Confident dependence on God to fulfill all He has purposed is demonstrated by a life of prayer.
– Ian Hamilton
Bible Journey Break Again
Just a quick post to say that there will not be any OT study or reflections for the next three weeks. Each week’s study and reflections are tied to my church’s Sunday School class, and we are taking a few weeks off. We will jump into Joshua in September.
Passion Points
Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:
How to Commune with Christ on a Crazy Day – David Mathis (Crossway)
Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit – Tim Challies
Hobbies to the Glory of God – Tim Challies
Yes Christian, You Need the Church– Josh Buice (DBG)
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church worshiping our glorious and gracious God!
Sermon Songs: Ephesians 4:28-30
We put off our old sinful way
We put on what is right
Renew our minds from day to day
Walk with Him in the light
O God may we put off stealing
And work that we might give
Speak grace-filled words that bring healing
A giving life now live
Beware of grieving God’s Spirit
In what we do or say
And live a giving life that’s fit
For that redemptive day
And when we fail – we will repent
Our sin we will confess
Look to our Savior who was sent
To grant us forgiveness
(To the tune of “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)
Reflections on Deuteronomy 31-34
In today’s passage, Moses commissions Joshua to take his place, speaks his final words to Israel, and dies.
- Be strong and courageous – Moses tells Joshua and the people to be strong and courageous as they enter into the land. Where does this courage come from? This courage comes from the knowledge that God goes with them. In what situations in your life do you need courage? Remember that God goes with you!
- Reading the Law – Every seven years the Law was to be read that the people may learn not just the laws, but to fear the Lord and do them. If we are to obey God we must be in the Book to learn his commands. If we are to obey God we must be in the Book to learn about God and fear him.
- Great God – Moses proclaims the greatness of our God in his song that he teaches Israel. God is perfect, just, faithful, and upright. He is a Rock. He is the only true God and none can stand against him. Take some time to praise your great God!
I Am Ashamed
Just discovered a new song written by D.A. Carson and Sandra McCracken that goes really well with the sermon I’m preaching this Sunday. You can listen to it below. Find out more and download the music and song sheet for free here.
Current
Here are some helpful posts about how Christians should relate to our ever-growing pagan culture:
Keeping the Faith in A Faithless Age: the Church as a Moral Minority – Albert Mohler
American Christians, You Might Need to Start Living Like Missionaries – Amy Medina
Count the Cost in the New America: Eight Ways to Engage with Hope– Steven Lee
Prayer Quote of the Week
I commend to you the importance of watchfulness over your prayers. Prayer is that point in religion at which you must be most of all on your guard. Here it is that true religion begins; here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a man’s prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of his soul. Prayer is the spiritual pulse. By this the spiritual health may be tested.
– J.C. Ryle
Reflections on Deuteronomy 27-30
Our passage today calls for a decision to serve the Lord.
- Joyful service – Their service was not to be grim and glum. Rather they were to serve the Lord with joy and gladness (28:47). What is your attitude toward serving the Lord?
- Choices and Consequences – Moses lays out in very clear terms their choice and the consequences of that choice. They can serve the Lord and be blessed beyond their wildest imaginations, or they can turn away from God and be punished beyond their worst nightmares. Their choice will have severe consequences. Our choices too have consequences. What choices are you making? What might be the consequences of those choices?
- Future Judgment/Restoration – Moses predicts Israel’s failure and the terrible results that will come. Tragically, history will prove these predictions true. Yet God will bring them back to the land when they return to the Lord. All of this is yet to come in our study of the Old Testament. God in his perfect knowledge foreshadows the future.
Declaring the Glory
Warner Creek Falls near Marquette, MI
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20
Brian J. Mikul 