Journal 29-8-2009

Journal 29-8-2009

Scripture

Deuteronomy 31:1-13 (Young's Literal Translation)

¹And Moses goeth and speaketh these words unto all Israel,

²and he saith unto them, `A son of a hundred and twenty years [am] I to-day; I am not able any more to go out and to come in, and Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou dost not pass over this Jordan,

³`Jehovah thy God He is passing over before thee, He doth destroy these nations from before thee, and thou hast possessed them; Joshua -- he is passing over before thee as Jehovah hath spoken,

⁴and Jehovah hath done to them as he hath done to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorite, and to their land, whom He destroyed.

⁵And Jehovah hath given them before your face, and ye have done to them according to all the command which I have commanded you;

⁶be strong and courageous, fear not, nor be terrified because of them, for Jehovah thy God [is] He who is going with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee.'

⁷And Moses calleth for Joshua, and saith unto him before the eyes of all Israel, `Be strong and courageous, for thou -- thou dost go in with this people unto the land which Jehovah hath sworn to their fathers to give to them, and thou -- thou dost cause them to inherit it;

⁸and Jehovah [is] He who is going before thee, He himself is with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.'

⁹And Moses writeth this law, and giveth it unto the priests (sons of Levi, those bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah), and unto all the elders of Israel,

¹⁰and Moses commandeth them, saying, `At the end of seven years, in the appointed time, the year of release, in the feast of booths,

¹¹in the coming in of all Israel to see the face of Jehovah in the place which He chooseth, thou dost proclaim this law before all Israel, in their ears.

¹²`Assemble the people, the men, and the women, and the infants, and thy sojourner who [is] within thy gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn, and have feared Jehovah your God, and observed to do all the words of this law;

¹³and their sons, who have not known, do hear, and have learned to fear Jehovah your God all the days which ye are living on the ground whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it.'

Observation

Moses appoints Joshua since he is not able to enter Canaan. God teaches us to have no fear. He asks us to be courageous. God is going before us. He will not fail and forsake us. To embed this thought in our heads, God instructs a feast every seven years where every word of the commandments and statutes to be repeated again. This does not include the many times in between where fathers must speak of the commandments to the family during the Passover. Repetition is important. It is the only way that we remember God’s words. When we watch the television, we see how advertisers repeat their message again and again so that the brand sticks in our heads. We must always repeat the word of god. When we stop repeating, we begin to forget. When we forget, we become ignorant. When we are ignorant we behave as if God doesn’t exist. When that happens we just sin. I have learnt that even if we are faithful for years, we will forget when we stop seeking him for one week. Within 7 days (or less), we will just learn to be complacent and have the nerve to use God’s grace as an excuse.

Application

I must remember God’s commands

I must repeat and repeat God’s word.

I must read the bible, pray and always remember his word.

I must strife to never use God’s grace as an excuse.

Response

Thank you for giving me your commandments and statutes. Help me to always repeat them. You always are graceful towards me. Sorry lord that I have sinned against you. Teach me always to carry your word. You alone are my savior. Please forgive me. I don’t want to leave you lord. Let your presence always be with me. I love you Lord. Thank you for restoring me.

Thank you for loving me. Thank you fir dying for me and giving me hope. Help me shine for you lord. Amen.

Journal 28-8-2009

Journal 28-8-2009

Scripture

Deuteronomy 30 (New International Version - UK)

Prosperity After Turning to the LORD

¹ When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations,

² and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,

³ then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.

⁴ Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.

⁵ He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.

⁶ The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

⁷ The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

⁸ You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.

⁹ Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers,

¹⁰ if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Offer of Life or Death

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.

¹² It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?

¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?

¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.

¹⁶ For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,

¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

²⁰ and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Observation

God again asks us to obey. For the past 30 chapters, this is all God is asking of us again and again. He wants us to be right with Him. In fact, that is the whole theme of the bible. The main objective of the Bible is to get us to heaven with God. In this chapter, he gives us 2 things, a second chance and a choice. God commands us to return to Him. When we return to Him, God restores. When we are ready to come back to him, He is waiting for us with open arms. He restores all that is lost.

God also tells us that obeying him is not difficult. His words are in our mouth and hearts.

God also gives us a choice. He tells us what will happen when we obey and what happens when we don’t. He highly encourages us to obey and waits to pour his blessings on us.

Application

I must obey Him.

I must always return to him.

I must make my choice to follow God.

Response

Dear Lord, I thank you for your grace to me. Thank you that you are a God of second chances. I’m sorry for all my sins. Let me make my choice and follow your commandments.

Journal 27-8-2009

Journal 27-8-2009

Scripture

Deuteronomy 29 (New Century Version)

The Agreement in Moab

¹ The Lord commanded Moses to make an agreement with the Israelites in Moab in addition to the agreement he had made with them at Mount Sinai. These are the words of that agreement.

