Love God First

I've been pondering verses in Deuteronomy 10 for several minutes.  This section is one of my favorite parts of the book.  They talk about God, who He is and love.  These verses  have made me think of Deuteronomy as a book of love. 

I also noticed that my cross stitched Bible cover is looking really ratty.  I made it over 20 years ago.  I even have fond memories of working on it while Adam was at a soccer camp.   Those memories made me smile.  I saw the front was dirty and stained and the inside flaps wore through.  I may have another, I thought.  Yet this particular one has character.  It has memories.  I love this Bible cover.

In Chapter 10 verses 10 through  13 Moses reminds the people of God's expectations of them:  to fear (or revere) Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all heart and soul and to observe His commands and decrees.  He reminds them it is for their own good.

Given a second chance after a great sin (the idol) what does God expect?  To revere and walk; to love and serve, with a good attitude in our heart and soul; to observe the commands. Love and obey.

Too often I try to do it in reverse.  I try to follow the rules, to obey, before I've remembered the love.  These verses remind me to fall in love with God because of His character of unconditional love and faithfulness.

In verses 14 through 19, Moses reminds the Israelites, and me, that God owns the heavens, the earth and everything in it .  (He is the Master of the Universe, even though my brain can't comprehend it .) God set His affection on the forefathers of the Israelites. (He chose me.)  So, Moses told them to circumcise their hears and not to be stiff-necked any longer. (Crack open my heart and don't be stubborn.) 

God is the God of gods,

the Lord of lords

the great and awesome,

the mighty,

shows no partiality

accepts no bribes

defends the fatherless and widows and

loves aliens.

Today I am reminded to fall in love with God's character in my times of need.  Don't be stubborn and demand that God act in accordance with my desires.  Remember the character of God, as He was in my past, as He is in my life today and with assurance that He will be the same in my future.

MAP

I get my  most spiritual thoughts brushing my teeth.  It seems as a I travel life that is when my  mind is less cluttered and I am able to hear and listen to God's voice.

Wells of Jaakanites, Moserah, Aaron died, Eleazar becomes priest, Gudgodah, Jotbathan, purpose of tribe of Levi.  Deuteronomy 10:6-9 felt like one of those small group activities where you  make a time line of your life including your spiritual events.  The translation I read these verses even had these verses in parentheses. 

I was pleasantly surprised that amidst the travelogue of places and events was tucked the purpose of the tribe of Levi. It reminded me that God has tucked the purpose of my life amidst the seemingly mundane events in my life.

The tribe of Levi was to carry the ark of the covenant, stand before the Lord and pronounce blessings.   This special calling meant they had no inheritance.  Among the recitation of  places and events, Moses retells the purpose and mission  of the Levites.

This portion of the "map" of the Israelites' journey reminded me that I also have a "map" for my life.  I could make a timeline of my life.  Spiritually it would start with the blue carpet where we sat when I turned my life over to God's control.  The tile floor was cold and the folding chairs hard the day we both felt called to ministry. 

These verses in Deuteronomy also remind me of my purpose and mission in life just as the Levites.  I have a MAP.

Make and carry the ark.  My relationship with God is my life.  It has given me meaning, balance and endurance.  As with any precious commodity, my relationship must be nurtured and protected.

Always stand before the Lord.  I am to be honest with God and with others.  I am to be real, vulnerable and intercede before the Lord for myself and others.

Pronounce blessings.  I must give credit to God for my gifts, blessings and abilities.

In a very confusing world, I'm glad I have a MAP which gives me direction.

Learn from Mistakes

"I learn from my  mistakes."  I've been tempted to include this as an attribute on my resume.  Usually when I discover my error or my supervisor points it out, I will say a cause for the error.  It sounds like an excuse.  "That field on the screen is so small, my old eyes can't read it." Actually I am telling my brain to take another step next time.  So no matter how many times I've proofed something on the computer monitor, I'm still old-school . I print it and read it.  I almost always catch another error.  I try to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them.  I usually finish by saying "I don't make the same mistake twice, I find another mistake to make!"

In Deuteronomy 10:1-5, God is giving Moses instructions for the second set of tablets.  He told Moses to chisel two more stone tablets, just like the ones he broke when the Israelites made the idol.  He added that Moses should make a wooden ark.  After God wrote on the second set of tablets they would be put in the ark.

