Sunday, December 31, 2017

Reminders and Warnings for 2018 (Deut. 8:1-20)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2017 7:46 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Reminders”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Deuteronomy 8:1-20

            Message of the verses:  Today’s Spiritual Diary will be a bit different because of the ending of the year 2017 and the soon beginning of the year 2018. 

            I look forward to having our senior’s pastor give the message that he has given on a number of occasions about the coming New Year.  He has done it on a number of occasions and did one this morning.  I guess that I could describe Pastor Greg Golden’s message as always being practical and they are always orderly as he is an orderly man.  In our business meetings that we have each year at our church Pastor Golden will tells us how many times he cuts his grass each year; this is how orderly that he is.  He leads a senior bus trip each month and a few weeks back he had outlined each trip that the seniors can go on and how much they would cost for the year 2018.  Ok enough of his background on our wonderful senior’s pastor.  What I wish to do is give you the outline of the sermon that he gave this morning and then 13 pieces of advice that he gave for all who listened to him concerning the year 2018.  We will first look at 11 reminders from the first 11 verses of Deuteronomy and then in verses 11-20 we will look at six warnings, and then his advice for 2018.

Reminders

1.     1  "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers (Deu. 8:1).  (God’s Word.)

2.     2  "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”  (God’s wilderness.)  There are times that God will take us out into His wilderness like He took the children of Israel out in the wilderness for forty years.

3.     3  "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”  (God’s Watch care.” Just as God gave the children of Israel manna to eat in their time of need He will give us what we need in our lives.

4.     4 “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.”  (God’s wardrobe or garments.)  God cared for the children of Israel in the wilderness as their clothes did not ware out.

5.     5 “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.”  (God’s Wounds.)  An example of God wounding us can be found in Hebrews chapter twelve.

6.     6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.  (God’s Worthiness.)

7.     7  "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;” (God’s Waters both Spiritual [The Holy Spirit] and physical water to drink).

8.     8  "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;” (God’s provisions (wheat).  God provides for our needs.

9.     9  "a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.”  (God’s Wealth)

10.  10 "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.”  (God’s Warehouse)

 

11 “God’s Warnings”

1.     11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, (Danger of waywardness).” 

2.     12  "lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13  "and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; (Danger of Wealth).”  “7 Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9  That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God (Proverbs 30:7-9).”  

3.     14 There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men. (Warnings of Wickedness).”

4.     15  "who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16  "who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17  "then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18  "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day (Warnings of Worldliness).”

5.     19  "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish (Warnings about Wavering).”

6.     20 “As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God (Warnings about Wrong Doing).”  Do right, don’t do wrong!

2018 Advice

1.     Finish Strong.

2.     Be Faithful.

3.     Help Others.

4.     Exhibit love.

5.     Share Christ.

6.     Pray More.

7.     Enjoy Life.

8.     Read Scripture.

9.     “Do” Church.  (Don’t just go but be active.)

10.  Express Gratitude.

11.  Patiently Wait.

12.  Think Biblically.

13.  Cheerfully serve.

14.  This last one is very important:  Get Saved, that is unless you are already saved, but if you are not then “GET SAVED.”

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jephithah’s daughter” (Judges 11:34).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book tells of the wise men coming to see the baby Jesus?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

12/31/2017 8:34 PM

 

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