Encouraging Words to a People About to Cross Over

[Rick Shabi] Very good to see all of you here today. Welcome to our visitors and our ABC students that, as you heard, completed their first class, the week of classes, good to have you with us, those on the web as well, and anyone who will be listening to this later. Let me thank the ensemble. Very nicely done. Always good to hear the words of the Bible put to music. It reminds us of what David did when he wrote those songs, and just kind of imagine what it sounded like when he put those words together and the music to them as well. You know, as we're here today, you've probably been listening to some of the news that has gone on and all the events that seem to happen week after week after week. There's always something new, a new wrinkle in the world we live in, in the United States and all over the world. And, you know, as we go through these times, we see whatever is ahead of us is going to be a different time than what we have been accustomed to living. As different as the time in the last few years up before COVID and through COVID and this time, some things will change. Something will change. Life will be different in a few months than it was before, no matter what happens in the election that is there.

We live in a time of change all over the world. If it wasn't escaped on too many people that the number of elections that are taking place all over the world this year, 64 nations, it was reported at the beginning of the year, would be holding elections. And then you had England, who decided to have a re-election there, and France had one as well. And as you see these things happen around the world, you see things changing. You know, when England had their recent election, you've probably been following the news where, as a result of that administration change, you see immigration as a problem over there. And as protests have emerged in England, you see a crackdown on the opinions people can have and the threat of putting people in jail if you just happen to have a different opinion than the prime minister over there or the party in power, kind of a harbinger of what is going to come.

When France had its elections, it was from one week to another, a completely different outcome. No one understood why, what games were played, or whatever was the result of all that, but then you saw the massive demonstrations over there. Again, immigration was a problem, and it was something that has been causing some problems in the English-speaking nations around the world, as that matter of what has gone on over the last several years is now beginning to present itself in a way that is troublesome to many people.

The question is, what do you do with it? What does the future hold? How does that happen? Those are all things that, you know, we'll talk about, and we'll learn how it's dealt with in all the countries around the world as we go through this. Brazil and Argentina...not Argentina...Brazil and Venezuela had elections earlier in the year, and they had massive protests when it was done. You probably saw the pictures. It looked like everyone in the country was lined up in that capital city protesting what was going on in the face of election questions and election integrity and all these things that people get upset about as they wonder what's going on in the world and things don't get done their way. In this country, we may be facing that, you know, in a few months here. No matter who wins, no matter what the results are, someone will probably raise those issues. Who knows what will transpire as a result of that? Whatever happens, we live in a world of change. It will be a different world no matter what happens. We can speculate on what one person would do or another party would do, but whatever happens, it will be change. We live in a time of change.

And when times of change come, there are times that we have to be encouraged. We have to be mindful of what is happening and remember who it is we really follow. It isn't this person, that person, this government, that party, or anything else like that. But the trust in a time of change has to always be in God, has to be in God. There is no stability in the world. There are no guarantees in the world. There are always guarantees in God because He knows exactly what's going to happen, and what promises He has made and what will occur definitely will occur.

At the same time, we're looking at what might happen in a few months. We look at the time that we live in, and we know that there is a time coming that will be the end of this age. The age when Christ was here and the Holy Spirit came, and the church age, as some people call it, and we know that will end when Jesus Christ returns. And then we'll have the millennial age. And so there's another age coming. Where we are exactly in that, everyone has their opinion. Many believe we are at least in the beginning of the end times. And when you look at the things that are going on in the world, when you look at the prophecies and everything that are going to occur, we certainly appear to be in that time because of the uncertainty and the direction that things are going in. But only God knows when. And as we're here in the end of August, with just about six weeks until the Feast of Trumpets, we realize that between now and the return of Jesus Christ, there are a lot of things that are going to happen. Before the time of those trumpets that we talk about in the seventh seal, there are six other seals that are going to make themselves manifest. You have the four horsemen, you have the great tribulation, you have the heavenly signs, and then there's the trumpets.

So, there are changing times that come before the trumpets that we're going to be observing here in the next six weeks, times that we need to be aware of and preparing for. And all that culminates, this age culminates, with the return of Jesus Christ. He gave words. As people move from one age to another, that should encourage us. We go back to... If we go to Malachi 4, the very last Book of the Old Testament, it's fitting that in Malachi 4, the last chapter, as the Old Testament was ending and then Jesus Christ would appear. And we have the New Testament that appears right after that, that He gave us words. He gave us words that we should remember as we move from one age or one condition or one time to another. It's the stability that you and I have that the world doesn't have.

Malachi 4:4 It says, "'Remember the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgment.'" 

