Words: Copy Them, Recite Them, Ponder Them.

Our lives exist in words, don’t they? What we DO is important, but what we SAY is more important. When a person like your grandfather begins to speak less, it is as if we have lost the most important part of him.  Words guide everything we do: rules, laws, agreements, promises, affirmation, criticism, goals, mission statements, slogans, and more.  Everything requires words—most of us have to talk all day, words being a critical grease to lubricate the engine of every human activity. But words also define our lives, purposes, hopes, and dreams.  And when we die our lives are summarized with words.  Not only that, but in heaven, God has books filled with words: there are books recording THE DEEDS OF MEN (Rev. 20:12). And more critical is the BOOK OF LIFE (id.) which names every person who belongs to God. David even says, “In thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me” (Ps.139:16).  Words are ESSENTIAL.

In Deuteronomy 17:18-20, God orders that each king of Israel (1) write, BY HAND, his own copy of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; and then (2) study it EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE. By copying the scriptures the king will “make it his own.”

God tells Joshua the same:

“This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth, but you are to RECITE IT DAY AND NIGHT, being careful to do all that is written in it—for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” Joshua 1:8

Words surround us—as water surrounds a fish. We swim in a sea of words nearly every moment. But some words are better than others, and GOD’S WORDS ARE CRITICAL. We should be writing them, reading them, reciting them, memorizing them. We need God’s word on our minds every morning and every night.  If you do that, what does God promise in Joshua 1:8 (above)?

God, help us give your word the attention it deserves.

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How Do You Keep Children Obedient?

If you were God, you would face the challenge of parenting humans: when you bless them, they get cocky, rude, and selfish. When you punish them, they repent—but it hurts to watch them suffer. This is the Deuteronomic principle: if you love children, you want to lavish them with gifts—but when you do they become nasty.

Think of celebrities, athletes, movie stars. How do beautiful and famous millionaires stay humble? Many don’t. Imagine how that is magnified when God makes a man a king. Suddenly, he is the boss of everyone, has everything he desires, and is the most celebrated celebrity on earth. Arrogance and evil will stick to him closer than a shadow, ready to destroy him. So what does God do?

He writes a special law for the king.

“When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be exalted above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandments.” Deuteronomy 17:18-20.

God’s plan to keep kings humble: (1) write, BY HAND, his own copy of the Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; and (2) study it EVERY DAY OF HIS LIFE. By copying the scriptures by hand, the king will “make it his own.” That keeps him from becoming arrogant and thinking it does not apply to him, that he is better than ordinary folks. And studying it every day reminds him—you are NOT above the law. You must obey God. Every day.

Are you spending as much time in the Word as the kings of Israel? If not, why not? It is the Bread of Life—you must feed yourself from it every day.

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Gift Giving.

Prophecy says when the world receives a certain bit of news, everyone will “celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another” Rev. 11:10.  Consider human nature: when people are really happy, they celebrate by giving each other gifts.

Have you ever been so happy you wanted to give gifts?  It is a rare and spontaneous feeling.  I have felt that way while traveling—so happy that I wanted to buy souvenirs or postcards to share my joy.  I once flew to Oakland, California for a deposition in Sacramento.  I spent the night in Marin County, got up early the next morning and WALKED across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco!  I arrived a day early, so I had a day to see the city, tour a Redwood Forest (the Muir Woods), then drive north past San Quentin Prison and on to Sacramento.  Trips like that were so fun and though I could not bring my family, I could at least give them gifts!

By custom, some events now require gifts: birthdays, weddings, showers, graduations. Gifts mark the importance of the occasion. Spending money says “this thing you did MATTERS to ME.”

“No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed. Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you” Deuteronomy 16:16-17.

Do we appear before the Lord empty-handed? How often do we show up with gifts?  It is important to give God some of the money that he has given you. Bring a gift to church and participate in worship by being a giver. 

Say to God “this thing MATTERS TO ME.  Church matters to me.  Feeding the poor and sharing the gospel and supporting missionaries MATTERS TO ME.” 

God, show us what we can give.  Thank you that you accept small gifts—that it need not be overwhelming, because you are more interested in our hearts than our bank accounts.  But give us the desire to be givers!

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Thus Sayeth.

Does God speak to people today?  Absolutely.  “My sheep hear My voice” John 10:27.  But do we ALWAYS rightly interpret things? No. Do we sometimes suspect God is giving us a message, but are uncertain? Yes.  Sometimes we need to keep praying, or sleep on it, or let some time pass. I have often prayed, “God, I THINK You are leading me, but I’m not sure.  I know it is my job to listen, but it is up to You to make it clear.” 

Nothing will help you to know God’s voice more than time reading His word.

The third commandment is “thou shalt not speak the name of the Lord thy God in vain” Exodus 20:7.  God warns us not to use His name recklessly.  Do not attribute to God things God did not say. Even if we think God may have spoken, we should be careful what we say.  If you are 99% sure but have 1% doubt, then leave God out of your conversation.  You might say you have prayed a lot and believe you are on the right track.  But never say “God told me …” or anything about the voice of God if you are not ready to stand before His throne and tell it to Him.

