4/1/2009 9:57 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Gratitude to the Lord
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Deut. 6:10-25
Message of the verses: “10
"Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into
the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you,
great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you
did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive
trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget
the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
13 "You shall fear only the LORD
your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 "You shall not follow other gods, any of
the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15
for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise
the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe
you off the face of the earth. 16
"You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him
at Massah.
17 ¶
"You should diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God,
and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 "You shall do what is right and good in
the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and
possess the good land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, 19 by driving out all your enemies from before
you, as the LORD has spoken. 20 "When
your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the
statutes and the judgments mean which the LORD our God commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were
slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt ,
and the LORD brought us from Egypt
There
are a lot of wonderful truths in this section of Scripture. There are two quotes that Jesus made to Satan
when tempted in the wilderness by him in this section. The first one is from verse thirteen and also
in verse sixteen where Moses wrote “You shall not put the Lord your God to the
test.” Moses goes on in that verse to
say “as you tested Him at Massah.” Dr.
Wiersbe’s commentary on this section shows that Massah had another name
“Meribah,” and he goes on to write some wonderful things about that time in the
life of the nation of Israel that pertain to my life today and also all other
believer’s lives today. “The Lord tests
our faith, not just in the great crises of life, but even more in the small
unexpected events, such as a travel delay, an irritating interruption, a sudden
sickness, or a lost wallet. The way we
respond in these situations will indicate what’s in our hearts, because what
life does to us depends on what life finds in us. If we love and trust the Lord, we’ll leave
the matter with Him and do what He tells us; but if we question the Lord and
rebel because we’re not getting our own way, then we’re in danger of tempting
Him. One of the best protections against
tempting the Lord is a grateful heart.
If we’re in the habit of thanking the Lord in everything, including the
painful experiences of life, then the Holy Spirit will fill our hearts with
love and praise instead of Satan filling us with bitter venom. How many “Massahs” and Meribahs” are marked
on the map of our journey of faith?”
Massah means “to test” and Meribah means “contention, quarreling.”
In
this section Moses reminds the children of Israel how great the Lord was in
taking them out of the land of Egypt and bringing them into the Promised Land
where they will live in houses that they did not build and eat food from plants
that they did not plant and the temptation would be that they would forget who
gave them these wonderful blessings, thinking that they did this on their own
and forgetting that it was the Lord who did this for them. They would also be tempted by the gods that
the people in the nation worshiped, but more on this latter in chapter seven.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I believe that the things that I have learned
from this section of Scripture are that I do not have a grateful heart towards
the Lord for all of the blessings that He has bestowed upon me, and that there
is a lot of selfishness in my heart, wanting things that I should not desire. I believe that this is a problem for the
Church in the USA today, for the Church has been spoiled today from living in
this wonderful country that God has blessed for such a long period of time and
that God is now judging our country because of all the rampant sin that is in
our country and also because we as the Church have not recognized, for the most
part, all of the wonderful blessings that God has given to us, His people.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
- In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for me.
- Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
- Continue to learn contentment.
- Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing.
Memory verses for the week: Ephesians
1:1-6
1.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of
God, To the saints who are at Ephesus
2.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place
in Christ,
4.
just as He chose us before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5.
He predestined us to adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6.
to the praise of the glory of His grace, which
he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
4/1/2009 10:44 AM
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