Remember the law. Remember what I gave you. The way of life I gave you is the way to stability. The way I gave you is the way to peace, joy, happiness. That is what the world never wanted to do, and people of the world, and even Israel, just wouldn't obey. But in the millennium, the next age, that is the way that we'll be taught. That's the way you and I are supposed to be living our lives now, as we prepare and as God prepares us, so that we are teaching that way to people who didn't know about it before but you and I do.

Malachi 4:4-5 "'Remember the law of Moses, my servant, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.'"

And He has made it known to the people that He has called, this is what we do. This is turned back to God. In fact, He says that in verse 6, "'He will turn...'" And some of the early translations, and when you look at the words there, better translated, maybe verse 6.

Malachi 4:6 "'And He will turn back the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.'" 

It means utter destruction. The way of God and God will keep the world from destroying itself. Turn back to His way. And so we learn, turn back to God. Keep our eyes on Him. Keep our eyes on His way. You know, in Matthew, Christ validated those words. The first of His words recorded in Matthew and the great temptation were from the Old Testament. And then later on in Matthew 5, as He began the Sermon on the Mountain, He said, "Don't think that I came to destroy the law and the prophets. Know what's back there. Keep your eye on the law. Understand what the basis of the Word is, the foundation of life, that you and I are called to. Remember those things." In Mark, He said, "Repent." That's turn back. Turn back to God. And every once in a while, we need to be reminded of who we are, what our life is supposed to be, what we're here for. What is the basis of the life that you and I are living today? Because when we work in the world and we go to school in the world and we do commerce in the world and whatever, sometimes we can lose sight of exactly what it is that we are supposed to be doing and how we are supposed to be living our lives, what standards we live by.

And as the world around us embraces lawlessness and doing away with everything that has ever meant anything in the history of man, or at least in the history of the lives we live in, we could get caught up in that too and to kind of loosen our ideas, and we don't want to do that. In fact, when that happens, we should turn back to God and look and see what He has to say. So, you know, about this reading that we're going to be doing in Deuteronomy, let's go back to Deuteronomy 4 for a second. Deuteronomy 4.

Just like the Old Testament times passed to the New Testament, there was a time that ancient Israel was moving from a time when they came out of Egypt. They moved into a time that they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Then there was a time that things would change again. When that 40 years in the wilderness was complete, it was time to move into the promised land, times would change. And as God brought them to that brink of the promised land, when they were going to enter in, He gave them the Book of Deuteronomy. He gave them the Book of Deuteronomy to remember. And Moses was there to talk about this is what you do when you go over there. Remember you've been hearing it for 40 years. You've been living it kind of for 40 years. They didn't live it perfectly, but this is what you do when you go over there. This is what you live. Here's how you conduct yourself.

Deuteronomy 4:13-14 It says, "So, He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform the Ten Commandments. And He wrote them. God wrote them on two tablets of stone. And He commanded me," Moses said, "at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess." 

It was about 10 years ago that I remember reading that verse where God said, "You're about to cross over into this land." You're about to cross over. These are the words of encouragement you need when you cross over there to keep close to God. And ever since that time, when I hear Deuteronomy, I think about the words that you need, the encouraging words God gives us as we are about to cross over, because Deuteronomy wasn't written just for them.

Deuteronomy is for all ages. And Deuteronomy, we're going to see is a 21st-century Book. It is an important Book. It's a foundational Book and a basis for us to live by. It has prophecy in it. It has examples in it. It doesn't just talk about smooth things and great things and wonderful things, always at the end of it is Jesus Christ, always God is with us, God is always there, but He addresses what we do in those tough times as well. Some commentaries will say that Deuteronomy is a Book for people who have to make a choice. And you and I have choices to make every day. In fact, you remember one of the key verses in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 30:19 Where it says, "I set before you this day life and death. You can make the choice which one you want. If you want life, follow me. If you want death, do the things of the world. Do the things the way the world around you and the nations around you say." 

But He cautions and warns us and advises us, choose life. And if you choose life, then you live by the foundational basis that He gives us in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy itself means it's a repetition of the law, as God gave Moses those words as they were about to cross over. We're people that are just about to cross over, just about to cross over into the millennium, still in preparation, also about to cross over into a different world between now and the return of Jesus Christ as we see the things around us multiply.

In verse 30, the same chapter, it shows us the Book of Deuteronomy isn't just about ancient Israel. It's for people in the latter days as well. In verse 30, He says... Well, let's read verse 29 as well in chapter 4. 

