The Bible Tells Me So. . .

This past weekend I was working in the kitchen and my 3 year old son came in there to watch.  Andrew is my little boy. This sweet, little thing who loves to be around his mama. Yes I unashamedly admit he is a mama's boy. He still is his daddy's buddy but he is my boy. He recently got bit by the ornery bug. You know the kind that if it doesn't bite them at 2 it seems to bite them even harder at 3! He is currently testing the waters and trying to see how firm the boundaries we have put in his life are! So while I was cleaning he came in there singing "Jesus Loves Me". I love to hear my children sing. He stops in the middle of his song and says, "Mama, the Bible NOT tell ME so! Jesus Don't love me!" I quickly replied that yes the Bible does tell us so and furthermore Jesus loves him more than Mama or Daddy could ever love him! He cocked his little head to the side and said "Hmm". He trusted me. That was it the discussion was closed, yes the Bible tells him so and Yes Jesus will always love him! He accepted that fact and went on his merry little way continuing to sing the truth of God's word!

Later that day I was catching up on some Bible reading. It has been so good lately I'm going slower than I like, but getting so much out of it I don't mind the slowness. I sat down to read 10 chapters and all I got done was 1! I want to share those ponderings with you! At this point in the post you have several options: 1. I have better things to do so you stop reading, (bye bye, no feelings lost) 2. Keep reading but approach it like my son did, and say "No I am not going to let the Bible tell me so in my life". or 3 When presented with the truth, accept it, let it change or encourage your life whatever the case may be!

You are going to need your King James Bible for this! Actually I'll post it at the bottom of this. I don't want you accidentally reading a perversion of the Bible and getting confused. If you have a King James open it up to Deuteronomy 11. If you don't scroll to the bottom and you will find it there! I like outlines and ordered thought patterns. I really like alliteration because it helps me remember so if you'll grant me that little allowance I'll get to my ponderings.

We are first introduced to Deuteronomy11 with verse 1 saying, Therefore thou shall love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. I love this, before God tells us to keep his charge, his statutes, his judgements, and his commandments we are commanded to love him! Our love for God should be our motivation for obeying God and our obedience to God is our demonstration of our love for God! It's neat how those two things are intertwined! If you need a N.T. example, you can head over to John 14:13-15 that says, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything n my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. Don't you love in this passage how God doesn't put demands upon us without first telling us what He is willing to do for us! If you go back to our parallel passage in Deuteronomy you'll find in verses 1-7 that God tells Israel some of the things that He has done for them bringing them out of Egypt, destroying the scorning fools, etc. God doesn't make a demand without having first demonstrated His love towards them and it is still the same for us to day! Hallelujah that's shouting stuff right there!

Then we come to verses 8-12 and God starts off with verses 8 and 9 by saying, Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; . . .  that ye may prolong your days in the land . . . Obeying God will prolong your days. I don't know about you but I have reached that ripe old age of 30. When I was in my  late teens and early 20s I used to call those people old and now I are one! I know this to be true for several reasons: 1. this last summer I learned I not only do I not love roller coasters anymore I'm extremely afraid of them. 2. I used to LOVE go carting . . . now I think it is the biggest waste of money! 3. I gave up my scrapbooking stuff for a photography business and didn't even cry. 4. the biggest reason of all I was looking at some people we knew from college on Facebook and I remarked to my husband how old they looked and he informed me that they were the same age as us, even down to the same birthday! So saying all this, I'm old now. I used to think I was going to live for a VERY long time and realizing I've almost reached half way I now know I have not lived that long at all! I want to live long so I'm going to obey God I want to possess all God has for me! I want to be strong as I do it and I want to prolong my days as longs as I can!

