Sunday, January 9, 2011

When You Eat and Are Satisfied

Deuteronomy 6:10-12

"10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

I used to read this passage from a third party view of what God is warning to the people of Israel but now I understand better that most of what is written in Deuternomy can be applied to our daily lives.

For example, a few months ago I read this passage:

Deuteronomy 1:6-7
"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."

Suddenly I felt God was telling me that this is the season to leave the cancer episode behind (the mountain), break camp and move on and so going back to work and sharing my testimonies made sense to me that it really was what God was moving me into - a time of good works be it intercession, helping in Sunday school or sharing testimonies in the real world. But then, my mum was concerned that I was not going to survive the recycled air in the office or the viruses from my sick colleagues and doubts started to set in and I wasn't sure whether I was going to survive the first week but I did! Praise the Lord!

This morning, I am beginning to see that even Deuteronomy 6:10-12 is concerning our lives. We mustn't forget that He provides -flourishing cities, houses filled with all kinds of good things, even things that we did not dig or plant ourselves. And when we eat and are satisfied, we must not forget that it was the Lord who brought us out of "Egypt". Last year there were 3 specific word of knowledge spoken over my life that God would prosper me financially. Each time i would roll my eyes because I've been taught to be good steward of money and warned of prosperity gospel. One of them specifically said she saw stacks of thousand dollar cash floating around me. It was just getting so obvious that I told God that if He really wanted to bless me, then I will receive it and I claim it in Jesus' name! Then recently, my mum's family received their inheritance from a property sale. I did not expect anything to flow down to me so it was a windfall when my mum said she would set aside a sum for me to purchase e excel products. Praise the Lord! This sum practically fell from the sky! In a recent episode, Henry shared he didn't feel so guilty now that he read that Steve Jobs received a salary of USD 52 million dollars last year! I told him that the extra sum that God provided for Henry in the job he is holding currently is a blessing from God and nothing that he did, (or like Deuteronomy 1:6-7 says) "dug" or "planted".

It is becoming clearer to me that when we stay close to God, blessings will just flow, all kinds of blessings including finances. For often, we have been reminded to look at the Giver and shun the gifts but it really is a Father's heart to bless us when we seek Him. It is like the saying of Matthew 6:33 that says "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you". It is a total package of the Giver and His gifts as he encourages us in our walk with Him. But in all times, we must be humble to acknowledge that all we have is from Him.

Thank you Lord for reminding me this morning not to forget You when You provide us with blessings of all kinds. For everything is from You even the jobs we hold. You made it happen Lord! Thank You so very much for your many blessings and for encouraging us as we walk in You. Even when circumstances seem dark, it becomes mere shadow as You shower Your love on us in so many ways - friends and family that support us, encouraging visions and dreams, providing for our needs and even beyond our needs. Thank You Lord for everything.

1 comment:

  1. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16).

    The law may be a shadow of the good things that are coming (Heb 10:1), they are part of the "all Scripture", and it is, as it is said in 2 Tim 3:16, God-breathed and useful, for ...in righteousness.

    One of Jesus' definitions of the law, before He Himself, added more to it, was the entirety of the Old Testament. In John 10:33, we read that Jesus included the Psalms as part of the law.

    All individual laws that are still applicable should be observed, and they are good for the purposes listed in 2 Tim 3:16. The key words in 2 Tim 3:16 are a few, but a significant one is the word, "righteousness".

    The largest definition of righteousness, which is not expounded by enough preachers, is that it is about being right with God, which more simply can be expressed as being in sync with God's rightness. When we say that God is righteous, a humanly understandable dimension is that we are saying that God is always right, right in thought, right in timing, right in action, nothing is not right or amiss or "off". In another word, righteousness, simply put, is about being in agreement or alignment with God.

    "All Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16)" means all scripture is useful for getting us to be in agreement (aligned or in-sync) with God, in our living; and this included the Old Testament (OT) scriptures (unless they are no longer applicable, which very few are). The journey of the chosen people of God (Israelites, then) to the Promised Land (Caananite land) was a "type" to the journey of believers (people of God) to the heavenly Promised Land (Heaven); when one fails to see this, one is tended to regard the "stories" of the OT as just stories, out-dated stories of little relevance to us.

    Liz, I sense that there is anointing in some of your most recent articles, like this one, and the one entitled, “Rejoice in the Lord Always”. May the Lord continue to use you in your writing to be a blessing and a teaching to others. May we all always pray that the Lord teaches us first, so that we may teach others. Lord, as we desire growth in righteousness, grant us greater understanding of you. Amen. Anthony Chia.

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