Deuteronomy 4:29-30 "From there, you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you seek Him, with all your heart and all your soul." That's a New Testament verse that you find in the Old Testament. "You will seek Him if you find Him, if you seek Him, with all your heart and with all your soul. When you're in distress," whether it's personal distress, a time of national distress, the Church being persecuted, the Church under trial, whatever it is, "when you're in distress and all these things that come upon you in the latter days," that's us living in the latter days, "when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice, He will not forsake you or destroy you nor forget the covenant which He swore to us," and to the people in the Old Testament and the New.

It's a 21st-century book. It's a book for us to pay attention to. And so, you know, as you read Thursday, but let's read it again. In Deuteronomy 31, so important were the words in this book that God wanted His people to be reminded of them often. And so in Deuteronomy 31:10, Moses near the end of this book, and in Deuteronomy 31 and the rest of the book, you realize it's very prophetic. It's talking about the times we live in today that is here, the prophecies in the latter chapters of Deuteronomy. 

Deuteronomy 31:10-13 "Moses commanded them, saying, 'At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of His law. And that their children, who haven't known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.'"

As long as we keep that law, because it will be the law, it will be the way of life when we cross into the land, when Jesus Christ returns into the new age where we will be living, and everyone will live by those laws. And you and I will be responsible under Jesus Christ to teach that. And we'll have the experience, and we'll be able to look people in the eye and say, "It is the best way because we have lived it in this life, and because we know it, and we've seen the benefits of it, and we know that it leads to the joy, the peace, and everything that people want." And so He has this book here. And so we're not going to read this book at the Feast of Tabernacles. But preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles, we have a unique opportunity in the world today, and this is for us here and those listening on the web and who will listen to it later, for all of the Church all over the world, every member, to be reading the words of this book together as we move toward the Feast of Tabernacles.

Everyone all over the world, the family that God has called and placed into various places, some of which we haven't even heard of before, now that we understand who they are, what they're doing, how they have to live different than us but still bound by the Spirit, as we read this Book, it should be a unifying experience. It should be something that brings us all together, and it's something that we need to do. Embrace it. Read the words. Don't just read them to check off a to-do list each day. Meditate on them. Think about those words, what they mean. Think about what they mean to us in the 21st century, the times we live in. Let God and His Spirit lead us to the unity and to get back to what He wants us to know. And remember the things that we have been called to so that as we read this book and we see ourselves in some of the faults and problems and trials and disappointments to God that Israel was, that we weed those things out of our life, that we throw away those things of carnality that can separate us, divide us, cause confusion, which is what the world is all about, right? Just complete confusion shouldn't be in the Curch because we all march to the same drummer. We all march to God. We all march to His Word.

So, I want to spend some time, even as we begin reading, to go through some of the words of Deuteronomy today and just talk about them, so we set the time because these are words for the time that we will be crossing over. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 4 and just read through some of the verses. You'll be reading these later on this week, on Thursday if you keep up with it every day. But let's just look at some of the words and some of the foundational things that God tells us so that it's all on record, and so that as we go through there, we think about this and not read it as a history of just ancient Israel but as the treatise and as the book, an instruction book for us today. And a guidebook for us today as we march through the times that we're in as God has us just about to be ready to cross over into the time when Jesus Christ returns and the world will become a different place.

Deuteronomy 4:1 "Now, O Israel, listen..." 

And let me just stop right there. You know that word, listen, it's a common English word, but it is a word that we need to pay attention to. Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, He kept saying, "Listen. They're dull of hearing. They just won't hear the words." In Ezekiel, if you've been following some of the Bible studies, what did He tell Ezekiel over and over again? "They don't listen. Israel won't listen to me, but go ahead and preach the gospel anyway, Ezekiel, but they don't listen." And so God tells us, "Listen, pay attention." Let us hear His Spirit speaking and get out of the way of Him, and ask Him to just open your mind to hear what He has to say.

Deuteronomy 4:1 "O Israel, listen to the statues and the judgments which I teach you to observe that you may live." 

That's what God wants. He'd never gave us His way of life to be a burden or to separate us. He did it so that we could become unified, and that we could have joy in our lives. But that includes, at the very basis, turning to Him and getting away of the stuff that's in us that causes the division, confusion, and upset. 

"...which I teach you today or teach you to observe that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you." 

He wants everyone here to be in that kingdom. He wants everyone here to be there when Jesus Christ returns. He wants everyone listening. He wants everyone all over the world who He calls to be there, but sadly, so many don't. "Many are called, few are chosen," He said. Be one of the chosen. Listen and do it. And observe what He said. And make yourself, with the power that God gives us of His Holy Spirit, to deny self and do what He says and to follow Him.

Deuteronomy 4:2 "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you." 

Just do what I say. Just follow it. Don't try to have an alternate interpretation. Don't say this isn't important today. That's not important today. Or I'll just add to that, and God will be more observed. No, just do what He says. He gives the words that He wants us to have.