Secondly we come to verse 13-21. Obeying God will send the Presence of the Holy Spirit . . . You're going to have to think for a little bit on this one: verse 13 and 14 say, And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain . . . Rain, water, is a picture of the Holy Spirit. A life surrendered to God, a life of obedience to God will brings the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Do you want to live a spirit filled life, growing grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Then the question to ask is are you living a life obedient to God with love for God? Are you serving God? In verse 15 it goes on to say that I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Having the Presence of the Holy Spirit bringing fulfillment to your life. It brings a filling to your spirit. It brings a future to your spiritual growth!
This passage is first applied inwardly and in verse 18 we are instructs to lay these words in our heart and in our soul. We are also command to put them on our hand and as a frontlet in front of our eyes. Now this does not mean we tattoo God's word to hand or as they did in Old Testament times to take a little box and actually bind it to our head. I think this was more application that literal. We are to remember that whatever our hand findeth to do to do it as unto the Lord and not for men. Whatever we do should bring glory and honor to Christ! As far as binding God's words to our foreheads, I think what God was meaning was that the Bible ought to control our thinking. It ought to dictate how we believe, what we believe, it out to be out in front and leading us as we go throughout our day!
It is interesting to note that you are not to stop with yourself. You are to teach these things to your children! There are two types of children out there, physical and spiritual. I personally don't think the ideas of large families is all that biblical. I didn't say there was anything wrong with them but trying to support the idea of having a large family with the Bible is a little out of context! I think as christians today we have the opportunity to have more children, spiritual children! I want spiritual children! I love my children and nothing can replace that but I want spiritual children as well! Paul told Timothy that he was his son in Christ. He also told him in II Timothy 2:1,2 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. In Dueteronomy it gives us some practical ways to teach our children.
First lets apply it to our physical children. As you go about your day talk about the Bible, how God has spoken to you. Tell your children. Let them hear you telling others about it. Don't make it a strict regimented thing. Let them think the Bible is as much a part of your life as say clothes are. You wouldn't go anywhere without clothes, I hope! Let them think the Bible is a natural part of your life! As you're sitting in your house, eating dinner, playing a game, talk about the Bible. As you are walking down the road of life and different life lessons pop up, don't give them JUST your own experience, don't give them JUST a little ditty, give them the Bible! Take the opportunity to teach them using the Bible! Use everyday things to point them to Christ! And lastly when you wake up and when you lay down have the Bible be part of that process. Se the example for your children!
For your spiritual children that God blesses you with, (these are people you have won to the Lord, those you have the privilege of discipling, those in your Sunday Schools, Bible Clubs, Ladie's meetings, etc.), teach them the Bible, yes, but let them know it is a constant part of your daily life. Have them over your house so they can see you're just a normal christian loving God and serving Him. Take them out to eat and casually bring up how God has spoken to you that week. Don't ask them if they've read their Bible giving them the perception that Bible reading is a thing you mark off your list, ask them how God has spoken to them specifically through His word that week. If He hasn't spoken to them, encourage them how to read God's word to have him speak to them. (If you need help with that you can go to my previous blog, specksfromgod.blogspot.com)
If you do this, letting the Presence of God be preeminent in your life, then verse 21 says, That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children. . . Imagine being able to multiply your days in the lives of your children, physical and spiritual! Think how much you can accomplish for the cause of Christ by having multiplied what God has taught you in them!

Lastly, verses 22-25 Obeying God wil help out Push Out the Bad. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do the, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you and ye shall possess nations mightier than yourselves. Now we know this was not written to us as Gentiles but we know we can apply these things to us. We don't have nations that need to be driven out of your lives, but we do have bad habits, besetting sins, etc. Until last Sunday I thought besetting sings were something I had to deal with for the rest of my life. By the grace of God I have not struggled with that particular sin ALL week! I have been tempted with it but NEVER above that I was able! How might you ask? Well, one the Presence of God has been real in my life but I have realized that I am seated above all that in the very presence of God. That He has done a work in my life at salvation freeing me forever of the bind that sin had on my life and that now I have access to Jesus who is all powerful!  I simply ask and take, it truly is THAT easy! And I thank God. When presented with a sinful thought I remember that my Jesus is true and pure and I thank Jesus for being true and pure and ask him to make me true and pure. I don't apologize for the temptation I turn to God and thank him for how great He is! Daily the Holy Spirit has been driving out those bad habits from me! It has been amazing, liberating, and lovely!

In conclusion, we come to verse 26-32 and God speaking here says, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curs; A blessing , ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I commanded you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God . . . This is a warning, You have been given truth. Will you, as my son did, accept the truth and live in the truth or will you reject it choosing to live a life say, "The Bible does NOT tell me So!"

Deuteronomy 11
1 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. 2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day; 5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; 6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: 7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did. 8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the Lord 's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23 Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. 25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. 32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

New Name!

I didn't really care for my other name and I came across a lady who has a Facebook page Musings of a Minister's Wife and I really liked that and I really enjoy being married to a preacher. Also next year when I do S.O.A.P. instead of S.P.E.C.K.S. I will want to change the name so here it is!
If you want to go to http://specksfromgod.blogspot.com/ you can head over there and check out what I've done before.