Tag Archives: Dependence

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Singular devotion, first affection

““If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.” (Deuteronomy 13:6–11 ESV)

Loving God with our whole heart precedes the closest of human relationships (siblings, children, spouse or friend).  In this passage, if someone close tries to draw their affections & obedience after a false god then they were not to follow them, listen to them, pity them, spare them or conceal them.  This is radical in a culture where high value was placed upon family.  Singular devotion to God comes before family.

Radical measures are again called for when they are called to stone the tempter, and they are called to be the first one to cast the stone!  Imagine casting a stone against your sister, husband, child or best friend.  The standard of God’s holiness is HIGH.  Do we pursue holiness with this fervor today?  Do we aggressively eradicate the idols in our midst today?  

Singular devotion is of such importance that He instructs the people to completely destroy  one of their own cities if it is given over to following other gods (v 12-15).  Are we this violent with the competing affections in our hearts?  Probably not!  God longs to bless His people by showing them His mercy & grace (v 17-18).  But, the people must obey God – obedience starts with loving the Lord with all of our hearts and not having any other gods. 

They were never able to obey out of a heart of love and we persistently fail also.  Thankfully Someone did obey perfectly out of a heart of love.  He not only took our sin, but also gave us His perfect obedience so God continually showers us with mercy & grace.  Thank God for a substitute.  Be thankful that His grip on & delight in you is not contingent upon your grip on & delight in Him.  Your spiritual performance does not direct His love, approval & affection for you; Jesus imputed that to you so you can stop striving!

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

A deceived heart

“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them” (Deuteronomy 11:16 ESV).

The warning to guard their heart comes back up again (see 8:11-17).  It seems that abundance has a way of drawing the heart away from the Almighty.  In this situation, it is likely that the Israelites would attribute the bountifulness of the land to the Canaanite’s fertility god.  Allowing their heart’s affections to be pulled off of their God and placed upon another will enrage God, Who has been so long suffering & gracious toward a persistently rebellious people.  We aren’t much different today.

The risk of abundance & affluence has always been a danger to authentic faith; the heart looses its wonder with the provisions of God.  It begins to attribute the abundant blessings to something else like hard work, intelligence, education, savvy, etc.  When this happens the heart’s affections are pulled off of God and placed upon something else – something else becomes the object of our worship.  How do we battle this?  We go to the Scriptures to see God and We beg God to show us His sovereign majesty.  We ask Him to imprint our souls with His goodness & faithfulness.  We seek to understand, at a deep heart level, that we are totally undeserving of the unearned affection of the Creator of the universe because our hearts are prone to want His good gifts far more than we want Him.  When we begin to understand and embrace these truths, our hearts will marvel at His goodness & grace towards us.

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Law doesn’t inspire the heart

““You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 11:18–22 ESV)

The way to avoid our hearts from wandering is to lay up the words of God in our hearts and souls, teaching them to our children and placing practical reminders around us.  This isn’t just the law (or a moral checklist) because the law, on its own, does not inspire the heart.  God is after a heartfelt love for Him.  This has to also include the constant, persistent recalling of God’s goodness, faithfulness & provision to an undeserving people (you & me).  This is a major theme in Deuteronomy – Moses continually unpacks the majestic power & greatness of God and the Israelite’s rebellion & hard heartedness. He anticipates that they will be prone to rob God of His glory by attributing the abundance in their lives to something else – and they did.  We do the same thing today.

Perhaps, we should follow the pattern of intentionally recalling God’s goodness, faithfulness & provision to us despite our persistent hard heartedness toward Him.  We need constant reminding that we are not deserving, but objects of His mercy – not because of anything that we did or will do.  He chose us because He is gracious and is working good, not because we did/do good.

