Remember the Lord. Don’t forget him.

"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years" (Deuteronomy 8:2). Remember the Lord. Do not forget him. What does it mean to remember the Lord? For many people, the Lord is a distant memory, from their early childhood, Is this what it means to remember the Lord? Is the …

The Holy Spirit brings God’s Word to us, leading us in the way of worship, service and victory.

"It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’" (Luke 4:8). Here, Jesus is quoting the words of Deuteronomy 6:13. These words were spoken to the people of Israel. For the people of Israel, they were God's Word: a call to worship the Lord, a call to serve the Lord. These words …

Pay Careful Attention To God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 17:14-18:22 Even the king is subject to God’s ‘law’. His supreme responsibility is this: Pay careful attention to God’s Word (17:18-20). Politically, he may be in an elevated position - a ‘king over’ others (17:14-15). Spiritually, he must not allow ‘his heart’ to be ‘lifted up above his brethren’(17:20). There must be humble obedience …

May we keep on praising the Lord and giving thanks to him.

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 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" (Deuterinomy 8:10). When the Lord has blessed us, let us not forget to give …

What it will mean for us to love the Lord

"So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your …

Saved by the Lord

"Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord" (Deuteronomy 33:29). Where does true happiness come from? It comes from this: we have been "saved by the Lord." We are not perfect "people." We are privileged "people." Being "saved by the Lord": what a great privilege this is! We do …

In our obedience to God, there is to be the fear of the Lord and love for the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 -  ‘Hear’ and ‘do’ (1-3; James 1:22-25).  In our obedience to God, there is to be the fear of the Lord and love for the Lord (2,5).  Fear and love: the two belong together.  God is holy – fear Him.  God is love – love Him.  This is for every generation: ‘you and …

In the place of testing, we need the Word of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:1-9:21 The 'wilderness' was a place of 'testing'. God was 'disciplining' His people. He was teaching them to 'walk in His ways' (2,5-6). In the 'wilderness', we must remember this: 'man does not live by bread alone... man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord' (3). Everything that proceeds …

The promised land was near.

Deuteronomy 3:1-2 The promised land was near. For Moses, it was ‘so near and yet so far’. He was excluded. Together with the sadness of Moses’ exclusion, there was the joy of the people’s entrance (Deuteronomy 3:27-28). When we consider Moses’ sadness and the people’s joy, we must remember this: Nobody deserved to go into …

Feed us, Lord.

Deuteronomy These thoughts are based on Deuteronomy 8:3. Feed us, Lord.Feed us with Your Word.Give us hunger,Real hunger – for Your Word. Satisfy us, Lord.Speak to us – Your Word.Fill our hearts with joy,The joy of knowing You.

Will we be the new generation, ‘a new creation in Christ’?

Deuteronomy 1:1-2:37 With the exception of Caleb and Joshua, the older generation – including Moses – was not to enter the land (34-38). For the new generation, there was a challenge. There must be no more failures. One wasted generation was enough. This was the time for real commitment to the Lord. He loved them …

On A Journey

Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22 The Lord's people were on a 'journey' (Deuteronomy 10:11). They were journeying with Him. He was leading them in the way of His blessing. In our journey through life, how are we to experience an ever-increasing measure of God's blessing? - "Fear the Lord your God, follow all His directions, love Him, and …

How are we to experience an ever-increasing measure of God’s blessing?

Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22 The Lord’s people were on a ‘journey’ (Deuteronomy 10:11). They were journeying with Him. He was leading them in the way of His blessing. In our journey through life, how are we to experience an ever-increasing measure of God’s blessing? – “Fear the Lord your God, follow all His directions, love Him, and …

How much do we care?

"You shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother" (Deuteronomy 15:7). How much do we care about other people? Are we so busy looking after our own interests that we forget about other people? These are challenging questions. They are questions that make us feel uncomfortable. They are questions that …

Pay careful attention to God’s Word…

Deuteronomy 17:14-18:22 -  Even the king is subject to God’s ‘law’. His supreme responsibility is this: Pay careful attention to God’s Word (17:18-20). Politically, he may be in an elevated position – a ‘king over’ others (17:14-15). Spiritually, he must not allow ‘his heart’ to be ‘lifted up above his brethren’ (17:20). There must be humble …

Nothing is greater than the love of God.

