Face to Face

Deuteronomy 34:10-12 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

     There are a few times in human history when a singular person has such a large impact on the course of history that their names is remembered. For most us us our names will be forgotten within three generations after out death.
     There are two ways to get on the "names remembered long after death" list. Hitler probably will make it on the list as will Mother Theresa. Exceptionally good people and notoriously bad people. They both make it on the list. But it is a very short list.
     I am pretty confident that I will not make it on the list. Other than my family and a few people I have encountered through the years, I will be forgotten, or already am forgotten. I really am a very insignificant person.
     But insignificant doesn't mean without tremendous worth. But I'll get back to this.
     Moses made it on the list, not because of who he was, but because of whose he was. The LORD had captured Moses' heart and soul. Moses tried to give excuses for not stepping into all the LORD had for him, but the LORD wouldn't accept any excuses.
     But what really set Moses apart was the intimate encounters he had with the LORD. He had met the LORD and seen Him face to face. He performed signs and wonders, miracles and judgements, but those are not what set him apart. He had seen the LORD face to face and lived.
     And those encounters had changed Moses. He was not the same person he was when he started on his journey. The LORD had shaped and molded him. He had yielded to the LORD's hand and will. He did so willingly.
     Will your life be marked by encounters with the LORD and your responses of obedience? Will reading your history be punctuated by the LORD. Or will it be a history of you?
     We all have choices to make that shape the future. What kind of future do you want? Obedience and surrender are your best path toward worth. You are of infinite value and worth. That was proven when Jesus died in YOUR place. Now live like it!

Our Own Eyes

Deuteronomy 29:2-3 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:
Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.

     Sometimes we get the privilege of seeing something monumental, historic, foundational. We are there and we see it with our own eyes. And it changes our perspective on life.
     I remember when Americans first landed and then walked on the Moon. I still have the newspaper from that day with the headlines and the pictures. I didn't become an astronaut. But it gave me a pride in our county that endures to this day. Not a blind trust, but a pride that we could rise above our differences and accomplish almost anything.
     The Israelites as they were getting ready to enter the Promised Land are reminded by Moses their leader that they had seen with their own eyes the things the LORD did for them in delivering them out of slavery. They had seen it but they still had not comprehended its importance. They saw it, but they didn't understand its meaning.
     How many times do things happen right now in our lives and we don't see the long term affect they will have on us. We miss it. I think that is why older people tend to become more retrospective. They think about their lives and the choices they made. It finally hits them.
     Maybe we could become a people who think before we act. We could become a people who actively choose obedience rather than falling into disobedience. We look ahead into the future and imagine the outcome of possible decisions BEFORE we act. Now that would be a choice worth making.
     So let's start today. Let's not wait until another bad choice has happened before we turn ourselves around. Allow the LORD to open your heart and mind to His will. He will enable us to see what He is doing right now so that our choices reflect reality rather than our own contrived fantasy.
    

No Middle Ground

Deuteronomy 27:12 When you have crossed the Jordan,
these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: ...
13 And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: ...

     Sometimes there is no middle ground. But we like compromise, give and take, a little for me and a little for you. But to be honest we really like OUR way. We love to be on the receiving end of giving and we want a lot, not a little. We want it for ourselves! So when there is no middle ground we get uncomfortable. We squirm, wiggle and look for the exit doors.
     One of the final instructions that Moses gave to the people of Israel before they entered the Promised Land was how to visually demonstrate the choice they had before them. Half the tribes were to stand on one mountain and half were to stand on the other mountain. One half pronounced curses on those who would disobey and the other have pronounced blessings on those who would obey. He spends two full chapters outlining these blessings and curses.
     There was a clear choice. No one was in the valley between the two mountains. The lesson was clear. There were only two camps: Obedience leading to blessing or disobedience leading to the withdrawal of the LORD's presence and the resulting curse that would result. Those were their choices.
     Believe it or not, we still have those same choices today. We can line our lives up with the LORD's will and have the opportunity to experience blessing. Or we can disregard the clear instruction from Scripture and choose to live by our own set of rules and seperate ourselves from the life the LORD has designed us to live. We can choose our own fruit like in the Garden of Eden.
     We make the choice. There is no middle ground, no half way, no compromise.
     There is no guarantee that blessing will come in the way and at the time we want. But blessing will come. And just as surely curse will come to those who disobey at a time of the LORD's choosing.
     So what is your choice today? What kind of future do you want?