Growth/Pursuit

The outward expression of an inward reality

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“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:5–9 ESV)

The laws, statues & commandments of Deuteronomy 6-11 should be viewed as the outward expression of the ultimate command:  to love God with all of your heart, soul & strength.  Obedience to the commands demonstrated that the people loved God.  The law was not given to save.  In the same way, we should strive to obey out of love rather than duty or obligation.  Jesus said the same thing – if you love me, you will obey what I command (John 14:15).  This is not a way of earning Jesus’ blessing – this is an increasingly natural outflow of a heart that has a growing love for God.  “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”” (John 14:21 ESV)

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27 and summarizes it by saying that to love God is the great and first commandment (Matthew 22:38).  The thought is completed by indicating that this is not some cognitive, head knowledge, but is to penetrate all the way to the heart.  We are to love God with every fiber of our being – all of our obedience was designed to flow out of a heart that loves God.  The work is to love God and the scripture addresses this from different angles – abide in Christ (John 15), our work is one of belief (John 6:29), as we behold Him we become more like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18).  These are ways in which we grow in our love for God.  Loving God is not produced by our hard fought, white knuckled discipline – it is a Spirit wrought, utterly dependent, monergistic endeavor that glorifies God because we can’t produce it on our own.  Loving God involves our begging Him to produce in us that which we can not produce on our own.

God’s requirement for a heart that fully loves Him is seen throughout Deuteronomy as it is looking forward to a day when God will write His laws on the hearts of His people and they will worship Him with their new hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27, Romans 2:25-29, 8:14; Galatians 5:16, 18, 25; Colossians 2:11; Hebrews 7:18-19, 8:8-12, 9:9, 14 (purify our conscience), 10:1, 15-18, 10:22 (draw near with a true heart); Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:16, 29:4, 30:6-8).  Jesus fulfills this promise as He makes our dead hearts alive to God – He regenerates us.  We are not only to have these commands on our own hearts, but are to teach our children and those around us the same thing.  This is the foundation of discipleship.  Many of the Jews did this externally, but missed it internally.  How often do we pass down a code of moral conduct to our children that is void of a passionate love for God?  The thing(s) that we love, we talk about.  What do you love, really?

Depravity, Growth/Pursuit

The goodness in our lives is not because we are awesome & obedient, the goodness in our lives is because God is gracious

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““Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” (Deuteronomy 8:11–17 ESV)

When we are in times of relative prosperity, ease, comfort and blessing, we must be aware that we don’t forget the Lord, who benevolently gave us all that we have.  Our hearts run the risk of being “lifted up” and forgetting the Lord.  Remember, remember remember that God delivered you, led you, provided for you, loved you – even in your rebellion.  Beware and remember the benevolence of God and your weak, frail, depravity, “lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” (Deuteronomy 8:17 ESV).  We deserve nothing, not EVEN breath!  Everything is a gift from on high, it is not because we unlocked the secret spiritual code, executed better than others, worked harder, were wiser or did something on our own to deserve the good that we have.  God’s grace is the reason that you have any of these things.  REMEMBER AND BE OBEDIENT OUT OF GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S GOODNESS AND PROVISION FOR YOU!

The people are warned not to say in their heart, “‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’” (Deuteronomy 9:4 ESV).  If the Israelites were prone to forget God’s miraculous provision even though they had experienced profound miracles, how much more are we prone to forget.  The Lord is the One who thrust their adversaries out of the land because of their wickedness and because of His covenant to Abraham.  It is “not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land” (Deuteronomy 9:5 ESV).  These people are the recipients of God’s grace – unearned, undeserved, unmerited.  They are not receiving the land because the followed well enough, trusted deeply enough or were more spiritually attuned.  No!  They were being given the land because of God’s righteousness, glory and grace.

The goodness in our lives is not because we are awesome & obedient, the goodness in our lives is because God is gracious – we deserve nothing except wrath because of our rebellious nature.  The Israelites would have viewed their military victories as a result of their righteousness and God rewarding them for that – this is the same way that we think today, but God completely obliterates that thinking.  “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.” (Deuteronomy 9:6 ESV)  He reminds them of their rebellion every since He had delivered them from Egypt.  We are cut from the same cloth as these ancient people.  We readily take credit for the good in our lives as if we deserve them and quickly cast blame (often times on God) for hardships in life.

We must work to remember & believe that God is good, does good and is able to accomplish His purposes.  When we believe this then we are able to handle good & bad things because we know that our good Father is sovereignly reigning over all things – even things that we can’t understand.  We no longer have to carry the weight of being god in our world because we know that there is a God who is on the throne.

Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Remember

““Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’”
“Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land”
“Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness.”
(Deuteronomy 9:4-7 ESV)

The people are called to go into an intimidating land and conquer it – a land that is populated with those who are greater & mightier with fortified cities.  This is why they didn’t go into the land the first time – the spies (except Joshua & Caleb) said that the people were too mighty for Israel to over throw (Numbers 13:28-14:10).  The Israelites are reminded that these people were indeed mighty and their cities were fortified, but their God was mightier!