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). When we read these words, we are lifted into the atmosphere of eternity. We read of "the eternal God" and "the everlasting arms." Getting this eternal perspective is so important. Very often, we get bogged down in things that are happening …

The Way Of Obedience Is The Way Of Blessing.

Deuteronomy 29:1-29 God has done great things for His people: ‘in the land of Egypt… in the wilderness’(Deuteronomy 29:2 and Deuteronomy 29:5). Acknowledging Him to be the Lord their God, they were to live in obedience to Him (Deuteronomy 29:6, and Deuteronomy 29:9). The way of obedience is the way of blessing. Moses warns the …

Forty years in the wilderness… Is there more than this?

Forty years - it's such a long time. We look back. We try to remember what happened down through the years. We've forgotten so much more than we, still, remember. Have we forgotten the Lord? or Do we, still, remember him? We ask about our remembering and our forgetting, but there are more important questions …

God is at work among His people, teaching them many lessons.

Deuteronomy 11:1-32 God is at work among His people, teaching them many lessons. Through His precious promises and strong warnings, He leads us in the way of obedience and blessing (31-32). If we are to enjoy the Lord's blessing, we need the whole Word of God - the warnings as well as the promises. Obedience …

Show us, Lord, what we really are – without You. Make us, more truly and more fully, what You want us to become – by your saving grace.

You can find more of this series of prayers at A Prayer For Every Day.  Deuteronomy 23:1-25 Show us, Lord, what we really are - without You. Make us, more truly and more fully, what You want us to become - by Your saving grace. Fill us with Your holiness - and fill us with …

Leaving our future in the hands of the Lord

"As your days, so shall your strength be" (Deuterinomy 33:25). God is calling each one of us to make a new beginning with him. Where will this take us? We don't know. All we can do is take the first step... and the nexr step... and the next step... . We may wish that we …

The servant of the Lord dies, but the work of the Lotrd goes on.

"Moses the servant of the Lord died...  Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses" (Deuteronomy 34:5,9). The servant of the Lord dies, but the work of the Lord goes on. Our service for the Lord …

The Lord’s work is moving on.

Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12 The Lord’s work is moving on. The Lord’s servant – Moses – is looking towards the future. He is pronouncing God’s blessing on the people of Israel. He pays special attention to each tribe. There is a Word from the Lord for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The people of Israel …

God Blesses Us Because He Loves Us – Not Because We Are Worthy Of His Blessing.

Through His strongly worded warnings, God calls us back from the way of disobedience (Deuteronomy 27:15-26; Deuteronomy 28:15-24). Through His promises of blessing, He calls us to the way of obedience, the only way to true happiness (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). God’s blessing cannot be taken for granted. Where there is disobedience, there is no blessing. Our …

Always seeking, never finding

"The word is very near you" (Deuteronomy 30:14). Some people are always searching - but never finding. They look here, there and everywhere ... and, then, they start again ... and so, the search continues ... always searching, never finding. They tell us, "It's all about the search." Jesus tells us something very different. He …

The wilderness – a place of testing – with the promise of better things to come (Deuteronomy 8-10)

Deuteronomy 8:1-9:21 -  The ‘wilderness’ was a place of ‘testing’.  God was ‘disciplining’ His people.  He was teaching them to ‘walk in His ways’ (2,5-6).  In the ‘wilderness’, we must remember this: ‘man does not live by bread alone… man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’ (3).  Everything that proceeds …

From conflict to triumph

Deuteronomy 30:11-31:29; Luke 19:11-44; Psalm 48:1-8 A comparison may be made between Israel’s entry into the promised land and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Ahead of both, there lay conflict, but beyond the conflict, there was triumph. Their triumph is the triumph of God – “As we have heard, so have we seen in the city …

From the land of bondage – to the land of salvation

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20 “Honour the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 16:1) – We are to worship the Lord. Our worship is to be filled with thanksgiving, praising the Lord for His redemption – “The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt.” Moving from the land of bondage, we move, by faith, into the land of salvation: …

God Is Faithful. Let’s Be Faithful To Him.

Deuteronomy 31:1-32:52 Moses’ time of leadership was coming to an end. Joshua would replace him as the leader of God’s people. With God’s command – “Be strong and courageous” – and promise – “you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with you” (Deuteronomy 31:23), …

Let God’s Love Be Your Guiding Light.

