God's Word For Every Day

“Take the staff, and you (Moses) and your brother Aaron, gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and   their livestock can drink” (Numbers 20:8). Speak  to the rock – this is what the Lord told Moses to do. What did Moses do? – he “ struck  the rock twice with his staff” (Numbers 20:11). What happened when Moses struck the rock? Two things happened. First, there was blessing for God’s people – “Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank” (Numbers 20:11). Second, there was a rebuke for Moses and Aaron – “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”” (Numbers 20:12). Moses didn’t do ...

Deuteronomy 13:1-14:21 Lord, You are the God of love. You are also the God of holiness. We like to hear about Your love. It makes us feel good. We're not so keen on hearing about Your holiness. You are the holy God. You are the God who calls us to be holy. Help us, Lord, not to be content with the half-truth, contained in the words, "All you need is love." We do need love - but we also need holiness. Help us to "strive ... for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:13 Lord, we celebrate Your love. We rejoice in Your salvation. Your love is a dying love. We see Your love in the death of Jesus, our Saviour. It's also an undying love. It's the only love that never dies. It never comes to an end. It's eternal love, shown to us in the sacrificial death of "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Deuteronomy 19:1-20:9 By Your grace, Lord, You call us to be Your soldiers and servants. Help us not to be "fearful and fainthearted" (Deuteronomy 19:19). Help us to be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3). When we hear your challenging question: "Who is on the Lord's side?", may we give our committed answer: "By Thy call of mercy, by Thy grace divine, we are on the Lord's side; Saviour, we are Thine."

Deuteronomy 1:1-46 Lord, You call us with Your challenge. You call us to make our choice. We are to put the past behind us. We are to press on into the future – with You and for You. We hesitate – and we end up doing nothing. Help us, Lord, to turn from our self-centred ways. Help us to walk with You in Your way – the way of faith, the way of obedience. Deuteronomy 2:1-37 We thank You, Lord, that You are greater than all our problems. As we look back on the way You’ve led us, help us to say, “Grace brought me safe this far.” As we look to You to lead us into the future, help us to say, “Grace will lead me home.” Thank You, Lord for Your “amazing grace.” Deuteronomy 3:1-29 Sometimes, Lord, Your blessing seems to be “so near and yet so far.” Help us, Lord, as we seek Your blessing, to remember that it is never our own achievement. It is always Your gift to us. We do not achieve victory in our own strength. You give to us Your victory. When, Lord, we feel like we a...

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one that the Lord loves rests between His shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12). The Lord loves us. His love casts out our fear. His love gives us security. His love shields us. We rest in His love. There’s a place in His heart for us. The love of God – This is the message which reaches out “to the ends of the earth” (Deuteronomy 33:17). “The great love of God is revealed in the Son, who came to this earth to redeem every one. That love, like a stream flowing clear to the sea, makes clean every heart that from sin would be free. It binds the whole world, every barrier it breaks, the hills it lays low, and the mountains it shakes. It’s yours, it is ours, O how lavishly given! The pearl of great price, and the treasure of heaven!” (Daniel Thambyrajah Niles). “All for your sake, all for my sake; yes, for all , I say: Now for the world comes news of salvation: ‘Christ is born today!” ‘Chris...

Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12 The Lord’s work is moving on. the Lord’s servant – Moses – is looking towards the future. He is pronouncing God’s blessing on the people of Israel. He pays special attention to each tribe. There is a Word from the Lord for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The people of Israel had been “blessed” – “a nation saved by the Lord” (Deuteronomy 33:29). The future lay with the whole people of God, as they moved forward together. There was, however, to be one man who was called to special leadership among the people – Joshua. For this work, Joshua was “filled with the Spirit” (Deuteronomy 34:9). The people of God were moving forward, but they would not forget where they had come from – how the Lord had led them. They remembered Moses (Deuteronomy 34:10-12) – and they gave thanks to God.

“You shall give to the Lord your God, as the Lord your God has blessed you” (Deuteronomy 16:10). Our giving to the Lord can never be any more than a response to His giving to us. His giving to us is always greater than our giving to Him. There can be no comparison between His giving to us and our giving to Him. When we focus our attention on His giving to us, our giving to him will be transformed. It will not be legalism. It will be thanksgiving. No longer grudge-giving – “I have to”, or duty-giving – “I ought to”, it will be thanksgiving – “I want to.

Deuteronomy 31:1-32:52 Moses’ time of leadership was coming to an end. Joshua would replace him as the leader of God’s people. With God’s command – “Be strong and courageous” – and promise – “you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with you” (Deuteronomy 31:23), Joshua set out into the work of the Lord. Moses still had a Word to bring to the people from the Lord – a Word which proclaimed the Lord as “a faithful God” (Deuteronomy 32:4) and called the people to be faithful to Him (Deuteronomy 32:5-6).

