safely in their own land until it was forcibly taken from them. God warned them, but it took the lesson of loss to actually affect their hearts.

    Do we need to learn the same lesson? What has the Lord warned us about? Are we tuning Him out and living life according to our own desires? Do we need to lose something so the Lord can get our full attention? May we be softhearted enough to hear the Spirit's answer to each of these questions.

    Sovereign Lord, we don't want to need to learn the lesson of loss that Israel did. Show us where and how we might be headed in that direction and give us the grace to change course.  

     Think About It… 

    What does this passage reveal to me about God?

    What does this passage reveal to me about myself?

    Based on this, what changes do I need to make?

    What is my prayer for today?  

    Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest

    JonCourson: “those things are replaced by relationship”

    January 18
     
      And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.  
      Joshua 6:4  
     
    The priests, the Ark, and the rams’ horns that were part of the procession around the walls of Jericho all point to Jesus. Even the Sabbath, the seventh day, points to Him for He is our Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4). 

    Imagine that it’s Valentine’s Day and you walk into your house and see your wife hugging and kissing your picture. “Surprise!” you say as you hold out candy and roses, expecting her to run toward you. But if she remains more infatuated with your picture than with you, you would say, “Why are you so wrapped up with the picture, when the one it portrays is right here?”

    So too, were Jesus on the scene in Joshua’s day, He would say, “I am the fulfillment of the Sabbath and of the silver trumpets. I am the fulfillment of the priesthood and of the Ark of the Covenant. They’re just pictures. Focus on Me.” Yet I wonder how many of us are focused on rules, regulations, and religion even in the Promised Land of the Spirit-filled life. I wonder how many of us subconsciously say, “It’s Sunday. That’s a holy day. I’m off to church,” or “It’s morning. I’m disciplined. It’s time for devotions.” 

    To us, Jesus would say, “Rules, regulations, and rituals are only necessary if I’m not present. But if I’m present, those things are replaced by relationship with Me.” Gang, we know more than the early Church knew about typology and illustrations. The question is, Do we know Who they knew? They knew Jesus. And they responded to His leading moment by moment. We too will be free from religion and predictability, from legalism and traditions, from habits, ruts, and routines to the degree that we realize that the Captain of the host, the Captain of our salvation, Jesus Himself, is in our midst.

    Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest

    CharlesStanley: " Walking with God"

    Dr. Charles Stanley photo

    Walking with God
    Charles Stanley
    Tuesday, January 18, 2011
    Print
    Subscribe

    Once we receive Jesus as Savior, His Spirit indwells us permanently. Yet there is a difference between having salvation and actually walking with the Lord. Being saved involves the forgiveness of sin and the blessing of an eternal security, while walking with God is a privilege that we live out day to day.

    To understand this idea more fully, let's consider the example of Noah, a man Genesis 6:9 identifies as one who followed the Lord in this way—that is, he lived by faith. Surely he did not understand God's direction to build an ark. After all, there had never even been any rain—let alone a cataclysmic deluge. Until the flood, mist would rise from the ground to nourish vegetation. But because the Almighty spoke, Noah believed and obeyed.

    For us, walking by faith need not mean something as monumental as saving wildlife from destruction. Instead, it's likely to involve something more commonplace, like living with godly priorities, spending time in the Word, or holding to God's values in a world that belittles them. In fact, it is frequently when there is no crisis or quandary to motivate us that our true character is revealed. When we are faithful with the simple, mundane things, our heavenly Father will entrust us with more.

    Believing God and acting accordingly is an important aspect of following Him. Do you have such trust that you obey even when His directions are difficult or confusing? Ask Him to increase your faith, and renew your commitment to follow wherever He leads.

    Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest

    JoyceMeyer: "Receive by Faith"

    Receive by Faith

    January 18
    I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight . . . And the Lord said, My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
    — Exodus 33:13-14

    Everything that we receive from God comes by faith. When you are waiting for Him to speak to your heart, just believe that He will speak to you, even if you don’t hear anything right that minute. 

    Believe that because you have acknowledged Him, you can expect to see His hand moving in your life all day long. Then step forward, knowing that He will keep you on the right path because you have asked Him to do so. Watching God’s hand of favor move on our behalf is one of life’s greatest delights.

    Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest

    Translate