125th Week, Deuteronomy Chapters 5-9 (Click on the Title for Video Intro)

 Click on Title for Video Intro

Monday, Deuteronomy Chapter 5

Deuteronomy 5
Verse 7
Jane Jones
 
Verse 7:  “You shall have no other gods before me.”

THOUGHT
A God is whatever people put first in their lives. Some people literally worship other gods by joining cults or stranger religions. In a more subtle way, many of us worship other gods by building our lives around something other than the one true God. If your greatest desire is for popularity, power, or money, you are devoting yourself to something other than God. To put God first, (1) recognize what is taking his place in your life, (2) renounce this substitute god as unworthy of your devotion; (3) ask God for forgiveness; (4) restructure your priorities so that love for God is the motive for everything you do; (5) examine yourself daily to be sure you are giving God first place.

With each New Year we make New Year’s resolutions. We stop to think and reflect back on our lives and reevaluate what we need to do or change for the New Year. Sometimes I wonder myself if I have other gods before God. I know in Nov-Feb my job pretty much consumes me. Is it worth it? Should I be placing so much energy on it? Secondly, I love my family. I think about them so much and want to be there for them all the time; I love babysitting for Micah and helping out; I love talking with and assisting Jeanie and her family whenever possible; I think of Brother Gare and his family wanting to be a part of helping them out; and I love being a part of every one of your lives. At what cost is this? Do I love you more than God Himself? TJ and I have been very blessed with a successful business and jobs that do very well. Are we giving and sharing enough with people we love and those in need or are we placing too much emphasis on savings and purchasing things we don’t need?

It boils down to priorities. Verse 7 tells us to have no other gods before Him.  All those other gods don’t really matter. Let’s redo our resolutions this year and make God first and foremost in all areas of our lives.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, Thank You for the weekend of fun and rest and relaxation. We pray that we may never put any god before You, Lord. We pray that You will always be first and foremost in all our lives as we know we are with You. AMEN

Tuesday, Deuteronomy Chapter 6

Deuteronomy 6

Verse 7

Jane Jones

Verse 7: “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

THOUGHT

TJ and I attended a Leadership Workshop at our church all day on Saturday. One of the things that kept coming to the foreground was the ‘next generation’.  That is a huge thing at Orchard Hill Church. If we don’t concentrate on our children and their children, there will be no Orchard Hill Church; there will be no believers in Jesus Christ.

The Hebrews were extremely successful at making religion an integral part of life. In our Salt Shakers group we have generations involved. How fortunate that we grew up in a Christian home with my mom instilling her faith in us. We in turn have successfully taught our children how important life with Christ is, now in turn we are seeing and experiencing our children breathing life with Christ’ into their children.

The Message Bible says it so well: “Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street, talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and forehead as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your home and on your city gates.”

 

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, we pray that tomorrow we will tie these commandments on our hands and forehead as a reminder to this generation and the next generation and the next generation that we are to Love God with all our heart; we pray that we can love him with all that is in us and all that we’ve got. Bless all the generations involved in Salt Shakers. May we realize the importance of making Christianity an integral part of our world, our life, and our family. AMEN

Wednesday, Deuteronomy Chapter 7

Deuteronomy 7

Verses 9 & 12

Jane Jones

Verse 9:  Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

Verse 12:  ...then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

Also 1 Corinthians 1:9:  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Also Nehemiah 1:5:  O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.

THOUGHT

Have you ever had anyone be unfaithful to you? Someone who has broken a promise; someone who you found you cannot count on. How about someone who never follows through on something they said? How about someone who said, “You can count on me.”?  You found out later on that you could not. I have a supervisor who is always promising that she will get back to me on an issue, a bank account, or a financial statement. I wait and wait, and in the end, I am always, and I mean always, finding myself asking her again and again. After a while, I begin to feel like she either doesn’t hear me or really doesn’t care; that her work is more important. This example is only from a work incident on a day to day basis. What about relationships with friends and family members? How faithful and true are we to the people who mean the most to us? How many promises have you broken with them? How does it make you feel when you are dealt with unfaithfully and with untruths?

