"Serve only the LORD your God and fear Him only . Obey His command, listen to his voice, and cling to Him." (Deuteronomy 13:4)
Some things bear repeating. In the days to come, we will be rereading many things Moses has already told the Israelites. He is giving them one final reminder of all that the LORD expects of them when they cross the Jordan. The first reminder hit me square between the eyes, "Serve only the LORD."
Moses warns of the possibility of being tempted by false prophets and visionaries to worship false gods. You would think by now, after the golden calf scene back at Mt. Sinai and the other discipline they have received that this would be a non-issue. Once a upon a time in my "make-believe" walk with the Lord, I would have been appalled at someone suggesting that I could have idol. But now, after being a fast follower of the Lord Jesus Christ for over a decade now, I understand that idolatry can never be considered a non-issue. We may not make golden calves but are easily inclined or bent to putting things, people, and even our service to the Lord before our worship of the Lord.
Dictionary.com defines idolatry as: excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion. When you clearly read the definition it is painfully obvious that all of us can fall prey to the temptation of idolatry. What kind of idols? Children, husband, family, jobs, ambition, education, social status, money, material items, and self just to name a few.
Laying down the idols in my life has not be a one-time thing. I have to clean house and do a complete self-exam often. Many times idolatry is not intentional. Our enemy is crafty and cunning. He wants us to disappoint our LORD so we can live in state of shame rendering us ineffective for His Kingdom. But greater is He who is in us than He who is in this world.
Today is the day to begin our service for One. How do we do this? How do avoid falling victim to idolatry? Our key scripture gives us easy one-two instructions: listen to His voice and cling to Him. The English Standard Version uses hold fast instead of cling. The Hebrew word is dabaq. It means to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch.
We've got our instructions: listen and follow closely to our Lord. Now let's obey. Obey. This is definitely a central theme in journey.
Laying down the idols in my life has not be a one-time thing. I have to clean house and do a complete self-exam often. Many times idolatry is not intentional. Our enemy is crafty and cunning. He wants us to disappoint our LORD so we can live in state of shame rendering us ineffective for His Kingdom. But greater is He who is in us than He who is in this world.
Today is the day to begin our service for One. How do we do this? How do avoid falling victim to idolatry? Our key scripture gives us easy one-two instructions: listen to His voice and cling to Him. The English Standard Version uses hold fast instead of cling. The Hebrew word is dabaq. It means to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch.
We've got our instructions: listen and follow closely to our Lord. Now let's obey. Obey. This is definitely a central theme in journey.
15 Comments:
Good Reminder to do a God vs Self check up. I like that you put in their that our "service" can be an idol. It is easy to fool ourselves thinking our good deeds are okay even if they are all consumming and self absorbing, taking our focus off of God.
Blessings Lynn - OR
PS Back safe thanks for prayers.
Last summer I worked through Kelly Minter's Bible study, "No Other Gods - Confronting our modern-day idols".
2 Kings 17:33 says, "They worshipped the LORD, but they also served their own gods." Worshipping One, while serving others. The Lord wants to be God in my life. Kelly spoke of 'false' gods and 'functional' gods.
Richard Keyes writes: "An idol is something within creation that is inflated to function as a substitute for God. All sorts of things are potential idols, depending only on our attitudes and actions toward them...idolatry may not involve explicit denials of God's existence or character, it may well come in the form of an overattachment to something that is, in itself, perfectly good...An idol can be a physical object, a property, a person, an activity, a role, an institution, a hope, an image, an idea, a pleasure, a hero - anything that can substitute for God."
Although we 'make' substitute's, NOTHING can take the place of God. We need to keep clinging to Him alone.
I smiled as I read about the cancelling of debt every 7 years. Wondered if we were still doing that if the economy would be in the mess it is in :o)
Another verse that stood out to me this morning was Deut 13:3, "The LORD your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul."
