Deuteronomy 9

In Deuteronomy chapter 9..

we read the israelites are about to cross into the promise land,

God is speaking through Moses trying to tell everyone

to remember, to know...that it is not by their righteousness

that they are receiving this land that is flowing with milk and honey.

God says it is because of the wickedness of the nations

living in "The Promise Land" and because

of the promise that God made their fathers,

not for anything they have done.

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you,

do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to

take possession of this land because of my righteousness."

No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations

that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.

It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity

that you are going in to take possession of their land;

but on account of the wickedness of these nations the Lord

will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore

to your fathers, to Abraham,Isaac and Jacob.

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness

that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess,

for you are a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9:4-6

Gods pretty much saying in his own special way..

"Hey..it's not because of anything you have done,

it's not because of your integrity...because frankly

you have done nothing but complain...and you have no integrity

to even speak of." Chapter nine continues

with just how many times the israelites made the Lord angry,

and how the Lord just wanted to destroy them.

For all the good the Lord did...the israelites only wanted more..

for all the good the Lord did, it seems the israelites would always forget,

and just fall back into their old ways.

This is a good example of how we should not be,

how we can't say we should have this happen

or we should get this or that because we are so "righteous"

or I am where I am because I..did this...I did that...I am awesome

NO!

You are where you are because GOD allowed you to be there..

God did that!...God allowed that...

GOD is awesome and praiseworthy, not you.

If you decide to get all high and mighty

and decide to think as if everything you got you deserve,

because you are so faithful and great,

don't be surprised when God lets you fall on your ass.

Just like a child who screams for their mom/dad

when they fall and hurt themselves, so will be you

when you fall and when trouble comes..

you won't scream for help from you, you'll scream for help from God.

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you

but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways,

to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul, and to observe the Lords commands

and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Love the Lord your God with all your heart,soul, mind and strength..

praise him for his glory...

in the bad times and the good times..

when in pain

when in sorrow..

when it doesn't look like the sun will shine tomorrow.

hold steadfast to his glory..

because never will he leave you

hold his name on high

because never will he forsake you.

to you O Lord be the glory

forever and ever

because without you we are nothing.

Your breath gave us life we didn't earn

from dust we came

and to dust we shall return

Praise Him always..

It seems God is weighing Psalms 78 on my heart...

and I started reading it, and I'm thinking..

ok, why did you want me to read this?

it's somewhat long for a Psalm...

it's pretty much just going over how the israelites

turned their back on God in the desert .

How God brought them out of Egypt,

and how he protected them, how he guided them..

How he split open rocks to give them

more water then they could ever need..

He divided the sea and led them through;

he made the water stand firm like a wall.

He guided them with the cloud by day

and with the light from the fire all night.

He split open rocks in the desert and gave them

water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams

out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.

But they continued to sin against him, rebelling

in the desert against the most high.

They willfully put God to the test by demanding

the food they craved.

Psalm 78:13-18

I read that, and I'm like...

"Umm..yeah I know all this already..."

personally I always thought..

"Man those israelites were freakin dumb in the desert"

how can God do all these miracles, and you still turn your backs on him,

How can he give you springs of water and then you say...

Well thats lovely but can you also give us some meat? some food?

I mean surely if he can make a rock spring forth water...

he can give you food..come on now...how retarded are you?

BUT we first must remember this is over a span of what? 40 years?

and how can I or anyone else for that matter call these people dumb?

Do we not do the same things?

Do we ourselves not praise God one minute, and then forget about him the next?

Do we not go.."God..I'm struggling right now"

and he lifts us out from whatever mess we are in, and then

the next minute we are like "God...I am stressing over this or that"

"Lord..I really need your help in my relationship" or whatever..

Isn't God always there for us? sure things don't always go according to our plan,

but guess what? they go according to his! I think we need to learn to

rejoice about the things that God has already done in our lives...

and know he has a plan for the future.

We need to learn to praise him, to know all things happen for a reason

even if we can't understand that reason.

I'm not by all means claiming I do that..

I worry/stress/freak-out just as much as anyone maybe even more.

But obviously with him pointing this scripture out to me...

it's his way of telling me and YOU

"Hey...I got it all under control..don't worry about it"

In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;

in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.

Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;

they eagerly turned to him again.

They remembered that God was their rock, that

God most high was their redeemer.

Psalms 78:32-35

I've spoken of this before but..

it seems for a lot of people, and this use to be me..

we can become lazy in seeking God..

when something good happens we say praise God..

