The book of Deuteronomy is where Moses goes over the law for the second time to the people of Israel.  Now, if God has to repeat Himself twice, it must mean that it’s something extremely important!  This is also the last time Moses is going to speak to the entire nation, so his last words are extremely important.  After giving the law for the second time, Moses makes sure they understand that he’s not just speaking “meaningless words.”  He tells them, this law (Word of God) is your life.

So, in other words, Moses is saying to the Israelite and to us, God is not speaking meaningless words to waste time, but they have important meaning.  If you want to live life, then you will need to keep the Law (Word of God).  Moses tells them that they are about to go and possess the Promise Land.  In order to live and enjoy the land, they will need to keep in heart the Word of God.

We expect God’s blessing to come to us and to continue to be poured out, but His blessing is based on our obedience to His Word.  He will not bless you if you are disobedient to Him.  Throughout Israel’s history, they struggled as a nation in the Promise Land.  It wasn’t because God wasn’t with them.  It was because they disobeyed His Words.  Our disobedience will bring curses or negative things to our lives.

How do I keep and enjoy God’s blessing on my life?  By obeying His Word.  It’s just that simple.  Obedience is what unlocks God’s blessings and disobedience will lock up His blessing.  That’s why Moses makes the nation of Israel chose what they wanted (Deut. 28).  If you want to have all these blessings, then you must choose obedience which will bring life and incalculable amount of blessings.  But if you choose disobedience, then curses will come.

If you want to enjoy life and be blessed, then obedience is something you must do.  You can enjoy everything God gives you or you can lose everything by your act of obedience or the lack of it.

“They will never [on any account] follow a stranger, but will run

away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers or

recognize their call.”

Jesus is speaking about how He is the Shepherd.  He speaks about His sheep, about how they listen to His voice and follow Him.  In verse 5 He makes a powerful statement: His sheep will never follow a stranger because they do not recognize their voice.  Let us think about this a little more.  We are constantly telling our children “Don’t speak to strangers”, “Don’t go with strangers.”  Why do we say that?

Our intention is that we want our children to be safe.  We don’t know what strangers would do to them.  Some strangers are nice, while eithers are evil, but how would you know if they are nice or evil?  You just don’t risk it.  The interesting thing is that we already know the kind of strangers Jesus was referring too.  We know what he’s capable of doing to us.  We see how his sheep end up at the slaughter’s house.  He doesn’t care for his sheep.

But, too many times we find ourselves following a stranger’s voice.  I know we try to cover it up, but in reality, we get lead by strangers when we doubt God or when we disobey His Word.  Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and follow me.”  They just don’t hear his voice, they move towards it.  As soon as God speaks, the stranger’s voice begins to call out to us, too.  The stranger doesn’t want you to follow Jesus.  So you have to make a choice, whose voice will I follow?

When Jesus says, “run away from him,” I don’t think he’s meaning that should run away in fear of him, but that you should turn (repent: change the way you think; change your direction) from his direction and into Jesus’ direction.  Every day you will have a chance and an opportunity to follow Jesus voice.  At the same time, the stranger’s voice will be harassing you to follow him.  The decision is yours to make, but just be ready for the consequences, whether good or bad.

Listen to the voice of Jesus and follow Him.  He will lead you to the right path.  And if the stranger’s voice is calling out to you, just keep on walking past him, knowing that the One you are following is all you really need!

“Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house.”

I’ve always loved reading this passage and refer it to how worship is suppose to be.  I was thinking how valuable our lives are and how we sometimes don’t like to “waste” it on unimportant things.  Yet as we live our lives out, we end up wasting our lives on small insignificant things that won’t even matter in the end.  How many countless hours are wasted on Facebook or in front of the T.V.?  Really, do we really have to watch every single new show that comes out?  What do you get out of it?  How much of your life goes into God or how much of our lives go into helping others?

We can be like that very expensive bottle of perfume being stored away and never really allowing others to smell the aroma of God in us, only on special occasions.  Some die with the entire perfume still in them.  What a waste.  You think God gave you this life so that you can watch uncountable hours of T.V. or to go through this life without ever sharing anything about Him?  How are people going to know how good God is if we never tell others of His goodness?  We need to pour our lives out to God and into others.