² Moses called all the Israelites together and said to them:

You have seen everything the Lord did before your own eyes to the king of Egypt and to the king's leaders and to the whole country.³ With your own eyes you saw the great troubles, signs, and miracles.⁴ But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands; you don't really understand what you see with your eyes or hear with your ears.⁵ I led you through the desert for forty years, and during that time neither your clothes nor sandals wore out.⁶ You ate no bread and drank no wine or beer. This was so you would understand that I am the Lord your God.

⁷ When you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight us, but we defeated them.⁸ We captured their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh to be their own.

⁹ You must carefully obey everything in this agreement so that you will succeed in everything you do.¹⁰ Today you are all standing here before the Lord your God—your leaders and important men, your elders, officers, and all the other men of Israel,¹¹your wives and children and the foreigners who live among you, who chop your wood and carry your water.¹² You are all here to enter into an agreement and a promise with the Lord your God, an agreement the Lord your God is making with you today.¹³This will make you today his own people. He will be your God, as he told you and as he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.¹⁴ But I am not just making this agreement and its promises with you¹⁵ who are standing here before the Lord your God today, but also with those who are not here today.

¹⁶ You know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries when we came here.¹⁷ You saw their hateful idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold.¹⁸Make sure no man, woman, family group, or tribe among you leaves the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. They would be to you like a plant that grows bitter, poisonous fruit.

¹⁹ These are the kind of people who hear these curses but bless themselves, thinking, "We will be safe even though we continue doing what we want to do." Those people may destroy all of your land, both wet and dry.²⁰ The Lord will not forgive them. His anger will be like a burning fire against those people, and all the curses written in this book will come on them. The Lord will destroy any memory of them on the earth.²¹ He will separate them from all the tribes of Israel for punishment. All the curses of the Agreement that are written in this Book of the Teachings will happen to them.

²² Your children who will come after you, as well as foreigners from faraway lands, will see the disasters that come to this land and the diseases the Lord will send on it. They will say,²³ "The land is nothing but burning cinders and salt. Nothing is planted, nothing grows, and nothing blooms. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed because he was very angry."²⁴ All the other nations will ask, "Why has the Lord done this to the land? Why is he so angry?"

²⁵ And the answer will be, "It is because the people broke the Agreement of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.²⁶ They went and served other gods and bowed down to gods they did not even know. The Lord did not allow that,²⁷ so he became very angry at the land and brought all the curses on it that are written in this book.²⁸ Since the Lord became angry and furious with them, he took them out of their land and put them in another land where they are today."

²⁹ There are some things the Lord our God has kept secret, but there are some things he has let us know. These things belong to us and our children forever so that we will do everything in these teachings.

Observation

God requires us to make an agreement with Him. He only requires us to be obedient children and not worship other Gods. We have seen even everything that has happened in this world. With the internet and media, we have seen more than what the Israelites have seen. The Israelites only have observed what has happened around them. We now see what is happening around the universe. We have seen more trouble, signs and miracles in this world. Anything which happens, we know the next minute. And I can still say God is faithful. If we succeed in life, it is only because we obeyed the Lord. If we don’t, then we have not obeyed God. I think that we have a conscience that tells us whether we are right with god or not. If we are not, then we have to go back and get right with God. In v29, we learn that we don’t know everything but there are some things that God has revealed to us. What he has revealed, we must keep them close in our hearts and not deviate from them.

Application

I must keep my agreement with God.

I must always remember Him by observing His signs, wonders and troubles in the world.

I must always give glory to God for the good things in my life.

I must not make God angry.

I must always treasure God’s words.

Response

God I thank you for this day. I thank you for being so real in my life. Teach me to obey your commands. Help me be sensitive of what’s happening around the world. I must always be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Sorry for making you angry Lord. Help me to treasure all that you have revealed and keep you close in my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Journal 26-8-2009

Journal 26-8-2009

Scripture

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 (New Living Translation)

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵ “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:

¹⁶ Your towns and your fields
will be cursed.
¹⁷ Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be cursed.
¹⁸ Your children and your crops
will be cursed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be cursed.
¹⁹ Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be cursed.

²⁰ “The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me. ²¹ The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy. ²² The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These disasters will pursue you until you die. ²³ The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron.²⁴ The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.

²⁵ “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶ Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.

²⁷ “The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸ The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. ²⁹ You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.

³⁰ “You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned. Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you. ³² You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them. ³³ A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment. ³⁴ You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you. ³⁵ The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.

³⁶ “The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! ³⁷ You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.

³⁸ “You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines. ⁴⁰ You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens. ⁴¹ You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity. ⁴² Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.

⁴³ “The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker. ⁴⁴ They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!