Deuteronomy 4:3 "Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor, for He destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor." 

God will purify His Church. He will purify. He will purge. He will have the people there in His kingdom that really do embrace His way, really live His way. He will unify us, and He will reveal, as Christ said, "There's nothing hidden that won't be revealed." And He will reveal what needs to be done. And He wants people to repent. Nothing wrong when we make a mistake. It's wrong if we fail to acknowledge and repent and move forward in the way that God would have us be.

Deuteronomy 4:3-6 He said, "I destroyed those men of Baal Peor who wouldn't listen," then verse 4, "But you who hold fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. I've taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord, my God, commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess." Verse 6, "Therefore, be careful..." 

You know, it wasn't, I don't know, maybe six months ago, remember I talked about adverbs in the Book of Deuteronomy? The Book of Deuteronomy is full of adverbs. And when God uses adverbs to accentuate what we should be doing, we should pay attention. And so He could have just said, "Therefore, observe them." Be careful to observe them. Think about what you're doing. Think about your attitudes. Think about your actions. Think about the things that are done. Be careful to follow God. It's a full-time job. And when we have to keep in mind because we can all go off course a little bit if we're not watching what we're doing.

Deuteronomy 4:6 "Be careful to observe them. This is your wisdom." 

You want wisdom? Keep the commands of God. Follow His way of life. His commands shouldn't just be, we all know them, we can all name them from 1 to 10. But it is the way of life that God has called us to. The things that He wants in our heart, we'll see here in a moment, that become us, that we don't have to think, "Oh, it's Saturday morning, I need to go to church." No. The Sabbath comes. We look forward to it. It's a day of delight. It's the time to wrap up the week, be prepared for the Sabbath, call it delight, and not have to remind ourselves. It just becomes us, it defines us.

"Be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

You know, in the millennium, when Christ returns, you've read on what it says in Zechariah about when they understand God, when the world is brought to its knees and Christ returns, they'll go up to the mountain of the Lord every year at the Feast of Tabernacle. They're going to want to learn God's way. They're going to say...it says in Zechariah 8, they're going to take the sleeve of the Jewish man and say, "You always knew these things? You always were able to live this way of life? You knew these things, and we didn't know them all the time? How wonderful is God that you knew these things? We didn't." You and I know those things. God's opened our mind to what this way of life is, and we should be experiencing the joy that comes from them and be examples of the people around us as they see that way of life. And they may not want to live it, but they will know there's something different. Even in times of trouble, they seem settled, they seem secure, they don't seem panicked, they're not running around doing this and whatever, they just seem to know where life is going.

Deuteronomy 4:7 "What great nation is there that has God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us? For whatever reason we may call on Him." 

You can always call on Him. You can call Him to ask why. Teach me this. I don't understand this. I don't understand what I'm doing that's causing this effect. Teach me what I need to do. He wants to hear that we want to know His way. He wants to hear that. That's seeking Him. That's seeking Him with our heart, that we want to change, and that we don't want the stress, the distress, the confusion, the chaos, the upset that comes from doing things our way and yielding to whatever our attitudes or hangups might be. What nation? What people like you and I, who have the opportunity to go to a great God for whatever reason, for whatever reason that we can call on Him and know that He's always there day or night, and for whatever reason? No dumb questions with God. He doesn't look down on us and say, "What silly people." He welcomes our questions. He wants to give understanding. He wants to teach, and He will if we seek it.

Deuteronomy 4:8 "What nation," verse 8, "is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself." 

Let me mention the age of lawlessness that we live in. It's already appearing. Apparently, there will be even more lawlessness as we go forward. And we'll see the freedoms that we have disappear. We'll experience things that we have heard about but never really maybe foresaw coming in our lifetimes. And in that age of lawlessness, Christ says, "The love of many will wax cold." The love of many will wax cold. They'll just kind of give up. You know, that's agape that He's talking about there. The agape that has us choose to do what God's will is because we love Him. When Christ said, "If you love me, if you agape me, keep my commandments," He meant you got to choose to do them. It's not just an emotional connection to Him. We can say we love Jesus Christ, and we do in that way as well, but we come to know that. But we must have the agape to do His will, to show Him that we appreciate Him.