God was giving Moses and the Israelites some help to not repeat their sins.  By building the ark, He told Moses to put some effort into prevention of a relapse.  Could He have been warning Moses not to get so angry with the people that he would break something as the Ten Commandments, both physically and spiritually?  Perhaps the ark was as much for Moses' protection as it was for the stone tablets?

Then Moses did as he was commanded.  He chiseled the tablets, built the ark and went back to the mountain to get the tablets engraved again.  When Moses came back from the mountain, he put the tablets in the ark and "they are there now."

These verses give me advice on how to start again after sin:

1.  Put some effort into prevention of a relapse.  Prepare the ark.  Don't put myself in tempting situations.  Don't worry and mourn too much.  Consider the why of my disobedience.

2. Make a  plan to obey.  Do "as the Lord commands." Make a decision and a plan not to sin, at least that same sin, again.

3. Continue to obey.  "They are there now."  The tablets remaining in the ark show me that I can remain faithful but also this reminds me that God is still with me.  The tangible symbol of  God's love is protected, from my sin, for me in the ark.  Jesus is always waiting for me to learn my lesson from my sin and to obey.

Hopefully I won't make the same mistake twice.  I probably will find another mistake to make!  Fortunately God will continue to  love me.

 

Reputation and Confesssion

"We decided to come to your church because the people were the same in the grocery store as they were in church."  The compliment meant the church people were authentic and lived their faith daily and not just on Sunday.  

Our witness and reputation should attract others to relationship with God.  This is my conclusion after reading Deuteronomy 9:22-28.  Moses was retelling his intercessory prayer on behalf of the people after their sin of the golden calf.  He reminded God of the peoples' purpose:  to bring Him glory.  Moses pointed out  to God that if He destroyed the people for their sin, as they deserved, the other nations would think God had not been able to take the promised land.

Moses reminded God that He chose these people and brought them out of Egypt with His outstretched arm.

Moses reminds me how to confess my sin before God.  First, I should acknowledge that God is sovereign.  He is the one in control, not me. I should be specific and ask for forgiveness because I know God is good and I am stubborn. I should remember that I am delivered only because of God's good name and His reputation, not mine.  My confession begins and ends acknowledging God, not me.

 Just as the church people were authentic in their daily life, I shall be authentic in my confession. 

I will be:

submissive because God is Sovereign

specific, so I will know what not to do next time to keep my good reputation which reflects on God's reputation, and

secure.  I am secure because God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for my sin. 

 

Stay away from the elk

"Stay away from the elk.  They are dangerous creatures that could charge at any minute."  The park ranger announced this warning over his loudspeaker.  Many people had stopped on the road in Yellowstone to take "up close and personal" photos of the elk.  I was out of the car.  Other folks were close enough to pet the elk.

"Stay away from the elk" has been our family code phrase for warning each other of a potential danger that might seem innocent at first glance.  It warns us to think ahead, to ask ourselves what potential dangers lurk in an action, relationship or habit.

As I read Deuteronomy 9:7-21 I jotted in my journal, "danger words:  for themselves, quickly and stiff-necked."

Moses reminded the people of the specifics of their rebellious behavior.  While he was on the fiery mountain with God, fasting of bread and water, receiving the stone tablets, they were making a cast idol for themselves.  God had been pretty clear, "No cast idols".

"For themselves", my new danger phrase to consider  before I take an action, enter a relationship or cultivate a habit.  We are a selfish people.  We let Self decide what, who, where in our life.  Self is too often the why that directs our life.  When we start following Self we become stubborn, even when we really know we are headed for trouble, we become stiff-necked and continue toward the danger.

"Stay away from Self.  It is the danger that will get  me into no end of trouble."

There was also a comfort phrase in these verses, "Again the Lord listened."  When God was angered enough to destroy, Moses interceded and God listened, again.  I know I have let my Self  lead me away from God's way but there is Good News.  God, time and again, has listened.  God has even provided the intermediary, Jesus, to plead my case. 

Moses recognized the evil, he rescued the people by interceding with God and he removed the evil.  He took the idol burned it, ground it into dust and cast it into a stream to carry it far down the mountain, far away.