God then issues a warning to the people: “Do not say in your heart, ‘it is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land” (verse 4, also 8:17).  They would have viewed their military victories as God rewarding them for their righteousness; God completely obliterates that thinking.  God reminds them that they were the recipients of His grace – unearned, undeserved, unmerited.  They were not receiving the land because they followed or obeyed well enough, trusted deeply enough or were more spiritually attuned.  No!  They were being given the land because of God’s righteousness, glory and grace (see verses 5-7).

We are not much different than the Israelites.  We tend to believe that the good things in our lives are the result of our obedience, intelligence or hard work.  We think that God is our cosmic genie who is obligated to reward us; He owes us.  Nothing could be further from the truth that the bible paints for us.  The goodness in our lives is not because we are awesome & obedient; the goodness in our lives is because God is gracious – we deserve nothing, but wrath because of our (ongoing) rebellion.  All good things are a gift as Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians 4:7: “what do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”  We are owed nothing, not even breath – everything is a gift from on high, it is not because you unlocked the secret spiritual code, executed better than others, worked harder, were wiser or did something on your own to deserve the good that you have.  God’s grace is the reason that you have any good things.

It seems like we are hard wired to take credit for the good in our lives and forget the grace of God.  So how do keep the right perspective that it is God who benevolently gives us good because He is gracious, not because we are deserving?  The answer is to REMEMBER.  Deuteronomy 8:18 tells us to “remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” and 9:7 tells us to “remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness.”  The people were called to remember their moral failures and disobedience in the wilderness to crush their self righteous pride.

You are called to remember that God delivered you, led you, provided for you, loved you – even in your rebellion.  You were dead in your trespasses, but God, being rich in mercy, made you alive (Ephesians 2:4–5).  You did not do anything to deserve it, you didn’t earn it, it is only by His benevolent grace that He made your heart alive to spiritual things.

Remembering involves deliberate, dependent discipline.  There is indeed action on our part.  Our role is to get ourselves in proximity to the waterfall of God’s grace and beg Him to ignite our hearts.  The Spirit ignites the kindling that we gather around us.  So let us work at gathering kindling and get ourselves in close proximity to the Almighty and beg Him to ignite our souls.

Depravity, Gospel Centrality, Growth/Pursuit

Moses the Mediator

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“And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’” (Deuteronomy 5:24–27 ESV)

In verse 27, the people request a mediator because they feared the glory of the Lord; their reverence & fear is appropriate because man does not get to speak with the Almighty and live, unless He is merciful.  The glory was too great for their souls to bear, this is reminiscent of Isaiah’s experience in the temple when he was struck with fear at the presence of the Lord (Isaiah 6:1-7).  Most people lack this awe of the Almighty today.  The people feared the voice of the Lord so greatly that that were content to have Moses listen to God and relay the message.  It is ironic that they were so moved with fear of the living God then they quickly left Him and complained against Him as if He were like the impotent idols of Egypt.

God deems their assessment as true and right (v28), but the Sovereign, who is out side of time, laments:  “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29 ESV).  He knows the open rebellion that His people (and all people) will continue to walk in and the cost to buy back this rebellious lot.

God obliges the people and gives Moses His laws.  The purpose of the law was to reflect His perfection, to restrain sinful behavior in the community, to reveal our sinful hearts and to point us to the perfect Fulfiller of the law.  “You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”  God calls them to obey and He will protect & prosper them.  Ultimately, we know, the people could not obey.  Thankfully, Someone has obeyed on our behalf.  (Deuteronomy 5:33 ESV).

Moses is a picture of the perfect Mediator (Hebrews 9:15 & 12:24) that was to come – One who would stand between us and a holy & perfect God to resolve the conflict the existed due to our openly rebellious hearts.  We are not worthy, but He set His saving affections upon us anyway.  This Mediator not just intercedes on your behalf, but He also gives you His perfect obedience to law so you can stop striving.  The proclamation of the cross is “it is finished.”