And so He says, "Diligently keep yourself," because, in an age of lawlessness, the tendency would be to relax ourselves tremendously and think, "Well this and well that. And I can do whatever." In Zephaniah, it's either Zephaniah 1 or Zephaniah 2, it talks about the age of complacency. The age of complacency. Men of complacency. It talks about at the end time. You know, living in a land of lawlessness where everything and every norm is being thrown away can have its effect on us too. And we can become men of complacency in God's eyes. And women of complacency who just take it for granted and think, "That's enough. If we're doing this, it's okay. The fact that I know the law, the fact that I come to Sabbath every week is enough." It's not. And God uses the word diligently. Take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself. Diligently remember. Be on guard for those attitudes that will seep in. We are not immune to the attitudes that Satan is placing in the world. We're not immune to all those things if we're not watching it. God's Spirit will be the thing that keeps us strong and aware that the attitudes we have and what we're looking toward is what He has. And He reminds us there.

You know, these are words that, you know, that God gives us that are encouraging. I'm there with you. I've given you the tools. I'm warning you what's going to happen. Just pay attention. Pay attention to it. And then He goes on in verse 9, something that people with children we really need to really pay attention to. 

Deuteronomy 4:9 Says, "Diligently, keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen," lest you forget the calling of God. 

And just kind of think, "Well, everyone's okay." And as long as people aren't, you know, on this side of the fence, or I'm going to say Christians of the world are akin to us. No, there's a difference between the Church of God and the Christianity of this world. There's a vast difference. Maybe the same word, but the Christians of the world may believe in Jesus Christ, but they don't follow Him. And as you watch the world, they depart from Him more and more. Whatever the world, however the world goes, they seem to go that way. Not us, not the people of God. We follow the things that God said.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 "Diligently keep yourself," verse 9, "lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God." 

You know, we keep the days of unleavened bread. God says that teach your children. Tell them how you came to the church. Tell them why you believe what you did. Tell them how you came to understand, so that they understand you, and that they have that understanding, and they realize it's the family. That's how the family works. This is who we are. We are not of the world. We are citizens of the kingdom of God. We are His family. We do things His way. He is the Father, we are the children. He sets the standards, and we follow Him because we are not of the world, but we are, as it says in the New Testament, citizens of the kingdom of God.

So, as you go through chapter 4 later on, you know, you'll look at those words and maybe recall them, and, you know, you can have some discussions or do some meditation on what God is saying. Because if we just read through Deuteronomy and read the words and take the 10 or 15 minutes, whatever it takes to read through the chapter and then read the commentary and think we've done the job and we've gotten, then it'll remind us, but there has to be some thought process too. It has to sink into our heart through the meditation we do and the choices we make. Take the time, embrace the opportunity that God has given us. With all of us all over the world recognizing that all of us are doing the same thing, all of us are reading the same words. It is God. It is God speaking to us, unifying us, focusing us, getting us ready for the time that we cross over to the time of the return of Jesus Christ.

As you move through chapter 4, of course, we have the commandments listed. We won't go through that. But let's look at verse 29 in chapter 5. You know, as God gave Israel the commandments, He didn't give them the Holy Spirit. And we know that they weren't able to keep the commandments of God, even though all He required of them was just physical adherence, and they weren't even able to do that. They fell prey to the people around them and everything and the way the world did things. But in verse 29, God chose what He really was looking for. He wasn't going to get it out of Israel, but He should get it out of us. 

Deuteronomy 5:29 "Oh, that they had such a heart." Oh, if they had a heart to fear me. Many times, in the Book of Deuteronomy, you read about the fear of God. It is the foundation of knowledge. It is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of God. Even when we keep the Feast of Tabernacles, we go there and do it the way He said to do it, and we learn to fear Him.

And if we're relaxing things a little bit, if we think it's okay to get there by noon on the first day of the feast and miss the first service, are we really fearing God or are we just kind of, like, setting our own standards for it? Feast of Tabernacles. God's holy days speak, or they start exactly at the time He said. And we should be ready for them at those times. "Oh, that they had such a heart in them." They didn't. But God gives us His Holy Spirit, that we have that heart, that it should be in our heart. It's not just a matter of memorizing. It's not just a memory of repeating it back. It's a matter of applying it into our lives diligently. 

"Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments." If they would just do it, "that it might be well with them and with their children forever." 

Well, it will be in the millennium. That'll be what you and I teach. But for us today, it should be in our heart. It should be in what we are doing. We must become who we are. Deuteronomy 6. As mentioned in the announcements, let's spend a little bit of time in Deuteronomy 6 because it's foundational in our way of life as well. I just want to address some of these things here. 

Deuteronomy 6:1-4 "This is the commandment. And these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess." You're going over there. This is what will lead you. This is what will guide you. This is what will sustain you. This is what will keep you focused. "That you may fear the Lord your God to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged." And then He says, "Be careful. Be careful to observe it." Pay attention to it. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one." 