However it seems only in the bad times

do we even bother to acknowledge him.

when we are drowning in sorrow, thats the easy time..

for us to become a "believer"

When we are struggling and need help

we look up, but when things are going good

do we praise him? do we seek him the same?

do we still put him first? or do we put him up on a shelf

like alot of people do and only take him down when we think we need him.

on our death beds

After lives lived..

and years come fading in

we come looking for a savior

to come and save us again.

People that put him back up on a shelf only to take him down

when it suits their needs, thats just not how God is going to work..

"homey don't play dat" (lol)

If anyone remembers that line from "In Living Color"

anyways as you can see in psalms 78:32...

God blessed them but they stilled ignored him...

but then what does he do?

he gets mad right? because as I've said before..

God is a jealous God..he wants your full attention,

and if you are going to ignore him... then he will step aside

and allow things to happen.

As we read we see only then did the israelites worship him..

only after God showed his fury aka only

when they were in trouble did they bring God off the shelf

and talk with him and praise him....sound familiar?

it should...because thats how alot of "Christians" are today..

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying God doesn't want to help you..

but don't be like the israelites were and completely ignore

and take all that he did/does for granted...

every breath you breathe...every day you wake

wether we are living in bad times or good times

we should praise our Lord...our savior and redeemer!

It falls apart
From the very start
It falls apart

It falls apart
Everything around me
Falls apart

It falls apart
From the very start
It falls apart
Seems like everything I touch

Falls apart
Everything around me
Falls apart
When I walk away from you

I wish I could
But I don’t always keep the promises I’ve kept
I wish I could
But I can’t always give whatever I have left


And now it’s all so clear
Doesn’t anyone see what’s happening here?!

It falls apart
From the very start
It falls apart
Seems like everything I touch

Falls apart
Everything around me
Falls apart
When I walk away from you

When I walk away from you

I know I should
But I don’t always say what you want me to say
I know I could
But I don’t always act like everything’s okay

And now it’s all so clear
Doesn’t anyone see what’s happening here?!

It falls apart
From the very start
It falls apart
Seems like everything I touch

Falls apart
Everything around me
Falls apart
When I walk away from you

When I walk away from you

When I walk away from

Everything I
Have ever been made of
Hates who I am
I’m so glad you waited
Can’t get my mind
Off how you can love me
I’m so behind
You’re so far above me

And you’ll always be the wind
Under my wings
Above me

And you’ll always be the wind
Under my wings
Above me

I
Will not
Let it go to waste
I’m taking all
I’ve got
And leaving this place
And I
Will not
Let it go to waste
I’m taking all
I’ve got
And leaving this place

And I
Will not
Be taking up space
I’ll take my best shot
I’m picking up the pace and

It falls apart
From the very start
It falls apart
Seems like everything I touch

Falls apart
Everything around me
Falls apart
When I walk away from you

It falls apart
From the very start
It falls apart
Seems like everything I touch

Falls apart
Everything around me
Falls apart
When I walk away from you

When I walk away from you

When I walk away from you

His Glory II

Imagine a pathway...a road way if you will..

just a road, and this road is surrounded by trees on either side..

deep dark forest on either side. All you can see for miles ahead of you

is just road, a pathway through the forrest of trees on either side.

Now this small straight long never ending road

is the "road" God wants you to be on,

it's full of bumps and hills to climb...(or mountains rather)

but it's His road....His pathway for you,

and while on this road nothing can touch you,

on this road you can hear God speak to you, in that still small voice,

on this road God can work through you. In short

on this road all things are possible,

Satan doesn't want you on this road....the world

doesn't want you on this road. You see

they want you wandering through the forrest..

in darkness where there is no light,

and there is no clear and present path.

We all stumble off the road from time to time,

most of the time we can say to ourselves...

"wait a second...I'm not suppose to be over here"

and we can get back on that road.

However sometimes

we can end up lost in that forrest of trees...

but all we have to do is cry out,

like a child who lost his way, and our father will come running.

Today I see people who choose to walk on the road

only when it's convenient for them,

and then they wander off into the forrest and wonder

why God isn't there. Why can't I hear God?

or why doesn't God help me with this?

or Why am I struggling through this?

Look at yourself, and ask yourself

are you where God wants you to be?

are you wandering through a forrest asking for miracles or

asking to hear Gods voice? maybe if you get back on the

road..get back to where you're suppose to be..

you wouldn't even have to ask, ever think of that?

Don't take the metaphor the wrong way...

I'm not talking about earning Gods grace or

by works we can be saved..

this isn't about Going to heaven or hell or whatever

gobbledygook Satan would want you to believe.

Because as I said before and i'll say it again...

none of us deserve Gods grace..

we are all guilty of sin and deserve to burn in hell.

