Aug 6

“…Hear…. the statutes and judgments…..that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.” Deuteronomy 5:1

Moses, Israel’s leader called the people together that they may hear, learn, keep and do the commandments of God. In the New Testament, Jesus similarly told us that it is a wise man, who both hears the word of God and performs it. Hearing only without the doing of it, results in failure and tragedy. How appropriate that this all important concept is consistently presented in both Testaments of the Bible. Knowledge of the things of God is all important, for without it there is no opportunity to do righteousness. To that end, God has gone to immense trouble and pains and ensured that His Word has reached the ears of humanity all over the world. The Bible is the most sold book in the world, and has been translated in more languages than any other! Particularly in our western world, it is not lack of information or opportunity to do well that lacks. Sadly our problem is by far more serious. We are guilty of having heard long and plenty of God’s directions, instructions, commandments and warnings, but having turned a deaf ear. Overall as western nations, we have turned our hearts, minds and choices away from God and His purposes, rather than towards Him. Naturally this is done to our own detriment, for we are accountable and it will be required from all of us, by the Almighty and Just God! Wise is the man that heeds the instruction of Moses and Jesus, firstly to hear the statutes and judgements of God, then to learn, keep and obey. This first step of ‘hearing’ in itself requires our commitment and willingness to apply time and effort. In the busy lives we have made for ourselves, we find it increasingly difficult to ‘make time’ for God and His word. The single greatest excuse for people not being at church or making time to listen to the teaching or preaching of God’s word is ‘lack of time’. We are too busy with other things and prioritise all else ahead of the necessity for God. There is still plenty of time to listen to one’s favourite music, or watch one’s favourite shows, but time for God is simply too big a stretch in many cases. The next level of commitment however, is even more relevant. Some in response to guilty consciences, a sense of what is right or due to peer or family pressure actually take time to be ‘at church’ or attend bible studies, but this too means little unless it is followed with a heart to learn, remember and do what is heard! Again in other areas of life, we find no difficulty with this aspect. We allow the lyrics of our favourite songs to be so imprinted in our brains that we can scarcely forget them, and we can easily recount to friends in vivid detail the scenes from our favourite shows, games or activities! Should even the smallest amount of the same attention and passion be paid to the Word of God, we might find that our lives and the lives of others would be impacted in very powerful and positive ways! Jesus is still looking for faithful servants who will not only listen, but learn, remember and perform His word. He says this is the test of our true love for Him. How does our personal life line up with this all important biblical standard? 

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

July 19

“And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables…” Deuteronomy 10:2

God had supplied the first set of stone tables, and written on them by His own hand the commandments He wanted His people to live by. When Moses had returned from his encounter with God on the mountain to the Israelite camp, he found they had broken the very laws he was bringing to them! In anger and disgust at their idolatry and short lived faithfulness to Yahwah, who had delivered them from Egypt, he threw down and broke the tables of stone, and judgment was visited upon the people. The scripture tells of three thousand who were killed on that day, and plagues which came upon the Israelites because of their sin. The second set of tables were carved out of stone by Moses, but again written upon by God Himself. The accuracy and veracity of the original text, was in this way preserved by the Lord. God has always been interested in keeping His revelation to man, free of mistakes or tampering. All subsequent scripture was therefore given by inspiration of God, so that the writer was merely the hand on the pen, but the Author was still Yahwah. This process of full verbal inspiration lifts the Bible above any other book ever written, and on a plane unique and superior to any work of man. The accuracy and veracity of the scriptures have been challenged and verified many times, in various spheres of science and observation. Personal experience also confirms the content of the Holy Writ and provides further evidence of its truth! People from all walks of life, from all cultures and of all levels of education, have found God’s Word to be true, trustworthy and a reliable source of guidance, light and learning. God wrote then, and wrote again while here on earth, resulting in the forgiveness of a woman who had been caught in sin. His writing was and is a letter of love, direction and instruction. Today He still writes -this time not on tables of stone, but the fleshly tables of our hearts. There He lodges the truth and conviction of His principles and inscribes the reality of His love and grace. In our hearts He engraves the knowledge of His will, and stores the confidence of our salvation! Praise God for all that He writes and communicates with us, for without Him and His Word, we would have no knowledge of right, no understanding of our purpose, no love for one another and hope for the future!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

