Deuteronomy 8
Do Not Forget the LORD
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 the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ...
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery....
17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. This piece of scripture is vital, VITAL, to living by FAITH. There are so many valuable points here.
1) God leads you into trials, to test you, humble you and see where your heart is -
And what's the big deal about your heart? He tells you exactly, to see whether or not you will keep his commands.
2) He shows in verse 3, these trials humble you and can have a solution that quite possibly, most likely, is unknown to you.
3) For what purpose, to teach you (because we all need to learn continuously) that we do not live on material things but on Scripture (the very word of God - verse 3).
4) God already knows our failures, the path humanity is headed down (vs 10-14) which is to forget his GRACE altogether and
5) verse 17, credit ourselves with all the abundance we think we have due to our hard work and to FORGET the GOD who created us and gave us EVERYTHING, forever and always.
This scripture came to mind during this last week for me. As my last post mentioned, we were in need of a car; but we were not frantically searching, exhausting our options, making ourselves stressed with worry - in fact, as has been said of both of us at different times in our lives, you'd be surprised how calm we've been about the situation. And that is a peace that comes from knowing that God has this plan in his hands and he unfolds it as he sees fit. What I first recalled, from storing scripture in my heart, was verse 17 - 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
I was thinking, when I talk about the new car we've been blessed with, I want to make sure I speak of it in a manner that does nothing but direct those listening to God - it was his work through the co-worker of a client at the gym, it was his work through the owner of the vehicle to prepare him for his encounter with us, it is his work to work out the monetary aspects to fit our needs - those we have now and those we don't know about in the upcoming future. Not by our power or strength (AKA stress-fully searching to the ends of the earth, frantically grasping at all options, freaking out, running ragged all over town) but by his GRACE, for his plan, for his glory - and as a result, we truthfully have had a very peaceful last two weeks since our car got totaled!
And I love the reminders in all of Deuteronomy 8, that he does intentionally put us through trials (yes, everything does happen for God's reason), why the trials matter to him (he loves our hearts), how to overcome the trials in his glory by his hand (by praising him for EVERYTHING, because it all comes from him) and choosing, in those trials most importantly, to remain in him and follow his commands and allow him to have the control, ALL THE CONTROL.
He is gracious enough to already know we're going to be wretched and forget him. 2 Tim 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
He is loving enough NOT to hold it against us or give up on us (as humans do with other humans). He is patient enough to try us over and over until we learn - the patient teacher he is.
And he knew before creating us, that nothing would sustain us in this life better than the gift of his Word, the bible, the very word of God, which only serves to connect us to him since he is invisible. As Timothy says in 2 Timothy: All Scripture is God-breathed [inspired by God himself] and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This is how we move through these trials and grow closer to him and walk more deeply by FAITH, by living on/in the Word (the bible). And when we choose to live (read it, store it in our hearts, recall it by the power of his Holy Spirit, trust it without doubt, yearn for it) by His Word alone, he uses us for good works, to shine his light for his glory.
Like when your car gets totaled by a deer at a time when you only have one car, unreliable income, no 'emergency fund' to draw from and not a lot of 'known' options....
Welcome the trials, find God in his Word, purify your heart with Jesus and let his light Shine!
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