9 October 2017
How to Cling
Deuteronomy 13:4
Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.
Reading the morning news is not encouraging. There are many disasters on the brink! And the recent actual disasters are still taking their toll. This passage this morning from Deuteronomy is timely. When there is evil, when there is disaster, and when there is more to come, don’t blame God; cling to him. Believers know that the evil in the world is a result of free will, sin, and our active Enemy. God is not the source, so the morning headlines don’t cause us to blame God, rather, we cling to him! In fact, it’s a good time to double up on that!!!
This passage also tells us how to cling to him. Clearly, we cling by continuing to follow him, love him and trust him, but there are four imperatives in this verse that describe how to do just that.
Serve. Fear. Obey. Listen.
Serve means to keep being faithful to God and physically and verbally doing the things he wants me to do.
Colossians 3:23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Fear means to keep remembering who God is.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
Obey means to choose in my heart and mind that I am going to live how God prescribes before trouble even presents itself.
1 Peter 1:14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
Listen means that I have an active prayer life. Prayer isn’t me telling God how it is and how it’s going to be. Prayer does involve expressing concerns and thankfulness, but it also involves prompts from God in my heart and mind, conviction and reassurances that I will miss if I just keep talking and don’t pay attention.
Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
We cling when we keep serving, fearing, obeying and listening in spite of the morning news.
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Dear God,
I am so glad that you are for me today and every day no matter what’s going to happen today that will be a headline tomorrow. I am so glad that you are available for me to cling to every day – even every minute! Help me to faithfully, serve, fear, obey and listen every day. I love you and thank you in Jesus’ name, amen.
How to Cling
Deuteronomy 13:4
Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.
Reading the morning news is not encouraging. There are many disasters on the brink! And the recent actual disasters are still taking their toll. This passage this morning from Deuteronomy is timely. When there is evil, when there is disaster, and when there is more to come, don’t blame God; cling to him. Believers know that the evil in the world is a result of free will, sin, and our active Enemy. God is not the source, so the morning headlines don’t cause us to blame God, rather, we cling to him! In fact, it’s a good time to double up on that!!!
This passage also tells us how to cling to him. Clearly, we cling by continuing to follow him, love him and trust him, but there are four imperatives in this verse that describe how to do just that.
Serve. Fear. Obey. Listen.
Serve means to keep being faithful to God and physically and verbally doing the things he wants me to do.
Colossians 3:23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Fear means to keep remembering who God is.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
Obey means to choose in my heart and mind that I am going to live how God prescribes before trouble even presents itself.
1 Peter 1:14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
Listen means that I have an active prayer life. Prayer isn’t me telling God how it is and how it’s going to be. Prayer does involve expressing concerns and thankfulness, but it also involves prompts from God in my heart and mind, conviction and reassurances that I will miss if I just keep talking and don’t pay attention.
Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
We cling when we keep serving, fearing, obeying and listening in spite of the morning news.
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Dear God,
I am so glad that you are for me today and every day no matter what’s going to happen today that will be a headline tomorrow. I am so glad that you are available for me to cling to every day – even every minute! Help me to faithfully, serve, fear, obey and listen every day. I love you and thank you in Jesus’ name, amen.
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