Better translated, God alone is God. He alone is God. We have one God, not many gods, one God. Just like the first commandment says, "No other gods besides me." One God.

And that's a lifelong process, getting word of all these little gods so that we trust, and we obey, and we follow one God. He alone. He alone is God. He alone knows the way. He alone gives us what we need in order to follow Him. Verse 5, "You shall..." Here's a New Testament verse. Jesus Christ said it. It's here in Deuteronomy. 

Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." 

What did God want? He wanted that for ancient Israel, they couldn't do it. That's the lesson. But we can. He's given us His Holy Spirit. We'd better be making sure they're part of our heart, part of who we are, that they define us. Because God's given us all the tools, and He wants us to be there, and we can do it if we focus, and we remember who we are.

Deuteronomy 6:7 "Teach them," He says, "diligently to your children. Talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." 

Make God part of every day of your life. I'll say it in this way, but I don't read it. There's probably never been a time in history when it is more important for God to be a part of our everyday lives, especially if we have children. But for everyone, it was always important. But in a day and age where everything is changing, where children, no matter whether they're homeschooled or in public schools, have access to all these goofy, crazy, satanic ideas that are out there about who they can be, what rights they have, and all these other things that open their minds to things that children should never have the access to. Parents need to be teaching and making sure God is part of it, and they understand it's His way. The world leads to death. The world leads to misery. The world leads to suffering. Your life will never be good if you follow the world. It is impossible. The only way is God's way, to follow that. And we need to be teaching our children that diligently. Every day He needs to be part of it.

And as we go through this Deuteronomy thing, I hope that parents will just make a daily Bible study talking about God and talking about the things exactly as part of their lives, not just for the 34 chapters of Deuteronomy, but forever. Because there's endless things to talk about. There's endless things to compare God's Word to, to what the world around is teaching us and trying to lead us into. So, keep those words in mind. I'm looking at my time here, and I'm going to move on to Deuteronomy 6:16. 

Deuteronomy 6:16 Here He says, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah". But He says, "Diligently follow Him." 

And, you know, this is one of the verses that Jesus Christ used when Satan tempted Him. And Satan said, "You know what, just cast yourself down off that cliff, and God will rescue you. If you really believe in Him, just throw yourself off the cliff, and He'll rescue you." And Jesus Christ referred to this verse and said, "No. You don't tempt the Lord your God." You don't tempt Him. Israel tempted Him. And, you know, as they sat there at Massah, if you recall the story, it was about water. The waters were bitter, the waters were terrible, and they complained, "Why are we out here? What are we going to do?" You know, they should have learned their lesson. You trust God. Whatever situation, whatever trial, whatever roadblock is in our way, He can heal it, and He can remove it in ways that we can't even imagine. And so they learned God can purify the poison waters. He can bring water from a rock. He can part the Red Sea. He can do everything. We don't need to panic. We need to learn to trust Him.

There's a verse in Luke 21 that says…

Luke 21:19 "In your patience, possess your souls. In your patience, possess your souls." 

You know, we learned to wait for God. Wait for Him. Trust in Him. And He builds that trust. He doesn't always, say, in fact, He rarely will do things immediately, but we learn by waiting for Him. He's made promises to us. He says if we live His way of life, this and this, and this will happen. I will be with you. I will see you through the rising waters. I will see you through the storms. Later on in verse 15, I will take away your sicknesses and illnesses if you are living my way, if you are applying those things to your lives. Wait for Him, trust in Him, and don't run out like Israel did. And always look for what the other nations did. Don't run out and say, "Well, God's not listening. I need to do this, and I need to do that." We can fall prey to that as well in all sorts of situations.

You know, we talk about these little gods that we have, and as we look at the world ahead of us and we realize that, you know, these little gods, whatever they might be, might be our bank account, might be idols that we put in our hearts and minds, little things that are about us that we have to overcome. And we look and see, just like God did in Egypt, those little gods are going to be taken away. All those bank accounts, all those investments, all the machinery and weaponry of the United States and all the military might and all the whatever it is, reserve currency, it's all going to disappear, and we will be left with God, which is exactly where we should be, that you and I should be. We trust in Him, and we learn that as we go on. So, when those things happen, we're not panicked people, but we are people who have come to trust Him over time and follow His way.

In Deuteronomy 7, as God is preparing Israel to cross over to the promised land, it wasn't going to just be a march in, and the people in Canaan were going to just bow down and say, "Welcome." They were going to face a lot of trials. There were a lot of things they had to do. There was a city, Jericho, on the other side, that was supposedly impenetrable, walls that were high. Nothing was going to be able to come easy. And God prepares them for these things.

