Deuteronomy 15:16-18 He Loves You!

 16But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you, 17then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.

18Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

He loves you!

“Jesus is the great fulfillment of this willing slave. Jesus said prophetically in Psalm 40:6: My ears You have opened, it speaks of this “opening” of the ear in the bond-slave ceremony. He was the willing bond-slave of God the Father.” (Guzik)

Have you ever looked back on your life and wished you haven’t sold something? We recently have had that experience times 2. But on recent trips we realized it was a blessing  both times that we did. One is very crowded with lack of water, has filled up with Illegals, plus everyone is rushing to and fro. The other was 24/7 work and no play, full of insects, the biting, blood sucking kind and the access road is miles of muddy swamp.

My point I’m trying to make is we all have to stop looking back, stop having regrets and look forward in life. Count your blessings and move forward.

Because, He loves you!

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 15:12-15 Furnish Him Liberally

 12If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.

13And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. 14You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

Furnish Him Liberally

“Even as debts were to be canceled every seventh year, so were slaves to be freed. The slaves thought of here are those who have had to sell themselves into slavery because of their debt. This made certain that a “bankruptcy” did not harm an Israelite all their life. The worst that could happen is they would have to serve someone without pay for six years.” (Guzik)

“Furnish him liberally”, notice this command. “This would give the slave about to be freed hope and greater incentive to please his master.” (Guzik)

I’m not sure this would work with today’s society? Many people have an entitlement attitude and others just don’t like to work. In my teens, I always had a drive to work and to earn income, I cut lawns, had a paper route, painted houses and worked in a supermarket.

If you had to sell yourself to pay your debts because of bankruptcy, could you work for someone for six years?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 15:10-11 Bless You In All Your Work!

 10Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand. 11For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.

Last year a brother in Christ passed away due to a heart condition. He left behind a widow and two children. His brother and SIL set up a Zelle fund for the children. I’ve never used Zelle before but the Lord put on my heart to donate. I gave, he received but I never received an acknowledgment or a thank you for the donation. I still wonder why, but I did as the Lord moved me. I still wonder if his children ever received the funds but there are times like this that we have to put our trust in the Lord.

The Lord still blesses me in the work that I do albeit I’ve slowed down in my old age.

Thanks be to the Lord.

Do He bless you in all your work?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 15:9 Rich man and poor man!

 9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

I am reminded of the rich man and poor man!

Luke 16: 19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. 20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores 21and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

24So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

Will we be like the rich man and only give crumbs to the poor man?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 Open Your Hand

 7If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to hardena your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. 8Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

Open Your Hand

“The law of release in the seventh year was never to be used to discourage giving to those in need. The law might discourage lending to the poor, therefore God wanted Israel to be generous givers to those in need.” (Guzik)

We all know someone that fell on hard times because of circumstances beyond their control. Health, loss of job, accident, weather etc. 

But what about someone who refuses to work? That’s something you definitely need to pray about and see how the Holy Spirit guides you.

We have on several occasions went and purchased a meal for someone instead of giving them cash.

Have you opened your hand?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 15:4-6 No Poor!

 4There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, 5if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today. 6When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.

No Poor

“However, Deuteronomy 15:11 - just a few verses down - states: For the poor will never cease from the land. Is God contradicting Himself? Not at all. He knows that He has established a system where no one must be chronically poor, yet He knew that because of disobedience, some would, and there would always be the poor in Israel.” (Guzik)

“If Israel obeyed and the individual citizens of Israel enjoyed the blessing of God’s prosperity, then they would as a nation be prosperous, and blessed above other nations.” (Guzik)

Only when Jesus creates a new earth there will be no poor!

Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

Revelation 21:1 For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

Do you realize we are racing towards the end? Every day there’s a new crisis! The other day my propane supplier filled my tank and it cost $2.20 a gallon. Today I filled my vehicle with gasoline and it cost $111. The lady filling her vehicle next to me said she has a 10 month old and can’t find baby formula.

We need Godly leaders that can solve problems in our country.

Please pray for a revival.

