Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to LOVE the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Oh Friends, that’s the Christian Manifesto: The foundation of the Christian Party! That was Joshua’s reminder to the two and a half tribes of Israel that would not cross over the Jordan. And that’s how we’re to live our lives, though, with our inherent sinful and disobedient nature, we tend to not toe the Party line and do our own thing. But Friends, erring from it is unwise, for it only causes us heartache and disappointment. So today the Lord decided to give us a refresher course in how to live as a paid up member of His Christian Society Party. (smile) And remember, we’re all fully paid up as a result of Jesus death on the cross, so dues are not an issue here. What is then? Our general behaviour and deportment as a member of the Lord’s retinue. ‘But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you.’ That’s the first step Friends. We are servants of the Lord, therefore it’s imperative we obey His dictates. The same ones Moses taught the Israelites when they came up out of slavery from Egypt, so long ago. Those laws have not changed one iota my people, and show how true, steadfast and unchanging is our God. His basic edicts have remained the same for thousands of years. So the first law is obedience. Then, Moses instructed the Israelites: ‘And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ (Deut.6:6-7) So the second requirement is to imprint the laws of God securely in our hearts and souls, to teach them, note, diligently, not wishy-washy, to our children, and to continually talk of and discuss them wherever we are. Thus our lives will be always focused on God and His Word. Now let’s see what the actual laws are: ‘To LOVE the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ Wow! That seems like a lot, but in reality it’s not. Let’s dissect it further: ‘To LOVE the Lord your God.’ Now that’s not difficult. If you really know God; the Creator of all things, the most powerful Being in existence, the most merciful, forgiving, just and righteous, a LOVING Father, from whom all things do flow, then that should not be a problem. LOVE is of God. So if you truly have one, then you ought to know the other and vice versa. Then the next part says, ‘to walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments.’ Now that’s where the problems begin, for the human animal doesn’t like to be told what to do, but there are some things the Lord considers verboten, which unfortunately conflict with our basic, proud, lustful nature. And in comes the fallen angel with his evil agenda and tempts us to do those verboten things. So a tug of war goes on in our souls, where we list from side to side, undecided. At some stage though, we’ve got to make a decision, cause we can’t sit on the fence forever. And that’s where Moses instructions come in, for Friends, if we’ve written the Lord’s law, impregnably in our hearts and souls, the tug of war will be short, with the outcome obviously on the Lord’s side. And this is a welcome solution for all believers. Why? Because the Lord promises that if we are obedient and serve Him diligently; ‘I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.’ (Deut.11:14-15) That’s prosperity Friends! It’s what happens when we’re obedient to the Lord. Much LOVE!…obedience…obedience…obedience.. School will continue tomorrow. (smile)
Oh Friends, that’s the Christian Manifesto: The foundation of the Christian Party! That was Joshua’s reminder to the two and a half tribes of Israel that would not cross over the Jordan. And that’s how we’re to live our lives, though, with our inherent sinful and disobedient nature, we tend to not toe the Party line and do our own thing. But Friends, erring from it is unwise, for it only causes us heartache and disappointment. So today the Lord decided to give us a refresher course in how to live as a paid up member of His Christian Society Party. (smile) And remember, we’re all fully paid up as a result of Jesus death on the cross, so dues are not an issue here. What is then? Our general behaviour and deportment as a member of the Lord’s retinue. ‘But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you.’ That’s the first step Friends. We are servants of the Lord, therefore it’s imperative we obey His dictates. The same ones Moses taught the Israelites when they came up out of slavery from Egypt, so long ago. Those laws have not changed one iota my people, and show how true, steadfast and unchanging is our God. His basic edicts have remained the same for thousands of years. So the first law is obedience. Then, Moses instructed the Israelites: ‘And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ (Deut.6:6-7) So the second requirement is to imprint the laws of God securely in our hearts and souls, to teach them, note, diligently, not wishy-washy, to our children, and to continually talk of and discuss them wherever we are. Thus our lives will be always focused on God and His Word. Now let’s see what the actual laws are: ‘To LOVE the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ Wow! That seems like a lot, but in reality it’s not. Let’s dissect it further: ‘To LOVE the Lord your God.’ Now that’s not difficult. If you really know God; the Creator of all things, the most powerful Being in existence, the most merciful, forgiving, just and righteous, a LOVING Father, from whom all things do flow, then that should not be a problem. LOVE is of God. So if you truly have one, then you ought to know the other and vice versa. Then the next part says, ‘to walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments.’ Now that’s where the problems begin, for the human animal doesn’t like to be told what to do, but there are some things the Lord considers verboten, which unfortunately conflict with our basic, proud, lustful nature. And in comes the fallen angel with his evil agenda and tempts us to do those verboten things. So a tug of war goes on in our souls, where we list from side to side, undecided. At some stage though, we’ve got to make a decision, cause we can’t sit on the fence forever. And that’s where Moses instructions come in, for Friends, if we’ve written the Lord’s law, impregnably in our hearts and souls, the tug of war will be short, with the outcome obviously on the Lord’s side. And this is a welcome solution for all believers. Why? Because the Lord promises that if we are obedient and serve Him diligently; ‘I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.’ (Deut.11:14-15) That’s prosperity Friends! It’s what happens when we’re obedient to the Lord. Much LOVE!…obedience…obedience…obedience.. School will continue tomorrow. (smile)
SCRIP-BITS 