Good day dear friends.
Please keep Eric Cortez in your prayers today. Eric graduated on Friday from the Austin Police Academy and today begins his career with that department. Pray for his protection as well as the protection of all law enforcement officers. Eric will be working day shift for this first month with APD, and a Field Training Officer for three months.
Here is our study guide for today:Tuesday: Deuteronomy 9, 10, 11Deut. 10:12-22 gives us a coming-together of personal religion, grace, and social religion. List the elements of faith you find in these moving verses.
The Message version of the Bible is written in the form of a novel. Early versions of this new version were written without chapters and verses. It makes for very easy reading, but we sometimes miss what was the original intent of each passage. For that reason here is the passage for today in The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV):
12 So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. 14 Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it, 15 yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. 16 Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.
In my reading of the passage here is a list of ten things that we should be doing as we seek a loving and living relationship with God:
1. Respect with Love, your God.2. Walk with the Lord.3. Love the Lord.4. Serve the Lord with all your heart, and your soul.5. Keep the Commandments6. Know that God provides for you.7. Love the strangers (foreigners) in your midst8. Worship the Lord.9. Remember in your praise and worship all that God has done for you.10. God has multiplied our number.
I believe you can find the basic elements of faith in the above list. Faith is believing in God because of your love and trust in Him, as well as knowing that God has provided for you and for all that you have from God you are thankful.
As we end each day, wouldn't we be more faithful persons if we made a list of all that God shared with us during the day? And be thankful of all things! We should begin with 1) God gave me a new day of life today. 2) God gave me breath today. 3) God gave me the sun to brighten my day. 4) God gave me clothing to wear. 5) God gave me food to eat. 6) God gave me a job/pension to provide for my needs. 7) God walked with me today. 8) God gave me wisdom to make some important decisions today 9) God gave me the words I needed in dealing with coworkers and supervisors. 10) God gave me the gift of family. 11) God gave me His love 12) I was able to share that love with others, etc. etc. etc.
What has God done for you so far today? Are you keeping a list? More importantly, are you living a thankful life because of it?
PRAYER: God of all good things, let me thank you again and again for all You do. Let me list in my heart the many things You give and share with me. Let me be a person whose life shouts out praise for what You have done. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
Please keep Eric Cortez in your prayers today. Eric graduated on Friday from the Austin Police Academy and today begins his career with that department. Pray for his protection as well as the protection of all law enforcement officers. Eric will be working day shift for this first month with APD, and a Field Training Officer for three months.
Here is our study guide for today:Tuesday: Deuteronomy 9, 10, 11Deut. 10:12-22 gives us a coming-together of personal religion, grace, and social religion. List the elements of faith you find in these moving verses.
The Message version of the Bible is written in the form of a novel. Early versions of this new version were written without chapters and verses. It makes for very easy reading, but we sometimes miss what was the original intent of each passage. For that reason here is the passage for today in The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV):
12 So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. 14 Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it, 15 yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. 16 Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.
In my reading of the passage here is a list of ten things that we should be doing as we seek a loving and living relationship with God:
1. Respect with Love, your God.2. Walk with the Lord.3. Love the Lord.4. Serve the Lord with all your heart, and your soul.5. Keep the Commandments6. Know that God provides for you.7. Love the strangers (foreigners) in your midst8. Worship the Lord.9. Remember in your praise and worship all that God has done for you.10. God has multiplied our number.
I believe you can find the basic elements of faith in the above list. Faith is believing in God because of your love and trust in Him, as well as knowing that God has provided for you and for all that you have from God you are thankful.
As we end each day, wouldn't we be more faithful persons if we made a list of all that God shared with us during the day? And be thankful of all things! We should begin with 1) God gave me a new day of life today. 2) God gave me breath today. 3) God gave me the sun to brighten my day. 4) God gave me clothing to wear. 5) God gave me food to eat. 6) God gave me a job/pension to provide for my needs. 7) God walked with me today. 8) God gave me wisdom to make some important decisions today 9) God gave me the words I needed in dealing with coworkers and supervisors. 10) God gave me the gift of family. 11) God gave me His love 12) I was able to share that love with others, etc. etc. etc.
What has God done for you so far today? Are you keeping a list? More importantly, are you living a thankful life because of it?
PRAYER: God of all good things, let me thank you again and again for all You do. Let me list in my heart the many things You give and share with me. Let me be a person whose life shouts out praise for what You have done. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