May 24

“…for ye were the fewest of all people:” Deuteronomy 7:7

It is said that there is ‘strength in number’. This usually means that the more numerous a group of people, or a nation, the more powerful, noticeable or resourceful it may be. When God selected Israel to be His people and to be a nation that would proclaim His principles and be an example of His Holiness, there were already many large and powerful nations, which could have commandeered His attention. Before Israel was a nation, God called one man, who through faith, became the father of the faithful whom God would make His. Abraham, his family and the families that would follow, remained a relatively small number of people among the many and larger nations of the world that surrounded them, for quite some time. By His choice, Yahwah emphasised that His motivation was not how impressive and numerous they were as a people, or what resources they had accumulated by their own ability, for none of those things mattered to Him. God showed that His choice of Israel was based on His love, and His faithfulness to the promises He had made to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God keeps His promises.  Predicated upon His unchanging faithfulness, constant love and inimitable longsuffering, Israel survived, and remained His people. The same can be said of the church today. Those same qualities which God displayed with them, He continues to demonstrate to us. Yahwah is unchanging; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His laws and ways are established from everlasting, and His purposes are determined from eternity. Like the Hebrews, the church also has grown. Yet though it may number many more followers than just the early disciples, by comparison to the unsaved - the Christless masses of the world, the term used by Jesus calling the apostles a ‘little flock’, is still applicable to the church today! We are encouraged therefore, by the fact that God’s love and not our numbers, defines our calling. We are sustained with the knowledge that it is not by our works and ability, but by His love, grace and power that our salvation is provided. We are strengthened in the conviction that He, who has elected the church, will fulfil the promises He has made, and that if we remain faithful till the end, we will live forever, because ‘he is faithful that promised’!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

May 17

“…remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt…” Deuteronomy 15:15

Debts owed and remaining unpaid in Israel, sometimes resulted in the debtors becoming slave servants to the creditor. While God allowed for this as an appropriate way to repay what was owed, rules and laws were also given to the people to control and limit the use, and avoid the abuse of slaves. Everything from the treatment of the slave to the manner of their dismissal when the debt was finalised, was legislated by God. Beyond the actual ‘lawful’ practice, God also added an emotional and personal consideration to this aspect of Israelite life. God appealed to His people to remember that they had all been slaves to the Egyptians, had suffered at their hands, and that God had delivered them by His might, and in mercy provided for them. Strangely sometimes we too can forget where God has brought us from! There is often no greater critic of a sin or conduct, than the person who was very guilty of the same thing at some time in his past! We also can find it naturally easier, to shake our head or censure conduct in others, which in various ways, upon scrutiny, can be found in our own lives. Sadly we can to forget, the wrongs, errors and imperfections of our own lives.  For instance, it is easy when we get older, to forget what we were like when we were younger, and how we too may have failed in the same or similar things for which we now so readily judge others or look ‘down’ on. Remembering where the Lord brought us from, what we were, and how still on a daily basis, He lovingly and patiently deals with us, may give us a little more latitude with our brother and sister, and help us remain a little more patient, a little longer! 

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Apr 2

“The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.” Deuteronomy 5:2

Moses reminds the people of Israel of the covenant which bound them to Yahwah. It was established in Horeb, which is understood to be Sinai, and therefore was based on the commandments God imparted the people there. It was a national covenant. God had previously made covenants with individuals, the forefathers of the faith, which would affect them and the lives of their descendants, but this was a national covenant, applicable to entire nation of Israel collectively. It determined the existence and well-being of the people as a nation, provided they abided by it. It was a lawful covenant. It stated the commandments and law of God, by which the people were to conduct themselves. Faithfulness to it would be rewarded and disregard of it, would be punished. As all the law of God, it is absolute in nature, it clearly informs us of our responsibilities and related benefits or judgments, but leaves the choice of obedience to the individual or society. It was a preparative covenant. It was intended to prepare the hearts of men with the knowledge of the holiness of God, the realization and of their sinfulness and the evidence of their inability to remain consistent in faithfulness and performance of the commands. It prepared them to see their communal obligation, along with their personal responsibility. It was preparing man to accept the New Testament Covenant, which would follow, and is based on the righteousness of Jesus, not man’s works for justification. It was a holy covenant. It presented man with the holiness of God, in real and inescapable terms. It revealed the holiness of God’s commands, will and purposes for mankind. It demanded the condition of the heart and soul of man, to reflect the holiness of God. This is also a necessary New Testament condition and scriptural command, which endures to this day – “Be ye holy for I am holy” 1Peter 1:15,16. God’s covenants with man have always reflected His perfection, love and good desire toward us. As a caring Father, He has provided, not only the guidelines for us to follow and not err, but the strength of His Spirit to help us maintain a true faithfulness toward Him until the end, and not stray from the narrow path He has set. Let us desire to remain true to our God, by yielding ourselves to the influence and direction of His Holy Spirit!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion