Deuteronomy 26-28

God’s message to me: Every bad thing can be turned to blessings through God if I serve Him as He commands. Every good thing can be turned to a curse if I refuse to glorify God in it.

Promises: Deuteronomy 27:15-26 Deuteronomy 28:1-68 The promises of the Lord are both blessing and curse. For those that love Him and honor His commandments the good of every promise is theirs to claim. For those who fail to serve him with gladness in abundance the opposite of every good promise will be their reward and they will instead serve others in bondage and despair.

Commands: The rules regarding distribution of the tithe get a little complicated under Hebrew law where much of government was handled through the temple. There were many offerings and tithes and per person fees paid to support the temple, the Levites and the priests and each was budgeted in it’s own way to serve those needs as well as charity. As Christians, we simply bring our tithes and offerings to the church and the church leadership is responsible to God for their stewardship of those funds. I have heard people, including pastors, refer to handling the congregations money. This is wrong. The money belongs to God, not the church or it’s congregation and only He is judge of what is right or wrong in it’s handling. This is why we choose good and God fearing men to lead us then trust in God to lead them.

Timeless principles: Most people think they are good and believe they are doing their best to follow God’s commands. They admit to lying, the occasional curse word and maybe a little lust but they think they do OK beyond that. It pays to know and understand God’s word.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Read it, Study it, write it down, post it in obvious places and commit it to memory. “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” Even knowing all the rules it is impossible for man to obey them completely without God’s help and intervention. Want a little proof? Take the good test.

more to learn for in-depth study: Deuteronomy 27: 3 “YOU SHALL WRITE...” I know I’m repeating myself and I don’t care. Not only did God carve the law in stone, and command the law and the history to be documented in writing; God also commanded billboards to be made at the entrance to the promised land so that all the people could plainly see the words of the law in print as they entered and when they passed back and forth to the lands of the tribes who established their territory before the Jordan river.

tomorrow: Deuteronomy 29-31