Day 3 - Week 14 - Deuteronomy 6:7 - "Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

This verse is especially on my mind this week as we are spending a lot of time traveling with our 14 year old grandson.  Fourteen year old boys are very hard to understand...and it's not that they have speech impediments!  For the most part, they live in their own worlds and are not all the impressed with their grandparents' vast array of knowledge regarding...well, regarding just about anything.  Our grandson is currently most impressed with anything to do with iPhones and other hi-tech toys and specific types of sunglasses.  Pointing out anything to do with history or culture, even when you're in an area where it is all around you, almost seems pointless.

So then you come to this verse, where we are told to repeat God's words to our children.  I think I might have the best chance of making an impression if I texted them!  That might work!

And maybe that's an idea.  You know in the time this verse was written, families sat in their homes, walked along the road, laid down together on their mats at night and rose together --- for the most part in small homes, living closely together.  So how do we share God's words with our children and grandchildren in 2011?

Any way we can!  Whenever we can!  If that's via e-mail notes, texts, Facebook postings, or actual old-fashioned face-to-face conversation, our words should reflect our faith.  Words of godly encouragement, instruction, faith-building...said with Spirit-guided timing.  So important to say good words...but also so important to say those words at good times. 

And when you're dealing with 14 year-old boys, a good time to remember how patient God is with us waiting for us to mature to our next steps...and remembering that 14 year-old boys will soon be young men who once again think their grandparents may be just about the smartest people they know!

Day 1 - Week 14 - Tuesdays are for......

.....remembering...reinforcing...reviewing!  Don't give up...we're doing something that pleases God in embedding His words in our hearts.  Let's go back over our list another time and then get started on another week!

Four Corners of the Bible
Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us; we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans Road:
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Romans 5:8 - But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9 - If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 12:1 - Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual worship

The Gift of Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.
Joshua 1:8 - This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth, you are to recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Psalms 119:11 - I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 - Listen Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.  These words I give to you today are to be in your heart.

I don't know about you, but I love having these thirteen verses living within my heart.  Sometimes when I'm at a stoplight, or pausing through the day, I mentally go through our list in its three sections.  It's also a wonderful way to fall to sleep at night.  Starting at the beginning with our four foundational verses, going on to the road to salvation, and then....if I haven't yet fallen asleep...dwelling on the blessing of Scripture.  If you do fall asleep, what better way to enter into a night of rest, with God's words on your lips and guiding you into  subconsciousness. 

Week #14 brings an add on to last week's verse...we'll add Deuteronomy 6:7 which takes the importance of knowing God's word for ourselves to another level of responsibility, that of imparting it to others...especially those who have been put in our direct realm of influence. --- whether those be biological children, grandchildren, or other young people that we have been blessed to share life with in some other capacity...

Deuteronomy 6:7 - "Repeat them to your children.  Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Sleep well - hear His words in your heart....

Day 7 - Week 13 - Deuteronomy 6:6 - "These words that I give to you today are to be in your heart."

Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  These words that I give to you today are to be in your heart.

Has this verse become your new favorite?  There is a lot in it, isn't there?  And the imperative style that it is written in makes it feel so solid, so foundational...and it is.

It is one of those verse that we need to fall back on time and time again. 

The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  --- God is One.  We worship one God, bound in trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit --- three in One.  We worship the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  He is God, and He alone.  His story is woven throughout the Bible from start to finish, and we claim no other god as our God.

Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength -  God wants relationship with us, in every aspect of our being --- our emotional love, our spiritual commitment and our physical actions.  We love Him for what He has done for us.  We surrender our lives, both temporal and eternal to Him.  We present our bodies as a living sacrifice to do His will on this earth.

His words are to be in our hearts -  back again to our goal with this exercise...hiding His words in our hearts.  They are to be our standard for every choice we make in life.  Weighing His words against our intuitions shows us when we are heading in the right direction, and keeps us from plummeting into traps of deception.

God's Word is amazing....so much in every verse.  Volumes in a sentence or two.  He is very efficient with His use of words, isn't He?

Pack this treasure away --- we'll add to it in the coming week!

Added note tonight:  Please, please pray for all the people whose earthly lives have been devastated by the tornadoes, especially in Joplin where they have such widespread destruction and so many lives have been lost.  Prayers for Godly people to be there to help those who are trying to put the pieces of their lives back together, that they can see God's love through the people that are coming along beside them.  So much to be done and it has to seem so discouraging.  Prayers for supernatural faith of believers so that they may be tremendous witnesses to those who don't have the hope of Christ living in their hearts.  Prayers for strength and health for all, and for better weather, so that the initial work can be accomplished as quickly as possible, and that the rescue efforts are not hindered in any way.

Day 6 - Week 13 - Deuteronomy 6:6 - "These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart."

"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart."

Think about all the words we are presented with in a day's time...television blasts words at us, newspapers are full of words, the Internet has more words available to us than we could read in a lifetime!  Add to that radio, movies, magazines, books, e-mails, junk mail, letters...wait, does anyone still write letters?  Point is, we have so many words that come into our heads and which ones do we give top priority?

Which words do your children see you pouring over on a daily basis?  Which words have the most influence in your decision making?  What would happen in our lives if it were God's words that were predominant in our heads at all times.  If we allowed them to drowned out the words that were in opposition to His ways for our lives, to block out the words that may make us think less of ourselves than God designed us to be, to override the words that elevate worldliness over godliness.

