Your own Eyes

“Your eyes have seen every great work the Lord has done.” ~Deuteronomy 11:7

Moses is reminding the people of the time they were leaving Egypt and Pharaoh’s army was pursuing them and God split the Red Sea.  The people crossed and Pharaoh’s army was destroyed when God closed the sea back in on them.  He also reminded them of how God had miraculously sustained them in the wilderness.  Over and over again God is reminding the people of what God had done for them.

It is very easy in life to focus on the chariots charging at you.  When this happens we tend to forget who has brought you this far already.  In other words we lose focus on the Lord and we focus on the problem we are facing.  When this happens we need to refocus our thoughts on the works of the Lord.  Think about the great examples the Lord has given us in the Bible.  Men and women who faced great difficulties and God saw them through.  Focus on your life, I promise God has seen you through some very difficult times in the past and He got you through them.  Look at the lives of others around you.  Share in their stories of how God got them through difficult times in their lives.  God has given us countless examples to draw faith from in times of troubles.  What we need to do is focus on God who delivers us and not on what we are facing at the moment.    

Thank you Jesus from saving us and for rescuing us from our sin and from ourselves.  It is so easy for us to turn and faces our problems without first looking to you.  Help us in those moments to first to turn to You and bring to our minds the countless times you have walked along side us and rescued us.  You are so good, and we are so thankful Lord!  Amen   

Complacent

“When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.” ~Deuteronomy 8:11-14

Moses is telling the people of Israel to guard against complacency.  Right now you are in the wilderness, but you are going to take possession of the land God is giving you.  There will be a time of peace and you will be blessed.  You will have all you need.  God will watch over you.  Once you are comfortable in your home and reclining at the table of abundance, do not forget God!  God who has given this to you and delivered you from slavery!  

Living in a country of incredible blessing, where we can have everything we need and more, it is easy to forget God.  We must never forget that Christ freed us from our sin with His own blood.  We must fight against complacency by never forgetting where we came from. There is nothing you own that isn’t temporary.  Two things you will never see together, a u-haul and a Hurst, you don’t get to take anything with you.  The people of Japan were living their lives, just like any other day, when their lives were changed forever or taken.  What are you living for, are you investing your life in the short term or are you investing in eternity? Today thank the Lord for your salvation, thank the Lord for providing for you and share Him with someone today!

Lord thank you for freeing me, for dying for me, for giving me life.  Apart from you Lord I am nothing, Lord help me to be dependent on you and not on myself.  Lord help me share you today.  Amen     

The Lord is Great!

“Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation continually say, ‘The Lord is great!’” ~Psalm 40:16

The Psalmist is reminding us of where we should place our joy.  Our joy will not be found in the things that are temporary but in the things of God.  Everyday should start by reading God’s word and meditation on His words to us.  We should pray as we read, rejoicing in the Lord.  We read rejoicing as we learn more about His character and His nature. We read and rejoice at His works and His majesty.  We read and rejoice because we have placed our faith in He whom is faithful.

Most of all we read and rejoice in salvation.  God so loved the world, He sent His Son Jesus to die for us.  This Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, the humble God man, who came to take away the sins of the world. It was Jesus who humbled Himself to the point of death, death on a cross.  It was Jesus who was buried and on the third day was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures.  What greater love than this, that while you and I were still sinner this Jesus died for us.  We place our love and faith in Jesus who did what we could never do.  We place our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and for a new life in Him.  We did nothing to earn this, we did nothing to deserve such love, it is a gift from God.  Thus we can say about the God who rescued us from our sin, “The Lord is great!”

The Lord is great!  Great is His Word, great is His love, great is His salvation.  Who is like our God, in who can we find peace and security?  It is only in Jesus.  I thank you Lord, I love Your salvation, I love You Lord.  Bless this day as I live for you!  Amen 

Heart

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.”