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 15:1-3 Debts Or Pay the Piper!

 1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed. 3You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

Debts

My great grandparents and grandparents paid cash for everything. I don’t recall them ever getting a loan and they didn’t have credit cards. My father had a mortgage and paid it off. But it seems today everyone uses credit for everything!

I use credit to buy items but pay it off when the bill comes.

But what would the banks and mortgage companies be like if they followed this law? 

“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.”

All loans and mortgages would be for seven years! 

But we all have a debt we cannot pay! Sin debt! There is only ONE that you can go to, to have this debt paid! Jesus Christ! He took our punishment to pay off our debt.

If you don’t accept His terms you will pay the piper upon your death ☠️!

Heaven or Hell? Your choice!

Blessings 

Pay the piper idiom: Fig. to face the results of one's actions; to receive punishment for something. You can put off paying your debts only so long. Eventually you'll have to pay the piper. You can't get away with that forever. You'll have to pay the piper someday. 

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 Widows and Orphans

 28At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates. 29Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

As Kalland points out: “The Jewish rabbis have usually held that there were three tithes: (1) for the priests and Levites, (2) for the communal meals, (3) every third year for the nonlanded (i.e., the Levites, aliens, fatherless, and widows).” Kalland goes on to object to this rabbinic approach, and accurately observes, “So all the designations of tithes speak of one basic tithe to be put to various uses.” (Guzik)

Luke 16: 11So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

The Bible teaches us to take care of the widows and orphans. You have two choices, you can be a Scrooge or you can be a Christian that practices and lives a biblical lifestyle.

Which choice have you become?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 14:24-27 Common-Sense God

24But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away, 25then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household. 27And do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

Common-Sense God

“If distance prevented the easy transport of the animals, they could exchange their tithe for money, and then use the money to tithe with when they came to the tabernacle (and later, the temple).” (Guzik)

The Lord your God is the common-sense God and we see it here in these verses.

If the distance was great, He suggests an easy common-sense solution! Sell the tithe and bring the money and spend the money on anything you desire! 

Feast in the presence of the Lord.

I can’t wait until we have the great feast in heaven!

Matthew 8:11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. NLT

Can you?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 14:22-23 Put God First!

 22You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields. 23And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

“The word truly is important; since the tithe described giving ten percent, God commanded that it really be ten percent. One might easily imagine Israelites discovering ways to give God less than truly ten percent.” (Guzik)

The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.(Deuteronomy 14:23b, Living Bible)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2014&version=TLB

Notice LB says: “to teach you always to put God first in your lives”

To be perfectly honest, I struggle with tithing in retirement and my limited income.

Do you put God first in your life?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 14:19-21 Cheeseburger!

 19All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20But you may eat any clean bird.

21You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

“This law, because of strange rabbinical interpretations, became the reason why one cannot have a kosher cheeseburger. Observant Jews today will not eat milk and meat at the same meal (or even on the same plates with the same utensils cooked in the same pots), because the rabbis insist that the meat in the hamburger may have come from the calf of the cow that gave the milk for the cheese, and the cheese and the meat would “boil” together in one’s stomach and be a violation of this command.” (Guzik)

Mark 1:6 John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

If you are kosher and can’t eat a cheeseburger, how come John could eat locust?

Would you eat locust?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 14:9-18 KILL and EAT!

 9Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, 10but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.

11You may eat any clean bird, 12but these you may not eat:

the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

13the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,

14any kind of raven,

15the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,

17the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,

18the stork, any kind of heron,

“predators (unclean because they ate both the flesh and the blood of animals), scavengers (unclean because they were carriers of disease, and they regularly contacted dead bodies), or potentially poisonous or dangerous foods such as shellfish and the like.” (Guzik)

The Tucson Rod and Gun Club hosted a yearly wild game barbecue. They dug a big pit and filled it with mesquite wood and burned it until nothing was left but coals. Set a grate on top and the wild meat was in cloth bags and set on the grate. Covered the bags with banana leaves and then covered with canvass. Then they filled the hole with dirt. About 12 hours later the meat was exhumed. Moose, elk, deer, mountain lion, javelina, bear to name a few.

