Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today is Wednesday March 10, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-march-10

Title: Bible Study: Harken to The Lord, Thy God
As Christians we can rejoice in the fact that it is by God's mercy and grace that He sent Jesus to save us all from a fiery hell and all who call on Him are saved. Praise God! While it is the greatest blessing to receive the gift of eternal life and know that no matter how many times we mess up we are still saved, that does not change the fact that we will not suffer if we do not harken to The Lord, thy God. The Israelites had the best thing going for them, they were God's chosen people and that was the best gift they could have ever received. God assured the Israelites that as long as they listened to Him and obeyed His laws that they would be blessed and avoid needless suffering. “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out............But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ” - Deuteronomy 28:1-6,15. The Israelites had a choice, if they listened to God and followed His commands then they would be blessed, and blessed abundantly, but if they did not listen to God and follow His commands, they would be cursed. This is a choice that we all need to make, when we listen and obey we are rewarded, when we do not listen and obey we are chastised until we either listen or God says, that's it, I'm done trying to get you to listen to me.

Harkening to the Lord means that we are to listen to every Word that God has written and every command that God has given us. This is where people of the world and even Christians want to ignore the fact that God was then and is now always in control. Something caught my attention this morning when reading this chapter, “If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.” - Deuteronomy 28:58-62. God is warning the Israelites that if they do not follow His commands they would face all sorts of diseases and destruction not even mentioned in the Bible. Now, this is a great prophecy of what happens to future generations who ignored God as we read through the Old Testament and also of what we are facing today. Think about it. Look at all the diseases and natural disasters that are going on around the world, especially over the past decade. This is not going on because of global warming or any other claims scientists are trying to come up with, this is God sending a warning to us all, you better harken to my voice, now. God does truly want to bless us while we are here on earth, He just wants us to listen to Him, He knows what is best for us.

We may not be bound to the laws that were given to the Israelites, but that does not mean that we are not to obey His commands, His commandments are for all, Old and New Testament times. A testament is a written document that proves as tangible proof of the covenant that God gave His people, the Old Testament was to record the covenant that God made with His people before Jesus came, the New Testament is to record the covenant that God made with His people when Jesus arrived. Regardless of Old or New Testament, there was one important thing that unifies both testaments and that was the blood that was shed to reconcile the people with God and get God to harken to them. The Old Testament is just as important because it foreshadowed Christ, proving that the entire Bible was focused on one person who would tale the place of countless of animal sacrifices and that was Jesus. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.” - Hebrews 9:12-20. Today, God's first command is to know Jesus, Jesus is the intercessor between God and us, if we do not know Jesus, we do not know God. No matter how many times we pray, or go to church, or volunteer to help the needy, God will not harken to those who do not harken to Him and come to know His Son. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” - Galatians 2:16. We are not saved because of the things we do for God, we are saved because Jesus Christ died for us and it is only when we believe in Him that we will receive eternal life. “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” - John 3:34-36.

We heard God say earlier, “ye shall be left few in number” God is weeding out all the devil worshiper's, and false god worshipers, and so called Christians, and false prophets, and false men of God, and only those who have truly know we see life beyond this earth. Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” - Matthew 7:13,14. Many will try to enter the gate, but only a few will make it through because they have not harkened to the Lord and followed His commands. Praise God, that all who come to Jesus will enter that gate, but if we truly want to see God's blessings here on earth we need to hearken to the Lord, our God. As long as we harken to God He will in turn harken to us and bless us.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today is Tuesday March 09, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Deuteronomy, chapters 24-27. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-march-9

Title: Bible Study: God Will Fulfill His Purpose
Many people, even Christians, do not realize that the Bible has been around since God created the earth. God chose forty men to write His Word, these were just ordinary, sinful people, like you and I who chose to follow the will of God rather than their own. Even they messed up with God at times and fell out of His will, but God still used them to complete the work He had begun in them. Moses was called when he was forty years old to fulfill God's purpose, but he killed a man then fled for forty years. At the age of eighty he began serving God as the one He chose to lead the Israelites out of slavery and into the promised land. Moses began writing down what God told Him along the way, including the Book of Genesis, which was given for God to give an account for the creation of all of earth and what His purpose for creating it was. The Bible was more than just commands from God, it was to give a record and account for the Israelites until Jesus came as well as show testimonies as to who God chose to represent Him and what happened to them in their times of obedience and disobedience to Him. While blessings result from obedience and faithfulness, severe punishments and judgment are the inevitable result of disobeying God's Word! We are all accountable for our own actions, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.” - Deuteronomy 24:16-18. A pledge is a solemn promise to fulfill a purpose or refrain from something. When we chose to follow the will of God, He holds us to our promise and we are accountable for fulfilling that promise. “This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.” - Deuteronomy 26:16-19. We think we have made the decision on our own to follow God, but God chose us Himself and we are to respect that and honor Him for choosing us by keeping ourselves holy. That is why He places these commands and judgments upon us. We are all here for a purpose and God uses us regardless of whether or not we choose to obey His commands, He chose to use specific men, women, and events to feature in His Word to prove to all, Israelites, as well as strangers, and even heathens, that He is the only God and creator of even them and in control of all things, regardless of how many gods they created. Praise God!

All the words that Moses has spoken to the Israelites regarding God's laws and commandments were to be written on plaster and placed upon the altar for all to easily read them. “And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God: And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” - Deuteronomy 27:1-8. It was important that the Israelites had these laws and commands written down to remind them of all that God gave them and what they were required to do in order to be able to live peacefully in the land that He had given them. Had they not had them, then further generations would not have been able to know how to be reconciled with God. That is why we are to read both Old and New Testaments, of course we are not bound to many of these laws, but the morals of the laws still apply. If you read chapter 27 you would have seen the things listed that caused a curse on the people and these things are still an abomination to God and cause a curse upon us. We are children of God and are to behave like we are to set an example for those who are just starting out as Christians as well as the rest of the world. “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained........ These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine........Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” - I Timothy 4:6,11-13, 16.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and enjoy the rest of your week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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