February 24, 2010

Today's reading: Deuteronomy 7, 8, 9; Psalm 24, 54, 84, 114, 144; Proverbs 24

Deuteronomy 7:9, "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"

How well do you know the LORD?

First of all you must know Him in salvation. Look at Deuteronomy 7:23, "But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed." Salvation is deliverance. I know He is talking of delivering the enemy into the hand of the Israelites to be destroyed; but, my thoughts went to the deliverance we can have through Christ and His shed blood. Sin is our enemy and we can be bound by it. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ we get a freedom that we have never known.

Secondly you must know Him in supplications. Look at Deuteronomy 7:17, "If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?" One thing is for sure when the children of Israel got into a tight spot they would call upon the LORD. I was reminded of prayer when I read the first part of this verse, "If thou shalt say in thine heart,". I know that some of the most sincere prayers of my life have been uttered under my breath or in my heart to God and the great thing is that He hears them if I am in a right relationship with Him. If not, I can rest assured that He did not hear my prayers.

Thirdly you must know Him in sanctification. Look at Deuteronomy 7:25, "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God." To be sanctified is to be set apart from sin to God. When you or I do something we should consider if God would be pleased with what we are going to do. I have some clothes that I only wear to Church. They are sanctified so to speak. They are set aside only to be worn to Church or a like function. I don't want to get them dirty or torn by wearing them to mow the yard or work on a vehicle.

Fourthly you must know Him in separation. Look at Deuteronomy 7:26, "Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing." So many people do not like the word separation. Just like in our last point, if we do not separate from some things we can become effected by them. I don't partake in alcohol or drugs because I do not want to ruin my Christian testimony. You cannot glorify God while living in sin! It is impossible. The only way you can glorify God is to repent (turn from) your sin and go the direction God directs you to go.

Lastly you must know Him in the Scriptures. Look at Deuteronomy 8:3, "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live." Jesus Himself quoted this in Matthew 4:4, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." You see Jesus knew that the Scritpures (Bible) were vital to our Christian walk so He gave us His own example of correctly using them. The Bible is God's love letter to you and I. I hope you spend a lot of time reading it. I know I need to spend more time reading it.

So friend, how well do you know the LORD?