Don’t waste what God has given you.  At the end of your life, what aroma will you leave behind to others?  Will they even know that you were a Christian?  How much of God did you pour out into others?  Yea, I know we can be so distracted by all the shows, games, gossip, and other insignificant things to care about eternity.  We like to enjoy things NOW, but what happens when you die?  Pour out your life to God and into others.  Don’t leave this Earth with all of your perfume.  That you may present God an empty bottle, so that He can reward you with something greater.

Don’t think too much about it.  Just share your testimony or share God’s goodness to others.  Pour out what God gives you into others.  Leave the aroma of God in someone’s life.  Don’t be selfish with God’s goodness.  Someone needs a word that only you can give.

As Jesus enters His ministry, His first message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 4:17 NKJV).  Must be an important message.  But, repent from what?  God was introducing the Kingdom of Heaven.  It was a totally different concept than what they were accustom to.  God’s message came to destroy every misconception they had about everything.

In order for the Kingdom of God to be establish on Earth and on the lives of every believer, repentance was and is very necessary.  Repentance or to repent is to change the way you think.  So if I’m going to apply this to my life, it would mean instead of believing God doesn’t love me, I’m going to repent (change my way of thinking) and believe that He does love me.  When I pray I’m going to believe that God hears me.  When I sow, I believe that God will give me a harvest.  When I pray for deliverance or healing, I believe those things will happen.

If you begin to change your thinking, you’ll begin to see there’s a lot more in this life that God has given us.  You need to get into the Word and see what other things you need repenting of.  This is the message, the Kingdom message: Repent.  This is a constant thing.  In order for you to change your mind, you have to put some effort.  You have to begin reading the Word, praying, fasting, even changing some friends might help.  As you change your thinking, your habits and your actions will begin to change, too.

Don’t just read this and shrug it off.  Do it!  That’s the whole idea Jesus came here for.  He came to show us by example on how to live this Kingdom Message.  Don’t miss out on the best that God has for you because of all your misconceptions.  It’s time to repent, change your thinking!

25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped

How many times have you insisted on doing the best for God? Insisted on giving Him the best offering or praise? Insisting is a very demanding word. This offering was a demanding one. It was as if David was saying, this is going to be a personal offering from me, and God HAS to see that. He has to honor it.

Araunah was offering David to take the oxen and use it for his offering, at no cost to the King. David could’ve easily said “YES!!! I’ll take it all; this is going to be easier than I thought.” But David knew that the offering that God was looking for wasn’t a cheap, free or hand me down offering. He was looking for an offering that had been purchased just for Him, something special.

Nothing we bring to God should be cheap, or unworthy of a King. This goes for everything in your life. We shouldn’t give Him the last 5 minutes of the day, or the change in our pockets. Everything presented to our God should be well thought out, and with a good price tag on it. King David knew this, and he was a King!

In reading this entire chapter, the verse that impacted me the most is verse 24. David didn’t even hesitate, he instantly reacted. He said “I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing”. It’s so easy to give things up that don’t cost us anything. It’s easy to give cheap things up. These are not the kind of sacrifices God is looking for. He is looking for the best; He is looking for special and unique.

Verse 25 says that God answered David’s prayer. Our blessing, our answer is at the other side of that special offering.

“God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey…”

The people of Israel had been captive for over 400 years and in their despair they cried out to God.  They could no longer support the affliction they were living.  In their pain and suffering, they had thought that God had forgotten them.  But God had a plan.  He was preparing a man, a deliverer, to release them from Egypt’s grasp.  He interrupted the career of a shepherd to tell him that He had seen the affliction and had heard the cries of His people.

When we go through storms, we think we are by ourselves.  Thinking that God is somewhere on the other side of the World helping other people.  God hears your cries and sees your affliction.  He cared so much to see you free from that affliction, that He prepared a Deliverer to come and pay the price to set you free.

Jesus lived, died, and resurrected to bring you out of the affliction you are facing.  God saw the storms you were gonna go through and prepared a way to help you.  Only through Jesus can you really be delivered from everything that oppresses you.  He not only knows the pain you are facing, but has provided a way to help you.  Call out to Him,  He responds to the broken-hearted.  Don’t be surprised when He does respond.

So, does God really care for you?  Yes, He does.