Mountain lion was my favorite. Believe it or not it was similar to chicken.

Acts 10:13 Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

What was the strangest thing you’ve eaten?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 14:3-7 Detestable Things

 3You must not eat any detestable thing. 4These are the animals that you may eat:

The ox, the sheep, the goat,

5the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer,

the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,

and the mountain sheep.

6You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.

7But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following:

the camel,

the rabbit,

or the rock badger.

Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, 8as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.

“If an animal had a divided hoof (not a single hoof as a horse has), and chewed its cud, it could be eaten. For example, the camel, the rock hyrax, and the hare all chew the cud, but do not have divided hooves - instead, they have paws - so they are considered unkosher. Additionally, the swine has a divided hoof, but does not chew the cud - so it is considered unkosher.” (Guzik)

Food was considered kosher or unkosher. 

What food is detestable to you?

Blessings

Deuteronomy 14:2 Gods Own Possession

 2for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Gods Own Possession 

The principle behind holy is separate. To be set apart from other nations and people. As Christian’s we are a people holy to the Lord too!

The Israelites were His chosen people, but are you aware you are also?

1 Peter 2: 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 

Reread 1 Peter 2:9 and let it sink in……

Are you proclaiming His virtues?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 14:1 Hope

 1You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,

“The cutting of the body and the shaving of the head were common mourning rites in the ancient Near East and are referred to in many places in the Old Testament (Isaiah 3:24; 15:2; 22:12; Jeremiah 16:6; 41:5; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16).” (Thompson)

As Christian’s and followers of Jesus Christ we should all look forward to going home when we die and not act like others who have no hope!

1 Thessalonians 4:13: But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

Do you have hope?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 13:16-18 What Would It Take?

 16And you are to gather all its plunder in the middle of the public square, and completely burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. The city must remain a mound of ruins forever, never to be rebuilt.

17Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers, 18because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

“The very same punishment which was inflicted upon the cities of the cursed Canaanites, to whom having made themselves equal in sin, it is but fit and just that God should equal them in punishment.” (Poole)

“This chapter asks an important question: What would it take to lead you away from God? Would signs and wonders do it? What if your mate forsook God, or all of your friends? What if culture, or nationalism, or ethnic ties called you away from Jesus? We must never allow such ties to come before our bond to Jesus. We must decide, as the song says, “Though none go with me, still I will follow.”” (Guzik)

What would it take?

Only you can answer that question.

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 13:12-15 Investigate, Interrogate, Abomination

 12If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said 13that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known), 14then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you, 15you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.

Investigate, interrogate, abomination 

Notice how the Lord says, investigate, interrogate and if an abomination has been committed, put to the sword. One might ask, why this seems harsh?

All you have to do is look around you today and see all the gods people are serving.

Pan, trans, socialism, grooming and the list of gods go on.

Bob Dylan has a song, You Have to Serve Somebody.

Who’s your somebody?

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! Joshua 24:15

Blessings 

Do you put your money where your mouth is?

With all the talk and hysteria about Roe verses Wade, if you’re Pro Life and are vocal about it, how do you support the cause?

Matthew 10:8…..”Freely you have received; freely give.”

One way would be to donate to a Crisis Pregnancy Center that helps support unwed mothers and teens.

Another way would be adoption or foster care.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans……

Technically a newborn with a mother isn’t an orphan, but if the father is nowhere to be found and the mother is unable to care for the baby then the same principle applies. 

Gods adopts us, why shouldn’t we adopt?

Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

What about foster care? Children that are removed from unfit parents need godly people to care for them. Please consider foster care for these orphans.

If you can’t afford to give or unable to adopt or do foster care you could do what a friend does. He volunteers at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center doing yard work. 

Another friend is a retired doctor and performs the sonogram’s at the center.

Search your heart ❤️

What is He calling you to do?

Blessings 

Do the souls of aborted babies go to heaven?

https://www.gotquestions.org/aborted-babies-heaven.html