Deuteronomy 7:1 He says, "When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and He's cast out many nations before you. Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations, greater and mightier than you." 

"Oh, they are greater and mightier than you," God said, "you're not the strongest people on earth. You're not the smartest people on earth. I didn't need you. You need me." We could be reminded of…

1 Corinthians 1:26 Where God says, "Not many noble, not many wise, not many high and mighty are called, but God chooses the weak and base things of earth," you and me. 

So, all the things that we do and ever can do, we recognize it's God. We give Him the glory. Because without Him, we are nothing. And without God, Israel was nothing. They weren't going to conquer all these nations on their own. They didn't have the might. They didn't have the will. They didn't have anything. Without God, they were hopeless. And so are we against the big trials of life. So are we against some of the things, those enemies that are against us, even the things that are built up in our minds, or the sins that we don't want to acknowledge? I will take the time to turn to 2 Corinthians 10:4. It reminds us, Paul reminds us, God reminds us.

2 Corinthians 10:4 "The weapons of our warfare aren't carnal," they're not physical, "but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." 

Those things in our mind that we just can't let go of, those sins, those attitudes, those whatever it is that gets implanted that we just can't let go of or overcome, they can conquer us. They can conquer us if we don't conquer them. We can thank God that they can be conquered with His Holy Spirit. We can't overcome those things. We can change our lives around. We can turn back to Him and become who He wants us to become. "The weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God." You know, there's things that if we examine ourselves, there's probably things in all of our lives where we are exalting ourselves against the knowledge of God. I don't think I need to do that. I'm right in my own eyes. I don't have to do that. We don't maybe sometimes think of what God is doing and understand and remember Jesus Christ is leading us. He's leading us out of love, and He wants us to be in the kingdom. But we have to learn to follow and get ourselves out of the way. "...bringing every thought, every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

A big calling, a big job. Not going to happen by our might, not going to happen by our will. But we have a choice to make. We can yield to God and ask Him, "Help us overcome this. Help us to become one, as Jesus Christ wanted us to become one. Help me to let go of this attitude." Or as David said in Psalm 139, "Search my heart if there's anything wrong in me." And we can ask God, "Show me my faults. I want to overcome them." If we have a heart to become who He is, we're not afraid to hear those things, but we make the choice to overcome them and cast out those Girgashites and Amorites and all those that would exalt themselves above God, because only through God and yielding to Him will any of those things ever be overcome, only through Him.

You know, while I'm thinking of the seven nations there, let's turn back for a second to Proverbs, Proverbs 6. And the things that we can look in ourselves for, maybe the things that can hold us back from the unity that God wants for all of us and that He will bring to us. I mean, it will happen. It's just a matter of will we be part of that unity that God wants. 

Proverbs 6:16-19 Talks about the seven things He hates, that we should be mindful of, "These six things the Lord hates. Seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look." 

Pride always, always gets in the way of unity, always gets in the way of progress, always gets in the way of moving forward. And we're all prone to it if we're not watching what's going on. "A proud look. A lying tongue." Boy, if the world is nothing, it is a world of lies today, isn't it? I mean, you can turn on and you can hear people saying exactly the opposite things and realize that there are lies all around us. And if we're not careful, that can become part of us. We can say things that are just not exactly the way they were. We can kind of twist the truth a little bit to serve our purposes, just like we see in the news around us and the things that are going on in the world.

"Hands that shed innocent blood." 

That includes, certainly, you know, killing people, but character assassination, too. The things that we might do to try to discredit someone, ruin their reputation, do whatever it takes to turn people against them. Jesus Christ talked about that in Matthew 5 when He talked about the spirit of the law. Not enough to just not kill your brother, don't have that anger toward Him. Don't have that attitude toward them, because that attitude won't be part of the kingdom. All that gets washed out in the time of the preparation we're in right now. 

"A heart that devises wicked plans. Feet that are swift in running to evil. A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren." 

Well, just words for us to remember. Because as those things, those things can cause the problem and withhold and limit the work of God going forward. We just need to make sure, all of us, including myself, that we're not part of any of that. That would be keeping God from what He has called us to do. Deuteronomy 8. Let's go back there. 

Deuteronomy 8:1-2 God says, "Every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers." To enter into His kingdom, we must do these things. They're not suggestions. They're not, "We hope you can do it." It is, "You can do it. You will do it." God gives us everything we need to do. We just need to make the choice to do it. "You will remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years," just like He's led you and me in all these things. 

We've lived in some pretty easy and good times in this life in America. Unlike most of the people around the world who haven't had it as easy as us in the times that we've lived in. We have had just about every luxury and every convenience and everything that you can imagine on earth, more than any of the kings of the past ever could have dreamed of. And you and I have had the benefit of doing those things and living through that. It's all because of God's blessing. All because of God's blessing. Not anything wonderful that we did. It's all because of Him.

