Week Two: Breaking Ground Day 9: Fertile Soil April 4, 2016

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"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of

unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes

and showers righteousness upon you."

(Hosea 10:12)

Day Nine Devotions:

MORNING MEDITATION

AFTERNOON DEVOTION

EVENING PRAYER

MORNING MEDITATION

Glean the Word: Deuteronomy 4:1-14

Glimpse of Glory: "Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and revering Him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land..." (Deuteronomy 8:6, 7a).

We have already discussed that at the root of all our problems is the problem of sin. And the greatest of our sins is that of unbelief, for, as one commentator noted, "unbelief is a sin against the remedy." How can we expect to be healed, if we will not even admit that we are sick, and believe that the cure for what is killing us actually exists? Any good physician will observe the symptoms their patient is suffering from, and then look back at their medical history to analyze the progression of their patient's illness, before they prescribe the remedy. This is what Moses did in the record of the Book of Deuteronomy. The chosen people of God had gotten off track and were suffering unnecessarily because of their disobedience; it was time to call the people back to God. In order for restoration and rebuilding to be possible, we must first look back to see where we lost our way (see Revelation 2:4-5). When we do, we surely will find the original route we were supposed to take when we came to that fork in the road of indecision and disobedience and listened to that deceptive voice that first led us astray. Edmund Burke said, "Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it;" and it has also been said that, "The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history." The Scriptures describe the vicious cycle the Israelites suffered throughout their history, because they didn't learn from their past mistakes: disobedience - discipline - repentance - revival - restoration - repeat!

The stipulations for God's covenant with Israel were simple to understand: Obey My Word, receive My blessings and live! "Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you" (vv. 1-2). The people would enjoy long life, victory over their enemies, and abundance and fruitfulness if they simply listened to His Word and obeyed His Law. God spoke to Israel through His chosen leaders and prophets. They were accustomed to hearing His voice. His instructions to them were clear. Even in reciting the "Shema" each day, the people reminded themselves to hear God and listen to what He commanded them, and to use their own voice to teach God's Word to their children. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). They had God's Word constantly on their minds, but it failed to take root in their hearts. Their relationship with God majored in the externals, and minored in the internals. But God promised them that a time was coming when He would write His law on their hearts. "I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people" (Jeremiah 31:33b).

Obedience is a matter of the heart, therefore it was necessary for God to break up the unplowed soil of our hearts and plant His Word within, so that it could properly govern our lives and transform us from the inside out. The Lord is deeply concerned with the inner life of His children. Jesus gave His life for us, so that He could live within us. He wants our absolute dependence and utter devotion, so that He can come in and take complete possession of His people. May we give our Lord His hearts' desire by taking the time each day to feed His life which lives within us with the spiritual food He has provided - the Bible - and then, not just listen to what He says in His Word, but also obey and do what it says (James 1:22), so that the next generation will have the light of God's Word to guide them every day.

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AFTERNOON DEVOTION

Glean the Word: John 5:31-47

Gift of Grace: "He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." (Luke 24:44-45)

We express our love for God by obeying His Word, but we can't obey His Word if we don't know the Word. The heavenly Father's highest goal for His children is for each of us to experience an intimate and abiding relationship with Him - in His Word and through Jesus Christ His Son. The Jewish leaders esteemed God's Word, but they didn't know God. They held God's Word in their hands and wrote it on their walls, but they wouldn't let it take hold of their hearts. "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me and have life" (v. 39). They knew every jot and tittle of the Scriptures, but despite all the knowledge that filled their heads, their hearts remained empty. "...I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts" (v. 42). They rejected the truth of Jesus Christ, who stood before them as the fulfillment of the Word they so highly revered. Religious tradition had become their god, and they chose to protect their reputations rather surrender their hearts to Christ. "These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish" (Isaiah 29:13-14).

Jesus Christ came as the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, and to bring the fullness of abundant life to His people, but the soil of their hardened hearts could not be broken so that the seed of His Word could be planted deep within. "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men" (Mark 7:8). They chose the praise of men over pleasing God, and the cycle was destined to repeat. Our hearts are meant to be fertile soil where God can plant His Word and produce the fruit of His love, which sacrificially serves others rather than self. "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1b). Let us pray and ask God to allow His Word to penetrate our hearts fully, so they will be tender and sensitive to His heart and to the needs of others, especially for the building up and encouragement of our Christian brothers and sisters. May our lives be a written letter to the world of God's amazing grace and love (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)!

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EVENING PRAYER

Glean the Word: Psalm 19

Fruit of Repentance: "This is love for God: To obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." (1 John 5:3-5)

This evening we will offer up a prayer for greater love and obedience to the Word of God and the God of the Word (click on the image below for our evening prayer).

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins." (2 Peter 1:3-9).

Click on the image below to draw close to the fire
and experience the warmth, love and light of Christ
as we come boldly before the Throne of Grace and
join our hearts together in prayer:

HARVEST The Kingdom of God

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