Deuteronomy 30:1-31:13 Lord, You are not a god who keeps his distance from us. You are not a god who keeps his silence.You come near to us. You speak Your Word to us (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). How do we know that You are near to us? How do we know that You speak Your Word to us? Jesus is "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). He is "the Word made flesh" (John 1:14). Thank You for Jesus - He comes near to us and He speaks to us. Help us, Lord, to treasure His presence and to respond to His Word.

Deuteronomy 31:14-32:18 We sing to You, Lord. We sing our song of praise. It's the song of Your salvation. It's the song that gives glory to You. May our song of praise be more than words. May it be the song that arises from our hearts. May it be the song that comes from lives that are being transformed by Your grace.

Deuteronomy 17:14-18:22 Help us, Lord, to be obedient to Your Word. Help us, in our obedience, to remain humble. How can we possibly bring glory yo You if we're thinking about how obedient we are when we should be rejoicing in the great love by which You have saved us and the great power by which You keep us walking in the way of faith? Even when we're pressing on to a closer walk with You, help us never to forget this: "Who is a God like You, forgiving sin ... " (Micah 7:18-20).

Deuteronomy 14:22-15:23 Lord, You call us to belong to You. This is wonderful. It makes our hearts glad. You also call us to serve You. We're not to remain what we were before we became Your redeemed people. We're to be renewed - "beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Deuteronomy 9:22-10:22 Help us, Lord, to listen to You and live for You, to speak to You and speak for You. Help us to receive from You and respond to You. Help us not to get caught up in the "What do I get out of it?" way of thinking. Help us to ask the more important question: "How can I give myself more fully to You, Lord?"

Deuteronomy 2:1-37 We thank You, Lord, that You are greater than all our problems. As we look back on the way You've led us, help us to say, "Grace brought me safe this far." As we look to You to lead us into the future, help us to say, "Grace will lead me home." Thank You, Lord for Your "amazing grace."

Deuteronomy 3:1-29  The promised land was near. For Moses, it was ‘so near and yet so far’. He was excluded. Together with the sadness of Moses’ exclusion, there was the joy of the people’s entrance (27-28). When we consider Moses’ sadness and the people’s joy, we must remember this: Nobody deserved to go into the land! The land was God’s gift. Without His strength, the people of Israel would fail. With Him, they would be victorious: ‘You shall not fear them; for it is the Lord your God who fights for you’(22). There is here a basic principle of Christian living: ‘not by might , nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts’(Zechariah 4:6). ‘In heavenly armour we’ll enter the land. The battle belongs to the Lord. No weapon that’s fashioned against us will stand. The battle belongs to the Lord’(Mission Praise, 639).

Deuteronomy 4:1-43 The people of Israel were involved in the work of the Lord. The work was based on God – not Moses. Moses would not be in the promised land. God would be there. Moses would ‘not go over the Jordan’. As God’s man. he was to prepare the people for their task: ‘you shall go over and take possession of that good land’(22). Privilege involves responsibility. Israel was a privileged people, redeemed by the Lord, delivered from bondage ‘by a mighty hand and outstretched arm’(34). Israel was a responsible people, called to obey the Lord: ‘Obey His laws and commands’(40). The Lord our God is ‘a merciful God’(31). He has saved us. We are to serve Him. Let Him reign in your heart. Let there be ‘no other besides Him’(35). Flee to Christ for refuge (42-43), and live each day with ‘the attitude of gratitude’.

Deuteronomy 20:10-21:23 We thank You, Lord, for Your amazing love - "while we were Your enemies we were reconciled to You by the death of Your Son" (Romans 5:10);  "Once we were no people but now we are Your people; once we had not received mercy but now we have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10).

Deuteronomy 23:1-25 Show us, Lord, what we really are - without You. Make us, more truly and more fully, what You want us to become - by Your saving grace. Fill us with Your holiness - and fill us with Your love. You've lifted us out of our sin and into Your salvation. This is Your doing. It's not our own achievement. we're called to be Your holy people - but we dare not imagine that we're better than everyone else. We're set apart for You - but we must never forget that we'll never be anything more than sinners, saved by Your grace. Your love has reached. Your love changes us. Make us more like Jesus - walking with You on the pathway of holiness and reaching out, in love, to others, inviting them to receive the Saviour's love and respond to His call: "Follow Me" (Matthew 4:19).

Deuteronomy 24:1-25:29 We thank You, Lord, that You love us. We thank You that You have done great things for us. We think of Your great love. We think of all that You have done for us - and we say, "To God be the glory."