We are told to keep God's words in our heart.  Let's not put His words at the bottom of our list of reading and squeeze them into our hearts, let's fill our hearts with His words.  Let's take every opportunity to open our hearts to His word, though reading the Bible, listening to good preaching, taking advantage of the Internet for its great ability to provide us with wonderful study tools, listening to great hymns and praise music.  Let our hearts overflow with His words....there should be nothing sweeter to our ears.

Day 3 - Week 13 - Deuteronomy 6:6 - "These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart."

"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart."

Loving God...how does that look?  Or maybe more importantly, how does that not look?

I know it does not look like selfishness.

Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.

  Matthew 16:24

I know it does not look like greediness.

Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.  Luke 12:15

I know it does not look like pridefulness.

Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls.  Matthew 11:29

I know it does not look like hate.

Get rid of all hard feelings, anger and rage. Stop all fighting and lying. Put away every form of hatred.  Ephesians 4:31

I know it does not look like the world.

It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  Titus 2:12-14

Jesus told His disciples fairly clearly what loving God looks like....

This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command. ..... This is my command: Love each other.  John 15:8-14, 17

...and John reminded those reading his letter nearly 70 years later....

If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.  1 John 4:20-21

So if we are to love God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our strength, how do we show it?  By turning our hearts, our minds and our strength into actions of His love directed to His children throughout the world.  We cannot turn our backs on the needs of people...we need to be brokenhearted over suffering, injustice and abuse.  Pray for God to direct you into your personal area of  showing His love to someone in need of His love...and then you will be showing your love for Him.

 

Day 2 - Week 13 - Deuteronomy 6:6 - "These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart."

"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart."

While only the last sentence is our "official" verse this week, I would really encourage you to memorize the preceding two sentences with it.  It is such a powerful lead in and emphasizes so strongly just Who it is that is giving us "these words."  You can still call it your D6 verse, you'll just have a little extra!

When our mind is set on God, when we have established Him as the Lord of our life, and when we love Him above everything else and with all that is within us, then how can we not want to fully embrace His message to us?  And embracing that message means carrying it with us in our hearts.

Everything God tells us is for our benefit (let's see, that would be 2 Timothy 3:16...wow!...see how well that works!), but the words that He gives us in D6 are especially powerful in how we are to live our lives in light of the fact that He has given us directives for life...in how we are to live, how we are not to live, and how knowing Him should make a distinct difference in the way we live. 

If we are going to have an influence in the world in which we live, if we are going to leave a legacy to our children and grandchildren that will make a difference in their worlds, then we had better be getting serious about knowing God's Word and dwelling on it, allowing it to guide us rather than trying to make it fit into our lives. 

Robert J. Morgan cites this alarming statistic, "Only 35% of American congregations now describe themselves as spiritually vital and alive."

Did you get that?  American congregations.  The vast majority of our churches admit that they are spiritually lethargic and dead.  Why is that?  Where has the passion gone?  Do you think the passion may have left about the same time that God's Word did?  For in many churches, God's Word is barely acknowledged, not affirmed as inspired or inerrant, and utilized in much the same way as a classic piece of literature. 

Sounds dangerously lukewarm to me.  And that is not the temperature God desires for His church.

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  Revelation 3:14-16

Churches need to return to the complete message of God's Word, accept it as God's absolute truth, and get on fire for its proclamation.  And we, as individual members of God's church on earth, need to do the very same thing.  Then we will see a vitality and life in our churches, and in our lives, that will make the world take note!

Dear Father, please put a passion in me for Your Word and to keep it in my heart.  Let it guide my life and let me, because of Your Spirit, be a light in this world of darkness.  Forgive me for not always keeping Your Word active and alive in me.  Thank You for the gift of Your Word, and thank You for Jesus, our Savior. 

Day 1 - Week 13 -

Tuesday!  Review day!  Ready...Set... Go!

Four Corners of the Bible:
Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us; we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth."
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

Romans Road:
Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 5:8, "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 12:1, "Therefore, dear brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual worship."

The Gift of Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correction, for training in righteousness."
Joshua 1:8, "This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth, you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.  For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do."
Psalm 119:11, "I have treasured Your words in my heart that I may not sin against You."

We are really making progress, aren't we?  It really does amaze me that I'm remembering (almost perfectly!) 12 verses with their sources, and that I'm ready to add another one!  Don't you think God is pleased with this aspect of our lives?  I do!  That in itself is motivation to keep me going, but I'm also seeing the benefit that I'm receiving from hearing these words repeated in my head throughout the day...they are both comforting and convicting.  They bring with them the realization that God is always speaking to us, every step of every day.

So now for the start of Week 13, another addition to the verses reminding us of the wonderful gift of Scripture.  So far in this section we have learned that God's word is useful to us as we teach, as we rebuke other theology, as we correct both others and ourselves, and as we train our lives to patterns of righteous living.  As we keep God's words in our minds, they will direct us to lives of success in our endeavors within His will.  We have been reminded again that by keeping God's word in our hearts, we will turn our hearts away from the temptations of sinful living.

Now we read Deuteronomy 6:6 --- dubbed D6 by some of Robert J. Morgan's friends.  He says his friends "want churches to become D6 churches and parents D6 parents when it comes to sharing God's Word with their children.  If you get this letter-number coded in your mind, D6, you'll never have any trouble locating this vital passage in the Bible.

D6 - ready? It's not hard and it reinforces our previous verses.  While we will only memorize the one verse highlighted below, I'm going to include the surrounding verses so you can get the full intensity of this verse.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
"Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. "