Greater Things!

Deuteronomy 9:1 – Hear, Israel: you are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,

Moses talks to the people of Israel and shows them what God is calling them to do – to take on nations greater and mightier than them, and to bring down huge, fortified cities.  Has he gone crazy?  No – Moses is right on the money!

The call that God has on our lives is always greater than our ability to achieve it – so that God gets glorified when the impossible takes place!

If we’re finding ourselves in a place where that which we must overcome seems impossible – then we should rejoice and not despair – because it’s exactly in that kind of climate that the power of God gets demonstrated!

He has not brought us out to let us down!  He gives us impossible promises and then brings us to the place where through His power we will see them fulfilled. 

Cross-Dressing?

Deuteronomy 22:5 – A woman shall not wear men’s clothing, neither shall a man put on women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

The Bible even covers cross-dressing! 

The clothing worn by the different genders identifies them with that gender.  To wear clothing that belongs to another gender, is to outwardly forsake your own gender. 

Regardless of our how our society might feel about this – God makes it pretty clear that He’s really not into it…

My Brother’s Keeper

Deuteronomy 22:1 – You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother.

You shall not see your brother’s ox or sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them.  What this means is to ‘ignore’ – to see, but pretend that you don’t see.  If we’re honest, there’s plenty of times in life that we ‘see’ but pretend we don’t see.  This is because if we ‘see’ then we have to do something about it! 

You shall surely bring them again to your brother.  If you see it going astray, it now becomes your responsibility to bring it back. 

Cain asked the question ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’.  (Genesis 4:9)  The answer to this question was actually ‘yes’ – but sin always tries to hide under legalism.  It’s not my problem, it’s not my concern.  I don’t have to do anything about this. 

The two great commandments Jesus gave us are to love the Lord our God with all our heart… AND to love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves.  Practically, this means not pretending we didn’t see what we saw! 

Stoning Sin

Deuteronomy 13:10 – You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Death by stoning was the way to deal with sinners under the Old Covenant.  But under the new covenant, we no longer stone sinners, but we do need to ‘stone’ sin.  This means that we find those areas of our lives that are out of line with what God says and we ‘stone’ them – throwing the rock of the Word of God at it continually until it dies! 

Just as Jesus used the Word of God as an offensive weapon against the devil, so it is our offensive weapon against sin in our lives.  We are ‘transformed by the renewing of our minds’.  Anytime there is ongoing sin for us, it shows an area of untruth that we’re still believing.  The only remedy for a plague of lies is a hail of truth!!

Getting Empty… Fast!

Deuteronomy 32:36 – For the Lord will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that [their] power is gone, There is none [remaining], shut up or left at large.

When we’re blasting on with what we can simply achieve by ourselves, there is no power.  God waits…

But the Lord will act on behalf of His people when he sees that we’re no longer relying on our power to get the job done.  When there is ‘none remaining’, none ‘shut up’ and none ‘left at large’. 

It seems to us often that God let’s us get right to the end of ourselves before coming through.  Yet He does this for a reason – to teach us that it’s His power not ours that will ultimately move the earth! 

This doesn’t mean that we sit around doing nothing, but it means that we are earnestly seeking God to move in our situations!

So the secret to power really is… get empty fast!  Get weak fast!  See what Your God is capable of!

More Than Anything

Deuteronomy 33:9 – Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him; Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, Nor knew he his own children: For they have observed your word, Keep your covenant.

The tribe of Levi were selected by God to be His priests – and for one special reason.  When Moses returned down the mountain and found the Israelites worshipping the golden calf – he summoned to his side all who were with him – and the entire tribe of Levi gathered.  They then went back and forth throughout the camp and put to death those who had worshipped the calf – their mothers, brothers and neighbours.  But following this Moses bestowed a blessing on the Levites, and they were set apart for the Lord forever. 

It reminds us of the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:37 and Luke 12:53, where Jesus calls his disciples to love Him more than their own family, and to know that His words would divide mother, father and son and daughter.

The gospel is free, but the price of following is high.  But we’re not alone in this price – men and women in generations before us have sought to love their God above all else, and have found the unparalleled blessing in knowing God. 

He’s worth it!

The Shoulder, Jaw & Stomach

Deuteronomy 18:3 – This shall be the priests` due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.

The priesthood of Israel was sustained by the offerings of the people.  They also acted symbolically on the Lord’s behalf – so that when an offering was given to the priests, it was in essence ‘given to the Lord’. 

For this reason it’s interesting to note which parts were given to the priests as their portion:  the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach (lucky priests eh?!  ha ha)

The shoulder represents strength, the jaw – what is spoken, the stomach – that which is taken in and gives strength and life to the whole body. 

In identifying with these sacrifices, the people were in essence giving their shoulder – their strength, their jaw – the words they speak, and the stomach – that which they took in and what provided strength for the body.  All of these things were dedicated to God for His pleasure.

We are those who give God our strength – our abilities, our time and money.
We give God our jaw – the words we speak, and the way we speak
We give God our stomach – our appetites, our desires and what we want. 

“I cannot begin my work, for I have not yet seen the face of God.” McCheyne

Your conscience can only be your guide, if you let God guide your conscience – Adrian Rogers

Connection

Thoughts on staying connected to the Holy Spirit