YEAR 2, WEEK 17, Day 6, Saturday, 26 April 2025

https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Deuteronomy+4

Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 26 April 2025:

Deuteronomy 4:1, 2, 6, 9, 15, 35 — And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules… do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession…. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you…. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” … Take care, and keep your soul diligently…. Watch yourselves very carefully…. To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.

“By grace [we] have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) We weren’t saved by our good works; we were saved for good works. We weren’t saved so we could continue to live sinful, ungodly, defeated lives and yet go to heaven when we die, but rather so we could be free to live victorious lives in Christ, enjoying Him and bringing Him glory on this earth and into eternity. Stop now, and read Romans 6 for more.

Picking up from yesterday’s readings, Moses continues his theme of ‘listen, obey, live, overcome the world (take possession), and glorify God.’ This is a message of victory, not victimization and failure. We are called to obedience grounded in love which is the greatest commandment of all –

• Luke 10:27 — “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
• 1 John 4:12 — No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
• 1 John 5:3 – “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

However, none of us are perfected in love; our motives are often mixed, but if we obey with a humble desire to grow in love, we will grow through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel is the good news that we have been freed from the PENALTY of sin through Christ; we are being freed from the POWER of sin in Christ, and we will one day be freed from the PRESENCE of sin when Christ returns to make all things new. The process of being freed from the power (influence) of sin in our lives is known as sanctification –

• Romans 6:19 — I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
• Romans 6:22 — But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
• 1 Corinthians 1:30 — And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption….
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3 — For this is the will of God, your sanctification….
• Romans 8:29 — For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

The path of sanctification, of discipleship, is one of continually growing in obedience to Christ as we are conformed into Christlike character, and requirements become our desire-ments. Consider again the Great Commission – “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20) Teaching them to what? “To observe (or obey) all that I have commanded….”

Today, Moses warns the people not to add to God’s word or take away from God’s word. Since the original sin, people have manipulated God’s word in an attempt to justify their own sin – “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) We attempt to adjust God’s word to our behavior rather than adjusting our behavior to God’s word. We add caveats or modifiers to God’s clear commands, or we downplay commands that we would rather not deal with in our lives. Consider what sins rarely come up in sermons or in Christian conversations today because they are so widely accepted among God’s people, all in the name of grace as an excuse for complacency, complicity, and compromise. Or we avoid topics which are too divisive; we go along to get along.

Also, pay close attention to what Moses says — “Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” Note that Moses addresses both what people will see from our behavior but also what they will hear from us. In other words, we must proclaim the Gospel and the Sovereignty of God in BOTH word and deed. Moses also addresses how people will respond to what they see and hear from God’s people – We were meant to be the influencers, not the influenced; the leaders of society, the followers of Christ alone.

“…that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples….” What will be your wisdom and understanding? How well you actually obey, what you actually do, and the amazing outcomes of godliness. Knowledge is not power, only potential power. Information is not transformation. Knowledge of the Bible is essential and must be a life priority – you come to know God through His word, and you cannot obey what you don’t know. However, wisdom is knowing how to rightly apply God’s word in real-life relationships and circumstances and actually doing it; and understanding comes from practical application. You don’t really understand it until you can do it; wisdom is akin to skill, understanding how things actually work and how to make things work out well.

Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” First, we must worship God “In spirit,” from our inner selves, our hearts, minds, and souls, and this is manifested in our fundamental beliefs and values, our respective outlooks, attitudes, perceptions, and interpretations shaped by our beliefs and values, our creativity and will, and our decisions. This is the critical part of you only God can see fully, you can see partially, and others can only speculate.

Also, we must worship Jesus “in truth.” When Jesus said we must worship “in truth,” He is pointing out that we must start with the right information about God (His word) in order to be able to worship in spirit – If we don’t accurately know God and His will, we can’t properly relate with Him, love Him, and follow Him, no matter how sincere we might be. However, to worship God in truth also means we must commit to following Him, to walk our talk, to obey, to become the sort of people who do what God desires truly, from the depths of our hearts to the soles of our feet and callouses on our hands. This is the Great Commandment of loving God and others with our inner selves and outer selves, or strength.