Gospel Centrality

Honor Mom & Dad

“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
(Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV)

This is the beginning of human authority which ultimately points to God’s authority.  Honor respects the role and the person.  Some of the time, the person is harder to respect because of some of life’s decisions that they have made, but we should strive to honor them nonetheless.  Jesus & Paul highlight this command as well in Mark 7:1–13; Ephesians 6:1–3; 1 Timothy 5:4.  This commandment is the only one that offers the follower a reward if obeyed:  a life filled with God’s presence and favor.  Authority is central in the scriptures because it is central to life – we are a people under authority.  That was the reason for the tree in the garden, to remind Adam & Eve that they were not ultimate or autonomous, to remind them that they were under God’s authority.  Parents are to protect, provide & teach their children to love and obey God.  Parents are to provide a picture of redemption – a little Eden on earth.

For some, mom & dad were absent, disconnected or just plain wicked.  How do you honor them when there is very little in them that seems worthy of honor or when the wounds & scars that you carry are deep & debilitating?  There are no simple answers to this – for some it might be a life long struggle.  It is important to remember that most (though not all) parents try to do the best that they can, though they fall woefully short and their sins scar those around them.  The real power to forgive & honor those closest to us that have wounded us is found in the cross of Christ.  The more deeply that we understand and embrace that there was nothing good in us that inclined God toward us (or that inclined us toward Him); the more that we deeply understand & embrace that before He formed a star, planet or carved out a river He determined to love you and made a way for you to be reconciled with Him.  The more deeply that we understand our own depravity, rebellion & self-centeredness and see the beauty of grace in the cross, the more empowered (supernaturally) we are to forgive, honor & love.

Growth/Pursuit, Quotes/Lyrics, Resource

Free to Love

“Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” (1 John 2:10 ESV)

“You are free to love the people in your life when you love God more than anything. Because their love and acceptance is not your ultimate goal, you won’t be enslaved by your expectations for them and the disappointments that inevitably follow. Jesus is calling you to turn from love of self to love for him. Think about how Jesus has loved you—he lived the perfect life you should have lived, and he died the death you deserved.

When you wake up every morning and interact personally with the one who has done all this for you, your family’s slights and insults won’t plague you in the same way. This won’t be automatic or easy. Jesus said that each of us must take up our cross every day (Luke 9:23).

You must daily die to your self-centeredness by finding your identity in what Jesus has done for you in his life, death, and resurrection. As you do this every day, you will turn from making anything else in creation more important to you than the God who has rescued you from your self-centeredness. Growing as a disciple is gradual, in the same way that the crucifixion was slow and agonizing. As we die to self and embrace our new identity in Christ, God is slowly and patiently bringing us to the end of ourselves, so that he might fill us with the life of Christ.”

by Timothy S. Lane, August 28, p 241.  From Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Copyright © 2012 by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Used by permission of New Growth Press.

Belief, Faith, Quotes/Lyrics, Resource

Worried?

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
O Israel,trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.
The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; he will bless those who fear the LORD, both the small and the great.
May the LORD give you increase, you and your children! May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth!
The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!” (Psalms 115:1–18 ESV)

“All that’s left to do is trust God. But that just happens to be the hardest thing for a human being to do. If it were natural to us, everyone would happily follow Jesus, and divided allegiances would be an aberration. But trust isn’t natural, and divided allegiances are the norm. We are all guilty of little faith and, to make things worse, it isn’t enough to simply understand this. Acknowledging the diagnosis does not automatically lead to a cure. You can confess it, and worry will creep in even during your confession! The cure is not to simply know what the problem is. The cure is to know the one we are called to trust. Keep looking at the triune God and how he has revealed himself throughout history. Don’t spend your time focusing on your wavering allegiances.

How do you seek the kingdom? When you seek the King, you are seeking his kingdom. This kingdom includes everything that comes from him. It includes his law, his grace and mercy, his blessings of life, adoption, and holiness, and all his promises throughout Scripture. Those who seek him feed on his Word and seek to imitate him.

Are you worried? Jesus says there is nothing to worry about. It isn’t our kingdom, it is God’s. We take our cue from the King, and the King is not fretting over anything.

He is in complete control.”

by Edward T. Welch, Dec 17, p 352.  From Heart of the Matter: Daily Reflections for Changing Hearts and Lives by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Copyright © 2012 by Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Used by permission of New Growth Press.

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