Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Deuteronomy 7:1-15
Set – Deuteronomy 7; Mark 15
Go! – Deuteronomy 7-9; Mark 15
Deuteronomy 7:1-15
Moses: 1As the Eternal, your True God, is bringing you into the land where you’re going to live when you cross the Jordan, He’ll drive out many nations ahead of you—Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—seven nations that are bigger and stronger than you are. 2 The Eternal your God will put them in your power. You must crush them; destroy them completely! Don’t make any treaties with them, and don’t show them any mercy. 3 Above all, don’t intermarry with them! Don’t marry your daughters to any of their sons, and don’t marry your sons to any of their daughters.Eternal One: 4This would cause your enemies to turn your children away from Me to worship other gods.
Moses: If you did worship other gods, the Eternal would become furious with you and destroy you in an instant! 5 So this is what you must do to these nations instead: tear down their altars, smash their monoliths, chop down their sacred poles, and throw the idols they’ve carved into the fire!
Moses: 6 Remember: you’re a people set apart for the Eternal your God; He is your God and has chosen you to be His own possession—His special people—out of all the peoples on the earth. 7 The Eternal didn’t become devoted to you and choose you because you were the most numerous of all the peoples—in fact, you were the least! 8 Instead, He brought you out of Egypt with overwhelming power and liberated you from slavery to Pharaoh the king because He loved you and was keeping the oath He swore to your ancestors. 9 I want you to know that the Eternal your God is the only true God. He’s the faithful God who keeps His covenants and shows loyal love for a thousand generations to those who in return love Him and keep His commands. 10 But He holds personally accountable those who hate Him, and He destroys them; He does not delay when anyone hates Him, but He holds them personally accountable. 11 Therefore, be very careful to obey the commands and rules and judgments I’m giving you today.
12 If you pay attention to these judgments and keep them carefully, the Eternal your God will keep the covenant He made with your ancestors and show you His loyal love. 13 He’ll love you and bless you and increase your population. He’ll bless your children, and He’ll bless your agriculture. The land He promised your ancestors He’d give you will produce abundantly; and you’ll have grain and wine and olive oil, many cattle, and new flocks. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people. None of your men or women will be unable to have children; all of your cattle will have offspring. 15 The Eternal will keep every illness away from you. He won’t afflict you with any of those horrible diseases you saw in Egypt—He’ll put them instead on those who hate you!
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
You just heard a lot of blessings for those that love Me and keep My covenant, My rules, My commands. You heard about how would increase children, crops, and cattle for My chosen people, if they followed Me. The blessings applied to My covenant people of the Old Testament, but blessings apply to My people of the new covenant My Son set in motion, too. All who believe in My Son for salvation gain eternal life. All who believe in My Son experience forgiveness and freedom from the guilt of sins.
When you talk about blessings, those are real blessings. Those come as a result of My sacrifice, the sacrifice of My only Son. They come at the price of My Son’s sacrifice. They come at the sacrifice of the entire triune Godhead engaged in the salvation of humankind. But the blessings come with an “if” just as they did for My chose people. If you believe. If you follow My decrees. If you listen to My voice.
My word then and now comes as a covenant. A covenant is between two entities. Between us, I’ve written it as a very one-sided document. You must believe. I do everything else. You believe, I save. You ask, I provide. I give strength in place of your weakness. I give wisdom in place of your foolishness. I give guidance in place of your confusion. I give healing in place of your sickness. I give comfort in place of your pain. I give peace in place of your fear. I provide for your needs. I provide many of your wants. I adopt you into My family.
The provision clauses on My side get pretty lengthy. The requirement clauses on your side are pretty small. But they are significant. They are wrapped up in faith, love, trust. Your part of the covenant isn’t much, but it will mean giving up yourself and living for Me. It will mean letting Me be the Lord, Master, Director of your life. It will mean transforming your mind to the mind of My Son. It will mean living as a sacrifice to Me each day.
What do you get in return for adhering to the covenant? Eternal life. Heaven. Me living in you every day empowering you to really live. It’s a good deal. I’d take it if I were you.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.