This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:
Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418
HERE
Bro. Bruce's commentaries for the
books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.
DEUTERONOMY
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
God's GRACE. Sometimes we need to stop and think about how GRACIOUS God is.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
Later, part of the nation was carried as slaves into Babylon, but when they repented, God returned them to the land.
6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
Look at this wonderful thing God promises. The circumcision will be in their HEARTS, if they will turn to Him in truth.
9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
The blessings God wants to give His people are contingent upon OBEDIENCE. For He says, "IF thou shalt hearken...to KEEP.." (verse 10).
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
God's will is "not hidden" (verse 11) from man. We do not have to go all the way to heaven to find out what God wants. Neither do we have to ask "who will BRING it?"
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
Here is LIFE or DEATH: to love God and keep His commandments is LIFE; and to refuse God and not follow His word is DEATH.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Here is also BLESSING and CURSING: the same as above.
Please continue to follow with us daily in Bible study.
CHAPTER 30
Even if He took their land away from them, He promised that if they would repent and return to Him in obedience (verse 2) with all their heart, then He would takd them out of captivity.
God is very gracious. Those who refuse to follow His express will shall suffer for it because of their own hardness. But when people realize and turn to God in repentance, He is gracious to receive, heal and mend.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."(1John 1:9)
In other words, God will permanently mark their heart to belong to Him. And their desire shall be to obey and follow His commandments.
This is the same promise God makes to people today. Because when we are saved, He "seals" us in His Holy Spirit, and causes His desires to be in us.
"In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: In Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."(Ephesians 1:13)
Because the WORD of God is already given; and the VISIBLE IMAGE of God is already given in Jesus Christ.
We can know the desires of God by looking at Jesus. We can also know the desires of God by studying His written word.
And salvation for the lost is just as close as a person's next BREATH (verse 15). ((See also Romans 10:6-13))
To love God and follow His word is to apply BLESSINGS from God to our lives. To refuse God and not follow His word is to apply CURSINGS to our lives.
This thought was passed from God to His people so that they would know and follow His word. It is still passed from God to His people in churches today.
"And He said unto him, 'Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."(Matthew 19:17)