Justice for the vulnerable is grounded in God’s redemption (Deuteronomy 24:17-18). This is an important principle for us. God loves us. He has done great things for us. He cares. We are to care. Let His love be the guiding light in every part of your life. Scripture speaks of both salvation and judgment. Israel …

How are God’s people to remain true to Him?

Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20 The contrast between God's people and those who worship false gods is so strong. It would be easy for God's people to feel superior. God's Word gives us no encouragement to have a superiority complex (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). How are God's people to remain true to Him when there are so many pressures to …

Learning to love the Lord our God

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5).  Jesus teaches us to love the Lord our God (Matthew 22:37), but it's important to note that this teaching didn't begin. Here, we have it in the book of Deuteronomy. If we are committed to following Jesus, we …

The fear of the Lord and love for the Lord

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 'Hear' and 'do' (1-3; James 1:22-25). In our obedience to God, there is to be the fear of the Lord and love for the Lord (2,5). Fear and love: the two belong together. God is holy - fear Him. God is love - love Him. This is for every generation: 'you and your …

Reconciled To God Through The Death Of His Son

Deuteronomy 22:1-30 Care for ‘your brother’(1-4). Our caring is not to be selective - ‘If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is’(2). When Jesus says, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’(Luke 10:27), He means much more than loving the people who live near us, the people who …

In The Service Of The Lord, We Must Not Be ‘Fearful And Fainthearted.’

Deuteronomy 19:1-20:9 Justice is concerned with (a) the protection of the innocent - ‘innocent blood will not be shed in your land’(10); (b) the punishment of the guilty - ‘you must purge the evil from among you’(19). Through justice, God is to be glorified among His people. We are to fight for the Lord without …

Rest Secure In God’s Love.

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one that the Lord loves rests between His shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12). The Lord loves us. His love casts out our fear. His love gives us security. His love shields us. We rest in His love. There’s …

Notice what comes first, and what comes second.

"See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you" (Deuteronomy 1:21). Notice what comes first - "the Lord your God has given you the land", and what comes second - "Go up and take possession of it." By grace, God …

Continue in the way of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 4:1-6:25 There is a real challenge here – Continue in the way of the Lord. Don’t turn back from following Him. This is important – not only for ourselves but for generations to come. The Word of the Lord must never be dismissed as something which is to be left in the past. Love for …

The Lord’s love speaks of His keeping power. He will complete the work He has begun.

Deuteronomy 7:1-26 Enter, Destroy, Possess (1-2). Don't try to jump straight from entering to possessing. Don't forget to destroy. We enter the Christian life through faith in Christ. We will not 'take possession of' a fuller enjoyment of His salvation if we refuse to 'destroy' the obstacles to His blessing in our lives. Sin is …

The sword of the Spirit

Jesus answered the devil, ‘It is written: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Luke 4:12). Here, Jesus is quoting the words of Deuteronomy 6:16. He's taking his stand on the Word of God. Jesus is teaching us to take our stand on the Word of God. In Ephesians 6:17, Paul tells us …

From a long, long time ago – a story for us, a story for today

Situations change. Sometimes, we're going through hard times - but blessing may be just around the corner. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, we read about the people of Israel, suffering in the land of Egypt. Would their suffering go on and on... Would it never come to an end? Then came their deliverance …

The spiritual dimension must never be forgotten.

Deuteronomy 18:1-19:21 “The land the Lord you God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 18:9; Deuteronomy 19:1,8,10,14): In all the practical instructions given to the people of Israel, there is always this reminder of the spiritual dimension. They are the people of God. They have been blessed by the Lord. They are to live as people who …

On to the great future, the Lord is preparing for us

Deuteronomy 2:24-4:14; Luke 10:25-11:4; Psalm 41:7-13 When the people of Israel were brought to the promised land, this was a great fulfilment of God’s purpose. When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Father ... Your Kingdom come”, He is teaching us to pray for an even greater fulfilment of God’s purpose. The Lord sets us in …

Jesus Christ – God’s perfect Son

Deuteronomy 19:1-20:20; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 45:1-9 Above all men, it can be said of Christ: “You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever” (Psalm 45:2). When we read the parable of the prodigal son, we are reading the words spoken by the …

No looking back; we must keep going forward.