James warns, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22) As previously stated, Bible knowledge is critical, but Bible knowledge can also become deceptive and a form of procrastination, studying rather than doing. People can mistake Bible knowledge with spiritual growth without the actual character change and wisdom development (skill) which can only come from application.

There are many people who consider themselves “experts” on football because they watch all the games, know all plays, players, and stats, and can often predict outcomes, but they can’t play the game at all; so, they might be expert observers, but they aren’t, and never will be, part of a team, truly knowing the game, contributing to wins or sharing in the agony of defeat, never really experiencing football and being deeply impacted by it. Similarly, many Christians know ‘about’ Jesus but don’t really know Him personal and experientially, and they might have amazing information about Jesus but aren’t growing closer to Him, growing to be more like Him, or becoming disciple-makers who can teach others how to actually, practically follow Jesus. Paul said, “… ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1) What we actually do, and how we treat others reveals who we really are. However, though the old adage says, “Talk is cheap,” for others to understand the motives, power, and purpose of our deeds, we mustn’t leave them to speculate and draw false conclusions based on their worldly perspectives, we much also communicate the inner Truth they can’t see behind the truth of the outcomes they do see.

Many Christians have convinced themselves that they don’t need to publicly proclaim the truth, only serve as a visible, silent example of the truth. However, we have been entrusted with both the ministry and the message of reconciliation. (See 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19) Sometimes silence is appropriate, but too often, silence is a comfort-based decision motivated by fear or complacency. What did Jesus model for us in his public ministry described in the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Not just healing, but rather healing and proclaiming – “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14, 15) “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” (Mark 1:38) Jesus’ message was repent and believe. Is that your message? How many times will you hear the word repent this year?

God commands us to obey. Jesus said obedience was the indicator of our love for Him (John 14:15), and the Bible commands us to proclaim His Gospel to all. Sharing the Gospel is an obvious command, a “no-brainer,” since love would never withhold the message of forgiveness and eternal life from anyone. And the Gospel message begins with a call for repentance, which is never an easy message; but it ends with grace through faith, which is a magnificent message — it is a two-edged sword that cuts and heals, that reveals both God’s judgment and God’s offer of grace and salvation. How well are you doing on your God-given command and ministry of reconciliation?

• Psalm 105:1 — Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
• Isaiah 12:4 — Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
• Ezekiel 3:17-19 — “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
• Luke 12:8 — And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.
• Acts 1:8 — But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
• Acts 13:47 — For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
• Acts 20:24 — But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
• Romans 10:10-16 — For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
• 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 — And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
• 2 Corinthians 5:20 — Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
• 2 Timothy 4:5 — As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
• 2 Peter 3:9 — The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Deuteronomy 4:5 – See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

Moses only taught what God had commanded him, nothing more and nothing less. He taught the people to obey. Jesus has given us the Great Commission – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Obedience has always been central to God’s plan for His people. Is that what you are teaching others?

Again, you can’t teach others how to obey Jesus just because you know what you ought to do. You can only teach people what you know how to do. For example, You might know that Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:43, 44; Luke 6:27, 35); and you might be aware that the Book of John says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) However, have you learned how to easily love your enemies? Does genuine love for your enemies describe your true heart and behavior, the kind of love that washed their feet in the midst of their betrayal, that sacrifices yourself for their benefit and prays for their salvation as they persecute you, and forgives endlessly and freely? If you don’t know how to get there, how can you lead others? Just because I know field goal kickers ought to kick field goals doesn’t mean I know how to coach field goal kickers. Coaches coach from proven experience, along with the ability to inspire and guide constant practice towards perfection. Christianity must not be relegated to another academic pursuit, philosophy, or casual pursuit.