Imagine I wreck a company car.  When HR questions me, I say, “my boss Sheryl told me to take the car.”  But Sheryl did no such thing.  What will Sheryl do?  She would fire me and I’d be cleaning out my desk for claiming she said something she did not say.

In October of 2020, a TV preacher predicted: “Trump will win the election. America will erupt in civil unrest. There will be two attempts on Trump’s life. A coalition of Muslim nations will attack Israel.  But God will deliver Israel by a miracle, wiping out the attackers….”

Not one of those things happened.

“The prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak … must die” Deuteronomy 18:20.

DO NOT USE THE NAME OF THE LORD RECKLESSLY.  Exodus 20:7.

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Have You Been Influenced by Idol Worshippers? Deuteronomy 13:6-10.

Do you have lost friends? Yes. Do you admire personal heroes who happen to be lost? Yes. Do they influence you? Yes. Anytime you like or admire someone, their choices influence you. It’s as if you were two sheep wandering across a field. If you like or admire another sheep and he takes a certain path, you will be tempted to take the same path. After all, it worked for him so far, right? And now that he walked there, the grass is already flattened out for you. Never mind if there might be a wolf at the other end of the path.

When we watch people make choices, we are ALWAYS influenced. Even when they are FICTIONAL people. As you see the path they take it forms a mental map in your mind. And if you see many, many people (fictional or not) taking the same path, it becomes more like a highway than a trail. Soon a rut forms in your thinking and when you face a similar fork in the road, it will be difficult to choose anything but the choice you have watched everyone else make. An example? Pre-marital sex. If you watch television, you can’t help but think that EVERYONE makes that choice; NO ONE waits. And that is a lie, but it is an overwhelming lie if television is your only source of information about the world.

God says to be careful and shake off the influence of unbelieving idolaters. (And every unbeliever is an idol worshipper, whether the idol is self, money, success, or something else.)

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods,” you must not listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him. Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 13:6, 8-10.

Could you do it? Could you stone to death your brother, son, daughter, or wife for tempting you with idol worship? Thankfully, we do not face that choice today. But the danger is real. God commands each of us to be vigilant, to be a warrior. Can you do battle with the world’s ungodly influences? Can you destroy the idolatrous lies already lurking in your heart? Do you hate evil? Ask God to help you to HATE EVIL, even when it comes from someone you love.

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The Secret to Happiness.

What do you want? What does everyone really want? It’s not money, fame, success, or true love.  Those are the means to achieve the goal of HAPPINESS.  We want to be happy, though we each believe different things will help us reach that goal.

God’s Word clears up the confusion. Though they may provide happiness temporarily, none of the things listed will bring lasting happiness.  Lasting happiness comes from: (1) Choosing God’s will over my own, and (2) Gratitude.  Let’s discuss the second.  Moses says:

“Rejoice before the Lord in everything you do” Deuteronomy 12:18.

Similarly, Paul writes:

“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice” Philippians 4:4.

You can always practice an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.  Find things to be thankful about. Make a habit of looking for the good in every day, in every circumstance. When you feel negative, angry, lonely, sad, confused, scared, worried, or anything else—stop your mind and begin THANKING GOD.  Tell him thank you for everything good that you can think of.  And thank him for the bad stuff too. Exercise your faith by telling God that you trust him with the illness you can’t heal or the bills you can’t pay or the relationship you can’t reconcile or the problem you can’t solve.  Tell God thank you for the opportunity to GROW, and to see His hand at work.  It is difficult, no doubt.  Thanking God and praising Him in the midst of extremely bad circumstances is very difficult.  But it is the PUREST worship you will ever experience.  Thank him, trust him, worship him.  Rejoice in everything—that is, FIND JOY in every situation. Look hard, trust God, and find things about which you can be grateful.

Nothing will make you happier!

God, teach us to thank you and worship you no matter how hard our circumstances may be.

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The Time Machine.

I am bringing Moses home this afternoon in my time machine.  We will arrive in the woods.  That won’t shock him too much.  He’s used to trees and pastures.

“Things sure are green here in the future.”

“Well, this is the Texas Gulf Coast—the Texas Hill Country looks more like Israel.”

As we emerge from the trees into the pasture, the old man leans on his staff and looks ahead to the house.

“Now what is that building up there—and those white beasts?”

“That’s my little barn, and those are Great Pyrenees, dogs bred to herd sheep.”

We walk on.

“And these fences?”

“They’re metal wire.  Cheap stuff, actually.  But there is electricity on some of them.”

“Electricity?”

“Invisible power.  If you touch it, it feels like a bee sting.  Goes away instantly, but it keeps the animals from destroying the fence.  We’ll talk about electricity more after we go inside.”

“Now is that a temple there built of stones?”

“No, that’s the house.  Mine’s quite small, actually—more of a cottage.  America flows with milk and honey like you would not believe–some of the houses are huge!  Oh, and wait till you discover air conditioning.”

Imagine how overwhelmed Moses would be.  The refrigerator, running water, and a flush toilet might be enough for one day.  What would he think of grocery stores? Of butcher shops where meat is processed and packed for you? Of eggs available by the thousands? Of year-round fresh fruit?

