DEUTERONOMY 7:1-8:20
REMEMBER #2: (7:18) Do not fear the enemy; he is already defeated. Jesus defeated Satan FOR you.
REMEMBER #3: (8:2) Remember what you learned when God dealt with you about the issues of obedience. Remember all the trials and proving you have been through and how God revealed Himself to you in those times.
REMEMBER #4: (8:18) Remember that God is your Source of everything good that you enjoy in life. Even what came from your own hand, came by the strength and endurance God gave you.
WHO IS MY ENEMY? The enemies in the Land were to be annihilated - man, woman and child. We don't kill the devil, so it's not devils. We don't kill people in the world, so it's not people. We ARE told to crucify the flesh (Gal 5:24). What is standing between us and our inheritance is our own flesh. It is called "greater and mightier than thou" and we are to make no deals with it nor show any mercy on it and no compromise. The names of the tribes and what they mean tell us what we are up against in our flesh:
Hittites - "fear, intimidation, confusion, terror"
Girgashites - "lack of commitment"
Amorites - "boastful, arrogant, proud"
Canaanites - "to humiliate, subjugate, bring low"
Perizzites - "Apathy, lack of vision"
Hivites - "Human effort"
Jebusites - "oppression, to trample under foot, to tread down, to bully"
Keep in mind, these enemies are encountered in the Land and cause pollution. So as we displace the inhabitants, we must also displace their gods. How do we deal with all this? Gal 5:24 says we not only crucify the flesh, but its "lusts and affections" - which are symbolized in Deut 7:5 as "altars, images, groves, and graven images". It all has to be pulled down and destroyed. "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." ON WHAT BASIS WERE WE CHOSEN? Not because we were the best or the most, but because "He loved us". And He loves us because He loves us!
WHAT MAKES OUR FLESH SO DANGEROUS? (Deut 7:4) It will turn us away from following God - betrayal.
BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE (Deut 7:13-16) God's mercy, God's love, God's blessing (empowerment), increase, prosperity, fruitfulness, take away sickness and "evil diseases", victory in overcoming the flesh.
PURPOSE OF THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE: (Deut 8:2-6) To teach us obedience. To strip away all self-reliance, self-sufficiency, self-interest, self-preservation, so we'll know how much we need God, how much we must depend on Him for Life, how much our outcome depends on obedience.
RESPONSE: Obedience is not an option. Imagine spending 40 years being taught that one thing! Obey God or die! That was their choice. What is stopping me from being obedient? Apathy (Perizzites), trying to do it in my own strength (Hivites), fear of people (Hittites), pride (Amorites), a bad attitude (all the rest of the "-ites"). My flesh is selfish, rude, demanding, harsh and bullying - just like all those tribes. It wants what it wants when it wants it. So I tear down its altars - getting rid of stuff, staying focused, saying "no way!" when my flesh makes demands on me for more sleep, more food, or whatever. Remember! Remember! Remember! You don't want to have to be reminded, believe me.
LUKE 7:36-8:3
Jesus, "the Friend of publicans and sinners" is at it again! What the Pharisees considered "bad news" - Jesus associates with sinners - was actually "good news" to this woman - she believed that Jesus would not send her away. Consider her WORSHIP:
(1) Worship is an activity for sinners. Jesus allowed her to come close, reach out, and touch Him.(2) Worship is not concerned about receiving something from God as much as giving something to Him. Worship is costly and sacrificial, or it is meaningless.
(3) Worship involves the emotions. She worshipped with all her heart because she loved him much as she considered the depth of His forgiveness.
RESPONSE: Sometimes I think we treat Jesus as if we don't really love Him very much, just like a wife who takes her husband for granted. Our worship music is a good reminder of the debt we owe God and of how much Jesus has done for us. The way the verbs are expressed in this story tell us that she was "weeping", "washing", "kissing" - continually, not just once. She loved Him far more than the self-righteous Pharisee. I sure don't want to be him! We have no record of his sins being forgiven.
PSALM 69:1-18
Next to Psalm 22, this is the most-quoted Psalm in the NT. Psa 69-72 reveal the rejection and exaltation of Jesus Christ. This particular Psalm is a song of intense sorrow that has come because of loyalty to God. "Let not them that wait in faith on Thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me." Don't let me be a stumblingblock. David's adversaries were in positions of power and overwhelm him in their numbers and their might and their ridicule.
PROVERBS 12:1
Couldn't have said it better myself! And stupid people can't be helped because they won't submit to correction - so they stay stupid.
RESPONSE: A person who is easily offended has a hard time being corrected. Here it says they are stupid - or void of common sense. I have been there. No one could tell me anything, so I never knew why no one wanted to spend time with me. If someone told me the truth, I got offended, hardened my heart, and avoided them. So I stayed stupid. Finally God broke me Himself, taught me the fear of God, and made me sit still while I was confronted about some things. Oh, it hurt. I was tempted to run away again. I was tempted to harden my heart some more. But I was afraid to. Sometimes the Holy Spirit has to warn us not to harden our hearts because we will be destroyed. "A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy." (Prov 29:1)
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