⁴⁵ “If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed. ⁴⁶ These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever. ⁴⁷ If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, ⁴⁸ you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹ “The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand, ⁵⁰ a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. ⁵¹ Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death. ⁵² They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land—the walls you trusted to protect you—are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.

⁵³ “The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. ⁵⁴ The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. ⁵⁵ He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. ⁵⁶ The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. ⁵⁷ She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.

⁵⁸ “If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, ⁵⁹ then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. ⁶⁰ He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. ⁶¹ The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. ⁶² Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.

⁶³ “Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy. ⁶⁴ For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone! ⁶⁵There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. ⁶⁶ Your life will constantly hang in the balance. You will live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were night!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ For you will be terrified by the awful horrors you see around you. ⁶⁸ Then the Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, to a destination I promised you would never see again. There you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will buy you.”

Observation

After only 14 verses of blessings, the following 53 verses are all curses. God continues to warn and warn and warn us but to no avail. The Lord does not want to lose us. He forewarns us of the punishment for not obeying him. It is the exact opposite of the blessings we read earlier. God is indeed concerned. He knows our hearts. He has seen many of his children fall and he really wants to protect us. God has warned us about sin since the days of ADAM but we still sin. Why? We just fall and take advantage of God’s grace. Just like blessings, God’s curses are whole. It covers every aspect of life from money, livestock, children and generations. They are dreadful.

Application

I must obey God’s commandments.

I must fear God’s judgments and not sin.

I must never take advantage of God’s grace.

Response

Lord, I’m sorry that I have sinned. I don’t know why I sin at times. Please sustain me. I wanna be close to you. Help me guard my heart always. Protect me from temptation lord. Help me not to be distracted as I always am. Increase my attention span. Let me not take advantage of your grace. Be merciful to me father. Amen.

Journal 25-8-2009

Journal 25-8-2009

Scripture

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (New Living Translation)

Blessings for Obedience

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. ² You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:

³ Your towns and your fields
will be blessed.
⁴ Your children and your crops
will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be blessed.
⁵ Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be blessed.
⁶ Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be blessed.

⁷ “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!

⁸ “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

⁹ “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. ¹⁰ Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

¹¹ “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. ¹²The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. ¹³ If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. ¹⁴You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.

Observation

The word blessed appears 9 times. The word obey appears 4 times. The blessings cover all aspects of our lives. Money, fame, fortune, power, status, protection …. Everything is covered. Why then do we seek it from the world? God is prepared to give us more than the world could ever offer but yet we fail. We fail to obey a God who gives infinitely but follow a world which gives sparingly. We are only asked to obey and listen out of our love for him. If we could obey all God has commanded, it serves to protect us and help us live longer. His commands cover all aspects of living. Every time I read these verses, I am filled with a sense of guilt yet have hope in a God who supplies everything.

Application

I must always remember that God’s blessings outweigh everything the world has to offer.

I must carefully obey, listen and follow God’s word.

I must not turn away from God and worship idols.

Response

Lord, I thank you for all that you have provided in my life. Teach me to obey your commands. Help me stand strong in times of temptation. Help me always put you first in my life. Thank you Lord. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Journal 24-8-2009

Journal 24-8-2009

Scripture

Deuteronomy 27:11-26 (English Standard Version)

¹¹That day Moses charged the people, saying, ¹²"When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ¹⁴And the Levites shall declare to all the men of Israel in a loud voice:

¹⁵"'Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.'^(L)And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'

¹⁶⁽"'Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

¹⁷ "'Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

¹⁸"'Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

¹⁹"'Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁰ "'Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²¹ "'Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²² "'Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²³ "'Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁴ "'Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁵ "'Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

²⁶ "'Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Observation

The Levites declared curses to those who sins. And the people shall say amen? That’s strange. From idolatry to sexual sins, The Israelites responded with an Amen. And as for the finale, they end by cursing those who confirm the words of the law and yet not do them. One interesting thing to note is that if you mislead the blind, you’ll be cursed. God provides for the disabled too. Previously we see continually that we must purge sins from our lives, and that motion still stands today. When we say Amen, we are sealing the prayer. That is why we must be careful to obey God’s word. If we believe and seal God’s words, they why do we ourselves not follow the words we have sealed? It’s as if we tear our pact with God and make a new pact with the evil one.

Application

I must always remember that I am cursed if I do not obey God.

I must always be kind and help a disabled person whenever possible,

I must not go against what I have sealed in God’s name.

I must purge all sin.

Response

Thank you for being so real in my life, Lord. You alone have guided me thus far and I pray that you will keep me going. Help me to always stand firm in your word. Give me compassion to help the needy, disabled and the less fortunate. You love them too. Let me not break my seal with you lord. Help me to always be Holy and contrite in you. Let me purge all sin from my life. Amen