Modern technology has solved or greatly reduced many problems addressed by the law of Moses: leftover food, meat processing, toilets, mold, leprosy, and more.  On top of that, we have radio, television and the internet. We pay for things without cash. We save lives with antibiotics (there’s something we take for granted) and vaccines have eradicated smallpox, polio, and other diseases.  There’s cars and jet travel and cellphones. I’ve often dreamed of a movie in which Leonardo da Vinci travels to the future, but I cannot imagine an ending in which he is not depressed. The changes in the way humans live are almost incomprehensible. Anyone traveling from the past would feel that nothing they did back in their own time had any meaning—whatever ripples their life may have made in the pond of humanity have long sense disappeared. “No one remembers the former generations, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them” Ecclesiastes 1:11.  It’s enough to destroy your joy.

But God’s word remains the same.  How do you find meaning and purpose in life? How do you find lasting joy? It was the same in the time of Moses as it is today. And Moses said it first: 

“Rejoice before the Lord your God in everything that you do” Deuteronomy 12:18. 

Solomon, Paul, and James said it too: CHOOSE JOY.  See Ecclesiastes 2:24; Philippians 4:8; James 1:2. 

Every day you have a choice. CHOOSE JOY.

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I am the Master of My Fate.

Have you met the soft and unmotivated? Heard people complain they were too hungry to get up and find food? Seen teenagers who collapse facing easy tasks?  America was built on self-reliance: if you want something, work for it.  Hitch up your oxen, head into the wilderness, cut down the trees, pull up stumps, plow the field, build a cabin, start your farm.  Do it yourself—that’s the American way.  You cannot build a nation on weakness.

William Ernest Henley wrote a great poem about self-reliance.  The first lines talk about how thankful he is for his “unconquerable soul.” He says no matter the problems he has faced, he has not “winced nor cried aloud… My head is bloody, but unbowed.”  He does not fear the future or even death:

“It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.”

This old poem has become increasingly popular. The man is strong, determined, motivated. His words inspire.  But the poem is actually a well-crafted rejection of the Gospel.  Re-read the lines above understanding that ‘strait’ means ‘narrow’ and ‘scroll’ refers to scripture. Henley is an atheist shaking his fist at God: “I am the MASTER of my fate!  I am the CAPTAIN of my soul!”

Self-reliance is an attribute we need. But you can take it too far.  The warnings of Moses apply well to America:

“When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in … and everything you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God….  Remember, it is the Lord who gives you the power to gain wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:12-14, 17-18.

God sees our pride and can humble us so easily.  Work hard, be determined and persistent.  NEVER GIVE UP.  But bow before your Heavenly Father and receive His grace.  “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” James 4:6.

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Words That Matter.

Words that matter are spoken, repeated, memorized, written down, stamped on signs, engraved on statues, monuments, and buildings, used as decoration—on tee shirts, bumper stickers, throw pillows, refrigerator magnets, hung in picture frames, and even stenciled on the walls of our homes.

Bible words matter most.  When I was a child, I saw decorative items made from Bible verses. Today at places like the biggest gas station in Texas, Bucee’s, I see less scripture and more wine: Working nine to wine, I’m a wineaholic, This is my wine drinking shirt….

Moses has little to say about wine. But he has advice on how to use the words that really matter:

“Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers” Deuteronomy 11:18-21.

What are the verbs? 

What are we supposed to do with the WORDS THAT MATTER?  PRINT them on your heart and mind, BIND them on your hands and foreheads. TEACH them. TALK ABOUT them. WRITE them on the doors and gates. 

And these instructions come with a promise: Do these things—value the WORDS THAT MATTER—and your days will be many.

God, help us to LOVE YOUR WORDS. To think about them, study them, teach them, memorize them, talk about them, and more.  May our lives be filled up with your words.

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Blessed. Deuteronomy 6:12-14.

In America, we are so blessed, aren’t we? We have great food, clean water, nice homes, education, peace, friends, family, churches—what don’t we have? Is there anything wrong with being so blessed?

There is one risk. When people are blessed and life is good, they forget God. They ALWAYS forget God. It’s the same pattern throughout the Bible. It happens over and over: God blesses the people and they (or their children) fall away. It’s called the Deuteronomic principle. Yes, it is so common and predictable that it has a name. You can count on it, like the law of gravity. If we are blessed, we will fall away and forget God.

Then what will happen?

Judgment.

Some have argued that everything since 9/11/2001 has been judgment: wars, bank failures, hurricanes, floods, pandemics, economic collapse…

Check your heart. Are you seeking God daily? Are you listening and trying your best to obey? Reading the Word? Crying out to Him for His truth and His reign in your life?

Moses warned us:

When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Deuteronomy 6:12-14.

Pray. Dear God, keep us humble. Forgive us when we let all our stuff, our successes and our easy, cushy life distract us from you. Help us love you, obey you, and serve you every day. Keep us humble. Never let us grow proud and lazy. Keep our hearts broken for the things that break the heart of God. We love you.

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