As He says, He provided everything for Israel during that time, and He tested them. You know, we've had some tests in our lives personally. We've had sicknesses. We've had illnesses. We may have had some financial problems. We may have had some relationship problems. We may have had the things that God tests us for to see what are we going to do with it? How are we going to overcome it? Will we turn to Him, will we cast it aside, or will we just continue in the way that we were before and sweep it under a carpet? No. He wants the change. He wants the change of heart. I tested you these things, then when we go through those things, to remember, "I did that,"

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 God says, "to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So, He humbled you, allowed you to hunger things that may lie ahead of us." 

Whatever God's will is, we would never, should never think God's departed from us. He may withhold His blessings or withdraw His blessings from America, England, and the English-speaking nations of the world, but He never leaves us. And He can provide whatever it is that we need. Whatever it is that we need, we have to have the faith in Him, just like Israel was supposed to learn. Not to panic, not to go to the world and ask, what would you do? Can I make an alliance with you? Can I take the mark of the beast? Can I do any of these things? No. You trust God and know in the end that His way will prevail, and He will provide what we need.

Deuteronomy 8:3 "He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, fed you with manna, which your fathers didn't know that He might make you know man doesn't live by bread alone."

It's not the physical. It's the spiritual that God wants us to embrace. And in verse 4, I think I'll probably end right about here.

Deuteronomy 8:4 "Your garments," He said, "didn't wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these 40 years." 

You know, He's talking about inflation there. For 40 years, may never have ever dawned on Israel, "Well, my clothes didn't wear out. I'm wearing the same shoes that I came out of Israel for." Of course, many of them died in the wilderness, didn't wear out. God was able to provide everything they needed, even to make things last. I think probably all of us have experienced it in our lives and think, "Boy, I just never have a problem with this or that. My car lasts longer. I never have any problems with it. I don't have to deal with it all the time. The appliances in my house last longer. I don't have all these issues that the people around me seem to have." Because God provides those blessings. It's not just in a paycheck. It's what He does and what He provides for us that we have to remember what it is.

You know, in Haggai 1:6, you know, one of the issues in the world today is inflation. You hear that on the news here in America. It's an issue in Europe and around the world as well. But in Haggai 1:6, and we'll begin in verse 5. He speaks of that again. 

Haggai 1:6 It says, "Therefore, thus says the Lord your God..." I'm in Haggai. I think it's the fourth Book from the Old Testament for the back of it. "Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Consider your ways.'" Think about what you're doing. How are you living your life? Are you living your life in accord with what God wants you to do or not? Consider your ways. Think about it. Compare what you're doing to what is there in the foundational basis of life that God gives us in the Book of Deuteronomy and throughout the Bible. "'Consider your ways. You've sown much, but you bring in little.'" 

Are you investing a little and nothing just has the return that you want? That's not the blessing of God. Many times, in our life we say, "Whoa." You wake up and you think, "Whoa, I have much more than I ever dreamt I would." That's the blessing of God. Not anything we did. But if it's very little, it's not anything that's going on. 

Haggai 1:6 "Consider your ways," God said. "Are you living my way of life?" "'You eat but don't have enough. You drink, but you're not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And He who earns wages, earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.'" 

It's like the money doesn't go anywhere. It just drops out the bag, and there's never enough to go around. While we're living God's way of life, He will provide everything we need. Matthew 6 should never be discounted. He knows what we need. We don't have to worry about the clothes we put on. We don't have to worry about what to eat. We can trust in Him if we're living the way of life that He says. That's always the key. Do the things that He said, live your life in accordance with Him, and He will provide everything that we need.

So let me end there. But I do want to draw your attention to chapter 10, one more too, just because of the New Testament concepts. And as you read through Deuteronomy, look at the New Testament concepts that He built in here that probably went right over Israel's head when Moses was saying it, because they just didn't get it. They shouldn't go over our heads, we should pay attention to them. 

Deuteronomy 10:16 He says, "Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart. Circumcise the foreskin of your heart." That's what He said in Romans 2. That's what Paul said to the New Testament church. That's what we do when we're baptized. The Old Testament was circumcision of the skin, the physical. But even then, God said, "What I want is that you wouldn't be stiff-necked any longer. You would yield to me." 

Deuteronomy, as you read through it, it's the basis. There's a reason that God asked us to read it, to know it. And let's be diligent to look at it, meditate on it, and with all our hearts together all over the world, pray about it and ask God to apply it into our individual and collective lives.