And in conclusion, what about our relationship with Jesus Himself? How faithful and true are you to Our Maker?  He has promised over and over in the Bible that He will never be unfaithful to us. How powerful is that!!  And He never has left us or forsaken us. So how do you think He feels sometimes when we do it to Him? After generations and generations, we can still count on God, our Father.  Doesn’t that just make you want to be faithful to Him forever because you don’t ever want to hurt Him the way you have been hurt by others in unfaithfulness?

PRAYER

Father, we thank You for Your faithfulness. We thank You for always keeping Your covenant of love with us. We thank You for keeping Your promises for thousands of generations. May we always keep that in mind when we aren’t faithful to our co-workers, friends, family and most of all You. We praise You and feel honored that You have always honored us. AMEN

Thursday, Deuteronomy Chapter 8

Deuteronomy 8

Verse 1

Jane Jones

Verse 1:  Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers.

THOUGHT 

Our chapter this evening speaks of obedience. WOW! Have you ever disobeyed? I can remember so vividly and clearly as if it were yesterday. It was a Sunday morning in the summer back in 1953 or 54. I was 4 or 5.  Gare was 7 or 8. Gare, Jeanie and I were already for Church. We had our good church clothes on, and we wanted to go outside.  Dad (Grandpa Hall) told us we could go out as long as we sat on the porch and did not budge. Well, we started out great, but it wasn’t long before we left to walk around the neighborhood so we could go visiting. I’ll never forget that frightful yell from Dad. Jeanie and I looked, and WOW he came running after us so mad we were scared spitless. We ran. We made it about a half of block. (I’m not sure what happened to Gare at this time. He might have been hiding in the bushes.) I never knew Dad could run so fast. Needless, to say we were punished for not obeying, but worse than the punishment was the disappointment on my father’s face. That hurt more than the spanking. I’m not sure who made me leave the porch that day.. .it was either Jeanie or Gare - just not sure. HEE HEE HEE Only teasing.

Have you ever tried to imagine what our Lord’s face looks like when we disappoint Him and break His commandments?

Verse 1:  Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers.

We show God our Love by obeying God with the following from NIV Life Application Bible:

OUR HEART:  By loving Him more than any relationship, activity, achievement, or possession.

OUR WILL:  By committing ourselves completely to Him.

OUR MIND:  By seeking to know Him and His Word, so His principles and values form the foundation of all we think and do.

OUR BODY:  By recognizing that our strengths, talents, and sexuality are given to us by God to be used for pleasure and fulfillment according to His rules, not ours.

OUR FINANCES:  By deciding that all of the resources we have ultimately come from God, and that we are to be managers of them and not owners.

OUR FUTURE:  By deciding to make service to God and man the main purpose of our life’s work.

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, tonight we just ask for forgiveness where we have fallen short and disobeyed You.  Please forgive us.  We, Salt Shakers, are on a journey to follow and obey You. We love You and will try not to disappoint You. AMEN

Friday, Deuteronomy Chapter 9

Deuteronomy 9

Verse 23b

Jane Jones

Verse 23b:  ...But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him.

THOUGHT

Moses was reminding the people of the nation’s unbelief 40 years earlier when they were afraid to enter Canaan. The Israelites had not believed God would be able to help them in spite of all He had already done. They refused to follow because they looked only to their own limited resources instead of to God. Unbelief is the root of many sins and problems.

Have you ever tried to make someone try and believe something? I have. It is a very hard thing to do. You can have outstanding facts on the table, witnesses and people who will back you up. You can believe that the Lord has directed you to this very point and time to share something, yet if the recipient refuses to listen or be open to what you have to say, then what you wish to share falls on deaf ears. Imagine the Lord’s feelings when His chosen people still did not trust Him after 40 years. It must have been a very heart-breaking time and for 40 years.

But above everything, just the unbelief in our Creator, His ways, and His truths are truly the cause of many sins and problems. Salt Shakers, when we feel lost, it may be because we’re looking everywhere but to God for our help and guidance. “Trust and obey, for there is no other way...”

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, thank You for this week. Thank You for speaking to all of us through the book of Deuteronomy.  It has some great teachings. We pray that we will always trust and obey You and never doubt Your direction. So the next time we are starting to feel lost, we pray, Lord, that we will turn to Your Word. Speak to us in the writings to reassure us that Your way is the way of truth.  AMEN