Saturday, November 29, 2014

Walk With God


 
God started speaking to me long before I woke up today and just giving “Deuteronomy 4:4”…nothing more.  It started about 3:00 AM and lasted until I got up around 6:45.  Every almost-awake moment, every partial vision in a dream – “Deuteronomy 4:4” and I finally started telling myself in my sleep, “I’ll look that up when I get up.  I’ll remember it as a cube – 4 x 4.” 
But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.” – Deuteronomy 4:4

Moses is speaking to the children of Israel, and telling them to continue pursuing God, walking in obedience to Him.  He tells them to remember Baal Peor, which was an idol that many started to worship, and He had destroyed all from among them that turned and followed Baal Peor. 

In all the commentaries I could use this morning to further understand this, nothing was specifically mentioned about the verse.  They talked about the ones before, and the ones after, but not Deuteronomy 4:4.  But what I did find, again, is that God’s word discerns God’s word.  When the subject matter is reviewed (obedience to God, perseverance, cleaving to God when it’s hardest), God’s word speaks to His favor on those that stay on course.  We can look at the lives of those who have followed God through times when their personal lives were tough, their church families fell apart, when their kids ran loose and broke their hearts.  When God seemed so distant, we can see that He was right there, blessing after blessing, sheltering them through every storm. 

“But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” – Joshua 22:5

“And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.  Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.” - Ezekiel 9:4-7
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” – Romans 12:9

"When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.” – Psalms 63:6-8

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.  The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.  And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” – Deuteronomy 28:1-14

There are two ways to go through this life - on your own, or with the blessings of God's presence.  What is life like without God's presence in your life?  Read the rest of Deuteronomy 28 starting at verse 15.  It's not pretty.