In Proportion

Deuteronomy 16:17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to
the way the LORD your God has blessed you. 

     Proportionality in giving. "To whom much is given, much is required." To put this simply, if we have a lot, we should be able to give a lot. This is one of the principles about giving in the Scriptures.
     It can be easy to look at the ultra-wealthy and say to them, "Give more." And they should voluntarily give more. But that shifts the responsibility away from us onto them. But we are all called to give in proportion to the blessing we have received.
     I read in the news that a certain candidate's proposals will cost about 98 trillion dollars. But the reality is that the total wealth of every member of the United States is about 98 trillion dollars. In order to fund the candidate's proposal, all the wealth of the total population would have to be confiscated. Every penny of asset seized and sold. Every retirement saving transferred to the government. No private home ownership. It all gets taken by the government.
     Notice I didn't say voluntarily given.
     In our life of generosity our giving needs to increase as our blessing increases. In our devotion to the LORD, our gifts need to increase as the blessing increases.
     This is not a plea for support. It is an invitation to join me in my struggle to give more proportionally. The blessing of obedience is still available. The blessing isn't about more finances, more stuff. It is about living the kind of life we were designed to live.

Give Generously

Deuteronomy 15:10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

     Give generously. That is hard for so many people. We like to hold onto what we have, what we have earned, the things that demonstrate blessing. So it is counter-intuitive to give generously. And yet this is exactly what we are called to do.
     As the Israelites are preparing to enter the Promised Land, they are faced with a choice. They must choose how they are going to respond to wealth. The Promised Land is the place where God's promise meets God's people. Everything was provided for in the Land. What were they going to do with it?
     Their choice was a simple one. They could hold onto it for themselves or they could be obedient and take care of the poor, the widow and the orphan. They could build bigger barns (to borrow from a parable of Jesus) or they could give generously.
     The focus is on those who are part of the community, connected to the LORD. Fellow Israelites need to be taken care of by the people of the LORD. They are part of the covenant people, which includes foreigners who choose to align themselves with Israel.
     Too often we put labels on those less fortunate. We blast them as lazy in order to justify our unwillingness to lend a hand up. We think "they got themselves into this mess, they need to get themselves out of it."
     I am not talking about enabling bad behavior or encouraging continued wrong choices. "There will always be poor people in the land." We have an obligation as God's people to demonstrate our trust in the God who has 'blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus' in practical, tangible ways. We need to open our hands and let the blessing flow through us.

Debts Canceled

     Wouldn't it be wonderful to live debt free! As someone who does, it is! But debt free living comes at a cost. Debt free isn't free. It happened for Israel in seven year cycles.
     The history of Israel's lending policies is beautiful. They come into the Promised Land with no debt. They are given a land filled with everything they could ever want and need. And provision is made for the rare times when someone goes into debt. Part of that provision dealt with lending to each other, lending to fellow Israelites.
     When an Israelite fell into debt they would borrow from another Israelite. The Lender would calculate where they were in the nation's seven year cycle. They would then do a customized loan payment plan based on that. If there was any outstanding balance when the seven year cycle came, the balance would be forgiven.
     So how was this possible? First, the nation as a whole had promised to live life in a way that honored the LORD in all that they did. Their lifestyle and life choices were to be such that they would stand as a shining example of the power of the LORD, an example that would lead others to want to be in relationship with the LORD. So it started on the premise that Israel honored the LORD.
     Second, the nation's needs were provided for because of the blessing that was promised for this kind of obedient, submitted living. The Israelites didn't get to do just anything they wanted. They were part of a larger community that cared and supported each other. They took care of the poor, the widows and the orphans. They made provision for foreigners living in their midst. The blessing of the LORD was so evident that they had plenty to voluntarily share.
     Third, everyone took responsibility for their own choices. The Lender would calculate the time left before the seven year cycle was over and lent money based on that. The borrower took responsibility to pay back and made the appropriate sacrifices in order to be a responsible member of the society. Only in rare, unforeseen circumstances did they default on loans. Everyone paid their fare share.
     This is very different from so many societies, including our own, that want to just forgive debt. No society lived or lives by these standards. None lives a holy national life. None experiences the blessings of the LORD to the degree intended. None has a populace that takes personal responsibility for their debt.
     Instead, proposals are out there to steal money from one group and give it to another without any personal responsibility is not a Biblical concept. We, both individually and corporately, must take responsibility for our spending and our lending.