The Holy Spirit will recognize my selfish ways and convict me of dangerous living.  When I hear the Spirit I need to heed the warning and remove the selfish motivation and get myself far, far away.  This is my lesson to be learned from these verses.

The assurance from these verses is "Again God listened".  When I fail, in the future since my experience has been, a bit  too often,  to follow myself, God will listen to the my confessions and send  my failures down the stream far away from me.  Hallulejah!

Be 4 Me

"Oh, you can go before of me in line."  It has been a very long time since I've heard those words or said them.  In the olden days, people in grocery stores checkout lines were more considerate about the people behind them.  If you had a whole cart full of groceries and the person behind had just a gallon of milk, many would let the one item shopper move ahead in line.  Now the stores have express lanes.  I've noticed that the criteria for express lane checkout has moved from 5 items, to 10, to 12, to 20.  Now we even practice justice with an icy stare for that person in the express lane with one item over the limit.  We try to use the explanation that 21 candy bars in the express lane is really just one item- candy bar.

I was reading Deuteronomy 9:4-6.  Three times God uses the phrase "before you." "After God has driven them out before you...God is going to drive them out before you....The Lord will drive them out before you..."

Just before the Israelites enter the other side of the Promised Land, God is reminding them not to take credit for God's work thinking they possess the Promised Land because of their righteousness.  He even adds that it is not because of their righteousness and integrity but because of the other nations' wickedness that the Israelites possess the Promised Land.  The Israelites will have the Promised Land because God keeps the promises He swore to Abraham and the forefathers.

In my paraphrase God is saying:  Don't take credit for His work.  Don't get big-headed.  God knows we like to add our rules so He repeats and tells me why.  We are stiff-necked!

It is not my righteousness. God decides what is wicked.  It is not my righteousness and integrity. God keeps His promises.  In spite of my stiff-neckedness, God gives abundantly.

Today I am reminded not to be so stiff-necked to show I follow "the rules."  It is not my righteousness and integrity that brings my abundant life.  It all comes from a faithful God.

 God is first, not me.  I am reminded to put God before me.

The "Locker Room" Speech

I've never been an athlete but I've lived with athletes.  Thus I've been to enough sporting events to recognize the result of a motivating locker room speech.  I've seen the underdogs return to  the playing field eager and ready to even the lopsided score, in spite of their recent experience with the opposing team in the first half.

This morning Deuteronomy 9:1-3 felt like God's half time locker room speech.  The Israelites had conquered the Promised Land on one side of the Jordan and God was preparing them to cross the Jordan to take the other side.  The Israelites were not the underdogs.  They were the winners.  They had possession of part of the Promised Land.  They should be ready and charged up to take the other side. 

Yet, they were to face a psychological foe as well as a physical foe--the Anakites.  They thought the Anakites were tall and strong.  They thought their city walls reached to the sky.  Their reputation was that no one could stand against them.  God knew that the obstacle for the Israelites was the state of their mind.  The city walls really did not reach to the skies. It is so like us humans to exaggerate the true strength of an obstacle.  We focus on the obstacle's strength rather than God's power.  We lose focus on the source of our victory.  With God they had the physical ability to defeat a powerful foe.  The mission now was to convince them in their hearts and minds.

God addresses the physical obstacles.  Sure, it's the Anakites.  However, God promises them the victory because He will go ahead of them, like a devouring fire.  Then the Israelites will drive out the Anakites and annihilate them quickly.

Life has presented me with enough challenges to cultivate my very own "locker room" speech from God.  There has been diagnosis', changes, losses and disasters.  I keep a couple of verses tucked in my heart for these times.  My two favorites come from Joshua 1:9 and Isaiah 41:10.  Be  strong and courageous, God will be with me wherever and God holds my right hand so I will not fear. (Those are my paraphrases.)

I have learned when faced with these challenges that I need to prayerfully make a plan and hold diligently to God's hand.  I remember preparing for my weeks of radiation.  I laid in supplies (stocked the frig and pantry with food).  I scheduled my day, including my devotional time, rest and work.  Then I followed the plan knowing God never left my side.  (Neither did my husband!)

I need the security of routine and a plan when facing life but more important in facing Life is holding God's hand.  He will never leave.   The routine makes me remember that the situation in "under control."  Occasionally I think I am in control, but truthfully God is in control.  I let the routine remind me.  He is in control, I just need to trust Him and follow the plan.