~Deuteronomy 6:6 HCSB

Moses is echoing the words of God to the people of Israel.  Moses will not enter the promise land with the people, so he goes back over everything they had learned.  Moses shares the ‘Shema’, the foundational principle of the Ten Commandments.  "Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) He tells the people to put this in their hearts.  He tells them to tell this to their children, talk about when you are in your house, when you walk, when you go to bed and when you get up.  It is to be bound to you, it is to sink in and become a part of who you are. 

The word of God is to be bound to hearts.  It has to become part of who we are.  It is the word of God the Holy Spirit uses to shape and mold us into the person God wants us to be.  It is the word that we are to treasure the most.  Jesus reminds us “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:21) What do you treasure?  Your heart will be with what you treasure and you will become more like what is most treasured.  In this world it is so easy to treasure possessions, money, stuff and a host of other things, but they are all temporary.  There is nothing on this earth that last forever, everything will change.  The only thing that is unchanging is God and He has revealed Himself through His word.  We are to treasure the word of God and it is to be in our hearts.    

Lord help me treasure your word.  May it be what I treasure the most.  May it reveal to me a deeper understanding of Your glory, of who You are.  May my heart beat for You Lord and You alone!  Thank you for Your word, may my life be pleasing to You, because you are most worthy!  Amen

Hymn of Praise

“I waited patiently for the LORD, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.”  ~Psalms 40:1-3 HCSB

The psalmist has hit rock bottom.  He is stuck in a pit and can’t move in the muddy clay.  He has struggled until he is out of breath, out of strength, out of hope.  It is at this point he cries out for help and the Lord hears him.  The Lord lifts him out of his situation and places feet on a rock.  With place to stand the Lord puts a new song in his mouth, a hymn of praise.  The psalmist will tell everyone of the glory of the Lord.  Everyone he see’s will hear about how God rescued him from the pit!  

If you have ever had to watched a child or raised a child? The time when you turn to listen for a sound is when it gets quiet.  This is how I see God.  You have been in the pit and you have just about given up.  You have stopped fighting, you are exhausted and you just want help.  It is at that moment God turns to hear us, when we are quiet and in need.  He takes us out of our pits and places our feet in a safe place, a place where we can stand up with confidence.  By doing so we are so gracious we sing.  We sing praise to our Lord, because no one could have rescued us—only He could.  Everyone who comes within listening distance will hear our song and will believe and trust in the Lord!   

Lord help us!  Help us when we find ourselves in the impossible situation.  Help us when we find ourselves exhausted by life.  Lord life us out of our mess and place our feet on Christ, who is the Rock.  Lord forgive us where we fall short and place a new song in our mouths!  A hymn of praise to you and let the whole world hear our voice!  Amen.

Crucified

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:19b-20 HCSB

Paul was telling the people of Galatia that they could not be saved by their own works, especially the works of the Law.  The new life they had in Christ had to be lived through Christ.  It is all the work of Christ by which we are saved and it is Him working through us that we are enabled to live the Christian life.  This idea is so radical that it is almost impossible to grasp in its entirety that my old way of life has died with Christ.  I must die and put my faith in Christ.  I die to my old way of living, thinking, and I now live by faith in Christ.  The thought behind this is He loved me and gave Himself for me!    

Through Christ I have an entirely new life.  I have been crucified with Him and I no longer live.  That scares many of us, but to truly live—my sinful way of life must die!  Christ must resurrect in me a new life, a new creation, the old is gone the new has come.  The life I now live as a Christian I live by putting all my trust in Christ. I can put my trust in Christ because He was willing to die for me, simply because He loved me.  He demonstrated this love for me, by putting Himself on the cross while I was still a sinner!  How can I in anyway bring shame to such a sacrifice?  How can I not live my life in a worthy matter of such love?  I don’t deserve it, I can’t earn it, I can only believe and tell everyone of a great and mighty God, who sent His one and only Son to die for me and by believing in Him I will not perish but have eternal life.  

Lord I praise you with all my heart!  There is no one like you and I put all of my trust, all of my life in you and you alone.  Help me to live a life that brings glory to the name of Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me.  Lord I am so thankful and so humbled by the thought! Amen.