All sin is the same..I don't care what you have done

in Gods eyes and law I am just as guilty as you are.

What I am saying is this...

die to Christ..plain and simple just die unto Christ..

give up yourself for his glory, love as he love's.

Have we all sinned? Yes..

Do we all fall down and sin? Yes...

does that give us the right to? NO..

What shall we say, then?

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Romans 6:1-2

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under

law but under grace? By no means!

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone

to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death,

or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin,

you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching

to which you were entrusted.

You have been set free from sin and have become

slaves to righteousness.

I put this in human terms because you are

weak in your natural selves.

Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery

to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness,

so now offer them in slavery to righteousness

leading to holiness.

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time

from the things you are now ashamed of?

Those things result in death!

But now that you have been set free from sin

and have become slaves to God,

the benefit you reap leads to holiness,

and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death,

but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:15-23

All I'm trying to say plain and simple is this..

If we don't repent from our sins,

if we don't turn away from them,

if we are not doing what God wants us to do..

we can't expect our spirits to be filled.

Don't expect God to work through you,

Don't expect to hear his voice

when he has already revealed something he wants you to

turn from, and yet you choose not to.

We have to learn from our mistakes and grow..

not keep doing the same mistakes and expect a miracle.

Again...you are forgiven...However

You can't live in sin(be a slave to sin)

and have the blessings of God aswell..

Can't put yourself first and do what you want to do,

because we are nothing but sinful bags of flesh..

we have to seek Gods will for our lives and follow it,

not our own.

God wants nothing but the best for you,

he wants to bless you..

he wants to reveal himself to you.

when we are refusing to turn away from something

he has asked us to turn from,

he still loves us....He sent his son to die on a cross

because he knows we can never be perfect little saints.

In the end..we can't save ourselves,

we didn't find God

he revealed himself to us

HE FOUND US

It's not about you...

†

It's not about me...

†

It's about his glory...

Galatians 6

Carry each other's burdens,

and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing,

he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions.

Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing

himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

Galatians 6:2-5

What simple word describes what a Christian should be?

it's love..is it not? for when Jesus was asked what is the

greatest commandment he replied:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind"

This is the first and greatest commandment.. he said,

and the second is "Love your neighbor as yourself".

Galatians says we should carry each other's burdens,

and in this way we will fulfill the law of Christ.

Obviously carrying someone's burdens,

being there for somebody without expressing Judgement/superiority

is plain and simple..Love.

As you should know, we all fall short of grace..

none of us deserves Gods love,

we didn't deserve to be died for and redeemed.

We only fool ourselves if we think we deserve His love..

We only fool ourselves if we think we deserve to be admired

We only fool ourselves if we think we are better then someone else.

We are only human after all, and any one of us could be

in the same position as the person we are trying to help,

or the same position as the person you look down on and judge.

We are all created equal, nobody is better or worse

or more deserving of Gods love then anyone else.

again..like it says in Galatians..

if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing

he deceives himself. For the fact of the matter is

we are nothing special...Now don't get me wrong

or should I say, don't get Gods message wrong...

God is not saying you should look down on yourself,

or that you shouldn't be proud or happy.

He is not saying you should be filled with self hate.

The message is simple and clear...' Don't

think you're higher above or more deserving then someone else'..

don't think that you're "Gods Gift to the world"

and people should admire and bow at your feet.

Don't think because you know God that you are better...

instead you should be thinking..

'praise God for revealing himself to me'

because he can reveal himself just as easily..

to the person who's lost and destitute..

to the person who's standing right next to you

Galatians 6 continues with 'each one should test his own actions'

don't compare yourselves with others,

but compare yourself with...well...yourself.

Make sure you are being open to hearing Gods message,

don't worry about what he is saying to the person next to you...

worry about what he is saying to you.

God speaks and uses us in different ways,

we just have to be open to let him do so,

to let him do with us as he wants.

Grow in the spirit as God wants us to grow,

focus on your own spiritual growth.

Not focusing on some self created ranking system...

where we say "Well...I'm better then him or her because..

I read my bible more or because I go to church more or

because blah blah freakin blah"

We are better then no-one..

I'm not better then you, you're not better then me

we are created in his image and we should

focus on helping the fallen up, dusting each other off

and getting our focus on HIS Glory...not our own..

.

.

.

†

To you be the glory forever and ever..

all selfishness and greed I put aside for thee

I live and breathe to be... what you want me to be.

I was crucified with Christ on that day

to no longer suffer in these chains..

No longer to live in flesh and bone

but to surrender to his love forever more..