Singular

Deuteronomy 13:1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

     There are so many things that are of value in our world, things worth living for and things worth dying for. With the role of advertising psychology ever increasingly being used in our world to tap into the motivation of consumers, we need to be able to sort through the messages and make good decisions.
     The key is to look beyond the moment, both to the past and to the future, and evaluate the offer based on history and destiny.
    We can read about this kind of "looking beyond the moment" experience in the Scriptures. In Deuteronomy 13 there is a warning about following after foreign gods as the people are preparing to enter the Promised Land.
     The first part of the warning has to deal with the present moment, a false prophet who is able to bring the razzle dazzle of foretelling the future as a way to get the people of God to be distracted. The distract of the present moment pulls us away from the lessons of the past and separates us from the promises of the future.
     There was a calling away from remembering the history the LORD had with His people. "Ignore the miracles associated with the Exodus. Here is a miracle right here. Run after it."
     And there is a glossing over the promises of the future of blessing for the immediate return of the present.
     It can be hard to balance the history of our past and the blessings of the promised future. We can get so wrapped up in the razzle dazzle of the moment that we loose our minds and hearts. So as we walk through this Lenton season, let's keep our eyes focused on the history of faithfulness demonstrated by the LORD and the promise of our future completed redemption. Notice the present, but don't get deceived by it.
    

There To Be Found

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God,
you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

     I have ADHD! I forget things all the time. I am working on a project, realize I need something to complete the project, go to get that something and before I can retrieve it I have forgotten what I was going to retrieve. Or along the way I get distracted and forget about the project altogether! This drives me nuts! It also drives my wife of almost 40 years nuts as well.
     I have come to realize that I really don't forget those things. They just drop to the bottom of the thought queue. They will pop up and briefly pass through my mind days or weeks later. But before I can write them down, they are gone again, only to resurface and drop off at another random time.
     I am glad the LORD is not ADHD! He is always ready for us to return. He has open arms for us. Even when we have purposely walked away, He is there waiting for our return.
    This was really good news for the Israelites. It was news they would hear now, but not put into action for years to come. But the seed was planted. When they had wandered away and suffered the consequences of their separation from the LORD's blessing, they could know that they could return and be accepted.
     The one condition that continues, before the walk away and after the return, is that we come with all that we are. The LORD wants us to completely yield to Him. He doesn't want part of us. He knows that yielding 100% is what is best for us. It is the way we were designed to exist.
     And yet we often think we can give part of ourselves to something/someone other than the LORD. We cordon off parts of our lives in hopes that they won't affect our relationships with others. He have places that we don't yield to His intervention.
    When we do that we limit His ability to transform us and redeem us. Do we really want to limit our Creator from forming and making us into the best version of ourselves?

What Does God Look Like?

Deuteronomy 4:15 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb
out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,

     We often hear children ask, "What does God look like?" Even some adults ask this same question. It is a natural question asked from a very human perspective. We as human beings are very good at recognizing faces. It is one of the first things that infants learn. They recognize human faces. Then their caregivers face and voice. Then they begin to recognize other things.
     So if I am a human being, which I assure you I am, then recognizing God's face ought to be something I try to firmly plant in my brain. I wouldn't want to miss Him if I passed Him in WalMart!
     But one of the failures of so many people is that we try to boil God down to our size, something we can get our minds around. But God can't be boiled down. He is so far beyond anything we could ever comprehend that it is impossible for us to picture Him.
     And that is exactly what the Second Commandment is all about. Don't make an image of the LORD. So when Moses is giving his final words to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land, he reinforces this commandment. He appeals to their firsthand knowledge. They had seen the fiery cloud when the LORD had spoken. But there was no discernible form to the person speaking.
     But even more importantly, all the other people groups around the Israelites had tried to boil down the LORD into representations of known objects. They made idols of animals & creatures in their attempts to capture the essence of the Creator. They carved images of the stars and other objects in the sky in hopes that they were capturing the Star Maker Himself.
     So Moses warns them not to try to reduce the LORD in any way.
     We can't reduce the LORD to an APP on our phone, a corner of our living space, an appointment on our calendar. We can't reduce Him. He owns it all. He is everywhere present. Nothing is hidden from Him. He even knows our hearts.

