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 15

“…he is the saving strength of his anointed.” Psalms 28:8

God is the stronghold of salvation! His strength is displayed in many different ways, but not in the least, it is seen in the way by which He saves. In this undertaking God’s strength is glorified and magnified, for whilst power which destroys is often considered strength, power which saves is immensely stronger, and by far more significant! God is ‘saving strength’. His primary desire for the use and manifestation of His power is in showing Himself mighty ‘to save’. Some question His power and ability to bring the promised judgement on mankind. Yahwah will in due course show He is the Almighty, and the above all Potentate, who will subdue and judge by His power the mightiest and loftiest among humans. Yet it is by His power to save, that Yahwah chooses to be known and understood. We learn the greatest lesson about the use of our own ‘power’ or influence, from the manner by which God uses His. In whatever way we can and are able to exert strength, and wield power of position, resources, knowledge or experience, we should always do so to help, assist, encourage and yes improve someone else’s situation. We should also do so in humility, knowing that we are merely passing on that which God has given to us freely, and blessed our lives with time and again. This is true divine use of the abilities and privileges God has given us, and a reflection of Yahwah’s intention toward mankind. This verse also highlights the object of the Lord’s saving strength – His anointed! In David’s case that may have meant, himself as the king, yet God’s saving power is not limited to some, but all of His anointed, and includes all of the people, every individual who believes and follows His principles and lives by His Word. To be the recipients of God’s saving power then, we not only come to the place of salvation to which he brings us at the beginning, but we must remain in the position of His anointing, that is, in the place of His holiness and righteousness. By staying obedient to His precepts and guided by His Spirit, we continue under His anointing, and maintain a right standing with Jesus, securing the promises He makes to those who abide in Him; promises which include the keeping and saving of His anointed, by His eternal power. 

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

Apr 26

“The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us…” Deuteronomy 5:3

God had made covenant with the forefathers of Israel also. Moses here reminds the people that the covenant God made, did not apply just to their forefathers, but that it was current, standing and binding for the present generation. These reminders are essential for us humans, because we tend to easily forget, casually amend and thoughtlessly put aside valuable things. The mindset which easily dismisses the biblical principles that have applied to other generations and times may be guilty of being selective in obedience, or at least lacking in poised and careful consideration. There may be some very specific things, which God may have meant only for an individual or a limited group of people, but we would be wrong in automatically discharging ourselves from the responsibility of any of God’s commands, without due study, prayer and consideration. The very least that can arise from this more careful approach is instruction, learning and understanding, which is always beneficial to anyone intent in serving God from a pure heart. In our progressive and contemporary minds, we can often too quickly do away with principles and practices that have stood for many generations, and have reaped the blessings of God. Some driving forces behind these ‘modern’ dismissals are a belief that if something is ‘old-fashioned’, it should be replaced, and the questionable desire to distance ourselves from previous generations, in most things. We somehow believe and act to say that we are naturally wiser and know better than they did ‘back then’. Some modern innovations have improved lifestyle and perhaps make ‘more sense’ than the practices of the past. The problem arises however when this thinking is applied wholesale to God’s Word and His eternal principles. This all too often results in the proverbial ‘baby being thrown out with the dirty water’! In other words, the preciousness and value of God’s directives, purposes and ways, established in the covenant of His Word, are wrongly and summarily ejected, discarded and swept out with the broom of modern change. The feeling that because we are the ‘present’ generation, we owe it to ourselves to ‘spring clean’ all things we deem passé, can procure more trouble and heartache for us than we might imagine. God’s principles and purposes cannot be so dismissed, without repercussion. We would do well to remember the ancient covenant He made with fathers of our faith, made permanent in His Word, and see how it applies to us in our present and contemporary generation.

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