After commenting here Saturday morning on the improvement in my Dad on Friday, Sat. and Sun. were horrendous again. He had become violent with a nurse again and removed all his tubes. Sunday his blood pressure dropped to the dangerous level, his blood count was low, he was put on oxygen, we were asked about a 'living will' and our decision on resuscitation. Unbearably hard.
I had this strange feeling that the Lord was testing me. Testing me to see if He took all of Friday's improvement in my Dad away, would I still trust Him. My family kept praying...through many tears.
Around 7pm last night Dad opened his eyes and for a sweet hour we had our Daddy back. In that time there were no hallucinations. He was completely at peace. His blood pressure returned to normal. No temperature. He carried on a conversation with us. We talked and sang hymns. He asked me to comb his hair. It was a precious time.
I don't know what today will hold, but Lord, I WILL love You with all my heart and soul,
Joy
Morning gals,
Good reading today; I'm enjoying the review as I don't think we can hear it enough!
The tithing principle was finally put into writing; 14:22 "You must set aside a tithe of your crops-one tenth..." This voluntary expression of our love helps us from coveting-a form of an idol. It is so easy to want what we do not have. Seems like in our "me society" people constantly are coveting, getting what they want even if they can't pay for it. They just charge it.
I also did the No Other Gods study last summer. A couple of Kelly's points that I liked were:
"We just plain want what we want. When we get a really good idea and execute our plan before ever asking if it was God's genius or our own...the ultimate purpose of tracing our actions and emotions to our idols, discovering them, and then turning from them-not so we can merely be idol-free, but so our lives may be spacious places for God to dwell and move. It is all about making room for him." Listening to His voice and clinging to him. He tells us what to do, we just need to obey.
Enjoy Monday!
Praying for our group and those that need individual prayers.
Welcome home, Lynn!
Lori - Mesa, AZ
I have started circling the word 'obey' every time it is in my reading. It's there a lot--and because every word in God's Word is ordained, I know God is emphasizing obedience and its importance. Obedience in the big--and little things. For some reason, it is in the little things that I have a harder time--sluffing them off as either not what God is telling me to do or justifying.
Joy--praying for you and your dad's day.
Good Morning Ladies!
Wendy, the recipe you shared over the weekend was wonderful! Thanks!
Today's reading has so much that we can identify with. I have really enjoyed reading all the comments posted on the blog today. I keep finding that all the commands given to the Isrealites really sets them apart from others. So much that they are told not to keep any of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction..they aren't to eat of animals, they are to give tithes, release debtors every 7 years...they "have been set apart as holy to the Lord your God and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure". (Deut 14:2) It seems to me that we need to be on guard; not wanting to slowly fade into the world's teaching but to remain set apart as "his own special treasure".
Thanks for your updates Joy. You are still in our hearts and prayers.
Have a great day, girls.
Notice the last part of the verse,
"cling to him"! Awww! Cling-to hold
dearly or as my life depends on him!
Absolutely! Our lives depend ONLY on him, everything else is so circumstantial! "Abba, may we cling to you daily as we listen and obey your voice!"
In Christ,
Kara
I have a question/observation that I want to see what rest of you gals think about.
In today's reading, they were instructed to bring a tithe to the Lord of all their produce,flocks, cattle, whatever they had.
I have been listening to a Bible study on TV and the man insists that just as Israel was instructed to bring sacrifices to the Lord, the instructions of tithes was also written to the Israelites, not to the church. He is not saying that we are not to bring a gift to the Lord as He has prospered us, but it is not considered a tithe, because we are not under law, but under grace. We don't offer sacrifices because we are not under law, we don't follow all of the other instructions, such as we read in today's reading, because we are not under the law, but under grace.
Wendy, and anyone else, what do you think of this? I can't find anything in the NT that commands us to tithe, so is his theory right? We still bring our offerings to the Lord on the first day of the week, as instructed by Paul, how much is between us and the Lord. We have to seek His face to determine the amount.