25Mar 2011 Deuteronomy 34:7

⁷Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

Moses already has something on me. I have to use glasses and I am half his age! This is the way we are supposed to die. There is no real reason for our bodies breaking down. We make new cells all the time. But of course our genetic code has gotten mangled over time. Some say it is because of the ultra violet rays from the sun breaking them down. Those who are evolutionary believers say it is the evolutionary process at work. (But that doesn’t make sense. If evolution worked upward in creating higher species, how in the world can the breakdown of this very process be evolutionary advancement?) Moses lived a full life and didn’t suffer the consequences of old age. What a great way to go. My body is already feeling the effects of the Army. I am not as young as I used to be. I am weaker than I was when I was younger. This is the normal progression since sin is in the world. Moses’ life was the exception. The norm is to slow down a bit in old age. Do you feel the weight of age pressing on you? Join the club!

24Mar 2011 Deuteronomy 32:18

¹⁸You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

There is something funny about the biology here. How can a rock give birth to anything? Of course you noticed the capital “R” when you read this verse, right? Rock represents stability, permanence, strength. The Lord is all those things and so much more. Without the Lord, Israel would have remained a small, insignificant group of people. Their very existence as a separate nation was due to God’s call on Abraham telling him to leave his family and start over in a new place. If it weren’t for the continual intervention of the Lord in the lives of the Israelites, they would have failed to materialize as a nation. And history would have taken its toll on them as well. They would have faded like all the other ancient people. But the Lord was with them.

23Mar 2011 Deuteronomy 29:19

¹⁹When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

How many of us think that since we have accepted Christ that we can go our own way? I hope we don’t, but I am afraid some do. I see it in their actions. Our words and our actions need to match. That does not mean that we “dumb down” our words, but that we “raise the bar” on our actions. Our actions should be in the process of transformation, just as our minds are in that process. We are to be in the Word, allowing it to renew us. Our actions must match our profession of faith. This verse says that disaster will follow this kind of duplicity. If we claim to love the Lord, then we ought to be loving toward others. We ought to be in His Word. We ought to be praying. We ought to be closely connected to other Believers in a church fellowship. We shouldn’t be hopping from church to church. We shouldn’t allow our devotional life to be like a great amusement park ride, always going up and down with the thrills.

22Mar 2011 Deuteronomy 28:47

⁴⁷Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,

Threats of punishment and promises of reward are not enough to bring obedience. This verse stands in the middle of this long chapter of blessings and curses, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The Lord lays out these very clear promises and as I read the negative results of disobedience I don’t know why anyone would disobey. But if being righteous before God was based on our ability to live right, then we would all fail. We don’t have the ability in ourselves to please God. But as I read this verse something jumped out at me. We as a country have lived in prosperity for years, and yet we turned our backs on the Lord. We failed to serve Him joyfully and gladly. Instead, we turned to ever increasing levels of perversity. We as a society now condone every kind of objectionable behavior. We glorify adultery and casual sex by paying to go see it in the movies. No wonder the Lord seems to be withdrawing His hand from our nation. The Lord will find another people to send into the rest of the world with His message of hope. We are beginning to fail. It is time for us to repent as individuals, and as a nation, and humble ourselves before the Lord. It may not be too late for us.

21Mar 2011 Deuteronomy 22:4

⁴If you see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen on the road, don’t ignore it. Help him get to its feet.

This section of Scripture is about practical ways to help show that you care about another person. This one is showing you care about them by caring for their donkey or ox. Caring about someone is not limited to caring for them directly. You can care for them by caring about their things and protecting them. We are not to think and act in isolation. We are connected together in community. What happens to one of us, happens to all of us. So, today, if you see someone who needs help, help them if you can. Do it because Christ lives in you and He wants to help them. Do it for them because it pleases the Lord when we act as He would act.