Moses' Great Sermon

I have been out of Deuteronomy for a while now.  It is time to recall some of the amazing lessons learned (and being learned) in this a huge book.  Deuteronomy happens to be one of my favorites.  It might be strange to have a favorite book in the Bible but I do so love Deuteronomy and 1st and 2nd Samuel   I probably have other favorites that I have forgotten about but these are my favs at the moment.  

The setting for this book is super fantastic.  Israel has wondered in the wilderness for forty years.  There wanderings have been full of rebellion, epic battles, the law, the blue prints for the Tabernacle, the making of the Tabernacle and oh so much more. Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land.  He is to perish in the wilderness with the rest of the rebellious generation.  He gathers all of the people together (women and little ones are mentioned as being there for this very long sermon).  They are about to receive the promise that was given to Abraham.  God is going to give His people a land flowing with milk and honey.  He is going to give them a land that has fields full of produce, vines heavy with grapes that they did not plant.  They will inhabit cities that they did not build.  God is giving them what they do not deserve.  It is all grace.  It His gift to His children.  This theme is continued from the garden and continues on into the new garden, the new world that Jesus establishes by his death and resurrection.  It is all grace.  Even in the giving of the law and the temple rituals, we should grace.  God loves to bless us beyond what we deserve.  This is what grace is.  This is such a beautiful theme found in God's word and it is amazing how often we miss it!  Back to Moses and his story.  He is declaring this very truth to God's people.  He is reminding them of the grace they have received.  Reminding them of the grace that they are to receive.  But....he is also reminding them of what happens when they disobey and forget their God.  As they forget God, God does not forget them.  He remembers the vow that they have taken to follow after God and to obey all of His commands.  When they are unfaithful to their word, God stays faithful to His.  He sends them enemies to remind them of what they have forgotten.  He reminds them that false gods are just that....false liars, works of their own feeble imaginations.  This sermon is can be broken into two basic categories: if you remember Me and obey all of my commands, you will be blessed.  If you forget me and follow other god's, all of the curses and plagues of Egypt will swallow you up.  The blessings are great when we follow God and cleave to Him.  The curses are heavy and buckle anyone they fall on.  But the curses also have grace wrapped up in them.  The purpose of the curses is to administer Gods justice.  But they are also for the purpose of bringing the people back to the Lord.  And if you look at the whole book of the bible we see this again and again.  God's people disobey.  They go into exile.  They become slaves and have bitter lives.  This reminds them of when God's favor was on them.  They call out in repentance and ask God to deliver them once again.  God is the only deliverer that brings us peace and blessings.  If we think differently, we are already compromised in out minds and can be sure that an idol is being worshiped.  Find the idol, cut it off and turn to the Lord.  God is your fullness, your deliver from all things, your surety and praise.  Cleave to Him.  This is the message of Moses' sermon.

Therefore keep all the commandments....that you may be strong.  Deut. 11:8

Hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all of His commandments...to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Deut. 13:18

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey his voice and ye shall serve him and cleave unto Him.  Deut  13:4

Thou shat fear the Lord thy God, him shalt thour serve and to him shalt thou cleave and swear by His name.  he is thy praise and he is thy God.  Deut.  10:22

Quotes That Rock my Boat

These quotes are from an article called,  Our Dangerous Obsession With Health by Wesley J Smith found on First Things Blog.  

"Fundamentally, it is not mere life, nor even a healthy life, but rather a good and worthy life for which we must aim . . . Indeed, though there is no such thing as being too healthy, there is such a thing as being too concerned about health. To be preoccupied with the body is to neglect the soul, for which we should indeed care “first and most.”

In other words, if we individually and collectively practice virtue—even when it means accepting suffering—we will make Nietzsche a false prophet by promoting health and pursuing happiness in the overarching context of protecting the equal moral worth of all human life. 

Getting Good at Being Sick

One of the things that I have noticed about being sick is how consuming it can be.  When your body is a raging mess it is easy to get obsessed with how you feel.  It is easy to go inside and hang out with mess.   It is also so true that we are not gnostic and able to separate the body from the soul.  When the body suffers, the soul is effected.  But I would say that this is where we engage a fight rather then let our souls slip into the goo that our body is oozing.  What i mean by this, is that in the storm of upset health we engage in active combat to keep our souls facing outward and heavenward. It is super easy to turn our gaze and our ears on the thing that is shouting the loudest and jumping up and down for attention.  In this context i am speaking of health issues.  When bad health sets in it is super easy to turn inward and hang out with the mess.  But even in this we are called to seek first the kingdom.  Even in these times we are promised that our needs will be taken care of.  The practical side to this is, bad health slows you down.  This is where it is super tempting to join the Gnostic.   Lets just ignore that I feel super horrid.  Lets pretend that mind over matter is more spiritual then being where I am..... being sick to the glory of God.  Being good at being sick is a good work.  Learning to trust in the Lord in all things, is the point.  When we are sick, we glorify God.  We do not pretend it away and we do not let it consume us.  We are called to fight as Christians   Some of us fight with ailments.  We learn to get really good with our handicap.  We learn that we are in a body and that we are  not fighting on our own.  And we learn that the real enemy is in our hearts, in the world and is the cunning serpent of old.  We fight the real enemies.  And yes, bad health is a real enemy.  It is apart of the dying man that Jesus had victory over.  We remember that Christ has had the victory.  He tasted this victory after death.  Our pattern is no different.  Bad health is a type of death.  If it is a christian death then you should see Resurrection life springing from your dying body.  Your family should be blessed by it.  Trials are promised.  They are guaranteed.  Health trials are from the Lord and for our good.