The Attributes of God:

The Choice Dt 26-30 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God.”                   The choice seemed obvious.  If the people obeyed God's commands, He would bless them beyond measure.  They will enjoy prosperity and peace.  However, if they reject God and disobey His commands, they will face His judgment and the curses that come with disobedience.  The commands were not harsh but based on what was best.  The commands of God are not difficult, but are the basis for a joyful life.  However, in our sinfulness, when given the choice between obeying God or following our desires, we choose to do ...

Holiness as a Way of Life Deut. 21-25 “As I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.”                    We tend to compartmentalize our life and our faith.  We view our relationship with God as part of our spiritual duty on Sundays and special religious days like Good Friday and Easter.  However, we go throughout the week with little regard for how our faith and relationship with God affect other aspects of life.  We compartmentalize our lives so that we have our religious obligations, family responsibilities, business duties, etc., and they remain disconnected.  As we read the application of the law in Deuteronomy 21-25, we discover the totality and scope that our faith influences and governs every element and decision in life.  There is no detail or issue in our life that is not directly impacted by the faith we embrace.  Rea...

The Test of a Prophet Deut. 16-20 “But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.  You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken.  The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”                   How do we discern faithful preachers from those false in an age of information (and misinformation)?  On almost any topic, we can find teachers who proclaim the exact opposite to be true.  Some preachers emphasize only the “red Letters” of the New Testament.  They argue that if you want to know the absolute truth of Christ, then ...

The Most Important Decision Deut. 11-15 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:  The blessing if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.                    It is estimated that a person makes 35,000 decisions every day, including 226 decisions on food alone. However, of all the decisions we face and all the options we confront, only one is genuinely transformative and essential: the decision to either obey God and His word or ignore and reject His commands.                     As Moses recounts the law to the next generation of people g...

Obedience and the Danger of Complacency. Deut. 6-10 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”                   Deuteronomy 6:4-5 are foundational verses.  Just as John 3:16 captures the motivation and purpose of Christ’s redemptive work, verses 4-5 set forth the heart of the covenant and our response to God.  In verse 4, we find the essence of God captured in a simple statement,  “The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”  Not only does this describe the essential unity within the Trinity, but it also shows that there is only one God who reigns over the universe.  The noun “one” points to the uniqueness and solidarity of God.  He stands alone and is unequaled and unrivaled.  In a world that embraced polytheism, God makes it clear that He is the only God, and no one rivals...

The Danger of Spiritual Forgetfulness Dt. 1-5 “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.  So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”                   It is easy to make vows in a sanctuary when we are moved by a sermon and encouraged in our faith.  However, spiritual commitments can easily be forgotten in the daily walk of life.  In a crisis, we turn to God but neglect Him when other demands and desires capture our attention and distract us from our faith.  The greatest threat to our spiritual health is not the onslaught of some great crisis or temptation; it is the neglect of ou...