Deuteronomy 4:6 – Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

“Wisdom is not what you know about the world but how well you know God. Human reasoning will not make you wise. It may even lead you to reject the ways of God (1 Cor. 1:18-25). God’s purpose in creating a nation for Himself was to demonstrate His wisdom to the world through the obedience of His people (Zech. 8:23). As the Israelites followed God, He would bless them, and the wisdom of obeying God would be evident to all.

God gives you the same opportunity to base your life on His wisdom. When unbelievers make important decisions, they must rely on their own knowledge and understanding. You, as a Christian, have access to God’s wisdom. God’s Spirit is within you to guide you (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit will open your eyes to the truth of the Scriptures so that you can see things from God’s perspective. Only God sees the future, so only He can accurately lead you to make correct decisions today.

As you allow God to direct your life, those around you will see true wisdom, wisdom not of the world but of God. Others will be confused about what to do in our complicated world, but God will guide you safely to the correct choices for you. Your family will be blessed because you make wise decisions. Your friends will have a wise counselor to come to for help. Your obedient life will demonstrate the wisdom of allowing the Holy Spirit to be your Guide.” (Henry T. Blackaby)

Deuteronomy 4:9 – Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.

Fidelity not only requires great personal diligence but also a commitment to teach the next generation.

Deuteronomy 4:15 — Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire.

Living spiritually is not ‘natural’, it is ‘supernatural’, it is beyond the natural and beyond our six senses. We are called to be led by the Spirit, not our own understanding. However, we have a tendency to hang onto the natural, physical world and our own knowledge. We have a tendency to define God in a way that makes sense to us rather than conforming our senses to the ultimate reality of Him. We must be very careful not to plot our own course while telling ourselves that course is where God is leading us. We must be careful not to find an idol (a substitute for God) that seems to meet our temporal needs.

Deuteronomy 4:19 – And beware lest you…. be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

Your idols will control you. Following idols makes you unspiritual, just like all the unbelievers.

Deuteronomy 4:24 – For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

“Our God is a consuming fire. He is satisfied only when His love totally consumes us. We usually think of a jealous person as someone resentful and suspicious, but the Lord’s jealousy on our behalf is something that should be precious to us! He has the complete right to our lives. He gave us life, and He wants to protect us from anything that could harm us. That is why He has commanded His children to worship no other gods, allowing nothing to distract us from His consuming love.

The Lord opposes anything that hinders our relationship with Him (Deut. 6:15). He knows the danger of other gods, how they will lure us away, deceive us, and leave us empty. He will tolerate nothing that takes precedence over our love for Him. Our faithfulness to God assures us of the abundant life He wants to give us. If we reject Him, He will pursue us until we return to Him.

We should not resent the fact that God wants to guard our relationship with Him. It should bring us comfort. Our relationship with God should be our top priority. It should dictate how we spend our time, our money, and our energy. If certain people or our possessions separate us from God, we must reexamine our hearts and give our devotion first to Him, as He commands. God wants each of us to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:30). Our love for God should extend to every corner of our lives. God loved us so much that He gave us His own Son. Let us respond by giving Him our highest devotion in return.” (Henry T. Blackaby)

Deuteronomy 4:30 – When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.

God’s plan involves allowing you to learn from your own mistakes. You must learn to choose Him and to be faithful to Him, casting out all substitutes.

Deuteronomy 4:35 – To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you.

God gave you His commands, knows you will disobey them, and will discipline you that you will grow in Christ-like character. Do not despise the Lord’s discipline.

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 26 April 2025: Today, walk your talk, and talk your walk while making following Jesus step by step while becoming just like Him your top priority. Seek to live today to life Jesus would have lived if He were you, with your passions, your talents, your skills, your relationships, your experiences, your circumstances, and your opportunities. Embrace your day (don’t wish for a different one), and make the most of it for God’s glory, the benefit of others, and your continual Christlike character development.