Sunday, March 7, 2010
March 8 ... Deuteronomy 28 - 29 "Committed to my Well-Being"
Deuteronomy 29:29 - God will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. So we are called to attend to all the words of the Revelation. Listen to His Voice. He has called us to a covenant relationship. Restless hearts in Deut 28 are those who are out for their own well being---they even eat their own babies. Unbelievable! But you and I have seen with our own eyes what God has done for us, like in 29:2. Massive trials. He is committed to our good. Attend to His Word. He is changing the way we relate. Like the Israelites, we have been committed to our own well-being at any cost to our family, our friends. This covenant calls us to be givers not takers and that doesn't happen overnight. Sanctification in the wilderness is slow. But this we know. Our God is with us. Ever Present. And He is committed to making us like Him. Attend to His Word---it is our oxygen.
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He has already Blessed me beyond measure and I don't deserve a single thing.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Bev... His Word is our oxygen! I cannot even imagine my life without it... without Him.
Have a great Blessed week!
Angie xoxo
We have to ask ourselves some hard questions and be honest with our answers. God will take care of the hidden things but we are responsible for the revealed. And much is revealed in His Word, His Revelation to us. Questions such as Where is my heart hardened? How well do I love? Where is my prayer life? Do I seek comfort more or walking the narrow road to real Life? We all have such amazing histories/testimonies of His faithfulness in our lives.
ReplyDeleteI'm taking that thought heedfully with me today, Bev. It is pure wisdom basked in love: "Attend to His Word--it is our oxygen."
And I welcome a new morning waking to your beautiful hearts faithfully attending His Word. I missed you over the weekend! As several said last week, this is quickly becoming my favorite place.
Yes, His Word is our oxygen. Just last night, He gave to me a way to pray for a sweet sister in Christ who is not assured of her salvation, and thru His Word and the word the pastor spoke, He told me how to pray for her. She lives in fear of losing her salvation. I will now pray that His Spirit will testify to her spirit that she is His....for the scripture says that His Spirit bears witness to our spirit. It was like a breath of fresh air to know what to pray for her. His Word truly gives us life in every way...thanks for the visual Bev. Blessings on your day, Mary Lou
ReplyDeleteBev, your words are so timely this morning. Clearly, God is serious about His Covenant. It's hard to read these chapters about the promised blessings and awful curses, knowing that the Israelites, in their hearts, will not choose blessing. I do that so often as well.
ReplyDeleteI have been committed to my well-being, and God is dismantling so much in life right now.
I shared awhile ago that I have a broken relationship with my believing sister. God has used each of you to get through to my hard heart and to reach out to her. I sent her an email this weekend,confessing my own sin in our conflict, asking her forgiveness, and requesting to meet with her so I could listen and try to understand her.
She is willing to meet, but I am struggling with her response. She owned nothing. My perception is that she still thinks she did nothing wrong, and it's all me. And I get very irritated with her hyper-spirituality. There's a complete disconnect between the way she talks and the way she treats her family.
With that said, I know that God is using this situation to conform ME. He's serious about MY holiness, and this is the path He has for me today. It's going to be harder on me than I had anticipated because she can push my buttons like few other people can.
Will I obey God? Will I humble myself? Will I suffer well? My spirit is willing, but my flesh is so weak.
Obviously, there are no guarantees that our relationship will be repaired. How do you trust someone who owns none of their own sin??? How do you relate well to someone who thinks all the problems are because of you?? Yet, I know that God will grow me through this, if I will allow Him to kill some things in me - my pride, selfishness, judgment toward her, sharp tongue, etc. I am clinging to that today.
I would be very grateful for your prayers for the softening of my heart toward her and that I will joyfully obey the Lord in this difficult assignment.
Annette asked, "Where is my heart hardened?" That is what I had to deal with Saturday. I have a very wise husband who pointed out my anger. He knew what the result would be if I didn't deal with it.A hardened heart.
ReplyDeleteCiCi, I've had the same situation in my family. It is hard.
Ken Sande's, Peacemaker Ministry, is a good place to log on to. He goes over the four g's of conflict and gives sound Biblical advice concerning resolving conflicts. And he reminds us that sometimes you can only do, "as much as depends on you." (Romans 12:18)
It seems like the stuggle is the hardest part. You've reminded me how important relationships are.
I know we'll all pray.
Blessings,
FG Forever Grateful
Ang, I have to echo you.
ReplyDeleteHe has Blessed me beyond measure and I don't deserve a single thing.
I read through and really can't add anything from the scriptures tonight other than agreeing with what all of you said. Annette, I loved your questions. And Cici, you don't worry about anything except obeying God. Okay? You be obedient. Trust Him for the rest.
This may be one of those times where you have to trust Him for the hidden things and be responsible for the revealed.
I am a people-pleaser. We expect people to reciprocate. I please you, you please me. I give to you, you give to me. I could be the very best martyr. But I would expect something in return.
I hate it. And I'm trying to just be kind and offer my loving heart and not expect anything back in return. One of the points about love in the Love Chapter, 1 Cor. 13...states...love keeps no record of wrongs. Well, I confess that I do. And I hate it. I think this is rooted in pride. I want to be more like Jesus. Bottom line.
Forever Grateful, you are a blessing here. I am so glad you joined us.
(By the way) I was eating when I read about them eating their babies and I gagged. So reminded me of the Holocaust.
I love God's blessings but His curses really make me want to do the right thing...
Here's something from the commentary for these chapters that I liked and I wanted to share.
"And let us be thankful that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us, and bearing in his own person all that punishment which our sins merit, and which we must otherwise have endured for ever."
He was made a curse for ME and He bore ALL my punishment. He set me free. He set me free.
Listen to Travis Cottrell sing it with this link:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/travis-cottrell/tracks/i-will-sing-of-my-redeemer-you-set-me-free-album--217937450
His word is like oxygen to me---a verse in Psalms. I'll find it.
ReplyDeleteThere's a theologian who responded: When I see the devastation throughout the world, I am in awe that God does anything---I'll have to find the quote...
I'm in bed...pulled a muscle at school this morning carrying a laptop---oooh...
your comments so cut to the fray of my heart! love it! let me see if i can make sense of today's reading as I'm distracted by a little pain over here...
Thank you so much, FG and Twinkle, for your words of wisdom.
ReplyDeleteFG - I have spent the last two years in Ken Sande's book, The Peacemaker, as a result of this relationship. Thanks for the reminder that I can only do as much as depends on me. So true.
Twinkle - Thanks for the encouragement to obey. That's my heart's desire and I don't want to be let off the hook. So many people want to do that for me - "Who could expect you to...." Um, yeah, that would be God. :-)
I love the challenge and godly exhortation I receive from this group. What a blessing!
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ReplyDelete