OK Life here I come.  I have a plan (from God) and I'm holding His hand!

The Easy Way

"Do you want the easy way or the hard way?"  I remember saying this to a little boy when I explained the consequence of disobedience.  I tried to  make clear his choices and the consequence.  I made it clear that obedience really was the easy way.  It is a trick of the world that makes us think the hard way is obeying.

In Deuteronomy 8:19 and 20, God explains the "what if" of following, worshipping and bowing down to another god.  He gives a very plain explanation of the consequence.  He compares following after other gods to the "other nations."  The "other nations" were the inhabitants living in the Promised Land before the Israelites arrived.

Some of the other nations were completely and utterly destroyed.  God explained earlier in Deuteronomy (7:22) that some of the other nations would be driven out "little by little."  These people would remain in the Promised Land until the Israelites had multiplied enough to control the wild animals.

I thought about those people.  Perhaps they thought they had survived.  Perhaps they continued to live in their homes.  Perhaps they deluded themselves into thinking they were OK. Yet they now lived in enemy territory.  They were living "on borrowed time".  At some point in the future their purpose, keeping the wild animals in check, would be fulfilled and their consequence would arrive.

This delusion happens to us.  We follow after something other than God and think we're fine.  Yet it is just a matter of time before the consequence of disobedience catches us.

I may think I can choose to follow anything but if it's not following God, I'm living in enemy territory and I'm  living with the "ticking time bomb of consequence."  The sin of following after something other than God is sin and it will own me.

Today I ask myself "Do I want to live in enemy territory?" (the hard way) or "Do I want  to follow after God?" (the easy way).  There really is no hope for  me on my own.  If I look at people around me who intentionally live against God the destruction may not be immediate, it may take years or generations, but these verses in Deuteronomy remind  me, it is certain.

This morning as I moved the computer to my chair to write, I noticed puppy chew marks on the cord.  I wish I could explain to the puppies the danger of chewing through an electrical cord.  But I don't speak "puppy".  Hallelujah, God speaks my language and has provided The Word and life experiences so I could learn that it really is the easy way to follow Him, no matter what the world tries to tell me.

"I choose easy." The words that warm a mother's (and God's) heart!

Clearly

"Let me be clear."  Currently this is a commonly used phrase by politicians.  It serves as a "grab your attention" prelude to an important sentence.

Today it is the phrase that I would use in my vernacular paraphrase of the verses in Deuteronomy 8:6-18. In my mind, God says "Let me be clear about our relationship as you enter the Promised Land."

God describes the bounty of the new land.  It will be a productive land, with flowing springs and mineral deposits.  He begins the description with instructions on how to live:  observe His commands, walk in His ways and revere Him.

He gives a lengthy warning of "what if".  It's more than a warning.  In hindsight, it is a prediction.  It's like God knows the Israelites too well.  He warns that when they have feasted of the land and become satisfied not to forget the source by failing to follow His ways.  He knows that the Israelites will have selective memories and think it was their power and strength that produced the satisfying lifestyle.

Ouch! The warning sounds too familiar.  How often have I taken credit for a success that really was a provision from God?  In the world today, we are too inclined to believe it is by our might and strength that we achieve and we ask God to bless it and put His mark on it.  Yet when success is not quite achieved we are quick to blame God.

God is very clear with the verbs in verse six.  Observing and daily walking God's commands gets me into the Promised Land and will keep me in the Promised Land.  My life will continue to be more than satisfying. Revering God, submitting to His attention and leading, remembering that my daily needs and wants are provided my God, will keep perspective on myself and  on God.  This will keep me humble.

With the comparison of the more than satisfying life with God to life under my direction, I have a clear choice.  I choose to observe God's commands.  I choose to walk with God and I choose to follow His direction.

When I choose God's way, not my way, I have a clear path, a clear mind and a clear relationship with God.  God cleared the path so I could settle in and live clearheaded. "I can see clearly now....I can see all obstacles in my way"  (from the lyrics of a 1972 song by Johnny Nash).  Too often I am the biggest obstacle!

C ling to God's ways

L ove God before self

E xpect God to provide and more

A dhere to God's way daily

R each out to God when I step off the path and try it on my own.

Good news:  God still loves me when I try it on my own and is ready to lead me when I am ready to follow.