One Year Bible, April 3

DEUTERONOMY 23:1-25:19                                                                           
REMEMBRANCE #10: (24:9) God judges rebellion, it doesn't matter WHO it is.

REMEMBRANCE #11: (24:18) The disenfranchised and weak (widows, orphans, outsiders) deserve the same kind of justice as you do, as you were once an outsider yourself.

REMEMBRANCE #12: (24:22) Show compassion on the weak and the outsiders, as you were once an outsider yourself.

REMEMBRANCE #13: (25:17) God deals with our flesh, without mercy.

More of God's Laws for the Spirit Realm - the Land:
23:1-8 Who can't join the congregation: anyone who can't reproduce (spiritually) who can't or won't name God as his Father, fleshy persecutors of the spirit. Half-brothers are okay - God will sort them out later. We take these personally, and apply it to things in our flesh that want to stay with us.

23:9-14 Keep your camp holy: Keep out uncleanness. The "whole armor of God" now includes a SHOVEL - so you can clean up your messes.

23:15-16 "If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master." Well, I guess that proves it. God hates slavery. 

23:17-18 Dogs and whores are both unclean because they are scavengers.

23:19-20 "Usury" - the literal translation of the word in the original language is "bite of the serpent". Ain't that the truth! You can't charge interest to anyone you know, but outsiders beware!

23:21-23 If you make a promise to God, you'd better keep it.

23:24-25 Stealing corn in the dark is okay as long as you only take enough for one meal. (just checking - is anyone reading this?)

Chapter 24: Relationship is everything: even in time of war! These reveal the love and mercy of God.

25:1-3 Forty lashes is the limit.

25:4 Don't muzzle the ox. The cook should be allowed to taste her food.

25:5-10 Jesus is our near-kinsman, Who will produce His image in us.

25:11-16 Laws against foul play.

25:17-19 Doom pronounced on the FLESH, the SELF-life.

RESPONSE:   Why is God so hard on the flesh?  It says here that the flesh will ambush you when you are tired, slow, sick, weak or vulnerable in some way.  It will hinder you from entering the Kingdom of God and then do everything to get you back out of there.  If you allow your flesh to dominate your life, you will die - both spiritually and physically.

LUKE 10:13-37                                                                                                   
Beginning with 9:51 we see Jesus setting Himself to go to Jerusalem to die. The discipling of His followers included sending them out to do what He had been doing.  Their success  is a sign of the arrival of the new thing: the Kingdom of God.  The reaction in the heavenlies is recorded in Rev 12:10, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." (See Luke 10:18) Satan's fall was due to his defeat with the 72.

The Good Samaritan:  Jesus still hasn't given up on showing His disciples about the "crucified life".  What does it really mean to love someone?  The priest and Levite were aware of the problem. They both saw a human being in trouble. The Levite even went near to take a closer look! They were the religious people, and, if anyone responded to someone in pain, it should be them.  The "good Samaritan", on the other hand, gave of his time, his ability, and his money - the three things that make up a man's life.

Practical love is the proof of being a Christian.   Remember the parable answered the question of how to get into heaven.  The parable is told to a non-believer, a self-righteous man who will not enter the Kingdom of God, in order to get him to repent. Instead of showing us who our neighbor is, Jesus shows us who is neighborly.  What is the quality of your practical love.   It's not who your neighbor is, but who YOU are that defines your love. The two religious men didn't love God OR other people. They were disqualified from the Kingdom of God.  The Samaritan, on the other hand, loved the victim to the full extent of his need - love with no limits. We love ourselves like this. We don't love others like this. What Jesus is actually doing with this parable is bringing conviction on us - that we recognize our inability to DESERVE the Kingdom of God.

RESPONSE:   Lord, increase my capacity to love.

PSALM 75:1-10                                                                                                   
The world appears to be falling to pieces. But there is actually an order to the perceived chaos.  God's judgments come at His appointed times. The fools and the wicked "lift up their horns" - horns represent man's strength. They have no real authority, they use force and manipulation. Why do the wicked flash their strength and power? Three reasons: They think their power is based on their own merits and so are not accountable to anyone. They do not consider God to be the author of power. They did not consider that afflictions may have come from God. The truth is that everyone drinks from the cup of affliction-- and the strength of the wine is determined by God alone, but the wicked WILL drink the dregs. Keeping the trials of life in perspective is one of the great secrets of life.

PROVERBS 12:12-14                                                                                          
The wicked like to stick together for protection, but the righteous don't need protection. People who indulge in sinful talk cut their throats with their own tongues. Matt 12:37 says, "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

RESPONSE: There is a mixture of mercy and grace added to my cup of affliction. There is only wrath and judgment in the cup given to the wicked and the dregs are reserved for them, too. Some things land on everyone, but only God's people have the strength and grace to endure.