Deuteronomy 4:29-31 But

 29But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30When you are in [i]distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31(for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

But

What a word! “But”, in these verses Moses reminds the Israelites after they disobey and turn from the Lord that the Lord will punish them and scatter them throughout the nations, “but from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

But, what a powerful word and a powerful promise that follows it!

Have you been scattered and are you in distress?

Remember this word “But” and the promise that follows it!

“29But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

“for the Lord your God is a merciful God”

Have you found Him yet?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 4:25-28 Witness

 25“When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not [h]prolong yourdays in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

Witness 

I call heaven and earth, creation to witness!

“God gave Israel the Promised Land, but not unconditionally. If they persisted in idol worship, God would remove them from the land and scatter them among the nations.” (Guzik)

The Lord predicts the scattering of Judah into the Babylonian empire some 550 years later and He will turn them over to their sinful desires of worshiping other gods!

Let this be a reminder to our sinful desires! 

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. –”

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 4:20-24 Obedience

 20But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. 21Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22But I must die in this land, I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and [g]possess that good land. 23Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24For the Lord your God isa consuming fire, a jealous God.

Obedience 

“Moses’ idea was simply, “If God did not spare me when I sinned against Him, don’t think He will spare you if you turn to other gods. God is a consuming fire, and we must take Him and obedience to Him seriously.”” (Guzik)

Jesus’s command of love is simple, Luke 10:27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

Are you obeying Jesus and does the world know you are His?

Blessings 

https://www.gotquestions.org/consuming-fire.html

Deuteronomy 4:19 Take Heed!

 19And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has [f]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.

Take Heed!

What do all these books and verses have in common? Worshipping the sun, moon or stars!

Ezekiel 8:16

Deuteronomy 17:2-5

Job 31:26-28

2 Kings 23:5-11

Jeremiah 8:1-2

Jeremiah 43:13

Years ago I had a brother in law when he joined the military and he was asked about his religion he said he was a Druid. He thought he was being funny but didn’t he condemn himself with his own words? 

Take heed when asked about your faith. What would your answer be?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 4:15-18 No Form or Image!

 15“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the [e]form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, 17the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. 19And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has [f]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.

No Form or Image!

“The commands at Horeb had to be obeyed. Because they saw no form of God, therefore God commanded that they must never make an image to represent Him.

     i. Israel also was forbidden to worship the creation of God. Neither any beast or bird or the sun, the moon, and the stars are fit for our worship. This is worshipping the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).” (Guzik)

Romans 1: 25who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Do you believe praying to, worshiping a statue, an image of God, Jesus or his mother Mary is biblical?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 4:11-14 The Covenant

 11“Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no [c]form; you only heard a voice. 13So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might [d]observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.

The Covenant 

“At Mount Sinai, Israel did not only receive commandments from God; they also entered into a covenant with Him, promising to obey Him, and God promising to bless an obedient Israel (Exodus 24:1-8).” (Guzik)

He spoke, they listened, they entered into a covenant, they promised to obey. But in their human frailty they broke their promise! 

We’ve wouldn’t have been any different because of our sinful nature.

Have you entered into a covenant with Christ?

Have you kept your promise?

Blessings 

He Makes All Things New

Me: Hey God 

GOD: Hello.....

Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?

GOD: I would rather not.

Me: Why?

GOD: Because you aren't a puzzle

Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?

GOD: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back

Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!

GOD: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.

Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?

GOD: Only the very best pieces of you

Me: I'm scared of changing

GOD: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!

Me: Becoming who?

GOD: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! Become! Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.

Me: There goes another piece...

GOD: Yep. Let it be.

Me: So...I'm not broken?

GOD: No - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!

2 Corinthians 5: 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.