Anxious to see what everyone thinks.
Jan
TN
I love the vision of clinging to Him.
Praying that our day is full of clinging today.
Hi ladies,
I just wanted to drop a line to say thanks for all your posts. Wendy you are amazing! I have been reading the chronological bible on my own since Jan. and I was ready to give up (certainly a lesson in relying on my own strength to achieve God's purpose). A friend of mine told me about Wendy's blog and it has renewed my commitment to God and myself to make it through the Bible this year.
I have been going back into the archives to catch up with you. Although I don't usually post - I am here in spirit and thank you for your support!
Jodie
Jan - I thought your tithing question was a good one. Not too much is said in the NT about tithing - I found a Pharisee who said he tithed 1/10th, but it was in a bragging way. 1 Cor 16:1-2 talks about giving proportionately to how you have prospered. I understand the NT to speak more of giving according to your ability, and those who have more should give more. Bottom line: look to Christ as our example of giving. We cannot give too much, can we?
"In joy we give". If it isn't from a joyful heart; God doesn't want it.
I believe that 10 percent is not enough for some.
I try to stay away from the legalistic trap. Very easy to fall into.
Morgen - MN
Jan,
2 Cor 9:7
"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give,not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheeful giver."
Our tithing is a way of showing our love and faith to God. It allows Christians to take part in spreading the ministry throughout the world.
Lisa...I too love that vision of clinging to God...I looked up cling and found some other wordings:
depending..holding tight...remain close...remain attached...sticking to...I'm thinking how a small child clings to her mother's side...just where I want to be...by my Father's side!
Loving your comments girls!!!
Lori - Mesa, AZ
You had me at hello! I love the title of this post, Wendy!
Listen to His voice, obey and cling to Him. Serving Him...the audience of One!
Really simplies things for us, doesn't it!
Only by His grace...
Jan
Your question is definitely worth pondering. Let me think about it an get back to you.
I loved the verse you all have "clung" to for today as well. The past couple of days I have noticed the word "remember". As Moses recalled to the Israelites how their disobedience effected God. How he (Moses) had to go before God and plead with God to give them another chance. God was angry enough to destroy them all and start over again. Moses would then remind God the covenant he made to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Plus how might it look to the Egyptians if you (God) delivered them from slavery to their death in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 8:2-5 "Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone;rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. For all these forty years your clothes didn't wear out, and your feet didn't blister or swell. Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good." So it is we are called to remember what God has done for us when we have been disobedient, have been separated from Him by sin or begin to wine or complain about what we don't have. Yes, clinging to God through Jesus and keeping our eyes on Him we can begin again and remember to be thankful and obedient. Remember will be a theme throught the Old Testament. You think after all these years we would have learned by now!
Jan,
In Matthew 23:23 Jesus said, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (NIV)
I’m not a theologian, so I’m only writing from my perspective. Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate, final blood sacrifice… I am saved by grace, not by the law. Nothing I do can take the place of Jesus sacrifice – I can’t give enough, pray enough, be good enough. However, everything I do should be a reflection of that undeserving grace.
When I am called to obedience, how do I define the boundaries of what is obedient and what is not? The same way I would determine if I am following God’s plan for me – seek counsel in His Word. The difference is that I’m not trying to follow all the laws so I can be saved – I’m depending on His Word for protection, instruction, rebuking, encouragement, and guidance. "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matt 7:24.
God’s Word cannot be taken away or added to – we must accept it in its entirety. Sometimes I’m baffled, other times it’s very clear (and convicting!) Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for picking and choosing how they would be obedient – don’t I do that? It’s easy for me to write a tithe check, but what about giving a little more? When I serve, it’s at my convenience – if I’m busy there are others they can call. I can greet a stranger with a nod and rush on to do my errands, so I don’t have to stop and chat (a witness opportunity lost??)
I don’t think that answers any questions, but Jesus says not to neglect the tithe. “But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.” 1 John 2:5.
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