March 9th Devotion

Deuteronomy 18:9-13 (NIV)
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

Believers are different and should not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. We may look the same on the outside, but trusting in God alone, tells the true story. We have no need to follow the spiritual practices of unbelievers. Not only that, God detests those practices because deny Him.

So, don’t worry about Nastrodmus, the Mayan Calendar, Horoscopes or even superstitions like breaking a mirror. Trust in the only One who can save your soul. He certainly is able to take care of the rest.

Love, Pastor Don

March 8th Devotion

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (NIV)
1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. 4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. 7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

I like God’s plan for us better, not Wall Street or the government’s
Love, Pastor Don

March 7th Devotion

Deuteronomy 14:22-26 (NIV)
22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.

Acts 10:9-15 (NIV)
9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

As believers, it is very important to rightly divide the Word. Today’s reading is a good illustration. Many Christians eat, pork, rabbit, shrimp, catfish as well as other animals that God called unclean. Acts 10:9-15 is the passage they quote to validate their choice. I am one of them and eat these animals. The point is that God once called these things unclean and later declared them clean. Although I am certain there are some, I cannot remember any time that a Christian said that they did not eat something because it is unclean.

Numbers 14:26 instructs the Israelites to drink fermented drink as part of the tithe, and rejoice in the presence of the Lord. I have heard many believers declare that God requires total abstinence, as if alcohol was unclean. I promise you that I am not encouraging drunkenness, but don’t know of one time that God declared “fermented drink” as unclean.

Love, Pastor Don

March 6th Devotion

Deuteronomy 10:17 (NIV)
17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

God made this statement right after He instructed the Israelites to circumcise their hearts and stop being a stiff-necked people. Israel obeyed the covenant of circumcision, but they often resisted God and resented His leadership. He let them know that their hearts were not right and they needed to change. It is as if they looked at the covenant as being binding to God, but not to them. The Jews of Jesus’ time had the same thinking when John the Baptist warned them:

Luke 3:8 (NIV)
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

Is your relationship with God, one sided? Do you hang it over His head that your are saved? Do you make promises that you do not keep? Our God is an awesome God, who cannot be bribed and does not show partiality.

Love, Pastor Don

March 5th Devotion

Deuteronomy 8:10-18 (NIV)
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

A couple of songs today:

Satisfied Mind
(By Rhodes & Hayes)(Starrite Music)

How many times have you heard someone say
"If I had his money, I could do things my way?"
Little they know that it's so hard to find
One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind.

Once I was winning in fortune and fame
Everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life's game
Suddenly it happened, I lost every dime
But I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind

Money can't buy back your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely, or a love that's grown cold
The wealthiest person is a pauper at times
Compared to the man with a satisfied mind

When my life is ended, my time has run out
My trials and my loved ones, I'll leave them no doubt
But one thing's for certain, when it comes my time
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind

Saved
I was blinded by the devil
Born already ruined
Stone-cold dead
As I stepped out of the womb
By His grace I have been touched
By His word I have been healed
By His hand I have been delivered
By His spirit I Have been sealed.

I've been saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved, By the blood of the lamb
Saved, Saved
And I'm so glad, Yes, I'm so glad
I'm so glad, So glad
I want to thank you, Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord.

By his truth I can be upright
By his strength I do endure
By His power I've been lifted
In His love I am secure
He bought me with a price
Freed me from the pit
Full of emptiness and wrath
And the fire that burns in it.

I've been saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved, By the blood of the lamb
Saved, Saved
And I'm so glad, Yes, I'm so glad
I'm so glad, So glad
I want to thank you, Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You, Lord.
Nobody to rescue me
Nobody would dare
I was going down for the last time
But by His Mercy I've been spared
Not by works
But by faith in Him who called
For so long I've been hindered
For so long I've been stalled.

I've been saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved, By the blood of the lamb
Saved, Saved
And I'm so glad, Yes, I'm so glad
I'm so glad, So glad
I want to thank you, Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You, Lord.

Love, Pastor Don

March 4th Devotion

Deuteronomy 5:16 (NIV)
16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

The Lord commands us to honor our parents, both of them. He also gives a promise to this command, “that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land.” The question I have is, do you honor your mother and father? Does God expect us to honor bad parents, or ones that are failures? Are we commanded to honor parents that have brought hardship to us, through no fault of our own?

Consider the Israelites that are receiving this command. As a result of their parent’s disobedience, they had to wonder in the dessert for forty years, and their parents died without getting to enter the promised land. Their parents constantly complained, worshiped idols and brought plagues upon the people. Their parents did not live long, and did not even get into the land. And why? Because they did not honor their Father. And with all the failures of their parents, God commanded them to “Honor their father and mother.”

Honor your father and mother.

Love, Pastor Don

March 3rd Devotion

Deuteronomy 4:15-19 (NIV)
15 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 8 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

As Israel was preparing to cross the Jordan, God warned them about idol worship. The people that they would conquer, were idol worshipers, and there was a danger that Israel would embrace the idols of the very people they were to destroy.

When God had given them the law, there was nothing but His voice. There was nothing that could be made into an image of any kind. In essence, Israel was to worship the “Voice of God”. Hebrews says:

Hebrews 3:7-8 (NIV)
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,

Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit like this:

John 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

As Christians, we live by faith, and faith does not require sight.

Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV)
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

Take a look around yourself. Do you see all the stuff. None of it can save your soul. None of it is God.

Love, Pastor Don

March 2nd Devotion

Mark 16:15 (NIV)
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

He did this for me and you. I had know idea. I recently wrote this poem.

Hope

Dark and cold
A soul alone
Hope is not gone
Hope was never here

Faithful son of a godless man
Never knew You
Never even knew of You

The grave and worms
My destiny
As the world turned

And yet, known by You
Enemy true
Me against You

There is no God
My battle cry
First you live
Then you die

You are so good to me
An old woman sent
To show to me
Heaven’s gift

You are so good to me
Your Spirit spoke
My spirit broke
And then, hope

You are so good to me
You gave to me,
This worthless son
Eternity

You are so good
You alone are good
I love you

Love, Pastor Don

March 1st

Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (NIV)
6 The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers--to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and to their descendants after them."

“You have stayed long enough at this mountain.” God made it clear that He expected Israel to be on the move. He told them to go and take possession of what He had given them. Even when they failed to do that, he kept them moving. It took them forty years to complete a 2 week journey. An entire generation wasted away because they would not follow God. The next generation learned to follow God during that wandering. For forty years, they had a simple task; follow the Lord by day or by night. For some reason, I am reminded of this passage in Hebrews:

Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV)
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Which generation do you belong to?

Love, Pastor Don

February 28th

Numbers 31:7-8 (NIV)
7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba--the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

Several chapters ago, we met Balaam son of Beor. The Moabites had tried to get him to curse the Israeli army, but God spoke to him and would not allow it. Now, we find out that he was killed along with the Midianite army. How could God use him against the Moabites and have him killed with the Midianites? The answer is in verses 15 & 16. While Balaam told the Moabites and since they were allies, the Midianites, that they could not defeat Israel in an outright war, they could defeat them by enticement.

Numbers 31:15-16 (NIV)
15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. 16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people.

Here is what strikes me the most. And, I think we should all take note of this. While Balaam certainly did hear from God, and repeat what he was told, for profit he taught people how to take advantage of weaknesses in God’s people.

1 John 4:1 (NIV)
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Love, Pastor Don