Deuteronomy 1:1-2:23; Luke 9:57-10:24; Psalm 41:1-6 We are to make progress in the life of faith. There can be no looking back. In Deuteronomy 1:6-8, the Lord calls His people to press on. In Luke 9:62, the Lord Jesus emphasizes that we must keep going forward. It will not be easy. There will be opposition. …

Still the same choice today

Deuteronomy 27:1-28:68 Obedience and blessing or disobedience and curse – This was the choice which was set before the people of God. It is still the same choice today. What a difference there is between the two ways – the way of obedience and the way of disobedience, the way of blessing and the way …

Never to be forgotten

In 1996, Willie McDonald died at the age of ninety. I had only known him for a short time. I will always remember him as a man who loved the Lord deeply. He was small of stature, but he was a man of “strength”: real, spiritual strength (Psalm 90:10). He was “strong in the Lord”, …

We’re called to be “a people holy to the Lord our God.”

Deuteronomy 13:1-14:21 Obedience to God involves an uncompromising attitude toward those who would lead people away from God. Those who say 'Let us go and serve other gods' (13:2,6,13) must not be permitted to exert their evil influence on God's people. God says, 'You must not listen to them (13:3,8). Temptations to 'idolatry' can come …

Lord, we are called to fear You – and to love You.

Deuteronomy 6:1-25 Lord, we are called to fear You – and to love You. We tend to think that fear and love are opposites. You teach us something else, something very different. Fear and love belong together. You are the holy God, the God who cannot look upon our sin (Habakkuk 1:13). We fear You. …

The School of Discipleship (5): The Lord will be with us, every step of the way.

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land …

Pray For God’s Mercy. Ask Him To Make You More Holy.

Deuteronomy 28:25-68  There is nothing inevitable about the chain of events described in these verses. These are the consequences of disobedience. God is warning His people: ‘If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God…’(28:15). Why does God warn His people of the consequences of disobedience? He wants them to draw back …

We sing to You, Lord – our song of praise, the song of Your salvation.

Deuteronomy 31:14-32:18 We sing to You, Lord. We sing our song of praise. It's the song of Your salvation. It's the song that gives glory to You. May our song of praise be more than words. May it be the song that arises from our hearts. May it be the song that comes from lives …

The ripples that we make …

"Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them" (Deuteronomy 4:9). All the days of our life ... and more! We live …

Let go and let God have His wonderful way.

“Take the staff, and you (Moses) and your brother Aaron, gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink” (Numbers 20:8). Speak to the rock – this is what the Lord told Moses to do. What did Moses do? – he “struck the rock twice with …

Let us enter God’s land of blessing.

Deuteronomy 6:1-8:20; Luke 11:33-54; Psalm 42:1-6a God’s people were called to enter the promised land. They were called to live in obedience to the Lord who had brought them into the promised land. To those who refuse to enter into God’s land of blessing, God says, “Woe to you experts in the law, because you …

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet.

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet... " (Deuteronomy 18:15). This prophecy has its greatest fulfilment in Christ. Jesus is more than a prophet. He is the substance of the prophecy concerning God's Kingdom. The coming of God's Kingdom is the coming of Christ, both His first coming (our foretaste of …

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

In our day, there are many who say, “Let us follow other gods.” God says, “You must not listen” to such people (Deuteronomy 13:2-3). To follow the Lord’s instruction is not popular. Nevertheless, this is what we must do: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24). Whatever the world may say, …

God has a question for us.

"Can you fathom the mysteries of God?" (Job 11:7). As we think about God, we are brought to the limits of our human understanding. We are reminded of this in Deuteronomy 29:29 - "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, …

Jesus is more than a preacher of God’s Word. He is God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 17:14-18:22 Even the king is subject to God's 'law'. His supreme responsibility is this: Pay careful attention to God's Word (17:18-20). Politically, he may be in an elevated position - a 'king over' others (17:14-15). Spiritually, he must not allow 'his heart' to be 'lifted up above his brethren' (17:20). There must be humble …

Responding to God’s Word (5): O for a closer walk with God

The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain" (Deuteronomy 1:6). A journey that should have taken eleven days turned out to be a journey that lasted for forty years (Deuteronomy 1:2-3). What did God have to say about this? "You have stayed long enough at this mountain." The people of Israel …