Often times we pray for something, we’ll get upset when we think our prayers weren’t answered, and quickly give up. Well, a word that has changed my life is Mathew 15:21-28. Pastor Chacon preached a sermon “God blesses those who never give up” based on these bible verses. This woman was so desperate. She refused to accept God’s “No!” How many times have you asked God for something and He’s said “No?”. The logical thing would be to say “ok, thank you anyway!” I mean, He’s God right? WRONG!

At times God is testing our faith and asking us for more. How strong is your faith in Him? Does that miracle you need, seem so far out of reach? It’s not! This woman BEGGED. Yes! The bible says she begged for Jesus to help her. She pleaded, she worshipped. She did everything she had to do to get His attention. At first He just ignored her. Mathew 15(NLT)23 But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.” Ouch! This would easily be enough for someone to give up. But this woman was different; she didn’t care if she annoyed those around her. She was going to keep begging, pleading and worshipping until He acknowledged her and heard her out.

Sometimes begging is not enough. We’ll come to church begging, pleading, screaming for answers and miracles to happen. What about Him though? Let’s not be selfish and forget why He created us to begin with. He created us to worship Him. Once this woman ran out of ideas, her faith took her to worship Jesus. It was only after she worshipped Him that He acted in her favor. Her faith had reached a different level, a level of worship.

Psalm 81:6-7 (NLT)6 “Now I will take the load from your shoulders;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
7 You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud
and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah

The devil tries to tells us lies that if we don’t pray or read the Bible enough, God will stop loving us.  Or if we sin, God will reject us.  The thing is that God loved us even while we were still sinners.  He is the Beginning and the End, so He knows everything about you.  Chris Tomlin says in a song, “He knows the depths of our hearts and still loves us the same.”  Think about that for a moment.

There have been many times when you haven’t acted like a Saint or even thought like one.  Yet, God still loves you.  How many times have you been unfaithful to Him and He still loves you?  Paul wrote in Romans 8:39 (The Message),

“…absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love…”

Whatever you can think of cannot seperate you from His love.  He loves you no matter what you’ve done or what you will do.  Up until now, He might be the only person to love you for all that you are.  Just accept His love and love Him back.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend. She couldn’t understand how God could forgive her; she said “I couldn’t forgive me!” That’s what’s so great about Him, I told her. He isn’t like us, as humans we judge, criticize, hold grudges and purposely hurt each other. God is nothing like this. All He wants is to forgive us, He wants us to turn to Him and come home. God wants us to have a true repentance and Let Him in! Luke 24:47 (NLT) “…There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.” It’s there for us; we just have to choose it.

So are you ? are we fools to even ask for forgiveness? For redemption? NO! because we will never deserve it. You will never save up in your piggy bank for it. Do not fall into the lies satan tries to tell you. God paid the way; He paid the way so that we could choose it. If we don’t accept His redemption or His “rescue plan” for us, than His son died in vain? No one else will do what God our Father did for us. Why did the prodigal son’s father rejoice after his return? If your child goes missing, wouldn’t you celebrate their return? This is our wonderful God, the one who waits for us with open arms, hoping for us to come home. He is hoping to embrace us once again.

So when you find there is no hope, no way out. Hope in Him! The word of God says that his redemption overflows, meaning it’s more than enough. Psalm 130:7 (NLT)
“.. hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows”

Serving has nothing to do with class or money status.  But it has all to do with knowing who you are as a person.  Lets read John 13:3-5 (CEV)

“Jesus knew that he had come from God and would go back to God. He also knew that the Father had given him complete power. So during the meal Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He put some water into a large bowl. Then he began washing his disciples’ feet and drying them with the towel he was wearing.”

When we talk about serving, we have to go to our greatest example, Jesus.  Now, here it is very clear the relationship between who Jesus was and His act of serving.  I believe the lack of serving has to do with the lack of knowing who we are.  Jesus, being the Son of the Living God, came to this Earth to serve, not to be served!

But we like to be served.  It is time to pick up the towel and serve.  Know who you are in God.  This is not a demeaning act, but it’s a stepping stone to something greater.  Jesus said if you want to be great, you have to serve.  We want to be great without serving…it will NEVER happen.

When you serve, you take a step up, not down.  If Jesus did it, then we must do it too.  Experience the joy of serving.  Let down your pride and pick up the towel.  There are tons of opportunities to serve.  Speak with your Pastor or Leader.  We are known as the Servants of the Lord.  Pick up your Bible, learn who you are, then begin serving.  You will bless others and bless yourself.